Effects on sheep welfare of a 1 h rest during a two stage journey

The current E.U. Directive 95/29/EC allows the transport of sheep to slaughter for 14 h, then 1 h rest and a further 16 h. of travel. During the rest the sheep should have access to food and water. In this study, the welfare of sheep was monitored using physiological and behavioural measures during a journey in a commercial type road vehicle. Measures of body weight and meat quality were also made. The results were compared with those of three other studies.</jats:p

Effects on sheep welfare of a 1 h rest during a two stage journey

The current E.U. Directive 95/29/EC allows the transport of sheep to slaughter for 14 h, then 1 h rest and a further 16 h. of travel. During the rest the sheep should have access to food and water. In this study, the welfare of sheep was monitored using physiological and behavioural measures during a journey in a commercial type road vehicle. Measures of body weight and meat quality were also made. The results were compared with those of three other studies.</jats:p

Hormonal and physiological effects of a 15 hour road journey in sheep: comparison with the responses to loading, handling and penning in the absence of transport

A controlled study was carried out to investigate the physiological effects of road transport on sheep. Animals (n=10, body weight 38.9+/-1.3 kg), previously with catheters in their jugular veins, were rounded up and loaded onto a vehicle where they wereheld in a communal pen with eight other lambs. Blood samples were taken at 30 min intervals during the next 15 h whilethe vehicle remained stationary or was driven a distance of 548 miles (876 km). Measurements were made of plasma concentrations of cortisol, prolactin, creatine phosphokinase and lactate dehydrogenase isozymes and also of plasma osmolality, haematocrit and body weight; heart rate was also recorded in one animal. Loading and the start of driving produced large increases in cortisol and prolactin concentrations. Heart rate also increased whereas osmolality and haematocrit decreased. The major changes in hormone release occurred in the first 3 h period while, during the remaining 12 h, the stimulatory effect of transport was present but small. Body weight loss was similar under both stationary and driven conditions

Serum paraproteins in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia

The presence of paraproteins in the sera of 10 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) was investigated using immunoisoelectric focusing. Monoclonal immunoglobulins were found in nine of these 10 sera. Five sera contained a single monoclonal IgM paraprotein, one serum contained a single monoclonal IgG paraprotein, while three sera contained more than one monoclonal paraprotein--namely, IgM + IgD, IgM + IgG, and IgM + IgD + IgG. The results indicate that the malignant B cells of CLL may be at a later stage of differentiation than previously assumed and serum monoclonal immunoglobulin could be of value as a tumour marker