eChapters

DEFINITION

Lower level fracture in animals include any fracture of the region from knee joint to foot in forelimb and from hock joint to foot in hind iimbs.

CFERA’nVE PROCEOURE-H ere the principle of treatmient is application of cast and conjoint metal ‘U’ plate over the fractured site. Permanent immobilization of the limb should be done only after 7 days to subside.

Length to be covered-Forelimb-above knee joint and below foot. Hind limb-above hock joint and below foot, (as shown in fig.1)

Padding-6-12 layer thick padded cloth should be vmapped applying gum.s throughout the doth area, over the fracture, it should not be too tight but it should be strong. Sloughing off the hoof may result due to hypostatic congestion; hence the hooves should not be left open. (Cotton pad as shown in fig.2)

Definition

Fracture of radius-ulna & tibia-fibula comes under middle level fracture.

Methods of Fracture Repair

External coagtation bandage along with thomas splint application.

Technique for Fracture Repair

Animal controlled with lateral recumbency with fractured limb upward.

Definition

Fracture of humerus and femeur bone has been grouped under higher level fracture. Pinning as well as Thomas splint application are considered to be the approved method of immobilization for repair of these bone fracture.

Both method of repair are highly essential. Any one method of repair has been considered dangerous for the animal. Only pinning of the bone makes the limb to be turked where as only Thomas splint application disturbes the bone alignment at fracture site. Hence leaving one method of repair other method is not possible.

When above method of repair is not possible a modification of velpue sling can be attempted.

Indication: Highest level fracture (femur fracture) (Fig. 1)

Treatment: Modified Velpeau Sling application

Requisite

Adhesive gum

Damage Cloth

Aim:- To know the measurement for preparation of an appropriate size of ring of Thomas splint for a large animal.

Objective: Measurement of an appropriate size Thomas splint essential to avoid complications like tight fitting which may affect bone healing.

Materials required: 6mm G.l. wire, jute thread

Indicaion

To know the importance and method of net fabrication in large animals thomas splint. Objective;

To make the application of thomas splint lightest.

To avoid use of plaser of pahs bandage.

To prevent possible all direction of the immobilised limb in thomas splint.

Aim: To secure the foot on the distal end of Thomas splint.

Procedure

1. Foot is placed upon the distal end of Thomas splint.
2. The foot of the animal is wrapped V’- two round with bandage cloth.(Fig.1)
3. 2^nd round of bandage cloth is wrapped around the distal end of Thomas splint.(Fig.2)
4. In 3^rd attempt, the bandage roll is taken from the ground level of the foot & including the distal end of foot.(Fig.3)
5. The bandage roll is taken through the gap between anterior end of Thomas splint.(Fig.3)
6. In 4th attempt, the bandage roll is taken from the volar or plantar aspect of the limb and passed upon the ground level of foot as well as the distal end of Thomas splint.(Fig.4)
7. Final 2 rounds of bandage cloth is wrapped through entire surface of foot.

Reference: Tyagi R.P.S. and Singh J, (2013), Ruminant Surgery, CBS Publishers, New Delhi, pp-353,354

Definition

Digital tender include superficial digital flexor, DDF & suspensory ligament which is situated in volar & plantar upset of metacarpus and metatarsus. These tendons are generally transected during ploughing or intensional approach (Fig.1).

Sign

After cutting of these tendon the foot became flat and animal bears weight on fetlock is can’t able to walk freely.

Indication

Bilateral digital cancerous growth cauliflower like(fig-1),cancerous growth with continuous bleeding and myasis.

Aim

To remove the cancerous growth from healthy side by surgery. (Fig. 1-2)

Material Required

Amputation saw, thick padded with bandage roll ,a mixture of powder containing resin and naphthalene ball powder, bicycle tube protection sleeper(Fig-3),local anesthesia.

Aim

Study about method of apposing muscle, fascia, skin over amputed stump.

Indication

Proper healing of amputed stump, avoiding infections.

Description

Limb is amputed generally through diaphysis or by disarticulation method. Whatever is the amputation,the surgeon should always keep as much soft tissue as possible to cover the bone extrimities. It is difficult to achieve in large animal, when amputation is immediately below carpus or tarsus.

Joint disarticulation: Unwanted limb is amputed by joint disarticulation method.

Site of amputation along with skin-muscle flap ratio

Fore limb:
Elbow disarticulation
Carpo-metacarpal disarticulation
Fetlock disarticulation

Indication

Necrosis, Gangrene, Extensive injury of nerve of hind limb.

Malignant neoplasm

Frost bite. Burns

Incurable peripheral vascular disease.

1. The plaster-bandage wrap cast :(Negative cast)

The amputee was restrained on lateral recumbency keeping the amputed leg upwards.

A thin, moistened stockinet was pulled over the stump and it was maintained snugly in place by tying with a string at the top.

The moistened cast stockinet was marked with indeliable pencil indicating prominences with a cross and other sensitive areas with a circle (Fig.1).

Plaster bandages were then wrapped as pen requirement unit I the shell has a thickness of approximately 3mm in proximal third.

After plaster hardened, it was removed either by pulling out or longitudinal splitting with a cutter (Fig.2).

Introduction

In India there are about 200 distillery having installed capacity 1555.5 million liters per annum out of which 50% are of 30 KL/ per day capacity about 50% of remaining distillery are of 45 to 60 KL/ per day capacity there are few distilleries which having go 120 KL/ per day capacity. Distillery waste is one of the major industrial waste having high organic and inorganic constituents in the recent past the treatment and disposal of distillery waste has become a subject of debate of each and every forum.

Uncertainty : See information.

Underground economy : See black economy.

Underinsured : Refers to livestock which have some type of livestock health insurance, such as catastrophic care, but not enough insurance to cover all their health care costs.

Unemployment trap : When unemployed people who receive benefits, either from the goverment or from private charity, are deterred from taking a new job because the reduction or removal of benefit if they do will make them worse off. Also known as the poverty trap, it can be addressed, to an extent, by continuing to pay benefit for a while to unemployed people returning to work. (See welfare to work).

Phenols constitute a class of aromatic organic compounds having at least one hydroxyl group attached directly to the benzene ring.

The Total Horticulture production of the country is estimated to be an impressive level of 314.87 Million Tonnes during 2018–19.

Production of fruits is estimated to be about 97.38 million tonnes during 2018–2019.

Production of vegetables is estimated to be about 187.36 million tonnes during 2018–2019.

Production of spices is estimated to be about 8.61 million tonnes during 2018–2019.

Plantation crops are another potential sector with lot of opportunities for employment generation, foreign exchange earnings and overall supporting livelihood sustenance of mankind at large.

In short and sweet horticulture supplies quality food for health and mind, more calories per unit area, develops better resources and yields higher returns per unit area.

It also enhances land value and creates better purchasing power for those who are engaged in this industry. Therefore, horticulture is important for health, wealth, hygiene and happiness.

Similar to forest trees these horticultural trees will maintain the ecosphere. They help in transforming the micro climate.

It provides shelter to birds, reptiles and other micro organisms and add to the geo–ecological diversity on the land.

The Indian subcontinent is bestowed with a great variety of climate and soil conditions.

• Broadly the country can be divided into Tropical, subtropical and temperate regions.
• Within each broad category there are differences due to rainfall, humidity, altitude etc.
• Considering these aspects six different horticultural zones have been identified so that appropriate choice of the crops can be made and development is planned. They are;
• Temperate: Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, North Uttarakhand, Sikkim and part of Arunachal Pradesh.
• N.W. Subtropical: Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Central Uttar Pradesh and North M.P.
• N.E. Subtropical: Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur.
• Central tropical: South Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal.
• Southern tropical: Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• Coastal tropical humid: Konkan, Goa, Kerala, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

• It is the technology of intensive production system.
• In which modern, less environmental dependent and capital–intensive but with a capacity to improve productivity and farmer income.
• Use of plastics, protected cultivation, precision farming, high density planting (HDP), integrated nutrient management (INM), integrated pest management (IPM), mechanization etc., are important facets of hi-tech horticulture. There are many practices which helps to enhance horticulture production:

5.1 Kinds of Soil Water

The following re the three main classes of soil water:

(i)  Hygroscopic water. Water held tightly to the surface of soil particles by adsorption forces.

(ii) Capillary water. Water held by forces of surface tension and continuous films around soil particles and in the capillary spaces.

(iii) Gravitational water. Water that moves freely in response to gravity and drains out of the soil.

The resources on the land have started showing sign of faster depletion owing to the population explosion, over exploitation of mineral and water resources and also the improper exploitation and the related wasting of the natural resources. Hence a time has come to search for more and more newer natural resources amongst which the ocean resources gain supreme importance as this treasure is yet to be hunted due to the non - availability of suitable technology for the same.

Such ocean resources mainly include the mineralogical and biological resources. The ocean biological resources, their birth, growth, population and migration greatly depend as chlorophyll content, total dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, salinity etc. These parameters which constitute the marine environment drastically change in a quick span of time owing to the dynamically changing marine forces.

The Distributed Information Sub Center at Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur was set up in May 1995 as the 23^rd center of the BTISNet of DBT, Government of India. The area of specilisation of the Centre is Agricultural Biotech- nology. The Centre passed through several phases involving Internet connectivity through the ordinary C band connectivity, then the Ku band connectivity etc. Now the commu- nication facilities of the Centre have been strengthened by procuring an ISDN Internet connection and a connection through ASIANET. The Center caters to the needs of the students (UG, M Sc & Ph D) and faculty of all departments of the Colleges in the main campus as well as of the other nearby academic and research centers of the University. Over the years, DISC has come to occupy a position in the KAU in the area of Infor- mation Technology , information sources and services based on Internet, CD-ROMs etc. The Centre has procured databases in the field of Biotechnology and developed several databases in the field of Agriculture and related fields. The center regularly conducts training programmes in Bioinformatics. The research activities in the field of Bioinformatics have been enhanced. The Centre has now been upgraded to DIC to facilitate intensive research on Bioinformatics in an effective manner. During the year 2004, the Centre has also started offering a course on Bioinformatics for the M.Sc Biotechnology students of the College of Horticulture.

Biotechnology research in KAU spread over various research stations and cam- puses includes Plant Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology and Fisheries Biotechnol- ogy. Thrust areas for Plant Biotechnology include developing in vitro protocols for mass multiplication of elite types of fruit plants, ornamentals, medicinal plants, spices, plantation crops and forest species. The other thrust areas include checking clonal stability and genetic fidelity of in vitro derived plants using molecular markers, DNA finger printing and characterisation of germplasm with molecular markers, imparting biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in otherwise accepted crop varieties, genetic trans- formation for imparting/ improving expression of desired traits, in vitro germplasm conservation, enhancement of secondary metabolites production etc.

The crops identified for biotechnology research at KAU include spice crops like black pepper, ginger, turmeric, vanilla, cardamom; plantation crops like cashew, coco- nut and medicinal & aromatic plants such as Kaempferia, Trichopus, Gymnema, Holostemma and Coscinium. For improvement of such crops through molecular breed- ing, it is highly essential to identify/design specific probes/primers, micro-satellites, etc. By combining the research results generated at the Biotechnology Centre and informa- tion retrieved from the Bioinformatics Centre, suitable probes, primers are being de- signed for characterization and improvement of these unique crops through molecular breeding.

Procedure

Place a portion of your RNA sample (approximately 40 mg, hydrated) into a heavy walled Pyrex test tube. Add 1.0 ml of 1 N HCl and seal the tube.

Heat the tube in a boiling water bath for 1 hour.

Cool the tube, open it and place the contents into a centrifuge tube. Centrifuge the contents at 2,000 RPM in a clinical centrifuge to remove any insoluble residue. The supernatant contains your hydrolyzed RNA.

Prepare Whatman filter paper No. 1 for standard one-dimensional chromatography.

Using a micropipette, spot 20 µl of your hydrolyzate onto the paper, being careful to keep the spots as small as possible (repeated small drops are better than one large drop). Allow the spots to completely dry before proceeding.

Place the paper chromatogram into your chromatography tank and add the solvent (acetic acid:butanol:water). Allow the system to function for an appropriate time (approximately 36 hours for a 20 cm descending strip of Whatman #1). Remove the paper and dry it in a circulating air oven at 40° C for about 2 hours.

Locate the spots of nucleotides by their fluorescence under an ultra-violet light source. Expose the paper chromatogram to a UV light source and outline the spots using a light pencil. The order of migration from the point of origin is guanine (light blue fluorescence), adenine, cytilic acid and finally, uridylic acid.

After cafefully marking the spots, cut them out with cutters and place the paper cut outs into separately labeled 15 ml conical centrifuge tubes. Add 5.0 ml of 0.1 N HCl to each tube and allow the tubes to sit for several hours to elute the nucleotides from the paper.

Introduction

This method can be scaled to yield amounts of DNA ranging from less than ten to more than hundreds of micrograms of DNA. However, shearing forces are generated at every step, with the result that the DNA molecules in the final preparation rarely exceed 100-150 kb in length. DNA of this size is adequate for Southern analysis on standard agarose gels, as a template in Polymerase chain reactions (PCRs), and the construction of genomic DNA libraries in bacteriophage Lambda vectors.

Principle

The method described in protocol involves digesting eukaryotic cells or tissues with proteinase K in the presence of EDTA (to sequester divalent cations and thereby inhibit DNases) and solubilizing membranes and denaturing proteins with a detergent such as SDS. The nucleic acids are then purified by phase extractions (isopropanol). Contaminating RNA is eliminated by digestion with an RNase, and low molecular-weight substances are removed by dialysis (or centrifugation).

To isolate a streptomycin resistant mutant of E.coli by Indirect selection using Replica Plate Method.

Introduction

J. Lederberg & his wife E. M. Lederberg devised this technique in 1952.

U.V. light coming from the sun emits strong radiation to extent the antibacterial effect in the microbial population. However it has a very short penetration power, UV light is used as a mutagenic agent & was used by Beedle & Tatum to obtain biochemical mutation. The mutation rate is only once in 10^-9 cells per population. Then hence using mutagens like UV light by 10 to 1000 folds will increase this mutation rate.

In isolation of the mutant using UV light the dose of UV light is measured by its units/nm² organisms. The time selected for the mutation is calculated on the basis of 0.1 to 1% survival & a suitable biochemical character is used to evaluate the mutation.

Family : Amaranthaceae

Flowering: August-October

Fruiting: November-January

Botanical description: The plant is a perennial sub-erect, diffuse or prostrate herb, growing upto 0.3-2 meter high, branched from the base and often also from above. Stem and branches are densely woolly with whitish or yellowish, shaggy hairs. Leaves are alternately arranged, nearly circular to lanceo shaped-elliptic, wedge-shaped at the base, rounded to sharp at the tip. Flower spikes are stalkless, solitary or usually in clusters in leaf axils, silky white to creamy in colour, forming a long inflorescence leafy to the ultimate spikes.

Ecology: This plant is commonly found in open forests on mountain slopes, on waste and disturbed ground and coastal scrubs. The plant is widespread in drier parts of the tropics and subtropics.

Use: Leaves are collected, fried and then eaten

Urinary system is relatively simple and consists of a pair of kidneys, a pair of ureters, the bladder and the urethra. The kidneys are the main organs that filter the blood and produce the urine while the rests of the organs of this system are simply accessory structures that are used for transport and storage of urine. For proper functioning of the metabolic processes of the body, it is essential to constantly maintain the chemical composition and volume of the tissue fluid. This is called the homeostasis. This particular task is performed by the urinary system and in particular by the kidneys.

Kidneys

The kidneys right and left, are bean shaped red brown relatively large glands situated in the abdominal cavity. These are placed retroperitoneal against the dorsal wall of the abdomen on either side of the spine. The right kidney is about half of its length ahead of the left kidney and it fits into the renal impression on the caudate lobe of the liver. An indentation at about the middle of the medial border is the hilus of the kidney through which pass the renal vessels, nerves and ureters. Both the kidneys are covered by a thin capsule formed of fibrous tissue which surrounds the parenchyma of the kidneys. The capsule can be easily striped away from the kidney. The function of the kidneys is to maintain the volume and composition of the plasma,regulate water, ion, and pH levels, retain nutrients and excrete fluid wastes, toxins and excess electrolytes. The kidneys achieve these functions through glomerular filtration, solute reabsorption, tubular secretion, water balance and acid-base regulation.

The renal capsule provides a stiff outer shell to maintain the shape and protect the inner soft parenchyma. Deep to the capsule is the soft, dense vascular cortex. Several cone shaped pyramids form the medulla deep to the cortex. The pyramids are aligned with their bases facing outward towards the cortex and their apices point inward towards the centre of the kidney. Each apex connects to a minor calyx, a small hollow tube that collects urine. The minor calyces merge to form three major calyces, which further merge to form the hollow renal pelvis at the centre of the kidney. The urine collected into the pelvis drains into the ureter that exits through the hilus of the kidney.

Peripheral nerves

The peripheral nervous system (PNS) is the part of the nervous system that lies outside the brain and spinal cord. It includes cranial nerves, spinal nerves and their roots and branches, peripheral nerves and neuromuscular junctions. In the peripheral nervous system, bundles of nerve fibres or axons conduct information to and from the central nervous system. The primary role of the peripheral nervous system is to connect the central nervous system to the bones, muscles and skin of the body trunk and the limbs and the organs to allow the complex movements and behaviour.

The peripheral nervous system is divided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic (visceral) nervous system.

The somatic nervous system is associated with skeletal muscle voluntary control of body movents. It consists of afferent and efferent nerves. Afferent nerves are concerned with relaying sensation from the body to the central nervous system. The efferent nerves are responsible for sending out commands from central nervous system to the body, stimulating muscle contraction. This system is made up of nerves that connect to the skin, sensory organs and all skeletal muscles.

The autonomic nervous system is the part of peripheral nervous system that controls the visceral functions which occur below the level of consciousness. It consists of two divisions, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Horse

Articulations of bones of skull

Most of the joints of the bones of skull are sutures similar to those in ox. However, in the adult horse many of the sutures are effaced. The ossification of the cartilage between the basilar part of the occipital and the sphenoid occurs quite earlier. The fusion of the mandibular symphysis takes place at about second to third month after birth. The temporomandibular articulation has an additional ligament which consists of elastic tissue. It connects the post-glenoid process to the caudal border of the ramys of the mandible.

Hyoidean articulations

In the hyoidean articulations, there is only one intercornual articulation in horse instead of the proximal and distal cornual articulations appearing in the ox. The middle cornu is generally lodged in the articulation between the great and small cornu.

Articulations of thoracic vertebrae

These are (1) Intercentral articulations which are amphiarthroses formed between the bodies of the adjacent vertebrae and (2) Inter neural articulations which are diarthroses formed between the articular processes of the vertebrae. These articulations are similar to the articulations described for typical vertebrae of the cervical region. The only difference is that the supraspinous ligament in the thoracic part of vertebral column is single as against two parts the funicular and lamellar parts of the cervical part of this ligament. The supra spinous ligament in the thoracic part is the backward continuation of the funicular division of its cervical part which extends medially behind from the occipital eminence , passes through the cervical region as nuchal ligament and continues behind over the summits of the spinous processes of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and finally terminates on the sacrum.

The wall of the thorax and its contents (the viscera) are supplied by the following branches of the thoracic aorta.

Brachiocephalic trunk

The brachiocephalic trunk (Fig. 3-4 A) is a large vessel distributing arterial branches to the head, neck, thoracic limbs (fore limbs) and the cranial part of thorax especially to the region of the withers, thoracic floor and parts of the cranial third of the lateral thoracic wall. It arises from the convexity of the aortic arch between the right auricle and pulmonary artery within the pericardium. It is directed cranially and dorsally in the cranial mediastinum ventral to the trachea. It is partly covered on the right side by the cranial vena cava and on the left it is crossed by the vagus nerve. The recurrent laryngeal nerve runs between it and the trachea. It gives off the left subclavian artery opposite the second intercostal space or the third rib and the right subclavian artery opposite the first rib and then continues cranially as the common bicarotid trunk.

The subclavian arteries entirely furnish blood supply to the thoracic limbs. Except for different (separate) origins and the left artery being longer than the right artery, the right and left subclavian arteries are identical in their course and distribution. A short portion of each artery is within the thoracic cavity and is called as intrathoracic course. Each of these arteries leave the thorax by encircling and crossing the cranial border of the first rib below the insertion of the scalinus ventralis muscle and above the brachial vein. The intrathoracic branches of the subclavian arteries are the costocervical, caudal cervical and internal thoracic arteries.

The lymphatics of the thoracic region are comprised of large number of lymph nodes which are arranged in different groups like the aortic, sternal, mediastinal and bronchial. The efferent ducts from these lymph nodes ultimately join the thoracic duct which carries lymph from all over the body except the head neck and fore limb to open in the cranial venacava.

Thoracic aortic and sternal lymph nodes

The lymphatics of the thoracic and sternal region is comprised of thoracic aortic, intercostal, cranial and caudal sternal, and the xiphoid lymph nodes and the thoracic duct which conducts the lymph collected from most of the parts of the body except the head, neck and fore limbs.

The thoracic aortic lymph nodes are located along the dorsolateral border of the aorta, ventral to the sympathetic trunk. The afferents for these lymph nodes are received from the muscles of thoracic wall, diaphragm, pleural and pericardial sacs and the intercostal lymph nodes. The efferents from the thoracic aortic lymph nodes are connected to the thoracic duct either directly or through other lymph nodes of the thoracic cavity.

Arteries of thorax

Horse

The bronchial and oesophageal arteries in horse have a common trunk of origin as broncho-oesophageal artery. It arises from the convexity of aortic arch, passes ventrally and caudally on the right side of the aorta and divides into bronchial and oesophageal arteries. The oesophageal artery passes caudally in the caudal mediastinum along the dorsal face of oesophagus and supplies branches to oesophagus, caudal mediastinal lymph nodes and pleura and anastomoses with the pleuro-oesophageal branch of the gastric artery.

The intercostal arteries are eighteen pairs in number. The first pair arises from the superior artery, the next three pairs come from subcostal artery and the remaining four arise from the thoracic aorta.

The phrenic arteries are not variable in origin as in the ox. They are small and are two to three in number. They arise on the ventral face of the aorta while it passes through the hiatus aorticus and enter the crura of the diaphragm.

The rest of the arterial branches of thorax in horse are similar to those in ox.

Sacroiliac articulation

The sacroiliac articulation (Fig. 4-2 A) is a synovial (diorthroidal) joint formed between the articular surface on the wing of the sacrum and pelvic surface of the proximal extremity of the ilium. The articular area of the wing of the sacrum has a rough eminence while that of the ilium has a reciprocal rough depression. Both the articular areas are covered by a thin layer of cartilage. The joint cavity is a thin like a cleft and is crossed by fibrous bands.

The joint capsule is closely fitting around the margins of the articular surfaces. The joint capsule is reinforced by the ventral sacroiliac ligament which surrounds the joint. The dorsal part of this ligament is quite strong and it occupies the angle between the ilium and wing of the sacrum. The movements are inappreciable at this joint.

Horse

The kidneys of horse slightly differ in form and size than those of ox. The outer surfaces of kidneys of horse are smooth and plane as against lobulated kidneys of ox. The right kidney is like the heart of the plying cards while left kidney is bean shaped. The right kidney is placed under the vertebral ends of the last two ribs and first lumbar transverse process. The left kidney is situated under the last rib and the first two or three lumbar transverse processes. The hilus of both the kidneys is at about the middle of the medial border of the respective kidneys. The cranial extremity of the right kidney is thicker while the caudal extremity of the left kidney is wider and thicker. The hilus of the kidneys lead into the renal sinus in the interior for the lodgment of the renal pelvis which is the dilated origin of the ureter. The inner central part of the medulla forms a concave ridge called the renal crest. It presents numerous openings through which the large ducts open into the renal pelvis. This part is called the area cribrosa.

The ureter of the horse kidney begins at the renal pelvis and is about 70 cm in length and 6 to 8 mm in diameter.

The urinary bladder of horse is shorter but wider than that of the ox. Its capacity is about 2.8 to 3.8 liters. The rest of the features are same as those of ox.

Lumbar nerves

There are six pairs of lumbar spinal nerves. Each of these, after emerging out of the intervertebral foramen, gives out firstly a meningeal branch which reenters the vertebral canal through the intervertebral foramen and supplies the meninges. Next to this it furnishes the ramus communicans to the sympathetic chain ganglion. After this, the lumbar spinal nerves divide into dorsal and ventral branches. The dorsal branches are smaller and they supply the muscles and skin on the loins and croup. The ventral branches are larger and they slightly differ from each other in their course and distribution. In their initial course, they pass under the psoas minor and psoas major muscles emerge at the lateral border of the psoas major and supply branches to the sublumbar muscles. Hereafter, they differ in their course and distribution.

The ventral branch of the first lumbar nerve passes on the medial face of the quadratus lumborum, runs down the medial face of the transversus abdominis, the obliquus abdominis internus and externus and finally reaches the rectus abdominis, supply all these muscles and the skin on the lateral wall and the floor of the abdomen.

The ventral branch of the second lumbar nerve has two divisions. The cranial division passes ventrally and caudally to reach the external angle of the ilium, supplies branches to the oblique muscles of the abdomen and the skin over this region and terminates in the rectus abdominis muscle. The caudal division passes caudally and laterally under the quadratus lumborum, supplies branches to the muscles and skin at the flank region and then crosses the circumflex iliac vessels. Here it joins a similar branch of the third lumbar nerve and forms the genitofemoral nerve.

Horse

There are six pairs of lumbar, five pairs of sacral and five pairs of coccygeal spinal nerves in horse. Their origin, course and distribution is in general similar to those in ox.

The number of sympathetic lumbar and coccygeal ganglia is just the same in horse as that of ox. However, the number of sacral sympathetic ganglia is four in horse as against five ganglia of ox.

The greater (major) splanchnic nerve in horse is formed by the fibres received from sixth or seventh to fourteenth or fifteenth thoracic sympathetic ganglia. It is smaller in its cranial thoracic part but as it proceeds caudally it gradually increases in size so much that it becomes larger than the thoracic sympathetic trunk in the caudal thoracic part. It receives a communicating branch from the lesser splanchnic nerve before terminating in the coeliacomesenteric ganglion.

The lesser (minor) splanchnic nerve is formed by fibres received from the last three or four thoracic and the first two lumbar sympathetic ganglia. It communicates with the greater splanchnic nerve and the renal and adrenal plexuses and terminates in the coeliac plexus and ganglion.

The rest of the features of spinal nerves and autonomic plexuses of the abdomen and pelvis in horse are almost similar to those of ox except those related to the distribution of fibres to the parts of ruminant versus simple stomach.

Horse

The shoulder joint of horse has same features as those of ox. However, this joint in horse exhibits greater degree of mobility.

The elbow joint of horse is almost similar to that of ox except that there is only one interosseous ligament in horse against two in ox.

The carpal joint of horse has only minor differences from that of ox. The special feature of the joint in horse is that it has two additional ligaments, the superior check ligament and the inferior check ligament. The superior check ligament starts from the rough elevation on the distal third of the caudal surface, close to the medial border of the radius and is inserted to the tendon of superficial digital flexor above the carpus. The inferior check ligament is the continuation of the caudal (palmer) capsular ligament of the carpus. It joins the tendon of deep digital flexor at about midway on the palmer surface of the metacarpus. The check ligaments assist the tendons of flexor muscles of the digits after severe exertion to keep then tight and prevent flexion.

Site for nerve block

Brachial plexus block

The brachial plexus is the key source of nerve supply to the fore limb. Loss of sensation below the elbow is achieved by blocking the nerve roots contributing to this plexus. In ox it is formed by the ventral branches of 6th to 8th cervical and 1st and 2nd thoracic spinal nerves. These nerve roots pass over the lateral aspect of the middle third of the first rib before anastomosing to form the plexus. All these nerve roots can be blocked by injecting anaesthetic solution on these nerves at the middle third of the lateral surface of the first rib. To reach this site, the needle is inserted between the thoracic wall and the medial face of the shoulder at the level of acromion process of the scapula about 12 to 14 cm cranial to it horizontally in the caudal direction.

The blocking of brachial plexus is indicated for operations for reducing the fractures of the bones of fore arm and manus.

Horse

The hip joint has an additional ligament called the pubio-femoral ligament. It arises from the prepubic tendon, passes dorsally and laterally and then caudally and lodges into the subpubic (pubio-femoral) groove, penetrates the capsular ligament, passes through the acetabular notch and is inserted into the fovea capitis behind the round ligament on the head of femur. This ligament is peculiar to solipeds and it prevents the side kicking. The absence of this ligament in ruminants allows them abduction freely and that is how the ruminants can kick sideways. As against this, the equines can kick only back way. The other difference about the hip joint in horse is that the cotyloid ligament is narrower because of the deeper acetabulum.

The stifle joint of horse in general resembles that of ox except that the middle patellar ligament is not so prominent as that in ox.

The tibio-fibular articulation in horse is a diarthrosis and an amphiarthrosis. The diarthrosis is formed between the lateral condyle of tibia and the head of the fibula. It has intimate capsular ligament. The amphiarthrosis is formed between the shafts of the tibia and the fibula. The shafts of the two bones are binded by the proximal and distal interosseous ligaments.

The hock joint of horse has minor differences with those of ox owing to the difference in the number of tarsal bones and their arrangement. The synovial membrane is supported everywhere except at the dorsomedial (craniomedial) aspect where it bulges out in the cases of bog-spavin. If there is a distension of tarsal sheath, it bulges out as two rounded swellings on either sides of the tendon of deep digital flexor. The movements at the hock joint are very limited.

Horse

The lumbosacral plexus in horse is formed by last three lumbar and first two sacral nerves, similar to that in ox. The caudal gluteal nerve divides into two branches. The medial branch supplies the superficial gluteal muscle in addition to the middle and deep gluteal and biceps femoris muscles. The lateral branch reaches the level of tuber ischii and terminates into the semitendinosus muscle at the perineal region. The sciatic nerve is almost similar to that of ox in the disposition and distribution of its branches. The superficial and deep peroneal nerves are also similar to those of ox. The tibial nerve divides at the distal third of the leg into medial and lateral plantar nerves. Each plantar nerve divides at the fetlock into cranial, middle and caudal digital nerves.

Dog

The lumbosacral plexus in dog is formed by the last four or five lumbar and first two or three sacral nerves. The cranial gluteal nerve receives fibres from sixth and seventh lumbar and first and second sacral nerves. The caudal gluteal nerve arises from sixth and seventh lumbar and first sacral nerves. The sciatic nerve derives fibres from sixth and seventh lumbar and first and second sacral nerves. The lateral cutaneous nerve arises either from sciatic or from the peroneal nerve. The peroneal nerve divides into superficial and deep branches, similar to those of ox. The tibial nerve divides into medial and lateral plantar nerves at the level of distal third of the leg. The medial plantar nerve divides at the metatarsus into medial and lateral branches. The medial branch becomes the first plantar common digital nerve. It divides to form the plantar proper digital nerves of the first and second digits. The lateral branch divides into three plantar metatarsal nerves which unite, in the intermetatarsal space with the three plantar common digital nerves of the lateral plantar nerve. Each of these united plantar common digital nerves descends and after reaching at the metatarso-phalangeal articulation into three plantar proper digital nerves. The lateral plantar nerve, divides into three plantar common digital nerves which join the three plantar metatarsal nerves and form the plantar (caudal) proper digital nerves. The united proper digital nerves supply the second to fifth digit and terminate into the corresponding intermetatarsal space.

Phenotype is the product of genotype and environment. In presence of genotype x environment interaction (differential performance of genotypes over the environments), phenotype is the product of genotype, environment and genotype x environment interaction. A stable genotype is one which interacts less with the environment or shows a minimum of g x e interaction. When g x e interaction is significant, one must investigate the specific types of g x e interactions such as genotype x location, genotype x year and genotype x location x year interactions by growing selected genotypes over multiple locations and years. Normally, the genotypes are evaluated for three years. A typical analysis of variance for g x e interaction is given in Table 7.1 (Allard, 1960).