Eighty normal dogs of four morphologically disparate breeds (Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Miniature Poodle, Afghan Hound, Golden Retriever) (twenty of each breed), were studied by echocardiography to determine the importance of breed and weight in establishing normal echocardiographic reference ranges. Echocardiographic measurements included left-ventricular chamber dimension at systole and end-diastole, right-ventricular chamber dimension at end-diastole, interventricular septal thickness at systole and end-diastole, left-ventricular free wall thickness at systole and end-diastole, E-point septal separation, aortic root dimension at end-diastole, left atrial dimension, and fractional shortening. Analyses of covariance indicated that for all measurements except right-ventricular chamber dimension, the means were significantly different among breeds, after the differences in weight were taken into account. Echocardiographic measurements are variable even within the same breed. Breed must be considered in establishing echocardiographic measurement reference ranges. Echocardiographic values for each breed are presented. (Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 1992; 6:220-224) THE USE OF echocardiography in the diagnosis of cardiac disease is important and common in veterinary medicine. Measurement of cardiac structures and derived indices are a mainstay in the proper interpretation of the echocardiogram. Normal echocardiographic values for the dog have been published; however, because of the wide variation in canine size and somatotypic conformation, it is difficult to establish criteria for normalcy in this species. Previous reports have shown that many commonly used echocardiographic measurements are correlated with body weight or body surface areas.'-4 Published reference intervals for canine echocardiographic measurements have used regression analysis and the resulting 95% prediction intervals. The 95% prediction intervals have been broad. The broad ranges for normal dogs may be explained by the small number of dogs studied or because factors other than the weight of the animal are important in predicting normal ranges. One

The present study was conducted to evaluate growth promoting effect of anise seed Pimpinella anisum L. in broiler chickens in terms of live body weight, carcass characteristics (traits), organ weights, production traits and mortality percentage. For this purpose, four levels with 0, 0.3, 0.6 and 0.9% of aniseed powder were administered in feed from day 0 till the end of experiment (42 days of age). Positive results were obtained specially in body weight and carcass traits like dressing percentage, when aniseed was fed by broiler chicken. This study showed a significant at P<0.05 effect of different treatments on live body weight and dressing percentage, but there was no significant at P<0.05 effects of different treatments on mortality percentage. Also, there was a significant at P<0.05 effect of different treatments on Carcass cuts: breast, thigh and back percentage, but there was no significant at P<0.05 effects of different treatments on wings, heart, liver and gall bladder percentage. According to the results obtained of this study, it can be concluded from this study that additive dietary broiler chicken with anise seed improve production traits like live body weight, body weight gain, dressing percentage, FCR and production index. However, there were not significant effect on mortality and some internal body organ percentage.

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is a tropical and subtropical fruit that is native to Mexico and Central America. This fruit is gaining increasing worldwide acceptance and has received extensive marketing and a wide distribution due to its relevant nutritional benefits for human health. This work presents relevant information on the production, composition and application of avocado, with an emphasis on its by-products, focusing on the proper use of waste and the possibility of monetizing waste for nutritional and environmental purposes. The entire avocado is rich in bioactive compounds (pulp, peel and seed) and presents several health benefits, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities, as well as dermatological uses and others. Therefore, several food grade ingredients can be obtained from avocado wastes, particularly premium-grade fats or extracts with a high functional power. Studies should continue to identify the profiles and phytochemicals available to the business sector, which can also be implemented to valorize the nutritional and functional potential of avocado seeds and peels.

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