Animal Medicine Research Articles

Rainwater Harvesting and System Design in Livestock Farms

The most critical threat that global warming poses is undoubtedly water scarcity. Especially in the agricultural sector, water is an indispensable component. Therefore, it is essential to develop alternative water resources and methods against water scarcity that threatens our future. In this study, rainwater harvesting potentials on the roofs of livestock barns were determined, and system designs were made. The study was carried out at Bursa Uludag University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Animal Health and Animal Production, Research and Application Center. According to the study results, the most rainwater was harvested in December, and the least was harvested in August. While the required water requirement in the examined poultry farms can be supplied at 71.5% in December, 13.3% can be completed in August. In the sheep farms, 90.4% of the need can be supplied with 216.9 m3 of water collected in December, while water can be transferred to other months. While it is possible to supply 57.4% of the cattle in the winter months, this rate drops to 16.4% in the summer months. In dairy cattle farms, on the other hand, while the need can be supplied in winter with rainwater harvesting, the requirement can be supplied by storing the existing water and transferring it to different periods. Rainwater harvesting systems designed for livestock farms can pay for themselves in 7 years at the latest.

Advancing antimicrobial stewardship in companion animal veterinary medicine: a qualitative study on perceptions and solutions to a One Health problem.

The term antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is used to describe the coordinated efforts and programs required to sustain the clinical efficacy of antimicrobials and slow the development of antimicrobial resistance. However, companion animal veterinarians are provided with few "cage-side" resources to achieve these goals. The aims of our study were to understand the current perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge of AMS among companion animal veterinarians and to source technology-based solutions that reduce barriers to judicious antimicrobial drug prescribing. 6 focus groups were conducted via a teleconference platform. The focus group recordings were transcribed and coded thematically using a grounded theory approach and inductive coding. A total of 25 companion animal veterinarians participated in 6, 1-hour focus groups. Two themes emerged from the data: (1) Veterinarians feel that AMS is important and understand the principles of AMS, but experience barriers to practicing judicious AMD use principles. (2) Veterinarians agree that technology can promote AMS, but express that a tool needs to support their prescribing decisions, provide accurate and concise stewardship information, and be integrated into the existing workflow. For an AMS technology tool to be successful in improving AMS in companion animal medicine, veterinarians need centralized information on antimicrobial use, improved access to geographical AMR patterns, and communication support with clients and their hospital teams.

The distribution of musk and river deer in local chronicles in Guizhou

Some information and records about musk (She, ) and river deer (Zhang, /) can be found in local chronicles or documents in Guizhou. They were taken as the same species in terms of a medicinal animal. The records for their living areas in Guizhou were neither clear nor in detail in the Ming Dynasty, but were specific in the Qing Dynasty and more concise in the period of the Republic of China. The living areas for musk and river deer reduced from the Ming Dynasty to the Republic of China. Such change was believed to be the result of the natural environment and the social factors as well, such as the reclamation of mountain areas in Guizhou, the reduction of forests, and the demand and resulting exorbitant prices that led to excessive hunting.

The Development Trend of Medical Animals in the Last Ten Years: A Review.

There are many kinds of medicinal animal resources, which are an important part of traditional Chinese medicine resources (TCM). However, the use of medicinal animals in TCM, especially wild animals, has become a sensitive problem at home and abroad. Systematic analysis on the research status and direction of medical animals in the last 10 years which for promoting the sustainable development of Chinese medicine. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, CNKI, VIP database and WanFang Database were selected, and SPSS 25.0 software was used to analyze annual publications, journals, global distribution, authors, coauthors and co-authors rate, author institutions and high-frequency keywords. Chinese Journal of modern Chinese medicine occupies the majority articles with a high co-authorship rate, but low impact factors. The development of medical animals around the world is not balanced. The top three countries are China, United Kingdom and United States. However, these countries have less exchanges and cooperation with each other. The Institute of TCM of Chinese Academy owns the most research achievements. At present, the hot spots involve the identification and quality of medical animals, applied basic research. The identification, quality and applied basic research of medical animals are still worthy of increasing research investment. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen exchanges and international cooperation among different countries in TCM, and promote the high-quality development in medical animals.

Benefits of using LVTs/assistants in food animal medicine


 The use of veterinary technicians or veterinary assistants in food animal medicine, especially cow-calf medicine, is highly underutilized, and is an area that should be more thoroughly explored. Often, bovine veterinarians bring no help for chute side activities such as bangs vaccinating, pregnancy diagnosis, ultrasound, breeding soundness exams, and routine vaccina­tion of cattle. A very obvious benefit to bringing a technician to the field is increased efficiency of work, as most procedures at the chute are often where activities take place that ultimately decrease pace. That being said, many other benefits of bring­ing trained help often go unrecognized, such as quality of chute side activities, increased client/clinic relationship, and most importantly, value-added services. With the rise in lay people diagnosing pregnancies and conducting breeding soundness exams, adding perceived value is crucial in maintaining high-value services in your clinic, as well as separating ourselves from the lay person.

My experience with the VMLRP and VSPG programs: They’re not trying to kill you… it just seems that way

Over the past 50 years, cattle prices have remained relatively stable and the cost of ordinary consumer goods has increased moderately, but the price of a veterinary education has skyrock­eted. The USDA’s Veterinary Medical Loan Repayment Program (VMLRP) and Veterinary Services Grant Program (VSGP) are well designed systems that incentivize veterinarians to practice food animal medicine in underserved, often rural, areas.

Mao’s Bestiary: Medicinal Animals and Modern China, written by Liz P.Y. Chee

Mao’s Bestiary: Medicinal Animals and Modern China, written by Liz P.Y. Chee

Diversity, Composition and Economic Importance of Herbaceous Plants within the Federal Polytechnic Kaura Namoda Campus, Zamfara State, Nigeria.

The diversity, composition and economic importance of herbaceous species within the federal polytechnic Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State was studied. The study's objective was to identify, document and evaluate the diversity and abundance of herbaceous species in the study area. The point-centered quarter (PCQ) method was employed in each sampling point. All nearest living herb species encountered were listed. Data obtained were quantitatively analyzed for Relative density (RD) and relative frequency (RF). Species diversity was calculated using Simpson’s index and the Shannon-Weiner index. A total of 64 species of herb were identified belonging to 19 Families. Acanthaceae, Aizoaceae, Cleomaceae, Connaraceae, Laminaceae, Oxalidaceae, and Plantaginaceae had (1) species each. Convolvulaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Euphobiaceae had (2) species each. Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Malvaceae, Pedaliaceae and Poaceae had (3) species each. Solonaceae is the only family with (4) species. Fabaceae is the only family with the highest number of species (32). A total of 494 individuals of herbaceous species were in the study area. Site A has the highest number of individuals (117), followed by Site D (103), Site C (95) and E (82). Tephrosia pedicellata has the highest species density of 3.2. Leptadenia hastata, Centaurea perrottetii, Gynandropsis gynandra, Euphorbia balsamifera, Senna obtusifolia, Abrus precatorius, Desmodium velutinum, Crotalaria goreensis, Crotalaria pallida var.obovata, Tephrosia pedicellata, Indigofera oblongifolia, Tephrosia vogelii, Tephrosia linearis, Biophytum petersianum, Sesamum radiatum, Solanum lycopersicum has the highest Frequency (100%). Senna tora has the highest relative abundance (5), and Euphorbia balsamifera has a Relative Density of 3.8. Euphorbia balsamifera has the highest relative density of 5, and Ipomea asarifolia has an IVI of 7. Shannon Weiner's diversity index for herbaceous species showed a total of 4.0097. Herbaceous plants are of economic importance; they serve as food, fooder, medicine, fuel, and other purposes. We recommended that there is a need for the conservation of herbaceous species within the Polytechnic to avoid harvesting the herbs for medicinal purposes and animals foraging on the grasses.

Elemental Composition of Kelp Thalli (<i>Laminariae thalli</i>) of Various Origins

Brown seaweeds (Laminariaceae) vary considerably in the content of toxic and essential elements; these variations depend on the taxonomic group and geographical factors. Seaweeds are extensively used in the food industry and widely applied in medicine for both humans and animals. Therefore, it is relevant to examine the correlation between the elemental composition and the geographical origin of kelp thalli obtained from different sources.The aim of the study was to collect, collate, and analyse primary and secondary data on the accumulation of essential, toxic and potentially carcinogenic elements, including iodine, in the thalli of brown seaweeds (Laminariaceae).Materials and methods. This study investigated the concentrations of 17 elements in Laminaria spp. (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Se, Pb, Sr, V, Zn, and I). Experiments were conducted on an Agilent 7900 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The authors studied publications on the elemental composition of brown seaweeds (Laminariaceae) using literature search and data analysis methods.Results. This article reflects the updated classification of brown seaweeds (Laminariaceae) and summarises information about the mechanisms by which iodine and other elements accumulate in the thallus. The authors established species-specific variations in the order of element uptake and in the accumulation of elemental toxicants. The mutual influence of elements on their accumulation in brown seaweeds (Laminariaceae) was evaluated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients.Conclusions. The study results can inform the implementation of a risk-based quality control strategy for herbal medicinal products aimed at reducing human exposure to toxic elements. The authors suggest that the upper limit of iodine content in kelp-based food products should be standardised.

Multiplex PCR for detection of Anaplasma marginale, A. bovis and A. platys in cattle.

Anaplasma genus has been classified under the family Anaplasmataceae of order Rickettsiales, which contains the spp. Anaplasma marginale, Anaplasma bovis, Anaplasma centrale, Anaplasma platys and Anaplasma phagocytophilum is accountable for a broad range of diseases in both man and animal medicine around the globe. A multiplex PCR procedure was designed to identify A. marginale, A. bovis, and A. platys simultaneously by employing species-specific primers targeting the msp4 (Anaplasma marginale), 16S rRNA (Anaplasma bovis), and groEL (Anaplasma platys) genes. The sensitivity of the assay was ascertained by tenfold dilutions of DNA obtained from cattle blood infected with A. marginale, A. bovis, and A. platys was used to evaluate the test sensitivity. A total of 31 Anaplasma genus positive samples were subjected to mPCR by using species specific primers for simultaneous detection of all the three species. All the 31 samples showed amplification of 753bp fragment specific for A. marginale and 61.29% of the samples showed amplification of 547bp fragment specific for A. bovis. The 470bp DNA fragment specific for A. platys was found in 96.7% of samples. The lower limit of detection of the method for A. platys, A. marginale and A. bovis was found to be 4.4, 0.44 and 0.044ng/µl, respectively.

Russian collection of Brucella abortus vaccine strains: annotation, implementation and genomic analysis.

Over the past 10 years, immunization of cattle in Russia has been performed using vaccines from Brucella abortus strains 82, 19 and 75/79. To prevent brucellosis in small ruminants, two vaccines have been used, from the Brucella melitensis strain REV-1 and the B. abortus strain 19; note that twice as many animals have been immunized with the former vaccine than with the latter vaccine. The disadvantage of using these preparations is the formation of prolonged post-vaccination seropositivity, which is especially pronounced in animals after immunization with vaccines from B. abortus strain 19 and B. melitensis strain REV-1. This study aims to perform the whole genome sequencing of Brucella vaccine strains from the Russian collection. A bioinformatics analysis of the genomic data proved that the vaccine strains 75/79AB, 82, R-1096, and the KV 17/100 belong to ST-2, 104 M to ST-1, KV 13/100 to ST-5. This analysis allowed us to characterize vaccine strains's phylogenetic relationships and to prove the close relation of vaccine strains 75/79AB, 82, R-1096. Also, we defined candidate mutations in genes pmm, wbdA, wbkA, wboA, and eryB, which could be responsible for the attenuated virulence of vaccine strains. The complete genomic sequences of B. abortus strains make further studies of bacterial pathogenicity determinants and virulence phenotype feasible, as well as their use in quality control of animal medicines.

Turn a Shrimp into a Firefly: Monitoring Tissue pH in Small Crustaceans Using an Injectable Hydrogel Sensor with Infrared Excitation and Visible Luminescence

Various implantable optical sensors are an emerging tool in animal physiology and medicine that may provide real-time information about body fluids without tissue extraction. Such sensors are often fluorescence-based and require strong visible external illumination during signal acquisition, which causes anxiety or even stress for small animals and thus may influence the physiological parameters being measured. In order to overcome this obstacle, here, we combined a fluorescent molecular pH probe with upconverting particles within a hydrogel fiber suitable for injection into small crustaceans. The green luminescence of the particles under non-visible infrared illumination excited fluorescence of the molecular probe and allowed for pH measurements after correction of the probe readout for luminescence intensity. The developed optical setup based on a common microscope ensured effective visualization of the sensor and spectral pH measurements through the translucent exoskeleton of the amphipod (Amphipoda, Crustacea) Eulimnogammarus verrucosus, endemic to ancient Lake Baikal. Testing the sensors in these cold-loving crustaceans under environmentally relevant temperature increases showed alkalization of amphipod internal media by 0.2 soon after the start of the experiment, while further increases led to acidification by 0.5. The applied approach for simple sensor preparation can be useful in building other implantable optical sensors for light-sensitive organisms.

A Pilot Program to Assess and Address the Veterinary Health Care Needs of the Hispanic Community in Knoxville, TN

This study was initiated to establish a partnership between The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine’s Shelter Medicine and Companion Animal Initiative of Tennessee’s (SM/CAIT) program and a historically underserved and growing population, Knoxville’s Latino community. Specifically, this pilot study aimed to better understand the interests and needs of Knoxville’s Spanish-speaking pet owners through the community engagement organization Centro Hispano de East Tennessee (CH). We sought to understand this community’s access to veterinary care and identify any perceived barriers. The study also aimed to elucidate ways SM/CAIT can tailor outreach programs to underserved populations with pets and improve animal welfare throughout East Tennessee. Investigators adapted a survey created by research staff from AlignCare, a program developed to identify access to veterinary care issues and limitations in underserved populations. The survey was translated into Spanish and offered by the SM/CAIT team to CH members attending events and classes at their organization’s community center. All participation was voluntary and anonymous, and participants received one free, engraved pet tag for completing the survey. Surveys were collected and descriptively analyzed. (UTK IRB-19-05365-XM) Key survey results (n=45) showed that 28% of Centro community members obtained pets through an animal shelter or rescue organization, friends or family gifted 28%, and 26% came from breeders or pet stores. The primary reason for pet ownership included a love of animals and the perspective that the pet is part of the family (76%). Forty-eight percent reported that pets were not spayed or neutered (s/n), and of these, 39% said s/n was too expensive, whereas 22% did not know where to receive s/n services. Respondents reported that they would access local veterinary services for annual exams (56%), vaccinations (82%), and parasite prevention (58%). Twenty-six percent identified a time over the past two years when they could not get needed treatment for a sick pet, the primary reason being lack of affordable care. Other reasons included not knowing where to find care (22%), language barrier (11%), and a concern that the care provider would think badly of them for not seeking care earlier (22%). Participants said they would be interested in services and resources on vaccines and parasite prevention (64%), training and behavior (36%), information on clinics, and pet care resources (29%). The survey findings led to implementation of a vaccine clinic for Knoxville’s Latino community. The municipal shelter attended, and local resources and AVMA brochures in Spanish were provided on pet ownership, internal parasites, external parasites, vaccines, heartworm disease, and spay-neuter options.

Next-generation DNA sequencing offers diagnostic advantages over traditional culture testing.

While the clinical utility of next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) as a diagnostic tool for infections in humans and traditional pets has been demonstrated, there is a lack of data regarding its utility for exotic animals. For exotic patients, traditional culturing is especially challenging for anaerobic and fungal pathogens. Therefore, diagnosis often relies on PCR, which provides a high degree of sensitivity and specificity, although it targets only a predetermined, finite pathogen panel. NGS provides the same benefits as PCR, while also offering de novo identification and quantification of all bacteria and fungi present in a clinical sample, including novel pathogen discovery. Clinical samples from 78 exotic animal patients were collected simultaneously for conventional culture testing and NGS analysis. Results provided by each laboratory were compared for the presence and absence of bacterial and fungal pathogens and commensals. Results showed large bacterial and fungal species diversity in the study cohort and a lack of sensitivity of microbial culture testing. Culture failed to grow 15% of putative bacterial and 81% of putative fungal pathogens that were identified by NGS. The probability of a "no growth" diagnosis was 14% higher for bacteria and 49% higher for fungi with culture versus NGS testing if fungal culture was conducted. Culture testing failed to diagnose a substantial number of both bacterial and fungal pathogens, which were detected by NGS. This highlights the limitations of traditional culture-based testing and displays the clinically advanced utility of NGS-based diagnostics in exotic animal medicine.

Explainable automated pain recognition in cats

Manual tools for pain assessment from facial expressions have been suggested and validated for several animal species. However, facial expression analysis performed by humans is prone to subjectivity and bias, and in many cases also requires special expertise and training. This has led to an increasing body of work on automated pain recognition, which has been addressed for several species, including cats. Even for experts, cats are a notoriously challenging species for pain assessment. A previous study compared two approaches to automated ‘pain’/‘no pain’ classification from cat facial images: a deep learning approach, and an approach based on manually annotated geometric landmarks, reaching comparable accuracy results. However, the study included a very homogeneous dataset of cats and thus further research to study generalizability of pain recognition to more realistic settings is required. This study addresses the question of whether AI models can classify ‘pain’/‘no pain’ in cats in a more realistic (multi-breed, multi-sex) setting using a more heterogeneous and thus potentially ‘noisy’ dataset of 84 client-owned cats. Cats were a convenience sample presented to the Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover and included individuals of different breeds, ages, sex, and with varying medical conditions/medical histories. Cats were scored by veterinary experts using the Glasgow composite measure pain scale in combination with the well-documented and comprehensive clinical history of those patients; the scoring was then used for training AI models using two different approaches. We show that in this context the landmark-based approach performs better, reaching accuracy above 77% in pain detection as opposed to only above 65% reached by the deep learning approach. Furthermore, we investigated the explainability of such machine recognition in terms of identifying facial features that are important for the machine, revealing that the region of nose and mouth seems more important for machine pain classification, while the region of ears is less important, with these findings being consistent across the models and techniques studied here.

Uso de óleo de girassol ozonizado no tratamento de lesão cutânea em hamster sírio (Mesocricetus auratus) - relato de caso

ABSTRACT Hamster breeding is becoming increasingly popular, mainly because of the simplicity of breeding, low cost, and characteristics of these animals: they are small, quiet, and do not require a large space. Because of this ease of keeping, some people choose to keep more than one animal of the same species in a single enclosure. In some cases, this sociability can lead to fights, because hamsters are extremely territorial animals, which can cause significant injuries. Knowledge of the most efficient methods for wound healing is essential in medicine for wild and exotic animals, as it allows faster clinical treatment and thus, stress reduction. The present case report refers to the therapeutic treatment of an extensive skin lesion in a golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) using ozonized sunflower oil. The treatment, which lasted 23 days, allowed complete healing of the lesion.

Characterization of multidrug and heavy metal resistance of carbapenemases producing Klebsiella pneumoniae from poultry samples in Bangladesh.

Resistance to multiple drugs in Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPN) is an important issue in human and animal medicine. KPN phenotypic and genotypic aspects in poultry samples have not been comprehensively explored in Bangladesh. This research focused on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance and the characterization of KPN in Bangladeshi poultry isolates using both phenotypic and genotypic approaches. A total of 32 poultry samples were randomly obtained from a commercial poultry farm in Narsingdi, Bangladesh, and 43.90% (18/41) of the isolates were confirmed to be KPN, whereas all isolates were biofilm producers. The antibiotic sensitivity test revealed the most remarkable (100%) antibiotic resistance level against Ampicillin, Doxycycline and Tetracycline while remaining susceptible to Doripenem, Meropenem, Cefoxitin and Polymyxin B. Resistance to Nalidixic acid, Nitrofurantoin, Trimethoprim, Levofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Cefuroxime and Chloramphenicol ranges from 18% to 70%. Minimum inhibitory concentrations for carbapenem-resistant KPN ranged from 128 to 512mg/mL for Meropenem, Imipenem, Gentamycin and Ciprofloxacin, respectively. [Correction added on 15 June 2023, after first online publication: 512 g/mL was corrected to 512 mg/mL in the preceding sentence]. Carbapenemase-producing KPN isolates harboured a single or multiple β-lactamase genes, blaSIM-1 , blaIMP-4 and blaOXA-48 as well as one ESBL gene (blaTEM ) and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance gene (qnrB). Furthermore, Cr and Co outperformed Cu and Zn in antibacterial effectiveness. The results of this investigation showed that the high prevalence of multidrug-resistant pathogenic KPN in our chosen geographic location had displayed sensitivity to FOX/PB/Cr/Co, which might be regarded as an alternate treatment to reduce pressure of use on carbapenems.

Dietetic Materia Medica (Yue Fu Shi Wu Ben Cao) : The rise of Dietetic Materia Medica in the Edo Period in Japan

Food was believed to have some medicinal properties apart from its everyday sustenance in Japan in the Edo period (1603-1867). The dietetic materia medica then became a knowledge system in Japan with reference of the knowledge system of traditional Chinese materia medica, following some related books published.Dietetic Materia Medica (Yue Fu Shi Wu Ben Cao) was written by Nagoya Genyi as the pioneer work on dietetic materia medica in the Edo period. The book was divided into two volumes. The first one involved a total of 290 types of dietetic materia medica and 167 types of botanical medicines (grains, vegetables, aquatic plants, fungi, fruits, and herbs). The second volume included 123 types of animal medicines (fish,meso, poultry and animal sections). Its author, Nagoya Genyi, was the first doctor to link food with clinical treatment in Japan. He mainly focused on disease treatment in terms of specific classification and exposition. In this sense, the book was characteristic of materia medica rather than its museum properties. The content of the book showed the writing style and the medical tendency of the early food materia medica in the Edo period. Researching this book can help in understanding the compilation of dietetic materia medica represented by physicians in this period in Japan.

Sustainability policies and practices at veterinary centres in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Veterinary professionals operate at the human-animal-environment interface and are concerned about sustainability issues. This study examined the extent to which sustainability is represented in policy and enacted in veterinary practice settings, as reported by practice representatives. An online survey was completed by 392 veterinary centre representatives in the UK and Republic of Ireland to identify existing policies and practices around the environmental impacts of veterinary services and animal husbandry, responsible medicine use, animal welfare and social wellbeing. A minority of respondents were aware of an environmental policy at their practice (17%, 68/392). Many others were undertaking waste reduction initiatives, but wider environmental interventions were infrequently reported. The majority were aware of medicine stewardship and animal welfare policies or guidelines, but a minority reported social wellbeing policies (40%, 117/289) and the provision of advice to clients on the environmental impacts of animal husbandry (31%, 92/300). The bias arising from the small convenience sample of practice representatives and potential discrepancies between the claims of survey respondents and their practices' policies and activities are acknowledged. Results depict a value-action gap between the concern of veterinary professionals towards sustainability and the policies and practices at their workplaces. Building on progress in the sector, wider adoption of comprehensive policies and practices, with guidance, could enhance veterinary contributions to the sustainability agenda, in particular to mitigate the environmental externalities of veterinary services and animal care and ensure safe, fair and inclusive workplaces.

Effects of solvent environment on the spectroscopic properties of tylosin, an experimental and theoretical approach.

Tylosin is a commonly used antibiotic in animal medicine. However, it remains unclear how tylosin impacts the broader ecosystem once the host animal has excreted it. One of the main concerns is that it can lead to the development of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, there exists a need to develop systems that remove tylosin from the environment. Utilizing UV irradiation to destroy pathogens is one technique often deployed by scientists and engineers. However, for light-based techniques to be efficient, it is necessary to understand the spectral properties of the material being removed. Steady-state spectroscopy and density functional theory were used to analyze the electronic transitions of tylosin responsible for its strong absorbance in the mid-UV region. It was observed that the absorbance peak of tylosin stems from two transitions in the conjugated region of the molecule. Moreover, these transitions stem from an electronegative region of the molecule, which would allow them to be manipulated by changing solvent polarity. Finally, a polariton model has been proposed, which can be used to initiate the photodegradation of tylosin without the need for direct irradiation of the molecule with UV-B light.