This study evaluated the effect of somatic cell count (SCC) on composition and hygienic quality of dairy herd bulk tank milk – specifically, the effect of SCC of bulk tank of dairy herds on composition (fat, protein, total solids, nonfat dry solids) and on total bacterial count (TBC), psychrotrophic count (PC) and coliform count (CC) were evaluated. A total of 230 dairy herds located south of Minas Gerais and west of São Paulo were selected based on SCC geometric mean obtained from five monthly analyses preceding the start of the sampling. The dairy farms were classified according to SCC in three groups: low (< 250,000 cells/mL, n = 84), medium (> 250,000 and < 750,000 cells/mL, n = 79) and highSCC (> 750,000 cells/mL, n = 67). After herd selection, bulk tank milk samples were collected every 14 days for three months totaling 1380 samples, which were subjected to analysis of composition, TBC, PC, and CC. A decrease of TBC and CC was observed in herds with low SCC; however, herds with medium and high SCC had an increase in fat, crude protein, and total solids contents. A medium correlation was observed between TBC and PC (r = 0.6215), and also between PC and CC (r = 0.3692). Based on hygiene indicators and milk composition, a low and negative correlation between TBC and fat (r = -0.0585), PC and fat (r = -0.0585), and PC and total solids (r = -0.0662) was observed. Dairy herds with SCC < 250,000 cells/mL had higher bulk tank milk hygienic quality; however, considering the composition, herds with higher SCC produced higher milk fat and protein concentration.

Blood pressure (BP) measurement plays a pivotal role in veterinary medicine for diagnosing cardiovascular disorders and monitoring anesthesia of animals. Although indirect BP measurement has been widely applied to monitor BP because of its convenience and non-invasiveness, it is still unclear whether indirect BP measurement is compatible with direct BP measurement in minipigs. In addition, the effect of animal posture during BP measurement is not well understood in minipigs despite its importance to cardiovascular performance. Therefore, both systolic and diastolic arterial BPs in minipigs were measured via femoral artery catheterization for direct BP measurement and using a compressive cuff as an indirect BP measurement under the dorsal or right lateral recumbent postures. Numerical values were processed by the Bland-Altman method to calculate the bias ± SD and the limits of agreement (LOA). In accordance with the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine guidelines, the results between direct and indirect BP measurements were determined as apparent disagreements in both systolic and diastolic arterial BPs under all postures because of large bias ± SD and wide LOA. The results of the present will help prevent misinterpretation of the anesthetized patient's condition during monitoring of BP by indirect measurement.