In this, my first and only year as co-editor of the ISU Veterinarian, I would like to take the time to thank several people who have had a hand in helping us through. First and foremost, I have to give many, many thanks to Neil for being here and doing more work than I would have had the time, knowledge or energy to do. His knowledge of layout and style far surpasses my meager experience in journalism. Secondly, I need to thank Dr. Dean Riedesel and Dr. Claudia Baldwin for their help in reviewing the major papers in this issue on short notice, Also, thank you to Dr. Elizabeth Riedesel for your Radiographic Diagnosis. We appreciate your efforts in putting the information together for this issue. Finally, I would also like to credit our illustrious leader, Dr. John Greve, for all the work he has done recently as well as in the past in the name of the ISU Veterinarian.

Since their creation nearly 60 years ago, the terra cotta tile of the Veterinary Medicine Mural by Christian Petersen have been marred by water damage. Terra cotta is highly porous and over the years, water has accumulated between the mural and the concrete walls. Subsequently, water and salts have been seeping out through the terra cotta, gradually damaging the sculpture.

Segregated early weaning is the process of taking baby pigs from the farrowing crate at an early age and then rearing them in a different building on the farm, or better yet, at an off-site nursery. This group of pigs is then raised segregated from the rest of the pigs on the farm in an all-in/all-out fashion. This method of rearing pigs was developed in an effort to minimize the transmission of infectious diseases from the dams to their offspring. If this goal can be accomplished and segregation of the group maintained, these pigs will have less disease pressure in the nursery, the grower, and the finisher and thus reach market weight sooner and more economically. This is important considering the current hog market trend of decreasing profit margins.

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a member of the lentivirus subfamily of retroviruses. This group of viruses, which includes the human and simian irnmunodeficiency viruses (HIV and SIV) derive their name 'from the typically slow time course of the infections they cause. 15 FIV is a typical lentivirus with respect to gross and structural morphology. The viral genome is composed of single-stranded RNA which is transcribed into double-stranded RNA which is transcribed into double-stranded DNA using a Mg2+ dependent reverse transcriptase enzyme. The viral DNA is then inserted into the genome of the infected host cell and is replicated whenever the host cell divides. Lentiviruses are known for persistent viral infections within mononuclear cells, often in the face of a strong host immune response.

This article contains news pertaining to the students of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The index to volume 56 of the Iowa State University Veterinarian, as arranged by author and subject.