The School of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences of Jaboticabal received close to R$ 6.5 million from the Infrastructure Program for the reform of its laboratories and research installations. Created in 1964 and integrated into Unesp in1976, with the foundation of the university, the school has always had an outstanding performance in various lines of agronomy and veterinary research, such as animal nutrition and the managing of diverse species, seeds, forage-producing plants, the managing of harmful plants, the biological control of pests and genetics.
The modernization of the laboratories allowed the researchers to enter into the front line of the most advanced research. Many of them participated in the Xylella Genome, Xanthomonas citri Genome and Sugar Cane Genome projects and are continuing to participate in the network of laboratories linked to the Functional Genome project of the Xylella fastidiosa, which intends to obtain information on the mechanisms involved in the modus operandi of the genes of the bacteria. The school also houses the Brazilian Clone Collection Center, the first center for the storage of bacteria and sugar cane genes.
However, since its creation, the faculty has always shown concern for taking its knowledge into the community. The Veterinary Hospital can be cited as an example of this integration between teaching, research and the spreading of knowledge. Here the students have lessons in rooms integrated into the activities of the hospital, which, for its part, with modern surgical centers, can put into practice new techniques and offer a better service.
Since it was built, some 27 years ago, the Veterinary Hospital has been a reference point in the region of the north east of the State of São Paulo. However, its installations were inadequate, in the view of professor Aparecido Antonio Camacho, of the Department of Clinical and Veterinary Surgery. With the resources of the Infra, this department and those of the Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Reproduction along with the Veterinary Pathology, which make up the hospital, were restored.
In the Clinical and Veterinary Surgery 800 m2 were rebuilt. In this department, which deals with and carries out surgery on small animals, the number of cases increased by 25% attaining a daily average of 35 interventions. “The roof, made of glass wool sheeting, made the internal heat intolerable on hot days; the floor could not be washed; the water and electrical circuits were exposed, with a consequent fire risk and a frequent drop in voltage” enumerates professor Camacho. The department was expanded and received new areas that allowed for the separation of the emergency ambulatory and surgery area. The odontology clinic, equipped for surgery, made it possible to offer an unprecedented service at the hospital and created a favorable environment for the development of studies.
Diagnostics and surgeries
The resources from the Infra also made possible the purchase of anesthesia equipment and of an emulsification apparatus, to be used in cataract surgery, properly installed in a wing exclusive to ophtamological surgeries on small animals. Before the reform, this type of surgery had been done manually with a success rate 20% smaller when compared with the new technique for which the success margin has reached 90%. With the emulsifier the crystalline lens is fragmented and sucked away using ultrasound.
Another piece of equipment, the electroretinograph purchased one year before, had remained in its box because of the lack of an appropriate physical area for its installation, tells professor José Luiz Laus, responsible for ophtomology. The only one of its kind in a public veterinary teaching school in South America, this device, which serves to diagnose retina problems, now examines three animals per week.
Before the reconstruction, scheduled surgeries, emergencies and out-patients were done in the same room. “We did not have the necessary hygiene for surgeries, there consequently being a high risk of contamination” emphasizes professor Camacho. Presently, as well as the room for ophtomological surgery, the hospital has a room for general surgery, also equipped with resources from Infra. The cardiology sector, another novelty made possible through the program, allowed for the expansion of the research into myocardium diseases. Also the emergency laboratory and that of anesthesiology received resources from the program. “With absolute certainty, today we are able to save more lives than during last year” celebrates professor Camacho, also pointing out the improvement in the conditions to carry out research into new anesthetic agents.
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