Ocular Onchocerca infections in two dogs in western United States

Two dogs, one from California and one from Arizona, were found to have aberrant infections caused by filarial nematodes of the genus Onchocerca. In both cases, the parasites are localized in or near the eye. In one case the worm was located in the cornea and was surgically removed. In the second case, a very marked granulomatous reaction was induced in the retrobulbar space, mimicking an abscess. This eye was enucleated. The worms in both instances were female, and were gravid, i.e. contained microfilariae in utero, indicating that a male worm(s) had been present and mating had occurred. The exact identity of the species of Onchocerca responsible cannot be determined, although the features observed are most like Onchocerca lienalis of cattle. These cases represent the fourth and fifth such cases reported from the US, and are especially interesting because of the unusual location of the worms, the small number of recognized cases, and the similarity to a recent zoonotic human infection.     

Stress exposure during the preimplantation period affects blastocyst lineages and offspring development

We found retardation of preimplantation embryo growth after exposure to maternal restraint stress during the preimplantation period in our previous study. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of preimplantation maternal restraint stress on the distribution of inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cells in mouse blastocysts, and its possible effect on physiological development of offspring. We exposed spontaneously ovulating female mice to restraint stress for 30 min three times a day during the preimplantation period, and this treatment caused a significant increase in blood serum corticosterone concentration. Microscopic evaluation of embryos showed that restraint stress significantly decreased cell counts per blastocyst. Comparing the effect of restraint stress on the two blastocyst cell lineages, we found that the reduction in TE cells was more substantial than the reduction in ICM cells, which resulted in an increased ICM/TE ratio in blastocysts isolated from stressed dams compared with controls. Restraint stress reduced the number of implantation sites in uteri, significantly delayed eye opening in delivered mice, and altered their behavior in terms of two parameters (scratching on the base of an open field test apparatus, time spent in central zone) as well. Moreover, prenatally stressed offspring had significantly lower body weights and in 5-week old females delivered from stressed dams, fat deposits were significantly lower. Our results indicate that exposure to stress during very early pregnancy can have a negative impact on embryonic development with consequences reaching into postnatal life.     

Multiple striate keratotomy: a treatment for corneal erosions caused by epithelial basement membrane disease

Objective To study the efficacy of multiple striate keratotomy for the treatment of persistent corneal erosions suspected to be caused by primary corneal epithelial basement membrane disease.
Design A retrospective study.
Animals 16 dogs, three cats and one Australian dingo.
Procedure A technique called multiple striate keratotomy was used to treat twenty animals suffering from persistent corneal erosions.
Results All persistent corneal erosions healed with only one treatment. Most cases healed within 2 weeks. One case developed a second erosion in the same eye but in a different position to the original erosion.
Conclusions Multiple striate keratotomy is a safe, effective and well tolerated technique for the treatment of persistent corneal erosions thought to be caused by corneal epithelial basement membrane disease.     

我国秦川牛等四品种黄牛屠宰试验报告

本屠宰试验所用良种黄牛品种系鲁西牛(25头)、秦川牛(29头)、晋南牛(28头)、南阳牛(26头)4个品种共108头。屠宰前平均活重(未停水停食处理)为554.15±67.6kg;屠宰率达63.30±1.84％;净肉率为53.65±2.34％;可供4～5星级饭店的高档牛肉重约占活重的5.2％,其产值却可占总产值的46％以上。经北京市4～5星级饭店品尝、试用、使用,各用户一致认为牛肉品质已达到进口的同类产品的最优等级,完全可以取代进口牛肉。     

Assessing sexual maturity of feminized Japanese eel Anguilla japonica by measuring eye size

For efficient production of Japanese eel Anguilla japonica eggs, knowledge of the status of the sexual maturity of potential broodstock females is important because this status directly influences the time required to produce mature eggs by successive hormone doses. Here we apply an eye index (relative eye size) to evaluate the gonadal status of feminized A. japonica, which were induced by administration of estradiol-17β. Examination of gonad somatic and eye indexes of 267 feminized eels, cultivated for 12–56 months, revealed a significant correlation between these two indexes. Artificial maturation of 35 feminized eels showed that the number of hormone injections administered before ovulation was significantly lower as the eye index score increased, indicating availability of this noninvasive method of predicting sexual maturity of feminized eel. There was no correlation between eye index and fertilization rate, hatching rate, or larval survival rate, suggesting that sexual maturity before hormonal treatment does not affect egg quality.     

徽州透雕门窗雕刻纹样的视觉评价

以甄选出的16种徽州透雕门窗代表性纹饰作为测试样本(选择依据是根据徽州古民居透雕门窗纹饰出现频率较高,特征较鲜明进行的初步筛选,然后在此基础上根据雕刻主题纹饰进行的分类选择),使用RM6280多道生理信号处理系统进行了眼电生理指标测试。为了测试的合理性,同时对这组图片进行了客观测试。主客观测试结束后根据每组测试数据进行了单项图表评价和综合评价。视觉评价结果显示,受试群体明显偏爱造型简约、抽象、灵动、虚实对比强烈的木雕纹。