Relationship of upper and lower urinary tract infection and bacterial invasion of uroepithelium to antibody-coated bacteria test results in female dogs

Urinary tract infection was demonstrated in 12 female dogs via bacteriologic culture of a specimen of bladder urine collected by antepubic cystocentesis. Escherichia coli was isolated in pure culture from the urine of 9 dogs. Urine specimens from 2 dogs contained E coli and alpha-streptococci and from 1 dog contained Streptococcus zymogenes in pure culture. In 6 dogs, urinary tract infection was limited to the urinary bladder, whereas 6 dogs had unilateral or bilateral culture-positive renal pelvic urine as well (specimens collected by percutaneous nephropyelostomy). An antibody-coated bacteria (ACB) test was conducted on a portion of the bladder urine specimen from each dog, and the urinary tissues from these 12 dogs and from 6 healthy, noninfected female dogs were examined at necropsy. Tissues were given a subjective score based on the severity of the lesions seen microscopically. Histologic scores, bacterial cultural results, and ACB test results were examined for significance. A significant difference was found in the histologic scores between infected and noninfected dogs (P less than 0.025), but comparisons among histologic scores, cultural results, and ACB test results were not significant among infected dogs. The ACB test could neither be used to localize bacterial infection within the urinary tract nor could it be used to indicate the presence of bacterial invasion of the uroepithelium in dogs.     

Allelopathic Potential of Shoot and Root Leachates of Certain Weed Species

The allelopathic potential of shoot and root leachates of seven weed species was assessed using sorghum and blackgram as test crops. Weeds differed significantly among themselves in their allelopathic effect. Shoot leachates of weeds, in general, showed more allelopathic effect than their root leachates. Phenolic content of weed leachates has positive association with the allelopathic potential of the weed species.     

Silica-Containing Urinary Calculi in Dogs (1981–1993)

Silica-containing urinary calculi obtained from 773 dogs and submitted by veterinarians throughout the United States were analyzed by quantitative crystallographic analysis to determine mineral composition. Specimens were composed of either multiple mineral layers (535 specimens) or 1 mineral layer (238 specimens). Most multiple-layer calculi were composed of 80% or greater silica (300 of 535, 56%) or 20% to 79% silica (184 of 535, 34%) in any mineral layer. Most 1–layer calculi were composed of 100% silica (212 of 238, 89%). Most dogs forming silica-containing calculi were of male gender (679 of 773, 88%). Bacterial cultures of calculus or urine or both were performed on 49% (376 of 773) of the specimens, and bacterial growth was obtained from 37% (139 of 376) of samples cultured. The prevalence of calculus-associated urinary tract infection was 35% (113 of 321) in males and 47% (26 of 55) in females. The gender prevalence for infection with Staphylococcus species was 16% (51 of 321) in males and 33% (18 of 55) in females. The breed and gender of dogs that formed calculi (silica population) were compared with the hospital population (Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital [VMTH] population) and with a population of calculus-forming dogs (Stonelab population) to determine risk factors for silica calculus formation. For all breeds compared, the ratio of males to females was higher in the silica population. The German Shepherd Dog and Old English Sheepdog were significantly overrepresented when the silica population was compared with either the VMTH population or the Stonelab population. We conclude that male German Shepherd Dogs and Old English Sheepdogs are at increased risk for formation of silica-containing urinary calculi.     

Gentamicin for treatment of resistant urinary tract infections in dogs.

Gentamicin was administered parenterally for 6 days to 43 dogs with urinary tract infections. The daily dosage of 6.6 mg/kg (3 mg/lb) was divided into equal parts and given IM or SC at 8-hour intervals. Dogs selected for treatment with gentamicin had urinary infections that had not responded to treatment with other antimicrobial agents or had bacterial isolates from urine that were resistant to several antimicrobial agents on in vitro susceptibility tests. Response to treatment, defined as negative urine culture on the last day of therapy or 4 to 14 days after completion of the therapeutic course, included 20 of 22 (91%) infections caused by Escherichia coli, 8 of 9 (89%) infections caused by Kebsiella pneumoniae, 6 of 7 (86%) infections caused by Proteus spp, and 6 of 7 infections caused by Pseudomonas spp. These four species comprised 84% of the bacteria isolated from the dogs in this study.     

Xanthine-containing urinary calculi in dogs given allopurinol

Clinical features and laboratory findings were evaluated in 10 dogs that formed xanthine-containing urinary calculi during the period that they were given allopurinol (9 to 38 mg/kg of body weight/d). Duration of allopurinol treatment was 5 weeks to 6 years. Of the 10 dogs, 9 (all Dalmatians) had formed uric acid-containing calculi at least once before allopurinol treatment was initiated. It was not possible to recognize xanthine as a crystalline component of the calculi by use of a chemical colorimetric method or by polarized light microscopy. We concluded that the best diagnostic method for recognition of xanthine-containing calculi was high-pressure liquid chromatography because it is quantitative, sensitive, and accurate, and can be conducted on a small amount (1 to 2 mg) of crystalline material.     

Modeling and characterization of the moisture-dependent bilinear behavior of regenerated cellulose composites

In this study, we investigate the tensile mechanical properties of unidirectional Lyocell/epoxy composites under wet and dry conditions using a multi-scale analysis approach. Characterization of the samples shows a bilinear stress–strain behavior of the fibers and composites under tension loading. The bilinear elastic–plastic stress–strain response of the Lyocell fibers is incorporated into a p-version finite element model for presenting a methodology for structural analysis of this composite system. The proposed finite element models were successfully able to relate the micro to macro-mechanical behavior enabling an approach for determining the 3D orthotropic elastic–plastic constants of regenerated cellulose/epoxy composites.     

Phytotransformation of Phorate by <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Brassica juncea</Emphasis> (Indian Mustard)

Over 5 days, Brassica juncea removed 54% of the highly toxic insecticide phorate from the medium with the formation of phorate sulfoxide in small quantity. The loss of phorate from the medium followed first-order kinetics. The half-life of phorate disappearance from water decreased by ~4.5-fold in the presence of B. juncea. Mild phorate phytotoxicity was evident from the elevated activities of the antioxidative enzymes like glutathione-disulfide reductase, glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase in the plants. Nevertheless, the ubiquitous antioxidative peroxidase was not significantly increased, nor the total glutathione content, due to phorate exposure. Phosphotriester bond hydrolysis and glutathione S-transferase-mediated conjugation seemed to be the key reactions for phorate metabolism by B. juncea. From the limited information available, for the first time, a tentative mapping of phytotransformation pathways was performed.     

Deployment of wild relatives for genetic improvement in rice (Oryza sativa)

Rice is one of the most important crops in the world. The wild species of rice are expected to have novel beneficial alleles that have been lost from cultivated rice during the process of domestication. Therefore, wild species could be the potential source to induce lost genetic diversity in cultivated rice. Serving as an important reservoir of novel genes/QTLs, wild species, in general, are better adapted to different ecologies and can tolerate many biotic and abiotic stresses. Despite that, only a few wild species are studied and extensive characterization both at the molecular and morphological level is yet to be achieved. Several agronomically important genes/QTLs for improving biotic and abiotic stresses, resistance, productivity and grain quality traits were identified from AA genome donor wild species and were tagged with breeder friendly molecular markers for their transfer to elite genetic backgrounds. The present review provides information on the important wild rice species harbouring genes/QTLs for agriculturally important traits and their successful utilization in rice breeding programmes.     

Physiological and Molecular Analysis of Applied Nitrogen in Rice Genotypes

Ten genotypes of rice (Oryza sativa L.) were grown for 30 d in complete nutrient solution with 1 mmol/L (N-insufficient),4 mmol/L (N-moderate) and 10 mmol/L (N-high) nitrogen levels,and nitrogen efficiency (NE) was analyzed.Growth performance,measured in terms of fresh weight,dry weight and lengths of root and shoot,was higher in N-efficient than in N-inefficient rice genotypes at low N level.Of these 10 genotypes,Suraksha was identified as the most N-efficient,while Vivek Dhan the most N-inefficient.To find out the physiological basis of this difference,the nitrate uptake rate of root and the activities of nitrate assimilatory enzymes in leaves of N-efficient and N-inefficient rice genotypes were studied.Uptake experiments revealed the presence of two separate nitrate transporter systems mediating high-and low-affinity nitrate uptake.Interestingly,the nitrate uptake by the roots of Suraksha is mediated by both high-and low-affinity nitrate transporter systems,while that of Vivek Dhan by only low-affinity nitrate transporter system.Study of the activities and expression levels of nitrate assimilatory enzymes in N-efficient and N-inefficient rice genotypes showed that nitrate reductase (NR) and glutamine synthetase (GS) play important roles in N assimilation under low-nitrogen conditions.     

Addressing the Dilemmas of Measuring Amylose in Rice

Amylose content is a parameter that correlates with the cooking behavior of rice. It is measured at the earliest possible stages of rice improvement programs to enable breeders to build the foundations of appropriate grain quality during cultivar development. Amylose is usually quantified by absorbance of the amylose‐iodine complex. The International Network for Quality Rice (INQR) conducted a survey to determine ways that amylose is measured, reproducibility between laboratories, and sources of variation. Each laboratory measured the amylose content of a set of 17 cultivars of rice. The study shows that five different versions of the iodine binding method are in use. The data show that repeatability was high within laboratories but reproducibility between laboratories was low. The major sources of variability were the way the standard curve was constructed and the iodine binding capacity of the potato amylose used to produce the standard. Reproducibility is much lower between laboratories using a standard curve of potato amylose alone compared with those using calibrated rice cultivars. This study highlights the need to standardize the way amylose is measured, and presents research avenues for doing so.