Isolation of Encephalitozoon cuniculi using primary tissue culture techniques from a rabbit in a colony showing encephalitozoonosis

Encephalitozoon spores were isolated in a primary tissue culture of the kidneys from an encephalitozoonosis-suspected rabbit in a municipal zoo in Hokkaido. The isolated spores were morphologically characteristic of microsporidial ones in chromotrope stain, and proven to be E. cuniculi by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a species-specific primer set and by direct DNA sequencing of the PCR products.     

Ca2+ Cascade and Meiotic Resumption of the Caprine Primary Oocyte

In this study, we investigated the fluctuations of concentration of intracytoplasmic free Ca(2+) during in vitro maturation of caprine primary oocytes and its role in meiotic resumption. Oocytes that were extracted from caprine ovaries were cultured and allowed to mature in vitro to determine their developmental stages including germinal vesicle (GV), germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), metaphase of the first meiotic division (MI) and metaphase of the second meiotic division (MII). Intracytoplasmic free Ca(2+) turnovers of caprine oocytes at these different developmental stages were measured using the calcium fluorescent probe Fura-2/AM (C(44)H(47)N(3)O(24)) to investigate the dynamics of cytosolic free Ca(2+) during in vitro maturation of oocytes and the role of Ca(2+) in inducing the initiation of meiotic resumption of oocytes. Moreover, the oocytes were cultured in Ca(2+) culture medium and Ca(2+)-free culture medium to examine the effect of extracellular Ca(2+) on the oocyte maturation. The results indicated that Ca(2+) concentrations at GV, GVBD, MI and MII stages were 78.06, 147.41, 126.97 and 97.73 nmol/l, respectively, and that 86.30% of oocytes remained at the GV stage and no oocyte developed to MII in Ca(2+)-free culture medium, and 1.1% of oocytes stayed at the GV stage and 83.5% of oocytes developed to MII in Ca(2+) culture medium. These results suggest that the occurrence of GVBD and cell cycle progression to MI and MII stages are closely related to Ca(2+), and that extracellular Ca(2+) performs a specific function for the initiation of meiotic resumption in caprine oocytes.     

Effects of Inulin Supplementation in Low‐ or High‐Fat Diets on Reproductive Performance of Sows and Antioxidant Defence Capacity in Sows and Offspring

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of inulin supplementation in low‐ or high‐fat diets on both the reproductive performance of sow and the antioxidant defence capacity in sows and offspring. Sixty Landrace × Yorkshire sows were randomly allocated to four treatments with low‐fat diet (L), low‐fat diet containing 1.5% inulin (LI), high‐fat diet (H) and high‐fat diet containing 1.5% inulin (HI). Inulin‐rich diets lowered the within‐litter birth weight coefficient of variation (CV, p = 0.05) of piglets, increased the proportion of piglets weighing 1.0–1.5 kg at farrowing (p < 0.01), reduced the loss of body weight (BW) and backfat thickness (BF) during lactation (p < 0.05) and decreased the duration of farrowing as well as improved sow constipation (p < 0.05). Sows fed fat‐rich diets gained more BW during gestation (p < 0.01), farrowed a greater number of total (+1.65 pigs, p < 0.05) and alive (+1.52 pigs p < 0.05) piglets and had a heavier (+2.06 kg, p < 0.05) litter weight at birth as well as a decreased weaning‐to‐oestrous interval (WEI, p < 0.01) compared with sows fed low‐fat diets. However, it is worth noting that the H diet significantly decreased the serum activities of superoxide dismutase (T‐SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH‐Px) and increased the serum malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in sows and piglets (p < 0.05). In contrast, HI diet enhanced the activities of T‐SOD and GSH‐Px and decreased the serum MDA concentrations (p < 0.05) in sows and piglets. In summary, the fat‐rich diets fed to sows during gestation had beneficial effects on reproductive performance, but aggravated the oxidative stress in sow and piglets. Inulin‐rich diets fed to sow during gestation had beneficial effects on within‐litter uniformity of piglet birthweight and enhanced the antioxidant defence capacity of sows and piglets.     

Structural identification of new curcumin dimers and their contribution to the antioxidant mechanism of curcumin

As a part of the research project on the elucidation of the chain-breaking antioxidant mechanism of natural phenolics against the oxidation of food components, curcumin, a main turmeric pigment, was investigated. A relatively high concentration of curcumin gave three dimers as radical termination products in addition to the coupling products with curcumin and the lipid hydroperoxide. The structural analysis of these dimers and quantitative analysis of their production rates revealed that radical-radical termination mainly occurred at the 2-position of curcumin. The contribution of the pathway for production of these dimers to the antioxidant mechanism of curcumin was estimated from the concentration-dependent data of the antioxidant activity and formation rates of these termination products. The A-A termination (dimer formation) was estimated to contribute at least about 40% of the entire antioxidant process against ethyl linoleate oxidation.     

Demonstration of non-inferiority of a novel combination intramammary antimicrobial in the treatment of clinical mastitis

AIM: To test the non-inferiority of a novel combination intramammary product containing penicillin and cloxacillin to a reference intramammary product containing oxytetracycline, oleandomycin, neomycin and prednisolone with regard to bacteriological cure and clinical cure.

METHODS: Clinical cases of mastitis were sourced from 30 spring-calving dairy farms in the Southland region of New Zealand. Affected quarters were infused three times at 24 hourly intervals with either the novel combination product containing 1?g penicillin and 200?mg cloxacillin, or a reference product containing 200?mg oxytetracycline, 100?mg oleandomycin, 100?mg neomycin and 5?mg prednisolone. Cows were enrolled when a farmer detected a case of clinical mastitis. Milk samples were collected for microbiological culture immediately before treatment (Day 0) and on Days 9, 16 and 23. Bacteriological cure was compared for 187 and 178 quarters treated with the reference and novel product, respectively, and clinical cure was compared for 235 and 223 quarters, respectively. Non-inferiority was assessed by calculating the difference in cure rates between the two products and constructing a 95% CI around the difference, using the variance inflation factor to account for herd level clustering. The non-inferiority margin was 20% for both bacteriological and clinical cure. Generalising estimating equation models were used to determine predictor variables.

RESULTS: The bacteriological cure percentage, adjusted to account for herd-level clustering, was 8.5 (95% CI=?1.7–21.8)% higher for quarters treated with the novel than the reference product. The adjusted clinical cure percentage was 0.3 (95% CI=?11.2–12.0)% higher for clinical quarters treated with the novel than the reference product. Bacterial species was the only covariate for bacteriological cure (p=0.003), and quarter score at enrolment (indicating udder inflammation) was the only covariate for clinical cure (p=0.032) in the multivariable models.

CONCLUSION: The novel combination product was demonstrated to be non-inferior to the reference product with regards to both bacteriological cure and clinical cure.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Clinicians treating mastitis now have access to this novel combination intramammary product, and demonstration of its non-inferiority compared to the existing reference product will provide options for treatment approaches. The novel product contains fewer antimicrobials; which are of a narrower spectrum of activity.     

Pathological and serological evidence of Brucella-infection in baleen whales (Mysticeti) in the western North Pacific

Abnormal testes and uterus were observed in 13 males (33%) and one female (3%) out of 40 common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in the western North Pacific. Similar lesions were found in testis and ovary, respectively, in one male (2%) and female (2%) out of 43 Bryde's whales (Balaenoptera edeni) in the western North Pacific. Grossly, granular lesions with caseation and calcification were main pathological signs, and they were restricted to reproductive organs of mature whales. Chronic purulent or granulomatous orchitis was observed by microscopic analysis. Antibodies to Brucella species were detected in the serum samples of 15/40 (38%) of common minke whales and 4/43 (9%) of Bryde's whales. Neither pathological nor serological change was found in the examined sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in the western North Pacific and Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis). These results strongly suggest that Brucella infection was involved in two species of baleen whales (Mysticeti) in the North Pacific.     

Continuous plasma outflows from the edge of a solar active region as a possible source of solar wind

The Sun continuously expels a huge amount of ionized material into interplanetary space as the solar wind. Despite its influence on the heliospheric environment, the origin of the solar wind has yet to be well identified. In this paper, we report Hinode X-ray Telescope observations of a solar active region. At the edge of the active region, located adjacent to a coronal hole, a pattern of continuous outflow of soft-x-ray-emitting plasmas was identified emanating along apparently open magnetic field lines and into the upper corona. Estimates of temperature and density for the outflowing plasmas suggest a mass loss rate that amounts to approximately 1/4 of the total mass loss rate of the solar wind. These outflows may be indicative of one of the solar wind sources at the Sun.     

A Silicon Single-Electron Transistor Memory Operating at Room Temperature

A single-electron memory, in which a bit of information is stored by one electron, is demonstrated at room temperature. The memory is a floating gate metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor in silicon with a channel width ( approximately 10 nanometers) smaller than the Debye screening length of a single electron and a nanoscale polysilicon dot ( approximately 7 nanometers by 7 nanometers) as the floating gate embedded between the channel and the control gate. Storing one electron on the floating gate screens the entire channel from the potential on the control gate and leads to (i) a discrete shift in the threshold voltage, (ii) a staircase relation between the charging voltage and the shift, and (iii) a self-limiting charging process. The structure and fabrication of the memory should be compatible with future ultralarge-scale integrated circuits.     

Eosinophils sustain adipose alternatively activated macrophages associated with glucose homeostasis

Eosinophils are associated with helminth immunity and allergy, often in conjunction with alternatively activated macrophages (AAMs). Adipose tissue AAMs are necessary to maintain glucose homeostasis and are induced by the cytokine interleukin-4 (IL-4). Here, we show that eosinophils are the major IL-4-expressing cells in white adipose tissues of mice, and, in their absence, AAMs are greatly attenuated. Eosinophils migrate into adipose tissue by an integrin-dependent process and reconstitute AAMs through an IL-4- or IL-13-dependent process. Mice fed a high-fat diet develop increased body fat, impaired glucose tolerance, and insulin resistance in the absence of eosinophils, and helminth-induced adipose tissue eosinophilia enhances glucose tolerance. Our results suggest that eosinophils play an unexpected role in metabolic homeostasis through maintenance of adipose AAMs.