Is canine leptospirosis underdiagnosed in southern Ontario? A case report and serological survey

An eight-year-old city-dwelling Cairn Terrier was presented to a veterinary hospital in acute renal failure with evidence of hepatic insufficiency. The dog was treated symptomatically over three days, during which time vomiting was largely controlled, but it became jaundiced as hepatic insufficiency worsened. Leptospira pomona was demonstrated in large numbers by immunofluorescent staining of urinary sediment. It was isolated and its identity confirmed as L. pomona genotype kennewicki. The source of the infection was thought to be raccoons.

Sera from 474 blood samples submitted for diagnostic purposes to two clinical pathology laboratories in southern Ontario were examined with the microscopic agglutination test for antibodies to selected leptospiral serovars. Of the sera tested, 39.2% reacted at titers ≥1:100 with one or more serovars, the majority of all sera (26.2%) reacting at low titers to canicola or icterohaemorrhagiae, or both. These reactions likely resulted from vaccination. A smaller proportion reacted to other serovars tested: autumnalis (3.8%), bratislava (8.2%), grippotyphosa (1.9%), hardjo (3.0%), and pomona (3.2%). Among dogs reacting to these latter serovars (other than bratislava), many had broadly cross-reacting and relatively high titers. One dog with a titer of 1:800 to pomona had had a disease typical of leptospirosis two years previously. Three other dogs with high titers to autumnalis, bratislava, or mixed serovars had clinical histories compatible with leptospirosis.

We suggest that leptospiral bacterins for dogs in Ontario be broadened to include at least serovars autumnalis and pomona.

     

Disturbance has benefits as well as costs for fragmented populations of a cryptic grassland reptile

Landscape Ecology - Conservation practitioners face complex decisions about the management of spatial and temporal disturbance regimes when disturbance plays a significant role in the dynamics of...     

Evaluating Supplemental Mass Pollination Efficacy in a Lodgepole Pine Orchard in British Columbia using Chloroplast DNA Markers

Supplemental mass pollination (SMP) success in a grafted lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud. var. latifolia Engelm.) seed orchard in southern British Columbia was studied by employing four chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) markers to determine fertilization success of 10 pollen parents. SMP was conducted operationally with a bulked pollen mix twice during peak receptivity in the seed orchard. Fertilization success of the 10 SMP parents averaged 16% greater than for wind-pollinated controls in a different section of the orchard. SMP also increased the uniformity of the male contribution in treated seeds.     

烟中都有些什么?——木材工业中的放射性空气污染的研究(英文)

建造一座木材工业生产厂是需要达到一系列的国家立法要求。而达到这些要求是通过严格的科学研究和调查而得来的。在一个项目中,通常这是一个关键环节。大多高度工业化国家都具有严格的法律条例控制放射性粉尘和气体对环境所造成的污染。本文讨论的是在木材工业干燥过程的内部,什么是造成环境污染的环节因素,以化工生产条件所带来的影响为例,输入原材料的选择,干燥炉的设计,运作程序,以及燃料的选择。上述因素将会对烟囱污染带来什么样的影 响?本文采用国际通用的分析手法,准确地分析了放射性粉尘积累以及如何控制由此造成的空气污染。根据研究调查的积累进一步探讨如何以最佳的设计系统而达到控制污染。以冷凝缩代替热干燥将是一个新的值得考虑的工业化革新。参14。     

Feline talocrural luxation: a cadaveric study of repair using ligament prostheses

Currently recommended surgical techniques to treat severe biaxial feline talocrural soft-tissue injuries commonly lead to unsatisfactory outcome. Data relating to canine talocrural stabilisation may not be useful in cats due to major differences in tarsal anatomy between the species. This experimental biomechanical cadaveric study used specimens (n = 10) prepared from the distal pelvic limbs of five adult cats. The aim was to design a technique for treating talocrural luxation using suture prostheses and bone tunnels, and to investigate its suitability for use in clinical cases. Four prosthetic ligaments were placed through a series of five 1.5 mm bone tunnels. Two prostheses, the caudoproximal pair, were taut in talocrural flexion and two prostheses, the craniodistal pair, were taut in extension. The intact specimens had their range-of-motion (ROM) and stability tested, after which they were transected at the talocrural joint (simulated luxation) and repaired using the technique described. The ROM and stability of the repaired specimens were tested and compared to the intact specimens. The repaired specimens had comparable stability to the intact specimens, although the ROM was different (p <0.05) in six of 16 positions (p <0.003125). These corresponded to the positions where the lateral prostheses were taut. The repair technique described may be useful in the treatment of talocrural luxation, as it is low-profile in an area of limited soft-tissue cover, allows anatomic reduction, restores normal talocrural joint stability and near-normal tarsal ROM.     

Diversity of Enterococcus cecorum from chickens

Enterococcus cecorum is a normal inhabitant of the intestine of birds and other vertebrates. It has recently emerged in Canada and other countries as an important cause of arthritis and osteomyelitis in chickens. The objectives of this study were to assess if this emergence was caused by a particular clone of E. cecorum and to assess the antimicrobial susceptibility of this organism. One hundred and thirteen E. cecorum isolates from infections in Canadian chickens (cases) and from the ceca of control chickens from Canada and Belgium were examined. Isolates were identified using biochemical tests and, for a number of them, identification was confirmed by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Case and control isolates were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility using the broth microdilution method. Cecal isolates from control birds were genetically very diverse but the vast majority of those from cases belonged to a single major clonal lineage. Reduced susceptibility was widespread for tetracycline, bacitracin, and erythromycin. Isolates from cases were generally less susceptible to antimicrobial agents than isolates from control birds.     

Comparison of the Level(s) of DNA Damage Using Comet Assay in Bovine Oocytes Subjected to Selected Vitrification Methods

It was suggested that the cryodamage to oocytes' DNA has been responsible for the compromised developmental competence of cryopreserved oocytes. Vitrification of bovine oocytes affected not only cellular components, but also nuclear material. A significant rate of DNA fragmentation was found in bovine frozen or vitrified oocytes analysed by Comet assay regardless of cryopreservation method. Our method of vitrification using droplet system after gentle pre-equilibration treatment is one of the most effective cryopreservation methods employed for bovine oocytes so far, making it possible to develop 30% blastocyst stage embryos. In this study, the extent of DNA damage in bovine oocytes vitrified using three vitrification methods (droplet system, Open Pulled Straw and traditional vitrification in 0.25 ml insemination straws) was compared using Comet assay. Vitrification in droplet system and Open Pull Straws vitrification did not result in detectable cryoinjuries of DNA of bovine oocytes. On the contrary, DNA fragmentation was found in four of 26 oocytes vitrified in 0.25 ml straws (15.4%, p   ≤ 0.05 in comparison with the other vitrification methods).     

Quantification of the relationship between the environment and Fusarium head blight, Fusarium pathogen density, and mycotoxins in winter wheat in Europe

Measurements of local environmental conditions, intensity of Fusarium head blight (FHB) in wheat spikes, biomass of Fusarium graminearum, F. culmorum, and F. poae (pathogens causing FHB) and concentration of the mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON) and nivalenol (NIV) in harvested wheat grain were obtained in a total of 150 location-years, originating in three European countries (Hungary, Ireland, United Kingdom) from 2001 to 2004. Through window-pane methodology, the length and starting time of temporal windows where the environmental variables were significantly associated with the biological variables were identified. Window lengths of 5 to 30?days were evaluated, with starting times from 18?days before anthesis to harvest. Associations were quantified with nonparametric Spearman correlation coefficients. All biological variables were significantly associated with at least one evaluated environmental variable (P?≤?0.05). Moisture-related variables (e.g., average relative humidity, hours of relative humidity above 80%) had the highest positive correlations with the biological variables, but there also was a significant negative correlation between average temperature and several biological variables. When significant correlations were found, they were generally for all window lengths, but for a limited number of window start times (generally before anthesis for disease index and after anthesis for the toxins and late-season fungal biomasses). Semi-partial Spearman correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the relationship between the environmental variables and the concentration of DON and NIV after the effects of FHB intensity and fungal biomass on the mycotoxins were removed. Significant semi-partial correlations were found between relative humidity variables and DON, and between temperature and relative humidity variables and NIV for time windows that started after anthesis (and not for any earlier time windows). Results confirm that the environment influences disease, fungal biomass, and mycotoxin production, and help refine the time windows where the association is greatest. However, variability in the relationships was high, indicating that no single environmental variable is sufficient for prediction of disease or mycotoxin contamination.     

Evaluation of diagnostic and quantitative PCR for the identification and severity assessment of eyespot and sharp eyespot in winter wheat

Diagnostic and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) provided clarification of the causes of symptoms and the extent of infection by eyespot ( Tapesia spp.) and sharp eyespot ( Rhizoctonia cerealis ) on winter wheat at early growth stages. Disease assessments made before stem extension, when decisions to apply fungicides are usually made, often did not agree with the pathogen diagnoses using PCR, suggesting that such early visual diagnoses may be unreliable. Visual and PCR diagnoses made on stems in summer generally supported each other, but there were often discrepancies in relating disease severity to amounts of pathogen present when determined by regression analyses of incidence or severity of symptoms on amount of pathogen DNA. Mixed symptoms caused by different pathogens may sometimes have been confounded. Relationships between symptoms and DNA of eyespot pathogens were less clear on some cultivars, often those with least disease. Sharp eyespot symptoms had a stronger relationship to DNA of its pathogen. Significant regressions often accounted for a small percentage of the variance, suggesting either that pathogens not assayed were contributing to symptoms or that lesions were in some cases persisting longer into the season than pathogen DNA. The frequency of pathogen detection before stem extension was a poor predictor of the amounts of pathogen DNA measured later in the season.