Computed tomographic myelography of a foal with discospondylitis and extradural spinal cord compression due to a vertebral abscess

A one‐month‐old Quarter Horse colt presented with progressive gait abnormalities and weakness. The foal was ataxic at presentation. Radiography identified focal endplate irregularities and lysis at C6–7. Radiographic diagnosis was discospondylitis. Computed tomographic myelography was performed immediately following euthanasia and identified an extradural compressive spinal cord lesion corresponding to the site of discospondylitis. Post mortem examination findings included abscess formation at the C6–7 intervertebral space with osteomyelitis extending into the adjacent physes and subchondral bone of caudal C6 and cranial C7. The vertebral abscess extended into the ventral spinal canal at C6–7 and was identified as the cause of extradural spinal cord compression. Salmonella sp. was cultured and isolated from purulent exudate at the intervertebral space. Computed tomographic myelography has not been previously reported for assessment of discospondylitis in horses and was successful at accurately characterising spinal cord compression in addition to osteolytic changes associated with discospondylitis.     

Computed tomographic bronchioarterial ratio for brachycephalic dogs without pulmonary disease

The bronchoarterial (BA) ratio measured with computed tomography is widely used in human medicine to diagnose bronchial dilation or collapse. Although use of the BA ratio in veterinary medicine has been recently studied, this has not been evaluated in brachycephalic dogs predisposed to bronchial diseases including bronchial collapse. The purpose of this study was to establish BA ratios for brachycephalic dogs and compare the values with those of non-brachycephalic dogs. Twenty-three brachycephalic dogs and 15 non-brachycephalic dogs without clinical pulmonary disease were evaluated. The BA ratio of the lobar bronchi in the left and right cranial as well as the right middle, left, and right caudal lung lobes was measured. No significant difference in mean BA ratio was observed between lung lobes or the individual animals (p = 0.148). The mean BA ratio was 1.08 ± 0.10 (99% CI = 0.98~1.18) for brachycephalic dogs and 1.51 ± 0.05 (99% CI = 1.46~1.56) for the non-brachycephalic group. There was a significant difference between the mean BA ratios of the brachycephalic and non-brachycephalic groups (p = 0.00). Defining the normal limit of the BA ratio for brachycephalic breeds may be helpful for diagnosing bronchial disease in brachycephalic dogs.     

Micro-computed tomography evaluation and pathological analyses of female rats with collagen-induced arthritis

Imaging techniques have been introduced to assess the efficacy and toxicity of developing pharmaceuticals. The purpose of this study was to perform a comprehensive characterization of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and to compare the results with data from conventional pathological examination. Arthritis was induced by collagen in 24 female Wistar rats. Micro-CT and pathological analyses were performed to assess arthritis progression. Micro-CT analysis showed marked joint destruction occurring in a time-dependent manner following collagen administration. Bone volume was significantly decreased in the tibia at weeks 3 and 4 compared to week 0 (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Additionally, percent bone volume was significantly reduced in the tibia at week 4 compared to week 0 (p < 0.05). In contrast, bone surface/bone volume and trabecular separation were significantly increased in the tibia of the animals at week 4 compared to week 0 (p < 0.05). Severe joint destruction with extensive inflammation, erosion of cartilage and bone, and infiltration of inflammatory cells were observed in the knee joints of the collagen-treated rats. Taken together, micro-CT made it possible to quantify CIA lesions and should be performed with pathological examination in rats.     

Quantitative CT assessment of bone mineral density in dogs with hyperadrenocorticism

Canine hyperadrenocorticism (HAC) is one of the most common causes of general osteopenia. In this study, quantitative computed tomography (QCT) was used to compare the bone mineral densities (BMD) between 39 normal dogs and 8 dogs with HAC (6 pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism [PDH]; pituitary dependent hyperadrenocorticism, 2 adrenal hyperadrenocorticism [ADH]; adrenal dependent hyperadrenocorticism) diagnosed through hormonal assay. A computed tomogaraphy scan of the 12th thoracic to 7th lumbar vertebra was performed and the region of interest was drawn in each trabecular and cortical bone. Mean Hounsfield unit values were converted to equivalent BMD with bone-density phantom by linear regression analysis. The converted mean trabecular BMDs were significantly lower than those of normal dogs. ADH dogs showed significantly lower BMDs at cortical bone than normal dogs. Mean trabecular BMDs of dogs with PDH using QCT were significantly lower than those of normal dogs, and both mean trabecular and cortical BMDs in dogs with ADH were significantly lower than those of normal dogs. Taken together, these findings indicate that QCT is useful to assess BMD in dogs with HAC.     

橡子利用的研究（Ⅲ）——橡实淀粉的特性

研究了橡实淀粉的化学成分、颗粒形貌、Ｘ－射线衍射图谱与模型、碘亲和力与链淀粉含量、差热分析、糊化温度、糊粘度曲线及冰融稳定性等性质，并对其利用的可能范围进行了分析．     

乙酰化处理对樟子松木材耐光性和热稳定性的影响

【目的】探讨乙酰化处理对人工林木材耐光性和热稳定性的影响,为木材颜色调控技术及高耐光染色木材的研发提供理论依据。【方法】以樟子松木粉为试样,加入乙酸酐和二甲苯溶液,在120℃条件下分别反应5,10,20,40,60 min,测试乙酰化处理时间对木粉增重率的影响;分别称取1 g经不同时间乙酰化处理的木粉和未处理木粉,置于 UV老化试验箱内辐射100 h,利用红外光谱分析 UV辐射前后乙酰化木粉化学官能团的变化,通过热重和扫描电镜分析乙酰化木粉的热稳定性及其形貌变化。【结果】随着乙酰化处理时间的延长,樟子松木粉的增重率呈现先增加后降低的趋势,在处理40 min 时木粉增重率最大;乙酰化木粉在1741 cm －1和1385 cm －1处的CO,C—H特征吸收峰强度均大于原木粉,处理时间40 min 时木粉的吸收峰强度最大;UV 辐射后,乙酰化木粉在1508 cm －1处木质素苯环特征吸收峰强度明显大于原木粉,处理时间40 min 时木粉的吸收峰强度最大,表明木粉经乙酰化处理后光稳定性得到提升;热重分析显示,经乙酰化处理后,木粉热分解所需的温度明显提高,表明乙酰化木粉的热稳定性好于原木粉;扫描电镜分析表明,乙酰化处理可增强木粉微观构造抵抗光劣化的能力。【结论】乙酰化处理能有效抑制樟子松木材的光降解反应并提升其热稳定性。     

A microwave tomographic system for wood characterization in the forest products industry

Abstract

Nondestructive testing and evaluation techniques able to extract information about the internal structure of the samples under test are very important in the wood industry. Microwave imaging systems have been considered for a long time promising apparatuses for this task. In this framework, approaches exploiting the full scattering phenomena for creating images of the distributions of the dielectric properties of the targets have been developed in the last few years. In this paper, a prototype of microwave tomographic system is presented and several experimental validation confirming its suitability for the use in the wood and forest product industry are reported.