Concurrent multiple myeloma and mast cell neoplasia in a 13‐year‐old castrated male Maine Coon cat

A 13‐year‐old, castrated male Maine Coon cat was presented to Oklahoma State University Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital for yearly echocardiographic examination monitoring hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) diagnosed in 2003. Physical examination revealed a heart murmur and premature beats, likely related to HCM, but was otherwise unremarkable. A biochemistry profile revealed a hyperglobulinemia (6.3 g/dL). Cytologic examination of fine‐needle aspirates from liver and spleen revealed increased numbers of plasma cells and mast cells, confirmed with subsequent histologic examination. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for c‐kit in the spleen and liver showed mast cells predominantly exhibiting type I staining pattern, with moderate numbers exhibiting type II pattern in spleen, and scattered cells exhibiting type II and III patterns in liver. Bone marrow cytology and core biopsy documented approximately 22% plasma cells. Cutaneous masses on the cat's left shoulder and right carpus were cytologically confirmed mast cell tumors. Serum protein electrophoresis with immunofixation confirmed an IgG monoclonal gammopathy. This is an example of 2 hematologic neoplasms occurring simultaneously in a cat. Concurrent pathologies may be overlooked if a single disease is diagnosed and suspected of causing all clinical signs. Both neoplasms were well differentiated, and neoplastic cells could have easily been interpreted as a reactive population had a full workup not been performed. Missing either diagnosis could result in a potentially lethal outcome. Eleven months after diagnoses, the cat was clinically doing well following a splenectomy and oral prednisolone and chlorambucil chemotherapy. Globulins decreased to 4.9 g/dL.     

Discrimination of geographical origin of rice (Oryza sativa L.) by multielement analysis using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and multivariate analysis

This study aims to determine the authenticity of the geographical origin of rice using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and chemometrics. The profiles of 25 elements in brown rice measured by ICP-AES were subjected to data-mining processes, including principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). PLS-DA clearly discriminated the geographical origin of rice samples grown in three countries. Eleven elements (Cu, Ag, Zn, Cr, Ca, Ba, Cd, Bi, K, Pb, and In) significantly contributed to the ability to discriminate the geographical origin of the rice. These results demonstrate the use of multielement profiling combined with chemometrics as a tool for discriminating food origins. This study extends our knowledge about the applications of both multielement profiling and chemometrics for the determination of food authenticity, and thus can be useful for controlling the geographical origin of rice by governmental administration and protecting consumers from improper domestic labeling.     

Long-Term Feeding of Chitosan Ameliorates Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in a High-Fructose-Diet-Impaired Rat Model of Glucose Tolerance

This study was designed to investigate the effects of long-term feeding of chitosan on plasma glucose and lipids in rats fed a high-fructose (HF) diet (63.1%). Male Sprague-Dawley rats aged seven weeks were used as experimental animals. Rats were divided into three groups: (1) normal group (normal); (2) HF group; (3) chitosan + HF group (HF + C). The rats were fed the experimental diets and drinking water ad libitum for 21 weeks. The results showed that chitosan (average molecular weight was about 3.8 × 10⁵ Dalton and degree of deacetylation was about 89.8%) significantly decreased body weight, paraepididymal fat mass, and retroperitoneal fat mass weight, but elevated the lipolysis rate in retroperitoneal fats of HF diet-fed rats. Supplementation of chitosan causes a decrease in plasma insulin, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Interleukin (IL)-6, and leptin, and an increase in plasma adiponectin. The HF diet increased hepatic lipids. However, intake of chitosan reduced the accumulation of hepatic lipids, including total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) contents. In addition, chitosan elevated the excretion of fecal lipids in HF diet-fed rats. Furthermore, chitosan significantly decreased plasma TC, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), the TC/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio, and increased the HDL-C/(LDL-C + VLDL-C) ratio, but elevated the plasma TG and free fatty acids concentrations in HF diet-fed rats. Plasma angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) protein expression was not affected by the HF diet, but it was significantly increased in chitosan-supplemented, HF-diet-fed rats. The high-fructose diet induced an increase in plasma glucose and impaired glucose tolerance, but chitosan supplementation decreased plasma glucose and improved impairment of glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance. Taken together, these results indicate that supplementation with chitosan can improve the impairment of glucose and lipid metabolism in a HF-diet-fed rat model.     

微囊藻毒素对水稻幼苗营养吸收的影响

为进一步解析作物对水体中微囊藻毒素(MCs)的适应机制,通过水培试验研究MCs对水稻幼苗营养吸收及质膜H~+-ATPase基因表达的影响。结果表明:胁迫7 d后,1μg·L~(-1)MCs组水稻幼苗根系活力增加。10μg·L~(-1)MCs组水稻幼苗根系活力和质膜H~+-ATPase活性增加,促进了矿质营养(Mg~(2+)、Fe~(2+)、Zn~(2+)和NO_3~-)的吸收。其中质膜H~+-ATPase活性上升与OSA1、OSA2、OSA3、OSA4、OSA6、OSA8和OSA9表达上调有关。高浓度MCs(100μg·L~(-1)和1000μg·L~(-1))组水稻幼苗根系活力和质膜H~+-ATPase活性降低,阻碍了水稻幼苗对矿质营养的吸收,此时质膜H~+-ATPase的基因表达呈下调趋势,且降低程度随MCs处理浓度增大而增强。恢复7 d后,10μg·L~(-1)MCs组根系活力、质膜H~+-ATPase活性和营养元素含量恢复至对照水平。100μg·L~(-1)MCs组各指标均优于胁迫期,而1000μg·L~(-1)MCs对营养吸收的抑制未恢复。研究表明,MCs胁迫导致的水稻幼苗中营养元素含量的变化受质膜H~+-ATPase活性的调控,且调控能力受MCs浓度限制。     

电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法测量土壤中有效锌含量的不确定度评估

对电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法(ICP-OES)测定土壤有效锌含量的不确定度进行评定,分析了整个检测过程产生不确定度的来源,对称样量、浸提液体积、标准系列溶液配制、线性标准曲线拟合、测量重复性等产生的不确定度分量进行计算,量化给出扩展不确定度。待测土壤中有效锌含量最终结果表示:w(Zn)=(1.12±0.10)mg/kg,包含因子k=2,置信概率为95%。测量过程中,标准溶液制备所产生的不确定度最大。因此,在ICP-OES法测定土壤样品有效锌时应足够重视标准溶液制备与曲线拟合过程,以减小测量不确定度。本文研究结果为控制ICP-OES法测定土壤有效锌数据质量提供了理论依据。     

Different origins of two corpora lutea recovered from a pregnant African elephant (Loxodonta africana)

Elephant ovaries contain multiple corpora lutea (CLs) throughout pregnancy. Two CLs (P‐1 and P‐2) collected from a pregnant African elephant were used to investigate their origin and physiological state in this study. The mRNA expressions of prolactin receptor, CYP11A and inhibin betaB subunit were higher in P‐2 than in P‐1, while LHCGR and inhibin betaA subunit mRNA were higher in P‐1 than in P‐2. Protein expression of cleaved caspase‐3 was detected in P‐1 but not in P‐2. These results suggest different origins for the two CLs in this one pregnant elephant, and we also demonstrated the production of bioactive prolactin by the elephant placenta.     

Management of bakanae and bacterial seedling blight diseases in nurseries by irradiating rice seeds with atmospheric plasma

The control of seedborne rice seedling diseases in the seed beds is important to avoid epidemics in rice nurseries and paddies, which may result in severe yield loss. Recently, irradiation with plasma containing electrons, creating positive or negative ions and neutral species, has been shown to have an antimicrobial effect, probably via generation of reactive oxygen species. This study examines whether two seedborne rice seedling diseases, bakanae disease caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi, and bacterial seedling blight caused by Burkholderia plantarii, are suppressed by irradiation of infected rice seeds with atmospheric plasma. Seed germination and seedling growth were not inhibited in plasma‐treated healthy seeds. When F. fujikuroi‐infected rice seeds were irradiated with plasma after being immersed in sterile distilled water, bakanae disease severity index and the percentage of plants with symptoms were reduced to 18.1% and 7.8% of non‐irradiated control, respectively, depending on the duration of plasma irradiation. The bacterial seedling blight disease index was also reduced by plasma irradiation in vacuum‐inoculated seeds to 38.6% of the non‐irradiated control, and in infected seeds harvested from spray‐inoculated heads of rice plants to 40.1% of the control. Therefore, plasma irradiation seems to be effective in controlling two independent seedborne rice seedling diseases.     

低聚壳聚糖对母猪繁殖性能、泌乳性能和血浆生化指标的影响

本试验旨在探讨饲粮中添加低聚壳聚糖对母猪繁殖性能、泌乳性能和血浆生化指标的影响。选择24头胎次、体重和预产期相近的健康大白猪母猪,随机分为3个组,每组8个重复,每个重复1头猪。对照组饲喂基础饲粮,试验Ⅰ组和Ⅱ组饲粮在基础饲粮中分别添加50和100 g/t的低聚壳聚糖。试验从母猪妊娠第85天时开始,至分娩后第21天时结束。结果表明:1)与对照组相比,饲粮中添加低聚壳聚糖可显著增加母猪的健仔数和哺乳期平均日采食量(P0.05),显著降低母猪的产程(P0.05),且在一定程度上可改善母猪的便秘和降低母猪的背膘厚损失;与对照组相比,试验Ⅰ组仔猪的初生窝重显著增加(P0.05),试验Ⅱ组母猪的哺乳期泌乳量显著增加(P0.05)。2)与对照组相比,试验Ⅰ组和Ⅱ组母猪初乳中乳脂肪含量显著增加(P0.05),试验Ⅰ组初乳中尿素氮(UN)含量和常乳中精氨酸、总氨基酸、限制性氨基酸含量显著增加(P0.05)。3)试验Ⅰ组和Ⅱ组母猪的血浆谷丙转氨酶(GPT)活性显著低于对照组(P0.05),各组的血浆碱性磷酸酶(ALP)、乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)活性和总蛋白(TP)、白蛋白(ALB)、UN、甘油三酯(TG)、总胆固醇(CHO)、高密度脂蛋白(HDL)、低密度脂蛋白(LDL)含量均无显著差异(P0.05)。由此可见,饲粮中添加低聚壳聚糖对母猪的繁殖性能和泌乳性能均有一定的促进作用。综合本研究结果,50 g/t低聚壳聚糖为母猪饲粮中的最佳添加剂量。     

核黄素缺乏对1～28日龄北京鸭生长性能、器官指数和血浆生化指标的影响

本试验旨在研究核黄素缺乏对1~28日龄北京鸭生长性能、屠宰性能、器官指数、组织核黄素含量及血浆生化指标的影响。采用单因子完全随机试验设计,选取360只1日龄健康的雄性北京鸭,随机分为3个组,即核黄素缺乏组、采食配对组(人为控制该组采食量与核黄素缺乏组一致)和自由采食对照组,每组12个重复,每个重复10只鸭。核黄素缺乏组试验鸭饲喂核黄素缺乏饲粮(实测核黄素含量为1.38 mg/kg),采食配对组和自由采食对照组饲喂核黄素充足饲粮(在核黄素缺乏饲粮基础上添加10 mg/kg核黄素)。试验期为28 d。结果表明:与采食配对组和自由采食对照组相比,核黄素缺乏组试验鸭的平均日增重、胸肌率和腿肌率显著降低(P0.05),料重比和死亡率显著升高(P0.05),肝脏指数、心脏指数和胰腺指数显著提高(P0.05),血浆核黄素、肝脏核黄素和黄素单核苷酸含量显著降低(P0.05),血浆谷草转氨酶活性及总胆固醇和甘油三酯含量显著提高(P0.05)。由此得出,核黄素是北京鸭生长发育必需的营养素;饲粮中缺乏核黄素可降低1~28日龄北京鸭的生长性能和组织中核黄素含量,可提高肝脏指数并导致血浆总胆固醇和甘油三酯含量及谷草转氨酶活性升高。     

Dietary rice improves growth performance,mucosal enzyme activities and plasma urea nitrogen in weaning piglets

In this study, we evaluated the nutritional functions of rice for weaning piglets. Sixteen weaning piglets with an average initial weight of 7.2 kg were divided into two groups. One group was fed a corn‐soybean meal based diet, and the other was fed a rice‐soybean meal based diet, containing 50% corn and rice, respectively. A 2 weeks growth trial was conducted and growth performance, intestinal mucosal enzyme activities and plasma urea nitrogen were measured. The average daily gain in rice‐fed piglets was significantly higher than that in corn‐fed piglets and the average daily feed intake tended to be higher in rice‐fed piglets than in corn‐fed piglets. Maltase and aminopeptidase activities (mol/g tissue) in the jejunum in rice‐fed piglets were significantly higher than those in corn‐fed piglets, although these enzyme activities were not different in the duodenum. Sucrase and dipeptidyl peptidase IV activities in the two groups were not different in either the duodenum or jejunum. Although the feed (nitrogen) intake was higher in rice‐fed piglets, the plasma urea nitrogen in rice‐fed piglets was significantly lower (P = 0.006) than that in corn‐fed piglets. These results indicate that rice is a good alternative feedstuff for the diet of weaning piglets.