Transcatheter closure of patent ductus arteriosus in 11 dogs and one cat after incomplete or aborted surgical ligation

ObjectiveTo describe the characteristics and outcomes of transcatheter patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) occlusion after incomplete or aborted surgical ligation in dogs and cats.AnimalsTwelve client-owned animals (11 dogs and one cat).Materials and methodsThis retrospective study describes data from animals with aborted or incomplete surgical PDA ligation that subsequently underwent transcatheter closure using endovascular methods. Patient demographics, reason for incomplete or aborted surgery, complications, and method of transcatheter occlusion were recorded. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range), where appropriate.ResultsFor all cases, median age at surgery was 12.2 months (4.9–15.1 months) and at catheterization was 15.4 months (8.9–21.9 months), with 79 days (29–209 days) between surgical and interventional procedures. Median weight at catheterization was 4.5 kg (2.5–12.6 kg). Reasons for failed surgical ligation included hemorrhage during ductal dissection in seven dogs, residual flow in four dogs, and inability to identify the ductus in one cat. Transcatheter closure was successfully performed using a canine duct occluder in eight dogs, transarterial coil embolization in two dogs, and transvenous coil embolization in one dog and one cat. Metallic hemoclips partially obscured angiographic findings in three cases with prior surgical hemorrhage but did not prevent transcatheter closure. In all cases, ductal flow was successfully attenuated, with no or trace residual shunting on angiography and complete occlusion the following day on echocardiography.ConclusionsWhen surgery is unsuccessful, either owing to hemorrhage or residual flow, transcatheter closure of PDA is feasible, even in small patients.     

Improved doubled haploid production protocol for Brassica napus using microspore colchicine treatment in vitro and ploidy determination by flow cytometry

A rapid and efficient microspore culture protocol was applied to produce homozygous progeny of crosses between low erucic canola and high erucic resynthesized rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). Microspores of Canadian cultivars ‘Excel’ and ‘Profit’ as well as three F₁ hybrids with the resynthetic line ‘RS239’ were treated with colchicine immediately after isolation. Flow cytometry was applied for early identification of doubled haploid (DH) regenerants. The diploidization rate was subsequently verified by scoring flower morphology. In vitro colchicine treatment had a positive effect on induced diploidization, and was associated with the frequency of preliminary spontaneous diploidization which was, however, determined by the genotype. In addition, the effects of colchicine treatment on embryoid formation and regeneration have been evaluated. The method presented is feasible for commercial large‐scale production of DHs in rapeseed as the genotype‐specific diploidization can be efficiently balanced by in vitro colchicine treatment. In addition, the use of flow cytometry immediately after in vitro culture allows efficient selection for DHs, thus saving labour and cost and in the laboratory and subsequent greenhouse phase.     

穿流引风组合加热式蔬菜脱水机的改进设计

现有平流组合加热式蔬菜脱水机存在热交换不充分和干燥速度慢等问题。对现有设备进行了穿流组合加热技术改造:将送风管和引风管连接管的直径自上而下依次减小,满足了各层干燥箱对送风量和引风量的不同要求;采用冲孔板制造输送链板,满足了穿流供风的要求;采用供风管变截面供风技术,提高了供风的均匀性。设备改造后,分别对胡萝卜和甘蓝两种蔬菜进行了脱水干燥对比试验。结果表明,采用穿流组合加热时,不仅干燥速度快,而且其平均单位脱水的能耗分别由平流组合加热的7.03,7.29MJ/kg下降为6.83,6.65MJ/kg。     

Gene flow in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

This study was conducted in Brazil in order to assess the potential risk posed by gene escape from transgenic into non-transgenic plants and wild populations. A new methodology was applied to evaluate the gene flow between common bean cultivars, by means of a specially delineated experiment in two stages. The first stage consisted of the planting of one cultivar with violet flowers (BB) as pollen source (‘Diamante Negro’), and a receiver (‘Talismã’) with white flowers (bb), at different distances. The source was sown in the center of the area. The pollen receiver cultivar was sown, in concentrical squares around it. At maturity, the rows were sampled at varied distances from the source in the four cardinal directions. In the second stage, the sampled seeds of the previous stage were sown, and the percentage of outcrossing was evaluated during flowering through the presence of violet flowers (Bb). The highest frequency of natural hybrids, 0.136%, occurred at a distance of 0.5 m between the cultivars. The natural outcrossing rate was practically zero beyond a distance of 3.25 m.     

Ploidy analysis in water yam, Dioscorea alata L. germplasm

Poor reproductive development in yams (Dioscorea spp.) has often been attributed to the polyploid nature of the crop. In this study, flow cytometry was used to determine the ploidy level of 53 accessions of Dioscorea alata, mostly from West African countries, Chad and Puerto Rico. Nuclei were isolated from young leaf material and stained with DAPI(4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole). The nuclear genome size (2C) was measured as an indicator of the ploidy level. Dioscorea rotundata genotypes with known ploidy levels were used as standards. The results showed that the majority of plants were hexaploid (84.9%) with a smaller percentage of tetraploids (15.1%). A higher number of male plants were hexaploid than tetraploids. This is at variance with earlier findings, which reported that hexaploid male plants are rare. Higher ploidy levels were not directly related to sparse or erratic flowering as previously reported as profuse flowering occurred in some male hexaploid accessions. These findings have important implications for yam breeding in relation to yam genetic resources. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comparison of nuclear DNA content of citrus rootstock populations by flow cytometry analysis

Citrus species are widely grown in the world. Plant characteristics of the rootstock populations used for orange, lemon, mandarin and grapefruit cultivars should be known as well as those of the cultivars that help true‐to‐type nursery plant production. In this study, cell nuclei were isolated from leaf tissues of seedlings of trifoliate orange, sour orange, rough lemon,‘Volkamer’ lemon,‘Cleopatra’ mandarin,‘Hyokan’, ‘Sanbokan’, ‘Kinkoje’, ‘Carrizo’ citrange and ‘Swingle’ citrumelo, and then fluorescence intensities were measured on propidium iodide‐stained nuclei by flow cytometry. Nuclei isolated from the triploid ‘Tahiti’ lime with a known nuclear genome size were used as the internal standard to estimate the nuclear DNA content of Citrus seedling populations in absolute units. Results obtained from cytograms and histograms indicated that all seedlings analyzed were diploid. In addition, differences between the species for nuclear DNA content were also found to be significant. ‘Hyokan’ seedlings had the biggest genome size, 0.984 pg/2C, whereas trifoliate orange seedlings had the smallest genome size, 0.678 pg/2C. Flow cytometry analysis could be used for obtaining accurate and rapid results for cytological observations of seedling populations of Citrus.     

灌溉渠系流量最优调配的0-1规划模型

本文根据灌溉配水渠系的运行特点,提出在一定轮期和来水流量限制条件下实现下级配水渠最优组合及其配水时间最优排序的一种0-1规划模型,实例运算表明,这种方法可有效减少无效弃水和闸门调节次数,同时对渠道横断面的设计有参考意义。     

管网中泵破坏瞬变流的数值模拟

建立了管网中泵破坏瞬变流的数值模拟，该模型考虑了泵破坏无量纲非线性边界条件，运用特征线法对方程进行了求解。经验证，证明模型是可靠的，可用于工程分析计算。     

三道湾水电站正常溢洪洞及泄洪排

试验表明，三道湾水电站原设计存在以下问题：泄洪排沙洞单独全开运行工况下，其进口上方存在贯通性吸气漏斗漩涡；正常溢洪洞进口侧收缩十分严重，泄流量不足，闸后存在水翅、折冲波等不良流态，下游消能效果不佳；针对实际情况，试验通过在泄洪排沙洞进口增设消涡格栅，在正常溢洪洞进口设置椭圆形导墙、延长闸后收缩段，下游采用扩散挑流消能等措施，很好地解决了上述问题。