MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING FEATURES OF DISCOSPONDYLITIS IN DOGS

The diagnosis of discospondylitis is based mainly on diagnostic imaging and laboratory results. Herein, we describe the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in 13 dogs with confirmed discospondylitis. In total there were 17 sites of discospondylitis. Eleven (81.1%) of the dogs had spinal pain for >3 weeks and a variable degree of neurologic signs. Two dogs had spinal pain and ataxia for 4 days. Radiographs were available in nine of the dogs. In MR images there was always involvement of two adjacent vertebral endplates and the associated disk. The involved endplates and adjacent marrow were T1‐hypointense with hyperintensity in short tau inversion recovery (STIR) images in all dogs, and all dogs also had contrast enhancement of endplates and paravertebral tissues. The intervertebral disks were hyperintense in T2W and STIR images and characterized by contrast enhancement in 15 sites (88.2%). Endplate erosion was present in 15 sites (88.2%) and was associated with T2‐hypointense bone marrow adjacent to it. In two sites (11.8%) endplate erosion was not MR images or radiographically. The vertebral bone marrow in these sites was T2‐hyperintense. Epidural extension was conspicuous in postcontrast images at 15 sites (88.2%). Spinal cord compression was present at 15 sites (88.2%), and all affected dogs had neurologic signs. Subluxation was present in two sites (11.8%). MRI shows characteristic features of discospondylitis, and it allows the recognition of the exact location and extension (to the epidural space and paravertebral soft tissues) of the infection. Furthermore, MRI increases lesion conspicuity in early discospondylitis that may not be visualized by radiography.     

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING CHARACTERISTICS OF ASCENDING HEMORRHAGIC MYELOMALACIA IN A DOG

A 4-year-old neutered female terrier-cross was evaluated for an acute onset of paraplegia. Utilizing magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, the cause of the neurologic deficits was determined to be a lumbar intervertebral disc extrusion. The MR study additionally demonstrated parenchymal hyperintensity on T2-weighted images and similarly located diffuse hypointensity on gradient echo images, cranial and caudal to the compressive extradural lesion. Hemorrhagic myelomalacia was suspected based on these MR characteristics, which was subsequently confirmed surgically and histopathologically.     

Suspected ergotism in two heifers

A syndrome similar to gangrenous ergotism was seen in 2 Friesian heifers grazing meadow hay containing perennial rye grass seed heads parasited by an ergot presumed to be Claviceps purpurea. Clinical signs were bilateral hind limb lameness and gangrene. There was angiographic evidence of vasoconstriction in the lower hind limbs with necrosis of all tissues in the distal region of both hind limbs.     

Nature of soil carbohydrate and its association with soil humic substances

The fulvic acid and alkali-soluble polysaccharide fractions of a sandy loam arable soil of the Countesswells series have been subjected to acid hydrolysis or methylation and the products examined by infra-red and NMR spectroscopy, pyrolysis mass spectrometry and chemical analysis. Infra-red and NMR spectroscopy of the polysaccharide fraction indicated that the substance was predominantly carbohydrate, although sugars accounted for less than one-third of the weight by chemical analysis. Pyrolysis mass spectrometry con-firmed the presence of sugars by sugar anhydride formation, but also showed the presence of ‘secondary’ or ‘pseudo’ polysaccharide. The fulvic acid contained only 2–3% sugars by chemical analysis, whereas a much larger carbohydrate component was suggested by physicochemical analyses. Infra-red and pyrolysis mass spectrometry difference spectra for the residues after acid hydrolysis indicated the release of material with some of the characteristics of glycoprotein. Most of the carbohydrate present in the fulvic acid was of the secondary or pseudo polysaccharide type. The hypothesis that the secondary polysaccharide could be a degraded polysaccharide structure in which some sugar residues have been partly transformed to melanoidins by Maillard reaction is explored.     

New infrared band assignments for the arsenate ion adsorbed on synthetic goethite (α-FeOOH)

Infrared spectroscopy was used to show that arsenate is adsorbed on the surface of synthetic goethite (α-FeOOH) as the acidic HAsO₄²- ion, replacing singly coordinated surface OH groups. In this respect, arsenate is analogous to phosphate, but its larger size apparently causes it to interact more strongly with some of the OH groups that remain on the surface. This has suggested an alternative assignment for the absorption bands of these OH groups.     

ADSORPTION ON HYDROUS OXIDES: II. OXALATE, BENZOATE AND PHOSPHATE ON GIBBSITE

Adsorption isotherms, the infrared spectra of adsorbed species, and the amount of hydroxyl released when oxalate is adsorbed, all indicate that adsorption of oxalate, benzoate and phosphate at low solution concentrations occurs only on A1(OH)(H₂ O) sites exposed on edge faces of the platy gibbsite crystals studied. This is confirmed by the finding that the vibrations of surface hydroxyl groups on the principal plate faces are unaffected when excess oxalate is present, and further supported by the low affinity for oxalate of imogolite, a tubular mineral with a very large gibbsite-like surface, but with a very low concentration of edge sites. Infrared spectra indicate that oxalate is adsorbed in bidentate form. Near neutrality and at low solution concentrations, gibbsite adsorbs more oxalate than does goethite of comparable surface area.     

STRUCTURAL STUDIES ON SOIL POLYSACCHARIDE

The polysaccharide extracted by alkali from a Countesswells series soil has been fully methylated and the hydrolysis products identified by GC-MS. The parent neutral sugars are galactose, glucose, mannose, arabinose, xylose, fucose and rhamnose and these constitute about 40 per cent of the polysaccharide. The analysis shows that hexose components are predominantly present in 1 → 3 and 1 → 4 linkages and pentose sugar in 1 → 4 linkages. About 20 per cent of the residues were in branching positions. From the number of non-reducing terminal groups present the average molecular weight of the methylated material has been calculated to be about 1460 compared with a value of 2700 obtained by vapour pressure osmometry. This contrasts with much higher values reported for unmethylated soil polysaccharides. The mixture of derivatives obtained supports the concept that soil polysaccharide originates in both plants and microorganisms.     

Aphanomyces species associated with red spot disease: an ulcerative disease of estuarine fish from eastern Australia

Abstract. Broad, non-septate, fungal hyphae are a constant finding in the necrotising dermatitis lesions and dermal ulcers characteristic of red spot disease. During a one-year period, fungi with hyphae morphologically consistent with those seen in histological sections of lesions were recovered from 27 out of 28 lesions on sea mullet, Mugil cephalus L., yellowfin bream, Acanthopagrus australis (Owen), and sand whiting, Sillago ciliata Cuvier, collected from three widely separated river systems in eastern Australia. Cultural and morphological characteristics, including spore formation, of 24 of these isolates were examined. In addition, tolerances to different salinities, growth on different media and growth at different temperatures were studied for three representative isolates, one from each species of fish. These studies suggest that all isolates belonged to a single species within the genus Aphanomyces. Their role in the pathogenesis of red spot disease, and their relationship with other Aphanomyces spp. affecting fish, is discussed.     

The decomposition of straw in soil: use of Multiple Internal Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy

Changes in the surface layers of wheat and barley straw internodes incubated in soil at 15°C for up to 448 d were analysed using multiple internal reflectance (MIR) infrared spectroscopy. Results were compared with chemical analyses of total C and N and polysaccharides in straw and soil-straw mixtures. Detectable spectroscopic changes occurred only at the inner surface of the straw. There was progressive enhancement of lignin absorption bands relative to those of polysaccharide and enhanced acetyl absorption. There was a greater association of clay mineral matter with the inner surfaces of the wheat straw than with those of the barley. Using the absorbance ratio of carbohydrate to lignin and assuming a negligible change in lignin content, it was estimated that for wheat straw about 75% of the carbohydrate in the surface layers was lost within the first 14 d of incubation. The barley straw showed no loss until 28 d, and 75% loss only after 112 d. In the early phases, the pattern of decomposition of straw carbohydrate in soil as revealed by MIR resembled that in sheep's rumen, but the rate of decomposition was much slower. Changes in the carbohydrate content of the soil-straw mixtures measured chemically paralleled those observed spectroscopically, but only gross chemical changes were observable. MIR infrared spectroscopy was shown to provide a sensitive measure of the early stages of plant tissue decomposition.