Ventral Bulla Osteotomy for Treatment of Otitis Media in a Rabbit

This article describes the management of otitis media in a domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) that presented with a history of chronic upper respiratory disease. Deep nasal culture yielded a pure growth of Bordetella bronchiseptica susceptible to chloramphenicol. To further evaluate recurring clinical signs after treatment with chloramphenicol, skull radiographs were obtained and showed an increased density in the right tympanic bulla. A ventral bulla osteotomy was performed, and the success of treatment was determined by the resolution of respiratory signs and the absence of increased radiographic density in the right tympanic bulla 5 months postoperatively.     

Minimum intravenous infectious dose of ovine progressive pneumonia virus (OPPV)

The minimum intravenous infectious dose for ovine progressive pneumonia virus (OPPV) WLC1 was determined using twenty-four 6 month-old lambs. Twelve groups of two 6 month-old lambs were inoculated intravenously (i.v.) with tissue culture fluid containing ovine progressive pneumonia virus (OPPV) WLC1 titers ranging from 10^7.6 TCID₅₀/lamb down to 10^−3.4 TCID₅₀/lamb and were monitored for seroconversion using the OPPV agar gel immunodiffusion assay (AGID). Fifteen of the 16 lambs given equal or greater than 10^0.6 TCID₅₀ seroconverted, and virus could be isolated from peripheral blood leukocytes in 13 out of the 15 of these lambs. None of the eight lambs receiving less than 10^0.6 TCID₅₀ seroconverted during the 12 months. The results of this study indicated that 10^0.6 or 4 TCID₅₀/lamb given i.v. was capable of establishing infection.     

Enhanced Lipid Stability in Whole Wheat Flour by Lipase Inactivation and Antioxidant Retention

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of dry heat, steam, and microwave treatments in decreasing lipase activity, while retaining antioxidant activity, to stabilize whole wheat flour against lipid degradation during storage. Bran was heat‐treated in 230‐g batches using four levels (exposure times) for each of the three treatment methods. Lipase activity and antioxidant activity were quantified for all treatment combinations. None of the treatments significantly decreased antioxidant activity; the levels determined to be optimal, inasmuch as further heating did not significantly decrease lipase activity, were 25 min of dry heat, 60 sec of microwave (1000W), and 60 sec of steam. These treatments effectively decreased lipase activity by 74, 93, and 96%, respectively. Optimum treatments were evaluated for acceptance using a consumer sensory panel during a 12‐month storage period. No significant differences in acceptance were found between the control and any of the samples either at baseline or after storage. This suggests that whole wheat flour can be stabilized against lipolysis by utilizing the treatments described in this study without decreasing antioxidant activity, and that manufacturers may utilize these treatments without risking decreased consumer acceptance.     

Impact of vitronectin concentration and surface properties on the stable propagation of human embryonic stem cells

The standard method for culturing human embryonic stem cells (hESC) uses supporting feeder layers of cells or an undefined substrate, Matrigel(?), which is a basement membrane extracted from murine sarcoma. For stem cell therapeutic applications, a superior alternative would be a defined, artificial surface that is based on immobilized human plasma vitronectin (VN), which is an adhesion-mediating protein. Therefore, VN adsorbed to diverse polymer surfaces was explored for the continuous propagation of hESC. Cells propagated on VN-coated tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) are karyotypically normal after >10 passages of continuous culture, and are able to differentiate into embryoid bodies containing all three germ layers. Expansion rates and pluripotent marker expression verified that a minimal VN surface density threshold is required on TCPS. Further exploration of adsorbed VN was conducted on polymer substrates with different properties, ranging from hydrophilic to hydrophobic and including cationic and anionic polyelectrolyte coatings. Despite differing surface properties, these substrates adsorbed VN above the required surface density threshold and were capable of supporting hESC expansion for >10 passages. Correlating wettability of the VN-coated surfaces with the response of cultured hESC, higher cell expansion rates and OCT-4 expression levels were found for VN-coated TCPS, which exhibits a water contact angle close to 65°. Importantly, this simple, defined surface matches the performance of the benchmark Matrigel, which is a hydrogel with highly complex composition.     

Field scale spatiotemporal analysis of surface soil moisture for evaluating point-scale in situ networks

Soil moisture is an intrinsic state variable that varies considerably in space and time. From a hydrologic viewpoint, soil moisture controls runoff, infiltration, storage and drainage. Soil moisture determines the partitioning of the incoming radiation between latent and sensible heat fluxes. Although soil moisture may be highly variable in space and time, if measurements of soil moisture at the field or small watershed scale are repeatedly observed, certain locations can often be identified as being temporally stable and representative of the an area average. This study is aimed at determining the adequacy of long term point-scale surface soil moisture measurements in representing local field scale averages which may ultimately serve as in situ locations for the calibration and validation of remotely sensed soil moisture. Experimental data were obtained by frequency-domain reflectometry (FDR) sensors permanently installed in two agricultural fields, AS1 and AS2 (2.23 and 2.71 ha, respectively) at a depth of 5 cm. Twenty additional FDR sensors, spaced 35 m apart, were installed horizontally at a depth of 5 cm in each field with automated data collection being transmitted every 30 min from July 15 through September 20, 2009. Additionally, meteorological data were obtained from existing weather stations in each field. The FDR sensors revealed persistent patterns in surface soil moisture within each field and identified sites that were temporally stable. The locations that were optimal for estimating the area-average field water contents were different from the permanent sensor locations in both fields. Permanent sensor data showed approximately 4 and 10% mean relative differences for fields AS1 and AS2, respectively, with relatively large standard deviations. Thus, minimum offset values could be applied to the temporally stable field sites to obtain representative field average values of surface soil moisture. However, use of permanent sensor data for offset estimates gave poor results. These findings are of relevance for applications of geospatial surface soil moisture data assimilation in hydrologic modeling when only point-scale observations are available, as well as, remotely sensed surface soil moisture calibration and validation studies.     

Intestinal microbiota contribute to the endogenous formation of thiouracil in livestock

In recent years, the frequent detection of the banned substance thiouracil (TU) in livestock urine has been related to its endogenous formation following consumption of glucosinolate-rich Brassicaceae crops. Besides, TU residues have been recovered in these crops upon plant-derived myrosinase hydrolysis. Through in vitro bovine and porcine static digestive simulations, the influence of gastrointestinal digestion of Brassicaceae-derived matrixes on TU formation was assessed. Following derivatization and LC-MS(2) analysis, TU was detected in colonic suspensions with traditional rapeseed, coarse colza "00" meal, cauliflower, and broccoli ranging from 3.47 to 30.96 μg kg(-1) (bovine) and from 3.55 to 26.34 μg kg(-1) (porcine). In stomach and small intestinal fluids, TU remained unfound, whereas upon rumen simulation TU was detected for coarse colza "00" meal (4.43 μg kg(-1)) and grounded traditional rapeseed (0.35 μg kg(-1)). The origin of this detection was investigated through filter-sterilizing and autoclaving the fecal inoculum causing a significant decrease in TU concentration, thereby reinforcing the possibility of an active bacterial involvement, which however was characterized with a high interanimal variation. In conclusion, these results support the previously proven endogenous origin of TU and acknowledge the active role of the gastrointestinal bacteria in TU formation, through production of an extracellular component.