Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of Artemisia annua essential oil

The essential oil of Artemisia annua aerial parts, consisting of camphor (44%), germacrene D (16%), trans-pinocarveol (11%), beta-selinene (9%), beta-caryophyllene (9%) and artemisia ketone (3%), was screened for its antimicrobial activity. The essential oil remarkably inhibited the growth of tested Gram-positive bacteria Enterococcus hirae and both tested fungi. This oil has shown an antioxidant activity equivalent to 18% of the reference compound (alpha-tocopherol).     

番茄的结构-功能模型Ⅱ：基于器官水平的功能模型与验证研究

建立了番茄动态生长的功能模型,从个体和器官的角度,研究生物量在植物体内的生产和分配规律、器官的动态生长规则。模型根据蒸腾作用计算物质的生产;根据节间、叶柄、叶片和果实等器官的汇强和扩展规律对物质进行分配;根据与物质量的动态关系计算各器官的几何尺寸;利用试验数据对模型参数进行估计。通过对参数进行比较和分析得出它们对各器官生长的影响程度和器官本身的扩展规律。并对模型输出与测量数据的拟合程度进行了残差分析,验证了模型的合理性和有效性。     

A monoclonal antibody against a canine CD45 homologue: analysis of tissue distribution, biochemical properties and in vitro immunological activity

This report describes the characterisation of a monoclonal antibody (mAb), AB6, which recognises specifically a cluster of canine leukocyte surface molecules. The immunogen used for obtaining the AB6 mAb was a lysate of canine peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). This novel mAb belongs to the IgG2a isotype, and reacted in Western blot with four different canine leukocyte glycoproteins with apparent molecular weights of 180, 190, 205 and 220 kDa. The AB6 mAb recognised the majority of canine peripheral blood leukocytes as determined by flow cytometry (97%). It also exhibited a broad reactivity pattern against lymphoid and myeloid cells, inhibited the proliferation of mitogen-stimulated canine PBMC and did not recognise human PBMC and murine splenocytes. The biochemical properties, cell and tissue specificity, and in vitro biological activity of the AB6 mAb indicate that it recognises a canine CD45 homologue. The mAb could become a valuable diagnostic and research tool for the evaluation of immune functions in dogs.     

Removal of Phenolic Compounds from Aqueous Solutions Using Sludge-Based Activated Carbons Prepared by Conventional Heating and Microwave-Assisted Pyrolysis

Sludge-derived activated carbons (ACs) were prepared by conventional heating and microwave pyrolysis. The ACs were characterized using several analytical and functional techniques and used for removal of six phenolic compounds from aqueous solutions. The adsorbents exhibited similar features and possessed hydrophobic surfaces. The ACs were assigned mesoporous materials, with specific surface areas of up to 641 and 540 m² g^?1 for CAC-500 and MAC-980, respectively. The preliminary results indicated that phenol removal onto the ACs increased in the order: m-cresol?<?phenol?<?o-cresol?<?2-chrorophenol?<?2-nitrophenol?<?hydroquinone. Hydroquinone exhibited the highest adsorption capacity and was chosen to continue the remaining part of the experimental work—kinetic and isothermal studies. The adsorption kinetic and isotherm data were well described by the Avrami fractionary order and Redlich–Peterson models, respectively. The maximum amounts (Q _max) of hydroquinone adsorbed at 25 °C were too high, reaching 1218.3 and 1202.1 mg g^?1 for CAC-500 and MAC-980, respectively. The mechanism of adsorption was proposed in this work, and it was suggested that donor–acceptor complex and π–π interactions play major roles in the adsorption process. The adsorbents were also tested on simulated effluents. The two ACs displayed good efficiency for the treatment of industrial simulated effluents.     

In vivo and ex vivo assessment of the interaction between ivermectin and danofloxacin in sheep

The impact of an efflux pump-related interaction between ivermectin and danofloxacin on their intestinal transport (ex vivo) and disposition kinetics (in vivo) was assessed. Eighteen male Corriedale sheep were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Animals in Group A received 0.2mg/kg ivermectin by SC injection, those in Group B were given 6 mg/kg danofloxacin SC on two occasions 48 h apart and those in Group C were treated with both compounds at the same rates. Plasma concentrations of ivermectin and danofloxacin were measured by HPLC using fluorescence detection. Ex vivo intestinal drug transport activity was measured by the use of the Ussing chamber technique. Plasma concentrations of ivermectin in the first 6 days after injection tended to be higher in Group C than Group A. Contemporaneous treatment with ivermectin significantly increased systemic exposure to danofloxacin (AUC values were 32-35% higher) and prolonged the elimination half-life of danofloxacin (40-52% longer). Ex vivo, incubation with ivermectin significantly decreased the efflux transport of rhodamine 123, a P-glycoprotein substrate, in sheep intestine, but no significant effect of danofloxacin on transport activity was observed. Evaluation of the interaction of danofloxacin with the breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) showed that pantoprazole and ivermectin significantly decreased danofloxacin secretion in the rat intestine. Thus, the ivermectin-induced reduction of danofloxacin efflux transport observed in this study may involve BCRP activity but the involvement of P-glycoprotein cannot be ruled out.     

ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC AND DOPPLER DIAGNOSIS: FIRST CASE OF ATRIAL SEPTAL ANEURYSM IN A CAT

A 6-year-old female cat developed pleural and abdominal effusion. Cardiac ultrasound and 2D color tissue Doppler imaging revealed restrictive cardiomyopathy with severe biatrial dilatation and hypertension. This cardiomyopathy was associated with atrial septal aneurysm and a patent foramen ovale. The atrial septal aneurysm involved the entire atrial septum. Necropsy and histological examination confirmed all these findings. ASA is a rare malformation and, as in this cat, it generally occurs concomitantly with congenital or acquired heart disease and may be explained by greater pressure in one atrium, leading to controlateral protrusion of the atrial septum.     

Characterizing the complexity of landscape boundaries by remote sensing

This paper presents a method for characterizing the complexity of landscape boundaries by remote sensing. This characterization is supported by a new boundary typology, that takes into account points where three or more landcovers converge (i.e., convergency points or coverts). Landscape boundary richness and diversity indices were proposed and calculated over 19 landscapes in South-East Brazil. Results showed that landscape boundaries, especially convergency points, provided an enrichment in landscape pattern analysis. Landcover boundary diversities were significantly related to landcover shape: elongated riparian units had the highest values for boundary diversity and coverts proportion indices. On the other hand, landscape analysis showed that indices of shape, richness, diversity and coverts proportion provided an additional evaluation of landcover spatial distribution within the landscape.     

Renal handling of calcium and phosphorus in experimental renal hyperparathyroidism in dogs

Twenty-four hour urinary excretion, fractional excretion and the filtered load of calcium and phosphorus were monitored as hyperparathyroidism evolved in a model of progressive canine renal failure. Thirteen beagles of both sexes aged four and a half months were used. Nine of them were subjected to a renal damaging schedule (neomycine, 60 mg/kg/48 h, IM, 32 weeks) in order to induce chronic renal failure leading to secondary hyperparathyroidism (2HPT group). The remaining four were kept as the control group. The experiment was conducted over 32 weeks. Blood and 24 h urine were collected every four weeks. Calcium, phosphorus and creatinine were analyzed. Plasma parathormone and calcitonin were determined at weeks 0, 12, 24 and 32. The level of renal function in the 2HPT animals was reduced to 25% of that of the controls (endogenous creatinine clearance was 0.45 +/- 0.22 mL/min/kg as opposed to 1.81 +/- 0.54 mL/min/kg). Hyperparathyroidism was confirmed by a progressive increase in the levels of the parathyroid hormone. Calcitonin levels were not modified. A tendency to hypocalcaemia was observed, reaching statistically significant levels from the twenty-eighth week of the study, when hyperphosphataemia also became significant. Daily urinary excretion of calcium and phosphorus remained at values considered normal throughout the experiment with no alteration imputable to the impaired renal function. This is explained by the decrease in the filtered load of these elements (in both cases statistically significant from the 24th week on) being associated with an increase in their fractional excretion. Thus, calcium and phosphorus urinary excretion values could be maintained in a normal range up to the end of the experiment, showing that renal calcium handling in dogs with experimentally induced renal failure seems to differ from that observed in human patients.     

Use of a polymerase chain reaction assay to detect bovine herpesvirus type 2 DNA in skin lesions from cattle suspected to have pseudo-lumpy skin disease

Beef cattle from a herd in north Alabama were examined because of an outbreak of nonfatal skin disease characterized by discrete circumscribed areas of inflammation that developed on the skin from the neck to the hips. Areas of inflammation, which tended to be superficial, underwent necrosis and scabbed over. The scabs eventually dropped off leaving discrete, round, whitish, hairless lesions that were 1.2 to 2.5 cm diameter. Because clinical signs were consistent with those expected with pseudo-lumpy skin disease (PLSD) caused by bovine herpesvirus type 2 (BHV-2), samples from 16 representative animals were submitted for BHV-2 testing. All 16 animals were seropositive for BHV-2, but the virus could not be isolated from skin biopsy specimens or buffy coat samples. Results of a polymerase chain reaction assay incorporating primers designed to amplify 2 DNA sequences from BHV-2 were positive for 3 of the 10 cattle, suggesting that skin lesions in these cattle were a result of PLSD. Our findings suggest that PLSD may be more common and widespread in the United States than suggested by the frequency with which BHV-2 has been isolated from cattle with PLSD-like skin lesions.