Exogenous induction of cerebral beta-amyloidogenesis is governed by agent and host

Protein aggregation is an established pathogenic mechanism in Alzheimer's disease, but little is known about the initiation of this process in vivo. Intracerebral injection of dilute, amyloid-beta (Abeta)-containing brain extracts from humans with Alzheimer's disease or beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice induced cerebral beta-amyloidosis and associated pathology in APP transgenic mice in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The seeding activity of brain extracts was reduced or abolished by Abeta immunodepletion, protein denaturation, or by Abeta immunization of the host. The phenotype of the exogenously induced amyloidosis depended on both the host and the source of the agent, suggesting the existence of polymorphic Abeta strains with varying biological activities reminiscent of prion strains.     

HD 181068: a red giant in a triply eclipsing compact hierarchical triple system

Hierarchical triple systems comprise a close binary and a more distant component. They are important for testing theories of star formation and of stellar evolution in the presence of nearby companions. We obtained 218 days of Kepler photometry of HD 181068 (magnitude of 7.1), supplemented by ground-based spectroscopy and interferometry, which show it to be a hierarchical triple with two types of mutual eclipses. The primary is a red giant that is in a 45-day orbit with a pair of red dwarfs in a close 0.9-day orbit. The red giant shows evidence for tidally induced oscillations that are driven by the orbital motion of the close pair. HD 181068 is an ideal target for studies of dynamical evolution and testing tidal friction theories in hierarchical triple systems.     

Lung ring-down artifact as a sign of pulmonary alveolar-interstitial disease

Three dogs with presumptive cardiogenic pulmonary edema underwent a thoracic ultrasonographic examination. Multiple ring-down artifacts involving both sides of the thorax emanating from the pleural-lung interface were detected. When clinical and radiographic signs of pulmonary edema were resolved, ring-down artifacts were not observed. The ring-down artifact may be a useful diagnostic sign for screening the lung of animals with acute respiratory distress where radiographs are not feasible.     

Multiple congenital epitrichial sweat gland hamartomas in a piglet

A case of multiple congenital epitrichial sweat gland hamartomas in a 2-day-old piglet is presented. The skin lesions were raised, ovoid to linear in configuration, alopecic, red-purple to pink, and cauliflower-like to cerebriform in appearance. Histological examination of skin specimens confirmed a diagnosis of epitrichial sweat gland hamartoma. Complete necropsy examination revealed no other lesions.     

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF THE EQUINE FOOT

The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of magnetic resonance imaging to depict abnormalities of the equine foot. MRI was performed on isolated limbs which had lesions of the foot. These images were made in 3 perpendicular planes (sagittal, transverse and frontal) using a T1 weighted sequence and were 5mm thick. Images accurately depicted normal and pathologic structures in the foot and proved to be very precise for documenting degenerative joint disease, navicular disease and laminitis lesions. This preliminary study demonstrates the considerable potential of MRI in the diagnosis of locomotor problems in the horse.     

Research note: Installation of videorecording equipment had minimal effect on behavioral measurements in 14 kenneled military dogs

We quantified the behavioral perturbation induced in kenneled dogs using a classical procedure of video equipment installation. Using 14-minute sessions of videorecording, 136 hours of recordings were collected from 14 healthy, individually housed Malinois shepherds. Our results show that dogs trotted, jumped, and ran more during the first 2 minutes of recording. These behaviors suggest an intense but brief agitation following installation of the video equipment. These results lead us to advise researchers, when studying the behavior of kenneled dogs by videotaping, to evaluate the duration of perturbations stemming from their particular experimental procedure and to carefully examine it.     

Salmonella in Belgian laying hens: an identification of risk factors

Since the 1980s, the prevalence of Salmonella in Belgian poultry layers and broilers has greatly fluctuated with a rise observed in 2003 and a significant decrease in 2005. In order to alleviate the risk at egg consumer level, it is crucial to understand the factors which influence the contamination and the spread of Salmonella in laying hens. To study such determinants we explored the Belgian data from the 2005 baseline study on the prevalence of Salmonella in laying flocks of Gallus gallus in the European Union. The response variables corresponded to presence or absence of Salmonella from dust and faecal samples taken from the environment of a Belgian layer flock. The explanatory variables included: region of Belgium, sampling time (month the flock was sampled), production type (cage or barn and free range), Salmonella vaccination status, flock age and flock size. Analyses of these data were performed using a bivariate logistic regression model assuming independence between the two responses and bivariate generalized estimating equations model, which incorporates the correlation between the two responses on the same flock. The main risk factor that was identified was rearing flocks in cages compared to barns and free-range systems. The results also showed a significant higher risk for Salmonella for a 1 week increase in flocks’ age as well as with a unit increase in the size of the flock.     

Comparative evaluation of immunoelectrophoresis,counterimmunoelectrophoresis and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay for the diagnosis of Taenia Saginata cysticercosis

The ante-mortem diagnosis of Taenia saginata cysticercosis remaining largely unresolved, the efficiency of immunoelectrophoresis (IEP), counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) and the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), has been compared. Of 32 experimentally infected cattle, these procedures could detect, respectively, 28, 30 and 31 of them. IEP and ELISA gave quite specific results whereas CIEP was relatively less specific.When applied on 24 proven cases of natural cysticercosis in conventionally raised cattle, harbouring relating light infections, IEP, CIEP and ELISA could detect, respectively, only 25, 54.2 and 37.5 per cent of the animals.On 100 slaughtered cattle, which were declared free of cysticercosis by the abattoir authorities, 3, 8 and 6 per cent of the animals showed flase positive reactions by the respective procedures. Evidence is presented that at least 2 of these false positive reactions were due to T. saginata metacestodes, which escaped detection by the abattoir authorities.These data show that noe of the serological tests discussed above are sufficiently reliable to make a diagnosis on an individual basis although these can be useful for a diagnosis on a herd basis.     

Survey of viruses and mycoplasmas in strawberry

The present survey based on the literature lists the viruses and mycoplasmas infecting strawberries and endeavours to sort out their relationships and synonyms. Remarks and suggestions of several specialists from various countries were taken into consideration. The data have been assembled in tables. In total, 54 different viruses have been reported to infect strawberry and eight diseases have been attributed to mycoplasmas.     

Tests of 6 energy evaluation systems for dairy cows

The ability of 6 energy systems for accurate animal performance prediction was studied by means of 992 individual results from 40 feed intake trials with dairy cows. The systems are: starch equivalent system (SE), net energy fat system for ruminants (EFr), feed unit for milk production — The Netherlands and Belgium (VEM), feed unit for milk production — France (UFL), metabolizable energy system (ME), net energy lactating cows (NE₁).The results demonstrate that the more recent systems as VEM, UFL, ME and NE₁ are better than the SE system. The EFr system is more accurate than the SE system, but seems less accurate than the others. For all systems, except for UFL, recorded performances were on an average lower than predicted. In the UFL system, energy value of roughages seems to be underestimated.Accuracy of the systems decreases when the level of over- or underfeeding increases, which suggests that standards for body weight change may be improved.