CT characteristics of primary hepatic mass lesions in dogs

Little information is available on the relationship between computed tomography (CT) imaging findings and the pathologic diagnosis of canine hepatic tumors. Our purpose was to clarify the characteristic features of CT findings in liver tumors in dogs. Data from 33 dogs with either a hepatocellular carcinoma, n = 14, hepatocellular adenoma, n = 14, or nodular hyperplasia, n = 5 were summarized from medical records. CT features for each histologic diagnosis were characterized and analyzed statistically. Common findings in hepatocellular carcinoma included central (79%, P = 0.0030) and marginal enhancement (93%, P = 0.00043) in the arterial phase, cyst-like lesions (93%), capsule formation (93%), and hypoattenuation in the portal (86%), and equilibrium phases (93%). Hepatic adenoma was characterized by a characteristic diffuse enhancement pattern during the arterial phase (57%, P = 0.013), which was also found in nodular hyperplasia (60%), but never in hepatocellular carcinoma. Nodular hyperplasia was less likely to have a capsule structure (20%, P = 0.0087). Mass size was significantly smaller in nodular hyperplasia than in hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic adenoma (P = 0.0033 and 0.038, respectively). Hyperattenuation in the arterial and the portal phase i.e. contrast retention, was more frequent in hepatic adenoma than in the other groups (P = 0.037 and 0.037, respectively). Nodular hyperplasia was more frequently isoattenuating in the equilibrium phase (P = 0.043).     

Reducing the Risk of Iron Toxicity by Imposing Unsaturated Conditions before Flooding

Unsaturated incubation (UI) of air-dried soil before flooding significantly reduced the reduction of redox potential and decreased the easily reducible iron (Fe) (ERFe). Antibacterial treatment of the soil decreased the ERFe level regardless of the moisture regime while fungicide treatment reduced the effects of UI. Treating soil under imposed UI with sucrose helped recover the ERFe to the non-UI level. The effects of UI disappeared after air-drying the soil; therefore, the decrease in ERFe—by imposing upland conditions before flooding—could be due to the decrease in the activity of iron-reducing bacteria owing to the depletion of respiratory substrates by bacterial activity during the upland conditions. These results indicate that a drastic change in soil moisture from dry to wet will increase the risk of iron toxicity by increasing the ERFe, but that maintaining an upland condition for more than one week before total submergence can reduce the risk of iron toxicity.     

Postharvest anthracnose on Satsuma mandarin orange caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Colletotrichum fioriniae</Emphasis>

In early January 2015–2017, anthracnose was detected on Satsuma mandarin orange (SMO) (Citrus unshiu) fruits kept in farmers’ storage rooms in Saga Prefecture, Japan. Three single-spore isolates from rotten fruits reproduced the postharvest anthracnose symptoms in wound-inoculated SMO fruits and were re-isolated from lesions. The isolates were identified as Colletotrichum fioriniae based on conidial morphology, culture characteristics, rDNA-ITS, and beta-tubulin-2 gene sequences. This is the first report of postharvest anthracnose on SMO caused by C. fioriniae.     

Is burial of wheat straw in ditches a way to reduce CH4 emissions from rice cultivation?

Burial of wheat straw in ditches and incorporation of wheat straw are the two main ways of returning wheat straw prior to rice cultivation in China. To examine the effect of burying wheat straw in ditches on CH₄ emissions from rice cultivation, a field experiment was conducted at Yixing, Jiangsu, China in 2004. CH₄ flux was measured using a closed-chamber technique in three treatments (CK, no wheat straw application; WI, evenly incorporating 3.75 t ha⁻¹ wheat straw into the 0.1 m topsoil; WD, burying 3.75 t ha⁻¹ wheat straw in 0.14-m deep by 0.25-m wide ditches). Seasonal CH₄ emissions ranged from 49.7 to 218.4 kg CH₄ ha⁻¹. The application of wheat straw in these two ways significantly increased CH₄ emissions by 4.0-fold and 4.4-fold, respectively ( P  < 0.05). Although CH₄ flux from the non-ditch area in the WD treatment was as low as that in the CK treatment, it was counter-balanced by extremely high CH₄ flux from the ditch, which was approximately 6.0-fold as much as that from WI, leading to comparability between treatments WI and WD in total CH₄ emissions ( P  > 0.05). No significant difference was observed between the three treatments in grain yield ( P  > 0.05). The results indicated that burial of wheat straw in ditches is not a way to reduce CH₄ emission from rice cultivation.     

Distribution of protein gene product 9.5-immunopositive and NADPH-diaphorase-positive neurons in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) accessory olfactory bulb

The principal center of the accessory olfactory system is the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). In primates, simians are divided into two groups, New and Old World monkeys, and the AOB is present in only New World monkeys. The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a species of New World monkey. Although the morphology of the common marmoset AOB has been demonstrated, the distribution patterns of the mitral/tufted and granule cells of the AOB remain unclear. In the present study, therefore, the distribution of the mitral/tufted and granule cells in the common marmoset AOB was examined using two histochemical markers including immuno-staining for protein gene product (PGP) 9.5 and NADPH-diaphorase staining. The vomeronasal nerves, gomeruli and mitral/tufted cells showed PGP 9.5-immunoreactivity. The mitral/tufted cells were arranged in only one or two rows along the margin of the glomerular layer to form the mitral/tufted cell layer (MTL). Since the mitral/tufted cells occurred sparsely in the common marmoset, the MTL was illegible. NADPH-diaphorase reactivity was primarily detected in the rostral and caudal areas of the AOB. In these areas, granule cells showed NADPH-diaphorase reactivity. Since the granule cells were sparse, the common marmoset AOB displayed less-developed granule cell layer. Although the functional significance of the AOB remains to be solved in the common marmoset, small-sized and less-laminated AOB may show that sexual behavior of the common marmoset has lesser dependence on the accessory olfactory system.     

Correlations of the electrophysiological activity of neonicotinoids with their binding and insecticidal activities

The electrophysiological actions of various neonicotinoids, including substituted benzyl derivatives, against recombinant Drosophila SAD/chicken beta2 hybrid nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) were measured to analyze the relationships between the in vivo (insecticidal) and in vitro (binding and agonist) activities. Most of the neonicotinoids tested were capable of inducing inward currents by activating the hybrid nAChRs expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, whereas some compounds had no agonist activity and only blocked the acetylcholine-induced currents. Variations in the agonist activity were well correlated with those in the binding potency evaluated using [3H]imidacloprid as well as insecticidal activities.     

Protective effect of supplementation of fish oil with high n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids against oxidative stress-induced DNA damage of rat liver in vivo

The present study was undertaken to know the effect of supplementation of fish oil with high n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on oxidative stress-induced DNA damage of rat liver in vivo. Male Wistar rats were fed a diet containing fish oil or safflower oil with high n-6 PUFA at 50 g/kg of diet and an equal amount of vitamin E at 59 mg/kg of diet for 6 weeks. Livers of rats fed fish oil were rich in n-3 PUFA, whereas those of rats fed safflower oil were rich in n-6 PUFA. Ferric nitrilotriacetate was intraperitoneally injected to induce oxidative stress. The degree of lipid peroxidation of the liver was assessed by the levels of phospholipid hydroperoxides and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), and the degree of oxidative DNA damage was assessed by comet type characterization in alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels. The levels of TBARS of the livers of the fish oil diet group increased to a greater extent than those of the safflower oil diet group, whereas the levels of the hydroperoxides of the livers of both diet groups increased to a similar extent. The vitamin E level of livers of the fish oil diet group was remarkably decreased. The degree of DNA damage of both diet groups was increased, but the increased level of the fish oil diet group was remarkably lower than that of the safflower oil diet group. The above results indicate that fish oil supplementation does not enhance but appears to protect against oxidative stress-induced DNA damage and suggest that lipid peroxidation does not enhance but lowers the DNA damage.     

Age trends of genetic parameters of spiral grain in hybrid larch F1 and implications for efficiency of early selection

Age trends in variance components and heritability were estimated from the spiral grain angle of rings 2–25, as counted from the pith in hybrid larch (Larix gmelinii var. japonica × Larix kaempferi) F₁. Age-age genetic and phenotypic correlations and the optimum selection age for spiral grain were also calculated. Wood samples were collected from 95 29-year-old trees belonging to 19 full-sib families in a progeny test plantation in Hokkaido, northern Japan. Spiral grain angle data were obtained by the splitting method. Mean grain angles at growth rings used for the analyses were calculated as the arithmetic mean of angles up to respective rings. Generally, the additive genetic variance for mean grain angle decreased with increasing ring number. Although dominance variance was comparatively high near the pith, it decreased to zero in subsequent growth rings. Highest heritability estimates of mean grain angle occurred at ring 4 and then declined with age, ranging from 0.45 down to 0.20. Age-age phenotypic correlations were higher than genetic correlations, especially those involving early growth rings. Optimum selection ages for spiral grain based on genetic and phenotypic correlations were estimated as 3 and 4 years (cambial age), respectively, in which maximum gain efficiency per year were obtained.     

Genetic variation in wood stiffness and strength properties of hybrid larch (Larix gmelinii var. japonica × L. kaempferi)

Genetic parameters for wood stiffness and strength properties were estimated in a 29-year-old hybrid larch stand (Larix gmelinii var. japonica × Larix kaempferi). The study included 19 full-sib larch families from Hokkaido, northern Japan. Implications of these genetic parameters in wood quality improvement are subsequently discussed. Traits included in the analyses were the dynamic modulus of elasticity of green logs (E _log), the modulus of elasticity (MOE), the modulus of rupture (MOR), compression strength parallel to the grain (CS) in small clear specimens, wood density (DEN), and diameter at breast height (DBH). DEN had the lowest coefficients of variation and MOE the highest. The narrow-sense heritability estimates of E _log, MOE, MOR, and CS were 0.61, 0.44, 0.60, and 0.43, respectively, and those of DEN and all mechanical properties increased from an inner to outer position within the stem. E _log and DEN had high positive phenotypic (0.52–0.83) and genetic (0.70–0.92) correlations with MOE, MOR, and CS. The mechanical properties of the inner position of the stem had rather high phenotypic and genetic correlations with those of the outer position and overall mean. The predicted gains in wood stiffness (E _log and MOE) were higher than those of the strength properties (MOR and CS). The predicted correlated responses in MOE, MOR, and CS when selecting for E _log and DEN were 72.6%–97.8% of a gain achievable from direct selection of these traits. DBH showed an insignificant correlation with all mechanical properties, although selection of this trait had a slightly negative effect on the mechanical properties.