Isolation,Screening, and Identification of Proteolytic Lactic Acid Bacteria from Indigenous Chao Product

The aim of the study was to isolate, select, and identify proteolytic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from chao, a traditional fermented fish from Pangkajene and Kepulauan Regency, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. LAB was isolated by poured plate method. Proteolytic LAB were selected using agar skim milk media. Protease activity of LAB was determined based on the amount of tyrosine released in unit/mL. Proteolytic LAB were identified using API 50 CHL kit and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The result showed that a total of 60 isolates were obtained from chao, and 57% of them were cocci-shape. Fifteen isolates were halotolerant proteolytic LAB. Their R values and protease activity were 2.11–3.39 and 0.267–0.304 U/mL, respectively. Identification by API 50 CHL kit showed that four rod-shape isolates were Lactobacillus plantarum, and two others were Lactobacillus curvatus. Cocci-shape isolates could not be identified as cocci bacterium. Rep-PCR results showed that there were two kinds of bands, namely thick and thin. Two isolates were selected from two types of bands that had the highest R for the analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences, namely Ags1-3 and Ags7-3. The results showed that Ags1-3 isolate was identified as Lactobacillus plantarum and Ags7-3 as Pediococcus acidilactici.     

Dual infection with Pythium insidiosum and Blastomyces dermatitidis in a dog

A 4-year-old male neutered Labrador Retriever with severe gastrointestinal signs, but no respiratory signs, was diagnosed with multifocal pyogranulomatous gastritis, enteritis, and lymphadenitis with intralesional hyphae and multifocal pyogranulomatous pneumonia with intralesional yeast. Based on cytologic evaluation, histologic examination with special stains, and immunohistochemical analysis of tissues collected antemortem or at necropsy, dual infections with Pythium insidiosum and Blastomyces dermatitidis were detected and are reported for the first time.     

Short-term effects of retention felling at mire sites on boreal spiders and carabid beetles

Green-tree retention is an integral part of forest management in the boreal zone. Retention of small spruce mires, proposed as ‘key habitats’ for many forest organisms, is recommended while logging, but the efficiency of such practices for the maintenance of forest species is poorly understood. Hence, we studied boreal spiders and carabid beetles at 11 retained mire patches (up to 0.55 ha) in Eastern Finland during 1998–2001. The adjacent surrounding drier forests of the focal mires were clear-cut during the winter of 1998/1999. We evaluated the importance of micro-habitat type (retention, edge or clear-cut plot), time since logging, and retention-patch size in determining the assemblages of spiders and carabids. Following logging, species associated with forests and mires generally decreased both in the retained mire patches and in their adjacent clear-cuts. In a GLMM, the number of standing trees in a retention patch – a surrogate for retention-patch size – had no significant effect on most of the tested species, but plot type (retention patch, its edge or clear-cut) was significant for many species. Semi-open-habitat species and open-habitat specialists increased following logging, especially in the clear-cut plots but even within the retention patches. In contrast, mature-forest and moist-habitat specialists became significantly less abundant in clear-cuts than in retention patches following logging. Spider assemblages showed pre-harvest differences among the mires, their edges and adjacent drier forests, but the fauna of logged plots rapidly diverged from that of mire and edge plots. However, after a 1–2 summers time lag, the spider fauna of mires and edges changed toward clear-cuts. For spiders, the post-harvest sample heterogeneity was significantly lower in clear-cuts than in retention patches, including their edges. Carabid responses were generally ambiguous. Multivariate regression trees showed that the number of trees in a forest patch better determined the spider assemblage structure than study area, study year or micro-site type (retention patch, its edge or clear-cut), indicating a strong impact of logging. For carabids, however, the study area better determined the assemblage structure; the other factors were of minor importance. Our results suggest that, as the spider and carabid faunas of the retention patches had drastically changed following logging, (i) retention patches should be considerably larger than the studied size range to efficiently maintain a ‘mire core’ spider and carabid assemblage; (ii) the effect of logging may take years to appear; (iii) spiders were more sensitive to habitat change than carabids; and (iv) harvesting not only changes the relative abundances of forest- and open-habitat associated species but it may also locally decrease the faunal variation.     

Identification of boreal forest stands with high herbaceous plant diversity using airborne laser scanning

Boreal forest stands with high herbaceous plant species diversity have been found to be one of the main habitats for many endangered species, but the locations and sizes of these herb-rich forest stands are not well known in many areas. Better identification of the stands could improve both their conservation and management. A new approach is proposed here for locating the mature herb-rich forest stands using airborne laser scanner (ALS) data and logistic regression, or the k-NN classifier. We show that ALS technology is capable of distinguishing the ecologically important herb-rich forests from those growing on less fertile site types, mainly on the basis of unique but quantifiable crown structure and vertical profile that characterise forests on high fertility sites. The study site, Koli National Park, is located on the border of the southern and middle boreal vegetation zones in Finland, and includes 63 herb-rich forest stands of varying sizes. The model and test data comprised 274 forest stands belonging to five forest site types varying from very fertile to poor. The best overall classification accuracy achieved with the k-NN method was 88.9%, the herb-rich forests being classified correctly in 65.0% of cases and the other forest site types in 95.7%. The best overall classification accuracy achieved with logistic regression was 85.6%, being 55.0% for the herb-rich forests and 94.3% for the other forest site types. Both methods demonstrated promising potential for separating herb-rich forests from other forest site types, although slightly better results were obtained with the non-parametric k-NN method, which was capable of utilising a higher number of explanatory variables. It is concluded that ALS-based data analysis techniques are applicable to the detection of mature boreal herb-rich forests in large-scale forest inventories.     

Dendrochronological investigation of wood extractives

X-ray microdensitometry was applied to a set of Scots pinewood (i.e. low extractive content). Earlywood and latewood properties were determined as minimum and maximum densities of each tree ring and the potential influence of acetone-soluble extractives (i.e. non-structural and secondary constituents of wood) was estimated using tree-ring statistics. The occurrence of extractives in different portions of wood was determined using dendrochronological methods, by comparing the densities of unextracted and extracted wood. It was not only found that unextracted samples exhibited inflated earlywood and latewood density values, but the growth trends were also altered. Extractives flattened the inter-annual growth variability, both in earlywood and latewood, and influenced the estimation of intra-annual radial growth variations. Characterizing the varying amount of extractives is of inter-disciplinary importance. The results in this study describe their occurrence and show that the radial variations in extractives could be highly detailed by simply using densitometry-based dendrochronology.     

Applied 3D texture features in ALS-based forest inventory

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) data are not usually considered to be very informative with respect to tree species, and this information is often obtained by combining such data with spectral image material. The aim was to test the ability of height, density, intensity and applied 2D and 3D texture variables derived solely from a very high-density ALS point cloud to describe the crown shape and structure characteristics required for tree species discrimination. Linear discriminant analysis was used to find optimal combinations of variables within the predictor groups, and classifications based on variables from different groups were compared. The third power of the tree diameter was used as a stem volume approximate, and rather than examining species alone, the classification was evaluated with respect to the volume approximates assigned to the predicted species. The sensitivity of pulse density to the methodology presented here was determined by simulating thinned data sets by reducing the initial pulse density. The reliability of the estimates was analysed both with functions generated using the original data and with new functions for each thinning level. Alpha shape metrics developed for describing tree crowns constructed from the 3D point clouds proved capable of discriminating between all three species groups evaluated, and several height distribution and textural variables were found to discriminate between the coniferous tree species. The results demonstrate the importance of species interpretation in forest inventories based on allometric modelling, but then indicate that species-specific estimation could be carried out using ALS-derived variables alone.     

Metastatic pancreatic polypeptide‐secreting islet cell tumor in a dog

Abstract: A 14‐year‐old female spayed Golden Retriever was presented to the University of Florida's Veterinary Medical Center with history of lymphoplasmacytic gastroenteritis, intermittent vomiting, watery diarrhea, and weight loss for over a year. CBC, biochemical profile, and urinalysis were within reference intervals. Abdominal ultrasonographic examination revealed mesenteric and jejunal lymphadenopathy and hyperechoic hepatic nodules. Cytologic examination of the enlarged lymph nodes revealed loosely cohesive cells with moderate nuclear pleomorphism and rare punctate eosinophilic cytoplasmic granules. The cytologic interpretation was metastatic neuroendocrine neoplasia. On surgical exploration, a mass was detected in the right lobe of the pancreas. Histologic evaluation determined the mass to be an islet cell tumor. Approximately 98% of cells were positive by immunolabeling for pancreatic polypeptide (PP), and only rare cells were positive for insulin or somatostatin. All cells were negative for glucagon, gastrin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, protein gene product 9.5, synaptophysin, and chromogranins A and B. Pancreatic tumors that primarily produce PP are rare in dogs, and this is the first report of both the cytologic and histologic features of an islet cell tumor predominantly secreting PP. Clinical signs for these tumors are typically absent or nonspecific; signs may include watery diarrhea, as noted in this dog, although the diarrhea may have resulted from lymphoplasmacytic gastroenteritis. Additional case studies are needed to further characterize the cytomorphologic features and clinical presentation of PP‐secreting islet cell tumor, or polypeptidoma, in dogs.     

Concentrations and amounts of methylmercury in water and fish in the limed and acid basins of a small lake

Three months after neutralization concentrations of methylmercury (MeHg) were higher in the water of the limed than in the control basin of a small lake. After two years, the concentrations in the limed basin were somewhat lower than in the control (0.056–2.19 ng L^?1 and 0.129–2.65 ng L^?1, respectively). The highest concentrations were found in the anoxic hypolimnia. The total amount of MeHg in the water mass of the lake varied from 19 to 68 mg, showing a drop after spring and autumn overturns and a maximum during stratification periods. The total Hg concentrations of fish in L. Iso Valkjärvi varied from 0.06 to 0.14 μg g^?1 (ww) in whitefish to 0.1 to 0.7 μg g^?1 in perch and to 0.2 to 1.4 μg g^?1 in pike. The total amount of MeHg bound in the fish of the lake was quite similar to that in the water column, 43 to 59 mg in 1990–1993, 33 to 47 mg of which was in the perch population.