Effect of a novel rice fermented extract on gastric ulcers in horses

Gastric ulcers cause appetite loss, poor body condition, and colic in horses. This study investigated the protective effect of a rice fermented extract on the gastric mucosa in 17 healthy Thoroughbreds. For one month, horses in the rice fermented extract (nine horses) and control (eight horses) groups were orally administered a rice fermented extract (100%; 0.2 ml/kg, SID) and tap water (0.2 ml/kg), respectively. Gastric endoscopic images were obtained before and one month after rice fermented extract administration. The gastric ulcer score was lower after administration (median, 1; maximum, 2; minimum, 1) than before administration (median, 4; maximum, 4; minimum, 3) in the rice fermented extract group (P<0.05). In conclusion, the administration of a rice fermented extract for one month improves gastric mucosal lesions in Thoroughbreds with gastric ulcers.     

日晒消毒对温室土壤粪便性细菌污染的控制

农业土壤一旦被粪便性病菌污染,将给人类带来潜在的感染病菌的风险。通过选择大肠杆菌作为粪便性病菌的模式菌接种于土壤中,在温室条件下采用日晒热消毒法对大肠杆菌进行灭菌试验,探讨日晒消毒法的生物安全控制效果。结果表明,13晒处理使土壤温度在1周内升至40℃,并在大部分处理时期维持在40—46％;处理区土壤中的大肠杆菌数在1周内从10^5cfu/g干土降至检测限以下（〈0．08cfu／g干土）,而对照区土壤中的大肠杆菌数在4周后仍可被检测出。由此可知,温室土壤在因施用未腐熟堆肥或动物粪便而被病菌污染时,13晒消毒是快速有效的生物安全控制手段。     

Localization and expression of gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) in the bovine cervix

Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) has been suggested as a novel regulatory peptide in the female reproductive tract but the presence of GRP and GRP mRNA in the non-neurogenic tissue of the cervix has not yet been clarified. In the present study, immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization were used to reveal the distribution of GRP immunoreactivity and expression of GRP mRNA in the bovine cervix. The cervixes from 21 non-pregnant and 20 pregnant cows, and 6 fetuses were used in the study. In the fetus, adult non-pregnant and pregnant specimens, GRP and GRP mRNA were predominantly detected in the luminal epithelial cells of basal areas of peripheral regions of the cervix. Positive staining of GRP in the epithelial cells of the cervix was first detected in the CRL 37 cm of the fetus. During the estrous cycles, the staining intensity of GRP in the epithelial cells was stronger in the follicular phase than in the luteal phase. During the early gestational period, GRP immunoreactivity was detected at relatively similar intensity to the follicular phase. In situ hybridization results ascertained the expression of GRP mRNA in the superficial epithelial cells of the cervix of non-pregnant and pregnant cows. The results suggest that GRP may be important both in the development of the fetal cervix and secretory activity of the epithelial cells of the cervix.     

Inbreeding depression and heterosis in various quantitative traits of the guppy, Poecilia reticulata

The present study examines the effects of inbreeding and crossing on various quantitative traits in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Effects of inbreeding and crossing were examined in six quantitative traits; body length at birth, survival at day 120, undwarf rate at day 120, body length at day 120, salinity tolerance and high temperature tolerance. Full-sib matings revealed that the amount of inbreeding depression varied from −1.0% to 24.6% among the traits and a significant decrease in survival at day 120 and salinity tolerance was observed. This result indicates that inbreeding reduces the performance for some of the quantitative traits but not all. On the other hand, crosses between genetically different strains showed that the amount of heterosis varied from −1.3% to 42.2% among the six quantitative traits and a significant increase in survival at day 120 and salinity tolerance was observed. The relationship between the amount of inbreeding depression and heterosis supports the theory that the phenomenon of heterosis is the reverse of inbreeding depression, indicating that the traits which have decreased by inbreeding can be recovered by means of crossing.     

Loss of p16/Ink4a drives high frequency of rhabdomyosarcoma in a rat model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is an aggressive type of soft tissue sarcoma, and pleomorphic RMS is a rare subtype of RMS found in adult. p16 is a tumor suppressor which inhibits cell cycle. In human RMS, p16 gene is frequently deleted, but p16-null mice do not develop RMS. We reported that genetic ablation of p16 by the crossbreeding of p16 knock-out rats (p16-KO rats) improved the dystrophic phenotype of a rat model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Dmd-KO rats). However, p16/Dmd double knock-out rats (dKO rats) unexpectedly developed sarcoma. In the present study, we raised p16-KO, Dmd-KO, and dKO rats until 11 months of age. Twelve out of 22 dKO rats developed pleomorphic RMS after 9 months of age, while none of p16-KO rats and Dmd-KO rats developed tumor. The neoplasms were connected to skeletal muscle tissue with indistinct borders and characterized by diffuse proliferation of pleomorphic cells which had eosinophilic cytoplasm and atypical nuclei with anisokaryosis. For almost all cases, the tumor cells immunohistochemically expressed myogenic markers including desmin, MyoD, and myogenin. The single cell cloning from tumor primary cells gained 20 individual Pax7-negative MyoD-positive RMS cell clones. Our results demonstrated that double knock-out of p16 and dystrophin in rats leads to the development of pleomorphic RMS, providing an animal model that may be useful to study the developmental mechanism of pleomorphic RMS.