Canine renal pathology associated with grape or raisin ingestion: 10 cases.

Ten dogs suffered acute renal failure after ingesting > or = 3 g/kg (dry matter) of grapes or raisins. All dogs had degeneration or necrosis (or both) of proximal renal tubules with basement membranes remaining intact, and epithelial regeneration was observed in 5 out of 10 cases. Mineralized tubular debris or granular to proteinaceous casts (or both) were present in all cases. A golden-brown, globular, intracellular pigment of varying amounts and sizes was observed in 6 out of 10 cases with variable reaction with Prussian blue. Multifocal fibrinous arteritis of the large colon was seen in 2 out of 5 cases with globulin insudation of vessel wall demonstrated by immunohistochemical staining for immunoglobulin (Ig)G and IgM. Mineral analysis on frozen renal tissue from 2 out of 2 cases revealed mildly elevated Ca:P ratio in both. Clinically significant observations were preservation of the integrity of basement membranes after grape-induced tubular injury and presence of early epithelial regeneration. Thus, recovery may be possible if anuria is aggressively managed. With respect to potential pathophysiologic mechanisms, further research into the roles of calcium homeostasis, vascular reactivity, and the significance of the golden-brown pigment is indicated.     

Emulation Engines: Choice and Quantification of Uncertainty for Complex Hydrological Models

Complex, mechanistic hydrological models can be computationally expensive, have large numbers of input parameters, and generate multivariate output. Model emulators can be constructed to approximate these complex models with substantial computational savings, making activities such as sensitivity analysis, calibration and uncertainty analysis feasible. Success in the use of an emulator relies on it making accurate and precise predictions of the model output. However, it is often unclear what type of emulation approach will be suitable. We present a comparison of reduced-rank, multivariate emulators built upon different ‘emulation engines’ and apply them to the Australian Water Resource Assessment System model. We examine first-order and second-order approaches which focus on specifying the mean and covariance, respectively. We also introduce a nonparametric approach for quantifying the uncertainty associated with the emulated prediction where this has bounded support. Our results demonstrate that emulation engines based on second-order approaches, such as Gaussian processes, can be computationally burdensome and may be comparable in performance to computationally efficient, first-order methods such as random forests.Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear online.     

Vertical distribution of soil properties under short‐rotation forestry in Northern Germany

Short‐rotation forestry (SRF) on arable soils has high potentials for biomass production and leads to long‐term no‐tillage management. In the present study, the vertical distributions of soil chemical and microbial properties after 15 y of SRF with willows and poplar (Salix and Populus spp.) in 3‐ and 6‐year rotations on an arable soil were measured and compared to a pertinent tilled arable site. Two transects at different positions in the relief (upper and lower slope; transect 1 and 2) were investigated. Short‐rotation forestry caused significant changes in the vertical distribution of all investigated soil properties (organic and microbial C, total and microbial N, soil enzyme activities), however, the dimension and location (horizons) of significant effects varied. The rotation periods affected the vertical distribution of the soil properties within the SRF significantly. In transect 1, SRF had higher organic‐C concentrations in the subsoil (Bv horizon), whereas in transect 2, the organic‐C concentrations were increased predominantly in the topsoil (Ah horizon). Sufficient plant supply of P and K in combination with decreased concentrations of these elements in the subsoil under SRF pointed to an effective nutrient mobilization and transfer from the deeper soil horizons even in the long term. In transect 1, the microbial‐C concentrations were higher in the B and C horizons and in transect 2 in the A horizons under SRF than under arable use. The activities of β‐glucosidases and acid phosphatases in the soil were predominantly lower under SRF than under arable use in the topsoil and subsoil. We conclude, that long‐term SRF on arable sites can contribute to increased C sequestration and changes in the vertical distribution of soil microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities in the topsoil and also in the subsoil.     

Demand for non-timber forest products: Surveys of urban consumers and sellers in Switzerland

In recent years, worldwide socioeconomic, ecological, and cultural changes have led to a paradigm shift in forestry and forest management. Some years ago, most forest enterprises exclusively focused on wood production, whereas today, forest management is expected to be multifunctional and economically as well as socially and ecologically sustainable [Harrison, S., Herbohn, J., Niskanen, A., 2002. Non-industrial, smallholder, small-scale and family forestry: what's in a name? Small-scale Forest Economics. Management and Policy 1 (1), 1–11; Schmithuesen, F., 2004. Forest policy developments in changing societies — political trends and challenges to research. Towards the sustainable use of Europe's forests: Forest ecosystems and landscape research: Joensuu: European Forest Institute, Proc., vol. 49, pp. 87–99]. In this context, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as forest honey, mushrooms, or berries could gain importance as an additional source of income for the forestry sector. To assess the market potential of NTFPs in Switzerland, two corresponding surveys were conducted. A consumer survey (N = 897) conducted in six cities in Switzerland investigated the purchase of Swiss NTFPs, consumer preferences, and demand potentials. An additional survey of sellers of NTFPs (N = 105) looked at these aspects from a complementary perspective. The results showed that there is a high esteem and considerable demand potential for such products among urban consumers. Food products were mentioned most frequently. Both consumers and sellers considered quality and environmental friendliness the most important attributes of NTFPs. Structural and organizational innovations and considerable marketing efforts and sales promotion would be required to expand the market for Swiss NTFP, however. Our results indicate that certification of the products' origin, environmental performance, and quality could support such efforts and that recreational and ecological forest services have a synergetic potential for the marketing of NTFPs.     

Alopecia areata in Eringer cows

Alopecia areata is a hair loss disorder in humans, dogs and horses with a suspected autoimmune aetiology targeting anagen hair follicles. Alopecia areata is only sporadically reported in cows. Recently, we observed several cases of suspected alopecia areata in Eringer cows. The aim of this study was to confirm the presumptive diagnosis of alopecia areata and to define the clinical phenotype and histopathological patterns, including characterization of the infiltrating inflammatory cells. Twenty Eringer cows with alopecia and 11 Eringer cows without skin problems were included in this study. Affected cows had either generalized or multifocal alopecia or hypotrichosis. The tail, forehead and distal extremities were usually spared. Punch biopsies were obtained from the centre and margin of alopecic lesions and normal haired skin. Histological examination revealed several alterations in anagen hair bulbs. These included peri‐ and intrabulbar lymphocytic infiltration, peribulbar fibrosis, degenerate matrix cells with clumped melanosomes and pigmentary incontinence. Mild lymphocytic infiltrative mural folliculitis was seen in the inferior segment and isthmus of the hair follicles. Hair shafts were often unpigmented and dysplastic. The large majority of infiltrating lymphocytes were CD3⁺ T cells, whereas only occasional CD20⁺ lymphocytes were present in the peribulbar infiltrate. Our findings confirm the diagnosis of T‐cell‐mediated alopecia areata in these cows. Alopecia areata appears to occur with increased frequency in the Eringer breed, but distinct predisposing factors could not be identified.     

Applicability of a sequential P fractionation procedure to Si in sediment

Purpose  

A sequential phosphorus (P) fractionation procedure for sediments was applied to silicon (Si) to test its applicability. We wanted to know (1) whether it would be used in a cost-efficient way to study the finding of both elements, defining Si pools corresponding to the respective P pools, and in particular, (2) whether it could be shown that redox-sensitive processes affect Si mobility in sediment.     

Identification of enterodiol as a masker for caffeine bitterness by using a pharmacophore model based on structural analogues of homoeriodictyol

Starting from previous structure-activity relationship studies of taste modifiers based on homoeriodictyol, dihydrochalcones, deoxybenzoins, and trans-3-hydroxyflavones as obvious analogues were investigated for their masking effect against caffeine. The most active compounds of the newly investigated taste modifiers were phloretin, the related dihydrochalcones 3-methoxy-2',4,4'-trihydroxydihydrochalcone and 2',4-dihydroxy-3-methoxydihydrochalcone, and the deoxybenzoin 2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethanone. Starting with the whole set of compounds showing activity >22%, a (Q)SAR pharmacophore model for maskers of caffeine bitterness was calculated to explain the structural requirements. After docking of the pharmacophore into a structural model of the broadly tuned bitter receptor hTAS2R10 and docking of enterolactone and enterodiol as only very weakly related structures, it was possible to predict qualitatively their modulating activity. Enterodiol (25 mg L(-1)) reduced the bitterness of the 500 mg L(-1) caffeine solution by about 30%, whereas enterolactone showed no masking but a slight bitter-enhancing effect.