Myeloma-related disorders in cats commonly present as extramedullary neoplasms in contrast to myeloma in human patients: 24 cases with clinical follow-up

BACKGROUND: Myeloma-related disorders (MRD) are rare neoplasms of plasma cells. Published case reports describe a diversity of clinical presentations with confusing terminology and diagnostic criteria as a consequence of the assumption that MRD in cats are analogous to those in dogs or humans. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to describe clinical, clinicopathologic and imaging findings, response to treatment, survival and possible associations with other diseases or vaccination in a large case series. A priori hypotheses were that cats with MRD commonly present with extramedullary involvement and uncommonly have radiographic bone lesions, in contrast to human patients. ANIMALS: Twenty-four cats with MRD confirmed by cytology or histopathology and immunohistochemistry. METHOD: A multicenter retrospective study was performed. RESULTS: Two types of clinical presentation were observed. The first group (n = 17) had neoplasia involving abdominal organs, bone marrow, or both. All developed systemic clinical signs and paraproteinemia. Five of 7 cats that received chemotherapy improved clinically or had decreased serum globulin concentration (median survival, 12.3 months; range, 8.5-22 months). The second group comprised 7 cats with skin masses, 2 of which were paraproteinemic and developed rapidly worsening systemic signs. In cats without systemic signs, excision of the skin masses appeared to be associated with prolonged survival (up to 2.4 years). Cats with MRD commonly presented with extramedullary involvement (67%), versus humans with MRD (5%) (P < .001), and uncommonly presented with radiographic bone lesions (8%) versus humans with MRD (80%) (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Radiographic bone lesions are uncommon in cats with MRD and extramedullary presentation is common, relative to human myeloma.     

Use of 3-nitrooxypropanol in a commercial feedlot to decrease enteric methane emissions from cattle fed a corn-based finishing diet

The present study evaluated enteric CH₄ production, dry matter (DM) intake (DMI), and rumen fermentation in feedlot cattle supplemented with increasing concentrations of 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP). A total of 100 crossbred steers (body weight, 421 ± 11 kg) was randomly assigned to one of four treatments (n = 25/treatment): control (no 3-NOP) or low (100 mg/kg DM), medium (125 mg/kg DM), and high (150 mg/kg DM) doses of 3-NOP. The study was comprised of 28 d of adaptation followed by three 28-d periods, with CH₄ measured for 7 d per period and cattle remaining on their respective diets throughout the 112-d study. Each treatment group was assigned to a pen, with the cattle and diets rotated among pens weekly to allow the animals to access the GreenFeed emission monitoring (GEM) system stationed in one of the pens for CH₄ measurement. Measured concentration (mg/kg DM) of 3-NOP in the total diet consumed (basal diet + GEM pellet) was 85.6 for low, 107.6 for medium, and 124.5 for high doses of 3-NOP. There was a treatment × period interaction (P < 0.001) for DMI; compared with control, the DMI was less for the low and high doses in period 1, with no differences thereafter. Compared with control (10.78 g/kg DMI), CH₄ yield (g/kg DMI) was decreased (P < 0.001) by 52%, 76%, and 63% for low, medium, and high doses of 3-NOP, respectively. A treatment × period effect (P = 0.048) for CH₄ yield indicated that the low dose decreased in efficacy from 59% decrease in periods 1 and 2 to 37% decrease in period 3, while the efficacy of the medium and high doses remained consistent over time. Irrespective of dose, hydrogen emissions increased by 4.9-fold (P < 0.001), and acetate:propionate ratio in rumen fluid decreased (P = 0.045) with 3-NOP supplementation, confirming that other hydrogen-utilizing pathways become more important in the CH₄-inhibited rumen. The study indicates that supplementation of corn-based finishing diets with 3-NOP using a medium dose is an effective CH₄ mitigation strategy for commercial beef feedlots with a 76% decrease in CH₄ yield. Further research is needed to determine the effects of 3-NOP dose on weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, and carcass characteristics of feedlot cattle at a commercial scale.     

Evolution and functional impact of rare coding variation from deep sequencing of human exomes

As a first step toward understanding how rare variants contribute to risk for complex diseases, we sequenced 15,585 human protein-coding genes to an average median depth of 111× in 2440 individuals of European (n = 1351) and African (n = 1088) ancestry. We identified over 500,000 single-nucleotide variants (SNVs), the majority of which were rare (86% with a minor allele frequency less than 0.5%), previously unknown (82%), and population-specific (82%). On average, 2.3% of the 13,595 SNVs each person carried were predicted to affect protein function of ~313 genes per genome, and ~95.7% of SNVs predicted to be functionally important were rare. This excess of rare functional variants is due to the combined effects of explosive, recent accelerated population growth and weak purifying selection. Furthermore, we show that large sample sizes will be required to associate rare variants with complex traits.     

Melanesian blond hair is caused by an amino acid change in TYRP1

Naturally blond hair is rare in humans and found almost exclusively in Europe and Oceania. Here, we identify an arginine-to-cysteine change at a highly conserved residue in tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1) as a major determinant of blond hair in Solomon Islanders. This missense mutation is predicted to affect catalytic activity of TYRP1 and causes blond hair through a recessive mode of inheritance. The mutation is at a frequency of 26% in the Solomon Islands, is absent outside of Oceania, represents a strong common genetic effect on a complex human phenotype, and highlights the importance of examining genetic associations worldwide.     

Area-wide management of Aedes albopictus: choice of study sites based on geospatial characteristics, socioeconomic factors and mosquito populations

BACKGROUND: Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse), the Asian tiger mosquito, is an introduced invasive species in the United States that is responsible for a significant proportion of service requests to local mosquito control programs. This container‐utilizing mosquito is refractory to standard mosquito abatement measures in the United States. This study is part of a USDA‐ARS project to develop an area‐wide management strategy for Ae. albopictus. The goal was to identify three study sites, similar in socioeconomic parameters, geography and Ae. albopictus abundance, in urban and suburban areas in Mercer and Monmouth counties in New Jersey. Prior service requests and light trap counts and also detailed county maps were used to chose nine preliminary sites (four in Mercer and five in Monmouth) where weekly surveillance for Ae. albopictus was performed throughout the 2008 active season. RESULTS: Although outliers were detected, socioeconomic variables in the study sites within each county were fairly consistent. Ae. albopictus abundance was associated with poverty levels and had the highest maxima in Mercer, although average mosquito abundance was similar in urban Mercer and suburban Monmouth. CONCLUSION: Three study sites in each county were identified for future studies. The summer‐long surveillance also revealed socioeconomic variables critical for the development of integrated mosquito management. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Evaluation of 3 Assays for Failure of Passive Transfer in Calves

This study examined the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and classification accuracy of 3 commonly used screening tests for failure of passive transfer: the sodium sulfite turbidity test, the zinc sulfate turbidity test, and re-fractometry relative to serum immunoglobulin G₁, (IgG₁) concentrations determined by radial immunodiffusion. Serum samples were obtained from 242 calves ranging from 1 to 8 days of age. Using a serum concentration of 1,000 mg/dL IgG₁ to define adequate passive transfer, the zinc sulfate test had a sensitivity of 1.00 and a specificity of 0.52 in the detection of inadequate passive transfer. The endpoint of the test appeared to be higher than desired; calves testing negative had mean serum IgG₁ concentration of 955 mg/dL and a large proportion of calves with adequate passive transfer were misclassified as positive for failure of passive transfer. Using the qualitative zinc sulfate test, the percentage of calves correctly classified with regard to passive transfer status was less than that observed with either the sodium sulfite test or refractometry. The sensitivity of the sodium sulfite assay was 0.85 at a 1+ endpoint and 1.00 at a 2 or 3+ endpoint. The specificity of the sodium sulfite assay varied from 0.87 at a 1+ endpoint and 0.56 at a 2+ endpoint. The sensitivity and specificity of refractometry varied from 0.01 to 1.00 depending on the choice of endpoint. Refractometry correctly classified the largest proportion of calves with regard to their passive transfer status at test endpoints of 5.0 and 5.5 g/dL, 83% and 82% respectively. The highest percentages of calves correctly classified occurred with the sodium sulfite test using a 1+ endpoint (86.30%) and refractometry using a 5.0 g/dL endpoint (83.00%). A regression equation was developed that permitted calculation of an optimal endpoint for refractometric determinations of total serum protein concentration. A serum protein concentration of 5.2 g/dL was equivalent to 1,000 mg/dL serum IgG₁. Optimal selection of tests for passive transfer status in calves will be governed by the prevalence of failure of passive transfer, test performance, and the anticipated costs of classification errors.     

Growth,Survival, and Whole‐body Proximate and Fatty Acid Composition of Haddock,Melanogrammus aeglefinus L., Postlarvae Fed a Practical Microparticulate Weaning Diet

Further development of high‐quality feeds for hatchery‐reared haddock in the North Atlantic would benefit from a standard formulation that can be used as a reference for hatcheries and laboratory studies. A practical microparticulate diet (PMD) developed and evaluated with newly metamorphosed juvenile haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus L., postlarvae is proposed. Survival of fish fed PMD was just as high (88–89%; P > 0.05) as those fed a high‐quality imported feed (Biokyowa). Alternatively, fish fed PMD had higher (P < 0.05) final fork lengths (39.5 vs. 35.1 mm), wet weights (851.3 vs. 580.2 mg) and weight gains (1637.2 vs. 1115.7%). No differences (P > 0.05) in whole‐body moisture (846–857 g/kg), ash (17–18 g/kg), or protein (101 g/kg) contents were found. Lipid content of fish fed PMD (26 g/kg) was higher (P < 0.05) than those fed Biokyowa (21 g/kg) despite PMD containing 15 g/kg lower dietary lipid, suggesting higher intake and/or lipid retention. The PMD formulation proved to be a highly suitable weaning diet for haddock postlarvae based on high feed acceptance, survival, and fish growth. Given the economic and logistical difficulties associated with importing commercial weaning feeds, this easily produced practical weaning diet has good potential for use by laboratory researchers and farm managers for hatchery‐based nutrition research with haddock postlarvae.     

Biochemical analysis, cpn60 and 16S rDNA sequence data indicate that Streptococcus suis serotypes 32 and 34, isolated from pigs, are Streptococcus orisratti

Streptococcus suis serotypes have traditionally been identified by morphology, biochemical profiling and serotyping. Analysis of the sequences of 16S rRNA and cpn60 genes of the 35 characterized serotypes of S. suis led to the observation that two serotypes 32 and 34, are significantly distinct from other S. suis serotypes and may represent a distinct species. Here we present DNA sequence data and biochemical profiles which indicate that S. suis serotypes 32 and 34, isolated from pigs, are clustered with Streptococcus orisratti, a Voges-Proskauer negative, alpha-haemolytic, aesculin-hydrolytic, Lancefield group A streptococcus isolated from the teeth of rats.