Pneumonia associated with Mycoplasma spp in three cats

Mycoplasma spp were isolated in pure culture from bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from three cats with clinical, cytological and radiographic signs of bron-chopneumonia or suppurative bronchitis. Predisposing factors were not identified in the first case, the second cat had oesophageal hypomotility, while the third cat had been exposed to cigarette smoke and had advanced periodontal disease. Respiratory signs resolved promptly and completely in all cases following antimicrobial therapy directed against mycoplasmas. Mycoplasma spp are possible causes of lower respiratory tract disease in cats and this should be considered when selecting empirical therapy for feline airway disease and pneumonia. In some situations mycoplasmas may behave as primary lower respiratory tract pathogens in cats.     

梅花在加拿大西海岸推广应用的可行性

梅花是中国的传统名花,色香型俱佳。但除日本之外,西方国家很少栽培。梅花的花期正值圣诞节、元旦和情人节等西方的重要节日。温哥华的气候与我国盛产梅花的南京相似,梅花的组培苗、接穗和插条可以出口到加拿大西海岸。     

Ethological free-choice studies with early-weaned piglets kept in pens with different amounts of straw. 2. Effects of different amounts of straw in different-sized areas

In systematical continuation of our free choice experiments in housing systems with early weaned pigs, it has been investigated under the same conditions, whether there are any preferences for different area dimensions in using solid floor with straw or deep litter. For each floor type 0.3 m2, 0.45 m2 and 0.7 m2/animal have been used. Totally 6 experiments with 2 repetitions each have been carried out. Additionally the daily increase of live weight of the pigs has been calculated and their claws have been examined. In contrast to earlier experiments without straw (Marx and Schuster, 1984) the piglets didn't clearly differentiate between both possibilities but used them as one unit. For that reason the differences between the quantities of using the different areas in each experiment proved very little. But for lying behaviour there have been real distinctions between the different areas in dependence on the floor types. So piglets on solid floor with straw always preferred the area dimension of 0.3 m2/animal, while the animals on deep litter showed no clear preference. For activity all piglets always used the greater area in all experiments. An influence of the choice combination on the whole activity as well as on the whole lying behaviour could only been seen by the way, that the piglets were less active in the experiment with the greatest total area. The higher activity in the experiments with less total areas is traced back to the excrement areas, which increased during experimental time and so reduced the lying area, which led to more unrest among the animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Protein Localization of Epidermal Growth Factor in Sheep Ovaries and Improvement of Follicle Survival and Antrum Formation In Vitro

The aims of this study were to characterize EGF protein expression in ovine ovaries and to verify the effect of EGF on the in vitro development of isolated pre‐antral follicles. After collection, ovarian tissue was fixed for immunohistochemical analysis. Additional pairs of ovaries were collected, and secondary follicles were cultured for 18 days in α‐MEM⁺ (control) alone or supplemented with EGF (1, 10 or 50 ng/ml). The immunostaining for EGF was observed in oocytes from pre‐antral and antral follicles, in granulosa cells of primary and secondary follicles, as well as in cumulus and mural cells of antral follicles. After 18 days, the results showed that treatment with 50 ng/ml EGF significantly increased the percentage of morphologically normal follicles compared with the control group (α‐MEM⁺) and significantly reduced the precocious extrusion of oocytes and increased the percentage of antral follicles compared with the control and 1 ng/ml EGF. All the treatments induced a progressive and significant increase of the follicular diameter throughout the period of culture. However, there were no significant differences in follicular diameter or in the daily growth rate among treatments. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the presence of EGF in ovine ovaries. Moreover, 50 ng/ml EGF increased the percentage of normal follicles and improved antrum formation in isolated ovine follicles after 18 days of in vitro culture.     

Differential antigen processing by dendritic cell subsets in vivo

Dendritic cells (DCs) process and present self and foreign antigens to induce tolerance or immunity. In vitro models suggest that induction of immunity is controlled by regulating the presentation of antigen, but little is known about how DCs control antigen presentation in vivo. To examine antigen processing and presentation in vivo, we specifically targeted antigens to two major subsets of DCs by using chimeric monoclonal antibodies. Unlike CD8+ DCs that express the cell surface protein CD205, CD8- DCs, which are positive for the 33D1 antigen, are specialized for presentation on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II. This difference in antigen processing is intrinsic to the DC subsets and is associated with increased expression of proteins involved in MHC processing.