High incidence of polyarteritis nodosa in the brains of culled sows

A total of 307 brains of purebred sows obtained from an abattoir were retrospectively examined. These sows were culled with reasons of reproductive failure, urogenital infections, or locomotor problems. The most common macroscopic lesions were cavitations or lacunae in the basal nuclei (9.1%, 28/307) and coarse and thickened leptomeninges with marked vessels (3.9%, 12/307). The most frequent microscopic lesion was polyarteritis nodosa (21.2%, 65/307), which was found in all 40 brains with the above-mentioned gross lesions and in all 25 brains with microscopic cerebral infarcts or cavitations. The affected arteries of polyarteritis nodosa were distributed primarily in the cerebral leptomeninges, basal nuclei, and internal and external capsules. Histopathologically, a characteristic change of the affected arteries was transmural fibrinoid necrosis with severe infiltration of mixed inflammatory cells; narrowing or occlusion of the lumen. The inflammatory cells were chiefly composed of lymphocytes, macrophages, and plasma cells, with a few eosinophils and occasional multinucleated giant cells. Polyarteritis nodosa was found at a high percentage in the brains from culled sows. It may result in cerebral ischemia, infarcts, and hemorrhage, and possibly play a role in the necessity for culling due to locomotor problems.     

Three-Dimensional Tracking of Multiple Small Insects by a Single Camera

Many systems to monitor insect behavior have been developed recently. Yet most of these can only detect two-dimensional behavior for convenient analysis and exclude other activities, such as jumping or flying. Therefore, the development of a three-dimensional (3D) monitoring system is necessary to investigate the 3D behavior of insects. In such a system, multiple-camera setups are often used to accomplish this purpose. Here, a system with a single camera for tracking small insects in a 3D space is proposed, eliminating the synchronization problems that typically occur when multiple cameras are instead used. With this setup, two other images are obtained via mirrors fixed at other viewing angles. Using the proposed algorithms, the tracking accuracy of five individual drain flies, Clogmia albipunctata (Williston) (Diptera: Psychodidae), flitting about in a spherical arena (78 mm in diameter) is as high as 98.7%, whereas the accuracy of 10 individuals is 96.3%. With this proposed method, the 3D trajectory monitoring experiments of insects can be performed more efficiently.     

Direct fed microbial supplementation repartitions host energy to the immune system

Direct fed microbials and probiotics are used to promote health in livestock and poultry; however, their mechanism of action is still poorly understood. We previously reported that direct fed microbial supplementation in young broilers reduced ileal respiration without changing whole-body energy expenditure. The current studies were conducted to further investigate the effects of a direct fed microbial on energy metabolism in different tissues of broilers. One hundred ninety-two 1-d-old broiler chicks (16 chicks/pen) were randomly assigned to 2 dietary groups: standard control starter diet (CSD) and CSD plus direct fed microbial (DFMD; 0.3%) with 6 pens/treatment. Body weight, feed consumption, whole-body energy expenditure, organ mass, tissue respiration rates, and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) ATP concentrations were measured to estimate changes in energy metabolism. No differences in whole body energy expenditure or BW gain were observed; however, decreased ileal O(2) respiration (P < 0.05) was measured in DFMD fed broilers. In contrast, the respiration rate of the thymus in those broilers was increased (P < 0.05). The PBMC from DFMD fed broilers had increased ATP concentrations and exhibited increased ATP turnover (P < 0.01). To determine if the increased energy consumption by PBMC corresponded with an altered immune response, broilers were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) and assayed for differences in their humoral response. The DFMD-fed broilers had a faster rate of antigen specific IgG production (P < 0.05) and an increase in total IgA (P < 0.05). Collectively, these data indicate that supplementation with the direct fed microbial used in this study resulted in energy re-partitioning to the immune system and an increase in antibody production independent of changes in whole body metabolism or growth performance.     

Haemophilus somnus-induced interference with bovine neutrophil functions

The effect of Haemophilus somnus on bovine polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) function was examined in vitro with whole cells and fractions extracted from the surface of this bacterium. The ability of PMNs to iodinate protein and ingest Staphylococcus aureus was significantly inhibited in the presence of live cells, heat-killed whole cells or supernatant fluid from heat-killed cells, but not in the presence of washed, heat-killed cells. None of the fractions inhibited nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) reduction by PMNs. The PMN inhibitory factors were further characterized. The material that inhibited S. aureus ingestion was found to be a heat-stable cell surface material of greater than 300 000 MW. The fraction inhibiting iodination of protein was found to be less than 10 000 MW.     

Vascular Endothelial (VEGF) and Epithelial Growth Factor (EGF) as Well as Platelet‐Activating Factor (PAF) and Receptors are Expressed in the Early Pregnant Canine Uterus

The aim of this study was to investigate the course of expression of platelet‐activating factor (PAF), PAF‐receptor (PAF‐R), epidermal growth factor (EGF), EGF‐R, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), VEGF‐R1 and VEGF‐R2 in uterine tissue during canine pregnancy. For this purpose, 20 bitches were ovariohysterectomized at days 10–12 (n = 10), 18–25 (n = 5) and 28–45 (n = 5) days after mating, respectively. The pre‐implantation group was proven pregnant by embryo flushing of the uterus after the operation, the others by sonography. Five embryo negative, that is, non‐pregnant, bitches in diestrus (day 10–12) served as controls. Tissue samples from the uterus (placentation sites and horn width, respectively) were excised and snap‐frozen in liquid nitrogen after embedding in Tissue Tec^®. Extraction of mRNA for RT‐PCR was performed with Tri‐Reagent. In the embryos, mRNA from all factors except VEGF was detected. In the course of pregnancy, significantly higher expression of PAF and PAFR as well as VEGF and VEGFR2 during the pre‐implantation stage than in all other stages and a strong upregulation of EGF during implantation were characteristic. The course of EGF was in diametrical opposition to the course of the receptor. These results point towards an increased demand for VEGF, EGF and PAF during the earliest stages of canine pregnancy.     

Glutathione Transferase Isozymes Involved in Insecticide Resistance of Diamondback Moth Larvae

In addition to the three glutathione transferase (GST) isozymes already identified in diamondback moth larvae, Plutella xylostella (L.), a fourth one, GST-4, was purified from a teflubenzuron (TFB)-resistant strain. This GST isozyme was similar to GST-3 in terms of biochemical and toxicological properties. GST-4, a homodimer with a subunit molecular mass of 26.6 kDa and a pI of ca. 8.9, displayed even stronger substrate preference than GST-3 for 1,2-dichloro-4-nitrobenzene and several organophosphorus insecticides, i.e., parathion, methyl parathion, and paraoxon. These two proteins were highly immunorelated and shared at least the first eight amino acids at the N-terminus. Immunoblotting analysis indicated that polyclonal antiserum raised against GST-3 cross-reacted with GST-1 and GST-2 at least 40-fold less intensely than with the antigen. Using this antiserum as probe, higher amounts and greater variations of GST-3/GST-4 were observed in larvae of a methyl parathion- and a TFB-resistant strain compared with a susceptible and a fenvalerate-resistant strain. Among the six lepidopterous insects examined, only Spodoptera exigua larvae clearly had proteins immunorelated to GST-3/GST-4 of diamondback moth. No such cross-reactivity was observed in Musca domestica, Drosophila melanogaster, and Aedes aegypti.     

林丹粉剂拌合储粮防治害虫的研究——不同拌合方式的防虫效果及残留量

本試驗是1962年結合生产进行的。結果表明,粮堆中拌合百万分之5的林丹粉剂,以全部拌合防治效果最好;分层或表层拌合的,防治效果较差。无論那种拌合方式都可以有效地防治麦蛾;在原始害虫不多的情况下,对米象、长角谷盜和谷蠹也有良好防治效果,但对防治鋸谷盜和米虱,效果不明显。用百万分之5的林丹粉剂拌合小麦,加工后,林丹的残留量在机制粉中为百万分之1.1—2.5,石磨制粉中为百万分之1.7—3.9,麸皮中为百万分之4.8—10.4。表层拌合的小麦加工成面粉后,为百万分之0.3,麸皮中为百万分之1.2。全部拌合的稻谷加工后,大米及米糠中分別为百万分之0.57—1.0和4.6—12.0,分层拌合的稻谷加工品中則分別为百万分之0.42和2.0。全部拌合的玉米,加工成玉米粉后为百万分之1.9—3.7。上述拌合浓度,对种子发芽率没有影响。     

Rapid screening of wood chemical component variations using transmittance near-infrared spectroscopy

A rapid transmittance near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy method was developed to predict the variation in chemical composition of solid wood. The effect of sample preparation, sample quantity (single versus stacked multiple wood wafers), and NIR acquisition time on the quantification of alpha-cellulose and lignin content was investigated. Strong correlations were obtained between laboratory wet chemistry values and the NIR-predicted values. In addition to the experimental protocol and method development, improvements in calibration error associated with utilizing stacked multiple wood wafers as opposed to single wood wafers are also discussed.