Successful treatment of mandibular squamous cell carcinoma in a Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus).

An adult, female Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the rostral mandible. Initial treatment included bilateral mandibulectomy rostral to the lingual frenulum followed by intra- and perilesional cisplatin injections. Recovery after the procedure was uneventful and the Malayan sun bear adapted well to a shortened mandible. Histopathology indicated incomplete surgical excision of the tumor; therefore, radiation therapy was instituted weekly for four treatments at 2 Gy in parallel opposed fields (total 4 Gy each treatment) with one additional cisplatin treatment. Two years after initial presentation, the animal showed no recurrence of neoplasia.     

Stride characteristics of horses competing in Grand Prix jumping

An investigation was made of the stride characteristics of horses jumping 2 obstacles during a Grand Prix competition. One obstacle was a picket fence and rail 1.3 m high (fence 2), and the other was a coop and rail 1.52 m high (fence 11). Thirteen distance and 22 timing measurements of 17 horses were extracted from high-speed films, using computer-aided analysis. These data were used to compare takeoff and landing of the lead and nonlead legs, the thoracic limbs and pelvic limbs, and fence 2 and fence 11. Paired t-tests were used to compare means and a stepwise regression analysis was done for each fence, using the total horizontal distance jumped as the dependent variable. Stride timing and distance measurements did not differ (P less than 0.05) between the 2 fences . Each horse approached the fences in a moderately fast canter and, at takeoff , placed the nonlead thoracic limb earlier and farther from the fence than the lead thoracic limb (P less than 0.05). The nonlead leg stance phase lasted longer than the lead leg stance phase (P less than 0.05). The lead and nonlead pelvic limbs acted more in unison than the thoracic limbs and did not differ in their time of placement, stance phase duration, or position from the fence (P less than 0.05). The overlap of the stance phases of the pelvic limbs was greater than that of the thoracic limbs (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A striking nitrogen isotope anomaly in the bencubbin and weatherford meteorites

The stony-iron meteorites Bencubbin and Weatherford contain nitrogen with a ratio of nitrogen-15 to nitrogen-14 larger than normal by as much as a factor of 2. The excess nitrogen-15 may be due either to a nucleosynthetic origin or to extreme isotopic fractionation. In the former case, it may reflect failure to homogenize nitrogen-15 produced in nova explosions. In the latter case, it may reflect chemical processing at temperatures below 40 K in a presolar molecular cloud.     

2004年全球饲料生产概况

全球生产的饲料中38%以上是家禽饲料,因此,高致病性禽流感疫情的暴发以及由此引起的消费恐慌对饲料工业的破坏性可以说是灾难性的。亚洲的家禽一体化生产企业和配合饲料制造商在2003年末到2004年初就经历了这样的灾难。禽流感导致泰国、马来西亚、印度尼西亚和越南等国家淘汰了