Quantitative ultrasound elastography and biometry of the bitch uterus in the early puerperium after vaginal delivery and caesarean section

Elastography is an actual imaging method used to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the elastic properties of tissues. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare uterine tissue biometry and stiffness during post-partum period in brachycephalic bitches (n = 12) after c-section (GCS; n = 8) or normal delivery (GNB; n = 4). These animals were evaluated daily by abdominal ultrasound from the day of delivery until the 10th day post-partum; measuring uterine diameter, myometrial and endometrial thickness (mm) and shear wave velocity (SWV; m/s), by B-mode and ARFI (acoustic radiation force impulse) elastography, respectively. Uterine diameter was higher (p = .012) in animals submitted to c-section (15.26 ± 4.73 mm) than in normal birth (12.53 ± 2.64 mm) during the first 7 days post-partum. Uterine thickness gradually involuted in both groups (p < .0001), the myometrium during the first 9 days (p = .005) and the endometrium during the first 6 days (p = .003). The myometrial and endometrial SWVs were similar between types of delivery (p = .7846 and .8273) and presented a gradual increase (p = .411; .0043, respectively), during the first 10 days post-partum. It was concluded that bitches with normal delivery had smaller uterine thickness and faster puerperal involution than submitted to c-section, while uterine tissue stiffness was similar between delivery types and increased gradually during post-partum.     

Differential Rotation and Dynamics of the Solar Interior

Splitting of the sun's global oscillation frequencies by large-scale flows can be used to investigate how rotation varies with radius and latitude within the solar interior. The nearly uninterrupted observations by the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) yield oscillation power spectra with high duty cycles and high signal-to-noise ratios. Frequency splittings derived from GONG observations confirm that the variation of rotation rate with latitude seen at the surface carries through much of the convection zone, at the base of which is an adjustment layer leading to latitudinally independent rotation at greater depths. A distinctive shear layer just below the surface is discernible at low to mid-latitudes.     

Nitrogen-supplying capacity of leaves of Dactyladenia barteri (Hook ex olw) and Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit in two soils of different acidity from southern nigeria

Summary The evolution of mineral and hydrosoluble organic N released from two soils differing in pH and treated with leaves of Leucaena leucocephala (0, 8.3, 16.7, and 33. g kg^-1 soil), Dactyladenia barteri (syn. Acioa barteri; 0 and 16.7 g), and their mixtures was studied in the laboratory using the aerobic incubation-leaching method. N mineralization in untreated soils and in soils supplemented with 8.3 g leucaena leaves was 41–53% higher in the soil from Onne (pH 4.7) than in the soil from Ibadan (pH 6.2), but the organic N content was similar with these treatments in the leachates of the soils from both locations. The application of 16.7 or 33.3 g of either or both type of leaves reduced the rate of mineral N production during the first 4 weeks, particularly in soils treated with dactyladenia leaves (C:N=36). After this lag period, N mineralization proceeded at a faster rate in the soil from Ibadan treated with 16.7 or 33.3 g of leucaena leaves (C:N=12), even in the presence of dactyladenia leaves. In Ibadan soil, after 12 weeks, mineral N apprently derived from leaves of both dactyladenia and leucaena averaged 6.3% of the N applied, and organic N from leaves averaged 9.5%. The addition of dactyladenia and leucaena leaves did not increases the mineral N content in the acid soil from Onne but leaching of soluble organic N with addition of 16.7 or 33.3 g of leaves contributed an N-mineralizable pool of 5.9% of the N applied.     

A sense of the end

How a cell distinguishes a double-strand break from the end of a chromosome has long fascinated cell biologists. It was thought that the protection of chromosomal ends required either a telomere-specific complex or the looping back of the 3' TG-rich overhang to anneal with a homologous double-stranded repeat. These models must now accommodate the findings that complexes involved in nonhomologous end joining play important roles in normal telomere length maintenance, and that subtelomeric chromatin changes in response to the DNA damage checkpoint. A hypothetical chromatin assembly checkpoint may help to explain why telomeres and the double-strand break repair machinery share essential components.     

Transient hyperglycaemia in a prediabetic dog treated with prednisone and cyclosporin A

A dog with immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia developed transient hyperglycaemia and glucosuria requiring insulin therapy in association with prednisone and cyclosporin A therapy. Following short-term therapy with insulin and cyclosporin A, the dog remained on prednisone therapy but required no further insulin therapy for 12 weeks, at which time the dog became permanently diabetic. We hypothesise that prednisone and cyclosporin A contributed to insulin resistance in a prediabetic dog with suboptimal endogenous insulin concentration and that the degree of insulin resistance decreased when cyclosporin A therapy was discontinued.     

Combined preputial advancement and phallopexy as a revision technique for treating paraphimosis in a dog

A 7‐year‐old neutered male Jack Russell terrier‐cross was presented for signs of recurrent paraphimosis, despite previous surgical enlargement of the preputial ostium. Revision surgery was performed using a combination of preputial advancement and phallopexy, which resulted in complete and permanent coverage of the glans penis by the prepuce, and at 1 year postoperatively, no recurrence of paraphimosis had been observed. The combined techniques allow preservation of the normal penile anatomy, are relatively simple to perform and provide a cosmetic result. We recommend this combination for the treatment of paraphimosis in the dog, particularly when other techniques have failed.     

Development of a Multiplex PCR for the Identification of Major Pathogenic Bacteria of Post‐Partum Endometritis in Dairy Cows

Post‐partum period has an important role in cows' breeding due to its effects on reproductive efficiency and subsequent pregnancy. Escherichia coli, Trueperella pyogenes (Arcanobacterium pyogenes), Fusobacterium necrophorum and Prevotella melaninogenicus are recognized as major pathogens associated with uterine endometrial lesions. The objective of this study was to identify these pathogens using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a culture‐independent sensitive method. A total of 172 cows were examined 25–35 days post‐partum, and 128 cows were examined at 2 weeks later (39–49 days post‐partum). Uterine discharges were collected by covered plastic infusion pipettes. The prevalence of endometritis was greater in the first examination than the second (35.5% vs. 16%). E. coli was detected in eight of the samples, T. pyogenes was detected in 13 of the samples and F. necrophorum was detected in 11 of the samples. There was no positive sample of P. melaninogenicus. Uterine contamination by T. pyogenes and F. necrophorum in the first examination was higher than the second examination. T. pyogenes affected as a tendency the prevalence of clinical endometritis in first examination. Primiparous cows showed 4.02 times higher odds of clinical endometritis compared with second‐parity cows in first examination. A multiplex PCR protocol as a simple, less expensive, fast assay was introduced to identify E. coli, T. pyogenes and F. necrophorum.