Detection and characterization of Leptospira spp. in dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease in Selangor,Malaysia

Leptospirosis is a serious bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. A wide range of symptoms have been described in humans; the disease in dogs is commonly associated with kidney and/or liver disease. In Malaysia, information about the common serovars infecting dogs is limited. Therefore, we investigated the occurrences of leptospirosis in 124 pet dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease. Blood, urine, abdominal effusion, and/or kidney and liver were collected from the dogs. Based on microscopic agglutination testing, 53 of 124 (42.7%) dogs were seropositive for leptospiral exposure. Sera were frequently positive to serovars Bataviae (n = 12), Javanica (n = 10), and Icterohaemorrhagiae (n = 10). Direct detection using PCR showed that 42 of 124 (33.9%) of the whole blood and 36 of 113 (31.9%) urine samples were positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. By PCR, 2 of 23 (9.1%) kidney and 2 of 23 (9.1%) liver were positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. Abdominal effusion from 4 dogs were PCR-positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. The species detected were L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, L. kirschneri, and L. kmetyi by partial 16S rRNA sequencing. We further identified and characterized 11 Leptospira spp. isolates from 8 dogs as serovars Bataviae, Javanica, and Australis. The mortality rate of the Leptospira-infected dogs was high (18 of 53; 34%).     

Effect of ammoniation of rapeseed meal on the sinapine content of the meal

1. Two experiments were conducted to study the effects of ammoni‐ation of rapeseed meal on its sinapine content.

2. In the first experiment, five samples of a low‐glucosinolate meal (produced from Regent, Candle or Tower cultivars) and one sample of a high‐glucosinolate meal were eluted by one passage of ethanol ammoniated to concentrations of 0.2, 0.5 or 1.0 M NH₃ at the ratio of 2 1 ammoniated ethanol/kg meal. Elution with 1.0M ammoniated ethanol decreased the sinapine content of the meals by as much as 80%.

3. In the second experiment, four low‐glucosinolate meals (from Candle cultivar) from a pilot processing plant were used. Two of the meals were obtained by sparging during desolventising with or without anhydrous ammonia (50 g anhydrous ammonia/kg meal) and two of the meals were produced by sparging during desolventising with or without hydrous ammonia (50 g anhydrous ammonia and 50 g steam/kg meal). Ammonia with steam caused the greatest decrease (65%) in sinapine content.

4. Total glucosinolate and 5‐vinyl‐2‐oxazolidinethione concentrations in the meals were also decreased (17 to 35%) by the ammoniation treatments in experiment 2.     

Anesthesia and acoustic stress-induced intra-uterine growth retardation in mice

Stress interferes with reproduction, adversely influencing implantation and fetal growth, and sometimes even leading to abortion. Here, we attempted to evaluate the early gestational effects of uncomfortable sound on pregnant mice and their offspring. Ten-week-old pregnant Jcl:ICR mice were exposed to sound (100 dB, random frequency between 9-34 kHz) for 8 hours on the 3(rd), 5(th) and 7(th) gestational days (GD). The effects of general anesthesia were also investigated, with or without acoustic stress. All groups were examined on the 18(th) GD for fetal growth. Fetal weight, number of ossified sacrococcygeal vertebrae and placental weight were all significantly reduced (P<0.0001) when stress was induced on the 7(th) GD, but not on the 3(rd) or 5(th) GD. This intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR) was significantly inhibited by general anesthesia (P<0.0001), although general anesthesia alone induced significant IUGR (P<0.0001) when compared with control mice. This suggests that acoustic exposure indirectly exerts an effect on fetal growth, possibly via a psycho-maternal pathway. We also found that analysis of the number of ossified sacrococcygeal vertebrae is the most sensitive tool for the study of IUGR.     

A pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein in hippocampal long-term potentiation

High-frequency (tetanic) stimulation of presynaptic nerve tracts in the hippocampal region of the brain can lead to long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP). Pertussis toxin prevented the development of tetanus-induced LTP in the stratum radiatum-CA1 synaptic system of rat hippocampal slices, indicating that a guanosine triphosphate-binding protein (G protein) may be required for the initiation of LTP. This G protein may be located at a site distinct from the postsynaptic neuron (that is, in presynaptic terminals or glial cells) since maximal activation of CA1 neuronal G proteins by intracellular injection of guanosine-5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate), a nonhydrolyzable analog of guanosine 5'-triphosphate, did not occlude LTP.     

Associative induction of posttetanic and long-term potentiation in CA1 neurons of rat hippocampus

Electrical stimulation of fibers in the stratum radiatum causes an excitatory postsynaptic potential in CA1 neurons of the hippocampus. Other excitatory inputs to or direct depolarization of these CA1 neurons during stimulation of the stratum radiatum caused a subsequent increase in the excitatory postsynaptic potential. This enhancement was characterized as a brief potentiation (2 to 3 minutes, similar to posttetanic potentiation) and a long-term potentiation (presumed to be involved in learning and memory). These potentiations are probably induced by an interaction of the postsynaptic cell or other presynaptic terminals with the test presynaptic terminals.     

Analysis of sulfur-containing components of a soil treated with simulated acid rain

Samples of the LFH and Bfh horizons of an Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol were analyzed for S components after irrigation with simulated acid rain solutions of pH 5.7, 3.5, and 2.0 for 720 days. Organic S was preponderant. In the LFH horizon, the mass ratio of ester sulfate: carbon-bonded S was approximately I : 1 for samples treated with solutions of pH 5.7 and 3.5; for the sample treated with the pH-2.0 solution, the ratio was about 2 : 1 and the concentrations of both inorganic sulfate and ester sulfate were markedly higher. In the Bth horizon, carbon-bonded S was the major form of organic S, except in the sample subjected to the high-acid (pH 2.0) simulated rain. The organic S components were further separated into chloroform-soluble, aqueous trifluoracetic acid-soluble, and residual fractions. Significant increases in inorganic sulfate, both water soluble and adsorbed were found after the pH-2.0 treatment.     

Malay‐Muslim spirits and Malaysian capitalist modernity: A study of keramat propitiation among property developers in Penang

Abstract: Property developers in Penang (Malaysia) were erecting shrines and performing rituals to propitiate a Malay‐Muslim guardian spirit of local sacred places known interchangeably as keramat or Datuk Kong during a period of euphoric economic growth in Malaysia in the early 1990s. Drawing on anthropological approaches, this article explores the symbolic significance of this peculiar capitalist sacralisation in Penang. It argues that keramat propitiation among property developers can be better grasped by understanding how this spirit cult is engendered and acted on by deep historical structures of cultural hybridity, socioeconomic and ethnonationalist transformations in Malaysia. It is with this background that the keramat cult converges with Chinese supernatural beliefs and becomes a potent idiom that expresses and negotiates contradictions inherent in a highly speculative activity and ethnically charged political economy in Malaysia. This conjunction between the keramat cult and property development activities brings to light the centrality of ethnicity and religion in characterising capitalist formations in a new Asian economy and urban environment.     

Breeding vandaceous orchids for commercial cut-flowers in Singapore: an overview

Summary Extensive artificial hybridisation among members of some 86 genera of vandaceous orchids within the subtribe Sarcanthinae in Singapore over the past five decades has created many thousands of exotic hybrids. A small number of these are selected for commercial cut-flower production, while others are cultivated as pot-plants. Two classes of intergeneric hybrids are of special commercial importance as export cut-flowers, the bigeneric Aranda (Arachnis x Vanda) and the trigeneric Mokara (Arachnis x Vanda x Ascocentrum) hybrids. Cytogenetic studies of these hybrids in recent years have provided information on the significance of ploidy levels and genomic constitutions on the horticultural performance of cut-flower cultivars, and also on the strategy for effective breeding in vandaceous orchids.