Phacoemulsification and +14 diopter intraocular lens placement in a Saddlebred foal

A 2‐month‐old, 110‐kg Saddlebred filly presented for evaluation of bilateral cataracts. A hypermature cataract in the left eye (OS) and an incipient nuclear cataract in the right eye (OD) were diagnosed. Electroretinography and ocular ultrasound revealed no contraindications for surgical removal of the cataractous lens OS. Phacoemulsification and implantation of a +14 diopter (D) intraocular lens (IOL) OS were performed at 4 months of age without complication, with the exception of a partial iridectomy performed on a small iris section that prolapsed through the corneal incision. Complete ophthalmic examinations, including ocular ultrasound and streak retinoscopy, were performed 1, 2, 6 weeks, 4 months, 1, and 2 years postoperatively. Diffuse corneal edema and a superficial corneal ulcer developed OS during the early postoperative period and resolved without complication. Dyscoria was identified owing to anterior synechia of the dorsomedial iris at the incision site. Two years after surgery, menace response, palpebral reflex, dazzle reflex, and pupillary light reflexes were present in both eyes (OU). The IOL remained centrally positioned within the capsule, with mild anterior tilting of the superior portion of the IOL and mild fibrosis of the lens capsule. The postoperative net refractive error was +0.31 D OS. Based on this report, a +14 D IOL may be the appropriate choice following lens extraction in a foal to achieve refraction near emmetropia at maturity. To our knowledge, this is the first report of phacoemulsification and IOL implantation in a foal with long‐term follow‐up.     

Diarrhetic Shellfish Toxins and Other Lipophilic Toxins of Human Health Concern in Washington State

The illness of three people in 2011 after their ingestion of mussels collected from Sequim Bay State Park, Washington State, USA, demonstrated the need to monitor diarrhetic shellfish toxins (DSTs) in Washington State for the protection of human health. Following these cases of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, monitoring for DSTs in Washington State became formalized in 2012, guided by routine monitoring of Dinophysis species by the SoundToxins program in Puget Sound and the Olympic Region Harmful Algal Bloom (ORHAB) partnership on the outer Washington State coast. Here we show that the DSTs at concentrations above the guidance level of 16 μg okadaic acid (OA) + dinophysistoxins (DTXs)/100 g shellfish tissue were widespread in sentinel mussels throughout Puget Sound in summer 2012 and included harvest closures of California mussel, varnish clam, manila clam and Pacific oyster. Concentrations of toxins in Pacific oyster and manila clam were often at least half those measured in blue mussels at the same site. The primary toxin isomer in shellfish and plankton samples was dinophysistoxin-1 (DTX-1) with D. acuminata as the primary Dinophysis species. Other lipophilic toxins in shellfish were pectenotoxin-2 (PTX-2) and yessotoxin (YTX) with azaspiracid-2 (AZA-2) also measured in phytoplankton samples. Okadaic acid, azaspiracid-1 (AZA-1) and azaspiracid-3 (AZA-3) were all below the levels of detection by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). A shellfish closure at Ruby Beach, Washington, was the first ever noted on the Washington State Pacific coast due to DSTs. The greater than average Fraser River flow during the summers of 2011 and 2012 may have provided an environment conducive to dinoflagellates and played a role in the prevalence of toxigenic Dinophysis in Puget Sound.     

A simple test for evaluation of transmission efficiency of barley yellow dwarf virus by aphids

Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) transmission test systems involve the use of clip-cages or of whole plants in cages, which are both labor-intensive methods and require large controlled environment units. Employing detached leaves for assessment of the inoculation efficiency of aphids proved reliable for assessing transmission of a BYDV PAV-like isolate byRhopalosiphum padi. One use of the system could be for the rapid determination of the infectivity of field-collected aphids, an essential part of any epidemiological study of BYDV. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting Aug. 14, 2002.     

Modeling the effects of winter environment on dormancy release of Douglas-fir

Most temperate woody plants have a winter chilling requirement to prevent budburst during mid-winter periods of warm weather. The date of spring budburst is dependent on both chilling and forcing; modeling this date is an important part of predicting potential effects of global warming on trees. There is no clear evidence from the literature that the curves of chilling or forcing effectiveness differ by species so we combined our data and published information to develop new curves on the effectiveness of temperature for chilling and forcing. The new curves predict effectiveness over a wide range of temperatures and we suggest both functions may be operating at the same time. We present experimental data from 13 winter environments for 5 genotypes of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) and use them to test various assumptions of starting and stopping dates for accumulating chilling and forcing units and the relationship between budburst and the accumulation of chilling and forcing units. Chilling started too early to be effective in one treatment but the other 12 environments resulted in budburst from many combinations of chilling and forcing. Previous reports have suggested benefits or cancellations of effects from alternating day/night or periodic temperatures. Our simple models do not include these effects but nevertheless were effective in predicting relationships between chilling and forcing for treatments with a wide range of conditions. Overall, the date of budburst changed only slightly (+1 to ?11 days) across a wide range of treatments in our colder test environment (Olympia, WA, USA) but was substantially later (+29 days) in the warmest treatment in our warmer environment (Corvallis, OR, USA). An analysis of historical climate data for both environments predicted a wide range in date to budburst could result from the same mean temperature due to the relative weightings of specific temperatures in the chilling and forcing functions. In the absence of improved understanding of the basic physiological mechanisms involved in dormancy induction and release, we suggest that simple, universal functions be considered for modeling the effectiveness of temperature for chilling and forcing. Future research should be designed to determine the exact shape of the curves; data are particularly lacking at the temperature extremes. We discuss the implications of our data and proposed functions for predicting effects of climate change. Both suggest that the trend toward earlier budburst will be reversed if winter temperatures rise substantially.     

不同超排方案以及重复超排对犊牛超排效果的影响

本试验选择北京奶牛中心良种场36头9~12月龄的犊牛进行超排采卵,研究了不同超排方案以及重复超排对犊牛超排的效果。结果表明,超排方案以埋植CIDR的同时,第5天、第6天注射FSH,第7天手术采卵获得的可用卵母细胞数最多。两次重复超排对犊牛平均卵泡数和平均卵母细胞数没有显著影响,但三次超排后的平均卵泡数和平均卵母细胞数显著低于一次和二次超排。     

Evaluation of diode endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation in bovine cadaver eyes

Objective-To evaluate the anterior chamber approach and energy levels for endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation (ECPC) and assess ECPC-induced tissue damage in phakic eyes of bovine cadavers. Sample-12 bovine cadaver eyes. Procedures-Angle of reach was measured in 6 eyes following placement of a curved endoscopic probe through multiple corneal incisions. In another 6 eyes, each ocular quadrant underwent ECPC at 1 of 3 energy levels (0.75, 0.90, and 1.05 J) or remained untreated. Visible effects on tissues (whitening and contraction of ciliary processes) were scored (scale of 0 [no effects] to 6 [severe effects]), and severity and extent of histologic damage to the pigmented and nonpigmented ciliary epithelium and fibromuscular stroma were each scored (scale of 0 [no effect] to 3 [severe effect]) and summed for each quadrant. Overall mean scores for 6 quadrants/treatment were calculated. Results-Mean ± SD combined angle of reach was 148 ± 24° (range, 123 ± 23° [ventromedial] to 174 ± 11° [dorsolateral]). At the 0.75-, 0.90-, and 1.05-J levels, mean visible tissue effect scores were 3.12 ± 0.47, 3.86 ± 0.35, and 4.68 ± 0.58, respectively; mean histologic damage scores were 4.79 ± 1.38 (mild damage), 6.82 ± 1.47 (moderate damage), and 9.37 ± 1.42 (severe damage), respectively. Occasional popping noises (venting of vaporized interstitial water) were heard at the 1.05-J level. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Multiple incisions were necessary to facilitate 360° ECPC treatment in bovine eyes. For ECPC in vivo, the 0.75- and 0.90-J energy levels had the potential to effectively treat the ciliary epithelium.     

OCCIPITAL DYSPLASIA AND ASSOCIATED CRANIAL SPINAL CORD ABNORMALITIES IN TWO DOGS

Occipital dysplasia was found in association with cervical spinal cord abnormalities in two dogs. One dog presented for tetraparesis and cervical hyperesthesia, the other for historical cervical hyperesthesia and mild paraparesis. In dog 1, a midline cervical spinal cord defect consistent with a communicating syrinx was found. In the other dog, a presumptive syringo/hydromyelia of the cervical spinal cord was found on magnetic resonance imaging. While occipital dysplasia alone is not thought to cause any clinical abnormalities, the dogs of this report suggest that intramedullary central nervous system abnormalities may be present concurrently with occipital dysplasia and should be considered as a possible cause of the clinical signs. The relationship between occipital dysplasia and syringo/hydromyelia in these dogs remains unclear, however, similar associated abnormalities are occasionally found in humans with Chiari malformation.