Skin fragility syndrome in a cat with feline infectious peritonitis and hepatic lipidosis

A 6-year-old spayed female domestic shorthair cat with a 3-week history of inappetence, weight loss, and hiding was examined. A palpable abdominal fluid wave, dehydration, and a small tear on the left flank were noted during initial examination. When the cat was gently restrained for blood sampling, the skin on the dorsal neck tore, leaving a 15 cm x 7 cm flap of skin. Clinicopathological abnormalities included nonregenerative anaemia, hypoalbuminaemia, increased globulin concentration, and mildly elevated aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities. Abdominal fluid was viscous and had a total protein of 5.3 g dL(-1) with 316 cells microL(-1), consistent with a modified transudate. Cytology of the abdominal fluid revealed 86% nondegenerate neutrophils, 13% macrophages, and 1% small lymphocytes. Histopathological evaluation and indirect immunohistochemistry confirmed a diagnosis of feline infectious peritonitis, hepatic lipidosis and feline skin fragility syndrome. Feline skin fragility syndrome has not previously been reported in association with feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Its inclusion as a clinical sign associated with FIP may facilitate a diagnosis.     

Silicon amendment improves wheat defence against Fusarium graminearum and complements the control by fungicide of Fusarium head blight

A three-year field experiment with two wheat cultivars evaluated the effect of soil-applied silicon (Si), with and without fungicide spraying, on Fusarium head blight (FHB) control. Silicon treatment alone reduced FHB severity and the percentage of damaged wheat kernels, regardless of the cultivar. The best disease control was obtained for the cultivar with moderate disease resistance (MR), supplied with silicon and treated with fungicide during flowering. Silicon treatment alone promoted an increase in deoxynivalenol (DON) concentration in the disease-susceptible cultivar; however, in the MR cultivar, silicon amendment associated with fungicide treatment led to a reduction in DON concentration. Greenhouse experiments evaluated the effect of silicon combined with different timings of fungicide application on wheat defences against Fusarium graminearum. Plants supplied with silicon had a longer pathogen incubation period, lower FHB severity and lower DON concentration when compared to plants without silicon. In addition, silicon-supplied plants had higher soluble phenolic content and altered antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT, POX and PPO) that favoured early accumulation of hydrogen peroxide when compared to plants without silicon. Greater control of FHB and lower DON concentration in plants treated with silicon and fungicide before inoculation and up to 1 day after inoculation was associated with increased levels of defence-associated metabolites. Silicon contributed to the reduction of FHB and DON concentration in wheat, especially for the MR cultivar and, when combined with fungicide spraying, both MR and disease-susceptible cultivars had enhanced performances upon silicon amendment.     

Database development and survival analysis in a clinical and historical cohort of dogs affected by myxomatous mitral valve disease treated or not with pimobendan using causal inference techniques

Veterinary Research Communications - The aim of this work was to retrospectively evaluate the influence of pimobendan on the survival time (ST) of dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease at...     

Sourcing Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae strains from Mediterranean centres of origin to optimize nitrogen fixation in forage legumes grown on acid soils

Over the last three decades, farming systems in Europe and Australia have seen a decline in legume plantings, leading to reduced soil carbon and fertility, and an increase in plant disease, reliance on industrial nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides. In Australia, one reason for this decline has been the movement towards sowing crops and forages into dry soil, before the opening rains, as a consequence of climate variability. This practice predicates against the survival of rhizobial inoculants, and hence generates uncertainty about legume performance. The research reported here was initiated to improve the robustness of a specific forage legume/rhizobia symbiosis to increase nitrogen fixation in low pH, infertile soils. Rhizobial strains (Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae) from Pisum sativum L. were sourced from acid soils in southern Italy and southern Australia. Strains were evaluated for N fixation on the forage legumes P. sativum, Vicia sativa and Vicia villosa, then for survival and persistence in acid soils (pH_Ca 4.6). Fourteen of the strains produced a higher percentage of nitrogen derived from the atmosphere (%Ndfa) compared to commercial comparator strain SU303 (<78%). Twenty‐two strains survived sufficiently into the second season to form more nodules than SU303, which only achieved 3% of plants nodulated. Elite strains WSM4643 and WSM4645 produced six times more nodulated plants than SU303 and had significantly higher saprophytic competence in acid soil. These strains have the ability to optimize symbiotic associations with field peas and vetch in soils with low fertility, carbon and pH that are restrictive to the current commercial strain SU303.     

Customizing Properties of β-Chitin in Squid Pen (Gladius) by Chemical Treatments

The squid pen (gladius) from the Loligo vulgaris was used for preparation of β-chitin materials characterized by different chemical, micro- and nano-structural properties that preserved, almost completely the macrostructural and the mechanical ones. The β-chitin materials obtained by alkaline treatment showed porosity, wettability and swelling that are a function of the duration of the treatment. Microscopic, spectroscopic and synchrotron X-ray diffraction techniques showed that the chemical environment of the N-acetyl groups of the β-chitin chains changes after the thermal alkaline treatment. As a consequence, the crystalline packing of the β-chitin is modified, due to the intercalation of water molecules between β-chitin sheets. Potential applications of these β-chitin materials range from the nanotechnology to the regenerative medicine. The use of gladii, which are waste products of the fishing industry, has also important environmental implications.     

Patterns of algal recovery and small-scale effects of canopy removal as a result of human trampling on a Mediterranean rocky shallow community

The ecological importance of marine algae is widely known but in shallow coastal areas the composition and structure of algal communities may be affected by different human activities. Recovery from different trampling disturbances of two competing morphological groups (i.e. macroalgae and algal turfs) and effects of macroalgal canopy removal on the dominant associated fauna were examined using controlled trampling experiments. Six months after trampling disturbance was removed, the two morphological groups closely resembled control (untrampled) conditions, both in terms of cover and canopy (%). In particular, macroalgal recovery seemed to be very rapid: the higher the impact on the system the more rapid the recovery rate. In the short-term, the removal of macroalgal fronds (i.e. canopy) caused evident changes in invertebrate and crypto-benthic fish densities although these indirect effects were species-specific. Erect macroalgae are very sensitive to disturbance and even relatively low intensities of human use may be non-sustainable for this shallow assemblage. The present findings suggest some interesting options for the management of Mediterranean rocky shallow areas. This is crucial for coastal areas that are intended to be maintained in natural condition for conservation purposes.     

Terrain analysis,erosion simulations,and sediment fingerprinting: a case study assessing the erosion sensitivity of agricultural catchments in the border of the volcanic plateau of Southern Brazil

Journal of Soils and Sediments - Erosion and its spatial distribution in three agricultural headwater catchments were assessed in the border of the volcanic plateau in Southern Brazil. We analyzed...     

Agronomic, chemical and genetic variability of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) of different origin by LC-UV–vis-DAD and AFLP analyses

The identification of a bi-univocal correspondence between geographical origin of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) and the composition of its stigmas has recently been the subject of many research papers, which have focused on the analysis of the differences among the so called “minor components”, such as flavonoids and volatiles, in the secondary metabolic pattern of this spice. Saffron pigments (crocetin esters), on the other hand, constitute the majority of the metabolites found in its stigmas, and their spectrophotometric measurement is still used as an official method to determine the quality of the spice in terms of coloring power. To our knowledge, no attempts have been made to find a correspondence between the geographical origin of different saffron samples and their morphological traits and pigments pattern. In this paper, we have demonstrated that saffron corms of different origins, grown in the same experimental field, produce daughter corms with different dimensions and still produce stigma samples with different pigment profiles. Furthermore, daughter corm dimensions and pigment profile even more so, may be related to the origin of the sample, and therefore pigments can be used as chemotaxonomic markers. Compositional analyses results were corroborated by genetic data obtained using AFLP molecular markers.