Vitamin K treatment of sweet clover poisoning in calves

Dicumarol poisoning was reproduced by feeding naturally spoiled, sweet clover hay, which contained a minimum of 90 ppm dicumarol. Vitamin K1 administered IM was effective in treating the disease at dosages of 1.1, 2.2, and 3.3 mg/kg of body weight. Vitamin K3 treatment by various routes and dosages was ineffective.     

Paranasal meningioma in a horse.

Paranasal meningioma was diagnosed in a 5-year-old Appaloosa gelding. The mass occupied the right maxillary, frontal, and sphenopalatine sinuses but did not invade the calvarium. The diagnosis was based on histologic evaluation, positive immunohistochemical staining for vimentin and cytokeratin, and ultrastructural features including the presence of interdigitating spindle cells with numerous desmosomes.     

Effects of a specific thromboxane synthetase inhibitor on thromboxane generation and excretion in healthy dogs

A specific thromboxane synthetase inhibitor, 3-methyl-2 (3-pyridyl)-1-indoleoctanoic acid (CGS 12970) was administered orally to 6 healthy adult Beagles at a dosage of 30 mg/kg of body weight. Blood generation of thromboxane B2 and urinary excretion of thromboxane B2 were measured before and after administration of CGS 12970. Although 97 +/- 0.4% inhibition of thromboxane B2 generation was observed within 2 hours after a single dose of CGS 12970 was administered orally, an effect on urinary excretion of thromboxane B2 was not observed. Additionally, oral administration of 30 mg/kg every 12 hours resulted in 80 +/- 14% inhibition of thromboxane B2 generation but had no effect on urinary thromboxane B2 excretion.     

Focal granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis in a pup

Granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis (GME) was diagnosed in an 8-month-old Maltese with signs of CNS disease. Serum immunoglobulin (Ig) G concentration was decreased, and CSF analysis revealed high concentrations of mononuclear WBC and IgG. Initial improvement of the pup's signs in association with prednisolone treatment and postmortem examination of CNS tissues confirmed GME. Granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis occurs rarely in young dogs and the abnormal Ig concentrations in this pup's serum and CSF suggest that immune responses may have a role in the cause and/or pathogenesis of GME.     

Genes for Resistance to Yellow Rust in Seedlings of Wheat Cultivars from Pakistan Tested with British Isolates of Puccinia striiformis

Seedlings of 26 wheat caltivars from Pakistan were tested with 18 British races of P. striiformis. It is postulated that the race-specific genes Yr6, Yr7, Yr9 and perhaps Yr2 were present among the cultivars, and that there was other resistance not controlled by these genes.     

Relationship between relative water content during reproductive development and winter wheat grain yield

Summary Water is often the most limiting factor to winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production in the southern Great Plains of the U.S.A., yet the lack of reliable screening criteria has precluded direct selection for drought resistance in breeding programs. Previous work showed that leaf relative water content (RWC) was highly heritable when measured under field-drought conditions, but its adoption as a screening tool for yield improvement requires further investigation of the genetic relationship between grain yield and RWC. Plants representing high and low yield potential under drought stress, and a random group of plants, were selected from an F₂ population having the pedigree, TAM W-101/Sturdy. Two sets of entries, each comprised of the two parents and 24 F₂-derived lines, were evaluated under a rainshelter in the F₃ (1986) and F₄ (1987) generations to determine differences in leaf RWC during reproductive development. One set of entries did not receive any water after the jointing stage, and the other set was grown under well-watered conditions. A positive relationship was observed between grain yield and RWC measured during anthesis and mid-grain fill, as the high-yield selections maintained a significantly higher RWC than the low-yield selections. Grain yield and RWC were also positively associated among random selections segregating for both traits. Subsequent adjustment of genotype means for differences in reproductive development at time of sampling underscored the need to consider differences in maturity when RWC is the selection criterion.     

Climate change and forest decline: A review of the red spruce case

Climate change as a contributor to the decline of red spruce is investigated. Previous climatic response model results are reviewed and more detailed time-dependent modeling of tree growth-climate interactions are performed using the Kalman filter. These new results show that there is a clear temporal and elevational dependence in the response of red spruce to climate. Influence of abnormally warm prior-August temperatures become increasingly time-dependent with decreasing elevation, which is contrary to the elevational gradient in the severity of decline. Thus, this variable, which had been implicated in red spruce declines from previous studies, is unlikely to be a primary cause of the current decline. However, it may be implicated in earlier declines at low elevations. Prior-December temperatures are influential at all elevations, but time-dependent only at the highest elevational zone. The emergence of a strongly time-dependent prior-November temperature response is clearly associated with a time-trend in the temperature record. Thus, it is likely that red spruce is responding, in a transient sense, to changing climate. An additional transient response to current-July temperatures is not associated with any unusual behavior in the data and is, as yet, unexplained. These results show that red spruce is not in equilibrium with its climatic environment, which may have made it more susceptible to damage caused by natural and anthropogenic factors.