The effect of water flow on spawning in the medaka, Oryzias latipes

The effect of water flow on spawning was investigated in the medaka, Oryzias latipes. Spawning rate decreased under water flow exposure and recovered when water flow stopped. Spawning of medaka was suppressed by water flow much lower than that critical velocity for fish to swim.     

Histopathological Changes in the Pancreas from a Spontaneous Hyperglycemic Cynomolgus Monkey

Morphological and immunohistochemical examinations were carried out on the pancreas of a hyperglycemic 5-year-old male cynomolgus monkey. Body weight gradually decreased from 6 months before termination, accompanying a slight reduction in food consumption and anorexia for the last 2 days. The blood glucose level was markedly elevated when examined at termination. Histopathologically, in the exocrine pancreas, diffuse hyperplasia of centroacinar and intercalated duct cells and diffuse atrophy of acinar cells with sporadic apoptosis were observed, although most centroacinar and intercalated duct cells were proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive in both the present case and age-matched control animals. In the endocrine pancreas, the islets tended to be hypertrophic, with an increase in insulin-positive cells in comparison with the age-matched control animals. PCNA-positive cells also tended to increase in the islets, although positive cells for phospho-histone H3, a marker for mitotic cells, were not detected in the endocrine and exocrine pancreas. Moreover, neither inflammation nor amyloidosis was noted in the islets. In conclusion, the present case probably suffered from early-stage type 2 diabetes mellitus, and it provides fundamental information concerning pancreatic histopathology under insulin-related derangement in monkeys.     

Effects of dietary chitosan on fat deposition and lipase activity in digesta in broiler chickens

1. The effect of dietary chitosan on fat deposition and lipase activity in the small intestinal contents was investigated in broiler chickens fed an adequate or high metabolisable energy (ME) diet. 2. Male broiler chickens at 14 d old were fed on the adequate or high ME diet supplemented with 0 or 50 g/kg chitosan, which has a low viscosity, for 3 weeks. 3. Dietary chitosan did not affect food intake, body weight gain or food efficiency in either dietary ME groups. 4. Dietary chitosan reduced the excessive abdominal fat deposition induced by the high ME diet. 5. Dietary chitosan increased the weight of intestinal contents irrespective of dietary ME concentration. 6. Dietary chitosan decreased the lipase activity per g of small intestinal contents. 7. These results suggest that dietary chitosan with low viscosity decreases lipase activity and fat absorption in the small intestine, consequently resulting in a reduction of fat deposition in broiler chickens. 8. It was concluded that dietary chitosan with low viscosity can decrease body fat deposition without reducing food intake and body weight gain in broiler chickens.     

Predisposing factors,diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of persistent endometritis in postpartum cows

A certain level of endometrial bacterial infection and inflammation is involved in bovine uterine involution during the puerperal period. Factors that hamper normal uterine involution expose the uterine environment to pathological conditions, causing different endometritis levels. The lack of proper diagnostic tools extends the time to conception. Efforts have been made to elucidate the postpartum uterine environment, including bacterial flora, changes in transient endometrial inflammation, and the pathophysiology of endometritis, to improve bovine reproductive performance. E. coli and Trueperella pyogenes in the uterus are likely to cause persistent infection, and Mycoplasma bovigenitalium infection is associated with dystocia and cytological endometritis in postpartum dairy cows. Due to the widespread use of cytobrush as a diagnostic tool for bovine subclinical endometritis (SE) that enables quantification of the degree of inflammation, we found that endometritis at week 5 postpartum was associated with delayed first ovulation. Approximately 30% of open cows have SE during the postpartum period, and cows with low blood glucose during prepartum have a high risk of developing SE. Additionally, cows with purulent vaginal discharge do not always have endometritis but only vaginitis and/or cervicitis. Intrauterine infusion of polyvinylpyrrolidone-iodine (PVP-I) improves fertility and promotes endometrial epithelial cell regeneration after inducing transient uterine inflammation, suggesting that PVP-I could be a good alternative to antibiotics. In conclusion, prepartum management to prevent glucose deficiency, prompt diagnosis to identify causative agents and intrauterine inflammation levels, and appropriate treatment to minimize antimicrobial resistance is beneficial for tackling endometritis and improving reproductive performance in bovine herds.     

Effects of topical administration of 0.005% latanoprost solution on eyes of clinically normal horses.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of 0.005% latanoprost solution on intraocular pressure (IOP) of eyes of clinically normal horses and establish the frequency of adverse effects of drug administration. ANIMALS: 20 adult clinically normal horses. PROCEDURE: IOP was recorded (7, 9, and 11 AM; 3, 5, and 7 PM) on days 1 and 2 (baseline), days 3 to 7 (treatment), and days 8 to 9 (follow-up). Latanoprost was administered to 1 randomly assigned eye of each horse every 24 hours during the treatment period, following the 7 AM IOP recording. Pupil size and the presence or absence of conjunctival hyperemia, epiphora, blepharospasm, blepharedema, and aqueous flare were recorded prior to IOP measurement. RESULTS: IOP was reduced from baseline by a mean value of 1.03 mm Hg (5%) in males and 3.01 mm Hg (17%) in females during the treatment period. Miosis developed in all treated eyes and was moderate to marked in 77% of horses, with the peak effect observed 4 to 8 hours after drug administration. Conjunctival hyperemia, epiphora, blepharospasm, and blepharedema were present in 100, 57, 42, and 12% of treated eyes, respectively, 2 to 24 hours following drug administration. Aqueous flare was not observed at any time point. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although IOP was reduced with every 24-hour dosing of latanoprost, the frequency of prostaglandin-induced adverse events was high. Because recurrent uveitis appears to be a risk factor for glaucoma in horses, topical administration of latanoprost may potentiate prostaglandin-mediated inflammatory disease in affected horses.     

Effects of copper on survival and growth of larval false clown anemonefish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Amphiprion ocellaris</Emphasis>

ABSTRACT:   Larval false clown anemonefish of about 12 h after hatching were fed newly-hatched brine shrimp nauplii in natural (control) and copper-added seawater (40–640 µg–Cu/L) at 26.5 ± 0.5°C for 14 days. Survival rate of the fish increased with increasing copper concentrations up to 160 µg–Cu/L. The rates at 80 and 160 µg–Cu/L were 65 and 80%, respectively, and were significantly higher than that of the control (30%). A positive effect of copper addition on the survival rate was also observed in the other rearing experiment with the fish from seven different spawning chances. Growth rate of the survival fish was not affected by copper concentrations. The copper concentration of the survived fish increased with increasing copper concentrations in the rearing water.     

Lectin histochemistry of respiratory mucosa in the Pacific white-sided dolphin

Sugars in the glycocalyx play an important role in the attachment of infectious agents to the respiratory mucosa. We examined the histochemistry of 23 lectins to survey the sugar expression in the glycocalyx of the respiratory mucosa of the Pacific white-sided dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obliquidens. The ciliated and basal cells were positive for all of the lectins studied. SBA, WFA, GSL-II, STL, S-WGA, and PNA staining in the cytoplasm showed different intensities between basal cells and ciliated cells. These results suggest that multiple terminal glycosylation occurs on ciliated and basal cells, such as GalNAc, GlcNAc, NeuNAc, galactose, glucose/mannose, oligosaccharide, and fucose, and that sugar residue expression changes during cell differentiation. The Pacific white-sided dolphin respiratory mucosa might express multiple sugar residues in the glycocalyx, to prevent the attachment and colonisation of infectious agents.     

Molecular typing of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine mastitic milk on the basis of toxin genes and coagulase gene polymorphisms

A total of 270 strains of Staphylococcus aureus, isolated from mastitic milk, were investigated by the polymerase chain reaction for the presence of genes encoding enterotoxins (sea to sej) and a toxic shock syndrome toxin (tst). One hundred eighty three (67.8%) bovine isolates possessed either one or more toxin genes and the most common pattern that coexisted in S. aureus was tst, sec, seg, and sei. Coagulase genotyping revealed 15 patterns, and 161 of the 270 isolates (59.6%) belonged to the coagulase genotype B1. Further, these 161 isolates possessed at least two enterotoxin genes. However, the role of these toxins in udder pathogenicity remains unclear. Moreover, the predominant isolate possessed the enterotoxin genes supporting the theory that superantigenic toxins are important for the udder pathogenesis.