IMAGING DIAGNOSIS—NECROTIZING MENINGOMYELITIS AND POLYARTHRITIS

A vaccinated 2-year-old female neutered Weimaraner had bilateral pelvic limb ataxia that progressed over 12 h. The dog became nonambulatory, with signs of pain on palpation of the lumbar spine. The dog also developed multiple joint effusions. On magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, there was a diffuse, asymmetric T2-hyperintensity in the thoracolumbar spinal cord which was characterized by contrast enhancement. Lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis had an elevated white blood cell count and protein. On the basis of MR images and CSF analysis, a presumptive diagnosis of diffuse myelitis was made. The dog became paraplegic and was euthanized. Postmortem examination confirmed the presence of myelitis with vasculitis and nonerosive polyarthritis.     

Congenital Interruption of the Portal Vein and Caudal Vena Cava in Dogs: Six Case Reports and a Review of the Literature

Objective —To describe six dogs with congenital abnormalities involving the portal vein, caudal vena cava, or both.
Animals —Six client-owned dogs with congenital interruption of the portal vein or the caudal vena cava, or both.
Methods —Portal vein and caudal vena cava anatomy was evaluated by contrast radiography and visualization at surgery. Vascular casts or plastinated specimens were obtained in three animals.
Results —Portal blood shunted into the caudal vena cava in four dogs and the left hepatic vein in one. Two of these five dogs also had interruption of the caudal vena cava with continuation as azygous vein, as did an additional dog, in which the portal vein was normally formed. Portal vein interruption was present in 5 of 74 (6.8%) dogs with congenital portosystemic shunts evaluated at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital during the study period.
Conclusions —Serious malformations of the abdominal veins were present in more than 1 in 20 dogs with single congenital portosystemic shunts.
Clinical Relevance —Veterinarians involved in diagnosis and surgery for portosystemic shunts should be aware of these potential malformations, and portal vein continuity should be evaluated in all dogs before attempting shunt attenuation.     

Histological investigations on the pathogenesis of Xanthomonas campestris pv. graminis to Lolium multiflorum1

Plants of Lolium multiflorum cv. Remy were infected by Xanthomonas campestris pv. graminis in the greenhouse by clipping their leaves with scissors the blades of which had been dipped in a bacterial suspension. Inoculation of the cut leaves resulted in intense bacterial proliferation in the protoxylem lacunae. X. c. graminis caused cell wall dissolution early in the infection process. Bacteria were observed to exist within the protoxylem lacunae in a matrix of amorphous substance, presumably partly dissolved cell wall material and extracellular polysaccharide. They spread out into the adjacent xylem parenchyma cells after having dissolved the parenchyma cell walls, and into the xylem vessels. Long-distance transport of X.c. graminis occurred in the xylem. The bacteria invaded neighbouring vascular bundles by penetrating through intercellular spaces developed from dissolved primary cell walls between leaf mesophyll cells. Six weeks after inoculation most bacteria could be found in the xylem of the outermost leaf sheath.     

Trade Reorientation and Its Effects on Regional Port Systems: The Korea‐China Link along the Yellow Sea Rim

ABSTRACT Owing to its competitive labor costs, its open‐market policy, and a substantial amount of capital investments, China has become a global manufacturing pole and an export‐based economy replicating the conventional Asian model but on a much wider scale. This is creating acute competition on other Asian export‐based economies such as Korea that have to adapt to the “China effect.” Consequently, many Korean manufacturing companies have repositioned their capital and equipment in China to enlarge their market potential as well as to reduce their production costs. Because Korea is adjacent to China—both are sharing the Yellow Sea Rim—this shift is creating a unique geographical dimension with a high level of functional integration of Sino‐Korean manufacturing supply chains. This transition has also brought substantial changes in the regional logistic network by organizing new flows of raw materials, parts, and final products, most of them along the Yellow Sea Rim. New logistic flows have given substantial influences on regional port competition by creating diverse links. These changes are bringing a reorientation of the regional maritime industry and of the port system.     

The effects of weed cutting upon the biota of a large regulated river

1. The effects of macrophyte removal from a regulated reach of the River Great Ouse, UK, were recorded. The relationship between macrophyte cover, zooplankton distribution and 0+roach Rutilus rutilus (L.) distribution, diet and growth, were compared before, directly after, and over several weeks following weed-cutting operations. 2. Both zooplankton and fish were significantly associated with the macrophyte zone before weed cutting. It is suggested that this zone provides high food densities and refuge during periods of elevated flows. 3. Removal of all but a 2 m marginal strip of the macrophyte zone led to a rapid decline in the mean densities of planktonic Cladocera, probably as a result of increased washout, fish predation and starvation. This was accompanied by a rapid decline in the growth rate of the roach, which were forced to feed on the less nutritious aufwuchs. 4. It is suggested that river management involving weed cutting adjacent to one bank in alternate years would be sufficient to prevent loss of channel capacity and would provide a refuge for fish and zooplankton.     

Removal of Five Canine Cardiac Tumors Using a Stapling Instrument

Cardiac tumors in five dogs, including four right atrial appendage hemangiosarcomas and one heartbase chemodectoma, were removed, and the excisional edges were closed with a thoracic-abdominal (TA) stapling instrument. All five dogs recovered from surgery and were discharged from the hospital within 4 days. The four dogs with atrial appendage hemangiosarcomas developed extensive metastasis, although no evidence of tumor recurrence was found at the surgical site in two dogs that were necropsied. The dog with a chemodectoma was alive with no clinical or radiographic evidence of recurrence or metastasis 17 months following surgery.     

LYMPHOMA AFFECTING THE URINARY BLADDER IN THREE DOGS AND A CAT

Three dogs and one cat with lymphoma affecting the urinary bladder are reported and the findings on abdominal radiographs and ultrasound are described. Mural lesions representing lymphoma affecting the urinary bladder were identified ultrasonographically in all animals. The most common complications associated with urinary bladder lymphoma were hydronephrosis and hydroureter. In two patients contrast radiography was necessary to detect leakage of urine in the peritoneal and retroperitoneal space. The radiographic and ultrasonographic signs were similar to those reported with other urinary bladder neoplasms; hence urinary bladder lymphoma could not be distinguished from the more common urinary bladder neoplasms, such as transitional cell carcinoma. It is important to include lymphoma in the differential diagnosis of urinary bladder wall thickening and mural mass in dogs and cats.