TRIPLE‐PHASE HELICAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN DOGS WITH HEPATIC MASSES

The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of triple‐phase helical computed tomography (CT) for differentiating canine hepatic masses. Seventy dogs with hepatic masses underwent triple‐phase CT followed by surgical removal of the hepatic masses. Triple‐phase helical CT scans for each dog included precontrast, arterial phase, portal venous phase, and delayed phase studies. The removed hepatic masses were histopathologically classified as hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 47), nodular hyperplasia (n = 14), and hepatic metastatic tumors (n = 9) in dogs. Of the 47 hepatocellular carcinomas, the most common CT findings included a heterogeneous pattern with hyper‐, iso‐, and hypoenhancement in both the arterial and portal venous phases (40/47, 85.1%). Of the 14 nodular hyperplasias, the most common CT findings were a homogeneous pattern with hyper‐ and isoenhancement in both the portal venous and delayed phases (13/14, 92.9%). Of nine hepatic metastatic tumors, the most common CT findings included a homogeneous hypoenhancement pattern in both the arterial and portal venous phases (8/9, 88.9%). In addition, 5 (55.6%) showed homogeneous hypoenhancement patterns in the delayed phase. Findings from our study indicated that triple‐phase CT is a useful tool for preoperative differentiation of hepatocellular carcinoma, nodular hyperplasia, and hepatic metastatic tumors in dogs.     

Effects of a breeding scheme combined by genomic pre‐selection and progeny testing on annual genetic gain in a dairy cattle population

The effectiveness of the incorporation of genomic pre‐selection into dairy cattle progeny testing (GS‐PT) was compared with that of progeny testing (PT) where the fraction of dam to breed bull (DB) selected was 0.01. When the fraction of sires to breed bulls (SB) selected without being progeny tested to produce young bulls (YB) in the next generation was 0.2, the annual genetic gain from GS‐PT was 13% to 43% greater when h² = 0.3 and 16% to 53% greater when h² = 0.1 compared with that from PT. Given h² = 0.3, a selection accuracy of 0.8 for both YB and DB, and selected fractions of 0.117 for YB and 0.04 for DB, GS‐PT produced 40% to 43% greater annual genetic gain than PT. Given h² = 0.1, a selection accuracy of 0.6 for both YB and DB, and selected fractions of 0.117 for YB and 0.04 for DB, annual genetic gain from GS‐PT was 48% to 53% greater than that from PT. When h² = 0.3, progeny testing capacity had little effect on annual genetic gain from GS‐PT. However, when h² = 0.1, annual genetic gain from GS‐PT increased with increasing progeny testing capacity.     

Assessment of reference dietary amino acid pattern for juvenile red sea bream, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pagrus major</Emphasis>

Four semi-purified diets, containing crystalline amino acids (CAAs), were fed to juvenile red sea bream, Pagrus major in order to ascertain the ideal dietary amino acid pattern for this species. A control diet containing 50% casein–gelatin as protein sources, but no CAAs were fed to the fish. The other diets contained 30% casein–gelatin and 20% CAAs. CAAs were added to diets to simulate with amino acid pattern of the red sea bream eggs protein (REP), red sea bream larvae whole body protein (RLP), red sea bream juvenile whole body protein (RJP), and brown fishmeal protein (BFP). The juveniles (average initial body weight, 1.58 ± 0.01 g) were maintained in triplicate tanks and fed twice daily for 30 days. The highest weight gain was observed in juveniles fed the RJP diet. No significant difference was observed in juveniles fed the RLP and BFP diet. Feed efficiency ratio, protein efficiency ratio and amino acid retention in the whole body were significantly (p < 0.05) affected by the simulated dietary amino acid patterns. The essential amino acid profile and A/E ratios of the whole body after the growth trial showed little difference among the dietary treatments. The results suggest that red sea bream juveniles are able to utilize high amounts of CAA in coated form. The amino acid pattern of RJP could be used as an appropriate of reference dietary amino acid for this species.     

Effects of water temperature on early development of Japanese eel <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anguilla japonica</Emphasis>

ABSTRACT:   To determine an optimal temperature range for efficient production of healthy eel larvae Anguilla japonica , the effect of water temperature on hatching, survival, and deformity rates was examined. The early ontogeny of morphological features in this species by incubating eggs at five different temperatures (19, 22, 25, 28 and 31°C) was examined. Hatching occurred at 24, 28, 46 and 58 h after fertilization when incubated at 28, 25, 22 and 19°C, respectively; no eggs hatched at 31°C. The growth rate of prefeeding larvae increased as water temperature was elevated and acquisition of feeding ability was also accelerated at higher temperature. Significantly high hatching rates (76–86%, P  < 0.05) and survival rates (61–86%, P  < 0.05) were observed at relatively high temperatures (22–28°C). The deformities were 'open lower jaw', 'pericardial edema', and 'notochordal bending', in which the mouth was deformed with a downward projecting lower jaw, the pericardial cavity was swollen, and the notochord was bent or twisted to various degrees, respectively. Open lower jaw and pericardial edema were especially predominant at 19°C, with rates of 68 and 92%, respectively, compared with 31 and 10% at 25 and 28°C, respectively. The occurrence of notochordal bending was not affected by temperature. The optimal temperature for incubation and rearing A. japonica eggs and prefeeding larvae is approximately 25–28°C.     

Chromospheric anemone jets as evidence of ubiquitous reconnection

The heating of the solar chromosphere and corona is a long-standing puzzle in solar physics. Hinode observations show the ubiquitous presence of chromospheric anemone jets outside sunspots in active regions. They are typically 3 to 7 arc seconds = 2000 to 5000 kilometers long and 0.2 to 0.4 arc second = 150 to 300 kilometers wide, and their velocity is 10 to 20 kilometers per second. These small jets have an inverted Y-shape, similar to the shape of x-ray anemone jets in the corona. These features imply that magnetic reconnection similar to that in the corona is occurring at a much smaller spatial scale throughout the chromosphere and suggest that the heating of the solar chromosphere and corona may be related to small-scale ubiquitous reconnection.     

Conserved role of nanos proteins in germ cell development

In Drosophila, maternally supplied Nanos functions in the migration of primordial germ cells (PGCs) into the gonad; in mice, zygotic genes are involved instead. We report the cloning and the functional analyses of nanos2 and nanos3 in mice. These genes are differentially expressed in mouse PGCs. nanos2 is predominantly expressed in male germ cells, and the elimination of this gene results in a complete loss of spermatogonia. However, nanos3 is found in migrating PGCs, and the elimination of this factor results in the complete loss of germ cells in both sexes. Hence, although mice and flies differ in their mechanisms for germ cell specification, there seems to be conserved function for nanos proteins among invertebrates and vertebrates.     

Water in Earth's lower mantle

Secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements show that Earth's representative lower mantle minerals synthesized in a natural peridotitic composition can dissolve considerable amounts of hydrogen. Both MgSiO3-rich perovskite and magnesiowüstite contain about 0.2 weight percent (wt%) H2O, and CaSiO3-rich perovskite contains about 0.4 wt% H2O. The OH absorption bands in Mg-perovskite and magnesiowüstite were also confirmed with the use of infrared microspectroscopic measurements. Earth's lower mantle may store about five times more H2O than the oceans.     

Assessment of cholesterol requirements in the prawn, Penaeus japonicus

Two feeding experiments were conducted to assess the quantitative cholesterol requirement of the juvenile prawn, Penaeus japonicus . The prawns were fed casein-based (experiment 1) and casein- or crab protein-based (experiment 2) diets with or without supplemental cholesterol. The daily increases in quantities of body cholesterol (mg kg⁻¹ prawn day⁻¹) at maximum growth and dietary cholesterol intake over a 40-day feeding period were determined. Prawns fed 5 g kg⁻¹ supplemental cholesterol, regardless of protein sources, gave the highest weight gain. Body retention efficiencies of dietary cholesterol (cholesterol retained × 100/cholesterol intake) vary among prawns fed 5 g kg⁻¹ supplemental cholesterol (diets 3, 5 and 7) but dietary cholesterol requirements expressed as mg kg⁻¹ body weight (BW) day⁻¹ were not significantly different (180 to 200 mg kg⁻¹ BW day⁻¹). Based on dietary cholesterol requirement, the optimum dietary cholesterol levels for the juvenile prawns were estimated in relation to feeding levels. When feeding levels were 3%, 5% and 7% of body weight, optimum dietary cholesterol levels were 5.0 to 6.0, 3.6 to 4.0, and 2.6 to 2.9 g kg⁻¹ of dry diet, respectively. The present study showed the advantages of determining daily cholesterol requirement (mg kg⁻¹ BW day⁻¹) at maximum growth through a factorial method in determining optimum dietary cholesterol levels in P. japonicus .     

Effects of supplementation of coated crystalline amino acids on growth performance and body composition of juvenile kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus

Supplementation of crystalline amino acids (CAA) in shrimp diets is unsuccessful in most cases. In the present study, various pre‐coated CAA were developed to minimize the leaching losses from diets in water and assessed using kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus juveniles. Experimental diets were supplemented with coated CAA or non‐coated CAA to simulate the dietary amino acid profile to that found in the whole body protein of shrimp. The four diets contained CAA coated with either carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) (diet 1), zein (diet 2), k‐carrageenan (diet 3) or agar (diet 4), respectively. Another four diets contained CMC‐coated CAA with the addition of either zein (diet 5), casein‐gelatin (diet 6), zein and k‐carrageenan (diet 7), or casein‐gelatin and k‐carrageenan (diet 8), respectively. The 8 weeks feeding trial demonstrated that the diets containing coated CAA gave significantly higher weight gains than diets containing non‐coated CAA, with the highest value for the diet 6. The diets containing coated CAA also yielded higher feed conversion efficiency, protein efficiency ratio, and specific growth rate than diets containing non‐coated CAA. Leaching trials suggested that shrimp growth performance was improved partly due to the retardation or reduction of CAA leaching by coating them with specific binders.     

A New and Simple Technique for the Isolation of Plasma Membrane Lipids from Root-Tips

It has been suggested that plasma membrane (PM) lipids play a major role in aluminum (Al) tolerance; however, no direct investigations have been carried out using PM lipids from root-tips. Here we report a new technique for PM isolation as an alternative to the laborious two-polymer phase partitioning method that is commonly applied, as follows: 1) separation of protoplasts from 1-cm root-tip portions by enzymatic digestion, 2) attachment of the purified protoplasts to glass plates coated with polylysine, 3) preparation of PM ghosts by successive burst of the attached protoplasts using three separate buffer solutions (25 mM PIPES, 5 mM EDTA, and 2 mM MgCl₂, at pH 7.0) with slow stirring for 60 s. The PMs were confirmed to be devoid of organelle membranes by fluorescence microscopy, thin layer chromatography (TLC) and western blot analysis. The PM lipids obtained were found to be useful for studies on their differential permeability and lipid composition between lines of triticale or cultivars of maize under Al stress.