Laryngeal dysplasia: Computed tomographic findings in an Oldenburg mare

A 5-year-old Oldenburg mare presented for poor performance, head-tossing and bucking when ridden. An abnormal respiratory noise was audible during exercise. Computed tomography (CT) revealed right laryngeal dysplasia; an absent cricothyroid articulation, abnormally shaped thyroid cartilage, underdeveloped cricopharyngeus muscle, rostral displacement of the palatopharyngeal arch and an oesophageal air column. In this case, it was unlikely that the laryngeal pathology was related to the horse's clinical signs. This case report provides a reference CT examination of laryngeal dysplasia, corroborating previous findings using magnetic resonance imaging, radiography, ultrasonography and post-mortem examination.     

3D Printing of Rat Salivary Glands: The Submandibular–Sublingual Complex

The morphology and the functionality of the murid glandular complex, composed of the submandibular and sublingual salivary glands (SSC), were the object of several studies conducted mainly using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Using a 4.7 T scanner and a manganese‐based contrast agent, we improved the signal‐to‐noise ratio of the SSC relating to the surrounding anatomical structures allowing to obtain high‐contrast 3D images of the SSC. In the last few years, the large development in resin melting techniques opened the way for printing 3D objects starting from a 3D stack of images. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of the 3D printing technique of soft tissues such as the SSC in the rat with the aim to improve the visualization of the organs. This approach is useful to preserve the real in vivo morphology of the SCC in living animals avoiding the anatomical shape changes due to the lack of relationships with the surrounding organs in case of extraction. It is also harmless, repeatable and can be applied to explore volumetric changes occurring during body growth, excretory duct obstruction, tumorigenesis and regeneration processes. 3D printing allows to obtain a solid object with the same shape of the organ of interest, which can be observed, freely rotated and manipulated. To increase the visibility of the details, it is possible to print the organs with a selected zoom factor, useful as in case of tiny organs in small mammalia. An immediate application of this technique is represented by educational classes.     

Plasma interleukin-6 response is predictive for severity and mortality in canine systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is still a major cause of death in both human and veterinary medicine. Early diagnosis is essential for appropriate treatment. Identification of patients at risk for developing sepsis is already possible in human medicine through the measurement of plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels. In veterinary medicine, however, this has been investigated only in canine experimental models. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to measure IL-6 plasma levels in dogs with naturally occurring systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis and to analyze the value of IL-6 as a predictive parameter for severity and mortality. METHODS: Included in the study were 79 dogs that had been admitted to the small animal clinics of Munich and Berlin from July 2004 to July 2005 and that satisfied the diagnostic criteria for SIRS and sepsis as defined using established parameters. Measurement of plasma IL-6 levels on days 0, 1, and 2 was performed by the use of a colorimetric bioassay based on IL-6-dependent cell growth. RESULTS: Septic foci were identified in 43 patients (septic group), and 36 patients were enrolled in the SIRS group. The frequency of positive blood cultures was 11%. The overall mortality rate was 48%. Higher plasma IL-6 levels on the day of admission were significantly correlated with a more severe degree of disease, increased mortality rate, and earlier fatality. CONCLUSIONS: Plasma IL-6 concentration is predictive of outcome in canine SIRS and sepsis and may be a valuable laboratory parameter for assessing critically ill dogs.     

Gonadal Stage and Sex Steroid Correlations in Siberian Sturgeon,Acipenser baeri,Habituated to a Semitropical Environment

Stages of gonadal development, in association with plasma concentrations of the sex steroids 17β‐estradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), testosterone (T), and 11‐ketotestosterone (11‐KT), were investigated for a single time point during a natural breeding season in 7‐yr‐old Siberian sturgeon, Acipenser baeri Brandt, exposed lifelong to a warmwater environment. Among females, examination of gonadal tissue showed variation in ovarian stage, with 12.5, 47.5, 22.5, and 17.5% of females found at Stages 2 (previtellogenic), 3 (early vitellogenic), 4 (mid‐vitellogenic), and 5 (migratory nucleus), respectively. Although patterns varied among the hormones, plasma concentrations of E2, T, and 11‐KT became increasingly elevated in females as maturation progressed. On the basis of histological criteria, males were classified as either premeiotic (quiescent) or meiotic and 50% of the males sampled were found at each stage. Significant elevations in circulating concentrations of plasma E2 and T were observed in meiotic versus premeiotic males, and there was a rise in plasma 11‐KT concentration that approached significance (P = 0.056).     

Hardness Changes and Endosperm Modification During Sorghum Malting in Grains of Varying Hardness and Malt Quality

This study examined the interaction between sorghum grain hardness and sorghum malt quality in terms of diastatic power and free amino nitrogen with endosperm modification during malting. The changes in kernel hardness during malting of four commercial sorghum cultivars of differing quality in terms of endosperm texture and potential malt quality were measured using tests for hardness and density, and endosperm modification was followed by scanning electron microscopy. The general pattern of modification during sorghum malting was confirmed to start at the endosperm–scutellum interface and then continue into the floury endosperm toward the kernel distal end. Significantly, a cultivar of intermediate hardness and low malting quality remained harder and modified more slowly than a harder cultivar of high malting quality. It appeared that intrinsic grain hardness and malt amylase and protease activity both affected malt hardness and endosperm modification, but amylase and protease activity had a greater effect because of their degradation of endosperm starch and protein. Of the hardness and density tests studied, the tangential abrasive dehulling device (TADD) gave the best measure of hardness throughout malting; maximum range was 24–100% kernel removed over five days of malting. Also, the data agreed with the observed malt modification rates. Thus, the TADD may have application as a simple and rapid test for estimating sorghum malt quality.     

Complex multicolor tilings and critical phenomena in tetraphilic liquid crystals

T-shaped molecules with a rod-like aromatic core and a flexible side chain form liquid crystal honeycombs with aromatic cell walls and a cell interior filled with the side chains. Here, we show how the addition of a second chain, incompatible with the first (X-shaped molecules), can form honeycombs with highly complex tiling patterns, with cells of up to five different compositions ("colors") and polygonal shapes. The complexity is caused by the inability of the side chains to separate cleanly because of geometric frustration. Furthermore, a thermoreversible transition was observed between a multicolor (phase-separated) and a single-color (mixed) honeycomb phase. This is analogous to the Curie transition in simple and frustrated ferro- and antiferromagnets; here spin flips are replaced by 180° reorientations of the molecules.