Osteomyelitis of the medial trochlear ridge of the talus in a horse

A 12‐year‐old Quarter Horse gelding was evaluated for chronic recurrent right hindlimb cellulitis and severe lameness. Chronic tibiotarsal joint sepsis and osteomyelitis of the medial trochlear ridge were diagnosed and confirmed cytologically, arthroscopically and histologically. Trauma and secondary cellulitis and chronic septic arthritis were suspected aetiological factors.     

Bulb Formation in Onions as Affected by Photoperiod and Spectral Quality of Light

In glasshouse experiments bulb formation occurred in 5 north-temperate onion cultivars in photoperiods of 14–15 h and longer. Some response was obtained by giving 14 long days, but a greater response was obtained when the plants were kept in continuous long days. Three cultivars in the Rijnsburger group all differed from each other in the extent of their bulb development in all of several photoperiodic regimes tried, but there was no cultivar × photoperiod interaction. Thus it is possible that cultivars could usefully be compared in the glasshouse for earliness by providing any one of a wide range of photoperiodic treatments.

When grown in controlled environments with artificial light, little or no bulb formation occurred in cv. Rijnsburger with warm-white fluorescent lamps, but with de-luxe warm-white lamps it occurred when the photoperiods were 17 or more hours long. These lamps appeared to be elfective because they emitted a greater proportion of far-red light than the warm-white lamps, although not as much as sunlight. Because it is possible that the sensitivity of cultivars to the spectral composition of light may vary, it is concluded that attention should be given to this in comparative studies of the photoperiodic requirements of different cultivars.     

An Approach to the Study of Yearly and other Variation in Crop Yields

The effects of deep ploughing, shallow ploughing-with-subsoiling, shallow ploughing, and shallow rotary cultivation combined factorially with three manurial treatments on the yields of vegetable crops are described. Each of the five crops in the rotation was grown in each year from i960 to 1962 on a sandy loam at Wellesbourne.

Where a high level of fertility bad been built up by the use of farmyard manure (FYM), yields were subsequently maintained at a high level for a three-year period by the use of NPK fertilizers alone.

Plots which had received either FYM with NPK fertilizers for each crop from 1954 to 1962 (FYM -j- NPK), or FYM with NPK fertilizers from 1954 to 1959 but with NPK only from i960 to 1962 (residual FYM + NPK), gave much higher yields than plots which had received only nitrogenous fertilizers from 1954 to 1959 and NPK fertilizers from 1960 to 1962. The increases in yields from FYM + NPK over those from residual FYM + NPK were small, and significant only for autumn lettuce and leeks.

Although, on average, the differences between the yields from the three ploughing treatments were small (the largest was 10%) some of the differences were significant.

The ploughing treatments gave significantly higher yields of early peas, autumn lettuce, leeks and Brussels sprouts than shallow rotary cultivation ; with early summer cauliflowers, however, only shallow ploughing-with- subsoiling gave a higher yield than shallow rotary cultivation.     

It’s a maze: The pore structure of bread crumbs

Bread has a foam-like structure, but to date there is little information about the morphology of void structure in breads in three dimensions. In this paper, permeability testing and analysis of computer aided micro-tomography data were used to investigate the structure of breads as a function of connectivity of voids in a range of breads. The findings were related to bread properties obtained via material testing. Results indicated that a single, massively interconnected, open cell was responsible for approximately 99% of bread’s total porosity. Closed pores are also present with the number and average volume of closed pores significantly affecting strengths of bread crumbs. Bread behaved similarly to foams described by Gibson and Ashby (1988). The role of open and closed pores in affecting bread toughness and texture requires further investigation via structural–mechanical models.     

Probiotics,immunostimulants, plant products and oral vaccines,and their role as feed supplements in the control of bacterial fish diseases

There is a rapidly increasing literature pointing to the success of probiotics, immunostimulants, plant products and oral vaccines in immunomodulation, namely stimulation of the innate, cellular and/or humoral immune response, and the control of bacterial fish diseases. Probiotics are regarded as live micro‐organisms administered orally and leading to health benefits. However, in contrast with the use in terrestrial animals, a diverse range of micro‐organisms have been evaluated in aquaculture with the mode of action often reflecting immunomodulation. Moreover, the need for living cells has been questioned. Also, key subcellular components, including lipopolysaccharides, have been attributed to the beneficial effect in fish. Here, there is a link with immunostimulants, which may also be administered orally. Furthermore, numerous plant products have been reported to have health benefits, namely protection against disease for which stimulation of some immune parameters has been reported. Oral vaccines confer protection against some diseases, although the mode of action is usually linked to humoral rather than the innate and cellular immune responses. This review explores the relationship between probiotics, immunostimulants, plant products and oral vaccines.     

Cinnamon Shows Antidiabetic Properties that Are Species-Specific: Effects on Enzyme Activity Inhibition and Starch Digestion

Despite considerable research the evidence around the antidiabetic properties of cinnamon remains equivocal, and this may be due to varietal differences which is an aspect that is understudied. This study systematically compared the anti-hyperglycaemic properties of the four major commercial cinnamon types used around the world (Chinese; Cinnamomum cassia [CC], Indonesian; C. burmanii [IC], Vietnamese; C. loureirii [VC], and Ceylon; C. zeylanicum [SC]). LC-MS analysis showed distinct diffrences in the phytochemical profiles of cinnamon with SC showing the lowest coumarin concentration. CC and IC had the highest polyphenol levels and antioxidant potential, and all four types differed significantly in their content (P?<?0.001). All cinnamon types showed potent species-specific effects on starch digestion enzyme activity inhibition (P?<?0.001), CC was most effective against α-amylase and all four strongly inhibited α-glucosidase compared to acarbose. Cinnamon significantly reduced starch breakdown during oral (P?=?0.006) and gastric (P?=?0.029) phases of gastro-intestinal digestion with IC and SC showing consistent effects. No effects of cinnamon were seen in the intestinal phase. IC, VC and SC showed the greatest potential to inhibit formation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) during digestion. In conclusion, cinnamon demonstrates anti-hyperglycaemic properties, however effects are species-specific with best overall properties seen for Ceylon cinnamon.

     

Identification and pathogenicity to rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), of some aeromonads

Twelve strains of fish pathogenic aeromonads were identified by 16S rRNA sequencing as Aeromonas bestiarum , A. hydrophila , A. hydrophila subsp. dhakensis , A. salmonicida subsp. salmonicida , A. sobria biovar sobria and A. veronii biovar sobria. Following intramuscular injection, A. hydrophila subsp. dhakensis caused dark liquefying, raised furuncle-like lesions in rainbow trout within 48 h. Extracellular products of all cultures contained gelatinase and lecithinase, and most revealed lipase. Congo red absorption and siderophore production was recorded, but not so the suicide phenomenon or slime production. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profile of the outer membrane proteins (OMP) revealed 10–25 bands, of which major bands were seen in the region of 32.5–47.5 and 62–83 kDa. Marked heterogenicity of the OMP and whole cell protein (WCP) profiles within and among the species was observed. Polypeptides of 83–173 kDa were detected in the WCP profile of the cultures, but they were not expressed in OMP fractions.     

Recovery of Bacillus mycoides,B. pseudomycoides and Aeromonas hydrophila from common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with gill disease

During a 3‐month period from June to the end of August 2016, ~5% mortalities were observed in a farm with rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum) and one farm of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) in Bulgaria. The disease was manifested by gill ulcers/rot, asphyxiation and bloody ascites. Aeromonas hydrophila was isolated from the internal organs of all the diseased fish. Bacillus mycoides or B. pseudomycoides were recovered from the gill lesions on diseased carp and rainbow trout, respectively, with identification achieved by conventional phenotyping and by sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. In vivo experiments confirmed that all three organisms were pathogenic to rainbow trout.