Custom total knee replacement in a dog with femoral condylar bone loss

Objective— To report surgical planning, technique, and outcome of custom total knee replacement (TKR) performed to manage a medial femoral condylar nonunion in a dog.
Study Design— Clinical case report.
Animal— A 3-year-old, 20 kg Karelian Bear Hound.
Methods— Computed tomographic scan of the left pelvic limb was used to build a stereolithography model of the distal portion of the femur. The model was used to create a custom augment to replace the missing medial femoral condyle and a custom stem for intramedullary condylar cemented fixation. The augment and stem were adapted to femoral and tibial components already available. The model was used to rehearse the surgery and then the custom prosthesis was implanted.
Results— Weight bearing returned 8 hours after surgery and improved thereafter. Joint alignment was normal and prosthetic joint motion was 60–165° postoperatively. The dog resumed moose hunting 3 months after surgery. Peak vertical force and impulse of the operated limb measured 17 months after surgery were 65% and 47% of the normal, contralateral limb.
Conclusion— Based on short-term follow-up, cemented canine TKR was successfully achieved for management of a severely abnormal stifle joint.
Clinical Relevance— With further refinement and development of commercially available prostheses, TKR should be possible for canine patients.     

Effects of Alum-treated Waste Water Sludge on Barley Growth

Alum sludge derived from a municipal wastewater plant was used as a soil amendment in a greenhouse study with barley (Hordeum vulgare) as the test crop. Treatment variables included the soil pH (4.5, 5.1 and 6.5), the amount of Al in the sludge (control = 30 mg Al_T/g; alum sludges = 38 and 52 mg Al_T/g), and the sludge application rate (100 and 270 kg N_T/ha). Soil amendment with the two alum sludges reduced soil pH, increased Al³⁺ activity in the soil solution, and reduced barley growth over the 6-week experiment. Barley growth decreased as the Al³⁺ activity in the sludged soil solution increased, but for a given Al³⁺ the phytotoxicity of Al was markedly pH dependent. For example, at a pH of 5.0 ± 0.1 an Al³⁺ activity of 0.5 μM was sufficient to inhibit plant growth by about 50% this IC₅₀ value increased five-fold to about 2.5 μM when the soil pH was 4.5 ± 0.1. This decrease in the toxicity of Al50 with acidification was explained in terms of a competitive interaction between the H⁺-ion and Al³⁺ at the root surface. Stepwise multiple regression allowed the prediction of aerial leaf biomass from soil pH and sludge application rate.     

Interactions Between French Isolates of Phomopsis/Diaporthe Helianthi Munt.-Cvet. et al. and Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Genotypes

Three artificial infection tests measuring the rate of mycelial growth of 7 Phomopsis/Diaporthe helianthi isolates were used on leaves, stems and capitula of 6 sunflower hybrids. Isolates and hybrids were chosen to cover the range of variability and resistance levels known at the present time. Significant genotype and isolate effects and isolate×genotype interactions were shown in all the tests, with some changes in order of hybrids according to the isolate used for infection. Consequences of interactions in breeding for stable resistance to P./D. helianthi are discussed.     

Rheological Properties of Vital Wheat Gluten Suspensions

Flour and doughs represent rheologically complex materials whose properties are dependent on many factors including processing conditions. To avoid some of the problems associated with the rheological characterization of dough, we have initiated a study focused on the rheological properties of one of the major components of dough, vital wheat gluten. Suspensions of vital wheat gluten were prepared with concentrations of 225–325 mg/mL.The moduli of the gluten suspensions was 0.2 Pa at 225 mg/mL to 37 Pa at 325 mg/mL. At <250 mg/mL, the gluten suspensions exhibited fluidlike behavior. The crossover frequency, (G′[ω] = G″[ω]) shifted slightly from 0.5 rad/sec at 225 mg/mL to 0.9 rad/sec at 250 mg/mL. At >300 mg/mL, the gluten suspensions exhibited solidlike behavior. The crossover frequencies were independent of concentration and equal to 100 rad/sec. At <250 mg/mL, the high‐frequency behavior of moduli were proportional to ω^3/4, as expected for a semiflexible coil. At >300 mg/mL, the high‐frequency behavior of moduli were proportional to ω^1/2, indicating a flexible coil. These results suggest vital wheat gluten suspensions undergo a structural change between 250 and 300 mg/mL.     

Mode of inheritance and stability of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki in a diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) population from Malaysia

Genetic inheritance of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki (BTK) was examined in a diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) population collected from the Melaka region of Malaysia. A BTK‐selected sub‐population (BTK‐SEL) which was more than 100‐fold resistant to BTK compared with a susceptible (ROTH) population of P xylostella was used with standard reciprocal crosses and back‐crosses between ROTH and BTK‐SEL. Logit regression analysis of F ₁ reciprocal crosses indicated that BTK resistance was inherited as an incompletely recessive autosomal trait and controlled by a single locus. In contrast, other studies have shown that resistance to Cry1Ac is inherited as an incompletely dominant autosomal trait in a Cry1Ac‐selected sub‐population of the same Melaka population. The frequency of the allele responsible for resistance decreased without exposure to insecticide in the laboratory. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Use of Natural Antimicrobial Peptides and Bacterial Biopolymers for Cultured Pearl Production

Cultured pearls are the product of grafting and rearing of Pinctada margaritifera pearl oysters in their natural environment. Nucleus rejections and oyster mortality appear to result from bacterial infections or from an inappropriate grafting practice. To reduce the impact of bacterial infections, synthetic antibiotics have been applied during the grafting practice. However, the use of such antibiotics presents a number of problems associated with their incomplete biodegradability, limited efficacy in some cases, and an increased risk of selecting for antimicrobial resistant bacteria. We investigated the application of a marine antimicrobial peptide, tachyplesin, which is present in the Japanese horseshoe crab Tachypleus tridentatus, in combination with two marine bacterial exopolymers as alternative treatment agents. In field studies, the combination treatment resulted in a significant reduction in graft failures vs. untreated controls. The combination of tachyplesin (73 mg/L) with two bacterial exopolysaccharides (0.5% w/w) acting as filming agents, reduces graft-associated bacterial contamination. The survival data were similar to that reported for antibiotic treatments. These data suggest that non-antibiotic treatments of pearl oysters may provide an effective means of improving oyster survival following grafting procedures.     

Evaluation of low-molecular-weight heparin for the prevention of equine laminitis after colic surgery

Objectives – The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence of postoperative laminitis in colic cases and to determine if low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) is effective in preventing this complication.
Design – Retrospective clinical study.
Animals – Client-owned horses.
Interventions – SC administration of enoxaparin during the postoperative period.
Measurements and Main Results – Medical records of 360 horses undergoing surgery for colic and surviving at least 3 days were evaluated. Fifty-six horses admitted before 1995 did not receive LMWH (control group) and 304 admitted after 1995 received LMWH as a prophylaxis for laminitis (treatment group). Three grades of severity were defined for laminitis. Prevalence and severity of laminitis were compared between the 2 groups. Several parameters recorded on admission (sex, age, breed, site and nature of the disease, heart rate, PCV, gravity score, and shock score) and the administration of LMWH were tested as risk factors in the development of laminitis in a logistic regression procedure. Prevalence and grade of laminitis were significantly lower in the treatment group. Only the absence of LMWH was recognized as a significant risk factor in the logistic regression model.
Conclusions – The administration of LMWH appears to be effective in the prophylaxis of laminitis following colic surgery and may be useful in the postoperative management of these horses.     

Efficacy of a 5-day extended therapy program during lactation with cephapirin sodium in dairy cows chronically infected with Staphylococcus aureus

This study determined the efficacy of a 5-day extended therapy with cephapirin sodium in dairy cows chronically infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Chronically infected cows selected from 14 dairy herds in the St-Hyacinthe region, Québec were randomly allocated to a group of 31 cows treated for 5 consecutive days with 200 mg of cephapirin per quarter BID or a group of 30 untreated control cows. Bacteriological cure was determined by 3 negative bacterial cultures at 10, 24, and 31 days after treatment. The cow cure rates were 25.8% (8/31) in the treated cows and 3.3% (1/30) in the control group (P = 0.013). The quarter cure rates at first sampling post-treatment were 77.6% (38/49) and 18% (9/50) in the treated and the control groups, respectively (P < 0.0001). A 5-day extended therapy with cephapirin is effective in treating cows chronically infected with S. aureus.     

竹叶叶绿素荧光季节变化的模型设计

在寻找可再生能源和生物基材料方面,竹子已经被作为一种高产的生物质产品,可以用来作为土壤污染的修复性植物。由于这个原因,一个产量指示的增长模型需要一个健康的指标参数来检测植物的性能。因此,本研究对位于爱尔兰都伯林的Ballyboughalo公司的毛竹蒿草(Phyllostachys humilis)叶子的叶绿素荧光进行了测量。本研究测量结果涵盖了这种竹类每个节点的叶子,并且建立在了随季节性变化的基础上。最常使用的叶绿素荧光参数是Fv/Fm值,又称TRO/ABS (即被困的光子与吸收的光子数之比)。随季节的推移以及这个参数较大的变化,本研究将春天与一年中其它的季节进行对比观察测量。在过去的一年,这种植物的上部叶片比下部叶片表现更好。本研究的发现被整合在一个数学模型中,其目的是为预测和解释在其它立地条件下的植物的性能。