A survey of neurological diseases in horses

SUMMARY: Case records of 450 horses with signs of neurological disease are reviewed. One hundred and nineteen horses with neurological disease due to trauma were examined, of which 60 were due to spinal cord trauma, 47 to brain or cranial nerve trauma and 12 to peripheral nerve trauma. Cervical vertebral fractures/trauma were the most common injury. Basisphenold/basloccipital bone fractures were the most common form of cranial trauma and facial nerve paralysis the most common cranial nerve injury. Eighty-nine horses with neurological disease due to malformation were examined. Cervical vertebral malformation occurred in 83 horses and congenital defects in 6 foals. Neurological disease due to inflammation or infection occurred in 30 horses. The most common disease of this type was meningitis, which occurred in 11 horses and foals. Neoplasms in the CNS caused neurological disease in 8 horses. The final category was miscellaneous neurological disease, which was diagnosed in 204 horses. Diseases in this category included neonatal (28 cases), toxic/metabolic (27 cases), idiopathic (133 cases), degenerative (3 cases) and other neurological diseases (13 cases). The most common condition was idiopathic laryngeal hemiplegia (116 cases).
Where possible, diagnosis relied on a thorough neurological examination with use of ancillary tests in selected cases including rhinolaryngoscopy, radiography, myelography, ophthalmoscopy and cerebrospinal fluid analysis when indicated. In many cases necropsy and histopathological confirmation or diagnosis was necessary.     

腐植酸复混肥对新疆膜下滴灌加工番茄产量和品质的影响

以番茄为试材,采用膜下滴灌方式,对比不同腐植酸复混肥的施用量和配比对番茄的产量与品质指标及经济效益的影响,以确定适合新疆地区加工番茄施腐植酸肥施用的适宜用量和方法。结果表明:增施腐植酸复混肥均能提高加工番茄的单株结铃数、单果质量和产量;腐植酸复混肥对加工番茄的可溶性固形物、番茄红素、硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐、总酸、总糖和维生素C含量及pH影响显著。硫酸钾和氯化钾在番茄品质上的作用有差异,硫酸钾主要增加了番茄红素、硝酸盐、总酸含量,氯化钾主要增加了pH、可溶性固形物、总糖、维生素C含量,其中硫酸钾适宜配在基肥中,氯化钾适宜配在追肥中。综合性价比,适宜推荐加工番茄腐植酸复混肥基肥配方为N-P-K配比9-17-12,腐植酸为17.5kg,微量元素为0.5kg,有机质为12.5kg,膨润土为7.5kg。复混肥追肥配方N为115g·L~(-1),K为50g·L~(-1),腐植酸为161g·L~(-1),微量元素为0.3 g·L~(-1),每7 d追肥一次,追肥2 100L·hm~(-2),增产幅度达到10.73%。     

The mechanism of fungistatic action of sec-butylamine: I. Effects of sec-butylamine on the metabolism of hyphae of Penicillium digitatum

Growth of Penicillium digitatum was inhibited after a 40-min incubation in a culture medium containing 0.5 mM sec-butylamine, and the dry weight of the hyphae was 50% of the control value after 180 min. Respiration of the hyphae was reduced 13% after a 20-min contact with 0.5 mM sec-butylamine but this treatment did not influence the uptake of amino acids, glucose, or phosphate nor intensify the efflux of ³³P- or ¹⁴C-labeled metabolites from the cells. The syntheses of cell walls and total lipids were inhibited 20–30% after a 90-min incubation with sec-butylamine, and nucleic acid synthesis was reduced to about 50% of the control value at this time. sec-Butylamine inhibited the incorporation of labeled carbon from [¹⁴C]glucose into the protein fraction of the hyphae to a greater degree than ¹⁴C derived from labeled proline, lysine, or leucine. These observations suggested that sec-butylamine interfered primarily with the intermediary metabolism of glucose rather than inhibiting a later stage of macromolecule synthesis. Hyphae incubated with [¹⁴C]glucose and sec-butylamine accumulated pyruvic acid to a level seven times greater than in control hyphae. Furthermore, sec-butylamine strongly inhibited ¹⁴CO₂ evolution from hyphae metabolizing [¹⁴C]pyruvate whereas CO₂ derived from acetate or glucose after a 45-min incubation was only slightly reduced by sec-butylamine. These observations implicate pyruvate oxidation as the primary site of sec-butylamine action in young hyphae of P. digitatum.     

Historical aspects of echinococcosis--an ancient but still relevant zoonosis

The history of echinococcosis in Europe includes a period of over 2000 years. Already in antiquity metacestodes (hydatids) of Echinococcus granulosus, the causative agents of Cystic Echinococcosis (CE), were observed in animals and humans. Alveolar Echinococcosis (AE), caused by metacestodes of E. multilocularis, was identified as a disease entity only in the middle of the 19th century. It took about 100 years until it was undoubtedly clarified and accepted that CE and AE are not caused by a single Echinococcus species, but by E. granulosus and E. multilocularis, respectively. In the 20th century significant progress has been achieved in echinococcosis research, including diagnosis, epidemiology, therapy, immunology, molecular biology and other fields. However, CE and AE remain actual problems as in many endemic regions resources and structures are lacking for effective surveillance and control of these zoonoses threatening humans.