Effect of metoclopramide on nausea and emesis in dogs premedicated with morphine and dexmedetomidine

Objective

To evaluate whether subcutaneous (SC) metoclopramide (0.2 mg kg^?1) administered 30 minutes prior to (T30) or simultaneously with (T0) intramuscular (IM) morphine (0.2 mg kg^?1) and dexmedetomidine (0.003 mg kg^?1) reduces the incidence of nausea and emesis in healthy dogs.

Exploring Current and Future Situation of Mediterranean Silvopastoral Systems: Case Study in Southern Spain

Extensive range-based livestock production has suffered a sharp decrease in Mediterranean Spain in recent decades due to two opposing trends in land use: progressive abandonment of practices in marginal rural areas and land use intensification in more productive areas. In this study, we explored the visions of key stakeholders on the current and future situation of silvopastoral systems in the Sierra Morena mountain range of southern Spain, where extensive livestock grazing is declining because of competition with other more profitable activities, such as intensive olive groves and game hunting. We performed a discourse analysis using Q methodology and evaluated the existing relationships of information exchange and conflict among local institutions such as farmer’s associations, the provincial council, and conservation organizations using social network analysis. Semistructured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders representing local formal and nonformal institutions involved in extensive livestock production. Results showed three distinct discourses among stakeholders related to profitability, conservation, and modernization. There was a strong consensus on the management strategies that should be promoted to support extensive livestock production and preserve the associated silvopastoral systems. Social networks revealed high cohesion and communication exchange and a low level of conflict among stakeholders, with few exceptions. The low influence of livestock producers on policy decision making largely hinders the development of participatory management schemes. Nevertheless, similarities among the visions and opinions of different institutions suggest that new possibilities might emerge for silvopastoral systems through the collaboration among the different socioeconomic sectors present in the area.     

Phosphorus forms and enzymatic hydrolyzability of organic phosphorus in soils after 30 years of organic and conventional farming

Lower P‐input levels in organic than conventional farming can decrease soil total and available P, which can potentially be resupplied from soil organic P. We studied the effect of 30 y of conventional and organic farming on soil P forms, focussing especially on organic P. Soil samples (0–20 cm) were taken in a field experiment with a nonfertilized control, two organic systems receiving P inputs as animal manure, and two conventional systems receiving only mineral P or mineral P and manure. Soils were analyzed for total, inorganic, organic, and microbial P, by sequential P fractionation and by enzyme additions to alkaline soil extracts. Samples taken prior to starting the experiment were also analyzed. Average annual P balances ranged from –20 to +5 kg ha^–1. For systems with a negative balance, labile and moderately labile inorganic P fractions decreased, while organic and stable inorganic P fractions were hardly affected. Similar quantities and proportions of organic P extracted with NaOH‐EDTA were hydrolyzed in all soils after addition of an acid phosphatase, a nuclease, and a phytase, and enzyme‐stable organic P was also similar among soils. Thus, neither sequential fractionation nor enzyme addition to alkaline soil extracts showed an effect of the type of applied P (manure vs. mineral) on organic P, suggesting that organic P from manure has largely been mineralized. Thus far, we have no indication that the greater microbial activity of the organic systems resulted in a use of stable P forms.     

Differentially-regulated defence genes in Malus domestica during phytoplasma infection and recovery

To improve knowledge about plant/phytoplasma interactions and, in particular, about the ‘recovery’ phenomenon in previously-infected plants, we investigated and compared expression levels of several defence-related genes (four pathogenesis-related proteins and three jasmonate-pathway marker enzymes) in apple plants showing different states of health: vigorous (healthy), phytoplasma-infected, and recovered. Real Time-PCR analyses demonstrated that genes are differentially expressed in apple leaf tissue according to the plants’ state of health. Malus domestica Pathogenesis-Related protein (MdPR) 1, MdPR 2 and MdPR 5 were significantly induced in leaves of diseased and symptomatic plants compared to leaves of those plants that were healthy or recovered. On the other hand, levels of all the jasmonate (JA)-pathway marker genes that we selected for this study, were up-regulated in the leaves of recovered plants compared to the diseased ones. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that two different sets of defence genes are involved in the interactions between apple plants and ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma mali’ (‘Ca. P. mali’) and that these genes are differentially expressed during phytoplasma infection or recovery.     

Modelling the effect of partial resistance on epidemics of downy mildew of grapevine

European Journal of Plant Pathology - The cultivation of grape varieties with partial resistance to disease may become an important component for disease management in the future. The impact of...     

USE OF ULTRASOUND TO DIAGNOSE DIAPHRAGMATIC RUPTURE IN DOGS AND CATS

Twenty-one cats and six dogs that presented to a first-opinion clinic with signs of dyspnea and muffled cardiac auscultation received ultrasonography to look for signs of diaphragmatic rupture. The presence or absence of diaphragmatic rupture was subsequently determined on the basis of unequivocal radiographic signs, surgical findings, or necropsy. Consistent findings in animals with diaphragmatic rupture were irregular or asymmetric cranial aspect of the liver and abdominal viscera in the thorax. Accuracy of ultrasonography was 25/27 (93%). One false-negative result occurred in a cat with a chronic diaphragmatic rupture in which adhesions between the liver and lung simulated the appearance of an intact diaphragm. One false-positive result occurred in a dog with an abscess involving the left lung and pleural cavity, which was misinterpreted as the stomach. The results of this study support use of ultrasonography in animals with suspected diaphragmatic rupture.     

Herbal drug quality and phytochemical composition of Hypericum perforatum L. affected by ash yellows phytoplasma infection

Qualitative/quantitative phytochemical variations were observed in dried flowering tops of cultivated Hypericum perforatum L. cv. Zorzi infected by phytoplasmas of the "ash yellows" class, identified by direct and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR); this is the first report of ribosomial group 16SrVII phytoplasmas in St. John's Wort. Methanolic extracts of healthy and infected plants were separated by reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography to quantify naphthodianthrones and flavonoids, while essential oils were analyzed by means of gas chromatography (GC)-GC/MS. The affected plants exhibited decreased amounts of rutin (1.96 +/- 0.23 vs 4.96 +/- 0.02 mg/g), hyperoside (2.38 +/- 0.21 vs 3.04 +/- 0.05 mg/g), isoquercitrin (1.47 +/- 0.04 vs 3.50 +/- 0.08 mg/g), amentoflavone (0.12 +/- 0.01 vs 0.39 +/- 0.02 mg/g), and pseudohypericin (1.41 +/- 0.23 vs 2.29 +/- 0.07 mg/g), whereas the chlorogenic acid content was doubled (1.56 +/- 0.11 vs 0.77 +/- 0.02 mg/g). Hypericin, quercitrin, and quercetin contents were not severely affected. The essential oil yield was drastically reduced in infected material (0.11 vs 0.75% in healthy material) and revealed an increased abundance of sesquiterpenes (beta-caryophyllene, delta-elemene, and germacrene D, in particular) and a matching decrease in monoterpene hydrocarbons and aliphatics. The consequences that the phytopathological condition of cultivated H. perforatum plants has on the commercial quality, market value, and therapeutic efficacy are outlined.     

Division of labor with a workforce of one: challenges in specifying effector and memory T cell fate

In the course of the immune response against microbes, na?ve T cells proliferate and generate varied classes of effector cells, as well as memory cells with distinct properties and functions. Owing to recent technological advances, some of the most imposing questions regarding effector and memory T cell differentiation are now becoming experimentally soluble: How many classes of antigen-specific T cells exist, and how malleable are they in their fate and in their functional state? How might a spectrum of cell fates be imparted to the clonal descendants of a single lymphocyte? Where, when, and how does pathogen-associated information refine the instruction, selection, and direction of newly activated T cells as they perform their tasks in different locations and times? Some surprising new glimpses ahead on these subjects and other yet-unanswered questions are discussed.     

Evidence for recombination in neboviruses

Neboviruses are bovine enteric caliciviruses (genus Nebovirus) associated with enteric diseases in calves. By screening the stools of calves collected from Italian herds using primers targeted to a conserved stretch in calicivirus RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase (RdRp), nebovirus RNA was detected in calves with enteritis (13.1%) but not in overtly health animals. Upon sequence analysis of the RdRp fragment, the Italian viruses formed a tightly conserved group and resembled closely the nebovirus prototype Nebraska/80/US. The sequence of a 2.2kb ORF1 fragment, spanning the 3' end of the RdRp and the full-length capsid coding region, of two nebovirus strains was determined, revealing marked genetic heterogeneity in the capsid protein, as the two Italian viruses were classified into two distinct capsid lineages, and suggesting a recombination event downstream the highly conserved shell (S) domain.