Coliform myositis in a calf

Coliform myositis was diagnosed in a young calf with signs of pain, swelling, and edema of the right hind limb. Diagnostic methods included bacteriologic culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The organism isolated was a gas-producing Escherichia coli. The infection responded to administration of trimethoprim/sulfadiazine, to which the organism was susceptible in vitro.     

Utility pole decay — Part I: Appraisal of a device for nondestructive detection of decay

Summary A device that measures the resistance of wood to forceable penetration by a needle was appraised for use as a nondestructive means of detecting internal decay in utility poles. Because of the length and shape of the needle, detection of decay was limited to decay pockets within 6 cm of the wood surface and to pockets with a minimum diameter of 1 cm. Decay pockets of this location and size were detected in Douglas-fir, southern pine, and western redcedar. The device accurately detected decay in an advanced stage in 93% of the specimens; intermediate decay, in 44%; and sound wood, in 100%.The depth of the sound shell that overlaid rot pockets could be accurately determined. There was a tendency to overestimate the depth of the sound wood by about 0.75 cm in comparatively dry woods and by about 0.25 cm in the same woods after wetting to moisture contents more like those in decayed poles in service.The device will be useful to pole inspectors for locating seriously rotted poles because by determining the extent of sound shell, they can then decide when pole replacements are needed.

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Zusammenfassung Die vorliegende Untersuchung dient der Überprüfung eines Gerätes, das den Widerstand des Holzes gegen das Eindringen einer Nadel mißt. Damit soll auf zerstörungsfreiem Wege etwaige Fäulnis in stehenden Leitungsmasten festgestellt werden. Länge und Form der Prüfnadel begrenzen die Prüfungen auf Fehlerstellen, die bis höchstens 60 mm in die Tiefe reichen und nicht kleiner als 10 mm im Durchmesser sind. Faulstellen dieser Art wurden in Masten aus Douglas-fir, Southern pine und Western red cedar festgestellt. Die Vorrichtung zeigte sehr genau bei 93% der Proben fortgeschrittene Fäulnis an, bei 44% der Proben beginnende Fäulnis und bei 100% aller Proben gesundes Holz.Die Dicke des noch vorhandenen gesunden Holzes über der Faulstelle konnte genau ermittelt werden. Es zeigte sich eine gewisse Tendenz zu Fehlmessungen um rd. 7,5 mm bei verhältnismäßig trockenem Holz und um 2,5 mm, nachdem dasselbe Holz etwas stärker angefeuchtet worden war, als dies gewöhnlich bei befallenen Masten der Fall ist.Das Gerät wird vor allem für die Inspektion von stehenden Masten nützlich sein, die Befall aufweisen, wobei die Bestimmung des noch gesunden Holzanteils einen Anhaltspunkt dafür liefert, wann ein befallener Mast ausgewechselt werden muß.

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This work was done cooperatively with the Navy Department, Naval Facilities Engineering Command.

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The author is indebted to Dr. Wolman G.m.b.H., Sinzheim bei Baden-Baden, Germany, for loan of the needle-penetration device, and Messrs. Robert Graham and John Mothershead, Oregon Forest Products Laboratory, Corvallis, Oreg., and Floyd Hand, Bonneville Power Administration, for supplying the pole sections.     

Phenological patterns in a southern Amazonian tropical forest: implications for sustainable management

Phenological transects were employed to assess monthly leaf, flower, unripe fruit and ripe fruit abundance for a total of 1732 individual plants within five tropical forest habitats at the ‘Lago Caiman Research Camp’, Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, northeastern Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. Fruit surveys along trails were conducted concomitantly to assess fruit availability for the resident terrestrial frugivore community. The results of the two methodologies are compared and discussed with respect to wildlife and forest management in the region. Phenological transects revealed that Cerrado forest, tall forest, low vine forest, Sartenejal (swamp) forest, and pied mont (premontane) forest, showed seasonal variations in flower, unripe fruit and ripe fruit abundance, however, the broad temporal patterns were significantly different across habitats. Seasonal variation in overall foliage abundance was only marked for Cerrado forest. Ripe fruit production within the study site was not significantly different across months, with different habitats peaking asynchronously in abundance. From a frugivory perspective, overall ripe fleshy fruit abundance also varied considerably between habitats, and again showed asynchronous peaks in habitat production. However, both methodologies revealed the early dry season (June–July) as a period of ripe fleshy fruit scarcity throughout the study area. This period represents a resource ‘bottleneck’ for the resident frugivore community and phenological results allowed the identification of a number of keystone fruit resources for the region. Furthermore, fruit resources which are super-abundant in the early–mid wet season (November–February) might also be considered keystone resources for the region, given that they are available in an otherwise fruit scarce forest. The dynamic spatial patterning of fruit availability at Lago Caiman suggests that certain habitats might be considered keystone habitats, since they provide the majority of fruit resources on a seasonal basis. Finally, the potential of phenological information in tropical forest management plans is discussed and underlined by the observation that rainfall in itself fails to predict fruit availability in the dominant habitats at Lago Caiman.