TRANSVENOUS COIL EMBOLIZATION OF AN INTRAHEPATIC PORTOSYSTEMIC SHUNT IN A DOG

To treat an intrahepatic portosystemic shunt in a young dog, thrombogenic material was placed into the vessel lumen (transvenous coil embolization) under fluoroscopic control. One coil was placed into the shunt, followed one month later by two additional coils. Transvenous embolization may become a useful method in the treatment of some portosystemic shunts.     

MAGNETIC RESONANCE, COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHIC AND RADIOLOGIC FINDINGS IN A DOG WITH DISCOSPONDYLITIS

Magnetic resonance (MR), computed tomographic and radiographic imaging were conducted in a dog with discospondylitis. The MR findings were increased T2 and decreased T1 signal intensity of the soft tissues ventral to vertebral bodies, the end plates of the same vertebral bodies and the intervertebral disc, and are similar to those described in human with discospondylitis.     

Identification of differential broodstock contribution affecting genetic variability in hatchery stocks of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Supportive breeding of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is commonly employed to maintain numbers of fish where the species has become locally endangered. Increasingly, one of the main aims of population management is the preservation of natural genetic diversity. If the stocks employed in supportive breeding exhibit reduced variation they can alter the natural pattern of genetic variation observed in wild populations. In northern Spain, wild adult salmon are caught every year from local rivers and artificially crossed in order to create supportive stocks. The offspring are hatchery reared until the juvenile stage, then released into the same river where their parents were caught. In the current study, our findings demonstrate that although adult broodstock exhibit a pattern of variation similar to the wild populations, variability at microsatellite loci was drastically reduced in the juveniles released into one of three rivers analyzed. The contribution of broodstock to this juvenile stock was examined by pedigree analysis. A restricted number of females contributing to the hatchery stock was identified as the main cause of loss in genetic variation, possibly due to overmaturity of some multi-sea-winter females. We suggest that better monitoring and control of parental contribution will help in solving the problem of loss of genetic diversity in hatchery populations.     

Molecular characterization and genetic diversity of Prunus rootstocks

Twenty microsatellite primer pairs, previously developed in peach, were used to characterize and to explore genetic relationships among 44 clones, representing three groups of rootstocks defined as: (1) Peach-based rootstocks (Prunus dulcis × P. persica, P. persica × P. davidiana); (2) Myrobalan-Marianna plums (P. cerasifera and interspecific hybrids having P. cerasifera as a parent); and (3) Slow growing plums (P. insititia, P. domestica, and P. domestica × P. spinosa). Eighteen SSR markers, from the 20 initially used, were able to amplify polymorphic products for the Peach-based rootstocks and 13 common markers gave also polymorphism for the Myrobalan-Marianna and Slow growing plums groups. The Dice coefficient of similarity was calculated between all pairs of accessions and their genetic similarity represented by a principal coordinate analysis. The genetic diversity detected among the 44 clones studied divided them in three groups, which are in agreement with their current taxonomic classification and their morphological characteristics. A set of three microsatellites (BPPCT001, CPPCT022 and UDP98-407) can distinguish between all the clones analyzed. The analysis within groups reveal another two sets of three SSR to distinguish between the clones from the Peach based rootstocks and the Myrobalan-Marianna plums, respectively, and only a single SSR is needed to distinguish within the clones from the Slow growing plums group. These results demonstrate the high potential of the SSR analysis for peach rootstock identification and studies of diversity in Prunus species.     

Dynamics of pesticides in potato crops

This study investigated the behavior of pesticides commonly used on potato in a part of northwestern Spain with a large area devoted to this crop. Experimental potato plots were treated with commercial formulations of two insecticides, a nematicide, a herbicide, and a combination of two fungicides, and the concentrations of the active ingredients were monitored throughout the growing season in the 0-1 and 1-15 cm soil layers, in water dripping off the potato plants, and in the potatoes themselves. The technique used for pesticide determination was gas chromatography with mass selective detection. For potato analyses, pesticide extraction was optimized. The only pesticide ever detected in potato tubers was metalaxyl, the concentration of which never exceeded half the maximum residual limit even when it was applied several times more often than is officially recommended for potato crops. Metalaxyl was also the only pesticide detected in wash-off, apparently due to its being more soluble in water than the other pesticides applied to the growing plants. A mathematical model of pesticide transport in soil was fitted to the experimental data using the program HYDRUS-1D.     

Generation of saffron volatiles by thermal carotenoid degradation

Generation of volatiles by thermal treatments has been studied in saffron spice for two reasons: (a) to determine volatile profile changes during simulated aging processes and (b) to study the volatile generation pathway. During the aging process, while the amounts of C10 compounds such as safranal and HTCC increase, the amounts of C9 compounds such as isophorone and 2,6,6-trimethylcyclohexane-1,4-dione decrease. A new compound tentatively identified as 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-7,7-dimethyl-5-oxo-3H-isobenzofuranone seems to play a very important role in the aging process. The importance of this compound, structurally similar to dihydroactindiolide, was also confirmed when the saffron volatile fraction was analyzed via the degradation of the linear chain of crocetin and crocetin esters and is reported for the first time in this paper. Thermal degradation studies of zeaxanthin, crocetin, and trans and cis crocetin esters isomers allowed us to propose different mechanisms which explain saffron volatile generation depending on the crocetin ester isomer structure.     

Influence of oak wood on the aromatic composition and quality of wines with different tannin contents

The aromatic compounds associated with aging in wood have been studied in Monastrell wines containing different quantities of tannin. Analyses were carried out before and after a six month period in wooden barrels (225 L) of American and French (Allier) medium-toasted oak. Three classes of wine were made: one from a free-run must; one to which enological tannin was added; and one to which was added the wine obtained by pressing the grape pomaces. The aromas were determined by GC-MS, and the quality was evaluated by a group of expert tasters. The aromatic compounds, some of which came from the wines themselves and others which came from the wood, all increased in concentration by the end of the aging process. The ratio between cis- and trans-whiskylactone contents in wines reflected the different types of oak wood used. The note "vanilla" used by the tasters is probably not totally due to the presence of vanillin. The wines of best quality were those with a natural tannin content which had been aged in American oak, whereas the wines to which enological tannin had been added but aged in the same wood were considered the worst. An equalizing effect on the sensorial wines qualities was seen to result from the use of French oak. The furfural, eugenol, and cis-, and in some cases trans-, whiskylactone contents identified the wines from the different classes of wood. The wood from which the barrels were made had a greater effect on wines differentiation than the tannin content.     

Assessment of biogeochemical trends in soil organic matter sequestration in Mediterranean calcimorphic mountain soils (Almería, Southern Spain)

Total soil organic matter levels and humic acid formation processes in mountain calcimorphic soils from Sierra María-Los Vélez Natural Park (Almería, Southern Spain) were found to differ depending on soil use (pine and oak forests, and cleared areas either cultivated or affected by bush encroachment). Biogeochemical indicators such as the concentration of exchangeable cations, or the concentration of the different types of humic substances were neither influenced by the type of vegetation nor soil use. In fact, multidimensional scaling and multiple correlations suggest that soil carbon sequestration processes are controlled by small-scale topographical features and their impact on water holding capacity. From a qualitative viewpoint, there were two more or less defined sets of soils: one set consisted of soils with humic acids with marked aliphatic character, displayed intense 2920 cm⁻¹ infrared band, and had low optical density. The resolution-enhanced infrared spectra suggested typical lignin patterns and well-defined amide bands, which point to a selective preservation of comparatively young organic matter. This situation contrasts with that in other set of soils with low C levels (<20 g kg⁻¹) where humic acids with featureless infrared spectra showed high aromaticity and were associated with perylenequinonic chromophors of fungal origin: this is considered the consequence of overlapping biogeochemical mechanisms involving both microbial synthesis and condensation processes. The results from visible and infrared derivative spectroscopies suggest that the reliability of statistically assessing the biogeochemical performance of the different uses on the site studied in terms of the intensity of the prevailing humic acid formation mechanisms, i.e., accumulation of inherited macromolecular substances in the former set, vs. microbial synthesis including the condensation of precursors of low molecular weight substances in the latter.     

Composition of the water-soluble fraction of different cheeses

Volatile and nonvolatile compounds present in the water-soluble fraction (WSF) and water-soluble fraction with molecular weight lower than 1000 Da (WSF < 1000 Da) of six Spanish cheeses, Cabrales, Idiazábal, Mahón, Manchego, Roncal, and a goat's milk cheese, were analyzed. Different nitrogen fractions (determined by Kjeldahl method), caseins (by capillary electrophoresis), peptides and amino acids (by HPLC), and volatile components (by dynamic headspace coupled to GC-MS) as well as mineral content in the cheese fractions were analyzed and compared. The different nitrogen and volatile compounds identified in the WSF were characteristic of each cheese variety. Cabrales cheese displayed the highest content of free amino acids and the highest quantity and variety of volatile compounds. The WSF < 1000 Da fraction was less representative, especially for volatile compounds, as some of the components were lost in the ultrafiltration. Alcohols were better recovered than ketones and esters.