Multiple antimicrobial resistance region of a putative virulence plasmid from an Escherichia coli isolate incriminated in avian colibacillosis

Infections due to Escherichia coli have been costly to the poultry industry, but the exact virulence mechanisms used by these organisms to cause disease in birds remain undefined. Several factors have been shown to contribute to the virulence of avian E. coli, and many of the genes encoding these factors have been found on large conjugative plasmids. Because of the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance genes on these same plasmids, it is possible that the use of antimicrobial agents may select for persistence of E. coli containing such plasmids. In the present study, a subclone of one of these plasmids was identified as likely containing some virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes. In an effort to better understand the relationship between virulence and resistance in these plasmids, this subclone was sequenced and the sequence analyzed. Analysis of this 30-kilobase (kb) region of plasmid pTJ100 revealed a mosaic of virulence genes, insertion sequences, antimicrobial resistance cassettes, and their remnants. Many of the resistance genes found in this region were expressed under laboratory conditions, indicating that certain antimicrobial agents, including disinfectants, antibiotics, and heavy metals, could promote selection of E. coli containing such plasmids in the production environment. Also, analysis of the G + C content of this clone indicated that it is the likely consequence of a complex evolution with components derived from various sources. The occurrence of many mobile elements in conjunction with antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes in this 30-kb region may indicate that the genetic constitution of the clone is quite plastic. Although further study will be required to better define this plasmid's role in avian E. coli virulence, the sequence described here is, to our knowledge, the longest known contiguous sequence of a ColV plasmid yet presented. Analysis of this sequence indicates that this clone and its parent plasmid may be important to the pathogenesis of avian colibacillosis and the evolution of avian E. coli virulence.     

Molecular phylogenetics of mastodon and Tyrannosaurus rex

We report a molecular phylogeny for a nonavian dinosaur, extending our knowledge of trait evolution within nonavian dinosaurs into the macromolecular level of biological organization. Fragments of collagen alpha1(I) and alpha2(I) proteins extracted from fossil bones of Tyrannosaurus rex and Mammut americanum (mastodon) were analyzed with a variety of phylogenetic methods. Despite missing sequence data, the mastodon groups with elephant and the T. rex groups with birds, consistent with predictions based on genetic and morphological data for mastodon and on morphological data for T. rex. Our findings suggest that molecular data from long-extinct organisms may have the potential for resolving relationships at critical areas in the vertebrate evolutionary tree that have, so far, been phylogenetically intractable.     

Effects on plasma endotoxin and eicosanoid concentrations and serum cytokine activities in horses competing in a 48-, 83-, or 159-km endurance ride under similar terrain and weather conditions

OBJECTIVE: To determine plasma endotoxin concentration in horses competing in a 48-, 83-, or 159-km endurance race and its importance with regard to physical, hematologic, or serum and plasma biochemical variables. ANIMAL: 3 horses. PROCEDURE: Weight and rectal temperature measurements and blood samples were obtained before, during, and after exercise. Blood samples were analyzed for plasma endotoxin concentration; serum antiendotoxin antibody titers; thromboxane B2 (TxB2) and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1alpha (PGF1alpha) concentrations; tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) activities; WBC, plasma protein, lactate, serum electrolyte, and calcium concentrations; PCV; and creatine kinase activity. RESULTS: Detection of plasma endotoxin increased during exercise for horses competing at all distances but occurred more frequently in the 48- and 83-km groups. Plasma lactate concentration was significantly greater when endotoxin was concurrently detected. Endotoxin in plasma was not significantly associated with success of race completion. Plasma TxB2 and PGF1alpha concentrations and serum IL-6 activity significantly increased with exercise. Horses that had an excellent fitness level (as perceived by their owners) had greater decreases in serum antiendotoxin antibody titers during exercise than did horses perceived as less fit. In horses with better finish times, TxB2 and PGF1alpha concentrations were significantly greater and TNFalpha activity was significantly less than that of slower horses. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Endotoxemia developed during endurance racing, but was significantly correlated with increased plasma lactate concentration and not with other variables indicative of endotoxemia. Plasma TxB2 and PGF1alpha concentrations and serum TNFalpha activity may be associated with performance success.     

Virus infections of the European Eel in North Rhine Westphalian rivers

Viral infections have been suggested to play a role in the decline of the panmictic population of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). However, despite the importance of knowledge about pathogenic eel viruses, little is known about their spread in the wild European eel population and only a few eel pathogenic viruses have been described so far. In this study, we aimed to investigate the health status of the A. anguilla stock in North Rhine Westphalia (NRW) State of Germany. For this purpose, we examined tissue samples of 16 elvers, 100 yellow eels and 6 silver eels, sampled from the rivers Rhine, Lippe and Ems. Virus detection was performed via a combination of cell culture and PCR. Next to the detection of frequently encountered pathogenic eel viruses (anguillid herpesvirus 1 and eel virus European X (EVEX)), we isolated the eel picornavirus 1 (EPV-1) from tissue of yellow eels and elvers and demonstrate the distribution of EPV-1 in wild eel population in NRW.     

Hydromorphological rehabilitation improves channel morphology,instream biotopes,and macroinvertebrate communities,and thus enhances the conservation of an urban river

1. Many river rehabilitation projects have been criticized for failing to meet their goals or for being insufficiently monitored. There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop robust approaches for assessing treatment efficacy and thus guide the increasing investment in rehabilitation.
2. Instream biotopes (formerly called ‘functional habitats’ or ‘mesohabitats’ by different authors) and their macroinvertebrate assemblages were used to assess the effectiveness of entire-channel hydromorphological rehabilitation of a 1.8-km stretch of a lowland stream through the town of Market Harborough, Leicestershire, UK.
3. The project successfully enhanced the physical diversity, measured in the rehabilitated reach as the coefficients of variability for channel water depth and width, wet surface area, number of instream biotopes, and biotope diversity.
4. The project also enhanced the biodiversity conservation value, measured as macroinvertebrate total density, total biomass, richness, diversity, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) richness, EPT diversity, EPT count%, and EPT biomass%, all of which significantly increased following rehabilitation. Chironomidae count% and biomass% significantly decreased following rehabilitation. Rehabilitation was also successful in significantly increasing macroinvertebrate shredder, scraper, and filter-feeder group density.
5. Changes in the macroinvertebrate community metrics in the rehabilitated reach were related significantly to changes in the percentages of cover of instream biotopes and increases in biotope diversity in the rehabilitated reach.
6. Macroinvertebrate structural and functional metrics can provide quantitative data for assessing reach-level rehabilitation outcomes, if samples are collected in a pre-defined sampling protocol stratified at the instream biotope level.
7. The practical implications of this work are that the design of rehabilitation projects, if based upon the recreation of biotope heterogeneity, will succeed in improving biological value and restoring the area to near naturalness if a suitable upstream source of macroinvertebrates for natural recolonization is available. The study shows that the concept of biotopes has an important role to play in river conservation management.

     

One-stage prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, fibrin degradation product concentration, and antithrombin activity in healthy adult alpacas

Background: Alpacas are increasingly presented to veterinarians for evaluation and care. Reports of alpaca reference intervals for one‐stage prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), thrombin time (TT), concentration of fibrin degradation products (FDP), and antithrombin (AT) activities are scarce or nonexistent. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine values for blood coagulation times (PT, aPTT, and TT), FDP concentrations, and AT activities in healthy adult alpacas. Methods: Of blood samples collected from 35 clinically healthy adult alpacas via jugular venipuncture and placed into sodium citrate and FDP tubes, 29 samples were assayable for coagulation testing. PT, aPTT, and TT were determined by physical (mechanical) clot detection; AT activity was determined using a thrombin‐specific chromogenic substrate end‐point assay; and FDP concentrations were determined by the slide agglutination method. Results: Median values and ranges (minimum–maximum) were determined for PT (8.7 seconds, 6.6–11.2 seconds), aPTT (17.3 seconds, 11.9–22.5 seconds), TT (10.2 seconds, 5.4–16.0 seconds), and AT activity (123.3%, 104.8–144.2%). The mean concentration of FDP was <8 μg/mL. Conclusion: These values for coagulation times, FDP concentration, and AT activity will provide a useful starting point in the diagnostic evaluation of ill adult alpacas.     

Comparison of early life history stages of the bay scallop, Argopecten irradians: Effects of microalgal diets on growth and biochemical composition

The culture of bay scallops, Argopecten irradians, is limited by a reliable and affordable supply of spat and the ability to ensure that animals attain market size within a single growing season. The main goals of our study were thus: (1) to develop growth-optimizing algal diets for implementation in hatcheries, and (2) to identify and compare bay scallop postlarval and juvenile dietary requirements, especially of lipids and fatty acids, which if met may enhance production. Nutritional needs of postlarval bay scallops (present study) are compared with those of sea scallops, Placopecten magellanicus, offered the same diets in a previous companion study. To this end, postlarval (initial shell height, SH = 240 μm) and juvenile (initial SH = 10 mm) bay scallops were offered 6–7 microalgal diet combinations at 20 °C, for 3 weeks. A similar growth ranking among diets was observed between the two developmental stages. A combination diet of Pavlova sp. (CCMP 459) and Chaetoceros muelleri was far superior to any other diet tested, yielding growth rates of 58 and 357 μm day^− 1 which were 65% and 25% higher than the next highest performing diet of Tetraselmis striata/C. muelleri in postlarvae and juveniles, respectively. The T. striata/C. muelleri diet, which is limited in the n-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), yielded very poor growth of sea scallop postlarvae in a prior study, indicating that bay scallops may have less stringent requirements for DHA than sea scallops. The Pav 459/C. muelleri diet, which also supported the highest growth of sea scallop postlarvae, is characterized by elevated levels of the n-6 fatty acids, arachidonic (AA) in C. muelleri and 4,7,10,13,16-docosapentaenoic (DPA) in Pav 459. The two diets deficient in AA and n-6 DPA, Pavlova lutheri/Thalassiosira weissflogii and P. lutheri/Fragilaria familica, yielded the lowest growth rates in both bay scallop postlarvae and juveniles. Tissue enrichment of these two fatty acids relative to the diet, as well as overall enrichment in ∑n-6 fatty acids was observed across developmental stages and dietary treatments. A similar pattern has previously been observed in sea scallop postlarvae, suggesting a dietary requirement for n-6 fatty acids in pectinids that has often been overlooked in the past.     

Local autonomy,national policy and global imperatives: sex work and HIV/AIDS in Cebu City,Philippines

This paper contributes to cultural critiques of AIDS prevention policies through examining debates about mandatory HIV blood screening for women in Cebu City’s sex industry during 1993. These debates were inspired by the Department of Health’s national policy to eliminate mandatory blood screening on the grounds that it was expensive and ineffectual in slowing the spread of HIV. While the rhetoric of the debate was influenced by the emerging ‘global discourse’ on HIV/AIDS and human rights, the debate itself was always about local perceptions of women in the sex industry and Cebu’s administrative autonomy. This paper highlights how various socio-spatial scales helped to constitute Cebu’s response to mandatory testing, while at the same time reproducing an exclusionary discourse which silenced the voices of women in Cebu’s sex industry.     

Assessment of Nitrogen Leaching at ICP-Waters Sites (Europe and North America)

The International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Acidification of Rivers and Lakes (ICP-Waters) is designed to assess the degree and geographical extent of acidification of surface waters. During the last 20 years, international emission reduction measures in Europe and North America have resulted in a decrease in atmospheric S-deposition of up to 50%, while N-deposition has stayed almost constant. Empirical relationships between N-deposition and stages of nitrogen saturation are used to assess the importance of nitrogen leaching at the ICP-Waters sites in Europe and North America. There is a clear coherence between high N saturation stages and high N deposition loads and more than 50% of the analysed ICP Waters sites show a high degree of nitrogen saturation, defined as stages 2 or 3 in Stoddard's classification system. Significant leaching of inorganic N also occurs at most sites with deposition greater than 10 kg/ha/yr.     

Efficacy of maropitant in the prevention of delayed vomiting associated with administration of doxorubicin to dogs

Background: Vomiting, nausea, inappetence, and diarrhea are common delayed adverse effects of doxorubicin. Maropitant, a neurokinin‐1 receptor antagonist, is known to prevent acute vomiting in dogs receiving cisplatin. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of maropitant in preventing delayed vomiting after administration of doxorubicin to dogs. Animals: Fifty‐nine dogs with cancer. Methods: This randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study used a cross‐over design. Dogs were randomized into 1 of 2 treatment groups. Group A received maropitant after the 1st doxorubicin, and placebo after the 2nd. Group B received placebo first, and maropitant second. Maropitant (2 mg/kg) or placebo tablets were administered PO for 5 days after doxorubicin treatment. Owners completed visual analog scales based on Veterinary Cooperative Oncology Group‐Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events to grade their pet's clinical signs during the week after administration of doxorubicin. Statistical differences in gastrointestinal toxicosis and myelosuppression between maropitant and placebo treatments were evaluated. Results: Significantly fewer dogs had vomiting (P= .001) or diarrhea (P= .041), and the severity of vomiting (P < .001) and diarrhea (P= .024) was less the week after doxorubicin when receiving maropitant compared with placebo. No differences were found between maropitant and placebo for other gastrointestinal and bone marrow toxicoses. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Maropitant is effective in preventing delayed vomiting induced by doxorubicin. Its prophylactic use might improve quality of life and decrease the need for dose reductions in certain dogs.