Disseminated panniculitis in a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) due to Mycobacterium chelonae infection

A 14-year-old female bottlenose dolphin was diagnosed with mycobacterial panniculitis based on punch biopsy specimens. The necropsy revealed numerous pyogranulomas in the blubber, as well as marked acute multifocal necrosuppurative pneumonia and lymphadenitis. In addition, the animal had marked scoliosis, which had first been noted clinically in the dolphin at about 1 mo of age. The animal had been treated with low-dose dexamethasone for approximately the last 19 mo to reduce perceived discomfort from spondyloarthritis and with the progestational agent altrogenest for approximately 8 yr to prevent pregnancy. Acid-fast positive bacilli were detected in the dermis but not in lung or lymph nodes. Mycobacterium chelonae was isolated from pooled skin, lung, and peripheral lymph-node tissue. Mycobacterial infection may be considered as a differential diagnosis in bottlenose dolphins with generalized cutaneous inflammation, particularly if chronic steroid and progesterone treatments were administered, both of which may have an immunomodulatory effect.     

Effects of replacing fishmeal with black soldier fly larval meal in the diets of grower-finishing guinea fowls reared under tropical conditions

The study was conducted with the view to determine the impact of replacing fishmeal with black soldier fly larval meal (BSFLM) on growing guinea fowls. BSFLM replaced fishmeal (3% in the control diet) in the ratios of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100% to produce six dietary treatments, which were iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous. Two hundred and forty-eight-week old guinea fowls with mean live weight of 273.2?±?10.9 g were tagged, weighted, and randomly assigned to 24 (6?×?4) floor pens; each pen was treated as a replicate. Feed and water were provided ad libitum during the entire period, which lasted 10 weeks. Feed consumption differed among the treatment groups (P?=?0.0072) with the 100% fishmeal diets recording the lowest. Daily gain was significantly (P?=?0.009) higher for birds fed high BSFLM diets compared to the control (100% fishmeal diet). The inclusion of BSFLM in the diets elicited positive linear effect on weight gains of the guinea fowls (R²?=?0.91) with increasing concentration resulting in higher live weight gains. The feed conversion ratio (FCR) also differed between treatments (P?<?0.05) but similar for the 100% fishmeal (control) and 100% BSFLM diets. Organ and haematopoitic integrity were equally assured regardless of levels of the protein sources fed to the birds. Generally, meats from birds fed 60 to 100% BSFLM and from hens were more acceptable. A study to evaluate the economics of utilising BSFLM in guinea fowl production is recommended.     

Rethinking research in breast-feeding: a critique of the evidence base identified in a systematic review of interventions to promote and support breast-feeding

OBJECTIVE: To appraise critically the relevance and value of the evidence base to promote and support the duration of breast-feeding, with a specific focus on disadvantaged groups. DESIGN: A systematic review was conducted of intervention studies relevant to enhancing the duration of breast-feeding; topics included public health, public policy, clinical issues, and education, training and practice change. A systematic search was conducted. Eighty studies met the inclusion criteria. Data were systematically extracted and analysed. Full results and recommendations are reported elsewhere. Here a critique of the evidence base--topics, quality and gaps--is reported. RESULTS: Many studies were substantially methodologically flawed, with problems including small sample sizes, inconsistent definitions of breast-feeding and lack of appropriate outcomes. Few were based on relevant theory. Only a small number of included studies (10%) were conducted in the UK. Very few targeted disadvantaged subgroups of women. No studies of policy initiatives or of community interventions were identified. There were virtually no robust studies of interventions to prevent and treat common clinical problems, or of strategies related to women's health issues. Studies of health professional education and practice change were limited. Cost-effectiveness studies were rare. CONCLUSIONS: Policy goals both in the UK and internationally support exclusive breast-feeding until 6 months of age. The evidence base to enable women to continue to breast-feed needs to be strengthened to include robust evaluations of policies and practices related to breast-feeding; a step change is needed in the quality and quantity of research funded.     

Effect of Albizia julibrissin water extracts on low-density lipoprotein oxidization

High-value phytochemicals could be extracted from biomass prior to the current cellulosic pretreatment technologies (i.e., lime, ammonia, dilute acid, or pressurized hot water treatments) provided that the extraction is performed with a solvent that is compatible with the pretreatment. This work reports on the extraction of flavonoids from Albizia julibrissin biomass. While extracting A. julibrissin foliage with 50 degrees C water, 2.227 mg/g of hyperoside and 8.134 mg/g quercitrin were obtained, which is in the realm of what was obtained with 60% methanol. A. julibrissin foliage, flower, and whole plant extracts were tested in terms of their potential to inhibit low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidization. The highest inhibition was obtained with foliage water extracts, which were standardized at 2.5 microM of flavonoids. Also, the 2.5 microM foliage water extract resulted in a reduction from 43% to only 1% of the observed monocyte adherence. To have commercial application, A. julibrissin water extracts should be devoid of toxicity. The A. julibrissin foliage, flower, and whole plant water extracts were not toxic to Vero 76 cells. In summary, A. julibrissin biomass can be extracted with 50 degrees C water to yield an antioxidant stream, showing that it may be possible to couple extraction of valuable phytochemicals to the cellulosic pretreatment step.     

Gastric nematodes of nile crocodiles, Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, 1768, in the Okavango River, Botswana

The ascaridoid nematodes Dujardinascaris madagascariensis Chabaud & Caballero, 1966, Dujardinascaris dujardini (Travassos, 1920), Gedoelstascaris vandenbrandeni (Baylis, 1929) Sprent, 1978 and Multicaecum agile (Wedl, 1861) Baylis, 1923 were recovered from the stomach contents of Crocodylus niloticus Laurenti, 1768 from the Okavango River, Botswana, together with Eustrongylides sp., a dioctophymatoid nematode usually parasitizing piscivorous birds. Dujardinascaris madagascariensis was present in most of the infected hosts, while the remaining species were mostly represented in single collections in one to three hosts. All four ascaridoid nematodes represent new geographic records.     

Fatigue analysis of plates used for fracture stabilization in small dogs and cats

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the fatigue life of stacked and single, veterinary cuttable plates (VCP) and small, limited contact, dynamic compression plates (LC-DCP). STUDY DESIGN: In vitro biomechanical study. METHODS: Fracture models (constructs; n = 8) were assembled for each of 6 groups all with 8-hole plates: 2.0 mm LC-DCP; 2.4 mm LC-DCP; single 1.5/2.0 mm VCP; stacked 1.5/2.0 mm VCP; single 2.0/2.7 mm VCP; and stacked 2.0/2.7 mm VCP. Plate(s) were secured to 2 polyvinylchloride pipe lengths, mounted in a testing system with a custom jig, and subjected to axial loading (10-100 N) for 1,000,000 cycles at 10 Hz or until failure. Differences in number of cycles to failure among groups were compared. Failure mode was determined. RESULTS: All LC-DCP and single VCP constructs failed before 1,000,000 cycles. Stacked 2.0/2.7 mm VCP constructs withstood 1,000,000 cycles without failure. ANOVA and Fisher's least significant difference tests demonstrated significantly more cycles to failure for the stacked 1.5/2.0 mm VCP and stacked 2.0/2.7 mm VCP compared with the single 1.5/2.0 mm VCP, single 2.0/2.7 mm VCP, 2.0 mm LC-DCP, or 2.4 mm LC-DCP. Constructs that failed did so through a screw hole adjacent to the gap. CONCLUSION: Stacked VCP constructs have greater fatigue lives than comparably sized LC-DCP or single VCP constructs. Plates with 2.4 mm screws were not significantly different from the comparable construct with 2.0 mm screws. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although these data reveal that stacked VCP create a superior construct with respect to cyclic fatigue, surgeons must decide whether this is a clinical advantage on a case-by-case basis.     

Neuronal storage disease in a group of captive Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti)

A neuronal storage disease affecting 5 captive Humboldt penguins is described. One bird died after 3 days of lethargy and anorexia. The 4 remaining birds died after a slowly progressing course of disease with signs that included lethargy, weakness, and neurologic dysfunction. Neurologic signs included dysphagia and ataxia. Gross lesions in the first animal to die consisted of hepatosplenomegaly indicative of avian malaria, which was confirmed histologically. The 4 remaining animals were mildly to moderately emaciated. Moderate to marked vacuolation of the neuronal perikarya was observed in Purkinje cells, neurons of the brainstem nuclei, and motorneurons of the spinal cord in all birds. By electron microscopy the vacuoles represented multilayered concentric lamellar structures. These findings were indicative of sphingolipidosis. All animals had been prophylactically treated for avian malaria, aspergillosis, and possible bacterial infections with chloroquine, itraconazole, and enrofloxacin. Circumstantial evidence implicates chloroquine therapy as the possible cause of the storage disease.     

A new method for producing allohexaploid Brassica through unreduced gametes

We trialled a two-step method of producing allohexaploid Brassica with three genomes (A, B, and C) derived from pair-wise crossing among three allotetraploid Brassica species. In the first step, the three allotetraploid Brassica species (Brassica juncea, A^jA^jB^jB^j; Brassica napus, AⁿAⁿCⁿCⁿ; and Brassica carinata, B^cB^cC^cC^c) were intercrossed in pairs to produce unbalanced trigenomic hybrids: A^jAⁿB^jCⁿ, B^jB^cA^jC^c and CⁿC^cAⁿB^c. In the second step, these hybrids were crossed with the complementary allotetraploid parent, that is, A^jAⁿB^jCⁿ × B^cB^cC^cC^c (B. carinata), B^jB^cA^jC^c × AⁿAⁿCⁿCⁿ (B. napus) and CⁿC^cAⁿB^c × A^jA^jB^jB^j (B. juncea). We hypothesised that the unbalanced trigenomic hybrids would produce high levels of unreduced gametes with the same genome composition as the hybrid. These unreduced gametes would unite with reduced gametes from the complementary allotetraploids to form allohexaploid Brassica progeny (A^jAⁿB^cB^jC^cCⁿ). From 112 s generation interspecific progeny, two progeny were shown by locus-specific simple sequence repeat markers to be near-allohexaploids derived from an unreduced gamete from CⁿC^cAⁿB^c and a reduced gamete from B. juncea (A^jB^j). One of these plants was highly self-fertile, had 50 chromosomes, and inherited patterns of marker alleles (A^jAⁿB^cB^jC^cCⁿ) that were predicted from first division restitution at meiosis in the CⁿC^cAⁿB^c parent. The second near-allohexaploid had 60 chromosomes, was sterile, and inherited patterns of marker alleles that indicated second division restitution in the CⁿC^cAⁿB^c parent. Trigenomic hybrid Brassica produced by these methods will be valuable bridges to move alleles between allotetraploid species, and may contribute useful meiotic stability alleles to a future allohexaploid species.     

Effects of maternal nutrition and stage of gestation on body weight, visceral organ mass, and indices of jejunal cellularity, proliferation, and vascularity in pregnant ewe lambs

Peripubertal ewe lambs (44.3 +/- 1.1 kg of initial BW) were used in a 2 x 3 factorial design to test the effects of plane of nutrition (diet) and stage of gestation on maternal visceral tissue mass, intestinal cellularity, crypt cell proliferation, and jejunal mucosal vascularity. Singleton pregnancies to a single sire were established by embryo transfer, and thereafter ewes were offered a control (Control) or high (High) amount of a complete diet (2.84 Mcal/kg and 15.9% CP; DM basis) to promote slow or rapid maternal growth rates. After d 90 of gestation, feed intake of the Control group was adjusted weekly to maintain BCS and meet the increasing nutrient demands of the gravid uterus. Ewes were slaughtered at 50 d (n = 6 Control; n = 5 High), 90 d (n = 8 Control; n = 6 High), or 130 d (n = 8 Control; n = 6 High) of gestation. Ewes were eviscerated and masses of individual organs were recorded. The jejunum was sampled and processed for subsequent analyses. Final ewe BW for Control-fed ewes was similar at d 50 and 90 and increased (P = 0.10) from d 90 to 130 (46.0, 48.9, and 58.2 +/- 1.6 kg, respectively), whereas final BW increased (P 相似文献