Pyogenic meningitis and trigeminal neuritis secondary to periodontogenic paranasal sinusitis in a red deer (Cervus elaphus)

An adult female red deer died of a severe seizure and dysbasia. Postmortem computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed. On CT, deciduous right maxillary second and third premolar teeth were observed, and the right infraorbital canal was disrupted. MRI showed that the right trigeminal nerve was enlarged and the right subarachnoid cavity was occupied by fluid and gas. On gross examination, the right paranasal sinus, swollen muscles of the orbit and tonsils, right trigeminal nerve, and right cerebrum surface contained a yellowish-white, cheese-like pus. Based on these findings, the deer was believed to have developed pyogenic meningitis caused by a neuropathic infection secondary to periodontogenic paranasal sinusitis.     

自修复多层液膜和壳聚糖采前处理对杧果果实品质及保鲜的效应

以"桂热82号"杧为材料,采前30 d对杧果果实分别进行1%壳聚糖浸涂、自修复多层液膜浸涂及对照(清水)处理,探讨这两种保鲜方式对杧果采后果实品质的影响。结果表明,自修复多层液膜处理可以抑制杧果腐烂率、失重率、可溶性固形物含量的上升,延缓杧果硬度,可滴定酸、可溶性糖及维生素C含量的下降,更好地维持杧果果实品质,此外,自修复多层液膜处理还抑制了果实丙二醛含量、多酚氧化酶活性的上升,降低了膜脂系统的伤害,提高了杧果过氧化氢酶、过氧化物酶、超氧化物歧化酶活性,提高了果实抗氧化能力。与1%壳聚糖浸涂处理相比,自修复多层液膜处理对杧果的果实品质和采后保鲜效应更好。     

Immunosuppression in dogs by pretransfusions with ultraviolet (UV)-irradiated whole blood.

Ultraviolet (UV)-irradiated whole dog blood prevented the initiation of proliferative responses in allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR). When dogs were given 4 weekly intravenous transfusions of UV-irradiated allogeneic donor whole blood, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of the recipients responded less significantly to donor PBL in MLR for over one week after the final transfusion. Red blood cell (RBC)-crossmatching of these dogs was negative. Dogs treated with UV-irradiated blood did not produce anti-donor PBL antibody, or IgG, IgM and C3 determined by the indirect Coombs test. These dogs also had negligible delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) responses to donor PBL at the end of the treatment period, recognized as slightly suppression of skin graft rejection. In contrast, six dogs receiving injections of untreated allogeneic whole blood evidenced high proliferation in MLR, agglutination in RBC-crossmatching, acute rejection of skin grafts and three of them produced C3 in the Coombs test.     

Sleep and lying behavior of milking Holstein cows at commercial tie‐stall dairy farms

The aim of this study was to clarify cow's sleep behavior on farm and to examine the influence of some environment and management factors on cow's sleep. Total 85 behavior data (summer 41, autumn 44) were corrected from 12 commercial tie‐stall dairy farm in northern Tohoku area. Daily duration, bout frequency, and averaged bout duration of sleep and lying were measured. Even though there was no significant difference in any lying measurements, daily duration, bout frequency, and averaged bout duration of sleep was significantly different among farms (p < 0.01, p < 0.01, and p < 0.05, respectively). However, we could not find that any managements influence on sleep. There was significant seasonal difference in daily sleep duration (p < 0.01) and sleep bout frequency (p < 0.05). On the other hand, daily lying duration and averaged lying bout duration were significantly different between seasons (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). Primiparous cows slept longer and more frequent than multiparous (both p < 0.001). Milk solid‐non‐fat content was positively correlated with daily sleep duration (p < 0.05) and bout frequency (p < 0.01). These results might imply the productive importance of sleep related with anabolic hormones release.     

The use of accelerometer to measure sleeping posture of beef cows

Sleep is one of the essential behaviors for mammals. The aims of this study were to validate the use of accelerometer for measuring sleeping posture of cattle. Duration of sleeping posture of seven Japanese Black cows from 19.00 to 07.00 hours was measured by both accelerometer and video, and a total of 67 accelerometer and video measurement sets were collected. We calculated Cohen's κ coefficient between accelerometer and video measurements and 91.5% of the κ‐values were >0.80. Intra‐ and inter‐observer coefficient of variance showed that specific acceleration waveform patterns of sleeping posture could be easily and accurately detected by independent observers. There were no significant differences in the frequency of sleeping posture occurrences between accelerometer and video measurements. We compared averaged sleeping posture bout, and the total sleeping posture time between accelerometer and video measurements using regression. In each trait, the slope was close to 1 and the intercept was not different from 0, which showed a strong agreement between accelerometer and video measurements. This shows that an accelerometer could accurately detect sleeping postures of cattle. We conclude that adequate measurements of sleeping postures can be made using an accelerometer.     

Age-related Histological Findings in the Pineal Gland of Crl:CD(SD) Rats

To provide background data as the pathologic basis, the pineal glands of 190 male and 193 female Crl:CD(SD) rats at ages of 0–7, 51–58, 70–85 and 111 weeks were examined histologically in this study. Mineralization and fibrosis were common findings in the aged rats, whereas they were rarely found in the young ones; mineralization was present in 7, 44, 67 and 79% of males and in 0, 32, 67 and 79% in females, and fibrosis was present in 0, 29, 48 and 44% of males and 0, 18, 40 and 35% of females at ages of 0–7, 51–58, 70–85 and 111 weeks, respectively. Striated muscle fiber appeared regularly in the fibrosis region from 51–58 weeks of age when fibrosis increased, while the origin of this fiber remained unclear. Vacuolation of pineal cells also increased with age in both sexes, though the total incidence was low. There was a low incidence of lymphocytic infiltration in both sexes, but this was not related to age.     

An outbreak of canine distemper virus in tigers (Panthera tigris): possible transmission from wild animals to zoo animals

Canine distemper virus (CDV), a morbillivirus that causes one of the most contagious and lethal viral diseases known in canids, has an expanding host range, including wild animals. Since December 2009, several dead or dying wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) were found in and around one safari-style zoo in Japan, and CDV was isolated from four of these animals. In the subsequent months (January to February 2010), 12 tigers (Panthera tigris) in the zoo developed respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, and CDV RNA was detected in fecal samples of the examined tigers. In March 2010, one of the tigers developed a neurological disorder and died; CDV was isolated from the lung of this animal. Sequence analysis of the complete hemagglutinin (H) gene and the signal peptide region of the fusion (F) gene showed high homology among these isolates (99.8-100%), indicating that CDV might have been transmitted from raccoon dog to tiger. In addition, these isolates belonged to genotype Asia-1 and had lower homology (<90%) to the vaccine strain (Onderstepoort). Seropositivity of lions (Panthera leo) in the zoo and wild bears (Ursus thibetanus) captured around this area supported the theory that a CDV epidemic had occurred in many mammal species in and around the zoo. These results indicate a risk of CDV transmission among many animal species, including large felids and endangered species.     

Development of multidrug resistance in a canine lymphoma cell line

New multidrug resistant cell lines developed from the canine B cell lymphoma cell line (GL-1) were characterized in terms of chemosensitivity to some antineoplastics and P-glycoprotein (Pgp) expression. GL-1 was continuously exposed to a culture medium containing gradually increasing levels of doxorubicin and the cells that could grow in the presence of doxorubicin were obtained. Chemosensitivity of these cells to various antineoplastics were investigated with or without verapamil, which reversed Pgp-mediated drug resistance. The expression of Pgp on the cells was also examined by Western blot analysis. As a result, three kinds of resistant cell lines, designated as GL-DOX60, 300, and 4000 were obtained. These cell lines showed stable proliferation in the medium containing 60, 300, and 4000 ng/ml, respectively. These cells were much more resistant to vincristine than doxorubicin. This resistance was strongly reversed by the presence of verapamil. On the other hand, cisplatin was effective enough in killing these derived cells. In the Western Blot analysis, some bands that reacted to the anti-human Pgp monoclonal antibodies were observed in GL-DOX4000. The cells derived from GL-1 have multidrug resistance potential mediated by canine Pgp. The cells produced in this experimental trial are considered to be useful models for various investigations on canine multidrug resistance.