Comparison of high definition oscillometric and Doppler ultrasound devices with invasive blood pressure in anaesthetized dogs

Objective To use the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) validation criteria to evaluate the performance of high definition oscillometric (HDO) and Doppler blood pressure measurement techniques against invasive blood pressure measurements in anaesthetized dogs. Study design Prospective clinical study. Animals Twenty client‐owned dogs. Materials and Methods Invasive blood pressure was measured using a catheter inserted into a pedal artery and an electronic transducer. The sites of cuff placement for the HDO measurements were the mid antebrachium or the proximal tail and, for the Doppler technique, the distal tibia. Agreement between invasive and non‐invasive blood pressure measurements was estimated by the Bland–Altman method. Results Only 10% and 34% of Doppler measurements were within 10 and 20 mmHg of invasive blood pressure values, respectively. The Doppler device failed to meet the ACVIM validation criteria for blood pressure measurement devices. The best agreement between HDO and invasive blood pressure measurement technique was observed for mean arterial blood pressure (MAP); 67% and 95% of readings were within 10 and 20 mmHg of invasive blood pressure values respectively. In addition, 52% and 87% of diastolic arterial blood pressure (DAP) measurements were within 10 and 20 mmHg of invasive readings. High definition oscillometric readings did not meet ACVIM recommended limits for SAP. Conclusion and clinical relevance The Doppler technique overestimated and the HDO device showed limited agreement with invasive blood pressure measurement in anaesthetized dogs. High definition oscillometry met most of the ACVIM requirements for MAP and DAP while the Doppler technique did not.     

Acoustic,mechanical and microstructural properties of extruded crisp bread

The aim of this work was to describe the texture and structure of crisp bread obtained with different extrusion parameters. The texture of different crisp bread samples was evaluated using a combination of acoustic and mechanical tests. The advantage of this measurement setup is the feasibility of simultaneous registering of the force–deformation characteristics, sounds (using an acoustic envelope detector coupled to the texture analyser with a microphone) as well as mechanical vibrations (registered using a piezoelectric sensor) generated during a penetration test. All analysed samples of bread were products with a crisp texture that emitted audible sounds with a significant intensity that could be registered with a microphone as well as with a contact method. Micro-CT cross-section images showed the highly porous structure of the crisp breads but variant 3 appeared to have thicker walls and larger cells than the other breads.     

Analysis of the genetic structure of the European eel Anguilla anguilla using the mtDNA D-loop region molecular marker

Sequence variation of the mtDNA D-loop region was analyzed in order to investigate the intraspecific evolution and the population genetic structure of the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla. An additional attempt was made to collect information on the genetic characteristics of groups of eels representing naturally recruited eels to Lithuania and Latvia and introduced into Lithuanian lakes. A total of 148 eels were investigated, and 107 different haplotypes attributed to 39 haplogroups were determined during the study. A dataset comprising 229 sequences was created using the data from both this study and from earlier studies (n = 81). Analysis of this dataset revealed that haplotype diversity was 0.99567, the average number of nucleotide differences was 12.50544, there were 145 polymorphic sites and nucleotide diversity was 0.02426. No significant genetic differentiation was detected between different combinations of samples. However, the population genetic structure of this species could be characterized as a genetic mosaic formed due to the existence of reproductively isolated groups. The existence of a genetic mosaic in this species could be explained by the different evolutionary lineages found in the eel population.     

Improving Performance of Treatment Wetlands: Evaluation of Supplemental Aeration,Varying Flow Direction,and Phosphorus Removing Filters

Pollutant removal was compared among subsurface flow constructed wetland (CW) mesocosms used for dairy farm wastewater treatment. Supplemental aeration, flow direction, and the use of phosphorus-reducing filters (PRFs) were varied among the CWs. The following were compared: (1) vertical flow CWs with and without supplemental aeration, (2) aerated CWs with horizontal and vertical flow directions, (3) single-cell and two-cell treatment systems, and (4) wetland-wetland systems (two CWs in series) and wetland-PRF systems (a CW followed by a PRF). The results from this investigation showed that, first, nearly all treatment strategies, either singly or in pairs, substantially reduced almost all the contaminants we tested. Second, supplemental aeration resulted in higher ammonium-nitrogen (NH₄-N) removal efficiencies in aerated vertical flow CWs, compared to unaerated CWs. However, it caused no further improvement in dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), total suspended solids (TSS), E. coli, or BOD₅ removal. Third, there was no difference between aerated horizontal and aerated vertical flow CWs in removal of any of the tested contaminants. Fourth, adding a second stage of treatment significantly improved DRP, TSS, E. coli, and NH₄-N removal, but not BOD₅. Finally, treatment systems with PRFs showed superior performance in DRP and E. coli removal.     

From trees to fleas: masting indirectly affects flea abundance on a rodent host

Mast seeding causes strong fluctuations in populations of forest animals. Thus, this phenomenon can be used as a natural experiment to examine how variation in host abundance affects parasite loads. We investigated fleas infesting yellow-necked mice in beech forest after 2 mast and 2 non-mast years. We tested 2 mutually exclusive scenarios: (1) as predicted by classical models of density-dependent transmission, an increase in host density will cause an increase in ectoparasite abundance (defined as the number of parasites per host), versus (2) an increase in host density will cause a decline in flea abundance (“dilution,” which is thought to occur when parasite population growth is slower than that of the host). In addition, we assessed whether masting alters the relationship between host traits (sex and body mass) and flea abundance. We found a hump-shaped relationship between host and flea abundance. Thus, the most basic predictions are too simple to describe ectoparasite dynamics in this system. In addition, masting modified seasonal dynamics of flea abundance, but did not affect the relationship between host traits and flea abundance (individuals with the highest body mass hosted the most fleas; after controlling for body mass, parasite abundance did not vary between sexes). Our results demonstrate that pulses of tree reproduction can indirectly, through changes in host densities, drive patterns of ectoparasite infestation.     

Structure of the Cell-Wall-Associated Polysaccharides from the Deep-Sea Marine Bacterium Devosia submarina KMM 9415T

Two cell-wall-associated polysaccharides were isolated and purified from the deep-sea marine bacterium Devosia submarina KMM 9415^T, purified by ultracentrifugation and enzymatic treatment, separated by chromatographic techniques, and studied by sugar analyses and NMR spectroscopy. The first polysaccharide with a molecular weight of about 20.7 kDa was found to contain d-arabinose, and the following structure of its disaccharide repeating unit was established: →2)-α-d-Araf-(1→5)-α-d-Araf-(1→. The second polysaccharide was shown to consist of d-galactose and a rare component of bacterial glycans-d-xylulose: →3)-α-d-Galp-(1→3)-β-d-Xluf-(1→.     

Genetic variability of Polish tomato black ring virus isolates and their satellite RNAs

Tomato black ring virus (TBRV), a member of the Nepovirus genus, is a serious plant pathogen distributed worldwide. It causes significant damage to several economically important crops, such as artichoke or strawberry. The TBRV bipartite genome consists of two polyadenylated single-stranded positive-sense RNA molecules, which may be accompanied by subviral particles such as defective interfering RNAs (DI RNAs) and satellite RNAs (satRNAs). In this study, we obtained the complete genome sequence of six TBRV isolates originating from different hosts and determined the presence of eight TBRV satRNAs. Subsequently, genetic variability, recombination, phylogenetic and selection pressure analyses were performed. The results revealed that the TBRV population is genetically diverse. The occurrence of potential recombination events, evidence of positive selection pressure acting on particular codons and the diversification of satRNAs within the TBRV population indicated that the virus mutates and can rapidly adapt to new environmental conditions or hosts. The presented data shed some light on TBRV evolutionary dynamics and epidemiology.