REPEATABILITY OF DOPPLER ULTRASONOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENT OF EQUINE DIGITAL BLOOD FLOW

The repeatability and sensitivity of Doppler ultrasonographic measurement of lateral digital arterial and venous blood flow has not been previously determined. Doppler ultrasonography was used to measure blood flow within the forelimb lateral digital vessels in one normal adult Thoroughbred horse on six occasions and in six normal adult Thoroughbred horses on three occasions, each occasion being at least 1 h apart, to determine the within- and between-horse variation. The values obtained from the right and left lateral digital vessels did not differ significantly. The within-horse coefficients of variation (CV) for arterial and venous measurements were all acceptable (< 11%); the between-horse CV were acceptable (< 7%) for all parameters except TaVa (average velocity of first peak of arterial waveform) and TaVb (average velocity of remainder of arterial waveform). The within-horse intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) demonstrated excellent repeatability (> or = 0.71) for all parameters except venous diameter; the between-horse ICC demonstrated good to excellent repeatability (> or = 0.67) for all parameters except TaVb. Doppler ultrasonography can detect differences of 0.005 and 0.01 ml/ min in digital arterial and venous flow, respectively, using measurements from six horses on three occasions (80% power; P < 0.05). Thus, the technique is sufficiently repeatable and sensitive to be able to detect changes in flow during different physiological or pathological states or following pharmacologic intervention.     

Evaluation of cardiac performance of the dog after induction of portal hypertension and gastric ischemia

Objective: To determine changes in hemodynamic and cardiac energetic parameters in dogs after induction of portal hypertension and gastric ischemia. These blood flow alterations are similar to changes seen in splanchnic blood flow in dogs with gastric dilatation volvulus syndrome (GDV). Design: Original experimental study. Setting: Veterinary teaching hospital. Animals: Seven purpose‐bred, intact male dogs. Interventions: Standard midline laparotomy and median sternotomy were performed under general anesthesia. Dogs were instrumented to obtain arterial blood pressure, aortic flow, cardiac chamber pressures, central venous pressure, portal flow, and portal pressure. Colored microsphere technology was used for the determination of myocardial blood flow. Measurements and samples were obtained at baseline, following induction of portal hypertension, and after induction of portal hypertension and gastric ischemia. Measurements and main results: Left ventricular myocardial blood flow was increased from 81.8±20.1 mL/100 g/min at baseline to 127.7±57.2 mL/100 g/min (P=0.02) after induction of portal hypertension and gastric ischemia. Myocardial oxygen consumption increased from 142.2±27.4 J/min/100 g at baseline to 219.1±33.4 J/min/100 g (P=0.003) after induction of portal hypertension and gastric ischemia, but cardiac external work remained unchanged (13.67±6.2 to 13.27±9.6 J/min; P=0.78; power=0.79). Cardiac efficiency decreased from 11.6±6.1% at baseline to 7.6±5.1% (P=0.017) after induction of portal hypertension and gastric ischemia. Conclusions: Transfer of energy within the myocardium was less efficient after induction of portal hypertension and ischemia of the stomach wall. On the basis of these results, alterations in cardiac function associated with GDV may result from deterioration of cardiac efficiency.     

狗舌草提取物诱导淋巴细胞性白血病L1210细胞分化的研究

以单猪屎豆碱（MO）、槲皮素（QU）和环磷酰胺（CY）为参照，观察了狗舌草600mL／L乙醇提取物（EX）对淋巴细胞性白血病L1210细胞体外试验的形态变化；利用流式细胞术，从DNA分子水平上检查了EX对L1210细胞各周期相的影响，探讨EX对L1210细胞的分化机理。结果发现，EX能够使L1210细胞向淋巴细胞方向发展；经EX作用24h后，L1210细胞G0＋G1期的百分比较对照组明显升高。提示EX对L1210细胞增殖的抑制作用可能是由于G1期的阻滞所致。     

IMPACT OF TISSUE INHOMOGENEITY ON DOSE DISTRIBUTION IN THE CANINE CARPAL AND TARSAL REGIONS FOR COBALT AND 6 MV PHOTONS

We quantified the effect of tissue inhomogeneity on dose distribution in a canine distal extremity resulting from treatment with cobalt photons and photons from a 6 MV accelerator. Monitor units for a typical distal extremity treatment were calculated by two methods, using equally weighted, parallel-opposed fields. The first method was a computed tomography (CT)-based, computerized treatment plan, calculated without inhomogeneity correction. The second method was a manual point dose calculation to the isocenter. A computerized planning system was then used to assess the dose distribution achieved by these two methods when tissue inhomogeneity was taken into account. For cobalt photons, the median percentage of the planning target volume (PTV) that received <95% of the prescribed dose was 4.5% for the CT-based treatment plan, and 26.2% for the manually calculated plan. For 6 MV photons, the median percentage of the PTV that received <95% of the prescribed dose was <1% for both planning methods. The PTV dose achieved without using inhomogeneity correction for cobalt photons results in potentially significant under dosing of portions of the PTV.     

The Schmallenberg virus epidemic in Europe—2011–2013

During the Schmallenberg virus (SBV) epidemic, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) collected data on SBV occurrence across Europe in order to provide an assessment of spread and impact. By May 2013, twenty-nine countries were reporting to EFSA and twenty-two countries had reported cases of SBV. The total number of SBV herds reported was 13,846 and the number of SBV laboratory confirmed herds was 8730. The surveillance activities were based on the detection of SBV clinical cases (either adults or newborns). Malformation in newborns was the most commonly reported clinical sign of SBV-infection. All countries were able to provide the date when the first suspicion of SBV in the herd was reported and nineteen could report the location of the herd at a regional level. This allowed the spread of SBV in Europe to be measured both temporally and spatially. The number of SBV confirmed herds started to increase in December 2011 and two peaks were observed in 2012 (February and May). Confirmed herds continued to be reported in 2012 and into 2013. An increase during winter 2012 and spring 2013 was again observed, but the number of confirmed herds was lower than in the previous year. SBV spread rapidly throughout Europe from the initial area of detection. SBV was detected above the latitude of 60° North, which exceeds the northern expansion observed during the bluetongue virus serotype 8 epidemic in 2006–2009. The impact of SBV was calculated as ratio of the number of herds with at least one malformed SBV positive foetus and the total number of herds in this region. The 75th percentile of the malformations ratio in the various affected countries for the whole reporting period was below 1% and 3% for cattle and sheep herds, respectively. International data collection on emerging diseases represents a challenge as the nature of available data, data quality and the proportion of reported cases may vary widely between affected countries. Surveillance activities on emerging animal diseases are often structured only for case detection making the estimation of infection/diseases prevalence and the investigation of risk factors difficult. The impact of the disease must be determined to allow risk managers to take appropriate decisions. Simple within-herd impact indicators suitable for emerging disease outbreaks should be defined that could be measured as part of routine animal health surveillance programmes and allow for rapid and reliable impact assessment of emerging animal health diseases.     

Methods to determine resistance to anthelmintics when continuing larval development occurs

The in vivo faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT) is the most commonly used test to detect anthelmintic resistance (AR) in gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) of ruminants in pasture based systems. However, there are several variations on the method, some more appropriate than others in specific circumstances. While in some cases labour and time can be saved by just collecting post-drench faecal worm egg counts (FEC) of treatment groups with controls, or pre- and post-drench FEC of a treatment group with no controls, there are circumstances when pre- and post-drench FEC of an untreated control group as well as from the treatment groups are necessary. Computer simulation techniques were used to determine the most appropriate of several methods for calculating AR when there is continuing larval development during the testing period, as often occurs when anthelmintic treatments against genera of GIN with high biotic potential or high re-infection rates, such as Haemonchus contortus of sheep and Cooperia punctata of cattle, are less than 100% efficacious. Three field FECRT experimental designs were investigated: (I) post-drench FEC of treatment and controls groups, (II) pre- and post-drench FEC of a treatment group only and (III) pre- and post-drench FEC of treatment and control groups.To investigate the performance of methods of indicating AR for each of these designs, simulated animal FEC were generated from negative binominal distributions with subsequent sampling from the binomial distributions to account for drench effect, with varying parameters for worm burden, larval development and drench resistance. Calculations of percent reductions and confidence limits were based on those of the Standing Committee for Agriculture (SCA) guidelines. For the two field methods with pre-drench FEC, confidence limits were also determined from cumulative inverse Beta distributions of FEC, for eggs per gram (epg) and the number of eggs counted at detection levels of 50 and 25. Two rules for determining AR: (1) %reduction (%R) < 95% and lower confidence limit <90%; and (2) upper confidence limit <95%, were also assessed. For each combination of worm burden, larval development and drench resistance parameters, 1000 simulations were run to determine the number of times the theoretical percent reduction fell within the estimated confidence limits and the number of times resistance would have been declared.When continuing larval development occurs during the testing period of the FECRT, the simulations showed AR should be calculated from pre- and post-drench worm egg counts of an untreated control group as well as from the treatment group. If the widely used resistance rule 1 is used to assess resistance, rule 2 should also be applied, especially when %R is in the range 90 to 95% and resistance is suspected.     

高温胁迫下冷季型草坪草的耐热性评价

对5个典型冷季型草坪草品种在海南进行耐热性试验.在大田高温胁迫环境下,草坪草热害症状最初表现为叶片发生萎蔫,生长率减缓或停滞,但其是否受害却最先反映在叶片灼伤率上,受害最终表现为草坪盖度和根系生长量的下降.叶片灼伤率是判断草坪草早期是否受到热伤害最敏感的指标.耐热性评价结果:Pacer高羊茅Festuc atundincea cv.Pacer＞Houndog高羊茅F.arundinacea cv.Houndog＞Merit草地早熟禾Poa pratensis cv.Merit＞Derby黑麦草Lolium pernne cv.Derby＞Cobra匍匐翦股颖Agrostis palustris cv.Cobra.28～36 ℃可认为是冷季型草坪草的临界受害温度区间,28～32 ℃为初始受害温度区间,32～36 ℃为致死温度区间.     

若尔盖高寒沼泽与草甸中脊椎动物分布规律浅析

描述了若尔盖高寒沼泽中脊椎动物的分布规律，沼泽脊椎动物分布受多种因素制约和影响，因而有关多样化分布的适应性与生活型，沼泽，草甸与共生脊椎动物可随外界环境与行为的影响和干扰而发生变化。在不利于沼泽，草甸的人为活动影响下，淄泽，草甸，动物自馈生态系统受到冲击，脊椎动物及其载体共生体系便会变得更加脆弱。如任其发展并失去有效控制，即会造成沼泽及其上脊椎动物及其载体共生体系便会变得更加脆弱，如任其发展并失去有效控制，即会造成沼泽及其上脊椎动物不可逆转的毁灭性消亡或大迁徙。     

云南省昆明市动物园大肠杆菌分离株毒力基因分布特征

为研究云南省昆明市动物园动物体内大肠杆菌(E.coli)分离株毒力基因的分布特征,从圆通山动物园37个动物种群粪便中分离出37株E.coli,采用生化鉴定方法鉴定大肠杆菌,PCR方法检测19种毒力基因。鉴定结果表明:37株E.coli中,ompA、iroN、fimC、aatA、vat 5种毒力基因携带率分别为100%、95.49%、83.78%、70.27%、51.35%,ibeA、neuC、iutA、traT、stx 5种毒力基因携带率为0,其他9种毒力基因携带率均低于40.00%;分离菌株普遍携带8种以下毒力基因,同时携带10种以上毒力基因的概率为8.10%;分离株强毒力岛基因携带率较高,分布较为普遍。结果表明,昆明市圆通山动物园内流行的大肠杆菌以致病性大肠杆菌为主,不同种类动物体内大肠杆菌的毒力基因携带率存在较大差异,其原因可能与动物的饲养环境以及动物自身的适应能力和抵抗力有关。因此,对于动物园内具有较高大肠杆菌致病风险的动物,要采取相应防治措施,防止大肠杆菌病发生与流行。     

新城疫病毒D90毒株对肺癌A549细胞生物学特性的研究

本试验采用细胞培养、吖啶橙染色、电镜、流式细胞仪等方法,研究了新城疫D90病毒株对肺癌A549细胞的体外杀伤作用。D90感染的细胞经吖啶橙染色后,可见到典型的细胞凋亡的形态学变化;电镜下可观察到凋亡小体,同时也观察到了典型的坏死细胞;流式细胞仪的分析结果表明,在24h的时间段,病毒的作用机制主要表现为凋亡,在48h时间段内,病毒的作用机制主要表现为坏死。人胎儿肝细胞单层培养物中接种D90后,未观察到细胞病变。结果表明,新城疫D90毒株作用于肺癌A549细胞的机制主要为凋亡与坏死相结合,因此它有期望成为一种有效的抗肿瘤生物制剂。