CLINICAL AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING FEATURES OF INFLAMMATORY VERSUS NEOPLASTIC MEDIAL RETROPHARYNGEAL LYMPH NODE MASS LESIONS IN DOGS AND CATS

Medial retropharyngeal lymph node (MRLN) mass lesions are a common cause of cranial cervical masses in dogs and cats, and are predominantly due to metastatic neoplasia, primary neoplasia, or inflammatory lymphadenitis. The purpose of this retrospective cross‐sectional study was to test the hypothesis that clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics for dogs and cats with MRLN mass lesions would differ for inflammatory vs. neoplastic etiologies. Dogs and cats with MRLN mass lesions that had undergone MRI and had a confirmed cytological or histopathological diagnosis were recruited from medical record archives. Clinical findings were recorded by one observer and MRI characteristics were recorded by two other observers who were unaware of clinical findings. A total of 31 patients were sampled, with 15 in the inflammatory lymphadenitis group and 16 in the neoplasia group. Patients with inflammatory lymphadenitis were more likely to be younger and present with lethargy (P = 0.001), pyrexia (P = 0.000), and neck pain (P = 0.006). Patients with inflammatory lymphadenitis were also more likely to have a leukocystosis (P = 0.02) and segmental neutrophilia (P = 0.001). Inflammatory masses were more likely to have moderate or marked MRI perinodal contrast enhancement (P = 0.021) and local muscle contrast enhancement (P = 0.03) whereas the neoplastic masses were more likely to have greater MRI width (P = 0.002) and height (P = 0.009). In conclusion, findings indicated that some clinical and MRI characteristics differed for dogs and cats with inflammatory vs. neoplastic medial retropharyngeal lymph node masses. Although histopathological or cytological diagnosis remains necessary for confirmation, these findings may help with the ranking of differential diagnoses of future cases.     

INVITED REVIEW—IMAGE REGISTRATION IN VETERINARY RADIATION ONCOLOGY: INDICATIONS,IMPLICATIONS, AND FUTURE ADVANCES

The field of veterinary radiation therapy (RT) has gained substantial momentum in recent decades with significant advances in conformal treatment planning, image‐guided radiation therapy (IGRT), and intensity‐modulated (IMRT) techniques. At the root of these advancements lie improvements in tumor imaging, image alignment (registration), target volume delineation, and identification of critical structures. Image registration has been widely used to combine information from multimodality images such as computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET) to improve the accuracy of radiation delivery and reliably identify tumor‐bearing areas. Many different techniques have been applied in image registration. This review provides an overview of medical image registration in RT and its applications in veterinary oncology. A summary of the most commonly used approaches in human and veterinary medicine is presented along with their current use in IGRT and adaptive radiation therapy (ART). It is important to realize that registration does not guarantee that target volumes, such as the gross tumor volume (GTV), are correctly identified on the image being registered, as limitations unique to registration algorithms exist. Research involving novel registration frameworks for automatic segmentation of tumor volumes is ongoing and comparative oncology programs offer a unique opportunity to test the efficacy of proposed algorithms.     

解读广州市住区环境规划与建设

在大力发展住区建设的同时,广州结合当地独特的地理气候特征和人文历史积淀,创造了一批高质量的安康住区。通过对新建居住小区环境建设的分析,指出当前居住小区环境建设中的问题,提出住区环境规划建设与生态结合的发展方向。     

粉煤灰磁粉表面化学镀铜的研究

粉煤灰磁粉是热电厂生产过程产生的固体废弃物粉煤灰中的一种成分,由于其有内在的磁性和微导电性,通过表面金属化后,能用于制备电磁屏蔽和吸波材料。笔者采用置换反应法在粉煤灰空心磁粉表面进行了化学镀铜的研究。扫描电镜(SEM)和能谱(EDX)分析结果表明,该化学镀方法能在其表面获得良好性能的金属镀层。     

SrNi2Fe16O27铁氧体的合成与性能研究

采用柠檬酸法合成出超微W型铁氧体。用XRD、VSM测试其结构和磁性能。试验结果表明,该法在1000℃制得的铁氧体性能优于其他方法制得的铁氧体,控制pH值、水量和柠檬酸的量对铁氧体的结构和磁性能都有一定的影响。     

Insulin-like growth factor I in growing thoroughbreds

The objective of this longitudinal study was to characterize growth and plasma insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations in pasture-raised thoroughbreds fed two sources of dietary energy. Mares and foals were randomly assigned to either a sugar and starch (SS) or fat and fibre (FF)-rich feed, and plasma IGF-I and growth were measured once a month from 1 to 16 months of age. These dependent variables were also compared with day length and ambient temperature. There was an association between plasma IGF-I concentration and average daily gain (ADG) (r = 0.32, p < 0.001). There were also clear seasonal patterns in both ADG and plasma IGF-I, with high values in June and May, and a low value in March. Plasma IGF-I and ADG were positively associated with day length and temperature. Plasma IGF-I was never higher (p > 0.10) in the FF group when compared with the SS group, and was higher in the SS group during a rapid growth phase in the spring of year 2 (p < 0.10). The results establish an association between ADG and IGF-I in the horse and indicate that environment and age may influence this relationship. In addition, plasma IGF-I is influenced by dietary energy source at particular times of year. This link has important implications in designing feeding management strategies that are aimed at addressing skeletal development.     

青藏铁路沿线植物生态资源调查初步报告

通过对格尔木至拉萨段铁路沿线目前生态环境和青藏铁路建设过程中产生的生态环境影响为期21 d的调查,初步总结沿线主要植物种382个,主要呈现出5个生态分区,并提出青藏铁路后期建设的建议.