Helicobacter infection in dogs and cats: facts and fiction

The discovery of the spiral bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its causative role in gastric disease in humans has brought a dramatic change to gastroenterology. Although spiral bacteria have been known for more than a century to infect the stomachs of dogs and cats, recent research has been conducted mainly in the wake of interest in H. pylori. H. pylori has not been found in dogs and only very rarely in cats and zoonotic risk is minimal. A variety of other Helicobacter spp. can infect the stomach of pets; however, their pathogenic role is far from clear, and they have a small but real zoonotic potential. The prevalence of gastric Helicobacter spp. in dogs and cats is high, irrespective of clinical signs, and as in human medicine, mode of transmission is unclear. The relationship of Helicobacter spp. to gastric inflammation in cats and dogs is unresolved, with inflammation, glandular degeneration, and lymphoid follicle hyperplasia accompanying infection in some but not all subjects. Circulating anti-Helicobacter immunoglobulin G antibodies have been detected in 80% of dogs with naturally acquired infection and most dogs and cats with experimental infection. The gastric secretory axis is similar in infected and uninfected cats and dogs and no relationship of infection to gastrointestinal ulcers has been found. Differences in the pathogenicity of Helicobacter spp. are apparent, because infection with H pylori is associated with a more severe gastritis than infection with other Helicobacter spp. in both cats and dogs. Rapid urease test, histopathology, and touch cytology are all highly accurate invasive diagnostic tests for gastric Helicobacter-like organisms in dogs and cats, whereas culture and polymerase chain reaction are the only means to identify them to the species level. Urea breath and blood tests or serology can be used to diagnose Helicobacter spp. noninvasively in dogs and cats. Most therapeutic studies in pets have not shown long-term eradication of Helicobacter spp. Whether this is due to reinfection or recrudescence has not been established.     

An experimental study of hypercholesterolemia-induced disorder of Oddi's sphincter

AIM:To investigate the functional changes and histopathological basis of Oddi’s sphincter under hypercholesterolemia. METHODS:Twenty - four New Zealand rabbits were equally divided into be groups ran- domly. Experimental groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ fed with cholesterol - added forage for 4 and 8 weeks respectively before sacri- ficed. Images, functions and histopathological characteristics of Oddi’s sphincters of experimental groups were studied and compared with control group by cholangiography, catheter manometry, and quantitative analysis of nitric oxide synthase. RESULTS: The hasal pressures of proximal low - pressure segment of Oddi’s sphincter of hath experimen- tal groups Ⅰand Ⅱ (20.9±6.1 mmHg, 25 .6±9.1 mmHg, respectively) were higher than those of control group sig- nificantly (11.7±2.8 mmHg, P < 0.01, P < 0.01 ). The hasal pressures of distal high - pressure "valve" segment of both experimental pops (138 .4±45. 5 mmHg and 144. 5 ±40 .4 mmHg, respectively) were significantly higher than those of coned group (69.3±9.8 mmHg, P < 0.01 and P<0.01). The gallbladder volUmes of experimental group Ⅰ and Ⅱ (3.4±1.0 mL and 3.9±1.9 mL) were significantly larger than those of control group (2.0 ±1.9 mL, P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 ). Between groups there were no significant differences in nitric oxide synthase con- tents. Enlargement of the cell volume, wavy distortion of the cell membrane, loosening and disarrangement of myofila- ment, uneven in size and distribution of dense body, angulation of longitudinal axis between dense body and myofila- ment, swelling, congregated at one end of nucleoulus and disappearance of cristae of plasmosomes and concertration of chromosome at nucleolus margin were observed in experimental groups under electron-microscope. CONCLUSION: The diastole function of Oddi’s sphincter could be damaged by hyperecholesterolemia, inducing a functional disorder of Oddi’s sphincter with increased resistance in bile excretion. The result is retertion of bile in the gallbladder.     

Physicochemical properties of the thermal gel of water-washed meat in the presence of the more soluble fraction of porcine sarcoplasmic protein

We investigated the physicochemical properties of the thermal gel of water‐washed pork meat (WWM) in the presence of the soluble fraction of porcine sarcoplasmic protein (SP) obtained with ammonium sulfate at 75 percent saturation. Two precipitated fractions of SP were obtained at 0–50 percent and 50–75 percent saturation, named SP‐f1 and SP‐f2, respectively, and the soluble fraction obtained at 75 percent saturation, SP‐f3, was used. Sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that SP‐f3 contained mainly glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), while SP‐f1 and SP‐f2 had other SPs such as phosphorylase b, enolase, actin and phosphoglycerate mutase. The gel strength of WWM was greater when SP‐f3 rather than one of various animal proteins such as bovine plasma (BP), egg white, or whey protein isolates (WPI), was added and SP‐f3 had a gel‐enhancing effect as good as that of polyphosphate (PP). The gel strength of WWM with added SP‐f3 increased significantly with NaCl at 0.15 mol/L or more, but not in the absence of NaCl (0 mol/L). The effect of SP‐f3 was evident at neutral pH and maximum gel strength was obtained at a pH above 6.0. Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis showed that an endothermic peak corresponding to myosin heads in WWM shifted to a lower temperature with the addition of SP‐f3, as in the case of PP, though there was no such shift in the presence of other animal proteins (BP, egg white and WPI), suggesting that SP‐f3 increases the gel strength of WWM through the dissociation of actomyosin similar to PP. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed wall‐like structures among the protein strands in the WWM gel matrix in the presence of SP‐f3. The results of DSC and SEM indicated that the formation of a gel network in meat products is reinforced with GAPDH in SP after the interaction between GAPDH and myofibrillar protein.     

棉铃虫齿唇姬蜂触角感器的扫描电镜观察

棉铃虫齿唇姬蜂雌雄蜂触角上感器的扫描电镜观察结果显示，共发现毛形感器、板形感器、钟形感器、锥形感器、Bohm氏鬃毛和刺形感器6类感器，分别对这6类感器的类型与形态进行了详细描述，并对各种感器的功能进行了深入的分析和讨论。     

Stem-base disease and fungal colonisation of winter wheat grown in compost inoculated with Fusarium culmorum, F. graminearum and Microdochium nivale

Fungal colonisation of winter wheat cv. Cadenza by Fusarium culmorum, F. graminearum and Microdochium nivale was studied under conditions designed to avoid the splash dispersal of conidia from infested compost, to evaluate the possibility that systemic growth may transfer infection from the stem-base to the head. At decimal growth stages 33, 59, 77–87 and 95 the extent of fungal growth was assessed using a sample of 72 plants, by the recovery of fungal species from the stem-base, from each node and from the ear. Each of the fungi was recovered from stem tissues above soil level in some, apparently symptomless, plants. Symptoms of Fusarium foot rot were seen in an increasing proportion of plants during grain-fill and desiccation. There was an inverse relationship between recovery and the height above stem-base from which the stem tissue was excised. F. culmorum was the most frequently isolated fungus and it was also recovered from the highest position in plants. Only 3% of plants were colonised above the second node and none of the fungal species were recovered from either the fifth node or the ear. This suggests that colonisation and systemic growth from Fusarium infested compost is unlikely to contribute to the development of ear blight symptoms in winter wheat.     

浅谈电子文件对档案工作的影响及对策

电子文件的大量出现，不仅对档案管理理论造成了很大的冲击，更重要的在于促使管理理念的更新，管理视角的转变。通过对近年的电子文件定义及其特点综述、电子文件对档案业务管理工作的影响、及电子文件档案学理论的影响和对策进行简要介绍。     

Simultaneous measurements of quantum yield and CO2 uptake for the assessment of non-assimilative electron flow in tree leaves

Using attached and detached leaves ofAcer palmatum Thunb. andRhaphiolepsis umbellata Makino, pulse-modulated chlorophyll fluorescence and CO₂ exchange were measured. Quantum yield of photosynthesis was determined from the fluorescence parameter(Fm′−Fs)/Fm′, where (Fm′−Fs) was defined as the difference between steady state chlorophyll fluorescence (Fs) and maximum fluorescence (Fm′) elicited by a saturating light pulse. The rate of electron transport through photosystem II (total electron flow) was calculated from the product of quantum yield andA (PFD), whereA is the rate of absorbed photons as given by leaf absorptance, and PFD is the photon flux density at the leaf surface. The rate of electron transport dependant on CO₂ uptake (assimilative electron flow) was calculated from the gross photosynthetic rate in a leaf. The difference between the rates of total and assimilative electron transport was denoted as the rate of non-assimilative electron transport which depends on photorespiration and oxygen reduction. Available data provided quantitative information on the rate of non-assimilative electron flow in intact leaves. When leaf photosynthesis ofA. palmatum was measured under sunlight, the rates of total and assimilative electron transport were determined to be approximately 900 and 150 μmol equiv. e/mg Chl·h, respectively. The difference (750 μmol equiv. e/mg Chl·h) was attributed to the activity of non-assimilative electron flow. The ratio of total to assimilative electron flow was found to increase gradually with rising in irradiance. The results suggest that non-assimilative electron flow occurred at much higher rate than assimilative electron flow at high irradiance. Implications of the results are briefly discussed in relation to photosynthesis limitation in tree leaves.     

Delignification of cell walls of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chamaecyparis obtusa</Emphasis> during alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation

To clarify the behavior of whole lignins in wood cell walls during alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation, the delignification process from cell walls in normal and compression woods of Chamaecyparis obtusa Endl. (Cupressaceae) was observed using ultraviolet and transmission electron microscopies. The lignin content conspicuously decreased to around 10% after 35min in normal wood. The lignin content in compression wood finally leveled off at aroumd 10% after 50min. In gel filtration of oxidation products in ethyl acetate, a high molecular weight fraction was prominent in extracts from the early stage of the reaction. As the oxidation progressed, the high molecular weight fraction became less prominent in both normal and compression wood. Changes in the weights of cell wall residues during reaction indicated that approximately half of the components other than lignin were also removed from the cell walls. This shows that the majority of lignin with relatively high molecular weight is removed from the cell walls together with polysaccharides in the early stage of the reaction and that further oxidative degradation occurs in solution in later stages. Only a small amount of the lignin with low molecular weight could be analyzed by gas chromatography.Parts of this report were presented at the 47th (Kochi, April 1997) and 48th (Shizuoka, April 1998) Annual Meetings of the Japan Wood Research Society, and at the Lignin Symposium, Sapporo, October 1997     

碱蓬和盐地碱蓬花粉形态研究及其在分类上的贡献

借助光学显微镜和扫描电镜研究了碱蓬属2种植物碱蓬和盐地碱蓬的花粉形态，并对不同生境条件下盐地碱蓬4变式的花粉形态进行了对比研究，研究结果表明：花粉粒外部形态成球形；大小在15.4-24.0μm之间；具有散萌发孔，萌发孔数量在46－55之间，萌发孔直径为3．1－5．4μm；花粉粒表面光滑，其上散布许多颗粒状小突起，萌发孔上亦有数目不等的小突起。以上数值在不同种间有较明显的差异，在盐地碱医宵同生态变式间亦有差异，但差异较小。这些细微的特性差异可为碱蓬属植物分类提供参考依据，是研究该属植物分类及生态的新资料。