Relative adrenal insufficiency in dogs with sepsis

BACKGROUND: A syndrome of relative adrenal insufficiency has been identified in septic humans, and is associated with hypotension and death. Relative adrenal insufficiency is generally associated with basal serum cortisol concentration within or above the reference range and a blunted cortisol response to adrenocorticotropic hormone administration. It is unknown whether relative adrenal insufficiency occurs in septic dogs. HYPOTHESIS: That relative adrenal insufficiency occurs in septic dogs, and that relative adrenal insufficiency is associated with hypotension and mortality. ANIMALS: Thirty-three septic dogs admitted to a small animal intensive care unit. METHODS: Dogs were included in the study if they had a known or suspected infectious disease and had systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Dogs were excluded if they had disease or medication history expected to affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Serum cortisol and endogenous plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone concentrations were measured before, and serum cortisol concentration measured 1 hour after, intramuscular administration of 250 microg of cosyntropin/dog. The change in cortisol concentration (delta-cortisol) before and after cosyntropin administration was determined in each dog. RESULTS: Hypotension was associated with lower delta-cortisol values (OR 1.3; CI 1.0-1.9; P = .029). delta-Cortisol cutoff of 3.0 microg/dL was most accurate for predicting hypotension, survival to discharge, and 28-day survival. The rate of death in dogs with delta-cortisol < or = 3 microg/dL was 4.1 times that of dogs with delta-cortisol > 3 microg/dL (RR 4.1; CI 1.5-12.3; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Delta-cortisol < or = 3 microg/dL after adrenocorticotropic hormone administration is associated with systemic hypotension and decreased survival in septic dogs.     

草栖钝绥螨对二斑叶螨的捕食作用

为明确草栖钝绥螨Amblyseius herbicolus对二斑叶螨Tetranychus urticae的控制潜能,在温度分别为19、22、25、28和31℃、相对湿度均为（85±5）%、光周期均为16 L∶8 D条件下测定草栖钝绥螨对二斑叶螨各螨态的捕食偏好性、捕食功能反应及自身干扰反应。结果表明,草栖钝绥螨对二斑叶螨幼螨和第1若螨具有嗜食性,对其捕食选择系数分别为2.22和1.27,均大于1.00,对二斑叶螨卵、第2若螨和雌成螨捕食选择系数分别为0.61、0.68和0.22,均小于1.00。在不同温度条件下,草栖钝绥螨对二斑叶螨各螨态的捕食功能反应均符合HollingⅡ型;在19～31℃范围内,草栖钝绥螨对二斑叶螨各螨态的瞬时攻击率、最大日捕食量和捕食能力均随着温度升高呈先升高后降低的趋势,在28℃时达到最大值;而草栖钝绥螨对二斑叶螨各螨态的处理时间随着温度升高呈先缩短后延迟的趋势,在28℃下处理时间最短。在相同温度下,草栖钝绥螨对二斑叶螨卵、幼螨和第1若螨的捕食作用较强。在有限的捕食空间和二斑叶螨密度固定的条件下,草栖钝绥螨单头捕食量和捕食作用率随其自身密度的增加而逐渐下降,说...     

褪黑素的生物合成及对繁殖性能的影响

褪黑素是一种广泛存在于动物体内的激素,不仅能够调节动物昼夜节律,还能够从多方面影响动物的繁殖性能,对于季节性繁殖动物,褪黑素根据日照时长的变化表现出抑制或促进繁殖性能的作用。对于幼年动物,褪黑素表现出抑制发情的作用,体成熟后则表现促进发情的作用。褪黑素主要通过下丘脑-垂体-性腺轴调控动物繁殖活动,除此之外,褪黑素还能够直接作用于生殖系统甚至早期胚胎,通过提高组织及细胞抗炎及抗氧化功能来改善动物繁殖性能。目前,褪黑素能够用于治疗精神疾病及炎症、促进畜禽繁殖和调节昼夜节律,是相关研究领域的热门话题。本文详细描述了褪黑素的生物合成以及分泌调控,并结合褪黑素的生理功能,阐述了对动物繁殖性能以及辅助生殖的影响。     

Use of serum amyloid A in equine medicine and surgery

Serum amyloid A (SAA) has become an indispensable part of the management of equine patients in general practice and specialized hospital settings. Although several proteins possess acute phase properties in horses, the usefulness of SAA exceeds that of other acute phase proteins. This is due to the highly desirable kinetics of the equine SAA response. SAA concentrations exhibit a rapid and pronounced increase in response to inflammation and a rapid decline after the resolution of inflammation. This facilitates the detection of inflammatory disease and real-time monitoring of inflammatory activity. SAA may be used in all stages of patient management: (1) before diagnosis (to rule in/rule out inflammatory disease), (2) at the time of diagnosis (to assess the severity of inflammation and assist in prognostication), and (3) after diagnosis (to monitor changes in inflammatory activity in response to therapy, with relapse of disease, or with infectious/inflammatory complications). By assessing other acute phase reactants in addition to SAA, clinicians can succinctly stage inflammation. White blood cell counts and serum iron concentration change within hours of an inflammatory insult, SAA within a day, and fibrinogen within 2–3 days; the interrelationship of these markers thus indicates the duration and activity of the inflammatory condition. Much research on the equine SAA response and clinical use has been conducted in the last decade. This is the prerequisite for the evidence-based use of this analyte. However, still today, most published studies involve a fairly low number of horses. To obtain solid evidence for use of SAA, future studies should be designed with larger sample sizes.     

植物开花光周期反应的分子调控机制

植物开花时间受到日照长短季节性变化的调节,拟南芥和水稻中与光周期反应相关基因的分离,使人们得以认识植物开花光周期反应的分子调控机制。植物感知日照长短的变化主要由CONSTANS(CO)基因的表达所控制。CO能够将光信号与生物钟信号整合,调节开花基因FLOWERING LOCUS T(FT)的表达,并最终控制植物的开花时间。本文对这一研究的最新进展进行了综述。     

Advances in Pharmacological Studies of Coptis Chinesis

A Coptis Chinesis is the dry rhizoma of ranunculaceous Coptis Chinesis Franch or Coptis deltoidea C. 7. Cheng et Hisao, or Coptis teeta Wall. It is the traditional Chinese herb, which is used in the contagious diseases. In recent years, its new pharmacological actions have been reported, which are antitumour, hypoglycemic response, immunoloregulation, improving the functions of cardiovascular. The important pharmacological functions of Coptis Chinesis are hypoglycemic response, improving the functions of cardiovascular, antitumour. With the deeply researching of Coptis Chinesis pharmacology, and the continuous founding of pharmacological mechanism, new preparation will be widely applied in the clinic.     

Model of Survivable Architecture

Critical information system in Interact is in face of increasingly security problems. More attention has been focused on the survivability of information system, which is the capability of system to continue its mission even in the presence of damage to the system. The authors first introduce the definition of survivability. According to four function properties of survivability, which are Resistance, Recognition, Recovery, and Adaption, the authors design a model of survivable system structure and then explain survivability requirement, survivability strategy in this model. Additionally, they provide possible technical solutions for the survivability of systems, categorized by different aspects of our survivability strategy.     

Suitability of Bi-linear Restoring Force Model in Earthquake Response Analysis

Based on the data of dynamic tests of small single-storey steel frames,the suitability of simplified hi-linear restoring force model in earthquake response analysis is discussed, and the Maximum displacement response MD, the sum of squares of the displacements in the whole vibrating history SSD, and the total dissipated energy EI are considered respectively as equivalent object.     

On Determinative Parameters of SDOF Systems in Elasto- plastic Earthquake Response

Parameters dominating elasto- plastic earthquake response of SDOF systems,relation between ground motion amplitude and elasto- plastic response of SDOF systems are presented in this paper.     

Application of Engineering WorkStation in Analysis of Truck Crashworthiness

This paper presents the basic equations and algorithm of vehicle crashworthinessbriefly.Take a light-truck for example,some applied problems in ustng Engineering WorkStationto analysis truck crashworthiness are discussed.A installation method of contact surface is intro-duced,Finally,a nurnerical simulation result is presented.