Epidémiologie du Lophodermium pinastri (Schrad.) Chev.

Epidemiology of the needle-cast fungus of pines (Lophodermium pinastri): results of four years studies with the aid of a Hirst spore trap . This study is dealing with the results of laboratory and forest (Haguenau) observations on the biology of the needle cast fungus of pines. The spores were harvested during a period of four years with a Hirst spore trap and their germination rate was studied. The results obtained permit to apply chemical treatments with a certainty of success.     

Determinants of the Travel Behavior of the Suburban Elderly

In recent years, a significant feature of population change in North American metropolitan areas has been the rapid suburbanization of elderly people. The ability to engage in routine activity may be a necessary condition for the maintenance of independent life styles and psychological well‐being among older suburbanites. Using a conceptual framework based on Parmelee and Lawton's ecological model of aging, this article offers an exploratory investigation of the determinants of the travel of separate samples of elderly male and female suburbanites to each of five destination categories of key service/activity sites in a Canadian city. The results of the tests of ten multiple regression models disclose that the levels of explanation of trip frequency afforded by “autonomy components” (e.g. health‐related characteristics, living arrangements, and income level) vary according to destination category. However, the explanatory power of “security components” (i.e. variables concerning access to destination categories) is generally low. Overall, the findings of the study provide a basis for developing a deeper understanding of the repetitive travel behavior of elderly suburbanites.     

Clinical leptospirosis in three cats (2001-2009)

Based on previous research, cats were thought to have been resistant to the development of clinical signs following infection with Leptospira spp. This case report presents three confirmed, naturally infected clinical cases of feline leptospirosis. The cases presented were all indoor/outdoor cats that were known to hunt. They were also all presented at different stages of renal insufficiency; however, they did not show any liver involvement. The authors suggest that there may be a longer incubation period in cats than dogs and recommend further research in the form of a large, clinical study.     

Etude comparative in vitro de ľaptitude lignivore de quelques basidiomycetes agents de pourritures de coeur chez ľépicea

A comparative study of the wood destroying capacity in vitro of some butt-rot fungi . The wood destroying capacity of several butt-rot-fungi (Coriolus abietinus, Fomes annosus, Leptoporus adustus, Odontia bicolor, Sistotrema brinkmannii, Stereum areolatum, Stereum sanguinolentum) on Picea abies was studied comparatively in vitro. O. bicolor was more destructive than F. annosus. S. brinkmanni and S. areolatum caused only small weight losses.     

Une méthode d'inoculation pour l'évaluation précoce du comportement du Mélèze vis a vis du Lachnellula willkommii

An inoculation method for early assessment of Larch resistance to Lachnellula willkommii . Efficiency of inoculation with mycelium and ascospores was compared on 4–13-year-old Larix decidua. Only mycelium induced high infection rates. Mycelial inoculum was contained in colonized sorghum-straw pieces and was introduced in 1 mm diameter holes drilled through the bark in April/May. The main infection was detectable as early as 18 months after inoculation and infection rate increased only until the 28th month after inoculation. The susceptibility of the branches did not depend on their age, their position in the trees, the age of inoculated shoots or the management of the trees. Susceptibility was even for the 1–2-yr-old parts of the stems and branches but the oldest parts of the stems were less susceptible. The inoculation method was effective for detecting differences in susceptibility among trees. One seedling from the Alps, and clone 3001–00035, which is the mother of resistant hybrids, were the least susceptible.     

Correlation between severity of clinical signs and motor evoked potentials after transcranial magnetic stimulation in large-breed dogs with cervical spinal cord disease

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate use of transcranial magnetic motor evoked potentials for assessment of the functional integrity of the cervical spinal cord in large-breed dogs with cervical spinal cord disease. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled, masked study. ANIMALS: 10 healthy large-breed control dogs and 25 large-breed dogs with cervical spinal cord diseases. PROCEDURE: Affected dogs were allocated to 3 groups on the basis of neurologic status: signs of neck pain alone, ambulatory with ataxia in all limbs, or nonambulatory. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was performed on each dog with the same standard technique. Motor evoked potentials (MEP) were recorded from electrodes inserted in the tibialis cranialis muscle. Following the procedure, each dog was anesthetized and cervical radiography, CSF analysis, and cervical myelography were performed. The MEP latencies and amplitudes were correlated with neurologic status of the dogs after correction for neuronal path length. RESULTS: Mean MEP latencies and amplitudes were significantly different between control dogs and dogs in each of the 3 neurologic categories, but were not significantly different among dogs in the 3 neurologic categories. A linear association was evident between MEP latencies and amplitudes and severity of neurologic deficits; the more severe the neurologic deficits, the more prolonged the latencies and the more decreased the amplitudes. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Transcranial magnetic MEP are useful to assess severity of cervical spinal cord disease in large-breed dogs. Impairment of the functional integrity of the cervical spinal cord was found even in dogs with neck pain alone.     

Elevated rate of collagen solubilization and postmortem degradation in muscles of lambs with high growth rates: possible relationship with activity of matrix metalloproteinases

The extracellular matrix, composed mainly of collagen, is considered responsible for the residual toughness of meat. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) responsible for the degradation of connective tissue are found in most tissues, but their participation in meat aging has not been tested. We recently showed that skeletal muscle has multiple MMP activities, as well as regulators and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases. Here we present the first observations of physiologic and postmortem variation of MMP activities in muscle. Growing lambs were offered two levels of intake: hay + concentrate for lambs with high growth rate (average daily gain > 250 g) and hay only for those with low growth rate (average daily gain < 25 g). At slaughter and at 21 d of postmortem aging of longissimus and semimembranosus muscles, we studied collagen content, collagen solubility, free hydroxyproline (OH-pro), and levels of latent and active forms of a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2) by gelatin zymography. Our results demonstrate the presence of an active isoform of MMP-2 in lamb muscle. Its level was higher (+90%, P < 0.01) in lambs that expressed a high growth rate. Activity of MMP-2 was also present at 21 d postmortem, at levels similar to those detected at slaughter. At slaughter and at 21 d, all muscles contained latent MMP-2 and the quantity of proenzyme was greater than that present in the activated form. The levels of free OH-pro in muscles of lambs with high growth rate increased significantly (P < 0.001) over 21 d from 3.75 to 5.08% of total collagen, and this was significantly related to the level of active MMP-2 at slaughter. By contrast, the amount of free OH-pro in muscles of lambs with low growth rate was not different at 21 d (1.63% of total OH-pro) than it had been at slaughter (1.84% of total OH-pro). These results suggest that collagen degradation all the way to free amino acids occurs postmortem in muscle and that there are active MMP simultaneously present that may account for this catabolism. The growth rate of animals at slaughter influences collagen turnover in vivo, as well as postmortem collagen degradation.     

Potential factors affecting the outcome of dogs with a resection of the lateral wall of the vertical ear canal.

The records of 60 dogs that had a resection of the lateral wall of the vertical ear canal (Zepp) were examined. The surgical outcomes were evaluated in association with the following variables: breed, sex, age of onset of the otitis externa, duration of the disease before the surgery was performed, treatment received for the otitis externa, the status of the ear and tympanic membrane at the time of the surgery, the culture results, and concurrent medical problems. The outcome of surgery was acceptable in 45% and unacceptable in 55% of the cases. Breed was the only factor that could be correlated with the outcome. The procedure failed in 86.5% of the cocker spaniels. When surgical outcomes in breeds other than cocker spaniels were evaluated, 63% were acceptable and 37% were unacceptable. Sharpeis were found to have an ear canal of small diameter compared with that of other breeds and a tendency to have better outcomes.     

Droplet-vitrification of apical shoot tips of Rubus fruticosus L. and Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.

Apical shoot tips excised from in vitro plantlets of blackberry (Rubus fruticosus L. ‘?a?anska Bestrna’) and cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.) were tested for recovery after cryopreservation using the droplet-vitrification technique. Following treatment for 30 min with a loading solution comprising 1.9 M glycerol and 0.5 M sucrose, explants were dehydrated with a highly concentrated cryoprotectant solution, so called vitrification solution. Shoot tips were dehydrated for 10, 20 and 30 min at room temperature with a solution derived from the original PVS2 solution (containing 37.5% (w/v) glycerol, 15% (w/v) dimethylsulfoxide, 15% (w/v) ethylene glycol and 22.5% (w/v) sucrose) and for 60, 90 and 120 min using the PVS3 solution (containing 50% (w/v) glycerol and 50% (w/v) sucrose). Explants were cooled by direct immersion in LN in 10 μl droplets of vitrification solution placed on aluminium foil strips. Rewarming was done by direct plunging of foil strips in a preheated (37 °C) unloading solution (0.8 M sucrose) for 30 s, after which an equal volume of unloading solution (at room temperature) was added for further incubation for 30 min. As for regrowth of blackberry, PVS3 proved more effective than the modified PVS2, but the difference was significant (P < 0.05) only for the shortest treatment duration. The duration of PVS3 treatment had no significant effect on regrowth of cryopreserved shoot tips (45.8–70%). By contrast, a 30-min treatment with modified PVS2 solution resulted in a significant increase in regeneration percentage (30%), as compared with a 10-min treatment with the same solution (5%). Cherry plum shoot tips were very sensitive to both vitrification solutions and growth recovery of cryopreserved samples was generally lower (5–20%) than that of blackberry explants. No significant influence of PVS treatment (both type of solution and treatment duration) on regrowth of cryopreserved shoot tips was observed with cherry plum shoot tips. Experiments performed in France and in Serbia produced similar results, thereby showing the robustness and reproducibility of the protocols developed.     

Blood vessel density in canine osteosarcoma.

Canine osteosarcoma is a prevalent bone neoplasm which has similarities to the human disease. We used a retrospective study to investigate the possibility that tumor vascularity may provide useful prognostic information, indicative of the role of this parameter in progression of this cancer. We quantified microvessel density in 52 histological specimens of primary tumor, immunostained for von Willebrand's Factor to identify vascular endothelium. For the 20 cases not euthanized at presentation or lost to follow-up, we found significantly higher tumor microvascular densities in animals presenting with detectable pulmonary metastases (5 of 20), and significantly lower densities in animals without metastatic disease at presentation, but later surviving to develop pulmonary metastases (7 of 20; P < 0.05). Animals with no evidence of pulmonary metastases at time of death (8 of 20) had intermediate vascular densities in their tumors. The results of this preliminary study suggest that vascularity of the primary tumor may be an indication of tumor progression. Future studies with a larger number of cases should establish whether vascular density can be a useful prognostic parameter for canine osteosarcoma.