Pharmacokinetics of ceftazidime administered to lactating and non-lactating goats

The aim of this work was to determine the pharmacokinetics of intravenous (i.v.) and intramuscular (i.m.) ceftazidime administered to lactating (LTG; n=6) and non-lactating (NLTG; n=6) healthy Creole goats in 2 trials (T1 and T2). During T1 and T2, goats randomly received a single dose of i.m. or i.v. ceftazidime (10 mg/kg). Serum concentration of iv ceftazidime in NLTG and LTG goats is best described by 2 and 3 compartment models, respectively. The pharmacokinetic parameters of iv and im ceftazidime administered to LTG and NLTG showed statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in the constants (lamda(z), T1 vs. T2 [i.v.] 0.5 +/- 0.1 vs. 0.3 +/- 0.1/h; T1 vs. T2 [i.m.] 0.5 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.3 +/- 0.1/h) and in the mean times (t(1/2), T1 vs. T2 [i.v.] 1.6 +/- 0.3 vs. 2.3 +/- 0.6 h; T1 vs. T2 [i.m.] 1.6 +/- 0.7 vs. 2.6 +/- 0.9 h) of elimination. The bioavailability of ceftazidime in LTG and NLTG was 113.0 +/- 17.8 and 96.0 +/- 18.0%, respectively. Ceftazidime concentration in milk at 2 h was: i.v. = 1.9 +/- 0.2 and i.m. = 2.4 +/- 0.5 microg/ml; the penetration in milk was i.v. = 18.3 +/- 13.5 and im = 14.3 +/- 10.6%. Ninety-six hours after i.v. and i.m. administration, residues of the drug were not found in milk. In conclusion, ceftazidime, when administered to goats, showed high concentration times in serum, good penetration into milk and a bioavailability that makes it suitable to be used by the i.m. route.     

Seasonal changes in the prevalence ofHaemonchus andTrichostrongylus hypobiotic larvae in tracer goats in Malaysia

An investigation into the seasonal changes in the population structure of Haemonchus and Trichostrongylus in tracer goats was conducted over 12 months at Serdang, an area in southern West Malaysia with year-round tropical rainfall. Successive groups of parasite-free tracer goats were grazed for a month alongside naturally infected adult goats and necropsied for worm counts 14 days after their removal from pasture. No hypobiotic larvae of Trichostrongylus were recovered. Hypobiotic larvae of Haemonchus were evident during each month of the year but accounted for only a very small proportion of the total Haemonchus burden. Very low levels were encountered from December through to June. Comparatively higher levels of hypobiosis were observed thereafter with a peak of 7.4% in September. The factors responsible for hypobiosis were not clearly defined but the phenomenon was associated with increasing levels of soil moisture storage. Host resistance, adult worm population of tracers and population of ingested L3 were ruled out as possible inducing factors.     

Antiinflammatory screening of the medicinal plant Gynura procumbens

Gynura procumbens isused in Thai folk medicine to treat topicalinflammation, rheumatism, and viral ailments. In thepresent work, attempts were made to verify the folkmedicinal claim that the crude ethanolic extract ofG. procumbens has antinflammatory action and torelate the activity to particular fractions using acroton oil-induced mouse ear inflammation model. Theoriginal ethanolic extract of G. procumbens waspartitioned between water and ethyl acetate. Theresidues were subjected to antinflammatoryevaluation. While the water extract did not show anyantinflammatory activity, the administration of theoriginal organic extract significantly inhibited theincrease in ear thickness in response to crotonoil (n = 5). The activity of 0.75 mg/ear originalorganic extract showed similar antinflammatoryactivity (inhibition 65.2%) to that of 6 mg/earhydrocortisone 21-hemisuccinate sodium salt(inhibition 64.8%). The organic extract was thenfractionated with a series of solvents in order ofincreasing polarity. Each fraction was dried,dissolved in acetone and monitored using the samebioassay. These experiments showed that the hexaneand toluene fractions showed significant inhibitionsof 44.6% and 34.8%, respectively. These twofractions had similar activities to 4 mg/ear ofhydrocortisone (inhibition 35.0%). The possiblechemical constituents in the extracts and fractionswere investigated using thin layer chromatography andspecific color reagents. These tests showed thatsteroids might be one class of antinflammatorycompounds in this plant.     

Determination of iodine value by bromine/instrumental neutron activation analysis

A new microanalytical method has been developed to measure iodine value (IV) of oils and fats. Bromine vapor was used to saturate the ethylenic double bonds, and reacted bromine was determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The method was applied to measure the iodine values of 7 commercially available vegetable oils: almond oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, soy oil, sesame oil, corn oil, and olive oil. No significant difference was observed between the iodine value determined by the proposed method and that determined by an officially approved (Hübl) method. Bromine measurements can be performed up to 150 days after bromination with no significant variation in iodine value; thus, availability of an irradiation facility on the premises is not a limitation. No corrosive and toxic reagents are required, and the method is faster than the official methods. The method is also applicable to measuring iodine values of free or esterified fatty acids.     

WildSolanum species as resistance sources against different pathogens of potato

Summary Resistance screenings againstPhytophthora infestans, Globodera pallida Pa2/3 and the viruses PVY^N, PLRV, PVM and PVS were performed in 98 accessions belonging to 90Solanum wild species. Seventy accessions showed resistance or partial resistance to one or several of these pathogens. Among themS. brachistotrichum exhibited combined resistance to nematodes, late blight and some of the viruses evaluated. Only part of the resistances previously found in different wild species could be confirmed, which might be due to the existing variability within species, the use of different pathogen strains or isolates, or to different methodologies for resistance screening. Several new resistance sources, such asS. andreanum, S. maglia. S. doddsii andS. boliviense, are provided for the different pathogens analyzed. These findings demonstrate that within the gene pool ofSolanum species, still numerous but in part unexploited resistances are available which could be favourably used in potato breeding.     

Deep Impact: observations from a worldwide Earth-based campaign

On 4 July 2005, many observatories around the world and in space observed the collision of Deep Impact with comet 9P/Tempel 1 or its aftermath. This was an unprecedented coordinated observational campaign. These data show that (i) there was new material after impact that was compositionally different from that seen before impact; (ii) the ratio of dust mass to gas mass in the ejecta was much larger than before impact; (iii) the new activity did not last more than a few days, and by 9 July the comet's behavior was indistinguishable from its pre-impact behavior; and (iv) there were interesting transient phenomena that may be correlated with cratering physics.     

An Experimental Model to Study Resistance Index and Systolic/Diastolic Ratio of Uterine Arteries in Adverse Canine Pregnancy Outcome

The aim of this study was to describe the changes in the resistance index (RI) and systolic/diastolic ratio ( S / D ) of the uterine arteries during mid-pregnancy abortion induction in the dog. Sixteen 30–35 day pregnant bitches were randomly assigned to either a pharmacological protocol to interrupt gestation (n = 8) or were used as untreated control group (n = 8). Doppler assessments of uterine arteries blood flow were carried out before the initiation of the protocol and then every other day up to abortion (treated group) or parturition (control group). All treated bitches aborted 6 ± 1.2 days after initiation of the treatment (while none of the non-treated bitches aborted). Pre-treatment RI and S / D did not differ between groups (p > 0.2) while average post-treatment indexes were (mean ± SD): 0.62 ± 0.1 vs 0.53 ± 0.1 (p < 0.01) and 2.96 ± 0.9 vs 2.23 ± 0.3 (p = 0.01), for the treated and non-treated group respectively. Correlations between days to abortion and RI or S / D were 0.75 (p < 0.01) and 0.79 (p < 0.01) and, −0.78 (p < 0.01) and −0.73 (p < 0.01) for the treated and non-treated groups respectively. In the treated group, correlations between serum progesterone (P₄) concentrations and RI and S / D were −0.76 (p < 0.01) and −0.59 (p < 0.01) respectively. It is concluded that, during induction of abortion, RI and S / D of uterine arteries progressively increased while P₄ decreased.     

New hosts for Lecanosticta acicola and Dothistroma septosporum in newly established arboreta in Spain

A historical outbreak of needle blight disease was recorded during 2018 to 2019 in plantations of Pinus radiata and Pinus nigra in the North of Spain. The main pathogens involved in this historical outbreak were identified as Lecanosticta acicola and Dothistroma septosporum. Recently, a variety of tree species in three arboreta planted between 2011 and 2013 in the Basque Country as part of the European project REINFFORCE were showing symptoms of needle blight and defoliation. The aim of this study was to determine which pine species were affected with these pathogens. Tree species sampled included several provenances of P. brutia, P. elliottii, P. nigra, P. pinaster, P. pinea, P. ponderosa, P. sylvestris and P. taeda. Using molecular identification methods, Lecanosticta acicola was confirmed infecting Pinus brutia (Provenance: Alexandropolis, Greece and var. eldarica, Crimea) and represents a new host species for this pathogen. Pinus elliottii (Provenance: Georgia, USA) and P. ponderosa (Provenance: Central California, USA) are new host reports of L. acicola for Spain. Dothistroma septosporum was found for the first time on P. brutia (Provenance: Marmaris, Turkey) and P. ponderosa (Provenance: Oregon, USA) in Spain and was also detected infecting P. nigra (Provenance: Sologne Vayrières, France).