Microinjection of a conserved peptide sequence of p34cdc2 induces a Ca2+ transient in oocytes

The product of the yeast cell cycle control gene cdc2, and its homologs in higher eukaryotes (p34cdc2), all contain a perfectly conserved sequence of 16 amino acids that has not been found in any other protein sequence. Microinjection of this peptide triggers a specific increase in the concentration of intracellular free Ca2+ that originates from intracellular stores in both starfish and Xenopus oocytes. Thus, p34cdc2 might interact through its conserved peptide domain with some component of the Ca2(+)-regulatory system.     

Decreased respiratory burst activity in neonatal bovine neutrophils stimulated by protein kinase C agonists.

Newborn calves have a high susceptibility to bacterial infections, which may be related to the impaired neutrophil defense functions in newborns. The oxygen-dependent production of the free radical superoxide anion (O2-) represents an important part of the leukocyte respiratory burst central to neutrophil-directed defenses against bacterial infection. Because protein kinase C (PKC) activation is considered to be an important step in the signal transduction pathway for the O2- generating system, we compared O2- production by newborn and adult bovine neutrophils stimulated with 3 different PKC agonists. When the phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) was used, PKC-dependent O2- generation from newborn neutrophils was significantly reduced (P less than 0.01) for all concentrations of PMA tested (10, 100, and 500 ng/ml). In addition, newborn neutrophils had a significantly (P less than 0.01) reduced lag time for O2- generation. Similar significantly (P less than 0.01) reduced O2- generation from newborn neutrophils was observed with an additional phorbol ester (phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate); lag times were not calculated for phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate. When O2- generation was stimulated with a synthetic diacylglycerol analogue (1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol), less O2- was generated from both adult and newborn neutrophils than was obtained with the phorbol esters, and newborn neutrophils produced significantly (P less than 0.01) less O2- only at 50 microM 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Ovarian teratoma and endometritis in a mare

An 8-year-old Arabian mare was admitted for a large ovarian anovulatory follicle. A clinical diagnosis of ovarian tumor and endometritis was established. Histological examinations revealed an ovarian teratoma and a grade II endometritis. Three months after unilateral ovariectomy, the mare was confirmed pregnant and eventually gave birth uneventfully.     

Estrogen-dependent induction of cyclooxygenase-2 in the canine prostate in vivo

Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is involved in several physiologic and pathologic processes. COX-2 is overexpressed in human and canine prostate cancer, but little is known about COX-2 inducers in the prostate. Our objective was to investigate the effect of sex steroid hormones on COX-2 expression in the canine prostate in vivo. COX-2 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry in intact and castrated dogs treated with exogenous androgen or estrogen. Results showed that no COX-2 staining was observed in prostates of untreated or androgen-treated castrated or intact dogs. However, treatment of intact and castrated dogs with estrogen resulted in squamous metaplasia with intense COX-2 expression observed in both squamous epithelial cells and in cells of acini without metaplasia. This is the first report to demonstrate the induction of COX-2 by estrogen in the prostate in vivo.     

A retrospective study of 29 cases of otitis media/interna in dairy calves

Epidemiological data, clinical findings, laboratory data, medical imaging, and outcomes were reviewed in 29 dairy calves with otitis media/interna. Age at admission ranged from 1 to 24 wk. The majority of calves were referred during winter. Clinical signs included drooping ear, ptosis, head tilt, abnormal nystagmus, strabismus, dysphagia, regurgitation, stiff neck, opisthotonos, facial hyperesthesia, and purulent aural discharge. Intranasal endoscopic examination of 5 animals revealed nasopharyngeal collapse in 4. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was abnormal in all of 7 cases. Mycoplasma bovis was cultured from all but 1 case with external ear or tympanic bullae samples (n = 12), and Mycoplasma arginini was cultured from the remaining ear sample. Radiographs of the tympanic bullae were performed in 24 calves, tomodensitometry (CT) in 3 calves and ultrasound in 4 calves. According to medical imaging techniques or necropsy, 69% of the cases were classified as chronic. Mean duration of treatment was 23.3 d. The rate of clinical recovery was 75%.     

Predicting species-specific basal areas in urban forests using airborne laser scanning and existing stand register data

The aim of this work was to examine how well species-specific stand attributes can be predicted using a combination of airborne laser scanning (ALS) and existing stand register data in urban forests. In this context, the ability of three data combinations: ALS data and stand register data, ALS data and digital aerial images and all of these combined, was tested in the prediction of species-specific basal areas. We divided tree species into seven and three different tree species strata and applied two prediction methods: (1) regression method, in which the predicted total basal area was divided into tree species based on tree species proportions from stand register data, and (2) the nearest neighbour (NN) method, in which tree species proportions were used as predictor variables for species-specific basal areas. Prediction models were built based on training data of 205 field plots, and the accuracy of the models was tested based on validation data of 52 forests stands. Our results showed that species-specific predictions of seven tree species were more accurate when tree species proportions from stand register data were used in the prediction. Both the regression and the NN method provided reasonable accuracy. This study showed that tree species information from existing stand register data could be used as an alternative for aerial images in ALS-based forests inventories. The use of ALS data together with stand register data and small field data could also be economically beneficial in an inventory of urban forests.     

Congenital enlargement of the suburethral diverticulum in a Holstein calf

A 3-month-old, female Holstein calf was examined because of marked perineal swelling and tenesmus of 4-days duration. A congenitally enlarged urethral diverticulum was diagnosed using fluoroscopic and ultrasonographic imaging techniques. The urethral diverticulum was surgically resected and the perineal area was reconstructed.     

Water yam (Dioscorea alata L.) diversity pattern in Brazil: an analysis with SSR and morphological markers

Substantial progress was made in the last decade in understanding the diversity in Dioscorea species. However, most of the studies so far concentrated in the ‘yam belt in Africa’. We present a genetic diversity and structure analysis among commercial and local varieties of water yam (Dioscorea alata L.) in Brazil using microsatellite and morphological markers. Twelve microsatellite primers were used to generate DNA profiles of 72 local varieties and 17 commercial accessions of water yam collected in four different regions in Brazil. Also, four morphological traits were evaluated on individual plants under field conditions. The morphological characterization showed considerable diversity. High polymorphism was found with 100 % polymorphism observed for 11 primers and a discriminating power value of 0.92, on average. We did not observe a strong population structure among sampling regions, while most of the genetic diversity was concentrated within regions (95.9 %). Analysis of the relationship between accessions did not clearly separate the local and commercial genotypes. However, the molecular analyses of D. alata showed high intraspecific diversity in local accessions from different regions in Brazil, with the highest Shannon index value (H′ = 0.41) for the Southeast region. These results confirmed an admixture of accessions in all sampling regions, consistent with the lack of a significant correlation between geographic and genetic distances, suggesting that farmers exchanged water yam materials extensively. The genetic diversity can be explained by the result of a continuous exchange of accessions by farmers throughout Brazil.