Suspected epidural morphine analgesia induced chronic urinary and bowel dysfunction in a cat

A 12-year-old male castrated domestic shorthair developed chronic urinary retention, constipation and a decreased perineal reflex following a single lumbo-sacral epidural injection of morphine during general anesthesia. Similar adverse effects have been reported in humans following epidural analgesia, but this is the first reported case of both urinary and bowel dysfunction in a cat purportedly from an epidural. The cat was medically managed with manual bladder expressions, intermittent enemas, and various medications including bethanechol, cisapride and stool softeners. The cat continues to have long-term neurologic dysfunction 15 months post-onset. This case report describes a rare but serious potential risk of lumbo-sacral epidural injections in cats.     

Outcomes of 35 dogs with craniomaxillofacial osteosarcoma treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy

Canine craniomaxillofacial osteosarcoma (OSA) is most commonly treated surgically; however, in cases where surgery is not feasible or non-invasive treatment is desired, stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) may be elected for local tumour control. In this study, we evaluated 35 dogs treated with SBRT. Nine dogs (26%) had calvarial, seven (20%) had mandibular and 19 (54%) had maxillary OSA. Median time to first event (TFE) was 171 days, and overall median survival time (MST) was 232 days. Site-specific MSTs were 144 days for mandible, 236 days for calvarium and 232 days for maxilla (p = .49). Pulmonary metastatic disease was observed in 12/35 (34%) patients and was detected pre-SBRT in six dogs (17%) and post-SBRT in the remaining six dogs (17%). Eighteen adverse events post-SBRT were documented. Per veterinary radiation therapy oncology group criteria, five were acute (14%) and three were late (9%) grade 3 events. Neurological signs in two dogs were suspected to be early-delayed effects. Cause of death was local progression for 22/35 (63%) patients, metastasis for 9/35 (26%) patients and unknown for four. On univariate analysis, administration of chemotherapy was associated with a longer TFE (p = .0163), whereas volume of gross tumour volume was associated with a shorter TFE (p = .023). Administration of chemotherapy and five fractions versus single fraction of SBRT was associated with increased survival time (p = .0021 and .049). Based on these findings, a treatment protocol incorporating chemotherapy and five fractions of SBRT could be considered for dogs with craniomaxillofacial OSA electing SBRT with careful consideration of normal tissues in the field.     

Electrical or photocontrol of the rotary motion of a metallacarborane

Rotary motion around a molecular axis has been controlled by simple electron transfer processes and by photoexcitation. The basis of the motion is intramolecular rotation of a carborane cage ligand (7,8-dicarbollide) around a nickel axle. The Ni(III) metallacarborane structure is a transoid sandwich with two pairs of carbon vertices reflected through a center of symmetry, but that of the Ni(IV) species is cisoid. The interconversion of the two provides the basis for controlled, rotational, oscillatory motion. The energies of the Ni(III) and Ni(IV) species are calculated as a function of the rotation angle.     

Thermochronometry reveals headward propagation of erosion in an alpine landscape

Glacial erosion of mountain ranges produces spectacular alpine landscapes and, by linking climate with tectonics, influences a broad array of geophysical phenomena. Although the resultant landforms are easily identified, the timing and spatial pattern of topographic adjustment to Pleistocene glaciations remain poorly known. We investigated topographic evolution in the archetypal glacial landscape of Fiordland, New Zealand, using (U-Th)/He thermochronometry. We find that erosion during the past 2 million years removed the entire pre-Pleistocene landscape and fundamentally reshaped the topography. Erosion focused on steep valley segments and propagated from trunk valleys toward the heads of drainage basins, a behavior expected if subglacial erosion rate depends on ice sliding velocity. The Fiordland landscape illustrates complex effects of climate on Earth's surface morphology.     

Structure, chemical composition, and xylanase degradation of external layers isolated from developing wheat grain

The external layers of wheat grain were investigated during maturation with respect to chemical and structural features and xylanase degradability. Cytochemical changes were observed in the isolated peripheral tissues of the wheat grain at four defined stages following anthesis. Marked chemical changes were highlighted at 11 days after anthesis, for which protein and lipid contents varied weakly. The profile of esterified ferulic acid showed large variation in the maturing peripheral layers of grain in contrast to the deposition of ferulate dimers, p-coumaric and sinapic acids. Lignin was monitored at the latest stages of ripening, which corresponds to the cessation of reserve accumulation in the grain. Arabinoxylans (AX) reached a maximum at 20 days and did not display any significant change in arabinosyl substitution proportion until ripeness. When submitted to xylanase, all outer layers were similarly altered in the proportion of soluble AX except for the peripheral tissues of the 11-day-aged wheat grain that had very little AX. Aleurone and nucellar layers were mostly degraded, whereas pericarp stayed intact at all stages of maturation. This degradation pattern was connected with the preferential immunolocalization of xylanase in aleurone and nucellar layers irrespective of the developmental stages. Further chemical examination of the enzyme-digested peripheral tissues of the grain supports the facts that ferulic ester is not a limiting factor in enzyme efficiency. Arabinose branching, ferulic dimers, and ether-linked monomers that are deposited early in the external layers would have more relevance to the in situ degradability of AX.     

Development of resistance in tomato plants grafted onto Solanum torvum against bacterial wilt disease

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - The bacterial wilt disease caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is a major constraint in the cultivation of tomato in Saint Lucia. The limited options and...     

Sewage Treatment Plants Efficiencies in Removal of Sterols and Sterol Ratios as Indicators of Fecal Contamination Sources

This study assessed the efficiency of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in removing sterols based on chemical analyses of both influents and effluents. Samples from 3s and three tertiary plants were collected and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry for 23 individual sterols including mestranol, norethindrone, equol, estrone, equilin, norgestrel, 17α-ethinylestradiol, 17α-estradiol, 17β-estradiol, estriol, dihydrocholesterol (cholestanol), coprostanol, epicoprostanol, cholesterol, desmosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol, coprostanone, cholestanone, epicholestanol, stigmastanol, and 24-ethylcoprostanol. The percentage of sterols remaining in effluent samples (compared to influent samples) ranged from 0% to 80% and varied among sterol compounds and with STP location and treatment type. Differences in the efficiency of sterol removal for secondary and tertiary STPs were statistically significant. Although the concentration of sterol compounds differed between influents and effluents, sterol abundances remained the same. The most abundant sterol detected was cholesterol, followed by the fecal sterol coprostanol, and the plant sterols 24-ethylcoprostanol and β-sitosterol. For three STPs, the hormone estrone was detected in effluents at concentrations of 0.03–0.05 μg L⁻¹. Ten sterol ratios specific for human fecal contamination and eight sterol ratios for differentiating among multiple sources of fecal contamination were calculated and showed that 12 ratios for influent and nine ratios for effluent were successful for human fecal source tracking. Based on sterol ratio values in this study, new criteria for identification of human fecal contamination were suggested.     

Quantification of Wheat TAXI and XIP Type Xylanase Inhibitors: A Comparison of Analytical Techniques

To date, three different techniques are available for the quantification of TAXI and XIP type proteinaceous xylanase inhibitors in cereals. A first approach is based on the determination of the residual activities of xylanases (also referred to as endo‐1,4‐β‐d ‐xylanases, EC 3.2.1.8), which are specifically inhibited by these inhibitors, after incubation with sample containing the inhibitors. The other two techniques are immunoblotting and ELISA which are based on recognition of TAXI and XIP proteins by specific antibodies. TAXI, as well as XIP, are easily extracted by aqueous buffers. Hence, the large difference in their concentrations (2–10 fold higher for XIP than for TAXI in whole meal) is not caused by differences in extractability. The repeatabilities of the three techniques are comparable. The intra‐assay and inter‐assay coefficients of variation were 6–7 and 10–14%, respectively, which is in the range of values described for methods to quantify other compounds in plant and animal tissues. The three methods give comparable results, suggesting they have similar accuracies. The choice of the technique to be used will depend not only on the sensitivity and dynamic range needed, but also on its technical simplicity and the need for high‐throughput analysis.