Endotoxin from Fusobacterium necrophorum of bovine hepatic abscess origin.

The endotoxic activity of Fusobacterium necrophorum bov 5 was investigated. The supernatant (S) fluid and cell wall (CW) preparation, obtained after differential centrifugation of the ruptured cell mass, were lethal for mice. The toxicity of the S fluid was stable during prolonged storage, treatment with formalin, and heating for 15 minutes at 80, 100, and 121 C, but was destroyed by alkaline hydrolysis with 0.25 N NaOH. The toxic factor was found in a high molecular weight (MW) fraction after gel filtration. The properties exhibited by the toxic S fluid resembled those of endotoxic lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Extracted and partially purified LPS (endotoxin) from F necrophorum bov 5 demonstrated a mouse median lethal dose (mouse LD50) of 16.8 mg/kg of body weight. The toxic LPS material, a high molecular weight moiety as estimated by gel filtration, was resistant to ribonuclease (RNase), deoxyribonuclease (DNase), and pronase treatment. A positive Shwartzman reaction (median skin lesion dose (SLD50) equal to 3.32 mug/kg of body weight) and biphasic fever response (minimal dose required to produce a fever index of 40 sq cm which falls on the linear portion of dose-response curve (FL40) equal to 0.41 mug/kg of body weight) further indicated the toxin was endotoxin in nature. The LPS from F necrophorum bov 5 was less toxic than Salmonella typhimurium LPS; but had considerable toxicity for experimental animals. The toxic activity of the partially purified F necrophorum bov 5 endotoxin was separated into 2 fraction regions by diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-cellulose chromatography. The data provide evidence for the production of a potent endotoxin, possibly composed of more than one toxic component, which may be released upon cell disruption.     

近35年苏南典型地区的城镇扩展动态研究——以1966～2001年常熟市为例

利用常熟市不同时期 (1 966、1 984、1 992、1 999、2 0 0 0、2 0 0 1年 )、不同类型卫星遥感影像 (Corona、TM、SPOT、ETM )进行多波段合成 ,图像增强处理与精校正 ,建立不同影像城镇用地解译标志 ,通过人机交互判读 ,获得不同时期的各乡镇城镇用地矢量图的方法。统计出 35年来常熟市城镇建设用地扩大近 6 .4倍。城镇扩展空间上受到地貌条件和城市经济水平以及政策决策影响 ,城镇多数沿河流或交通线方向扩展 ,各城镇间扩展数量和相对速率有明显差异 ,且存在一定地理分布规律。结合社会经济的统计资料 ,分析发现城镇扩展与不断增加的城镇人口、GDP极显著相关 ,各乡镇单位城镇面积创造的GDP有较大的差异。     

In this issue – June 2011

Computer model predictions and field observations of anthelmintic resistance in sheep · Dangers of off‐label use of barium selenate · Elbow luxation in dogs and cats · Prognosis of joint infections in adult horses · Omentalisation for mediastinal abscess in a dog · Adenoviruses in lizards     

Evaluation of urine sulfated and nonsulfated bile acids as a diagnostic test for liver disease in dogs

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate 3 methods for measuring urine bile acids (UBA) and compare their diagnostic performance with that of the serum bile acids (SBA) test and other routine screening tests in dogs with hepatic disorders. DESIGN: Prospective study. ANIMALS: 15 healthy dogs, 102 dogs with hepatic disorders, and 9 dogs with clinical signs of hepatic disorders that were found to have nonhepatic disorders. PROCEDURES: Blood and urine samples were collected from sick dogs and healthy dogs for serum biochemical analyses, and determination of concentrations of SBA and UBA. Urine samples were obtained from 15 healthy dogs to establish an upper cutoff value for UBA concentrations. The UBA were measured by use of a quantitative-linked enzymatic colorimetric method. Three analytical modifications were evaluated; 1 quantified only urine sulfated bile acids (USBA), 1 only urine nonsulfated bile acids (UNSBA), and 1 quantified both (USBA plus UNSBA). The UBA values were standardized with the urine creatinine concentration. RESULTS: The UNSBA-to-creatinine ratio and USBA plus UNSBA-to-creatinine ratio tests had the best diagnostic performance of the UBA tests; each had a substantially higher specificity, slightly higher positive predictive value, slightly lower negative predictive value, and lower sensitivity than the SBA test. These UBA-to-creatinine values were positively correlated with SBA values. The USBA-to-creatinine ratio had poor sensitivity, indicating a low rate of bile acid sulfation in dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The UBA can be measured in dogs with sufficient repeatability and accuracy for clinical application. The UNSBA-to-creatinine ratio and USBA plus UNSBA-to-creatinine ratio identified dogs with hepatic disorders nearly as well as the SBA test.     

Agroforestry pathways for the intensification of shifting cultivation

As a system of land use which entails the deliberate association of trees with herbaceous field crops in time, shifting cultivation is one of the most ancient, widespread and, until recently, ecologically stable forms of agroforestry. However, under pressure of population and competing uses for land and labour, traditional swidden systems have been observed historically to undergo more or less predictable processes of intensification. Since shifting cultivation is an indigenous form of agroforestry, scientific agroforestry is not, strictly speaking, an alternative to shifting cultivation, but rather a systematic approach to the recombination of its basic elements into more intensive, sustainable and politically viable forms of land use, whenever pressures signal the need for change in traditional swidden systems.Different agroforestry options open up from different stages of intensification in swidden systems. A review of evolutionary typologies of shifting cultivation gives rise to a framework for the identification of agroforestry interventions and development pathways appropriate to specific systems. technological proposals are limited to a short list of the most promising agroforestry interventions in main sequence swidden systems. These include integral taungya, economically and biologically enriched fallows, variations on the alley cropping theme, and various tree crop alternatives to annual cropping systems. Examples and quantitative data are cited to substantiate the main hypotheses behind the proposals.