PSVII-10 Effects of Supplementing a Standardized Plant-Derived Feed Additive Containing Isoquinoline Alkaloids on Rumen Lesions in Feedlot Cattle

Long-term feeding of high grain diets can lead to digestive disorders which can result in inflammation of the digestive tract, poor performance and a negative impact on animal welfare. Plant-derived feed additives are widely used in food producing animals to improve the productivity, digestibility, and health. The objective of the present study was to assess the effects of supplementing a plant-derived feed additive containing standardized concentrations of isoquinoline alkaloids (IQ) on rumen lesions in finishing feedlot cattle. Crossbreed bulls from a commercial feedlot were enrolled in the present study. During the control period (CON; n = 470): from September 1st to October 12th cattle were fed the feedlot finishing diet. During the treatment period (TRT; n = 480): from October 13th to November 23rd finishing feedlot cattle were fed the same ration plus 600 g/t of a feed additive with standardized concentrations of IQ. Slaughter was performed in 2 abattoirs and the rumen of animals were examined by the same investigator. Rumen health was scored by visual observation of the rumen epithelia: 1) normal rumen; 2) mild rumenitis; 3) moderate rumenitis; 4) diffuse rumenitis 5) ulcerative rumenitis. Statistical analysis was performed with the R software. The Pearson chi-squared statistic was performed to test the independence between the variables. Results showed that TRT had greater and positive association with score 2 (P< 0.05; 3.2), and a negative association (P< 0.05) with scores 4 (-1.1) and 5 (-1.1). The CON presented greater and positive association with score 3 (P< 0.05; 3.3), as well as positive association (P< 0.05) for the scores 4 (1.1) and 5 (1.1). In conclusion, supplementing finishing feedlot cattle with a plant-derived feed additive containing IQ resulted in less severe rumen lesions in feedlot cattle receiving finishing diets indicating that IQ exerted a positive effect on rumen condition.

Occurrence of multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria and resistance genes in semi-aquatic wildlife - Trachemys scripta, Neovison vison and Lutra lutra - as sentinels of environmental health

Emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacterial pathogens has been recognized as a major public health concern worldwide. In the present study, antimicrobial resistant Gram-negative bacteria (AMRGNB) and AMR genes were assessed in semi-aquatic wild animals from a highly populated and intensive farming region of Spain, Catalonia. Cloacal/rectal swab samples were collected from 241 animals coming from invasive species Trachemys scripta (n = 91) and Neovison vison (n = 131), and endangered-protected species Lutra lutra (n = 19). Accordingly, 133 (55.2%) isolates were identified as AMRGNB. Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas fluorescens were among the bacteria most frequently isolated in all animal species, but other nosocomial agents such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella spp. or Citrobacter freundii, were also prevalent. The phenotypic susceptibility testing showed the highest resistance to β-lactams (91%). Molecular analysis showed 25.3% of turtles (15.4% ESBL/Ampc genes), 21% of Eurasian otters (10.5% ESBL/Ampc genes) and 14.5% of American minks (8.4% ESBL/Ampc genes) were positive to AMR genes. The genotyping frequency was tetM (20.6%), blaCMY-2 (13%), ermB (6.1%), blaCMY-1 (4.6%), blaCTX-M-15 (3.1%) and mcr-4 (0.8%). Turtles had a larger prevalence of AMRGNB and AMR genes than mustelids, but American mink carried mcr-4 colistin-resistance gene. Moreover, cluster analysis of AMR gene distribution revealed that an ESBL/AmpC cluster in a highly populated area comprising big metropolitan regions, and another tetM/emrB cluster in an expended area with highly intensive livestock production. Although the mcr-4 positive case was not included in those clusters, that case was found in a county with a high pig farm density. In conclusion, semi-aquatic wild animals are a good sentinel for environmental contamination with AMRGNB and AMR genes. Therefore, One Health Approach is urgently needed in highly populated regions, and with intensive livestock production like Catalonia.

Mechanical Intestinal Obstruction in a Porcine Model: Effects of Intra-Abdominal Hypertension. A Preliminary Study

Introduction

Mechanical intestinal obstruction is a disorder associated with intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome. As the large intestine intraluminal and intra-abdominal pressures are increased, so the patient’s risk for intestinal ischaemia. Previous studies have focused on hypoperfusion and bacterial translocation without considering the concomitant effect of intra-abdominal hypertension. The objective of this study was to design and evaluate a mechanical intestinal obstruction model in pigs similar to the human pathophysiology.

Materials and Methods

Fifteen pigs were divided into three groups: a control group (n = 5) and two groups of 5 pigs with intra-abdominal hypertension induced by mechanical intestinal obstruction. The intra-abdominal pressures of 20 mmHg were maintained for 2 and 5 hours respectively. Hemodynamic, respiratory and gastric intramucosal pH values, as well as blood tests were recorded every 30 min.

Results

Significant differences between the control and mechanical intestinal obstruction groups were noted. The mean arterial pressure, cardiac index, dynamic pulmonary compliance and abdominal perfusion pressure decreased. The systemic vascular resistance index, central venous pressure, pulse pressure variation, airway resistance and lactate increased within 2 hours from starting intra-abdominal hypertension (p<0.05). In addition, we observed increased values for the peak and plateau airway pressures, and low values of gastric intramucosal pH in the mechanical intestinal obstruction groups that were significant after 3 hours.

Conclusion

The mechanical intestinal obstruction model appears to adequately simulate the pathophysiology of intestinal obstruction that occurs in humans. Monitoring abdominal perfusion pressure, dynamic pulmonary compliance, gastric intramucosal pH and lactate values may provide insight in predicting the effects on endorgan function in patients with mechanical intestinal obstruction.

Renal consequences of intraabdominal hypertension in a porcine model. Search for the choice indirect technique for intraabdominal pressure measurement

OBJECTIVE

To study the effects on the renal system in a porcine model of intraabdominal hypertension, and to determine the indirect technique of choice for determination of the intraabdominal pressure.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

30 pigs were used divided in two groups according with increased intraabdominal pressure values (20 mmHg and 30 mmHg). In both groups pressures were registered 8 times, summing up to 3 hours, with a CO₂ insufflator. Three different measures of the intraabdominal pressure were taken: a direct transperitoneal measure, using a catheter of Jackson-Pratt connected to a pressure transducer, and two indirect measures, a transvesical by means of a Foley to manometer system, and a transgastric by introducing in the stomach a catheter connected to a pressure monitor with electronic hardware. Mean arterial pressure was calculated, along with the cardiac index, production of urine and serum creatinine.

RESULTS

There was a greater correlation between the transvesical and the transperitoneal intraabdominal pressures (R(2)=0,95). Average transgastric intraabdominal pressure was inferior to the transperitoneal indicator in all taken measurements. The average arterial pressure descended in both groups, with earlier significant differences observed at 30 mmHg (p<0,020). Urine production was lower at 30 mmHg compared with the 20 mmHg group (9,63 ± 1,57 versus 3.26 ml ± 1,73). Serum creatinine increased in both groups being pathological at 30 mmHg after 1h 20 min, with existing differences between early pressures (p<0,027).

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed marked renal affectation with higher severity at 30 mmHg pressures. The transvesical technique showed a greater correlation with the direct measurement technique used, defining this as the method of choice for determination of intraabdominal pressure.

[Abdominal compartment syndrome and acute intestinal distress syndrome]

Seriously ill patients frequently present intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) as complications, and the associated mortality is very high. This review offers an update on the most controversial aspects of these entities: factors favoring their appearance, the most common causes, prognosis, and methods of measuring intra-abdominal pressure (IAP), physiopathological consequences in relation to the different organs and systems, and the currently accepted treatment measures (medical and/or surgical). Simultaneously to the strictly physical mechanisms of injury, such as direct compression of intra-abdominal organs and vessels, the transmission of IAP to other compartments, and the drop in cardiac output, a series of immune-inflammatory mediators generated in the intestine itself may also intervene. Hypoperfusion, sustained ischemia and the ischemia-reperfusion phenomenon, would act upon the microbiota, intestinal epithelium and intestinal immune system, triggering a systemic inflammatory response and multiorgan dysfunction that appears in the final stages of ACS.

In vitro adhesion measurements between skin and micropatterned poly(dimethylsiloxane) surfaces

Micropatterned adhesive surfaces may have potential in reconstructive surgery. The adhesion performance of mice ear skin to micropatterned poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) was investigated, under in vitro conditions, and compared to flat substrates. No significant difference in separation force F was observed between flat substrates and micropatterned surfaces with pillar arrays. However, the energy necessary for separation of the substrate from the skin was sensitive to the topography. Furthermore, our results show that the force-displacement curves depended on the wetness of the skin: Highest force values were obtained for fresh skin while the forces decreased as the skin dried out. The results are encouraging for further studies on the potential of patterned PDMS in biomedical applications.

Feature selection in pathology detection using hybrid multidimensional analysis

Heuristical algorithms can reduce the computational complexity. Such methods require of some stopping criteria (cost function). Some of these cost functions are based on statistics like univariate and multivariate methods of analysis. Dimensional reduction techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) allow to find a lower dimension transformed space based on data variance, but this procedure does not take into account information about classes separability, the direction of maximum variance does not necessarily correspond to the direction of maximum separability. In this work, we propose a feature selection algorithm with heuristic search that uses multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) as the cost function. This technique is put to test by classifying hypernasal from normal voices of CLP (Cleft Lip and/or Palate) patients. The classification performance, computational time and reduction ratio are also considered by the comparison with an alternate feature selection method founded on unfolding the multivariate analysis into univariate and bivariate analysis.

[Hereditary pancreatitis caused by a new mutation in the trypsinogen gene. Report of a family]

Hereditary pancreatitis is an uncommon autosomal dominant disease secondary to a mutation normally located in the trypsinogen gene, preventing trypsin deactivation. This mutation translates clinically into recurrent attacks of acute pancreatitis and an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. We report a case of acute hereditary pancreatitis due to a trypsinogen mutation that has previously been described in only one family.

Feature extraction & lips posture detection oriented to the treatment of CLP children

Adequate recognition of lips posture for speech articulation analysis requires of the measurement of several anthropometric mouth parameters. These are needed to estimate the position and contour of the lips and teeth and tongue positions, as well. Here, a method is proposed for lips contour detection under natural conditions without any extra hardware requirements for image acquisition. The purpose of the suggested process is to obtain the lips contour based on red hue fields detection. Afterward, geometrical features of lips are extracted from their detected contour. Image processing is divided into the following steps: Face and mouth search, lips contour detection and feature estimation from lips geometry. Due to high dimensionality of the initial feature space, it is very important to evaluate the performance of the lips features regarding their ability to discriminate pathological lip postures in the case of children with cleft lip and palate. In this paper, a proposed method for effective selection of the image feature set was developed using multivariate analysis techniques. Finally, the discriminant performance of the selected training sets was evaluated using bayesian estimators. Results of the comparison for different common testing algorithms show that the proposed processing method exposes better performance.

Acoustic speech analysis for hypernasality detection in children

Here, an analysis of different acoustic features and their influence in automatic identification of hypernasality is shown. Effective feature selection method includes preprocessing of the initial feature space based on statistical independence analysis. Simultaneously, the synthesis of a specialized diagnostic feature is proposed based on analyzing the acoustic emission of the hyper nasal speech. As a result, It is obtained the acoustic features can differentiate with enough precision the pathology. However, the proposed feature does not require training samples and less computational power, as well.

19POSTPARTUM ANESTROUS TREATMENT WITH INTRA-VAGINAL PROGESTERONE DEVICE OR CALF REMOVAL FOR 120 HOURS IN SUCKLED CROSSBRED DUAL PURPOSE COWS

Postpartum anestrus is the main reproductive problem that affects crossbred cattle production in Venezuela. (Soto et al., 2002 Theriogenology 57, 1503–1510; Soto et al., 2000 Revista Científica FCV-LUZ 10, 391–398). In order to reduce the postpartum anestrus and lower the calving to conception interval, 167 crossbred (Bos indicus×Bos taurus) anestrous cows between 90 and 130 days postpartum with body condition score 3 (scale 1–5) were randomly allotted to one the following treatments: 1) PH (n=59), intravaginal sponge (IS) impregnated with 250mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MAP) during 7 days+50mg of MAP and 5mg of 17β-estradiol (17β-E) i.m. at the day of sponge insertion (Day 0), plus 500 IU of eCG i.m. at Day 5 and1.5mg of 17β-E i.m. at Day 8 (PREGNAHEAT-E, VIATECA, Villa del Rosario, Venezuela); 2) CR (n=57), 120-h temporary calf removal; and 3) CG (n=20), control group. Work was performed in a commercial farm located in a subhumid tropical forrest region. Estrus, first service conception and pregnancy rate were analyzed by chi-square analysis. The intervals to conception were analyzed using analysis of variance (GLM) and the means was compared by least square means method. To evaluate the treatment effect, the interval to conception of each pregnant cow during the first 100 days were considered for the analysis. This interval (days) was significantly (P≤0.05) higher in the PH treatment (155.9±7.3) compared to control (174.4±8.1) but no differences were shown between PH and CR (161.0±7.8). Other results are shown in Table 1. PH treatment improved the estrus and pregnancy rates and shorten the interval to conception indicating that this is a promising anestrous treatment for suckled crossbred dual purpose cows under tropical conditions. Table 1. Reproductive performance of postpartum anestrous suckled cows treated with intravaginal progesterone or temporary calf removal

Surgical management and complications of Meckel's diverticulum in 90 patients

OBJECTIVE

To review controversial aspects of the pathology, management, and complications of Meckel's diverticula.

DESIGN

Retrospective study.

SETTING

University hospital, Spain.

SUBJECTS

90 patients who had Meckel's diverticula during the 32 year period April 1968-May 2000.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Epidemiological and histopathological findings (including a search for Helicobacter pylori); surgical management and morbidity.

RESULTS

There were no differences in sex between patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic disease, although we did find differences in age. Signs of abnormalities on scintigraphy were associated with the presence of ectopic fundal mucosa, although not significantly so. No signs of Helicobacter pylori were found in any of our patients. Morbidity after intestinal resection was higher than after diverticulectomy.

CONCLUSIONS

Meckel's diverticulum should be suspected particularly when there are symptoms of obstruction or gastrointestinal bleeding in children. The presence of both ectopic gastric mucosa and ulcers is related to the symptoms and we found no H. pylori in any of the cases.

Long esophagoplasty: functional study

The functional results of different types of plasty were evaluated in 46 patients who had undergone esophageal replacement for different pathologies. The patients were classified into three groups according to the type of plasty: I) 19 ileocecocolonoplasties (ICC), II) 11 left colonoplasties (LC), III) 16 gastroplasties (GP). The postoperative studies made were: a) clinical evaluation, b) radiological barium contrast study, c) isotopic transit of semisolid food marked with 99m-Tc colloidal sulfur and d) manometry. The clinical evaluation disclosed no significant differences between the three groups. Isotopic scans revealed more rapid emptying of the ICC, with elimination by the ileal segment in the first minute of 76.3 +/- 3.3% of the isotope, and by the entire plasty of 79.4 +/- 4.2% in 15 minutes (p less than 0.001). The manometric study showed non-response by the GP. The motor activity of the terminal ileoplasty was greater than that of the other plasties studied, and that of the right colonoplasty was greater than that of the left (p less than 0.01). Likewise, the clearance of acid (HCl 0.1N) by the ICC was more rapid than that of the LC (p less than 0.01). It is concluded that, functionally, the ICC is a better long esophagoplasty than the other procedures studied.

A comparison of liquid-holding recovery and photoreactivation in halophilic and non-halophilic bacteria

The ability of the extreme halophile Halobacterium cutirubrum to recover from the effects of ultraviolet radiation during liquid holding in the dark in non-nutrient medium has been compared with that of (i) a moderately halophilic bacterium (NRC 41227) and (ii) Escherichia coli B. The photoreactivabilities of all three bacteria have also been studied. The extreme halophile was incapable of liquid-holding recovery in these conditions, in marked contrast to both E. coli B and the moderate halophile, and also failed to recover when held in nutrient medium in the dark. These results strongly support the hypothesis that H. cutirubrum lacks DNA excision repair. It was also found that ultraviolet-irradiated H. cutirubrum could be almost completely photoreactivated from any level of survival in the range 10(-4)-80%, provided exposure to visible light was not delayed, whereas the moderate halophile resembled E. coli B and had a comparatively limited capacity for photoreactivation.

The effect of ultraviolet radiation on early stages of activation of human lymphocytes: inhibition is independent of effects on DNA

Low doses (30-84 ergs/mm2, 1 erg = 10(7) J) of ultraviolet radiation (UV) caused severe inhibition of the proliferation of human lymphocytes in vitro. Greatest inhibition was produced when resting cells were irradiated immediately prior to stimulation with concanavalin A (Con A); this was true whether activation was measured by the incorporation of labelled leucine, uridine, or thymidine. If UV was applied at 44 h after culture in presence of Con A, the incorporation of [3H]thymidine measured 4 h later was seen to be inhibited but transcription and translation were scarcely affected. UV, applied after the appearance of the Con A induced thymidine transport system, did not inhibit its function. The disaggregation of chromatin and increase in nuclear volume characteristic of, and essential to, the proliferative response of lymphocytes were completely inhibited if the cells were irradiated before mitogen was added to the cultures, but were unaffected if irradiation occurred after 16 h of culture in presence of Con A. Cells irradiated with 84 ergs/mm2 at the onset of culture with mitogen did not show the early increase of cation pump function which is a characteristic of stimulated lymphocytes, when this was measured by means of 86Rb uptake after 2-4 h culture. The mitogen-stimulated activation of cation pump function has previously been shown to be unaffected by concentrations of cycloheximide and actinomycin D which produce virtually complete inhibition of protein and RNA synthesis, respectively. The major inhibitory effect of UV treatment of lymphocytes at onset of culture with Con A is therefore not on DNA or on DNA synthesis, but on some component(s) of the early activation process, possibly at the cell periphery; inactivation of this component prevents cells from proceeding into later stages of the proliferative pathway.

[Uptake of tryptophan and tyrosine in some cases of manic depressive psychosis and schizophrenia (author's transl)]

The uptake of tryptophan and tyrosine by the brain has been studied in 6 manic-depressive patients and in 8 schizophrenics. In an attempt to saturate the blood-brain transport mechanisms, this uptake has been evaluated by measuring the arteriovenous differences (arterial plasma-internal jugular plasma) of these two amino acids before and after perfusion with L-dopa and L-5-HTP. Considering a positive difference as an uptake and a negative one as an outflow, results show (1) in melancholia an uptake of tryptophan and an outflow of tyrosine; (2) in mania an uptake of tyrosine and an outflow of tryptophan, and (3) in schizophrenia an outflow of tryptophan accompanied with either an uptake or an outflow of tyrosine. In addition, the kinetics of tryptophan binding to plasma proteins and the ratio of tryptophan/tyrosine uptake are different in manic-depressive illness and in schizophrenia. These results support the view that a disturbance in the blood-brain transport mechanisms of tryptophan and tyrosine could be involved in the physiopathology of manic-depressive illness and schizophrenia.