Changes in microflora of the cloaca and oviduct of hens after intracloacal or intravaginal inoculation with Salmonella enteritidis

Quantitative and qualitative microbiological examination was carried out on cloacal and oviductal contents pre- and postinfection with Salmonella enteritidis (SE) intracloacally or intravaginally. Before inoculation with SE, the means +/- standard deviation (SD) of total bacterial counts, anaerobic bacterial counts, and aerobic bacterial counts in the cloaca were log10 7.7 +/- 0.7, 7.4 +/- 0.2, and 6.9 +/- 0.8 colony-forming units (CFU)/g, respectively. The predominant bacteria were Bacteroidaceae, Lactobacillus, and Escherichia coli. Before inoculation with SE, the means +/- SD of total bacterial counts, anaerobic bacterial counts, and aerobic bacterial counts in the vagina were log10 5.7 +/- 1.4, 5.5 +/- 1.3, and 3.6 +/- 2.7 CFU/g, respectively. Bacteroidaceae and Lactobacillus were predominant. Following inoculation with SE, only the cloacal population of Lactobacillus in hens inoculated intracloacally was significantly increased compared to that before the inoculation. Other indigenous microflora were stable even after the inoculation. In the uterus, very few bacteria, Lactobacillus and Staphylococcus, were isolated. Five of 20 eggs (25%) from hens inoculated with SE intravaginally were positive for SE, whereas no SE was recovered from 22 eggs in hens inoculated with SE intracloacally. SE was recovered from the uterus after intravaginal inoculation with SE and from the vagina after intracloacal inoculation with SE. Contamination may ascend from the cloaca into the lower parts of the oviduct and subsequently contaminated eggs may occur.     

Obstructive jaundice due to multiple hepatic abscesses

A 63-year-old Japanese male with diabetes mellitus developed obstructive jaundice following the onset of multiple hepatic abscesses. Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography showed intrahepatic bile duct irregularity and dilatations accompanied by a complete obstruction of the right branch of the intrahepatic bile duct. Three kinds of organisms were cultured from the blood and the drained bile. The cholangiographic changes returned to the normal after the liver abscesses subsided following biliary drainage and the administration of intravenous antibiotics.     

Immunohistochemical quantitation for extracellular matrix proteins in rats with glomerulonephritis induced by monoclonal anti-Thy-1.1 antibody

During clot retraction, platelets interact with fibrin resulting in marked reduction of clot volume. Altered fibrin structure has been reported to affect clot retraction as measured by serum expression. This study was performed to test whether such altered retraction was the result of increased resistance to network collapse or due to decreased force development by platelets. Altered fibrin structure was documented as variation of fibre mass/length ratios (mu) and shifts in clot elastic modulus. The force developed by platelets during clotting was measured directly. Increasing the fibrinogen concentration led to thinner fibre formation (decreased mu), and a linear increase in gel elastic modulus. Over a fibrinogen concentration range of 100 to 400 mg/dl, force development was minimally affected. Force development and clot elastic modulus increased in a linear fashion with increasing platelet concentration. Increasing the calcium concentration from 5 to 20 mM caused a 160% increase in fibrin fibre size (mu), and a 52% decline in clot modulus. Force developed at 1200 s declined by 17%. At 15 mg/ml, dextran and hydroxyethyl starch (HES) also increased mu, and decreased clot modulus; however, both agents markedly reduced force development. Increasing ionic strength or the addition of IgG decreased mu and increased gel elastic modulus. Force development increased modestly with increased ionic strength, did not change with addition of IgG in saline and declined with addition of IgG in maltose. This study indicates that force development is primarily dependent on platelet function while clot modulus depends on both fibrin structure and platelet function.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Measurement and correlation of mutual diffusion coefficients for styrene-butadiene rubber(SBR)-n-nonane systems

The mutual diffusion coefficients for styrene-butadiene rubber(SBR)-n-nonane systems were measured using a sorption apparatus with a quartz spring at 100 and 130°C for mass fractions of n-nonane ranging from 0 to 0.16. The mutual diffusion coefficients were correlated with good agreement by the free-volume theory.     

Apatite-forming ability of alginate fibers treated with calcium hydroxide solution

Calcium alginate fibers were prepared by extruding an aqueous sodium alginate solution into an aqueous calcium chloride solution. The fibers were treated with a saturated aqueous calcium hydroxide solution for various periods and their apatite-forming ability was examined in a simulated body fluid (SBF). The calcium alginate fibers were treated with the aqueous calcium hydroxide solution for periods longer than five days formed apatite on their surfaces in SBF, and their apatite-forming ability improved with increasing calcium hydroxide treatment time. The amount of calcium ions released from the fibers also increased with increasing calcium hydroxide treatment time, resulting in acceleration of nucleation and growth of apatite on the fiber surfaces. The resultant apatite-alginate fiber composite is expected to be useful as a flexible bioactive bone-repairing material.     

Reconstruction of a high-resolution image on a compound-eye image-capturing system

The authors have proposed an architecture for a compact image-capturing system called TOMBO (thin observation module by bound optics), which uses compound-eye imaging for a compact hardware configuration [Appl. Opt. 40, 1806 (2001)]. The captured compound image is decomposed into a set of unit images, then the pixels in the unit images are processed with digital processing to retrieve the target image. A new method for high-resolution image reconstruction, called a pixel rearrange method, is proposed. The relation between the target object and the captured signals is estimated and utilized to rearrange the original pixel information. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed method. In the experimental TOMBO system, the resolution obtained is four times higher than that of the unit image that did not undergo reconstruction processing.     

Membranes prepared from keratin–polyacrylonitrile graft copolymers

Graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile onto a soluble wool keratin derivative was studied with the reduced and carboxymethylated low-sulfur protein fraction from wool. Copolymerization was carried out under a variety of conditions with a redox system of (NH₄)₂S₂O₈–Na₂SO₃ in 60% (w/w) aqueous ZnCl₂ solution at 10°C. Monomer conversions higher than 90% were obtained by the stepwise addition of initiator. The graft products were successfully separated into grafted copolymer and homopolyacrylonitrile (PAN) by fractional precipitation or solvent extraction with DMF. Grafted PAN were isolated by acid hydrolysis of the keratin backbone. Characterization of grafted and homo-PAN was carried out by IR spectroscopy, amino acid endgroup analysis, and viscometry. On the basis of the results, effects of polymerization conditions on grafting parameters were discussed. Membranes were prepared from 60% aqueous ZnCl₂ solution by using ice-cold water as the regenerating medium. All the membranes formed from the graft products were transparent. Observation by scanning electron microscopy showed that the surface consisted of rather spherical keratin domains regularly distributed in the PAN matrix. Selective hydrolysis of the keratin domains allowed a new type of porous PAN membrane to be obtained, with the inner walls of the pores being charged with amino acid residues attached to PAN chains as the endgroup.