The Formosan sika deer (Cervus nippon taiouanus) is an endemic subspecies in Taiwan. The original wild deer has been extinct since the late 1960s. The largest captive population is located at the Taipei Zoo. Except for infectious disease outbreaks, no systemic medical research has been reported for this subspecies. This study was conducted to analyze the medical status of the captive Formosan sika deer population, including the hematological and serum chemistry characteristics. To accomplish this, medical records for 34 Formosan sika deer from January 2003 to January 2014 were acquired and analyzed. The most common illness and cause of death was trauma, followed by gastrointestinal and respiratory disease, respectively. The hematologic and serum chemical values of healthy adults were quite different from those of sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis). This study provides a closer medical understanding of this subspecies and the results will facilitate its management.

Ciliary rootlet coiled coil protein (CROCC), the structural component that originates from the basal body at the proximal end of the ciliary rootlet, plays a crucial role in maintaining the cellular integrity of ciliated cells. In the current study, we cloned Xenopus CROCC and performed the expression analysis. The amino acid sequence of Xenopus laevis was related to those of Drosophila, cow, goat, horse, chicken, mouse and human. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that CROCC mRNA encoding a coiled coil protein was present maternally, as well as throughout early development. In situ hybridization indicated that CROCC mRNA occurred in the animal pole of embryo during gastrulation and subsequently in the presumptive neuroectoderm at the end of gastrulation. At tailbud stages, CROCC mRNA expression was localized in the anterior roof plate of the developing brain, pharyngeal epithelium connected to gills, esophagus, olfactory placode, intestine and nephrostomes of the pronephric kidney. Our study suggests that CROCC may be responsible for control of the development of various ciliated organs.

Bovine parainfluenza virus type 5 (bPIV5) was isolated from cattle with downer cow syndrome in 2012, and included both respiratory and neurotropic pathogens from a variety of animals. In the current study, we conducted serosurveillance using sera obtained from seven Korean farms and optimized a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay to detect bPIV5. The overall seropositive rate for Korean cattle was 21.4% (163/760). A farm located near the city of Milyang in Gyeoungnam province had a markedly elevated seropositive rate for bPIV5 compared to that of the other six farms. The regional seropositive rates were 4.2% (8/192) for Haman, 19.5% (18/ 55) for Hwasung, 73.9% (65/88) for Milyang, 26.0% (50/192) for Namwon, 1.0% (1/96) for Uljin, 13.5% (13/96) for Yeongju, and 32.7% (8/41) for Yongin. The sensitivity and specificity of three RT-PCR primer sets used to amplify the conserved fusion gene of bPIV5 were also evaluated. An RT-PCR assay using the bPIVFR3 primer set was 10- fold more sensitive than the assays using the two other primer sets and did not result in non-specific amplification. These results demonstrated that the bPIFR3 primer set can be used to detect bPIV5.

Escherichia (E.) coli is commensal bacteria found in the intestine; however, some pathogenic strains cause diseases in animals and humans. Although E. coli does not typically produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S), H2S-producing strains of E. coli have been identified worldwide. The relationship between virulence and H2S production has not yet been determined. Therefore, characteristics of H2S-producing isolates obtained from swine feces were evaluated including antibiotic resistance patterns, virulence gene expression, and genetic relatedness. Rates of antibiotic resistance of the H2Sproducing E. coli varied according to antibiotic. Only the EAST1 gene was detected as a virulence gene in five H2S-producing E. coli strains. Genes conferring H2S production were not transmissible although the sseA gene encoding 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase was detected in all H2S-producing E. coli strains. Sequences of the sseA gene motif CGSVTA around Cys238 were also identical in all H2S- producing E. coli strains. Diverse genetic relatedness among the isolates was observed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis. These results suggested that H2S-producing E. coli strains were not derived from a specific clone and H2S production in E. coli is not associated with virulence genes.

4 , 4 - diaminodiphenyl sulfone (dapsone) is a sulfone drug that has antibacterial effects on a variety of bacteria, especially Mycobacterium leprae ; thus, it has been used to treat leprosy. Previous studies demonstrated that dapsone inhibits integrin-mediated adherence of neutrophils and production of prostaglandin E2 by polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Hence, dapsone may act in immune cells and regulate cell-mediated inflammation processes. However, its antiinflammatory effects remain unclear. The present study demonstrated that dapsone modulates the production of inflammation-related cytokines in immune cells. We employed the spleen cells of mice, which are major immune cells, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as a causative agent of inflammation for experiments. Dapsone induced a proportional change in splenocyte subsets and the apoptosis of spleen cells. Interestingly, dapsone decreased the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin (IL)-10, but not IL-6, in LPS-treated spleen cells. In other assays, we measured the dapsone-induced production of nitric oxide (NO) and the expression of activation markers of spleen cells. Dapsone decreased NO production in LPS-treated spleen cells. Taken together, our results demonstrate that dapsone has antiinflammatory effects in immune cells and provide new insight into the potential uses of this agent.

Although the effects of the rice bran have recently been investigated, there is no information regarding platelet physiology available. However, it is well known that fermented natural plants have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate whether fermented rice bran extract (FRBE) with several plants (Artemisia princeps, Angelica Gigantis Radix, Cnidium officinale, and Camellia sinensis) affected agonist - induced platelet aggregation, and if so, what the underlying mechanism of its activity was. We performed several experiments, including in vitro platelet aggregation, intracellular calcium concentration and adenosine triphosphate release. In addition, the activation of integrin alpha IIb beta3 was determined using fibrinogen binding. Thrombus formation was also evaluated in vivo using an arterio-venous shunt model. The FRBE inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation in a concentrationdependent manner. FRBE significantly and dose dependently attenuated thrombus formation using rat arterio-venous shunt. FRBE suppressed the intracellular calcium mobilization in collagen-stimulated platelets. We also found that FRBE inhibited extracellular stimuli-responsive kinase 1/2, p38-mitogen - activated protein kinases and c-Jun N-terminal kinase phosphorylation. These results suggested that FRBE inhibited collagen-induced platelet aggregation, which was mediated by modulation of downstream signaling molecules. In conclusion, FRBE could be developed as a functional food against aberrant platelet activation-related cardiovascular diseases.

To develop a live vaccine strain against fowl typhoid and paratyphoid caused by Salmonella serovar Gallinarum biovar Gallinarum (Salmonella Gallinarum) and Salmonella serovar Enteritidis (Salmonella Enteritidis), respectively, several nalidixic acid resistant mutants were selected from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) rough strains of Salmonella Gallinarum that escaped from fatal infection of a LPS - binding lytic bacteriophage. A non - virulent and immunogenic vaccine strain of Salmonella Gallinarum, SR2 - N6, was established through in vivo pathogenicity and protection efficacy tests. SR2 - N6 was highly protective against Salmonella Gallinarum and Salmonella Enteritidis and safer than Salmonella Gallinarum vaccine strain SG 9R in the condition of protein-energy malnutrition. Thus, SR2 - N6 may be a safe and efficacious vaccine strain to prevent both fowl typhoid and paratyphoid.

Exercise is one of the most common stressors in horses. Although various physiological parameters such as cortisol respond to exercise, there is no reliable parameter for the measurement of exercise-induced stress in sport horses. This study was performed to discover a new biomarker with high sensitivity for exercise-induced stress. The expression of fos mRNA was increased more than 10-fold in horse blood samples collected after an hour of exercise, as compared with before the exercise. The plasma cortisol levels were also increased after the exercise, but only by about two-fold. The fos mRNA levels were well-correlated with plasma cortisol concentrations. These findings suggest that fos mRNA expression in blood may be useful for the measurement of exercise-induced stress in horses.

The aim of the present study was morphological and histochemical analysis of the lacrimal gland (LG) in African black ostrich Struthio camelus domesticus in the embryonic and postnatal period. Studies were conducted on 50 ostriches aged between the 28th day of incubation until 7 months old. Tissue sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin, Azan trichrome, periodic acid-Schiff, Alcian blue pH 2.5, aldehyde fuchsin and Hale's dialysed iron. The LG in ostrich was classified as a tubulo-acinar type. The primordia of the lobes were determined in the LG structure on the 28th day of incubation, whilst the weakly visible lobes with acini and tubules were observed on the 40th day of incubation. Morphometric studies of the LG showed steady growth, characterised by an increase in both length and width. Histometric measurements of lobe size showed little difference between the first, second and third age groups, whilst in the fourth age group a marked increase in size of lobes was observed. The study showed that, apart from morphological changes, during the growth of the LG the character of acid mucopolysaccharides changed. Sulphated acid mucopolysaccharides were indicated, particularly with aldehyde fuchsin (AF) staining in the fourth age group. The Hale's dialysed iron (HDI) staining showed a low concentration of carboxylated acid mucopolysaccharides in the first and second age groups and a higher concentration in the third and fourth age groups. Periodic acid-Schiff staining (PAS)-positive cells were observed in each age group, but only a small number of cells with a weakly PAS-positive reaction were demonstrated in the first age group.

Colibacillosis, a disease caused by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), is one of the main causes of economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. This study was carried out in order to determine the APEC-associated virulence genes contained by E. coli isolates causing colibacillosis in chickens. A total of 45 E. coli isolates were obtained from the diagnostics and research branch of the Central Veterinary Laboratories, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. These isolates were obtained from chickens with confirmed cases of colibacillosis after postmortem examination. The presence of the iutA, hlyF, ompT, frz, sitD, fimH, kpsM, sitA, sopB, uvrY, pstB and vat genes were investigated by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Of the 45 isolates, 93% were positive for the presence of at least one virulence gene. The three most prevalent virulence genes were iutA (80%), fimH (33.3%) and hlyF (24.4%). The kpsM, pstB and ompT genes had the lowest prevalence, having been detected in only 2.2% of the isolates. All 12 virulence genes studied were detected in the 45 APEC isolates. Virulence gene profiles were constructed for each APEC isolate from the multiplex data. The APEC isolates were profiled as 62.2% fitting profile A, 31.1% profile B and 6.7% profile C. None of the isolates had more than seven virulence genes. Virulence profiles of Zimbabwean APEC isolates are different from those previously reported. Zimbabwean APEC isolates appear to be less pathogenic and may rely on environmental factors and stress in hosts to establish infection.