Comparing accuracy of fish sperm motility measurements obtained from two computational extremes in tracking approaches: Nearest neighbor and multiple hypothesis tracking     

Giovano Neumann  Jurandir Joaquim Bernardes Junior  Valdecir Neumann  Robie Allan Bombardelli 《Reproduction in domestic animals》2021,56(6):829-836

We conducted a study to assess the accuracy of nearest neighbour (NN) and multiple hypothesis tracking (MHT) methods—which are opposite extremes in computational complexity—in determining the percentage of motile sperms and the number of sperms tracked in simulated data of fish sperm movements, and to evaluate the resulting number of tracking errors and analysis duration. Sperm tracking and swimming path assembly were assessed in 36 video clips (1 s length at 100 fps) of emulated Rhamdia quelen sperm kinetics at different densities (50, 100, 200 or 300 spermatozoa in the field of view) and motility rates (30, 60 or 90%). The MHT method accurately estimated the percentage of motile sperms, whereas NN underestimated it by up to 6.59%. Increase in sperm density reduced the number of sperms tracked from both trackers. With more than 50 sperms in the field of view, NN and MHT tracked 73% and 92% of the ground-truth sperm count, respectively. Both trackers showed a quadratic increase in tracking errors with increasing sperm density. The maximum percentage of errors at 90% motility was 12% for NN and 4.7% for MHT. The MHT tracker required up to 150 s to track 300 sperms, whereas NN completed the tracking procedure in less than 0.5 s. On maintaining a density of up to 100 sperms in the field of view, it was possible to obtain high accuracy, low number of tracking errors and an acceptable analysis duration with both tracking methods.  相似文献   

The prevalence of anthelmintic resistance in ovine case submissions to animal health laboratories in New Zealand in 1993     

P.B. McKenna  C.M. Allan  M.J. Taylor  K.G. Townsend 《New Zealand veterinary journal》2013,61(3):96-98

An analysis was undertaken of 177 veterinary diagnostic case submissions to two North Island and two South Island animal health laboratories for faecal egg count reduction testing in sheep during 1993 to provide some comparative data on the frequency of occurrence of anthelmintic resistance. The results suggest that resistance to anthelmintics in sheep nematodes may be more common in the South Island than the North. In both instances this mainly involved resistance to a single drench type, the benzimidazoles. The data indicated a frequency of occurrence of resistance to benzimidazole anthelmintics of 61 and 72%, to levamisole-type anthelmintics of 29 and 29% and to benzimidazole-levamisole combinations of 11 and 22% for submissions to North and South Island laboratories, respectively. In submissions from the South Island, resistance to benzimidazoles involved infections of Nematodirus spp. alone much more frequently than those from the North.  相似文献   

Pomegranate ellagitannin-derived metabolites inhibit prostate cancer growth and localize to the mouse prostate gland   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Seeram NP  Aronson WJ  Zhang Y  Henning SM  Moro A  Lee RP  Sartippour M  Harris DM  Rettig M  Suchard MA  Pantuck AJ  Belldegrun A  Heber D 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2007,55(19):7732-7737

Our group has shown in a phase II clinical trial that pomegranate juice (PJ) increases prostate specific antigen (PSA) doubling time in prostate cancer (CaP) patients with a rising PSA. Ellagitannins (ETs) are the most abundant polyphenols present in PJ and contribute greatly towards its reported biological properties. On consumption, ETs hydrolyze to release ellagic acid (EA), which is then converted by gut microflora to 3,8-dihydroxy-6H-dibenzo[b, d]pyran-6-one (urolithin A, UA) derivatives. Despite the accumulating knowledge of ET metabolism in animals and humans, there is no available data on the pharmacokinetics and tissue disposition of urolithins. Using a standardized ET-enriched pomegranate extract (PE), we sought to further define the metabolism and tissue distribution of ET metabolites. PE and UA (synthesized in our laboratory) were administered to C57BL/6 wild-type male mice, and metabolite levels in plasma and tissues were determined over 24 h. ET metabolites were concentrated at higher levels in mouse prostate, colon, and intestinal tissues as compared to other tissues after administration of PE or UA. We also evaluated the effects of PE on CaP growth in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice injected subcutaneously with human CaP cells (LAPC-4). PE significantly inhibited LAPC-4 xenograft growth in SCID mice as compared to vehicle control. Finally, EA and several synthesized urolithins were shown to inhibit the growth of human CaP cells in vitro. The chemopreventive potential of pomegranate ETs and localization of their bioactive metabolites in mouse prostate tissue suggest that pomegranate may play a role in CaP treatment and chemoprevention. This warrants future human tissue bioavailability studies and further clinical studies in men with CaP.  相似文献   

BDNF in anxiety and depression     

Kalueff AV  Avgustinovich DF  Kudryavtseva NN  Murphy DL 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2006,312(5780):1598-9; author reply 1598-9

  相似文献   

Meningeal cholesterol granulomas in two meerkats (Suricata suricatta)     

Allan KJ  Waters M  Ashton DG  Patterson-Kane JC 《The Veterinary record》2006,158(18):636-637

  相似文献   

Pigments in avocado tissue and oil     

Ashton OB  Wong M  McGhie TK  Vather R  Wang Y  Requejo-Jackman C  Ramankutty P  Woolf AB 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2006,54(26):10151-10158

Pigments are important contributors to the appearance and healthful properties of both avocado fruits and the oils extracted from these fruits. This study determined carotenoid and chlorophyll pigment concentrations in the skin and three sections of the flesh (outer dark green, middle pale green, and inner yellow flesh-nearest the seed) and anthocyanin concentrations in the skin of Hass avocado during ripening at 20 degrees C. Pigments were extracted from frozen tissue with acetone and measured using high-performance liquid chromatography. Pigments were also measured in the oil extracted from freeze-dried tissue sections by an accelerated solvent extraction system using hexane. Carotenoids and chlorophylls identified in the skin, flesh, and oil were lutein, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, neoxanthin, violaxanthin, zeaxanthin, antheraxanthin, chlorophylls a and b, and pheophytins a and b with the highest concentrations of all pigments in the skin. Chlorophyllides a and b were identified in the skin and flesh tissues only. As the fruit ripened and softened, the skin changed from green to purple/black, corresponding to changes in skin hue angle, and a concomitant increase in cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and the loss of chlorophyllide a. In flesh tissue, chroma and lightness values decreased with ripening, with no changes in hue angle. The levels of carotenoids and chlorophylls did not change significantly during ripening. As fruit ripened, the total chlorophyll level in the oil from the flesh sections remained constant but declined in the oil extracted from the skin.  相似文献   

Localization of Ascaridia galli larvae in the jejunum of chickens 3 days post infection     

Luna-Olivares LA  Ferdushy T  Kyvsgaard NC  Nejsum P  Thamsborg SM  Roepstorff A  Iburg TM 《Veterinary parasitology》2012,185(2-4):186-193

The normal habitat of the parasitic stages of Ascaridia galli is in the small intestine of poultry but the exact localization is poorly understood. Therefore, a histological study was conducted in order to localize the larvae during the early phase of infection. Six layer pullets seven-week old were infected orally with 20,000 embryonated A. galli eggs each, whereas four chickens were left as un-infected controls. At necropsy 3 days after infection the first half of jejunum/ileum was divided into two equally sized sections (J1 and J2). After taking samples for histology from the middle of J1 and J2 and the junction between these determined JX, the two sections were subjected to parasitological examination. A higher number of A. galli larvae were recovered from section J2 than J1 and the majority of larvae were recovered from the most profound layers. Based on histology 144 larvae were identified and their location was noted. The highest number of larvae was observed in the JX sample as compared to J1 and J2 (P<0.001). Most of them were located in the profound crypt zone of the mucosa (51%) as compared to the other zones (P<0.05). The number of larvae was higher in the lumen (63%) compared to the epithelium (32%) and lamina propria (5%) (P<0.001). A significantly higher number of eosinophils were found in lamina propria of the infected group compared to the control group (P<0.001). This experiment clearly showed that only few larvae had penetrated the epithelium and were positioned in the lamina propria at 3 days post infection. It was far more common that the larvae were localized within the epithelium or in the lumen of the crypts. It is therefore suggested that at least in this early phase "mucosal phase" is a more appropriate term to be used for the A. galli larval localization as compared to the term "histotrophic phase" currently used in many textbooks.  相似文献   

Prevalence and risk factor investigation of Campylobacter species in beef cattle feces from seven large commercial feedlots in Alberta,Canada          下载免费PDF全文

Sherry J. Hannon  Brenda Allan  Cheryl Waldner  Margaret L. Russell  Andrew Potter  Lorne A. Babiuk  Hugh G.G. Townsend 《Canadian journal of veterinary research》2009,73(4):275-282

This fecal prevalence study targeted cattle from 7 large (10 000 to > 40 000 head) commercial feedlots in Alberta as a means of establishing Campylobacter levels in cattle just prior to animals entering the food chain. Overall, 87% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 86–88] of 2776 fresh pen-floor fecal samples were culture positive for Campylobacter species, with prevalences ranging from 76% to 95% among the 7 feedlots. Campylobacter spp. prevalence was 88% (95% CI = 86–90) in the summer (n = 1376) and 86% (95% CI = 85–88) in the winter (n = 1400). In addition, 69% (95% CI = 66–71) of 1486 Campylobacter spp. positive samples were identified as Campylobacter jejuni using hippurate hydrolysis testing. Of those, 64% (95% CI = 58–70) of 277 and 70% (95% CI = 67–72) of 1209 Campylobacter isolates were identified as C. jejuni in winter and summer, respectively. After accounting for clustering within pen and feedlot, feedlot size and the number of days on feed were associated with Campylobacter spp. isolation rates. The high isolation rates of Campylobacter spp. and C. jejuni in feedlot cattle feces in this study suggest a potential role for feedlot cattle in the complex epidemiology of campylobacters in Alberta.  相似文献   

Evidence for the enhanced biodegradation of napropamide in soil     

Allan Walker  Nisha R. Parekh  Steven J. Roberts  Sarah J. Welch 《Pest management science》1993,39(1):55-60

In laboratory incubations, the time to 50% loss of napropamide was approximately 60; 21 and 8 days in soil treated for the first, second and third time respectively. In a survey of soils from commercial fields, there was evidence that enhanced biodegradation of the compound had been induced by normal field applications—in some soils by a single previous treatment. Confirmation of the observations of rapid rates of loss in pre-treated soil was obtained in experiments with three formulations of napropamide. The rate of degradation in enhanced soils was unaffected by treatment of the soils with the antifungal antibiotic cycloheximide, but was inhibited by the antibacterial antibiotic chloramphenicol. Mixed bacterial cultures able to degrade the herbicide were obtained from three rapid-degrading soils by enrichment culture. Isolates from two of them were able to degrade the herbicide in pure culture. These bacteria have, as yet, not been characterised.  相似文献   

Osteochondrodysplasia in Scottish Fold cats     

Malik R  Allan GS  Howlett CR  Thompson DE  James G  McWhirter C  Kendall K 《Australian veterinary journal》1999,77(2):85-92

OBJECTIVE: To better characterise the bone and joint problems which can develop in Scottish Fold cats. DESIGN: Retrospective study of cases seen in five veterinary clinics and radiographic survey of cats in a cattery. RESULTS: Six Scottish Fold cats (four castrated males, two spayed females) aged between 5 months and 6 years were presented for signs of skeletal disease including lameness, reluctance to jump, a stiff stilted gait, short misshapen distal limbs, swelling of plantar tarsometatarsal regions and short thick inflexible tails. A further four cases (one male, three females, 15 months to 11 years) were identified by radiographic screening of a cattery. A diagnosis of osteochondrodysplasia was based on characteristic radiological findings including irregularity in the size and shape of tarsal, carpal, metatarsal and metacarpal bones, phalanges and caudal vertebrae, narrowed joint spaces, and progressive new bone formation around joints of distal limbs with diffuse osteopenia of adjacent bone. A plantar exostosis caudal to the calcaneus was present in advanced cases. In all nine cases where pedigree information was available, affected cats allegedly originated from the mating of a Scottish Fold to a cat with normal ears. The severity and time of onset of physical signs, and rate of progression and extent of radiographic abnormalities, varied from case to case. Limited histological observations suggested the underlying problem may be an osteochondrodysplasia, related to inadequate cartilage maturation. Clinical signs were ameliorated by administration of pentosan subcutaneously in two of three cats in which it was trailed, and one of these also benefited from an oral glycosaminoglycan preparation. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and radiological findings were ascribed to defective maturation and function of cartilage, particularly in the distal limbs, ears and tail. As all Scottish Fold cats suffered from osteochondrodysplasia of some degree, the best solution would be to avoid using fold-eared cats for breeding and instead use Scottish shorthairs.  相似文献