Pyogranulomatous pneumonia in goats caused by an undescribed Porphyromonas species, "Porphyromonas katsikii".

A yet-undescribed bacterial species, tentatively named "Porphyromonas katsikii," was isolated from individuals of a small goat herd with pyogranulomatous pneumonia during an outbreak of acute respiratory disease. The isolated bacteria grew in the form of black-pigmented colonies after 14 days of incubation under anaerobic conditions at 37°C on a tryptic soy blood agar medium. The bacteria were identified as a yet-undescribed Porphyromonas species by determination of the nucleotide sequence of the rrs 16S rRNA gene, and this species was tentatively named Porphyromonas katsikii. PCR amplification with specific primers for this yet-undescribed species revealed the presence of P. katsikii in the lung tissue of all affected animals, while no PCR signals were evidenced from the lungs of healthy goats or from goats with pasteurellosis caused by Mannheimia haemolytica. These data indicate P. katsikii as the causative agent of acute respiratory distress. P. katsikii is phylogenetically related to Porphyromonas somerae and Porphyromonas levii, which cause pathologies in humans and animals, respectively. P. katsikii was not detected by PCR from samples of the gingival pockets or of the faces of healthy goats.

Institutionelle Regeln oder politische Kultur? Faktoren der parlamentarischen Mitgliederfluktuation in der Schweiz

Die Frage, ob es institutionelle Regeln oder Merkmale der politischen Kultur sind, die den personellen Wechsel in Parlamenten erklären, wird auf subnationaler Ebene für alle 26 kantonalen Legislativen der Schweiz für den Zeitraum zwischen 1960 und 2012 untersucht. Die Befunde zeigen, dass sowohl institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen als auch kulturelle Merkmale bedeutende Beiträge zur Erklärung der kantonalen Unterschiede der Parlamentsfluktuation bieten. Während Massnahmen wie die Senkung der Anzahl Parlamentsmandate und die Amtszeitbeschränkung einen direkten und starken Einfluss auf die Fluktuationsrate haben, erweisen sich die Höhe der finanziellen Vergütungen und institutionelle Regeln zur Stärkung des Parlaments gegenüber der Exekutive ohne nachhaltigen Einfluss. Langfristige politisch-kulturelle Merkmale wie die Zugehörigkeit zu einem Sprachraum sind mindestens ebenso wichtig wie einzelne institutionelle Arrangements. Als relativ unbedeutend zur Erklärung der kantonalen Niveauunterschiede parlamentarischer Mitgliederfluktuation erweisen sich sozioökonomische und demographische Faktoren – mit Ausnahme des Urbanisierungsgrads.

Renal Blood Oxygenation Level-dependent Imaging in Longitudinal Follow-up of Donated and Remaining Kidneys

Purpose To determine renal oxygenation changes associated with uninephrectomy and transplantation in both native donor kidneys and transplanted kidneys by using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MR imaging. Materials and Methods The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee. Thirteen healthy kidney donors and their corresponding recipients underwent kidney BOLD MR imaging with a 3-T imager. Written informed consent was obtained from each subject. BOLD MR imaging was performed in donors before uninephrectomy and in donors and recipients 8 days, 3 months, and 12 months after transplantation. R2* values, which are inversely related to tissue partial pressure of oxygen, were determined in the cortex and medulla. Longitudinal R2* changes were statistically analyzed by using repeated measures one-way analysis of variance with post hoc pair-wise comparisons. Results R2* values in the remaining kidneys significantly decreased early after uninephrectomy in both the medulla and cortex (P < .003), from 28.9 sec(-1) ± 2.3 to 26.4 sec(-1) ± 2.5 in the medulla and from 18.3 sec(-1) ± 1.5 to 16.3 sec(-1) ± 1.0 in the cortex, indicating increased oxygen content. In donors, R2* remained significantly decreased in both the medulla and cortex at 3 (P < .01) and 12 (P < .01) months. In transplanted kidneys, R2* remained stable during the first year after transplantation, with no significant change. Among donors, cortical R2* was found to be negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (R = -0.47, P < .001). Conclusion The results suggest that BOLD MR imaging may potentially be used to monitor renal functional changes in both remaining and corresponding transplanted kidneys. (©) RSNA, 2016.