Fat globule membrane of sow milk as a target for adhesion of K88-positive Escherichia coli

Membrane adhesion of K88-positive Escherichia coli was studied on intestinal brush-border membranes on 237 Finnish Landrace pigs. Forty-one per cent of the brush-border membrane preparations aggregated E. coli (positive adhesion). Similar dualism of adherence/nonadherence was observed on sow milk fat globule membranes. Washed milk fat globules (washed cream) can be used as a convenient source of material for adhesion studies. Bacterial adherence on to milk fat globules is evident as agglutination of the globules (dark-field microscopy). By this procedure the sows can be typed according to their receptor phenotype. This simple principle of fat globule agglutination due to receptors for K88-positive E. coli might be complicated by SigA-mediated bacterial adherence. Fat globule membranes were shown to contain SigA, which may act as a mediator of bacterial adherence onto fat globules. The significance of this adhesive property of milk fat globule might be to provide alternative receptors for E. coli thus preventing bacterial adhesion on to gastro-intestinal epithelium of the offspring. Sow milk fat globules can be used for typing E. coli for membrane adhesiveness. The adhesiveness of the strains showed a good correlation with the presence of the K88 antigen, as well as the hydrophobicity of the bacterial strain as determined by an association on Phenyl-Sepharose beads.     

Transmission studies with the contagious equine metritis bacterium in albino Swiss mice

Aspects of experimental transmission of the causal bacterium of contagious equine metritis (CEM) to albino Swiss mice were investigated. Whereas infection was established in the majority of female mice, the organism was recovered from only a limited number of male mice after challenge. No clinical evidence of infection was observed in the experimental mice. There was only one instance of presumptive venereal transmission of the CEM bacterium. One third of infected females conceived and had normal litters.     

An occurrence of Newcastle disease in pigeons: Virological and serological studies on the isolatesFoyers de maladie de Newcastle chez le pigeon: Etudes virologiques et serologiques sur des souches isolees

The antigenic and pathogenetic relationship between pigeon Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolates during outbreaks of 1982 in Italy and reference pathogen and non-pathogen NDV-strains were investigated.The pigeon-isolates were slow-eluters and showed a thermostability at 56°C of over 30 min. They proved to be lentogenic as measured by the mean-death-time in chicken-embryos, and between lentogenic and mesogenic as measured by the Hanson test. They failed to produce plaques in chicken-embryo-fibroblasts and showed high pathogenicity for experimentally infected pigeons, low-pathogenicity for quails and were not pathogenic for chickens. They were antigenically different from the LaSota strain as measured by the cross-HI-test and induced considerable seroconversion in inoculated animals. The existence of a lentogenic neurotropic pigeon-pathogenic strain was considered.     

基于ERDAS的森林资源遥感信息初步研究

以图像处理系统ＥＲＤＡＳ为基础，以ＴＭ卫星遥感图像和地面森林资源调查数据为材料，讨论了ＥＲ－ＤＡＳ计算机图像处理的有关过程，研究了如何把遥感图像和森林资源调查数据相结合并从中提取相关信息的方法，建立了遥感图像与ＧＩＳ资源数据库之间的对应关系。结果表明，该研究方法正确可行，输出图像精度高，可为森林资源管理工作提供重要的遥感基础信息。     

The growth of swine bone marrow cells in the presence of heterologous colony stimulating factor: Characterization of the developing cell population

Conditioned medium prepared from the mouse fibroblast cell line L 929 which is known to produce colony-stimulating factor active on mouse bone marrow cells was also able to stimulate the growth of swine bone marrow cells in a liquid culture system. During the first 4 days of culture mononuclear phagocyte and granulocyte colonies developed. Prolonged cultured cells were classified belonging to the macrophage lineage by morphological and cytochemical criteria. These cells fulfill also functional characteristics for macrophages, like expression of Fc receptors, immune phagocytosis and production of prostaglandins. These bone marrow-derived macrophages could also be activated with LPS and lymphocyte-derived mediators.     

One-cycle growth studies with Maedi—Progressive pneumonia—Visna viruses: Shorter latent periods revealed

The latent periods of Visna virus and of progressive pneumonia virus were demonstrated by one-cycle growth studies to end 14–16 hr after infection of sheep choroid plexus cell cultures. Maedi virus was demonstrated to have a 14–18-hr latent period.     

Demonstration of inflammatory cell population changes in rat lungs in response to intratracheal instillation of spring wheat dust using lung enzymatic digestion and centrifugal elutriation

The inhalation of grain dust by grain workers is responsible for a large number of pulmonary pathophysiologies. These problems may be acute or chronic and may be mediated by the chronic activation of the immune system. Constant inflammatory states in the lung may eventually lead to tissue damage and respiratory deficit. This study was designed to measure the changes in the relative number of inflammatory cells in peripheral blood, bronchoalveolar spaces, and lung interstitium that occur in response to intratracheally instilled airborne spring wheat dust in rats. It was found that 6h after instillation with dust, neutrophils were present in greater numbers in the blood and bronchoalveolar spaces than in lung interstitium. After 24h, there appeared to be a larger number of neutrophils in the lung interstitium in dust-instilled animals than in saline-instilled controls. These results indicate that intratracheal instillation of grain dust initiates an acute inflammatory reaction, and that there is an initial influx of neutrophils into the air spaces of the lung followed by transit of these cells into the lung interstitium.     

A new freeze-dried living virus vaccine against sheep-pox

A sheep-pox virus strain has been adapted and multiplied in primary lamb kidney cell cultures. The main characteristics of the strain have been verified in vitro after clones were isolated, and the results confirmed its identity. The safety and the potency of the strain have been investigated in sheep.

The inoculation of the strain to sheep was followed by a post-vaccinal reaction materialised by a nodule at the site of inoculation and an increase of temperature by about 1°C. No reactions adversely affecting pregnancy have been noted. Immunisation was demonstrated by an increase in the level of neutralising serous antibodies and protection against the pathogenic virus. The immunity tended to decrease during the second year after primovaccination and a yearly booster vaccination appeared to be necessary. Primovaccination of lambs over 2 months of age produced a better immunity, especially when the lambs were born from vaccinated ewes.

This strain forms the active principle of a freeze-dried vaccine containing no adjuvant of the immunity.     

Urinary tract infections-microbial virulence determinants and reactive oxygen species

The human urinary tract is able to combat with the microbial invasion under normal circumstances. To cause urinary tract infection the organism has to evade the host defense mechanisms by possessing distinct properties which contribute to the virulence of the organism hence called virulence determinants Ninety percent of uncomplicated urinary tract infections are caused by Escherichia coli, hence the knowledge of the virulence determinants of this organism can be extrapolated to other uropathogenic organism as well. Virulence determinants of uropathogenic E. coli include adhesins, siderophore production, polysaccharide coating, hemolysin production, outer membrane proteins etc. The intestinal E. coli, which are the reservoir of E. coli for causing UTI, lack these virulence determinants. On the other hand these virulence determinants enable the organism to colonize and invade the urinary tract. In addition these are important in acquiring the nutrients in other wise nutrient deficient environment. Further, they also help the organisms in triggering an inflammatory response and hence bringing about pathological changes which leads to symptomatic UTI. Severity of symptomatic infections and tissue damage during the infective process depends upon the magnitude of the inflammatory response triggered by the uropathogen which in turn is dependent upon the amount of extrcellular release of reactive oxygen species by the phagocytic cells; hence role of antioxidants as an adjunct to antibiotics in the treatment of infective process needs to be evaluated further.     

Potential as an aerosol vaccine of an improved Newcastle disease vaccine derived from the LaSota strain—II. In vivo studies

Aerosol administrations of RIT 4030 and other available vaccine strains have been carried out in SPF and in conventional chickens. The results indicate that the RIT 4030 and Ulster 2C strains are significantly less reactogenic than the LaSota and the Hitchner B1 strains.The RIT 4030 strain produces an immune response even when administered to chickens with maternal antibodies and induces a better protection to challenge than the Ulster 2C strain.The replication of the RIT 4030 strain in the respiratory tract will be discussed with respect to its attenuation and transmissibility.