Levels of selenium in blood and tissues associated with some selenium deficiency diseases in New Zealand sheep

Whole bloods from weaned lambs with severe selenium responsive unthriftiness usually contain <5 ng Se/ml. Mildly or moderately affected lambs have blood levels of 5-10 ng/ml. Selenium responsive infertility in ewes appears to be associated with whole blood selenium levels below 10 ng/ml.     

Failure of orally administered zinc to prevent experimentally induced footrot in sheep

Two groups of adult Merino sheep, initially grazed on pasture, were dosed daily with zinc sulphate (1 mg Zn/kg LW) or zinc oxide (15 mg Zn/kg LW) for six and seven weeks, respectively. On the 18th day, both groups were transferred to indoor pens together with unmedicated control sheep, and five days later the feet of all animals were infected artificially with a virulent strain of Bacteroides nodosus. By the fourth week after challenge, 85% or more of the feet challenged had developed advanced footrot, and no significant differences in the incidence and severity of lesions between dosed and un-dosed groups were recorded. Plasma zinc concentrations, monitored throughout the experiment, remained at similar levels in sheep receiving the lower dose rate and in the controls. At the higher dose rate, plasma zinc levels increased till Day 23, but thereafter declined to values comparable to those of undosed animals. At post mortem, no evidence of zinc toxicosis was found, and only the kidneys of sheep receiving the higher dosage showed a significant accumulation of zinc compared with the controls.     

Pericardial lipoma in a geriatric dog with an incidentally discovered thoracic mass

An intrathoracic mass was discovered as an incidental finding in a 14-year-old, spayed, female Rottweiler cross during evaluation of urinary incontinence. Computed tomography suggested a pericardial or pleural location and high adipose content of the mass. The mass was removed via lateral thoracotomy with partial pericardectomy and was diagnosed as a pericardial lipoma. The dog recovered well, and there was no evidence of recurrence approximately one year later. Adipose tumours of the heart and its associated structures are rare in dogs and have been associated with both successful and fatal outcomes.     

Habitat mapping in the Caribbean for management and conservation: Use and assessment of aerial photography

• 1 The nature and distribution of the coastal and shallow marine habitats of Anguilla in the Caribbean were examined using aerial photography coupled with extensive ground truth information.
• 2 The objective was to develop an accurate method of marine habitat mapping for the analysis of the marine ecosystem in order to develop a procedure for marine and coastal resource management.
• 3 This paper describes the method which was adopted as well as the biological results.
• 4 It is concluded that the management and sustainable use of the natural resources may be improved as a result of accurate habitat mapping.

     

Eight urgent,fundamental and simultaneous steps needed to restore ocean health,and the consequences for humanity and the planet of inaction or delay

1. The ocean crisis is urgent and central to human wellbeing and life on Earth; past and current activities are damaging the planet's main life support system for future generations. We are witnessing an increase in ocean heat, disturbance, acidification, bio‐invasions and nutrients, and reducing oxygen levels. Several of these act like ratchets: once detrimental or negative changes have occurred, they may lock in place and may not be reversible, especially at gross ecological and ocean process scales.
2. Each change may represent a loss to humanity of resources, ecosystem function, oxygen production and species. The longer we pursue unsuitable actions, the more we close the path to recovery and better ocean health and greater benefits for humanity in the future.
3. We stand at a critical juncture and have identified eight priority issues that need to be addressed in unison to help avert a potential ecological disaster in the global ocean. They form a purposely ambitious agenda for global governance and are aimed at informing decision‐makers at a high level. They should also be of interest to the general public.
4. Of all the themes, the highest priority is to rigorously address global warming and limit surface temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2100, as warming is the pre‐eminent factor driving change in the ocean. The other themes are establishing a robust and comprehensive High Seas Treaty, enforcing existing standards for Marine Protected Areas and expanding their coverage, especially in terms of high levels of protection, adopting a precautionary pause on deep‐sea mining, ending overfishing and destructive fishing practices, radically reducing marine pollution, putting in place a financing mechanism for ocean management and protection, and lastly, scaling up science/data gathering and facilitating data sharing.
5. By implementing all eight measures in unison, as a coordinated strategy, we can build resilience to climate change, help sustain fisheries productivity, particularly for low‐income countries dependent on fisheries, protect coasts (e.g. via soft‐engineering/habitat‐based approaches), promote mitigation (e.g. carbon storage) and enable improved adaptation to rapid global change.

     

Cell-surface changes after infection with oncogenic viruses: requirement for synthesis of host DNA

The change in the surface structure of cultutred mammalian cells infected with oncogenic DNA viruses was similar to that described for the fully and permanently transformed cell surfaces. The course of appearance of this change was established. Synthesis of host DNA is required for expression of the surface change triggered by infection with the oncogenic virus.     

Convergence of Campylobacter species: implications for bacterial evolution

The nature of species boundaries in bacteria remains controversial. In particular, the mechanisms of bacterial speciation and maintenance in the face of frequent genetic exchange are poorly understood. Here, we report patterns of genetic exchange that show two closely related zoonotic pathogenic species, Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, are converging as a consequence of recent changes in gene flow. Population expansion into a novel ecological niche generated by human activity is the most probable explanation for the increase in genetic exchange between these species. Bacterial speciation can therefore occur by mechanisms analogous to those seen in metazoans, where genetic diversification and incipient speciation caused by ecological factors have been reported in several genera.     

A high-resolution radiation hybrid map of the human genome draft sequence

We have constructed a physical map of the human genome by using a panel of 90 whole-genome radiation hybrids (the TNG panel) in conjunction with 40,322 sequence-tagged sites (STSs) derived from random genomic sequences as well as expressed sequences. Of 36,678 STSs on the TNG radiation hybrid map, only 3604 (9.8%) were absent from the unassembled draft sequence of the human genome. Of 20,030 STSs ordered on the TNG map as well as the assembled human genome draft sequence and the Celera assembled human genome sequence, 36% of the STSs had a discrepant order between the working draft sequence and the Celera sequence. The TNG map order was identical to one of the two sequence orders in 60% of these discrepant cases.