Results of the evaluation of food chain information for a risk-oriented meat inspection

In a scientific project 469 slaughter groups originating from 39 farmers with 37.222 pigs in total were investigated concerning the usefulness of the food chain information. A standard statement does not include enough relevant information for the official veterinarian in the slaughterhouse to do a risk-based meat inspection. Even the food chain information for the visual meat inspection, which has certain limits, shows only farms, where the animals are of good health. Groups of fattened pigs with an extreme high rate of mortality and many abnormalities mean a potential risk for food safety. So for a risk-based meat inspection it is affordable to develop information-systems with real mortality and finding rates and the use of drugs on the farm.     

Single‐Layer Centrifugation Reduces Equine Arteritis Virus Titre in the Semen of Shedding Stallions

Several countries have adopted strategies for preventing and/or controlling equine viral arteritis based on vaccination and restricting the breeding activities of carrier stallions. However, in some cases, carrier stallions are only identified after they have transmitted virus to a mare. Therefore, a mechanism for separating virus from spermatozoa in the semen of carrier stallions would facilitate control measures for preventing disease transmission. In this study, the use of several modifications of single‐layer centrifugation (SLC, SLC with an inner tube and double SLC) through Androcoll‐E, a species‐specific colloid were evaluated for their ability to separate spermatozoa from virus in ejaculates from carrier stallions. The three types of SLC significantly reduced the virus titre in fresh semen at 0 h and in stored semen at 24 h (p < 0.001) but did not completely eliminate the virus. Sperm motility parameters such as total motility and progressive motility were significantly increased after colloid centrifugation, whereas curvilinear velocity and amplitude of lateral head deviation were decreased, and the remainder (straight line velocity, average path velocity, straightness, linearity, wobble and beat cross‐frequency) were not significantly affected by the processing. Although virus titres were reduced in the SLC samples, significant levels of infectivity still remained, especially in stallions shedding large amounts of virus. It remains to be determined whether SLC‐processed sperm samples from stallions shedding low virus titres retain sufficient equine arteritis virus to cause infection in mares through artificial insemination.     

People with absolute pitch process tones without producing a p300

The P300 is a positive-going component of the event-related potential. In subjects with absolute, or "perfect," pitch, the P300 elicited by the less frequent of two auditory probes is small or absent. In these subjects, visual probes elicit a normal P300. These results support the view of P300 as a manifestation of the updating of working memory.     

Melatonin synthesis: adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate and norepinephrine stimulate N-acetyltransferase

Treatment of cultured rat pineal glands with norepinephrine or dibutyryl adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate causes a six- to tenfold stimulation of N-acetyltransferase. This enzyme converts serotonin to N-acetylserotonin, the immediate precursor of melatonin. The increased synthesis of melatonin caused by norepinephrine treatment appears to be the result of stimulation of N-acetyltransferase by an adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate mechanism.     

Fluidity of bound hydration layers

We have measured the shear forces between solid surfaces sliding past each other across aqueous salt solutions, at pressures and concentrations typical of naturally occurring systems. In such systems the surface-attached hydration layers keep the compressed surfaces apart as a result of strongly repulsive hydration forces. We find, however, that the bound water molecules retain a shear fluidity characteristic of the bulk liquid, even when compressed down to films 1.0 +/- 0.3 nanometer thick. We attribute this to the ready exchange (as opposed to loss) of water molecules within the hydration layers as they rub past each other under strong compression.     

Race and imprisonment decisions in California

Data were analyzed for 11,553 California offenders who in 1980 were convicted of assault, robbery, burglary, theft, forgery, or drug crimes. Whether an offender was given probation or sentenced to prison for such crimes could be predicted with about 80 percent accuracy from a combination of variables that described defendant and crime characteristics and criminal justice processing. The addition of race to the prediction equation for a given crime type did not improve the accuracy of the prediction. In addition, there was no evidence that other factors related to imprisonment (for example, number of conviction counts, going to trial) masked a relation between race and imprisonment. Race also was not related to the length of prison term imposed.