Decomposition of calcium carbonate and organic carbon in the deep oceans

Simple mass-balance calculations indicate that in seawater the calcium variation (DeltaCa) correlates with the variation in the titration alkalinity (DeltaTA) and the variation in the total carbon dioxide (DeltasigmaCO(2)) or nitrate (DeltaNO(3)) according to the equations DeltaCa = 0.46288 DeltaTA + 0.074236 DeltasigmaCO(2) and DeltaCa = 0.5 DeltaTA + 0.53125 DeltaNO(3). The estimated values for DeltaCa from these equations, which agree with the values obtained from direct measurements, have been used to estimate the ratio of the in situ inorganic to organic carbon fluxes in the oceans. The precise vertical distribution of this ratio is shown for the first time.     

Evaluation of reconstitution of immunodeficient mice by partially purified thymic extracts.

Partially purified thymus products were used to evaluate the maturation of T lymphocytes in immunodeficient mice. Three different bovine thymic extracts, designated thymic extracts A, B, and C, were successful in increasing the longevity of conventionally raised nude mice. Daily injection of bovine thymic extracts A, B, and C and mouse thymus extracts failed to mature a population of T lymphocytes and restore the capacity to reject heart allografts. Preincubation of normal syngeneic bone marrow with thymic extract B in vitro before injection into nude mice also failed to reconstitute the host's ability to reject heart grafts. The number of antibody plaque-forming cells of sheep red blood cells in lethally irradiated, bone marrow-reconstituted mice could be increased by preincubating the bone marrow cells with bovine thymic extract fraction B before injection followed by daily injections. A similar but less marked increase in plaque-forming cells was obtained by the daily injection of bovine thymic extract fraction C. Complete functional maturation of T lymphocytes in immunodeficient animals appears to require more than thymic extract stimulation of bone marrow cells or pre-T lymphocytes.     

BOVINE HERPESVIRUS 1 - INFECTION OF THE UPPER ALIMENTARY TRACT OF CATTLE AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH A SEVERE MORTALITY

SUMMARY A severe cattle mortality in which 132 out of 340 animals died on a property in southern Queensland was investigated. Clinical signs shown by affected animals included fever, inappetance, depression, lethargy, salivation, diarrhoea, ataxia, and ulceration of the oral cavity. The most common lesions seen at autopsy of 6 affected animals were ulceration of the tongue, gums, dental pad and buccal mucosa, linear ulceration of the caudal third of the oesophagus, mild catarrhal enteritis and necrosis of lymph nodes draining areas of ulceration. Bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV 1) was isolated from 3 out of 5 animals from which virus isolation was attempted. BHV 1 was recovered from oesophageal ulcers, retropharyngeal lymph nodes, blood clot, and swabs from ulcers in the oral cavity but not from spleen, liver or mesenteric lymph node. Serum neutralising (SN) antibody to BHV 1 was detected in 4 out of 12 affected animals in the second of paired serum samples but not in the first. Mucosal Disease (MD) virus was not recovered from any of 17 animals from which isolation was attempted but moderate MD SN titres, without a rise on paired sera, were detected in affected animals. Fever, depression, inappetance, ulceration of the upper alimentary tract, and adrenal necrosis were produced in 2 susceptible animals following inoculation with third passage cell culture fluid containing BHV 1. A serological response to BHV 1, but not to MD virus was detected in one of the cattle infected experimentally.     

Maternal immunity to infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and bovine viral diarrhea viruses: duration and effect on vaccination in young calves.

The immune response to modified live-virus bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) vaccine and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) vaccine was examined in calves that had received passive maternal antibodies to these viruses. Blood serum samples from vaccinated and control (nonvaccinated) calves were examined for more than 1 year to determine the rate of decline of passive anti-BVD and anti-IBR antibodies and the effect that vaccination had on these antibody titers. The control calves lost their antibodies to BVD and IBR viruses at the rate of one half their remaining antibody titer every 21 days. Calves serologically responded to BVD vaccine at a time when maternal antibody titers remained between 1:96 and 1:20. However, animals did not seroconvert to the IBR vaccine until maternal antibodies had decreased and become undetectable. Evidence is presented to show that although passive immunity will inhibit IBR vaccination, priming for a secondary response will occur so that on subsequent vaccination, at a time when maternal antibodies have disappeared, the animals will respond anamnestically to IBR vaccination.