“Bad Neighborhood” and Internet Adoption in Poor Countries: What is behind the Persistent Digital Gap?

The paper investigates the determinants of Internet adoption in poor countries, focusing on the role of macro‐geographic location (neighborhood). It is argued that neighboring countries are interconnected by various kinds of spillovers, including knowledge spillovers as well as spillovers of norms and attitudes that affect individual adoption behavior. The empirical findings support the view that Internet adoption is affected by adoption rates in neighboring countries, even when controlling for a wide range of covariates. Addressing potential endogeneity concerns using an instrumental variable approach moreover suggests these relationships to be causal. The findings imply that international policies to support Internet adoption in poor countries might be more effective if they target groups of neighboring countries rather than single countries in order to better exploit spillovers between neighboring countries.     

Listeria monocytogenes in faeces from clinically healthy dairy cows in Sweden

Faecal samples from 102 clinically healthy dairy cows, representing 34 farms in the Swedish province of Uppsala, were analysed for the presence of Listeria spp. using an enrichment procedure. Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from six (6%) and L. innocua from 2 (2%) cows. From each of the 6 samples positive for L. monocytogenes, 5 isolates were further characterised by restriction enzyme analysis using the 3 enzymes Apa I, Sma I, and Asc I, followed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Three of the L. monocytogenes positive cows lived at the same farm, and they all harboured the same clonal type. One of these 3 cows also harboured a further clonal type of L. monocytogenes. The fact that one of the cows harboured 2 different clonal types of L. monocytogenes is important from an epidemiological point of view when routes of infection are to be investigated.     

Isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from Goat Cheese Associated with a Case of Listeriosis in Goat

Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from the brain of a goat, which was euthanized due to listeriosis. A few weeks later a similar subtype of L. monocytogenes was isolated from an on-farm manufactured fresh cheese which did not contain any milk from the goat which had suffered from listeriosis. A similar subtype was also found on 1 of the shelves in the refrigerator where cheeses were stored. Prior to the onset of listeriosis, 1 fresh cheese had been made of milk from the actual goat, which may have excreted L. monocytogenes in her milk. Thus, the cheese made of this milk may have contaminated the shelves in the refrigerator which then has served as a Listeria reservoir for new cheeses during several weeks.     

Nylon wool column fractionation and characterisation of feline lymphocyte subpopulations

Feline separated mononuclear cells (SMC) were obtained from peripheral blood by ficoll-diatrizoate gradient separation. SMC were further fractionated on nylon wool columns into nylon wool adherent cells (NWAC) and nylon wool effluent cells (NWEC). The three cell populations, SMC, NWAC and NWEC, were characterised using direct immunofluorescent staining for surface immunoglobulin (sIg) as a B cell marker and neuramidase treated guinea pig erythrocyte-rosette formation (E-rosettes) and mitogen-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis (LB) as possible T-cell markers. Feline SMC consisted of 30.1 +/- 4.0% sIg+ cells 36.6 + 5.4% E-rosette forming cells and 33.3% null cells i.e. cells which were sIg- and non E-rosette forming. Fractionation of SMC on nylon wool columns yielded NWEC which were significantly enriched for T cells in that they contained 68.6 +/- 2.9% E-rosette forming. Fractionation of SMC on nylon wool columns yielded NWEC which were significantly enriched for T cells in that they contained 68.6 +/- 2.9% E-rosette forming cells. NWAC were 51.0% +/- 10.8% sIg+, approximately 20% of cells were lost. The LB responsiveness of NWEC to concanavalin A (Con A) and phytonaemagglutinin-P (PHA-P) was enhanced compared to SMC. NWAC were non-responsive to Con A and PHA-P at all concentrations tested. It was concluded that nylon wool column fractionation of feline SMC was an efficient procedure for T cell enrichment and that the enriched cells retained the properties of E-rosette formation and blastogenesis by mitogens.     

Variable sensitivity of a feline embryo cell line and of three kitten kidney cell cultures to feline herpes- and caliciviruses

The number of plaques produced in a feline embryo (FEmb) cell line and in three independently derived kitten kidney (KK) cell cultures varied in a consistent and reproducible manner when each was inoculated with the same number of feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV1) plaque forming units (PFU); the three KK cells produced 2-9 times more plaques than FEmb cells. One of the three KK cells produced FHV1 plaques that were smaller in diameter than those FEmb cells. Each of the three KK cell cultures inoculated with the same number of FEmb cell PFU of a strain of feline calicivirus (FCV) produced different numbers of plaques; two of the three KK cell cultures produced 2-3 times more plaques than FEmb cells. The plaque diameter of FCV in the three KK cells was 30-50% smaller than the plaque diameter in FEmb cells.     

Evaluation of alternative methods for the detection of bovine leukaemia virus in cattle

AIM: To evaluate commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for their ability to detect antibodies against or nucleic acid of the bovine leukaemia virus (BLV), the causal agent of enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), and to assess their usefulness in a national eradication programme. METHODS: Eighty-two well-defined sera (including 18 from an OIE reference laboratory) and 399 field sera from New Zealand cattle were tested in five ELISAs and the results compared with the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test and electrophoretic immunoblotting (EIB) results. A polymerase chain reaction-based technique, which could detect BLV-RNA and proviral-DNA, was also evaluated on a subsample of the field cases. RESULTS: Two commercial ELISAs classified 99% of the defined sera correctly, with the other three ranging in their correct classification between 88% and 95%. The ELISAs agreed in their general classification on the majority of the 399 blood samples (91.7%), and with the AGID for more than 95 % of the sera. In a dilution series of the international reference serum E4, the highest dilution with a positive (or suspicious) result ranged from 1:80 to 1:5120. A dilution series of 202 field positive samples tested in the preferred ELISA detected 98% of positive sera at a 15 and 1: 10 dilution, reducing to 78% at a 1:80 dilution of the sera. Agreement between serological tests and PCR was poor, mainly due to failure of the PCR to detect a number of serologically positive animals. CONCLUSION: ELISA tests detected about 10% more reactors than the AGID and the EIB combined. Some ELISA-positive animals were not detected by PCR, raising doubts about the usefulness of PCR-based technology in EBL eradication programmes.