Efficacy of oxyclozanide against the rumen fluke Calicophoron daubneyi in experimentally infected goats

Paramphistome infections are very common in ruminants and may induce clinical signs, but little is known about effective treatments. In this study, the efficacy of oxyclozanide against Calicophoron daubneyi was studied in goats and its activity tested against immature stages (10 days post-infection) at a dose of 22.5mg/kg bodyweight (BW) and against adult stages using two doses (15 and 22.5mg/kg BW). There was a reduction (82%) in the number of immature worms (compared to controls) but the result was not statistically significant. When tested against adult stages, however, oxyclozanide reduced the worm burdens by 95.6% and 95.9% at doses of 15 and 22.5mg/kg BW, respectively, with no significant difference between the two doses. The experiment demonstrated that oxyclozanide is highly effective in reducing the number of adult paramphistomes in goats.     

Abundant PrP(CWD) in tonsil from mule deer with preclinical chronic wasting disease.

A monoclonal antibody dot-blot assay was used to evaluate detergent lysates of tonsil tissue from mule deer to detect PrP(CWD), the marker for the cervid transmissible spongiform encephalopathy chronic wasting disease (CWD). Samples of formalin-fixed brain and tonsil tissues from mule deer were examined for PrP(CWD) using immunohistochemistry (IHC) with Mab F99/97.6.1, the gold standard for diagnosis of preclinical CWD. The contralateral tonsil from each of the 143 deer was prepared for confirmatory IHC and as a 10% (wt/vol) detergent lysate without purification or enrichment steps for monoclonal antibody dot-blot assay. PrP(CWD) was detected by dot-blot assay in 49 of 50 samples considered positive by IHC. Forty-eight of the positive samples were evaluated with a quantitative dot-blot assay calibrated with recombinant PrP. Tonsillar PrP(CWD) concentrations ranged from 34 to 1,188 ng per 0.5 mg starting wet weight of tissue. The abundant PrP(CWD) in mule deer tonsil will facilitate development and validation of high-throughput screening tests for CWD in large populations of free-ranging deer.     

Seroprevalence of Neospora caninum in dairy cattle in Bahia, Brazil.

Sera collected from 447 dairy cattle on 14 dairy farms were tested for Neospora caninum antibodies by use of an immunofluorescent antibody technique. Positive reactions with titres > or =1:200 were found in 63 (14.09%) of animals. Neospora positive sera were also tested for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies by using a commercial latex agglutination test. Antibodies to T. gondii were detected in 3 (4.76%) of 63 N. caninum positive sera. These results indicate that N. caninum infection is widespread among dairy cattle in Bahia state.     

Analysis on the effect of runoff retention and pollution load control for two vegetation roofs during rainfall events

In order to understand the effect of runoff retention and pollution load control for vegetation roofs during rainfall events, the evaluation criterion of vegetation roof performance is redefined and two vegetation roofs are established artificially based on the code for the design of roof greening, which is investigated during rainfall events. Results show that ophiopogon japonicus roof can delay the production of runoff by 25〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗48 min compared to the rain occurring and retention runoff volume by 40%〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗58%, while sambucus dhinensis roof can make the generation of runoff 60〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗130 min later than the rain beginning and runoff volume retention can be as high as 54%〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗80%. In addition to PO 3-4 P, the reduction of pollution load of NO -2 N, NH3 N, TP, COD, TN and NO -3 N by both vegetation roofs can reach 95.1%〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗98.6%, 87.2%〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗93%, 72.4%〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗83%, 76%〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗81.8%, 68.7%〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗78.4% and 40.9%〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗60.6% respectively. The level of pH, COD, NH3 N and TP in vegetation roofs runoff can meet class Ⅲ surface water standard. Meanwhile, both vegetation roofs have similar effect in neutralization acid deposition (i.e., from 5.8〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗6.0 (in rain water) to 7.0〖XC半字线.tif,JZ〗7.6 (in eco roof runoff water)). Plants grown on vegetation roofs can influence the performance of vegetation roofs. Based on the results, ophiopogon japonicus has an advantage of sambucus chinensis in controlling phosphorus pollution, while sambucus chinensis manifests better in reducing nitrogen load. Vegetation roofs are becoming an important urban landscape more and more, and study results in this paper provide references for the improvement of vegetation roofs construction and more reasonable evaluation of their running performance.     

Comparison of the indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the complement fixation test (CFT) for the serodiagnosis of bovine brucellosis

Complement fixation and ELISA tests were carried out on 8772 bovine sera. Results showed that ELISA titres were, on average, approximately sixteen times higher than the corresponding C.F. titres. The specificity of ELISA appeared comparable to that of the C.F.T. There was no evidence to show that the ELISA could detect infection earlier than the C.F.T.     

蝴蝶兰不同品种表型性状遗传多样性分析

以72份蝴蝶兰品种为研究对象,对其叶片、花梗和花器官相关的34个表型性状进行测定与评价,通过表型多样性分析、聚类分析和主成分分析等方法,探讨其种质资源表型性状的遗传多样性。结果表明：72份蝴蝶兰品种的绝大多数性状呈现变异丰富、类型多样的特性,数量性状遗传多样性变异范围为16.39%～157.36%,质量性状Shannon−Wiener多样性指数范围为0.38～1.32,其中叶片的数量性状变异程度较低,但其质量性状的多样性水平较高;R型聚类分析将34个性状分为3个大类,第I类群包含了花部和叶部性状,表明花与叶的表型联系较紧密,第II类群和第III类群包含花序长、最长叶长、植株大小和花序梗长,表明这4个表型性状呈独自进化关系; Q型聚类分析将72份蝴蝶兰种质资源分为4大类,其中第II类可细分为7个亚类群,II−1、II−2亚类群可作为大花和中花育种的亲本,II−3、II−4、II−5和II−7亚类群可作为小花育种的亲本,II−4亚类群可作为香花育种的亲本,同时蝴蝶兰‘JB5342’‘JB5184’‘JB5541’‘JB3697’‘安娜’和‘JB5725’等品种与多数供试蝴蝶兰品种遗传距离较远,可作为重要亲本参考。主成分分析表明,花宽、花瓣长、花瓣宽、萼片长、花长和萼片宽的特征向量绝对值较高,是造成蝴蝶兰表型变异的主要因素。     

Influence of ectomycorrhization and cesium/potassium ratio on uptake and localization of cesium in Norway spruce seedlings

Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seedlings growing in a growth pouch system were used to investigate the effects of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Hebeloma crustuliniforme (Bull. ex St. Amans) Quél. and various Cs/K ratios on the uptake of (134)Cs, expressed as a percentage of the total amount of (134)Cs supplied. The amount of (134)Cs taken up by seedlings increased with increasing Cs/K ratio. At a Cs/K ratio of 0.1, uptake of (134)Cs ranged between 7.2 and 7.3% and was independent of ectomycorrhizal status, whereas at Cs/K ratios >/= 1 uptake of (134)Cs varied from 8.1 to 11.1% for ectomycorrhizal and from 10.4 to 14.4% for non-inoculated plants. Ectomycorrhizal seedlings contained a lower concentration of (134)Cs than non-inoculated seedlings. Among plant parts, the amount of (134)Cs was significantly lower in needles and lateral roots of ectomycorrhizal seedlings compared with non-inoculated seedlings. Among fungal and seedling tissues, highest X-ray net counts of (133)Cs were measured in fungal hyphae of ectomycorrhizal mantles. X-Ray net counts of (133)Cs in lateral roots of ectomycorrhizal and non-inoculated plants were similar, but 5 to 10 times higher than in main roots and needles, suggesting an accumulation of (133)Cs in lateral roots and slow translocation to other plant parts. In contrast, X-ray net counts of K indicated that K was readily mobilized from lateral roots to main roots and needles. Elemental mapping showed a relatively homogeneous distribution of (133)Cs within the root.