Application of an ELISA Milk Pregnancy Test in Beef Cows

Pregnancy‐associated glycoproteins (PAG) are secreted by the binucleate giant cells of the ruminant placenta and enter maternal circulation at the time of placental attachment. The IDEXX Milk Pregnancy Test (IDEXX, Westbrook, ME) detects a subset of PAG in milk. Although designed as a management tool for dairy cows, there is potential for using the milk PAG test in beef cows. Our objective was to compare the performance of the milk PAG ELISA with a gold standard method for pregnancy diagnosis and determine the agreement between milk and serum PAG analysis in lactating beef cows. Angus and Angus‐crossed cows (n = 332) from two Michigan beef herds were enrolled in this study. Cows were subjected either to timed artificial insemination followed by exposure to a bull or exclusively exposed to a bull. The bulls and cows were separated 30 days prior to examination. Serum and milk samples were collected and submitted within 24 h of collection to a commercial laboratory for PAG analysis using the IDEXX Milk Pregnancy Assay (milk) and the IDEXX Bovine Pregnancy Assay (serum). Concurrently with milk and serum collection, each cow was examined transrectally by palpation or ultrasonography. When compared to transrectal examination, the performance (and 95% confidence intervals) of the milk PAG ELISA was sensitivity of 99.7% (99.0–100.0%) and specificity of 80.8% (65.6–95.9%). The lower specificity is likely due to the low prevalence (9.9%) of open cows (n = 30) in the herds examined. Of the 332 cows examined, 1.8% (n = 6) were classified as rechecks using the milk PAG ELISA. Results of the milk and serum PAG ELISA were in high agreement (kappa coefficient = 0.91). The milk PAG ELISA was accurate in predicting pregnancy status using milk collected from beef cattle between days 37 and 125 post‐insemination and may be useful for aiding management decisions in beef herds.     

A free-fall determination of the newtonian constant of gravity

Recent determinations of the Newtonian constant of gravity have produced values that differ by nearly 40 times their individual error estimates (more than 0.5%). In an attempt to help resolve this situation, an experiment that uses the gravity field of a one-half metric ton source mass to perturb the trajectory of a free-falling mass and laser interferometry to track the falling object was performed. This experiment does not suspend the test mass from a support system. It is therefore free of many systematic errors associated with supports. The measured value was G = (6.6873 +/- 0. 0094) x 10(-11) m3 kg-1 sec-2.     

Killer whale predation on sea otters linking oceanic and nearshore ecosystems

After nearly a century of recovery from overhunting, sea otter populations are in abrupt decline over large areas of western Alaska. Increased killer whale predation is the likely cause of these declines. Elevated sea urchin density and the consequent deforestation of kelp beds in the nearshore community demonstrate that the otter's keystone role has been reduced or eliminated. This chain of interactions was probably initiated by anthropogenic changes in the offshore oceanic ecosystem.     

Circular polarization in star- formation regions: implications for biomolecular homochirality

Strong infrared circular polarization resulting from dust scattering in reflection nebulae in the Orion OMC-1 star-formation region has been observed. Circular polarization at shorter wavelengths might have been important in inducing chiral asymmetry in interstellar organic molecules that could be subsequently delivered to the early Earth by comets, interplanetary dust particles, or meteors. This could account for the excess of L-amino acids found in the Murchison meteorite and could explain the origin of the homochirality of biological molecules.     

The Solar Acoustic Spectrum and Eigenmode Parameters

The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) project estimates the frequencies, amplitudes, and linewidths of more than 250,000 acoustic resonances of the sun from data sets lasting 36 days. The frequency resolution of a single data set is 0.321 microhertz. For frequencies averaged over the azimuthal order m, the median formal error is 0.044 microhertz, and the associated median fractional error is 1.6 x 10(-5). For a 3-year data set, the fractional error is expected to be 3 x 10(-6). The GONG m-averaged frequency measurements differ from other helioseismic data sets by 0.03 to 0.08 microhertz. The differences arise from a combination of systematic errors, random errors, and possible changes in solar structure.     

New infection with Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis reduces wool production

SUMMARY The effect of natural Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis infection on wool production and quality in sheep was examined in light of evidence that artificial C pseudotuberculosis infection causes wool production loss. A toxin ELISA was used to identify sheep that had been infected with C pseudo tuberculosis. Greasy and clean fleece weights and fibre diameter were compared in infected and uninfected sheep. C pseudotuberculosis infection caused a 3.8 to 4.8% decrease in greasy wool production and a 4.1 to 6.6% decrease in clean wool production. C pseudotuberculosis infection did not affect fibre diameter. The effects of caseous lymphadenitis (the disease caused by C pseudotuberculosis infection) cause an annual loss of about $17 million in wool production to the Australian wool industry.