Isolation and pathogenicity of Australian strains of Eimeria praecox and Eimeria mitis

Objective To determine the presence of E praecox and E mitis in Australia, to isolate representative strains of these species from chickens and determine their pathogenicity.
Design Morphological, physiological and cross protection studies were undertaken to confirm the identity of Australian isolates of E praecox and E mitis.
Procedure Oocysts were isolated from a backyard flock at Jimboomba, southeastern Queensland and numbers of E praecox and E mitis enriched by passage in chickens immune to five other species of poultry Eimeria . Oocysts of mean conformation and size of the two species were purified by single oocyst passage. Two isolates that closely matched recorded parameters for E praecox and E mitis were selected and designated JP and JM respectively. The cross protection between the isolates and E acervulina was determined by infection and challenge experiments. The virulence of the two isolates was determined by comparing weight gains of groups of birds inoculated with JP isolate or JM isolate with untreated groups.
Results Isolates JP and JM most closely matched recorded parameters of E praecox and E mitis respectively. Groups of chickens, previously infected with JP and JM isolates, showed no significant protection against infection with E acervulina . In a separate trial, groups of susceptible chickens inoculated with 10⁵ oocysts of JP and JM isolates showed significantly reduced weight gains compared with untreated controls.
Conclusion Isolates JP and JM are E praecox and E mitis respectively, confirming the presence of these species in Australia. These isolates were found capable of causing significant reductions in weight gains in susceptible chickens.     

Multiple defects in an aborted bovine foetus associated with chromosomal trisomy

An aborted full-term bovine foetus bad multisystemic anomalies that included a heart defect, cleft palate, pulmonary hypoplasia and kyphoscoliosis. Karyotyping using pericardial sac fibroblast cells indicated that the foetal cells were trisomic. Trypsin-banding procedures and Giemsa staining revealed that the extra chromosome was presumptively Chromosome 27. This is the first report of chromosomal trisomy 27 in an abnormal bovine foetus, and highlights the significance of chromosomal aberrations as a cause of multi-systemic foetal anomalies.     

Glaciated appalachian plateau: till shadows on hills

North slopes are twice as steep as south slopes on the hills of central New York. This asymmetry is caused by unequal till thickness-3.6 meters on north slopes and 27.6 meters on south slopes. Previous workers interpreted the hills as being of bedrock sculptured by glacial erosion, with till 0.9 to 3 meters thick.     

First report of a mecA-positive multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius isolated from a dog in New Zealand

CASE HISTORY: A 14-year-old neutered male Sealyham terrier was referred for assessment of a persistent pyoderma. It had experienced numerous episodes of dermatitis involving pododermatitis, pyoderma and otitis over the previous 6 years.

CLINICAL FINDINGS: Superficial, focally deep and mucocutaneous pyoderma were present, with yellow mucoid exudate on both nares and the lower lips crusted with haemopurulent exudate. Epidermal collarettes were present on the dorsal and lateral trunk. There were peri-anal crusts and mild erythema was present on the concave aspect of both pinnae.

MICROBIOLOGICAL FINDINGS: Culture and microbiological testing identified Staphylococcus pseudintermedius as the infecting organism. Kirby-Bauer disc susceptibility testing revealed the isolate was resistant to numerous antimicrobials including oxacillin. PCR testing of the isolate identified the presence of the mecA gene which confers resistance to β-lactam antimicrobials. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis typing suggested the isolate was not related to the methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius that had been reported to be associated with canine infections in Western Australia.

DIAGNOSIS: Superficial, deep and mucus membrane pyoderma associated with a multi-drug resistant S. pseudintermedius.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This is the first recorded case of canine pyoderma involving methicillin-resistant multidrug-resistant S. pseudintermedius in New Zealand. Treatment of such cases is difficult because the number of effective and available antimicrobials is limited. This finding should raise the awareness of the veterinary and medical professions to the presence of such organisms in New Zealand and stimulate a discussion about possible biosecurity barriers, treatment strategies and prevention of zoonotic and nosocomial infections.     

Plasma acceleration above martian magnetic anomalies

Auroras are caused by accelerated charged particles precipitating along magnetic field lines into a planetary atmosphere, the auroral brightness being roughly proportional to the precipitating particle energy flux. The Analyzer of Space Plasma and Energetic Atoms experiment on the Mars Express spacecraft has made a detailed study of acceleration processes on the nightside of Mars. We observed accelerated electrons and ions in the deep nightside high-altitude region of Mars that map geographically to interface/cleft regions associated with martian crustal magnetization regions. By integrating electron and ion acceleration energy down to the upper atmosphere, we saw energy fluxes in the range of 1 to 50 milliwatts per square meter per second. These conditions are similar to those producing bright discrete auroras above Earth. Discrete auroras at Mars are therefore expected to be associated with plasma acceleration in diverging magnetic flux tubes above crustal magnetization regions, the auroras being distributed geographically in a complex pattern by the many multipole magnetic field lines extending into space.     

Magnetic reconnection in the near Venusian magnetotail

Observations with the Venus Express magnetometer and low-energy particle detector revealed magnetic field and plasma behavior in the near-Venus wake that is symptomatic of magnetic reconnection, a process that occurs in Earth's magnetotail but is not expected in the magnetotail of a nonmagnetized planet such as Venus. On 15 May 2006, the plasma flow in this region was toward the planet, and the magnetic field component transverse to the flow was reversed. Magnetic reconnection is a plasma process that changes the topology of the magnetic field and results in energy exchange between the magnetic field and the plasma. Thus, the energetics of the Venus magnetotail resembles that of the terrestrial tail, where energy is stored and later released from the magnetic field to the plasma.