Pathology of experimentally-induced, acute toxoplasmosis in macropods

SUMMARY Thirteen Tammar wallabies (Macropus eugenii) were dosed orally with 500, 1000 or 10 000 oocysts of Toxoplasma gondii, as part of a vaccination trial. Eleven animals died of acute toxoplasmosis 9 to 15 days after challenge. The lesions were similar in all animals, consisting of foci of necrosis and inflammation in the intestines, lymphoid tissue, adrenal cortex, heart, skeletal muscle and brain, and severe generalised pulmonary congestion and oedema. Free and intracellular tachyzoites of Toxoplasma were associated with the lesions. The remaining 2 animals had shown no signs of disease when euthanased four months after challenge. Small, focal, non-suppurative inflammatory lesions were seen in brain, heart and skeletal muscle of these animals and chronic Toxoplasma infection was confirmed by mouse inoculation.     

Ejaculation does not contribute to the stress response to electroejaculation in sheep

Electroejaculation procedures (EEPs) provoke stress; nevertheless, ejaculation produces physiological changes similar as those usually used to measure stress responses. The application of EEP to animals that cannot ejaculate—as ewes—may be useful to discriminate the responses induced by ejaculation from those provoked by EEP. The aim was to determine the stress response to EEP in rams and ewes. The EEPs were applied to 10 rams and 10 ewes during the non‐breeding season, and the number of vocalizations, the heart rate, rectal temperature, serum cortisol concentration, biochemical and haematological parameters were measured. Overall, EEP provoked increases in cortisol concentration, glycaemia, rectal temperature and concentration of creatine kinase (all them: p < .0001) as well as relative concentration of granulocytes (p = .003) and absolute granulocyte concentration (p = .0002) in both, rams and ewes. Heart rate, relative concentration of lymphocytes (p = .001), haematocrit (p = .02) and haemoglobin (p = .045) decreased in animals from both genders after EEP. Besides, cortisol (p < .0001), rectal temperature (p = .002) and glycaemia (p = .001) were greater in ewes than rams, and creatine kinase also tended to be greater in ewes than rams (p = .054). On the other hand, the number of animals that vocalized (p = .006), white blood cells (p = .02) and absolute lymphocytes (p = .02) were greater in rams than ewes. The general trends show a similar pattern of stress responses in animals from both genders. Therefore, we concluded that ejaculation does not contribute to the stress response provoked by the EEP. This procedure also provokes muscular damage and probably pain.     

Off-axis crustal thickness across and along the east pacific rise within the MELT area

Wide-angle seismic data along the Mantle Electromagnetic and Tomography (MELT) arrays show that the thickness of 0.5- to 1. 5-million-year-old crust of the Nazca Plate is not resolvably different from that of the Pacific Plate, despite an asymmetry in depth and gravity across this portion of the East Pacific Rise. Crustal thickness on similarly aged crust on the Nazca plate near a magmatically robust part of the East Pacific Rise at 17 degrees15'S is slightly thinner (5.1 to 5.7 kilometers) than at the 15 degrees55'S overlapping spreading center (5.8 to 6.3 kilometers). This small north-south off-axis crustal thickness difference may reflect along-axis temporal variations in magma supply, whereas the across-axis asymmetry in depth and gravity must be caused by density variations in the underlying mantle.     

The Presence of Borrelia miyamotoi,A Relapsing Fever Spirochaete,in Questing Ixodes ricinus in Belgium and in The Netherlands

Borrelia miyamotoi is a tick‐borne bacterium that may cause relapsing fever in humans. As this pathogen has been discovered in Europe only recently, only little is known about its local impact on human health and its spatial distribution. In this study, we show the results of PCR screenings for B. miyamotoi in flagged Ixodes ricinus from Belgium and the Netherlands. B. miyamotoi was detected in nine of thirteen, and three of five locations from the Netherlands and Belgium, respectively. These outcomes indicate that B. miyamotoi is more spread than previously thought. The mean infection rate B. miyamotoi was 1.14% for Belgium and 3.84% for the Netherlands.     

Biological control of Otiorrhynchus sulcatus with Heterorhabditid nematodes in the glasshouse

AHeterorhabditis species, found in dead larvae ofOtiorrhynchus sulcatus, was tested for its efficacy as a biological control agent of this insect in glasshouse experiments. In a preliminary test all weevil larvae were killed in pots with primula, 88% in strawberry and 50% in cyclamen. In a second test with strawberry plants good results were obtained when the nematodes were applied about the hatching time of the weevil eggs. At a dosage of 100 nematodes per cm² of soil area, 90–97% of the larvae were killed and 90% of the plants remained undamaged. A dosage of 50 nematodes per cm² produced roughly the same level of larval mortality, but left 30% of the plants damaged. Both early and late application of nematodes protected the plants insufficiently, because too many larvae survived. In a third test with strawberry, cyclamen and primula, soil treatment with 50 and 100 nematodes per cm² gave comparable results at both application times, i.e. one and three weeks after hatching of the weevil eggs. In strawberry 100% of the larvae were killed and all plants remained in good condition. Also in cyclamen nearly all larvae were killed and the plants remained in good condition, although the root systems had, less fine roots in comparison with control plants without insects. In primula 4–12% of the weevil larvae survived, whereas up to 20% of the plants died, indicating that soil structure, soil moisture, and condition of the plants have an important impact on the control results. A dosage of 25 nematodes per cm² appeared to be too low in all cases. The results of these experiments open new perspectives for control of the black vine weevil in glasshouses.Samenvatting Een inheemse, nematode van het geslachtHeterorhabditis werd door middel van potproeven in kassen getoetst op zijn werkzaamheid als biologisch bestrijdingsmiddel tegen larven van de gegroefde lapsnuitkever,Otiorrhynchus sulcatus. In een oriënterende proef werden in potten met primula's alle keverlarven gedood, bij aardbeiplanten werden 88% gedood en bij cyclamen 50%. In een tweede proef met alleen aardbeiplanten werden goede resultaten verkregen als de aaltjes werden toegediend in de periode dat de kevereieren uitkwamen. Bij een dosering van 100 aaltjes per cm² grondoppervlak werd 90–97% van de keverlarven gedood en bleef 90% van de planten onbeschadigd. Bij een dosering van 50 aaltjes per cm² was de doding van de keverlarven weliswaar vrijwel hetzelfde, maar de schade aan de planten was te groot; 30% van de planten ging dood. Ook bij een eerder of later bestrijdingstijdstip was de schade aan de planten aanzienlijk en was de doding van de keverlarven onvoldoende. In een derde proef werd in zowel aardbei als in cyclamen vrijwel 100% van de keverlarven gedood bij een dosering van zowel 50 als 100 aaltjes per cm² en op beide bestrijdingstijdstippen, te weten toen de keverlarven circa 1 en 3 weken oud waren. Alle aardbeiplanten en cyclamen bleven in goede staat, hoewel bij cyclamen het aantal fijne wortels minder was dan bij de controle planten zonder keverlarven. De resultaten met primula's waren in deze proef iets minder goed. Het percentage overlevende keverlarven variëerde van 4 tot 12, terwijl tot 20% van de planten dood ging. Een dosering van 25 aaltjes per cm² was in alle gevallen te laag. De resultaten van deze proeven bieden gunstige perspectieven voor toepassing van dit aaltje bij de bestrijding van de gegroefde lapsnuitkever in kassen.     

Simple fluorimetric screening for carazolol in swine kidneys by means of Sep-Pak cartridges

A simple method to determine the beta-blocker carazolol in swine kidneys is presented. Spiked samples, homogenised under alkaline conditions, were heated. Passage of the ether extracts through C18 and silica Sep-Pak cartridges yielded a fraction containing the carazolol in 88% recovery. In this fraction carazolol was determined by fluorescence spectrophotometry. By this method a level of 1 microgram/kg in spiked samples can be detected. Injection of 10 micrograms/kg body weight, 105 minutes before slaughter, resulted in carazolol contents in kidneys ranging from 11 to 25 micrograms/kg (n = 8).     

Serum IgG and IgM antibody response in cattle to antigens of Pasteurella haemolytica

The serum IgG and IgM antibody responses of 48 cattle vaccinated with live Pasteurella haemolytica (LIVE), formalin-killed P. haemolytica in Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA), or formalin-killed P. haemolytica in aluminum hydroxide adjuvant (ALH) to a variety of P. haemolytica antigens were evaluated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were used to determine the sequential and day 21 IgG and IgM antibody responses to whole P. haemolytica (WB), a capsular carbohydrate-protein subunit (CPS) extracted from the organism, P. haemolytica capsular carbohydrate (CC), and P. haemolytica leukotoxin (LT). LIVE and FIA vaccinates developed generally higher IgG and IgM responses to all antigens compared to ALH vaccinates. LIVE vaccinates developed IgG responses to LT which were significantly higher (P less than 0.05) than all other vaccinates. In contrast, FIA vaccinates developed significantly higher IgG responses to CPS than all other vaccinates. On the basis of the ELISA results, similar or cross reacting antigenic sites were present in preparations containing surface antigens (WB, CPS and CC), but not LT. Disease resistance, as determined by experimental lesions induced in the 48 calves by transthoracic challenge with P. haemolytica, was significantly greater in the LIVE and FIA vaccinates compared with ALH vaccinates. No significant difference in resistance was detected between LIVE and FIA vaccinates. Lesions in ALH vaccinates were not significantly different than those in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) controls. Increased IgG responses to all antigens were significantly associated with resistance to experimental disease; however, IgG responses to CPS were most highly correlated with resistance. The only IgM response which was significantly correlated with resistance was the response to CPS. These studies indicate that serum IgG antibody responses to various surface antigens of P. haemolytica, as well as LT, can enhance resistance to experimental pneumonic pasteurellosis. Serum IgM responses, however, do not appear to play a major role in resistance to experimental disease.     

Normalized burn ratios link fire severity with patterns of avian occurrence

Context

Remotely sensed differenced normalized burn ratios (DNBR) provide an index of fire severity across the footprint of a fire. We asked whether this index was useful for explaining patterns of bird occurrence within fire adapted xeric pine-oak forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains.

Objectives

We evaluated the use of DNBR indices for linking ecosystem process with patterns of bird occurrence. We compared field-based and remotely sensed fire severity indices and used each to develop occupancy models for six bird species to identify patterns of bird occurrence following fire.

Methods

We identified and sampled 228 points within fires that recently burned within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We performed avian point counts and field-assessed fire severity at each bird census point. We also used Landsat? imagery acquired before and after each fire to quantify fire severity using DNBR. We used non-parametric methods to quantify agreement between fire severity indices, and evaluated single season occupancy models incorporating fire severity summarized at different spatial scales.

Results

Agreement between field-derived and remotely sensed measures of fire severity was influenced by vegetation type. Although occurrence models using field-derived indices of fire severity outperformed those using DNBR, summarizing DNBR at multiple spatial scales provided additional insights into patterns of occurrence associated with different sized patches of high severity fire.

Conclusions

DNBR is useful for linking the effects of fire severity to patterns of bird occurrence, and informing how high severity fire shapes patterns of bird species occurrence on the landscape.