The suitability of some chemical methods for evaluation of freshness of stored suffocated carp]

For the assessment of the degree of meat freshness of stored unbleeded carp some simple chemical methods were tested to be used as auxiliary criteria for veterinary decisions regarding the edibility. Under the experimental conditions where the suffocated carp were stored at cooling and room temperatures in water or in the air, differences were determined in the followed criteria between fresh and deteriorating fish which were statistically insignificant for most indicators. In view of requirements regarding chemical indicators only the determination of ribose content was found to be expedient. Changes in the levels of ribose were significantly correlated with the sense-detected changes in meat freshness of the stored carp.     

Asymmetry of the digits in pigs as a hereditarily conditioned variation in the anatomic structure of the extremities

As follows from the population statistical investigation performed within the management information system, defects of the anatomic structure of the feet occur in the pig population of all breeds and cross combinations kept in the Czech Socialist Republic: the frequency of this occurrence is relatively higher than 4.4% (1984) and 3.8% (1985) of all litters affected by some of the genetic defects. In some populations different degrees of claw asymmetry occur in more than 40% of the individuals. Environmental conditions contribute to the severity of the defect (technology, particularly the type of floor), but the disposition is genetically conditioned. Prevention should mainly be based on the negative selection of the carriers of the undesired disposition. Working on this study, we used the results of the population statistical processing of the reports on the hereditary defects of pigs and the results of our own observations. In the former case the data concerned 29,778 pig litters, in the latter case 7343 pigs of the Large White, Landrace, Duroc and Prestice Black-Pied breeds.     

Studies on the antifungal action of potential steroid inhibitors

Structure-activity relationships were studied with macrocyclic esters of N,N′-ethylenebis-(2,2′-amino-1,1′-cyclopentene-1,1′-dithiocarboxylic acid), with compounds related to α-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-α-phenyl-5-pyrimidinemethanol (triarimol) and with N-substituted imidazoles, all known or supposed to exert antifungal action by inhibiting the function or biosynthesis of fungal sterols.     

Testing the screening method for assaying ochratoxin in grains

To detect ochratoxin in grains and some feed mixtures the method described by Nesheim et al. (1973) was chosen out of a large number of analytical procedures. No ochratoxin was assayed in any of 41 samples (barley, corn, wheat, oats, complete feed mixtures, degraded straw) which were obtained from the current operation of feed-processing plants, did not contain any macroscopically detectable molds, were taken from storehouses with safe store conditions and they were evaluated by agricultural enterprises as safe. This method can be recommended to assay grains for ochratoxin in Czechoslovakia.     

Preparation of monoclonal antibodies against cell surface antigens in cattle

The BALB/c mice were immunized three times with bovine lymphocytes and thrombocytes in vivo. Besides, dissociated spleens of the mice were immunized with bovine lymphocytes in vitro. Hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies were formed as a result of the fusion of the spleen cells with the murine myeloma cells. On the whole, four fusions were performed after immunization in vivo and three fusions after immunization in vitro, and 70 stable hybridoma clones were obtained. Five monoclonal antibodies exhibited an identical specific reaction only with bovine thrombocytes, two antibodies reacted only with a certain limited population of bovine spleen cells. The remaining monoclonal antibodies exhibited no tissue specificity and were bound to the lymphocytes of peripheral blood, lymph nodes, thymus, and spleen, to thrombocytes, liver cells, and spermatozoa, but never to erythrocytes. As for the amount of the obtained hybridomas and specific antibodies, no significant difference was observed in the effectiveness of in vivo and in vitro immunization.