Levels of selenium in blood and tissues associated with some selenium deficiency diseases in New Zealand sheep

Whole bloods from weaned lambs with severe selenium responsive unthriftiness usually contain <5 ng Se/ml. Mildly or moderately affected lambs have blood levels of 5-10 ng/ml. Selenium responsive infertility in ewes appears to be associated with whole blood selenium levels below 10 ng/ml.     

An automated micro-method for the enzymatic determination of D-B-hydroxybutyrate in ruminant plasma

1. An enzymatic ‘reaction rate’ micro-method for the rapid routine estimation of D-B-hydroxybutyrate (D-B-HOB) in ruminant plasma, using an I.L. Multistat III centrifugal analyzer, is described.
2. Reaction conditions were optimized to give a linear response for plasma D-B-HOB concentrations between 100 and 2500 μmoles per litre, at 30°C and pH 9.0.
3. For the standardized method the within-run and between-run coefficients of variation for deproteinised ovine plasma were consistently less than 3.5%.
4. There was good agreement between plasma concentrations obtained by the present method and both original U.V. end-point technique (r=0.927b=0.950) and a colorimetric end-point procedure (r=0.937. b=0.879).
5. Utreated ovine and bovine plasma consistently exhibited high ‘blank’ activity and this was directly correlated with plasma lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in both species (r=0.971; p<0.001 and r=0.949; p<0.001 respectively). The distribution of LDH activity in man was similar to sheep but, contrastingly, non-specific interference was extremely low in human plasma and unrelated to LDH. Horse, chicken and rat had negligible ‘blank” activity and comparatively low LDH levels. In both cattle and sheep non-specific interference was abolished by perchloric acid precipitation. In the sheep subtraction of ‘blank’ activity gave D-H-HOB concentrations for untreated plasma comparable to those in deproteinised samples. However, in the bovine, D-B-HOB levels remained significantly (t=6.44; p<0.001) higher even after ‘blank’ correlation. In contrast to man and other non-ruminants, perchloric acid precipitation is essential in ruminants to avoid false overestimation of plasma D-B-HOB levels.
6. Plasma with EDTA as anticoagulant and serum gave concentrations of D-B-HOB approximately 60% lower, than samples containing heparin or oxalate/fluoride. However, heparin was associated with much higher (up to 50%) non-specific NAD rduction than oxalate/fluoride.
7. High levels of acetoacetate (400–1000 μmoles per litre) reduced the recovery of D-B-HOB from ovine plasma by less than 10%. This effect was negated by the inclusion of hydrazine hydrates in the reaction mixture. Perchlorate ion concentrations above 25 μmoles per litre per test dramatically inhibited the assay in ovine plasma, and therefore precipitation conditions must be carefully controlled.
8. Plasma with oxalate/fluoride as anticoagulant showed the greatest stability in storage; 24 hours at room temperature, one week at +4°C and at least one month at ?20°C.

     

The overwintering mode ofBemisia tabaci and its parasitoids in Israel

Wild and cultivated plants in the vicinity of Kibbutz Nahshon and a few additional locations in Israel were sampled for the presence ofBemisia tabaci Genna-dius (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). The whiteflies, together with their parasites,Eretmocerus mundus andEncarsia lutea, were found to develop on numerous host species throughout the winter. Especially high levels were reached onLan-tana camara, Abutilon grandifolium andIpomoea batatas. During late winter and spring the population on these hosts declined. From April onwards the populations increased on potatoes and sunflowers.     

Detection of beet yellows virus in sugarbeet plants by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)

Beet yellows virus can be detected in leaf extracts of infected sugarbeet plants by ELISA. The use of discs was studied and proved to be a valuable and qualitatively reliable method. Leaf material could be stored at 4^o or 22°C for at least six days without affecting the detection of this virus by ELISA. A dramatic decrease in ELISA values was found when leaf extracts were frozen.In an analysis of the distribution of virus over the plant it was found that young leaves present at the moment of infection and those which had still to develop after infection will contain virus. Symptoms produced by systemic virus invasion occur on the oldest leaves containing virus.Samenvatting Het bietevergelingsvirus kan op betrouwbare wijze met de ELISA methode in geïnfecteerde bieteplanten worden aangetoond. Een aanzienlijke vereenvoudiging van de procedure kan worden bereikt met de zogenaamde disc-method, waarbij intacte ponsstukjes in de putjes van de ELISA-plaat worden geïncubeerd. Hierbij komt voldoende virus uit de ponsstukjes voor ELISA vrij. Bladmateriaal kon op verschillende wijzen bewaard worden zonder dat de mogelijkheid om het virus aan te tonen achteruitging. Met bladextracten die ingevroren waren, werden echter slechte resultaten verkregen.In een analyse naar de verdeling van het virus over het loof bleek het virus voor te komen in de geïnoculeerde bladeren, in die bladeren die op het tijdstip van inoculatie minder dan de helft van hun uiteindelijke lengte bereikt hadden en in de bladeren die nog moesten verschijnen. De symptomen ontwikkelden zich op de oudste systemisch geïnfecteerde bladeren.     

Endogenous ionic currents traverse intact and damaged bone

Living bone drives an electric current through itself and into sites of damage. Such "fracture currents" consist of two components: an intense, decaying current dependent on bone deformation and a stable, persistent current driven by a cellular battery. The latter is carried by chloride ions and, to a lesser extent, by sodium, magnesium, and calcium ions. Endogenous fracture currents are of the same polarity and similar magnitude as clinically applied currents that are successful in treating chronic nonunions in fractured bones. This suggests that the defect in biological nonunions may reside in the electrophysiology of repair.     

Validation of liquid chromatographic method for assay of calcitriol and alfacalcidol in capsule formulations

The validation of a liquid chromatographic procedure suitable for the determination of calcitriol and alfacalcidol in their respective formulations labeled to contain at least 0.25 micrograms drug per unit is described. The capsule content is diluted and chromatographed in 15-20 min on silica columns (5 micron) with a mobile phase of hexane-tetrahydrofuran-methylene dichloride-isopropanol (72 + 12 + 12 + 4, v/v) with detection at 254 nm. The calibration curve is linear. Recoveries of "spikes" averaged 101% with a standard deviation of 2%. Precision was better than 1.5%.     

Dual infections of red deer (Cervus elaphus) by Leptospira interrogans serovars copenhageni and hardjo

On a property in the Nelson District, blood and urine samples were taken from red deer (Cervus elaphus) from which low (<1:100) antibody titres to serovar copenhageni and suspected leptospiral abortions had previously been reported. A total of 27 hinds were sampled. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) titres in sera ranging from 1:32 to 1:128 were found in six animals. Thirteen leptospiral isolations were made from nine of the 27 urine samples. Four of these were typed as copenhageni and nine as hardjo. Two cultures were prepared from each urine sample and hardjo and copenhageni were both isolated from single urine samples from two animals. None of the 27 deer had serum MAT titres at 1:32 or above to copenhageni.