A study of the interaction between bromocresol green dye and bovine,ovine and equine serum globulins

In human medicine it has been shown that the bromocresol green (BCG) dye-binding method for the determination of serum albumin is not entirely specific, the dye reacting also with certain human serum globulins. This causes over-estimation of albumin when reaction times are prolonged beyond 30 seconds.In the present study, serum albumin values obtained from three animal species by the immediate, i.e. less than 30 seconds, BCG reaction were compared with those by the 10-minute BCG reaction. Albumin-depleted sera were prepared using an affinity chromatography technique and their reactions and those of purified gamma globulin preparations with the dye were studied.In cattle, sheep and horses, serum albumin values obtained by the 10-minute reaction were higher than those obtained by the immediate BCG reaction, the differences being statistically significant. Purified gamma globulin did not react with the BCG dye after 10 minutes, but other globulins did. There were differences between the species in the magnitude of the reaction of their globulins with BCG dye.     

Multiple cytopenias associated with monocytic proliferation in a dog

An unusual combination of blood cytopenias and monocytic proliferation was observed in a dog. Initial hematologic findings included severe thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, mild nonregenerative anemia and apparently normal bone marrow. Subsequently, a severe persistent monocytosis developed and the bone marrow became populated with monocytes and cytophagic macrophages. Splenomegaly was due to reticuloendothelial hyperplasia and extramedultary hematopoiesis. Treatment consisted of splenectomy and azathioprine but the response was poor and the dog was euthanized. Postmortem examination revealed a hypocellular bone marrow which contained moderate numbers of monocytes and plasma cells. Neoplastic proliferation was absent in visceral organs. No definite diagnosis was established; chronic blood cell consumption, perhaps immune-mediated, may have been responsible for the extensive reticuloendothelial hyperplasia and cytophagia.     

Equine hydatidosis: a new record for New Zealand

Cysts found in the liver of a horse which had never been out of New Zealand were used to infect two dogs which were slaughtered 35 days after infection. Large numbers of Echinococcus granulosus were recovered. These cestodes were compared with mature dog-sheep cestodes, using light and scanning electron microscopy and identified as the dog-horse strain of E.granulosus.     

Incompatibility Between the Dimorphic Flowers of Collomia grandiflora, a Cleistogamous Species

The cleistogamous species Collomia grandiflora produces dimorphic cross-incompatible flowers on a single plant. The open or chasmogamous flower has smaller, flask-shaped stigmatic papillae, larger pollen grains, longer styles, and faster pollen tube growth rates down the style than the closed or cleistogamous flower. In intermorph crosses, pollen tube growth rates are greatly decreased and fertilization does not occur.     

Do bacteria-sized marine eukaryotes consume significant bacterial production?

Up to 60 percent of the total marine primary production (or about one-fourth of the total global carbon dioxide fixation) passes through the free-living bacterioplankton. Grazing by bacteriovores is probably the predominant fate of the bacteria, although data are scarce. Evidence is presented that previously uncharacterized, small eukaryotes that are able to pass even 0.6-micrometer filters may be responsible for a large fraction (more than 50 percent) of the total grazing in coastal waters. These organisms have not yet been observed microscopically.     

Venus: detailed mapping of maxwell montes region

From October 1983 to July 1984, the north hemisphere of Venus, from latitude 30 degrees to latitude 90 degrees , was mapped by means of the radar imagers and altimeters of the spacecraft Venera 15 and Venera 16. This report presents the results of the radar mapping of the Maxwell Montes region, one of the most interesting features of Venus' surface. A radar mosaic map and contour map have been compiled.