Serological differentiation of five bluetongue virus serotypes in indirect ELISA.

The serological reactivity in indirect ELISA of five different bluetongue virus (BTV) serotypes (4, 10, 15, 16 & 20) was compared using polyclonal antisera raised against virus particles and an outer structural protein, VP2. Rabbit and sheep antisera against BTV-10 produced higher ELISA values with their homologous antigens than with heterologous serotypes. A hyperimmune rabbit serum specific for virus particles was able to distinguish heterologous serotypes from each other, but a sheep serum from an infected animal was not. An antiserum directed against VP2, the protein responsible for serotype specificity in neutralization tests, was not serotype-specific in ELISA and cross-reacted with other serotypes. The discriminatory ability of a BTV-4 antiserum was improved by cross-absorption with heterologous antigens. This greatly reduced the ELISA signals with heterologous serotypes and produced an antiserum that was effectively serotype-specific.     

低、无毒农药防治花灌木主要刺吸式口器害虫

在查清天津市园林主要花灌木刺吸口器害虫桃粉蚜、绣线菊蚜、棉蚜和山楂红蜘蛛发生消长规律的基础上 ,确定了防治适期和结合点 ,筛选出 10 %吡虫啉、绿灵、蚧螨灵、 1. 8%齐螨素和花保5种低、无毒药剂 ,防效均达到 90 %以上。查出天敌 13种 ,并对优势种作了取食量调查     

根据饲料可消化氨基酸研制肉仔鸡无鱼粉饲粮试验

选用２４０只ＡＡ商品代出壳肉仔鸡进行试验，以探讨根据饲料中可消化氨基酸含量，研制菜籽粕型无鱼粉低蛋白肉仔鸡饲粮的饲用效果。结果表明：以可消化氨基酸为基础研制的菜籽粕型无鱼粉肉仔鸡低蛋白平衡饲粮，可降低饲粮蛋白质水平１－１．５个百分点，试验鸡４９日龄体重达２１５８．２６克、料肉比２．１５：１，增重和饲料转化率均达到或接近鱼粉型高蛋白饲粮的效果；每吨菜籽粕型无鱼粉饲粮可比鱼粉型饲粮降低原料成本７２－８     

无核葡萄胚发育及早期离体培养的研究:Ⅲ.培养方式对离体胚发育的影响

对5个无核葡萄品种的试验表明,不同培养方式对离体胚发育的影响是很明显的,其中4个品种胚发育率液体培养高于固体培养,‘京早晶’在液体培养中胚发育率高达73.7%,是目前国内外胚发育率最高的报道;液体培养比固体培养胚的发育程度高,发育整齐,无畸形胚,易成苗.     

Use of progesterone in microspheres for maintenance of pregnancy in mares.

Administration of progesterone in poly(d-,l-lactide) microspheres was used to maintain pregnancy in mares after luteolysis was induced by treatment with prostaglandin F2 alpha at day 14 of pregnancy. Mares were given vehicle only (control, n = 6) or 0.75 g (n = 7), 1.5 g (n = 8), or 2.25 g (n = 5) of microencapsulated progesterone at days 12 and 22 of pregnancy. Serum progesterone concentrations were determined daily, and pregnancy was evaluated by transrectal ultrasonography on alternate days. Significantly (P less than 0.05) more mares given 1.5 or 2.25 g of progesterone (6 of 8 and 4 of 5 mares, respectively), but not those given 0.75 g (3 of 7 mares), maintained pregnancy through day 32, compared with control mares (0 of 6). Progesterone concentrations decreased significantly (P less than 0.025) in all groups after administration of prostaglandin F2 alpha at day 14, and significant (P less than 0.05) effects of time and treatment on progesterone concentrations were found between days 12 and 22, and 22 and 32. Although treatment with 1.5-g and 2.25-g doses of microencapsulated progesterone improved maintenance of pregnancy, compared with that of vehicle-treated controls, administration of 2.25 g of microencapsulated progesterone appeared to be most efficacious in maintenance of pregnancy during the study interval.     

Ovarian follicular characteristics, embryo recovery, and embryo viability in heifers fed high-fat diets and treated with follicle-stimulating hormone.

Postpubertal beef heifers (n = 55) were used to examine the effects of high-fat diets, independently of energy intake, on nonesterified fatty acid and lipoprotein metabolic patterns, ovarian follicular dynamics, and embryo recovery/viability after FSH superstimulation. High-lipid (HL) diets (5.4% added fat) increased (P < .01) serum concentrations of cholesterol, but not of nonesterified fatty acids, during the 35-d period before FSH treatment. Development of medium-sized (5 to 9.9 mm) follicles was enhanced (P < .05) during this period in heifers fed the HL diet. The HL diet increased total cholesterol (P < .05) and progesterone (P = .14) concentrations in follicular fluid obtained at ovariectomy (n = 10) 60 h after the onset of FSH treatment, but neither estradiol-17 beta nor androstenedione was affected. Granulosa cells recovered from FSH-induced, estrogen-active follicles in heifers fed the HL diet produced greater quantities of progesterone (P = .06) and less estradiol-17 beta (P < .05) in vitro than did granulosa cells from heifers fed the normal lipid diet. Dietary treatment did not influence FSH-stimulated recruitment of medium and large follicles, number of ovulations, embryo recovery, or embryo viability. Data suggest that increments in dietary fat intake can alter specific aspects of ovarian steroidogenic potential and can increase the population of medium-sized follicles theoretically available for maturation and harvest during the estrous cycle. However, conditions that limited the latter process in the current experiment are not understood and require further investigation.     

Increased litter size in Rambouillet sheep: I. Estimation of genetic parameters.

The variance and covariance components needed to estimate heritabilities of and genetic correlations among litter size, ovulation rate, scrotal circumference, and BW in a flock of Rambouillet sheep were estimated using REML via an expectation-maximization type algorithm. The heritability estimates from univariate analyses were .14, .21, .25, .36, and .15 for litter size, ovulation rate, scrotal circumference, 180-d BW of females, and 180-d BW of males, respectively, and average heritability estimates from bivariate analyses were .19, .20, .20, .34, and .10 for litter size, ovulation rate, scrotal circumference, 180-d BW of females, and 180-d BW of males, respectively. The genetic correlation between litter size and ovulation rate was near unity. Body weight in ewes had a moderate genetic correlation with both litter size (.22) and ovulation rate (.20) and a low residual correlation with both litter size (.03) and ovulation rate (.09). The genetic correlation between BW in rams and scrotal circumference was 0, whereas the residual correlation was .71. The genetic correlations of scrotal circumference with litter size and ovulation rate were -.25 and +.20, respectively.     

Kinetics of hydration and effect of liquid uptake on specific gravity of small hay and silage particles.

Kinetics of hydration of ground hay and silage particles (2-mm screen), determined by a pycnometric technique, was best described by a two- and one-pool exponential model, respectively. Fractional rates of hydration of the large pool, detected in hay particles only, and of the small pool present in both hay and silage particles averaged .135 and .021 min-1, respectively. When hydration was complete, liquid associated with particles averaged 1.16, 1.90, and .83 g/g of insoluble DM for bromegrass hay, alfalfa hay, and alfalfa silage, respectively. Functional specific gravity, which accounts for the effect of associated gas volume, averaged 1.54, 1.46, and 1.54, but unit specific gravity, calculated to include the effect of gases and liquid of hydration, averaged 1.22, 1.14, and 1.26 for bromegrass hay, alfalfa hay, and alfalfa silage, respectively. Preservation of forage as silage not only lowered gas volume, but also reduced water-holding capacity, both of which contribute to greater unit specific gravity and faster rate of escape from the rumen. In addition, estimates of unit specific gravity of approximately 1.2 indicate that even in the absence of associated gas, hydrated forage particles would tend to escape the rumen at a slower rate than that achieved by more dense particles.     

Hypokalaemic episodic polymyopathy in cats fed a vegetarian diet

A previously undocumented hypokalaemic condition with a cyclical nature, comprising acute bouts of polymyopathy followed by spontaneous recoveries, is described in the cat. Cats being fed a high protein vegetarian diet developed recurrent episodes of polymyopathy, characterised by ventroflexion of the head and neck, stiff forelimb gait, lateral head-resting and generalised muscle weakness. Plasma potassium concentrations (mean +/- standard deviation) were reduced from 3.28 +/- 0.33 mmol/l at the beginning of the experiment to 2.45 +/- 0.24 mmol/l during bouts of myopathy. This hypokalaemia was associated with increased creatine kinase activities indicative of muscle damage, and decreased urinary potassium concentrations, and was caused by insufficient dietary potassium. Cats that received the same diet supplemented with potassium did not develop hypokalaemic polymyopathy. Spontaneous recoveries of affected cats were not associated consistently with increases in plasma potassium concentrations. Plasma taurine concentrations decreased and glutamic acid increased markedly in all cats fed the experimental diet. There was no evidence of thiamin deficiency associated with the high glutamic acid intake. Veterinarians should be aware that hypokalaemic cats, and in particular those on potassium-deficient diets, may show cyclical disease with episodes of polymyopathy recurring after periods of spontaneous clinical recovery. This condition in cats may be a useful animal model for familial hypokalaemic periodic paralysis in humans.     

A context for recruitment correlations: why marine fisheries biologists should still look for them

In many cases when ecologists want to investigate a process, they often look for the best system on which to conduct the research, "best" meaning that the possibility of discovering mechanisms is optimized or made easier in some way. In fisheries we do it backwards. The species and system are given to us by economics, and we then fly in the face of the difficult circumstances to find mechanisms that are elusive anyway. These difficult circumstances constitute in some sense the first set of statistical problems. Using examples from the Northeast Pacific, I review the characteristics of cohort time series that make some species more tractable; propose a conscious process of conceptualization to assist in the formulation of clear, germane hypotheses; highlight the contrast between modeling in the sense of statistical fitting versus simulation models of processes; explore how the first round of models integrates with the second round of planning for new data collection at sea and in the lab; and, finally, propose how to judge success in terms of an operational approach.