Identification of epitope(s) on the internal virion proteins of rinderpest virus which are absent from peste des petits ruminants virus.

Monoclonal antibodies (MAb) raised against the RBOK vaccine strain of rinderpest virus were characterized by radio-immunoprecipitation (RIPA) and in the indirect ELISA using measles (MV), distemper (CDV), rinderpest (RPV) and peste des petits ruminants viruses (PPRV). Those found to be specific for the matrix (M) protein and the nucleocapsid (N) protein could be classified into different groups on the basis of the anti-morbillivirus MAb classification scheme; a number of these MAb showed a selective recognition of RPV, measles virus and distemper virus, or of different isolates of rinderpest virus, demonstrating that greater inter-isolate variation occurs than was apparent from analyses using polyclonal antisera. One group of anti-F protein MAb (group F1) reacted with all isolates of both RPV and PPRV. A second group of anti-N protein MAb (group N1/A) reacted with all RPV isolates, but not with the PPRV isolates. Furthermore, these group N1/A antibodies reacted strongly with RPV isolates which were upon original isolation of high pathogenicity, but had a weaker reaction against the isolates of this virus which were of low pathogenicity. Thus, MAb against RPV, in particular those against the N protein offered a potential superior to that of molecular analyses for "isolate fingerprinting", the differentiation of RPV from PPRV and the discrimination between rinderpest viruses which had been, upon isolation, of either high or low pathogenicity.     

Differential Rotation and Dynamics of the Solar Interior

Splitting of the sun's global oscillation frequencies by large-scale flows can be used to investigate how rotation varies with radius and latitude within the solar interior. The nearly uninterrupted observations by the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) yield oscillation power spectra with high duty cycles and high signal-to-noise ratios. Frequency splittings derived from GONG observations confirm that the variation of rotation rate with latitude seen at the surface carries through much of the convection zone, at the base of which is an adjustment layer leading to latitudinally independent rotation at greater depths. A distinctive shear layer just below the surface is discernible at low to mid-latitudes.     

Analysis of the costs of veterinary education and factors associated with financial stress among veterinary students in Australia

Objective

To investigate the course‐related and other costs involved in obtaining a veterinary education in Australia and how these costs are met. The study also aimed to identify sociodemographic and course‐related factors associated with increased financial stress.

Methods

Students from seven Australian veterinary schools were surveyed using an online questionnaire. A total of 443 students participated (response rate 17%). Responses to survey items relating to finances, employment and course‐related costs were compared with sociodemographic factors and prior research in the area of student financial stress.

Results

Respondents reported spending a median of A$300 per week on living costs and a median of A$2,000 per year on course‐related expenses. Over half of respondents received the majority of their income from their parents or Youth Allowance (56%). A similar proportion (55%) reported that they needed to work to meet basic living expenses. Circumstances and sociodemographic factors linked to perceived financial stress included requiring additional finances to meet unexpected costs during the course; sourcing additional finances from external loans; an expected tuition debt at graduation over A$40,000; being 22 years or older; working more than 12 hours per week; living costs above A$300 per week; and being female.

Conclusion

The costs involved in obtaining a veterinary education in Australia are high and over half of respondents are reliant on parental or Government income support. Respondents with certain sociodemographic profiles are more prone to financial stress. These findings may have implications for the psychological health, diversity and career plans of veterinary students in Australia.     

Reproducibility of systematic literature reviews on food, nutrition, physical activity and endometrial cancer

OBJECTIVE: Despite the increasing dependence on systematic reviews to summarise the literature and to issue public health recommendations, the formal assessment of the reliability of conclusions emerging from systematic reviews has received little attention. The main goal of the present study was to evaluate whether two independent centres, in two continents, draw similar conclusions regarding the association of food, nutrition and physical activity and endometrial cancer, when provided with the same general instructions and with similar resources. DESIGN: The assessment of reproducibility concentrated on four main areas: (1) paper search and selection; (2) assignment of study design; (3) inclusion of papers; and (4) individual studies selected for meta-analysis and the summary risk estimate obtained. RESULTS: In total 310 relevant papers were identified, 166 (54 %) were included by both centres. Of the remaining 144 papers, 72 (50 %) were retrieved in the searches of one centre and not the other (54 in centre A, 18 in centre B) and 72 were retrieved in both searches but regarded as relevant by only one of the centres (52 in centre A, 20 in centre B). Of papers included by both centres, 80 % were allocated the same study design. Agreement for inclusion of cohort-type and casekey' papers was 87 %. Summary risk estimates from meta-analyses were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Transparency of process and explicit detailed procedures are necessary parts of a systematic review and crucial for the reader to interpret its findings.     

Workshop studies on monoclonal antibodies in the myeloid panel with CD11 specificity.

Several putative anti-human and swine CD11-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were included in the myeloid section of the Third International Swine CD Workshop. Failure of clustering analysis to group these mAbs together prompted additional analyses to define the specificities of these mAb. Combination of one and two-color flow cytometry (FCM) and immunoprecipitation (IP) allowed the definition of the mAb into three CD11 groups. Cellular distribution of the molecules recognized by anti-human CD11b and c mAbs on swine cells proved to be significantly different from that found in humans.     

美国农业生态学发展综述

农业生态学是生态学的一个分支学科,是生态学原理在农业上的具体应用。美国是世界上最大的农业强国。美国农业的发展,得益于农业生态学的理论指导和农业生态学原理的实践运用。在实地调查与研读有关文献资料的基础上,对美国农业生态学的发展进行了考察与分析,认为:(1)美国农业生态学产生于1928年,至今已有85年的发展历史。美国农业生态学可划分为4个发展阶段,即:起始阶段(1928-1961年)、扩展阶段(1962-1979年)、巩固阶段(1980-1999年)和新发展阶段(2000年-)。(2)美国农业生态学的内涵由起初的一门"学科(科学)",逐步向着包括有"过程"、"理念"、"方法"、"行动"、"体系"、"运动"、"实践活动"、"强有力的工具"等多重涵义的方向发展,农业生态学内涵的深度和广度均得到不断丰富和完善。(3)美国农业生态学的基本内容包括背景(农业生态学国际背景)、理论(农业生态学理论基础)、设计(农业生态系统的优化设计)和管理(农业生态学理论的实践应用)等4部分,美国农业生态学具有4个明显特征——视野的全球性、内容的多样性、体系的灵活性和技术的实用性。(4)未来美国农业生态学将朝着"高"(高起点、高标准、高效率、高水平)、"新"(新手段、新方法、新技术,新成果、新成效、新进展)、"长"(长期观察分析、长期资料积累、长期定位试验)、"多"(农业生态学研究与分析采用多点、多地、多样本、多模式、多途径、多指标、多方法)、"实"(联系实际、注重实践、讲求实效、展现实绩)的方向发展。     

Isolation of swine infertility and respiratory syndrome virus (isolate ATCC VR-2332) in North America and experimental reproduction of the disease in gnotobiotic pigs.

A recent epizootic of swine infertility and respiratory syndrome (SIRS) in a Minnesota swine herd was investigated. Examination of a sow, neonatal piglets, and stillborn fetuses obtained during the epizootic from the affected herd revealed interstitial pneumonitis, lymphomononuclear encephalitis, and lymphomononuclear myocarditis in the piglets and focal vasculitis in the brain of the sow. Fetuses did not have microscopic lesions. No cause for the infertility and respiratory syndrome was determined. Therefore, attempts were made to experimentally reproduce the disease. Eleven 3-day-old gnotobiotic piglets exposed intranasally to tissue homogenates of piglets from the epizootic became inappetent and febrile by 2-4 days postexposure and had interstitial pneumonitis and encephalitis similar to that seen in the field outbreak. After 2 blind passages in gnotobiotic piglets, tissue homogenates were cultured on continuous cell line CL2621, and a cytopathic virus (ATCC VR-2332), provisionally named SIRS virus, was isolated. Gnotobiotic piglets exposed intranasally to the SIRS virus developed clinical signs and microscopic lesions that were the same as those in piglets exposed to the tissue homogenates, and the virus was reisolated from their lungs. This is the first isolate of SIRS virus in the United States that fulfills Koch's postulates in producing the respiratory form of the disease in gnotobiotic piglets and the first report of isolation and propagation of the virus on a continuous cell line (CL2621). The virus is designated as American Type Culture Collection VR-2332.