Comparison of immune response stimulated in sheep, rabbits and guinea pigs by the administration of multi-component clostridial vaccines

Over 3 years, the immunogenic responses of various batches of multi-component clostridial vaccines in sheep, rabbits and guinea pigs were compared. Fully susceptible healthy sheep were found to be more suitable than rabbits or guinea pigs for testing the potency of multi-component clostridial vaccines containing Clostridium novyi type B, C. perfringens type D, C. septicum and C. tetani, and recommendations are made that sheep are the preferred species for testing the potency of clostridial vaccines.     

Relationship between physiological response of French beans of different age to Meloidogyne incognita and subsequent yield loss

A study was made of the effect of a single generation of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita on the growth of potted French bean plants ( Phaseolus vulgaris ) inoculated at different stages of plant maturity. In separate experiments. 3-, 11- and 13-day-old plants were inoculated before primary leaf expansion (BPLE). at the appearance of trifoliate leaves (TRIF) and at the flower bud (BDS) stages respectively, with 0, 2000, 4000 or 8000 second-stage juvenile nematodes and maintained in a growth chamber under controlled conditions. The photosynthetic rate of the plants inoculated at the TRIF and BDS stages decreased significantly with increasing inoculum level 7 days after inoculation. Although the respiration rate did not significantly change throughout the experimental period, the ratio of photosynthetic to respiration rate decreased significantly with increasing nematode inoculum level and duration of infection. Chlorophyll content, plant dry weight and the numbers of buds, flowers, pods and seeds were significantly lower in infected plants than in the controls; this effect increased with increasing levels of nematode inoculum for all three plant stages. The leaf area was significantly smaller only when nematode infection occurred at the BPLE stage. The plants which were youngest at the time of nematode infection produced the lowest yield; this appeared to result from the effect of nematodes on photosynthesis and related physiological processes.     

On the Akaike Information Criterion for choosing models for variograms of soil properties

A problem in the application of geostatistics to soil is to find satisfactory models for variograms of soil properties. It is usually solved by fitting plausible models to the sample variogram by weighted least squares approximation. The residual sum of squares can always be diminished, and the fit improved in that sense, by adding parameters to the model. A satisfactory compromise between goodness of fit and parsimony can be achieved by applying the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). For a given set of data the variable part of the AIC is estimated by where n is the number of experimental points on the variogram, R is the residual sum of squares and p is the number of parameters in the model. The model to choose is the one for which  is least.
The AIC is closely related to Akaike's earlier final prediction error and the Schwarz criterion. It is also equivalent to an F test when adding parameters in nested models.     

The elucidation of soil pattern in the Wyre Forest of the West Midlands, England. I. Multivariate distribution

The soil of the eastern 6 km² of the Wyre Forest in the West Midlands of England was surveyed by recording the soil profile at 36 points per km² chosen by stratified random sampling. Ordination by principal component analysis revealed an unclustered multi-variate distribution, which nevertheless was classified profitably into six fairly stable groups. The groups lacked spatial coherence when mapped, and a novel method of spatially weighted classification was devised to increase the spatial coherence. To be effective the spatial weight had to be very large and produced very heterogeneous groups of soil profile. Sampling was too sparse to delineate homogeneous parcels of soil, and the spatial scale of variation was not identified.     

SONOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF GALLBLADDER VOLUME IN NORMAL CATS

We quantified gallbladder volume in 30 clinically healthy, fasted, cats, using an ellipsoid formula. All cats had a complete blood count and serum chemistry profile performed. Fasting times before sonography ranged from 12 to 16 h. The median gallbladder volume was 2.42 ml, with a range of 0.84–4.50 ml. The mean gallbladder volume was 2.41 ml. This reference range will assist clinicians when evaluating cats with hepatobiliary disease or suspected extrahepatic biliary obstruction.