Adrenal-associated changes in experimental sporidesmin poisoning of sheep

Sporidesmin-dosed hoggets which developed photosensitisation were shown to have enlarged adrenal glands and premature involution of the thymus. These sheep also developed high concentrations of plasma cortisol after the onset of photosensitisation. Sporidesmin-dosed sheep which did not show photosensitisation showed less or no adrenal associated changes.     

Hydrolysed feather protein as a source of amino acids for broilers

1. The inclusion of 25 g hydrolysed feather meal (HFM) in each kilogram of diet (floor experiment) and 60 g/kg (cage experiment) did not depress performance.

2. Chemical tests indicated 72.5% of the total lysine in HFM was available.

3. Total lysine concentration of 11.3 g/kg diet maximised performance during the period 0 to 34 d.

4. Reduction in dietary methionine content during the period 0 to 34 d from 4.2 g/kg to 3.2 g/kg did not depress performance on diets containing 60 g HFM/kg.

5. The results indicate that at least 57% by weight of the total sulphur amino acid requirement of broilers can be provided by cystine.     

Survival of faecal streptococci in raw and pasteurised egg products

1. The ability of Streptococcus faecalis and Streptococcus faecium strains to survive in egg albumen and liquid whole egg before and after laboratory pasteurisation was studied.

2. Pasteurisation of egg albumen caused a decrease in viable cells of less than 10‐fold, while pasteurisation of whole egg caused decreases of more than 100‐fold in only two of the eight strains studied. After growth in whole egg, some strains were more resistant to pasteurisation in whole egg.

3. Strep, faecalis multiplied in raw and pasteurised whole egg but not in egg albumen.

4. Strep, faecium multiplied in raw and pasteurised whole egg only after an initial decline in viability which was not shown by cells adapted to whole egg. Together with storage temperature this affected the number of viable cells after a storage period of 5 d.

5. In raw and pasteurised egg albumen Strep, faecium strains lost viability; this was maximal at 37 °C and more cells survived as the storage temperature decreased.     

Surgical treatment of phimosis due to preputial stenosis in a Thoroughbred colt

A 6-month-old Thoroughbred colt was referred to Rossdales Equine Hospital with a recent history of discomfort and inability to protrude the penis whilst urinating, resulting in accumulation of urine within the prepuce. Careful examination and manual palpation revealed a constrictive ring of fibrous tissue at the level of the preputial orifice. With no evidence of trauma or a persistent penile frenulum, a tentative diagnosis of phimosis due to congenital preputial stenosis was made. Exploratory surgery confirmed the diagnosis and surgical transection and release of the fibromuscular ring at three sites allowed the colt to protrude the penis and urinate normally immediately post-operatively. At follow-up examination 11 months later, the colt continued to be able to extrude the penis and urinate conventionally. A slight excess of skin was present at the end of the prepuce but this was only of minor cosmetic concern.     

An experimental test of the habitat amount hypothesis reveals little effect of habitat area but transient or indirect effects of fragmentation on local species richness

Landscape Ecology - The habitat amount hypothesis (HAH) posits that local species richness is driven more by the amount of habitat in the surrounding landscape than by local patch size or habitat...     

Implementation of two high through-put techniques in a novel application: detecting point mutations in large EMS mutated plant populations

Background  

The establishment of mutant populations together with the strategies for targeted mutation detection has been applied successfully to a large number of organisms including many species in the plant kingdom. Considerable efforts have been invested into research on tomato as a model for berry-fruit plants. With the progress of the tomato sequencing project, reverse genetics becomes an obvious and achievable goal.