Maturation of functional antibody affinity in animals immunised with synthetic foot-and-mouth disease virus.

A good correlation exists between specific neutralising antibody titre and protection against challenge with foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in infected or virus-vaccinated cattle, but not in the case of animals immunised with synthetic FMDV peptides. Therefore, mechanisms other than simple neutralisation are likely to be important in vivo. Antibody affinity may influence the protective capacity of sera from immunised animals and experiments were carried out to measure the functional affinity for synthetic FMDV peptide of sera from guinea pigs and cattle given various synthetic vaccines. In guinea pigs given a single dose of synthetic vaccine, antibody affinity increased with time after immunisation. In cattle, however, administration of a second dose of peptide 21 days after the first markedly retarded the process of affinity maturation. For guinea pig sera of equivalent neutralising activity, those of higher functional affinity had higher protective indices than those of lower functional affinity. Knowledge of the importance of antibody affinity in protection against FMD is important for an improved understanding of the mechanisms of protection and for the design of novel vaccines.     

Sentinel practice-based survey of the management and health of horses in northern Britain.

Details of the management, feeding, level of activity and routine health care of horses in Scotland and the five northernmost counties in England were recorded through a stratified random sample of horse owners who had responded to a previous survey. Sixty-eight per cent of the horses were kept where their owners resided, and 32 per cent were kept away from the owner's home. More than 99 per cent were turned out to grazing for at least part of the year and 81 per cent were stabled for at least part of the time, most commonly bedded on straw (50 per cent) or shavings (34 per cent). Hay was fed to 87 per cent, sugar beet pulp to 64 per cent and commercially prepared concentrate mixes to 60 per cent of the horses. Hacking was the most popular activity (52 per cent of horses) followed by riding/pony club events (28 per cent) and showing (21 per cent). The majority of the horses were involved in more than one activity. There were an estimated 0.88 veterinary visits per horse per year and 29 per cent of the horses were reported to suffer from at least one permanent or recurrent health disorder. The median annual numbers of administrations of vaccines (influenza and tetanus) and anthelmintics were one and seven respectively per horse, and each horse was shod a median seven times. There were significant differences in the management of horses kept in different types of premises and in areas of different human population density.     

The use of the plasma chemistry unit as an aid to the scanning electron microscope study of avian egg‐shell structure

1. In order to study the mammillary layer of the avian egg shell by scanning electron microscopy, it is necessary to separate the outer shell membrane from the calcified shell.

2. Chemical methods of effecting membrane removal are difficult to standardise due to variations in the strength of the membrane‐shell bond.

3. The use of reactive gas plasma provides an alternative, more efficient method for removing membranes without the risk of damage to underlying crystalline structures.     

Phylogeny of the frosty pod rot pathogen of cocoa

Morphological, cytological and molecular evidence is presented which confirms that the frosty pod rot pathogen of cocoa, formerly classified as the mitosporic fungus Moniliophthora roreri (Deuteromycota), belongs to the hymenomycetous genus Crinipellis (Basidiomycota) and that two varieties should now be recognized: Crinipellis roreri var. roreri and the new variety C. roreri var. gileri . The latter was collected on Theobroma gileri , an endemic tree of submontane forests in north-west Ecuador, and can be distinguished from Ecuadorian and Peruvian isolates from cocoa ( T. cacao ) on the basis of spore morphology, incompatibility and nucleotide sequence data. As with var. roreri , meiosis is shown to occur within the dispersive and infective spore stage of var. gileri and these meiospores are interpreted to represent a much modified probasidium. In addition, in a field inoculation experiment, an isolate from T. gileri proved to be noninfective to cocoa pods when compared with positive control strains isolated from T. cacao in western Ecuador and T. bicolor in eastern Ecuador. It is concluded that var. gileri is the vestigial progenitor of the frosty pod rot pathogen of cocoa, with a host range and distribution restricted to T. gileri in the mesic forests of north-west South America.     

两种饲喂方式对哺乳母猪生产性能的影响研究

选取年龄、胎次、品种基本一致的哺乳母猪20头,随机分成对照组和试验组,试验分两批进行,每批10头.在相同的环境条件下,母猪自由饮水,饲喂同一哺乳母猪料.母猪分娩后4 d内,采用原场饲养制度,逐步增加哺乳母猪采食量,第5天开始,对照组采用不限量饲喂,试验组采用限量和添加哺乳母猪补充料的饲喂方式,仔猪21日龄断奶.结果显示两组仔猪21日龄的断奶窝重、母猪断奶后再发情时间和母猪哺乳失重等差异均不显著(P>0.05).