Evaluation of a Killed Vaccine Against Porcine Pleuropneumonia Due to Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae

A bacterin containing serotypes 1 and 5 of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae was developed for the prevention and the control of porcine pleuropneumonia. It was injected intramuscularly into three groups of ten piglets, the first group with one dose, the second one with two doses and the third one with three doses at two-week intervals. Another group of ten piglets did not receive the vaccine. All the piglets were then challenged by an aerosol of mixed suspensions of H. pleuropneumoniae serotypes 1 and 5. Two and three injections of vaccine completely prevented mortality, whereas half of the control piglets and of those receiving only one dose of vaccine died. All surviving piglets, both control and vaccinated, had severe signs of respiratory disease for at least 36 hours after exposure to challenge. Moreover, vaccination did not induce the production of antibodies at high titers. Local reactions were not noted after vaccination and at postmortem; ten weeks after the challenge, there were no signs of abscess formation or induration.     

Detection of Echinococcus multilocularis infection in a colony of cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) using serology and ultrasonography.

Five animals in a colony of cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) died or were euthanatized because of alveolar echinococcosis, during a period of 5 years. The remainder of the colony was screened for possible infection with Echinococcus multilocularis, using serology and ultrasonography. A total of 46 animals out of a group of 55 were examined. The presence of anti-Em2 antibodies analyzed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was demonstrated in 3 monkeys. In 2 of these 3 monkeys, multilocular structures compatible with metacestodal cysts in the liver were identified, using ultrasonography. The presence of alveolar echinococcosis was subsequently confirmed at postmortem examination in 1 animal. The other animals are still alive. Two other monkeys were negative in the serological examination but had cystic structures in the liver, which were identified as bile duct cysts at postmortem examination in 1 animal. The other monkey is still alive. These findings suggest that serology for antibodies against the Em2 antigen may represent a useful method in identifying animals that might be infected with E. multilocularis and are therefore at risk of developing fatal alveolar echinococcosis.     

PCR Assay for Identification of Aspergillus Carbonarius and Aspergillus Japonicus

Black Aspergilli, and in particular Aspergillus carbonarius, are the main causes of contamination of grapes and their by-products by ochratoxin A. A PCR-based method was developed to detect DNA of A. carbonarius and A. japonicus. Two pairs of primers (CARBO1/2 and JAPO1/2) designed from the calmodulin gene, produced PCR products of 371 and 583 bp for A. carbonarius and A. japonicus, respectively. Primer specificity was tested with DNA of 107 strains belonging to Aspergillus section Nigri isolated mostly from grapes in Europe. The sensitivity of primers CARBO1/2 and JAPO1/2 was 12.5 pg when using pure total genomic DNA of the two species. The developed primers provide a powerful tool for detection of the main ochratoxigenic producing Aspergillus species in grapes.     

Storage performance of clementines treated with hot water,sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate dips

Summary

The potential of using hot water (2.5 min at 45°C), 2% sodium carbonate or 2% sodium bicarbonate solutions alone or combined with hot water, for control of Penicillium digitatum (green mould) was investigated on commecially ripe clementines. The effect of such treatments on the post-harvest storage life of clementines was determined during two months analysing weight loss, increase in rind deformation and internal maturity. Carbonate and bicarbonate solutions effectively control green mould during storage but hot water does not. Compared with the control and hot-water treated fruits, clementines treated with carbonate and, to a lesser extend with bicarbonate, showed higher weight loss and lower firmness during storage. In contrast, lower increase in ripening index was found when the fruits were treated with carbonate or bicarbonate. Fruits treated with hot water alone or combined with carbonate exhibited no change in ripening during the first month of storage. Rinsing the fruit significantly reduces weight and firmness loss in the fruits treated with carbonate and bicarbonate, but did not change the ripening index. The primary finding of this work was that carbonate and bicarbonate treatments might significantly increase the loss in weight and firmness during storage. Rinsing the fruit immediately after treatment appeared to be a simple solution to avoid these losses in quality.     

A multicentric retrospective study of serum/plasma urea and creatinine concentrations in dogs using univariate and multivariate decision rules to evaluate diagnostic efficiency

BACKGROUND: Urea and creatinine are the most frequently used indirect markers in plasma and serum of glomerular filtration rate in dogs. Both have been shown to lack sensitivity but their diagnostic efficiency for the diagnosis of kidney disease has been minimally investigated. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the influence of possible factors of variation on both analytes and to determine whether specific decision rules should be drawn up for subpopulations of dogs. METHODS: The results of urea and creatinine measurements, breed, sex, age, and health status (healthy, renal disease, or nonrenal disease) of 3822 dogs were collected from the archives of 5 veterinary clinics. Data were analyzed with univariate and multivariate decision rules with and without adjustment. RESULTS: There were significant effects and interactions of almost all of the sources of variation. Slight improvements in diagnostic efficiency were obtained by adjusting the decision rules to these sources of variations. Univariate decision rules gave approximately the same diagnostic efficiency for urea and creatinine concentrations, with sensitivity and specificity in the range of 70% and 90%, respectively, using the upper limit of the reference interval as the threshold value. Multivariate decision rules provided only minor improvements in diagnostic efficiency. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous measurement of both urea and creatinine is of limited diagnostic value over the analysis of a single variable. Creatinine is the preferred analyte as it is affected by fewer extrarenal factors of variation.     

Black carbon estimation in French calcareous soils using chemo‐thermal oxidation method

We studied the black carbon (BC) content of ca. 405 samples from French topsoil and artificial soil and carbonate mixtures. Our protocol involved three main steps: (i) decarbonation by HCl, (ii) elimination of non‐pyrogenic organic carbon in a furnace at 375 °C, and (iii) quantification of residual carbon by CHN analysis. BC content increased for calcareous soils according to their carbonates content. Subsequent analyses confirmed the existence of a methodological artefact for BC determination only in calcareous soils. Decarbonation changes the thermal properties of organic matter, creating more recalcitrant carbon than in the initial sample. Higher CaCO₃ and organic carbon content results in a more pronounced artefact. The reversal of the first two steps of the chemo‐thermal oxidation method (i.e. thermal oxidation before soil decarbonation) eliminates this artefact. Overall, our results suggest that BC content may have been overestimated in a large number of studies on calcareous soils.