Reno-, hepato- and splenomegaly of common carp fingerlings (Cyprinus carpio L.) diseased in swimbladder inflammation caused by Sphaerospora renicola Dyková et Lom, 1982

The weight of internal organs (swimbladder, kidney, liver, spleen) in relation to the body weight was studied in common carp fingerlings divided into three groups on the basis of swimbladder appearance and microscopic examination of the kidney. The fish had been collected from different Hungarian fish farms at the time when swimbladder inflammation (SBI) usually occurs (in July and August). The first group comprised fish with severe signs of SBI and massive renal sphaerosporosis, the second group consisted of fish with milder swimbladder changes and/or kidney infection by a low number of Sphaerospora renicola, while the third group was constituted by infection-free common carp fry. Statistical analysis of swimbladder, kidney, liver and spleen weight in relation to the body weight revealed that in the infected groups the internal organs were substantially enlarged. This suggests that in common carp fry with SBI the swimbladder changes are accompanied by reno-, hepato- and splenomegaly.     

Experimental vascular graft for liver transplantation

Hepatic artery thrombosis is a major cause of graft failure in liver transplantation. Use of donor interponates are common, but results are controversial because of necrosis or thrombosis after rejection. Reperfusion injury, hypoxia and free radical production determinate the survival. The aim of the study was to create an 'ideal' arterial interponate. Autologous, tubular graft lined with mesothelial cells, prepared from the posterior rectus fascia sheath, was used for iliac artery replacement in eight mongrel dogs for six months under immunosuppression. Patency rate was followed by Doppler ultrasound. Eight grafts remained patent and another two are patent after one year. The patency rate was good (median Doppler flow: 370 cm/sec) and there was no necrosis, thrombosis or aneurysmatic formation. The grafts showed viable morphology with neoangiogenesis, appearance of elastin, smooth muscle and endothelial cells. Electron microscopy showed intact mitochondrial structures without signs of hypoxia. Tissue oxygenation was good in all cases with normal (< 30 ng/ml) myeloperoxidase production. In conclusion, this autologous graft presents good long-term patency rate. Viability, arterialisation and low thrombogenicity are prognostic factors indicating usability of the graft in the clinical practice without the risk of rejection. Further investigations such as cell cultures and standardisation are necessary.     

Spontaneous antibiotic resistance mutation associated pleiotropic changes in Escherichia coli O157:H7

Besides the well-known O157:H7 clone causing enterohaemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemic syndrome in Europe, Japan and North America, the number of Escherichia coli isolates with non-motile (NM) phenotype has considerably increased. We supposed that spontaneous antibiotic resistance mutation could cause this phenotypic change. To model our hypothesis we isolated rifampicin--(Rif) and ampicillin--(Amp) resistant mutants from E. coli O157:H7 prototype strains 7785 and EDL933. Among Rifr mutants we could isolate strains with no or reduced motility, while the Ampr mutants became hypermotile. The biochemical profile of the mutants had not changed but phage sensitivity and generation time of the mutants were altered. Among the representative strains we did not find polymorphism with Southern blot analysis and no polymorphism was found in the fliC gene of the mutants. The described characteristics have proven to be stable. In a mice virulence assay by intravenous infections the virulence of the derivatives was also found to be changed. In summary, we found that the antibiotic-resistant phenotype in E. coli O157:H7 was coexpressed with several other phenotypic changes including motility and virulence. It can be assumed that expression of the involved phenotypes may be under the influence of a common regulatory cascade. Further work is needed to identify the components and mechanism of this regulatory system.     

Comparison of echocardiography and gated equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography in the measurements of left ventricular systolic function parameters in healthy dogs

Left ventricular systolic function was assessed in 12 healthy dogs with equilibrium radionuclide ventriculography. The results of the analysis were compared to traditional echocardiographic measurements. Left ventricular internal dimensions and volume were measured at the time of end-systole and end-diastole. Ejection fraction--one of the most informative parameters of cardiac function--was calculated in each animal. Values (e.g. EDD, ESD, EDV, ESV) measured by the scintigraphic method were significantly (Student's t-test, p < 0.05) higher than the data obtained by echocardiography. Ejection fraction (EF) was the only parameter that did not differ significantly when comparing the two imaging techniques. The difference between the results of parallel measurements was in inverse ratio to the size of the heart.     

Complete developmental cycle of Myxobolus pseudodispar (Gorbunova) (Myxosporea: Myxobolidae)

Myxobolus pseudodispar (Gorbunova) is a common parasite of the muscle of roach, Rutilus rutilus L., whereas its actinosporean development occurs in two oligochaete alternate hosts. This paper reports the complete developmental cycle of this parasite in the oligochaete alternate host Tubifex tubifex and the roach. In laboratory experiments, parasite-free T. tubifex specimens were infected by myxospores of M. pseudodispar collected from roach in Lake Balaton. Parasite-free roach fingerlings were infected with floating triactinospores (TAMs) released from oligochaetes on day 69 after challenge. Young plasmodia and spores in roach were first recorded on day 80 post-exposure (p.e.). Myxospores collected from experimentally infected roach initiated a new development in T. tubifex and the resulting TAMs infected roach. No infection of roach resulted from feeding oligochaetes containing mature triactinospores.     

High-accuracy ab initio rotation-vibration transitions for water

The spectrum of water vapor is of fundamental importance for a variety of processes, including the absorption and retention of sunlight in Earth's atmosphere. Therefore, there has long been an urgent need for a robust and accurate predictive model for this spectrum. In our work on the high-resolution spectrum of water, we report first-principles calculations that approach experimental accuracy. To achieve this, we performed exceptionally large electronic structure calculations and considered a variety of effects, including quantum electrodynamics, which have routinely been neglected in studies of small many-electron molecules. The high accuracy of the resulting ab initio procedure is demonstrated for the main isotopomers of water.     

Effect of a transitory controlled nursing on days 9–11 or a 24-h fast on the production of free-nursing rabbits

Altered nursing or nutrition before artificial insemination (AI) can be used as a doe biostimulant to improve lactating rabbits reproduction. The timing of a shift from free to a 3-day controlled nursing to AI or the nursing method at fast-refeeding can affect the efficacy of these stimulations. In an earlier study the effects of a 3-day controlled nursing on days 8, 9 and 10 or in controlled nursing rabbits, the impact of a 24-h fast with 48–50 h re-feeding were investigated. This follow-up work tested a 3-day biostimulation with controlled nursing on days 9, 10 and 11. Another aim was to assess the same doe fast-refeeding but now in free-nursing rabbits. Pannon White does (n=480) were artificially inseminated 11 days post-partum. Control (C) does nursed freely. Rabbits simulating local farm practice (F) had controlled nursing until day 14 using a metal-plate as separation and then free nursing to weaning (day 35). In biostimulations with altered nursing, there was a shift from free to a 3-day controlled nursing (days 9–11) with a wire-mesh separation (BW), a metal-plate insertion (BM) or nest-tray removal (BN) and return to free nursing on day 12 until weaning. The C, F, BW, BM and BN does were fed ad libitum. At biostimulation with fast-refeeding (BF), the free-nursing does were subjected to a 24 h water-only fast between days 8 and 9 and a 48–50 h ad libitum re-feeding before AI. Doe reproduction and growth of the current litter were differently affected by the treatments. In the C, F, BW, BM, BN and BF does, sexual receptivity was 83, 90, 68, 80, 74 and 85% (P=0.05), the kindling rate was 79, 76, 74, 89, 68, 70% (P=0.05), the number of kits born alive was 7.9, 8.0, 8.8, 9.1, 7.9, 6.8 (P=0.005), kit weight at weaning 982, 991, 953, 986, 955, 964 g (P=0.012) and at 70 days of age 2383, 2407, 2220, 2350, 2279, 2382 g, respectively (P=0.001). Among biostimulations with altered nursing, the 3-day controlled nursing with a metal-plate separation (BM) can be advised for the practice because only this method was efficient in this (days 9–11) and previous (days 8–10) studies. There appears to be an interaction between doe nursing and feeding, since the same fast led to different production of free-nursing does compared to those in a previous work that nursed controlled.     

Replication and transmission of porcine circovirus type 2 in mice

Little information is known about infection, replication and transmission of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) in species other than swine. Two sets of animal experiments were carried out to investigate the susceptibility of mice to PCV2 and to study their possible role in maintaining and transmitting the virus. In the first experiment 14 mice were inoculated with PCV2 by the intraperitoneal route with 5 x 10(2) TCID50 of the PCV2-ROM strain (Cadar et al., 2007). In a second experiment 24 mice were divided into two groups (A and B); mice in Group A (n = 18) were inoculated orally with 1 x 10(5) TCID50 PCV2-ROM and mice in Group B (n = 6) were left uninoculated until day 12 post inoculation (p.i.), when they were mixed with Group A. The animals were sacrificed at intervals for postmortem investigation and virus genome detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR results indicated that PCV2 could replicate in mice infected intraperitoneally or by the oral route, and that the virus can be transmitted directly from mouse to mouse.     

Genomic Analysis of the Natural Population of Wheat dwarf virus inWheat fromChina and Hungary

During the last decade, the leafhopper transmitted Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) has become a serious problem both in northwestern China and Hungary. In order to study the molecular diversity and population structure of WDV in these two countries, 39 Chinese isolates and 16 Hungarian isolates were collected from different regions of China and Hungary, and their genomes were sequenced. All isolates belonged to the wheat strain of WDV and showed limited genetic diversity. The highest and lowest nucleotide sequence identities among isolates from China and Hungary were 99.9 and 90%, respectively. In all isolates, the lowest nucleotide sequence identity was 89.5% between MO10-1 and KP10-5, which were collected from Martonvásár and Kompolt, Hungary. Phylogenetic analyses showed the genome sequences of 55 WDV isolates belong to two big clades, but no clear correlation to geographical location. Population difference analyses indicated that the Chinese and Hungarian WDV populations have no significant difference. The regions in WDV genome with relatively low nucleotide diversities represented protein coding regions suggested that these regions evolved under negative selection, and might be one of the causes restricting the number of genetic variants.