Cryptosporidium parvum infektion hos kalv i mjölkkobesättningar i södra Vietnam

Infectious diarrhoea of neonatal calves is common worldwide. Several pathogens, e.g. rotavirus and coronavirus, enterotoxigenic Eschericia coli bacteria and the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum have the potential to cause diarrhoea in calves. In this study, which was part of a larger project on calf diarrhoea in South Vietnam, the occurrence of C. parvum in dairy calves was investigated. One hundred and twenty faecal samples were collected from dairy calves in 4 state farms, each housing several hundred cows, and 35 household farms with 1- 100 cows in 6 districts between September and November 2006. Both diarrhoeic and non-diarrhoeic calves, aged 1-60 days, were sampled. Fifty seven samples were collected from state farms and 63 samples were collected from household farms. Analyses were conducted by C. parvum antigen ELISA. The samples were also used in a cooperating study to estimate the prevalence of rotavirus. In total, 10 samples (8%) were positive for C. parvum, 3 of these were co-infected with rotavirus. Forty five samples were from calves with diarrhoea. Four of them were infected by C. parvum, and another 2 were co-infected with C. parvum and rotavirus. Of the 75 samples collected from clinically healthy calves, 3 had C. parvum only and 1 was co-infected with C. parvum and rotavirus. Eight (80%) of the C. parvum positive samples were collected in state farms and the remaining two were from household farms with 5-20 cows. The 3 samples that were coinfected with C. parvum and rotavirus were from state farm calves. The average occurrence of diarrhoea among the calves sampled in state farms was 54%, whereas 25% of calves sampled in household farms were diarrhoeic. The results show that C. parvum and rotavirus are present among calves in South Vietnam and might have clinical significance. They indicate that calves in large sized state farms are infected by C. parvum to a higher extent than calves in household farms, and also that calf diarrhoea is more common in the state farms.Spädkalvsdiarré är vanligt över hela världen. Rotavirus, coronavirus, enterotoxisk Eschericia coli och den encelliga parasiten Cryptosporidium parvum är smittämnen som ofta orsakar diarré hos kalvar. I den här studien, som är en del av ett större projekt rörande kalvdiarré i södra Vietnam, undersöktes förekomsten av C. parvum hos kalvar i mjölkkobesättningar. Under tidsperioden september-november 2006 insamlades i 6 distrikt 120 träckprover från mjölkraskalvar i 4 statsägda besättningar med vardera flera hundra kor, och 35 småskaliga jordbruk med 1-100 kor. Kalvar som var 1-60 dagar gamla ingick i undersökningen och både kalvar med och utan diarré provtogs. Femtiosju prover insamlades från statsägda besättningar och 63 från småskaliga jordbruk. Proverna analyserades med avseende på förekomst av C. parvum med antigen ELISA. Proverna användes även i en parallell studie för att uppskatta prevalensen av rotavirus. Totalt 10 prover (8 %) var positiva för C. parvum och 3 av dessa var saminfekterade med rotavirus. Fyrtiofem prover kom från kalvar med diarré varav 4 var infekterade med C. parvum och ytterligare 2 var saminfekterade med C. parvum och rotavirus. Av de 75 kliniskt friska kalvar som provtogs hade 3 stycken C. parvum-infektion och endast en kalv var saminfekterad med C. parvum och rotavirus. Åtta (80 %) av proverna som var positiva för C. parvum hade tagits på statsägda besättningar och de resterande 2 kom från småskaliga jordbruk med 5-20 kor. De 3 prover som var saminfekterade med C. parvum och rotavirus var alla från statsägda besättningar. Förekomsten av diarré hos provtagna kalvar var 54 % i statsägda besättningar medan 25 % av kalvar i småskaliga jordbruk hade diarré vid provtagningstillfället. Resultaten visar att både C. parvum och rotavirus förekommer hos kalvar södra Vietnam och kan vara av klinisk betydelse. Resultaten indikerar även att kalvar från stora besättningar i större utsträckning är infekterade med C. parvum än kalvar från småskaliga jordbruk samt att diarré är vanligare i statsägda besättningar

Is it possible to find a method that shows a correspondence between a known mutation and the phenotype in barley wax less mutants?

The wax on the stem and leafs of the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) plant has a protective function and is produced by the cells on the plant's outer surfaces. There are several available barley mutants where the wax production has been stopped. Four mutants are the single-site mutants cer-c.36, cer-q.42, ceru. 21 and the deletion mutant cer-cqu.724. We phenotyped 636 barley plants and collected leaf samples from all of them for DNA extraction. We used PCR with pre-designed primers to confirm that DNA had been extracted from all plants. Since the mutations in cer-c.36, cer-q.42 and cer-u.21 are already known we tried to identify the mutant plants by using restriction enzymes to cleave a PCR product on the mutant site. Then we designed specific nucleotide primers for PCR that only amplifies a region of either mutated plants or the wild type plants. This method gave some interesting results for the wild type cer-u.21 mutant. Finally, we looked at the triple mutant cer-cqu.724 and since it had not been sequenced yet we used primers for cer-c.36 and cer-u.21 to try to amplify the wild type DNA and then confirm the results by amplifying a separate sequence in the barley genome to make sure that there is DNA extracted from all plants. In the end we only obtained a result for the cer-u.21 wild typeHowever, it should be possible to get results for the other mutants if the PRC program is optimized.Ju varmare väder desto mer kläder - Hur man föder jordens befolkning Vår planet ökar stadigt i befolkning samtidigt som klimatet blir varmare och skördarna sämre. När de fattiga bönderna inte kan överleva på sina grödor flyr de in i överbefolkade städer utan möjlighet till nya jobb. Fattigdom och svält är ett av de största hotet mot mänskligheten. Terrorgrupper rekryterar framgångsrikt bland den hunger, maktlöshet och brist på en positiv framtidstro som sprids i den globala uppvärmningens fotspår. Hur ska vi då lyckas odla och producera mat i framtiden? Vi behöver grödor som klarar av att växa i ett hett och torrt klimat och forskare försöker nu lösa detta genom att hitta användbara egenskaper hos växter som klarar av att överleva med en minimal vattentillgång. En sådan egenskap är ett lager av vax på grödornas stam och stjälkar. Vaxet ser ut som ett tunt vitt puder och fungerar bland annat som solskydd, mot uttorkning och skyddar mot infektioner. I varma och torra klimat vill man ha plantor med ett tjockt lager vax medan i kallare och blötare omgivningar klarar sig plantor utan vax ganska bra. Korn är nog mest känd som ingrediens i öl men den utmärker sig också genom att vara tålig och att den har ett naturligt lager av vax. Det är en gröda som används både som livsmedel och som djurfoder. Vaxet i kornplantan bakas ihop cellerna på blad och stam och receptet finns inne i cellernas arvsmassa, DNA:t. De recept eller gener som styr vaxproduktionen kallas eceriferum och en mutation (en ändring av receptet) i en sådan gen kan leda till att plantan blir vaxlös. En vaxlös planta kan överleva men den är mycket känsligare. Genom att studera olika förändringar i vaxrecepten så kan vi ta reda på exakt hur receptet ser ut. Kunskapen kan vi sedan använda för att odla fram kornplantor med mycket vax. Vi kan också använda kunskapen om vaxgener i korn och jämföra med andra grödor som vete och ris för att kunna odla fram torktåliga varianter av dem också genom att öka vaxpoduktionen i dem. I det här projektet så letade vi efter motsvarigheter mellan felet i ett vaxrecept och hur den färdiga växter ser ut, med andra ord så har vi försökt att matcha genotyp och fenotyp. När ett recept i DNA:t ska undersökas finns det ett stort antal mycket effektiva sökmetoder. Det svåra är att man måste veta vilken av ingredienserna man letar efter, vart den finns i DNA:t och framförallt vad är det för fel på den. Vi undersökte 624 stycken kornplantor som odlats i växthus och hittade en metod som kan separera plantor med vax från andra plantor. Detta resultat kan hjälpa forskare i framtiden att förstå vaxrelaterade receptfel och hur vi kan odla mer grödor i torra klimat. Detta genom att klä på dem ett skyddande vaxlager. Handledare: Mats Hansson Examensarbete 15 hp i molekylärbiologi 2015 Biologiska institutionen, Lunds universite

Age-dependent migration strategy in honey buzzards Pernis apivorus tracked by satellite

Six adult and three juvenile honey buzzards Pernis apivorus were radio-tracked by satellite during autumn migration from southwestern Sweden. All adults crossed the Mediterranean Sea at the Strait of Gibraltar and continued across the Sahara desert to winter in West Africa, from Sierra Leone to Cameroon. Analysing three main steps of the migration, (1) from the breeding site to the southern Mediterranean region, (2) across the Sahara and (3) from the southern Sahara to the wintering sites, the adults changed direction significantly between these steps, and migrated along a distinct large-scale detour. In contrast, the juveniles travelled in more southerly directions, crossed the Mediterranean Sea at various places, but still ended up in the same wintering areas as the adults. Average speeds maintained on travelling days were similar for the two age groups, about 170 km/day in Europe, 270 km/day across Sahara and 125 km/day in Africa south of Sahara. However, as the adults used fewer stopover days en route, they maintained higher mean overall speeds and completed migration in a shorter time (42 days) than the juveniles (64 days). Although the juveniles set out on more direct courses towards the wintering grounds, they did not cover significantly shorter distances than the adults, as they tended to show a larger directional scatter between shorter flight segments. The results corroborate previous suggestions that adult and juvenile honey buzzards follow different routes during autumn migration, and that the birds change migration strategy during their lifetime. While juveniles may use individual vector orientation, social influences and learning may be of great importance for the detour migration of adults. The remarkable and distinct age-dependent shift in migratory route and orientation of the honey buzzard provides a challenging evolutionary problem

Can vector summation describe the orientation system of juvenile ospreys and honey buzzards? - An analysis of ring recoveries and satellite tracking

Juvenile bird migrants are generally believed to use a clock-and-compass migratory orientation strategy. According to such a strategy migrants accomplish their migration by flying a number of successive flight steps with direction and number of steps controlled by an endogenous programme. One powerful way of testing this is by comparing predictions from a model of such a strategy with observed patterns. We used data from ringing and satellite-based radio telemetry to investigate the orientation system of juvenile ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) and honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) migrating from Sweden to tropical west Africa. The ring recoveries showed a much larger scatter in the orientation of ospreys than of honey buzzards, but there was only a slight such difference in the satellite tracks. These tracks of individuals of both species were rather straight with a high directional concentration per step. The honey buzzard. data showed a close fit to a simple vector summation model, which is expected if birds follow a clock-and-compass strategy. However, the osprey data did not fit such a simple model, as ring recoveries showed a significantly greater deviation at short distances than predicted on the basis of long distance data. Satellite tracking also indicated less concentrated orientation on short distances. The pattern observed for the osprey can generally be explained by an extended vector summation model, including an important element of pre-migration dispersal. The existence of extensive dispersal in the osprey stands in contrast to the apparent absence of such dispersal in the honey buzzard. The explanation for this difference between the species is unclear. The model of orientation by vector summation is very sensitive to the existence of differences in mean direction between individuals. Assuming such differences, as tentatively indicated by the satellite tracking data, makes simple compass orientation by vector summation inconsistent with the distribution of ring recoveries at long distances, with a high proportion of misoriented birds falling outside the normal winter range

Recasting the threat of chemical terrorism in the EU: the issue of returnees from the Syrian conflict

Chemical terrorist attacks by non-state actors have traditionally been characterised as low probability events; however the apparent normalisation of chemical weapons use, including by terrorists, in the ongoing conflict in Syria is causing some in the international security community to question whether it will remain low probability. For Europe there is an additional potential concern, namely the numbers of EU citizens who are ‘foreign fighters’ and whose return from the conflict zone might also result in ‘importing’ chemical weapons use. This paper examines the rise of the ‘chemical weapons-returning foreign fighter’ narrative and considers aspects of the European response. These responses predate the current concerns and include important efforts to create a robust public health response, such as early alert and communication systems, so that this might reduce the attractiveness of these weapons being used within a European context. Although there are limitations as to how far one can transfer what happens in a Syrian context to Europe, the suggestion is made that some of the framing assumptions within this response architecture may be now inadvertently limiting the potential to identify and respond to chemical attacks

Feather growth rate and mass in nearctic passerines with variablemigratory behavior and molt pattern

Bird species vary greatly in the duration of their annual complete feather molt. However, such variation is not well documented in birds from many biogeographic areas, which restricts our understanding of the diversification of molt strategies. Recent research has revealed that molt duration can be estimated in passerines from ptilochronology-based measurements of the growth rate of their tail feathers. We used this approach to explore how molt duration varied in 98 Nearctic species that have different migratory strategies and molt patterns. As previously documented for Palearctic species, migration was associated with a shortening of molt duration among species that molted during summer on their breeding range. However, molts of winter-molting migratory species were as long as those of summer-molting sedentary species, which suggests that winter molt also allows Nearctic migrants to avoid the temporal constraints experienced during summer. Our results also suggest that migratory species that undergo a stopover molt within the Mexican monsoon region have the shortest molt duration among all Nearctic passerines. Interestingly, and contrary to expectations from a potential tradeoff between molt duration and feather quality, observed variation in feather growth rate was positively correlated with differences in tail feather mass, which may be caused by differences among groups in the availability of resources for molting. We encourage the use of similar approaches to study the variation in molt duration in other geographic areas where knowledge of the evolution of molt is limited.

The Effect of Ionizing Irradiation on Type I Collagen of the Tail in Growing Mice: A Histology and Electron Microscopy Study

In order to examine the effect of radiation on growing tissue, especially the fibroblasts and their end-product, the collagen fibres, tails from 24 mice were irradiated at an age of 8 days with 20 Gy and 30 Gy (\u3e°Co). Tails from 18 animals served as controls. Six mice from each group were sacrificed on day 8, 20 and 30. Transmission electron microscopy was used to examine the fibroblasts and the collagen fibrils. Non-irradiated fibroblasts had a nucleus rich in chromatin and an abundant endoplasmic reticulum with cistemae and condensing vacuoles. On day 20, approximately 50 % , and on day 30, 25 % of the fibroblasts irradiated with 30 Gy had a sparse endoplasmic reticulum pointing to a reduction of protein synthesis. While, on day 20, the fibrils irradiated with 20 Gy and with 30 Gy had significantly larger diameters compared to the controls, on day 30, the irradiated fibrils had a notably smaller diameter compared to the controls; 30 Gy-fibrils were larger than the 20 Gy-fibrils on both days. On day 20, the binding mean value of the 30 Gy-fibrils exceeded that of the controls and was significantly higher than that of the 20 Gy-fibrils, which was lower, though not significantly, than the controls. On day 30, the banding mean value of the 30 Gy-fibrils was notably lower than the control; and the value of the 20 Gy-fibrils was significantly lower than that of the 30 Gy-fibrils. The results are explained as an edema together with an inhibitory effect on the protein synthesis of the fibroblasts caused by the irradiation. This deduction 1s further supported by light microscopy of the tails

Haematological toxicity in adult patients receiving craniospinal irradiation - Indication of a dose-bath effect.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the haematological toxicity observed in patients treated with craniospinal irradiation, and the dose distribution in normal tissue, specifically the occurrence of large volumes exposed to low dose