Further studies on the clinical pathology of sweating sickness in cattle

Experimentally-induced cases of sweating sickness in calves were used in an effort to correlate the blood chemistry with some of the known pathological changes. Results showed that the "sweating" associated with necrotic dermatitis did not alter blood electrolyte levels. Laboratory evidence of a disseminated intravascular coagulopathy was found which correlated with the microthrombi described in cases of sweating sickness. A high blood cortisol level was found in one of the animals that died from the disease and could possibly be used as a prognostic indicator in clinical cases. Recommendations are made with regard to the supportive treatment based on the clinical pathological findings.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.lmchunu2014mn201

The efficacy of hyperimmune serum in the treatment of sweating sickness

Natural and experimental cases of sweating sickness were treated using a hyperimmune serum as specific treatment and hyperimmune serum combined with symptomatic and supportive treatment based on the clinico-pathological changes observed in cases of sweating sickness. The treatment regimens were found to be highly effective in pigs and sheep as well as in calves, although recovery in the latter species was slower.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format

The clinical pathology of heartwater. II. Studies on cardiac and pulmonary function in 4 calves with experimentally-induced heartwater

Studies to evaluate cardiac and pulmonary function were undertaken in 4 calves suffering from experimentally-induced heartwater. There was a marked variation in the course of the disease. Three of the calves recovered spontaneously after developing clinical signs. These included a rectal temperature in excess of 40 °C, anorexia and listlessness but no neurological signs. The remaining calf died 2 days after developing a fever and neurological signs. In the 3 calves that recovered, a mild hypoxemia developed during the acute stage of the disease. Arterial CO₂tension remained within normal limits, but there was a tendency towards an alkalosis. Increases in pulmonary dead space and fluctuations in venous admixture were observed. The calf that died showed similar mild changes in blood gas parameters, despite the presence of a marked reduction in minute volume, and a lung oedema was demonstrated on post-mortem examination. No marked changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressures and in right cardiac intraventricular pressures were observed. Terminally, however, there were marked decreases in stroke volume and cardiac output. These changes were associated with a sharp increase in heart rate. No primary cardiac pathology was observed on clinical and postmortem examinations.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.lmchunu2014mn201

An ELISA using an SDS extract of Brucella abortus strain 99 as antigen to detect B. abortus antibodies in cattle sera

An ELISA was developed using an SDS extract of Brucella abortus as antigen to detect antibodies in cattle sera. The antigen was stable at 4 °C for at least 4 years and although it gave optimal results at a 1/4 000 dilution it could detect reactors at a 1/32 000 dilution. Based on comparative CF tests on 430 sera from negative herds and 187 sera from positive herds a reading of 0,07 or less using a 492 nm filter could be considered a negative reaction. The ELISA could be a useful test to supplement the CF test but further evaluation is still required.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.lmchunu2014mn201

Comparative phylogeography of parasitic Laelaps mites contribute new insights into the specialist-generalist variation hypothesis (SGVH)

BACKGROUND: The specialist-generalist variation hypothesis (SGVH) in parasites suggests that, due to patchiness in habitat (host availability), specialist species will show more subdivided population structure when compared to generalist species. In addition, since specialist species are more prone to local stochastic extinction events with their hosts, they will show lower levels of intraspecific genetic diversity when compared to more generalist. RESULTS: To test the wider applicability of the SGVH we compared 337 cytochrome oxidase I mitochondrial DNA and 268 nuclear tropomyosin DNA sequenced fragments derived from two co-distributed Laelaps mite species and compared the data to 294 COI mtDNA sequences derived from the respective hosts Rhabdomys dilectus, R. bechuanae, Mastomys coucha and M. natalensis. In support of the SGVH, the generalist L. muricola was characterized by a high mtDNA haplotypic diversity of 0.97 (±0.00) and a low level of population differentiation (mtDNA Fst= 0.56, p < 0.05; nuDNA Fst = 0.33, P < 0.05) while the specialist L. giganteus was overall characterized by a lower haplotypic diversity of 0.77 (±0.03) and comparatively higher levels of population differentiation (mtDNA Fst = 0.87, P < 0.05; nuDNA Fst = 0.48, P < 0.05). When the two specialist L. giganteus lineages, which occur on two different Rhabdomys species, are respectively compared to the generalist parasite, L. muricola, the SGVH is not fully supported. One of the specialist L. giganteus species occurring on R. dilectus shows similar low levels of population differentiation (mtDNA Fst= 0.53, P < 0. 05; nuDNA Fst= 0.12, P < 0.05) than that found for the generalist L. muricola. This finding can be correlated to differences in host dispersal: R. bechuanae populations are characterized by a differentiated mtDNA Fst of 0.79 (P < 0.05) while R. dilectus populations are less structured with a mtDNA Fst= 0.18 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that in ectoparasites, host specificity and the vagility of the host are both important drivers for parasite dispersal. It is proposed that the SGHV hypothesis should also incorporate reference to host dispersal since in our case only the specialist species who occur on less mobile hosts showed more subdivided population structure when compared to generalist species

Correlated Genetic and Ecological Diversification in a Widespread Southern African Horseshoe Bat

The analysis of molecular data within a historical biogeographical framework, coupled with ecological characteristics can provide insight into the processes driving diversification. Here we assess the genetic and ecological diversity within a widespread horseshoe bat Rhinolophus clivosus sensu lato with specific emphasis on the southern African representatives which, although not currently recognized, were previously described as a separate species R. geoffroyi comprising four subspecies. Sequence divergence estimates of the mtDNA control region show that the southern African representatives of R. clivosus s.l. are as distinct from samples further north in Africa than they are from R. ferrumequinum, the sister-species to R. clivosus. Within South Africa, five genetically supported geographic groups exist and these groups are corroborated by echolocation and wing morphology data. The groups loosely correspond to the distributions of the previously defined subspecies and Maxent modelling shows a strong correlation between the detected groups and ecoregions. Based on molecular clock calibrations, it is evident that climatic cycling and related vegetation changes during the Quaternary may have facilitated diversification both genetically and ecologically

Reticulate evolution: frequent introgressive hybridization among chinese hares (genus lepus) revealed by analyses of multiple mitochondrial and nuclear DNA loci

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Interspecific hybridization may lead to the introgression of genes and genomes across species barriers and contribute to a reticulate evolutionary pattern and thus taxonomic uncertainties. Since several previous studies have demonstrated that introgressive hybridization has occurred among some species within <it>Lepus</it>, therefore it is possible that introgressive hybridization events also occur among Chinese <it>Lepus </it>species and contribute to the current taxonomic confusion.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data from four mtDNA genes, from 116 individuals, and one nuclear gene, from 119 individuals, provides the first evidence of frequent introgression events via historical and recent interspecific hybridizations among six Chinese <it>Lepus </it>species. Remarkably, the mtDNA of <it>L. mandshuricus </it>was completely replaced by mtDNA from <it>L. timidus </it>and <it>L. sinensis</it>. Analysis of the nuclear DNA sequence revealed a high proportion of heterozygous genotypes containing alleles from two divergent clades and that several haplotypes were shared among species, suggesting repeated and recent introgression. Furthermore, results from the present analyses suggest that Chinese hares belong to eight species.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides a framework for understanding the patterns of speciation and the taxonomy of this clade. The existence of morphological intermediates and atypical mitochondrial gene genealogies resulting from frequent hybridization events likely contribute to the current taxonomic confusion of Chinese hares. The present study also demonstrated that nuclear gene sequence could offer a powerful complementary data set with mtDNA in tracing a complete evolutionary history of recently diverged species.</p

An intriguing shift occurs in the novel protein phosphatase 1 binding partner, TCTEX1D4: evidence of positive selection in a pika model

T-complex testis expressed protein 1 domain containing 4 (TCTEX1D4) contains the canonical phosphoprotein phosphatase 1 (PPP1) binding motif, composed by the amino acid sequence RVSF. We identified and validated the binding of TCTEX1D4 to PPP1 and demonstrated that indeed this protein is a novel PPP1 interacting protein. Analyses of twenty-one mammalian species available in public databases and seven Lagomorpha sequences obtained in this work showed that the PPP1 binding motif 90RVSF93 is present in all of them and is flanked by a palindromic sequence, PLGS, except in three species of pikas (Ochotona princeps, O. dauurica and O. pusilla). Furthermore, for the Ochotona species an extra glycosylation site, motif 96NLS98, and the loss of the palindromic sequence were observed. Comparison with other lagomorphs suggests that this event happened before the Ochotona radiation. The dN/dS for the sequence region comprising the PPP1 binding motif and the flanking palindrome highly supports the hypothesis that for Ochotona species this region has been evolving under positive selection. In addition, mutational screening shows that the ability of pikas TCTEX1D4 to bind to PPP1 is maintained, although the PPP1 binding motif is disrupted, and the N- and C-terminal surrounding residues are also abrogated. These observations suggest pika as an ideal model to study novel PPP1 complexes regulatory mechanisms.publishe

Climatic and topographic changes since the Miocene influenced the diversification and biogeography of the tent tortoise (Psammobates tentorius) species complex in Southern Africa

Background: Climatic and topographic changes function as key drivers in shaping genetic structure and cladogenic radiation in many organisms. Southern Africa has an exceptionally diverse tortoise fauna, harbouring one-third of the world’s tortoise genera. The distribution of Psammobates tentorius (Kuhl, 1820) covers two of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world, the Succulent Karoo and Cape Floristic Region. The highly diverged P. tentorius represents an excellent model species for exploring biogeographic and radiation patterns of reptiles in Southern Africa. Results: We investigated genetic structure and radiation patterns against temporal and spatial dimensions since the Miocene in the Psammobates tentorius species complex, using multiple types of DNA markers and niche modelling analyses. Cladogenesis in P. tentorius started in the late Miocene (11.63–5.33 Ma) when populations dispersed from north to south to form two geographically isolated groups. The northern group diverged into a clade north of the Orange River (OR), followed by the splitting of the group south of the OR into a western and an interior clade. The latter divergence corresponded to the intensifcation of the cold Benguela current, which caused western aridifcation and rainfall seasonality. In the south, tectonic uplift and subsequent exhumation, together with climatic fuctuations seemed responsible for radiations among the four southern clades since the late Miocene. We found that each clade occurred in a habitat shaped by diferent climatic parameters, and that the niches difered substantially among the clades of the northern group but were similar among clades of the southern group. Conclusion: Climatic shifts, and biome and geographic changes were possibly the three major driving forces shaping cladogenesis and genetic structure in Southern African tortoise species. Our results revealed that the cladogenesis of the P. tentorius species complex was probably shaped by environmental cooling, biome shifts and topographic uplift in Southern Africa since the late Miocene. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) may have impacted the distribution of P. tentorius substantially. We found the taxonomic diversify of the P. tentorius species complex to be highest in the Greater Cape Floristic Region. All seven clades discovered warrant conservation attention, particularly Ptt-B–Ptr, Ptt-A and Pv-

Observations of Lyα\alpha Emitters at High Redshift

In this series of lectures, I review our observational understanding of high-$z$ Ly$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) and relevant scientific topics. Since the discovery of LAEs in the late 1990s, more than ten (one) thousand(s) of LAEs have been identified photometrically (spectroscopically) at $z\sim 0$ to $z\sim 10$. These large samples of LAEs are useful to address two major astrophysical issues, galaxy formation and cosmic reionization. Statistical studies have revealed the general picture of LAEs' physical properties: young stellar populations, remarkable luminosity function evolutions, compact morphologies, highly ionized inter-stellar media (ISM) with low metal/dust contents, low masses of dark-matter halos. Typical LAEs represent low-mass high-$z$ galaxies, high-$z$ analogs of dwarf galaxies, some of which are thought to be candidates of population III galaxies. These observational studies have also pinpointed rare bright Ly$\alpha$ sources extended over $\sim 10-100$ kpc, dubbed Ly$\alpha$ blobs, whose physical origins are under debate. LAEs are used as probes of cosmic reionization history through the Ly$\alpha$ damping wing absorption given by the neutral hydrogen of the inter-galactic medium (IGM), which complement the cosmic microwave background radiation and 21cm observations. The low-mass and highly-ionized population of LAEs can be major sources of cosmic reionization. The budget of ionizing photons for cosmic reionization has been constrained, although there remain large observational uncertainties in the parameters. Beyond galaxy formation and cosmic reionization, several new usages of LAEs for science frontiers have been suggested such as the distribution of {\sc Hi} gas in the circum-galactic medium and filaments of large-scale structures. On-going programs and future telescope projects, such as JWST, ELTs, and SKA, will push the horizons of the science frontiers.Comment: Lecture notes for `Lyman-alpha as an Astrophysical and Cosmological Tool', Saas-Fee Advanced Course 46. Verhamme, A., North, P., Cantalupo, S., & Atek, H. (eds.) --- 147 pages, 103 figures. Abstract abridged. Link to the lecture program including the video recording and ppt files : https://obswww.unige.ch/Courses/saas-fee-2016/program.cg