Clinical mastitis in ewes; bacteriology, epidemiology and clinical features

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Clinical mastitis is an important disease in sheep. The objective of this work was to identify causal bacteria and study certain epidemiological and clinical features of clinical mastitis in ewes kept for meat and wool production.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study included 509 ewes with clinical mastitis from 353 flocks located in 14 of the 19 counties in Norway. Clinical examination and collection of udder secretions were carried out by veterinarians. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed on 92 <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>isolates from 64 ewes.</p> <p>Results and conclusion</p> <p><it>S. aureus </it>was recovered from 65.3% of 547 clinically affected mammary glands, coagulase-negative staphylococci from 2.9%, enterobacteria, mainly <it>Escherichia coli</it>, from 7.3%, <it>Streptococcus </it>spp. from 4.6%, <it>Mannheimia haemolytica </it>from 1.8% and various other bacteria from 4.9%, while no bacteria were cultured from 13.2% of the samples. Forty percent of the ewes with unilateral clinical <it>S. aureus </it>mastitis also had a subclinical <it>S. aureus </it>infection in the other mammary gland. Twenty-four of 28 (86%) pairs of <it>S. aureus </it>isolates obtained from clinically and subclinically affected mammary glands of the same ewe were indistinguishable by PFGE. The number of identical pairs was significantly greater than expected, based on the distribution of different <it>S. aureus </it>types within the flocks. One-third of the cases occurred during the first week after lambing, while a second peak was observed in the third week of lactation. Gangrene was present in 8.8% of the clinically affected glands; <it>S. aureus </it>was recovered from 72.9%, <it>Clostridium perfringens </it>from 6.3% and <it>E. coli </it>from 6.3% of the secretions from such glands. This study shows that <it>S. aureus </it>predominates as a cause of clinical ovine mastitis in Norway, also in very severe cases. Results also indicate that <it>S. aureus </it>is frequently spread between udder halves of infected ewes.</p

Arabidopsis thaliana MIRO1 and MIRO2 GTPases Are Unequally Redundant in Pollen Tube Growth and Fusion of Polar Nuclei during Female Gametogenesis

MIRO GTPases have evolved to regulate mitochondrial trafficking and morphology in eukaryotic organisms. A previous study showed that T-DNA insertion in the Arabidopsis MIRO1 gene is lethal during embryogenesis and affects pollen tube growth and mitochondrial morphology in pollen, whereas T-DNA insertion in MIRO2 does not affect plant development visibly. Phylogenetic analysis of MIRO from plants revealed that MIRO 1 and 2 orthologs in dicots cluster in two separate groups due to a gene/genome duplication event, suggesting that functional redundancy may exists between the two MIRO genes. To investigate this possibility, we generated miro1(+/−)/miro2-2(−/−) plants. Compared to miro1(+/−) plants, the miro1(+/−)/miro2-2(−/−) plants showed increased segregation distortion. miro1(+/−)/miro2-2(−/−) siliques contained less aborted seeds, but more than 3 times the number of undeveloped ovules. In addition, reciprocal crosses showed that co-transmission through the male gametes was nearly absent, whereas co-transmission through the female gametes was severely reduced in miro1(+/−)/miro2-2(−/−) plants. Further investigations revealed that loss of MIRO2 (miro2(−/−)) function in the miro1(+/−) background enhanced pollen tube growth defects. In developing miro1(+/−)/miro2(−/−) embryo sacs, fusion of polar nuclei was further delayed or impaired compared to miro1 plants. This phenotype has not been reported previously for miro1 plants and coincides with studies showing that defects in some mitochondria-targeted genes results in the same phenotype. Our observations show that loss of function in MIRO2 in a miro1(+/−) background enhances the miro1(+/−) phenotype significantly, even though miro2(−/−) plants alone does not display any phenotypes. Based on these findings, we conclude that MIRO1 and MIRO2 are unequally redundant and that a proportion of the miro1(+/−)/miro2(−/−) plants haploid gametes displays the complete null phenotype of MIRO GTPase function at key developmental stages

CYTOSOL AND SERUM FERRITIN IN BREAST-CARCINOMA

This study was undertaken to determine tissue and serum ferritin levels in different stages of breast carcinoma. Eighty-nine cases have been evaluated, the groups investigated being breast carcinoma, benign breast disease and healthy controls. Ferritin levels in both the sera and the tissue cytosols were measured by an enzyme immunoassay method, while total proteins were assayed by Lowry's procedure and the ferritin concentrations given in ng ferritin/mg cytosol protein. No significant difference has been determined for serum ferritin between any of the groups studied, while the tissue cytosol ferritins were found to be 91.6 +/- 50.9, 565.0 +/- 48.3, 142.7 +/- 93.3, 683.3 +/- 212.9 and 655.5 +/- 100.4 ng/mg cytosol protein for the benign, malign (global), malign (stage 1), malign (stage II) and malign (stage 111) groups, respectively. The differences between the malign groups and the benign group were found to be highly significant (P < 0.001) except for the stage I subgroup, which was fairly significant (P < 0.05). A sensitivity of 90 % was evaluated for tissue cytosol ferritin in breast carcinoma, the 'intra-patient' sensitivity being 100 %. In conclusion, we state that tissue ferritin is more valuable than serum ferritin as a tumour marker of diagnosis for breast carcinoma

Changes In Serum Creatine-Kinase, Lactate-Dehydrogenase and Aldolase Activities Following Supramaximal Exercise In Athletes

WOS: A1994PJ65500004PubMed ID: 7967583While it is well known that prolonged intense exercise raises serum enzyme activities, the effects of short duration intense exercise on enzyme activity changes have not been clearly described. Three successive standard 30 s Wingate anaerobic cycle ergometer tests separated by 6-8 min rest intervals were performed by competitive male middle- and long-distance runners or cyclists (no. = 33), and matched healthy control subjects (no. = 30). Immediately before and 6 h after the tests, blood samples were taken to assess the effects of exercise on serum creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LD) and aldolase (ALS) enzyme activities. Serum CK activities were found to be significantly higher in athletes than in the controls, both before and 6 hours after the test (p < 0.001), as were ALS activities (p < 0.01 before and p < 0.05 after the test), whereas LD activities were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the athletes only after the test. Following the test, increases in LD activities (p < 0.01) were observed in athletes and rises in CK activities (p < 0.05) were seen in the controls. Significant correlations between pre- and post-exercise serum enzyme activities were established for both groups. In conclusion, following a supramaximal exercise test, increases in serum LD activities of athletes and in CK activities of controls appear to be more pronounced, and increases in serum CK, LD and ALS activities seem to depend more on the duration of exercise than on its intensity

Arsenic in human and cow's milk: A reflection of environmental pollution

WOS: 000072339900025Arsenic, an environmental pollutant, is present in minute but invariable amounts in food, drinking water and ambient air. Izmir is founded on a land of long extinct volcanoes, with vast areas of lava ground suitable for agriculture. It is located at close vicinity to high thermal activity, e.g., hot springs and thermal baths. In the present study, total arsenic level in breast milk was assessed in randomly chosen 35 lactating women of different socioeconomic levels who live downtown in Izmir and in milk of 36 cows grazing on shoulder grass of highways with heavy traffic. Total arsenic was assessed on an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AA-680 Shimadzu). Mean (+/- SEM) arsenic was found to be 4.219 +/- 0.079 mu g L-1 in breast milk, and 4.932 +/- 0.38 mu g L-1 in cow's milk. Conclusion: in Izmir, arsenic contamination of breast milk was not found so as to be considered noxious for suckling infants, whereas was found relatively higher in cow's milk. It would be prudent to remember breast and cow's milk arsenic contamination in breast fed or milk fed babies living in areas with higher thermal activity or in regions where ground water is with high arsenic content

Nicomache (Loxochona) lokii sp. nov. (Annelida: Polychaeta: Maldanidae) from the Loki’s Castle vent field: an important structure builder in an Arctic vent system

The discovery of the Loki’s Castle vent field at 2,350 m depth on the Arctic mid-ocean ridge in 2008 represents the first known black smoker vent system in the Arctic region. Preliminary results on the benthic invertebrates collected at Loki’s Castle indicate the presence of an endemic fauna dominated by tube-building polychaetes, melitid amphipods and gastropods. Here, we formally describe and investigate the ecological role of a new maldanid species, Nicomache (Loxochona) lokii sp. nov., a species found to be particularly common and regarded as a keystone species in this vent system. The description of the new species is supplemented with a DNA barcode. The subgenus N. (Loxochona) includes at present six nominal species, and the new species described herein is the fourth species associated with reducing habitats. A table with diagnostic characters for all species referred to the subgenus is provided. The new species builds tubes up to a length of 20 cm or more, tightly fastened to the substratum. Together with other tube-building species, N. (L.) lokii sp. nov. form a complex three-dimensional habitat for a number of free-living invertebrates. Based on the morphology of the foregut, the microbial community in the gut and the stable isotope values found for this species, it is concluded that it acts as a grazer in this vent system