Effects of six fasciolicides against Fascioloides magna In white-tailed deer

Thirty-three white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) of various ages, both sexes, and in good physical condition were captured for anthelmintic evaluation of six compounds against the large American liver fluke, Fascioloides magna. Based on fluke mortality, hexachlorophene administered at the rate of 12 to 26 mg/kg of body weight was lethal to 5 of 10 mature flukes in seven deer. Nitroxynil at 11 to 24 mg/kg inhibited egg production, but did not kill mature flukes in eight deer. Rafoxanide at 12 to 25 mg/kg killed 6 of 8 (75%) immature flukes in eight deer, but was not effective against 17 mature flukes. Clioxanide at 16 to 38 mg/kg, diamphenethide at 255 to 280 mg/kg, and hexachloroethane at 463 to 629 mg/kg were not effective against F. magna in four, two and four deer, respectively. There was no indication that treatment with fasciolicides at the higher dose rates was more efficacious than at the lower dose rates. Detection of fluke eggs in the feces was a reliable method for diagnosing the presence of mature F. magna in deer prior to treatment, but was not reliable for measuring fasciolicidal activity of all compounds tested.     

Mutant allele frequencies among domestic cats in some eastern areas of Canada: regional homogeneity of factors in Canadian Atlantic Provinces and the French colony of Saint Pierre.

Surveys to determine mutant allele frequencies in domestic cats of the Canadian Atlantic Provinces (Halifax, Nova Scotia; Fredericton, New Brunswick; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; St. John's Newfoundland) and the French colony of Saint Pierre, Saint Pierre et Miquelon, reveal a general regional homogeneity for most factors. Despite diverse historical patterns of settlement, a strong common component of origin is indicated. This is tentatively identified as late 18th and early 19th century British. One mutant, polydactyly, which is of New England origin appears to have been distributed largely by loyalist refugees from New England at the time of the American Rebellion. No elements of a specific Acadian (French) character have yet been identified. Siamese cats have been "introduced" to the region in recent years and are now so abundant that they will undoubtedly cause a significant change in some mutant allele frequencies over the next few decades. Interregional exchanges of cats no doubt are contributing to homogenizing the populations of the area, but the practice of sterilization of pets offsets this to some degree.     

Effects of the egg cycle and route of administration of prostaglandin-induced oviposition of hens and Japanese quail.

Lactoferrin isolated from sow milk (about 0-6 mg/ml) was shown to be chromatographically homogeneous, an observation supported by electrophoresis and by reaction against monospecific anti-lactoferrin antiserum. Isoelectric focusing showed multiple forms of the protein (i.e.p., 9-3 to 10-0) converted by neuraminidase to one form (i.e.p., 9-65). Boar seminal plasma contains immunologically identical lactoferrin (0-1 to 0-5 mg/ml) which binds strongly to boar spermatozoa.     

Fascioloides magna (Bassi, 1875) in feral swine from southern Texas.

Between 1971 and 1975, Fascioloides magna was found in 46 of 67 (69%) feral swine (Sus scrofa) in southern Texas. Flukes were recovered from swine in areas where F. magna commonly has been recovered from white-tailed deer and cattle. One to 12 flukes were recovered from each infected animal. Their presence was indicated by black hematin pigment on the liver and various other internal organs. Eggs were not detected in the gallbladder or feces of infected animals although mature flukes and eggs were recovered in the livers suggesting that, like cattle, feral swine can be infected but are aberrant hosts for the parasite and do not disseminate eggs.     

Haemolysis complicating viral hepatitis in patients with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

Out of 20 patients with viral hepatitis whose glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) levels were normal, 14 had clinical evidence of a mild to moderate degree of haemolysis but in all the patients studied the half life of chromium-51-labelled red cells was shortened. Out of 18 viral hepatitis patients deficient in G-6-PD 17 had clinical evidence of haemolysis, and in eight this was more severe than in the group with normal G-6-PD values. Massive intravascular haemolysis occurred in four, three of whom died. The massive haemolysis was attributed to the presence of additional drug-induced oxidative stress to the G-6-PD-deficient red cells.     

Selected clinicopathologic changes associated with experimentally induced Fascioloides magna infection in white-tailed deer.

Six white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), less than one year of age, were divided into two groups of three each and administered 50, or 500 metacercariae of ascioloides magna. All six deer became infected. Three additional deer of the same age were uninoculated controls. All deer were monitored for up to 43 weeks after inoculation to investigate changes in weight, selected hematologic values, and blood chemistry values. Although clinical disease was not evident in the infected deer, a significant reduction (p less than .01) in hemoglobin and packed cell volume was detected throughout the experiment. A significant elevation (p less than .01) in the total serum protein level was detected in both infected groups from 0 to 5 months after inoculation. Increases were present in the beta and gamma globulin fractions. No differences (p greater than .05) were detected in the serum calcium, magnesium, or phosphorus levels, or in body weights between infected and uninfected control groups.     

Host selection as a downstream strategy: polyelectrolyte precipitation of beta-glucuronidase from plant extracts.

Host selection can be a strategy to simplify downstream processing for protein recovery. Advancing capabilities for using plants as hosts offers new host opportunities that have received only limited attention from a downstream processing perspective. Here, we investigated the potential of using a polycationic precipitating agent (polyethylenimine; PEI) to precipitate an acidic model protein (beta-glucuronidase; GUS) from aqueous plant extracts. To assess the potential of host selection to enhance the ease of recovery, the same procedure was applied to oilseed extracts of canola, corn (germ), and soy. For comparison, PEI precipitation of GUS was also evaluated from a crude bacterial fermentation broth. Two versions of the target protein were investigated--the wild-type enzyme (WTGUS) and a genetically engineered version containing 10 additional aspartates on each of the enzyme's four homologous subunits (GUSD10). It was found that canola was the most compatible expression host for use with this purification technique. GUS was completely precipitated from canola with the lowest dosage of PEI (30 mg PEI/g total protein), and over 80% of the initial WTGUS activity was recovered with 18-fold purification. Precipitation from soy gave yields over 90% for WTGUS but only 1.3-fold enrichment. Corn, although requiring the most PEI relative to total protein to precipitate (210 mg PEI/g total protein for 100% precipitation), gave intermediate results, with 81% recovery of WTGUS activity and a purification factor of 2.6. The addition of aspartate residues to the target protein did not enhance the selectivity of PEI precipitation in any of the systems tested. In fact, the additional charge reduced the ability to recover GUSD10 from the precipitate, resulting in lower yields and enrichment ratios compared to WTGUS. Compared to the bacterial host, plant systems provided lower polymer dosage requirements, higher yields of recoverable activity and greater purification factors.     

Position-dependent local motions in spin-labeled analogues of a short alpha-helical peptide determined by electron spin resonance.

We have used electron spin resonance and circular dichroism to examine and compare the dynamics in two analogues of the Ala-based 3K(I) peptide [Marqusee, S., Robbins, V.H., & Baldwin, R. L. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 5286-5290], labeled at positions 4 and 8, throughout the alpha-helix----coil transition. In the middle of the thermal unfolding transition, our results demonstrate that the local mobility near the N-terminus is greater than at the center of the peptide. This provides evidence, from the perspective of dynamics, that the ends of Ala-based alpha-helices are frayed. We further find that the position dependence of the mobility for the thermally unfolded state differs from that of the denaturant unfolded state. Only the latter state exhibits the local dynamics expected for a genuine random coil.     

Interference reflection microscopy. A quantitative theory for image interpretation and its application to cell-substratum separation measurement.

We propose a quantitative theory of microscope interferometry where the specimen is illuminated by a cone of monochromatic light of solid angle 0 - 100 degree, corresponding to an illuminating numerical aperture of 0 to approximately 1.2. Computed results compare favorably with photometric measurements of fringe irradiance for a water wedge 0 - 2,000-nm thick. The interpretation of cell-substratum interference images is discussed in relation to the theory. We conclude that in assessing cell-glass separation, the cytoplasmic thickness does in general contribute significantly to the final image, but this contribution is minimized at high illuminating apertures. In these circumstances, however, normal incidence theory is inapplicable and the theory for finite illuminating aperture is essential. Neglect of this fact can lead to errors of up to 100% in estimated cell-glass separation.