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.     

Direction of Temperature Control in the Thermal Biofeedback Treatment of Vascular Headache

In order to test for the specific therapeutic effects of thermal biofeedback (TBF) for hand warming on vascular headache (HA), 70 patients with chronic vascular HA were randomly assigned to TBF for hand warming, TBF for hand cooling, TBF for stabilization of hand temperature, or biofeedback to suppress alpha in the EEG. Patients in each condition initially had high levels of expectation of therapeutic benefit and found the treatment rationales highly credible. Participants in each condition received 12 treatment sessions on a twice-per-week basis. Based on daily HA diary data gathered for 4 weeks prior to treatment and 4 weeks after treatment, HA Index was significantly (p=.003) reduced as was HA medication consumption. There were no differential reducations in HA Index or Medication Index among the four conditions. Global self-reports of improvement gathered at the end of the post-treatment monitoring period also did not differ among the four conditions. We were unable to demonstrate a specific effect of TBF for hand warming on vascular HA activity.     

Linking behavioral states to landscape features for improved conservation management

1. A central theme for conservation is understanding how animals differentially use, and are affected by change in, the landscapes they inhabit. However, it has been challenging to develop conservation schemes for habitat‐specific behaviors.
2. Here we use behavioral change point analysis to identify behavioral states of golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the southwestern United States, and we identify, for each behavioral state, conservation‐relevant habitat associations.
3. We modeled behavior using 186,859 GPS points from 48 eagles and identified 2,851 distinct segments comprising four behavioral states. Altitude above ground level (AGL) best differentiated behavioral states, with two clusters of short‐distance movement behaviors characterized by low AGL (state 1 AGL = 14 m (median); state 2 AGL = 11 m) and two associated with longer‐distance movement behaviors and characterized by higher AGL (state 3 AGL = 108 m; state 4 AGL = 450 m).
4. Behaviors such as perching and low‐altitude hunting were associated with short‐distance movements in updraft‐poor environments, at higher elevations, and over steeper and more north‐facing terrain. In contrast, medium‐distance movements such as hunting and transiting were over gentle and south‐facing slopes. Long‐distance transiting occurred over the desert habitats that generate the best updraft.
5. This information can guide management of this species, and our approach provides a template for behavior‐specific habitat associations for other species of management concern.