Monensin controlled-release intraruminal capsule for control of bloat in pastured dairy cows

Monensin, a polyether ionophore antibiotic, is potentially an important agent for bloat relief in dairy cows grazing temperate legume-based pasture. A series of studies was undertaken to determine the effect of monensin, when delivered continuously in the rumen of lactating dairy cows by means of controlled-release capsules (monensin CRC). Such devices release approximately 300 mg/head/day for 100 d. A short-term pilot study made at Ruakura, New Zealand, tested monensin CRC in cows selected for high susceptibility to bloat and grazing lucerne (Medicago sativa) or red clover (Trifolium pratense). Treatment significantly reduced the incidence of bloat, while milk yield and protein yield were increased. There was no effect on fat yield. Following the pilot study, 6 large-scale field experiments involving a total of 368 lactating dairy cows, were made in Australia and New Zealand to confirm the effectiveness of monensin CRC for bloat control and to measure the effect of such treatment on milk production and composition. A severe bloat problem occurred in 2 experiments, mild bloat occurred in 2 others, while no visual signs of bloat were observed in the remaining 2 experiments. Bloat was significantly (P less than 0.05) reduced by monensin CRC treatment when data was pooled over the 4 experiments in which bloat occurred. Daily milk yield was increased in all experiments from a mean of 17.7 in untreated groups to 18.8 kg/head/day (P less than 0.05) in monensin CRC-treated cows. Protein percentage was not affected by treatment, while there was a decrease from 4.29 to 4.10% fat, although total fat yield was not affected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Rotavirus excretion by village pigs in Papua New Guinea

Cohort studies were conducted on 29 pigs from 3 villages in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Animals ranged in age from 9 d to 5 m old. Three hundred and twenty nine faecal samples were collected from individual pigs followed over 3 to 6 w periods, and were examined for group A rotavirus antigen by ELISA, and rotaviral genomic RNA by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Electron microscopy was also conducted on selected samples. Group A rotavirus was detected in the faeces of 16 pigs with infected individuals coming from all villages. Non-group A rotavirus resembling group C was found in faeces from pigs from 2 villages. All of the group A rotaviruses examined had the same electrophoretype and this was distinct from that of the common type infecting humans in the area at the time of the study. None of the group A positive samples reacted with monoclonal antisera specific for human group A rotaviruses of serotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, or 8. The non-group A rotaviruses also all had identical electrophoretypes. In contrast to previous findings in intensive piggeries, rotavirus infection did not occur in all young pigs and was not limited to young animals under 2 m of age. Infected pigs varied in age from 12 days to 20 weeks of age. This pattern of infection was attributed to the non-intensive husbandry situations in the villages, with less opportunity for transmission to occur than in intensive piggeries.     

The Breakdown of Olivine to Perovskite and Magnesiowustite

San Carlos olivine crystals under laboratory conditions of 26 gigapascals and 973 to 1473 kelvin (conditions typical of subducted slabs at a depth of 720 kilometers) for periods of a few minutes to 19 hours transformed to the phase assemblage of perovskite and magnesiowustite in two stages: (i) the oxygen sublattice transformed into a cubic close-packed lattice, forming a metastable spinelloid, and (ii) at higher temperatures or longer run durations, this spinelloid broke down to perovskite and magnesiowustite by redistributing silicon and magnesium while maintaining the general oxygen framework. The breakdown was characterized by a blocking temperature of 1000 kelvin, below which olivine remained metastable, and by rapid kinetics once the reaction was activated.     

Genetic Analysis of Metalaxyl Insensitivity Loci in Phytophthora infestans Using Linked DNA Markers

ABSTRACT Previous studies indicated that incompletely dominant loci determine insensitivity by oomycetes to phenylamide fungicides such as metalaxyl. To compare the bases of insensitivity in different strains of the late blight pathogen, Phytophthora infestans, crosses were performed between sensitive isolates and isolates from Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom that displayed varying levels of insensitivity. Segregation analyses indicated that metalaxyl insensitivity was determined primarily by one locus in each isolate, and that two of the isolates were heterozygous and the other homozygous for the insensitive allele. Metalaxyl insensitivity was also affected by the segregation of additional loci of minor effect. DNA markers linked to insensitivity were obtained by bulked segregant analysis using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers and the Dutch and Mexican crosses. By studying the linkage relationships between these markers and the insensitivity in each cross by RAPD or restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, it appeared that the same chromosomal locus conferred insensitivity in the Mexican and Dutch isolates. However, a gene at a different chromosomal position was responsible for insensitivity in the British isolate.     

Aggressiveness and other factors relating to displacement of populations of Phytophthora infestans in England and Wales

Mating type, in vitro sensitivity to the phenylamide fungicide metalaxyl, and mitochondrial (mtDNA) haplotype were determined in some or all of 618 isolates of Phytophthora infestans from the years between 1978 and 1995. A2 mating type occurred infrequently in most but not all years and insensitivity to metalaxyl increased over time. After 1982, the mtDNA Ib haplotype was largely replaced (except for one isolate in 1986 and one in 1995) by two new haplotypes, Ia and IIa. Type Ia was much more common than type IIa.Approximately one quarter of these isolates (165) were compared using two components of fitness associated with aggressiveness (infection frequency × number of sporangia per lesion) on detached leaves of cultivars Maris Piper, Cara and Stirling, which were chosen as exhibiting increasing levels of race non-specific resistance. Isolates were compared with three standard isolates of low, intermediate or high aggressiveness, and the data standardised for comparison between experiments. On cvs. Cara and Stirling, but not on Maris Piper, mtDNA Ia and IIa haplotypes were more aggressive than type Ib in several separate experiments. Similarly, metalaxyl sensitive phenotypes were more aggressive than insensitive phenotypes on Cara and Stirling but not on Maris Piper. The displacement of mtDNA type Ib by types Ia and IIa over this period may have been a result of the lower aggressiveness and lack of complete insensitivity to metalaxyl in type Ib isolates.     

Micromechanical "Trampoline" magnetometers for use in large pulsed magnetic fields

A silicon micromechanical magnetometer was constructed and successfully used in 60-tesla pulsed magnetic fields of less than 100-millisecond duration. The device is small, inexpensive to fabricate, and easy to use. It features a fast mechanical response (up to 50,000 hertz) and extremely high sensitivity yet is relatively robust against electrical and mechanical noise. Quantum oscillations in the magnetization of a 1-microgram sample of an organic superconductor, kappa-[bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene]2Cu(NCS)2, have been observed with this device.