ALBERT

Notes: Pigs were reared on different diets, leading to different percentages of PUFA'S (up to 40%) in their fat. Pork products, mostly cold, were evaluated by a consumer panel for overall preferences, and on various characteristics such as color, etc. Panel members evaluated also the acceptability of the products. Results show that the modified pork products do reasonably well, compared with standard products. The biggest exception is liver sausage.

Notes: The lymphocytes from 107 maternal-foetal pairs were examined for their in vitro responsiveness, as determined by the incorporation of tritiated thymidine following stimulation with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), candida, varicella, mumps, streptokinase-streptodornase (SKSD) and tetanus toxiod. The data were collected and analysed in two sequential groups (forty-seven and sixty) in order to determine whether the results were reproducible. The variable chosen for analysis was the difference (d) between the square roots of the isotope incorporation in the stimulated and control cultures because it gave the most symmetrical distribution of the data. The experimental error in the determination of maternal lymphocyte stimulation was 1.4-8.6% and of the and of the foetal lymphocytes, 1.0-16.6% depending upon the antigen or mitogen and its concentration. The data in the two sets of patients were statistically the same in forty-eight of the fifty-six analyses (fourteen antigen or mitogen concentrations in autologous and AB plasma for maternal and foetal lymphocytes). The statistical limits of the distribution of responses for stimulation or suppression were set by an analysis of variance taking two standard deviations from the mean as the limits. When these limits were translated into stimulation indices, they varied for each antigen or mitogen and for different concentrations of the same antigen. Thus, a detailed statistical analysis of a large volume of lymphocyte transformation data indicates that the technique is reproducible and offers a reliable method for determining when significant differences from control values are present.

Notes: The response of 105 maternal-foetal lymphocyte pairs to specific and non-specific stimulation were evaluated using a newly defined method of analysis. There were no significant differences in the responses of maternal or foetal lymphocytes to phytohaemogglutinin (PHA) or the various antigens as a function of concentration over the ranges tested. The maternal lymphocytes were stimulated by all of the antigens and responded to PHA three-five times more strongly than to the antigens. The foetal lymphocytes were stimulated by PHA and tetanus toxoid only and were suppressed by streptokinase-streptodornase (SKSD). They responded to stimulation by antigens at a lower level than did the maternal lymphocytes, but they responded at a much higher level to PHA. Unstimulated cultures of foetal lymphocytes incorporated more isotope than did those of maternal lymphocytes in both autologous and AB plasma.The data were cross-classified to determine whether the responses of the foetal lymphocytes varied concordantly with the responses of the maternal lymphocytes in both autologous and AB plasma by the Chi-square test for independence and by rank correlation analysis. There was no significant correlaiton in either plasma to stimulation with the antigens. Thus, the presence of antigen reactive lymphocytes in the circulation of the mother does not mean that the foetus is sensitized to that antigen.Comparison of the lymphocyte responses in autologous plasma with those in AB plasma provided evidence for the presence of circulating immunoregulatory substances. Autologous maternal plasma suppressed the lymphocyte responses to high concentrations of candida and SKSD and stimulated the response to mumps, varicella and tetanus toxoid. Autologous fetal plasma suppressed the lymphocyte responses to candida, varicell and SKSD and stimulated the response to PHA. The responsiveness of maternal lymphocytes to PHA was less in foetal plasma than in autologous maternal or AB plasma.

Notes: The six original haplotypes described in the Ag-B system were compared with their counterparts in the H-1 system. Antisera to the Ag-B haplotypes raised in inbred rats and antisera to H-1 haplotypes raised in congenic lines were tested against various panels of cell from inbred and congenic lines by the dextran and Ficoll haemagglutination methods. The private and strong public specificities detected in both systems were the same, but there were some minor differences in the intermediate and weak reactivities detected. The cross-reactivity of the antisera raised in inbred rats was broader than that of antisera raised in congenic lines. The identity of the antigenic products detected in the two systems by the dextran and Ficoll tests was further confirmed by a variety of absorption analyses and by F1 tests. This study completes the systematic serological comparison of the haplotypes of the major histocompatibility complex of the rat described originally in the Ag-B and H-1 systems.

Notes: The average litter sizes and reproductive performance of twenty-five inbred strains of rats, maintained in a conventional colony in Pittsburgh, and twenty-six inbred strains, maintained in a barrier facility at the National Institutes of Health, were calculated from data collected for periods of 3 and 10 years, respectively. There were considerable variations in both parameters in each of the two colonies studied. In addition, there were quite wide variations in male to female ratios among inbred strains (0.80 to 1.42).

Notes: The antibody responses to DNP-bovine gamma globulin, bovine gamma globulin, human serum albumin, ovalbumin, pepsin and five synthetic polypeptides were examined in strains of inbred rats representative of eight common major histocompatibility complex (RT1) haplotypes. With each antigen the antibody response varied considerably among strains, and the data provide many potential strain and antigen combinations with which to study the genetic control of the immune response.

Notes: The Minimum Entropy Deconvolution (MED) technique of Wiggins (1977) represents a breakthrough in deconvolution and will undoubtedly find wide application in many fields. MED does not require any phase assumptions about the disturbing function and seeks a deconvolved output which consists of the smallest number of large spikes consistent with the input data.The efficiency of MED is much improved when an exponential transformation is incorporated into the algorithm. This is particularly true when the input traces contain additive noise. In this case the noise suppression characteristics of MED are considerably enhanced by the transformation and the identification of smaller spikes is improved. This paper also presents a kurtosis criterion of simplicity rather than the varimax norm introduced by Wiggins. It appears that for a multiple trace input the kurtosis measure leads to improved results.

Notes: On the foreshore east of Luc-sur-Mer, Normandy, an Upper Bathonian hard-ground which caps a sponge biostrome has been thrown into a series of troughs and ridges, the latter sometimes with very steep flanks. Faunal orientation and encrustation of extensive undercuts demonstrate that these structures are of a syn-sedimentary origin. They are interpreted as submarine pseudo-anticlines which have a composite origin. The following three factors are thought to have contributed to their formation: (a) a primary morphological differentiation of the underlying biostrome; (b) sediment expansion caused by force of crystallization during hardground formation; and (c) differential compaction, being greater where the hardground overlies mainly inter-reef mud as compared with the rigid sponge framework. The main episode of this compaction occurred at an early stage in the life of the hardground. Subsequent erosion, colonization by encrusters and borers, and burial beneath a fossiliferous clay were the final stages in the history of these pseudo-anticlines.

Notes: In the management of saimonid populations it is often necessary to distinguish hatchery-reared from wild stocks. This study examines the feasability of marking fish tissue by substituting a biologically rare element, strontium, for calcium.Sixteen-month-old hatchery-reared coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch, Walbaum 1792) were fed a diet, to which 10000 ppm stable strontium was added, for 60 days. Prior to their seaward migration in June 1976, the treated coho contained 32 times as much strontium in their vertebrae as did the control coho.Sixty-eight precocious males‘jacks’ returned to the hatchery in the fall of 1976 and 1200 adults in the fall of 1977. Strontium-treated ‘jacks’ contained 1·4 times as much strontium as did control ‘jacks’ however, treated and untreated fish could not be distinguished as adults. The reduction in the strontium concentration of the treated fish could be accounted for by growth.

Notes: One hundred and forty-six tomato crops throughout England and Wales were assessed for diseases. The commonest fungus pathogen was Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex Fr. which caused stem lesions in 64 per cent of the crops, leaf lesions in 38 per cent and fruit ghost spot in 46 per cent. Benomyl tolerance was widespread in isolates of this pathogen and was detected in 50 of the 68 crops examined. Seventy-seven per cent of isolates from crops sprayed with a methyl benzimidazole carbamate (MBC) fungicide were tolerant compared with 34 per cent from crops where these fungicides had not been used. Fulvia fulva (Cooke) Ciferri was found in 28 per cent of the crops but was severe in only three per cent. Didymella lycopersici Kleb. occurred in seven per cent of the crops. Tomato mosaic (TMV) symptoms were seen in 34 per cent of the crops, although 47 per cent of those surveyed were of resistant cultivars in which no virus symptoms were seen. The Dutch avirulent TMV strain MII-16 was used for crop protection on 27 per cent of the nurseries. TMV strains collected from crops with symptoms were predominantly strain 1 (85 per cent) and 96 per cent of isolates from crops inoculated with MII-16 were of this strain. No new strains or tobacco forms of TMV were found.Root rots were extremely common at the end of the crops, varying in intensity according to the pre-planting soil treatment. Steam treatment was most effective (28 per cent root rot) with methyl bromide the next best (30 per cent), followed by dazomet (42 per cent). Methyl bromide was used by 45 per cent of growers, whereas 17 per cent used steam and 11 per cent dazomet. Peat-bag culture was used on five per cent of the nurseries. In peat-bag culture there was little root rot (11 per cent). Verticillium spp. were isolated from 25 per cent of crops in the survey and Fusarium oxysporum Schl. from eight per cent. Chimeras were found in 34 per cent of the crops, but only in 1.1 per cent of the affected plants was the chimera affecting the growing point and likely to affect yield. There was a tendency for early-planted crops to have a greater incidence of chimera. Generally the cultural factors recorded did not appear to be connected with disease incidence, but there was a significant increase in the amount of Botrytis in the stopped plants. Benomyl, either as a spray or a drench, was the most commonly used fungicide, but more than a third of the crops did not receive any fungicidal treatments.