Effect of ostertagiasis on copper status in sheep: a study involving use of copper oxide wire particles.

Lambs infected with Ostertagia circumcincta larvae and uninfected controls were either doses with 5 g copper oxide wire particles (COWP) or remained undosed. The change in abomasal pH was monitored from duodenal digesta and that in liver copper concentration from initial liver biopsy samples and liver obtained at necropsy after 22 days. Infection increased the pH of digesta from 2.5 to 4.5. The change in liver copper content in sheep not treated with COWP was +6.1 mg (12.6 per cent) and -6.8 mg (13.8 per cent) in control and infected sheep, respectively. Significantly greater amounts of COWP were recovered from the abomasa of infected than from control animals (3.6 +/- 0.23 and 1.6 +/- 0.55 g, respectively) and hepatic uptake of copper from COWP was 0.7 and 1.8 per cent of the dose, respectively. There were significant relationships between the pH of duodenal contents and COWP retained, soluble copper concentration in duodenal digesta and hepatic uptake of copper. It was concluded that, through causing an increase in pH in abomasal and duodenal digesta, gastrointestinal nematodes interfere with copper metabolism.

Effect of copper oxide wire particle treatment on establishment of major gastrointestinal nematodes in lambs.

Eighty-four 10-week-old lambs were used to investigate the effect of copper oxide wire particle treatment on the establishment of major gastrointestinal nematodes. They were maintained on pasture previously treated to minimise larval contamination. Five grams of uniform sized copper oxide wire particles were given orally five days before infection with either 20,000 Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae, 20,000 Ostertagia circumcincta larvae or 3000 Haemonchus contortus larvae given as three doses at three-day intervals. The animals were slaughtered 21 or 22 days after the last infective dose. Parasite burdens in the lambs treated with copper oxide wire particles were reduced by 96 per cent in the case of H contortus and by 56 per cent in the case of O circumcincta compared to burdens in controls. There was no significant effect of copper particles on the establishment of T colubriformis.

[A study on the change of the primipara mother-infant interaction by infant's age in months].

The intent of this longitudinal descriptive correlational study is to investigate the change of the mother-infant interactions over the periods of one month, three months and six months of the infant's age. This study is also intended to explore the interrelationships among three major factors--the perception of pregnancy, the mother-infant interaction and the maternal attitude. The samples participated are 36 pairs of mother and infant from two university hospitals in Seoul. A data collection was made, from October in 1988 to September in 1989, for each subject at five periods of time; prenatal period (after 36 weeks in pregnancy), postpartum two or three days, one month, three months and six months of infant's age. The research tools used in this investigation are Mother-Infant Play Interaction Scale (MIPIS), Prenatal Self-Evaluation Questionnaire and Cohler's Maternal Attitude Scale. Some of the findings are as follows; 1. There is a significant increase in the mother-infant interaction from one month to three months and six months of infant's age. The highest score of the mother-infant interaction during three periods is at the time of three months. 2. The primipara's mother-infant interaction is not affected by the demographic characteristics, such as age, education and vocation of mother, types of delivery, or sex of infant. 3. Among seven categories of the perception of pregnancy, the most positively perceived categories by primiparas are acceptance of pregnancy and identification of a motherhood role; whereas the negative ones are preparation for labor, concern for well-being of self and baby, and fear of pain, helplessness and loss of control in order of negativity. 4. There is no significant relationship between the perception of pregnancy and the mother-infant interactions. 5. There is no significant change in the maternal attitude over the period of one month, three months, and six months of infant's age. 6. There is no significant relationship between the maternal attitude and the mother-infant interactions. 7. The significant relationships are found between the perception of pregnancy and maternal attitude, especially in the categories of concern for well-being of self and baby, acceptance of pregnancy, identification of a motherhood role, fear of pain, helplessness and loss of control, and relationship with husband. In conclusion, it is confirmed that primipara's mother-infant interactions change over time period, and that perception of pregnancy and the maternal attitude do not affect the mother-infant interactions despite a significant relationship between those two variables.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)