Distribution and sequence of gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone and its potential role as a molecular link between feeding and reproductive systems in the Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos domestica).

The reproductive status of adult Pekin drakes is very sensitive to nutritional status. Thus, the purpose of this study was to increase our understanding of the neurobiology underlying the depressive effect of fasting on the secretion of reproductive hormones. It was hypothesized that this effect was mediated by gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH). Networks of GnIH fibers were present throughout the diencephalon, and cell bodies were present primarily, in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN). The duck GnIH gene was cloned and sequenced and found to encode GnIH and two GnIH-related peptides (GnIH-RP1, GnIH-RP2) which have a similar identity to those found in other avian species. Intracerebroventricular injection of GnIH, but not of GnIH-RP1, depressed plasma LH and stimulated feeding. Fasting for 48h depressed plasma LH and induced fos expression in about half the population of GnIH-ir neurons. These data suggest that GnIH neurons are mediators between feeding and reproductive systems in Pekin drakes.

First Report of Pilidium concavum causing Leaf Necrosis on Fallopia japonica in the United States.

Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr. (= Polygonum cuspidatum Siebold & Zucc.; Japanese knotweed, JKW) is an invasive perennial forb in the Polygonaceae. It has been identified as a target for biological control in many parts of the world, including the United States. Several potted JKW plants in an outdoor study at the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Salem (44.93° N, 122.99° W) developed leaf spots. Samples collected on August 20, 2007, were sent to the FDWSRU for identification of the disease. The necrotic leaf spots were brown and large, 1 to 3 cm in diameter, and in some cases occupying 30% of the leaf area. Both hemispherical and discoid conidiomata with gloeoid spore masses (3) developed in necrotic areas of all leaves placed in moist chambers. Discoid conidiomata had dark, pedicellate bases subtending a fimbriate disc on which pale brown to brown gloeoid conidial masses were produced. Hemispherical conidiomata were black, circular, sessile, and somewhat flattened, within which similar, gloeoid conidial masses were produced. Conidia from each type of conidioma were unicellular, cylindrical to fusiform, hyaline, and 4.5 to 7.2 × 0.9 to 1.8 µm (mean 5.7 × 1.33). Artificial inoculation of 15 plants was made on two occasions with a suspension of 106 conidia per ml, followed by two 16-hr dew periods at 25°C that were separated by an 8-hr "day;" a similar set of 15 non-inoculated plants served as controls each time. Symptoms similar to those in the original sample developed within 2 months after inoculation. The fungus was easily reisolated, and conidia from each type of conidioma produced similar growth on artificial media and similar disease after inoculation. The characteristics of conidial size and distinctly different conidiomata are diagnostic of Pilidium concavum (Desm.) Höhn (3,4). A sequence of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region DNA, extracted using a DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (QIAGEN), was found identical to that of P. concavum from Rosa sp. (BPI 1107275; GenBank Accession No. AY487094), using BLAST. This isolate, FDWSRU 07-116, has been deposited in the US National Fungus Collection (BPI 883546) and at the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures (CBS 132725). Sequence data have been deposited in GenBank (JQ790789). To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. concavum causing disease on a member of the Polygonaceae in North America (1), a disease clearly different from a Japanese Mycosphaerella sp. under consideration for biological control of JKW in the United Kingdom (2). References: (1) D. F. Farr, and A. Y. Rossman. Fungal Databases, Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory, ARS, USDA. Retrieved from http://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/ , May 15, 2012. (2) D. Kurose et al. MycoSci. 50:179, 2009. (3) M. E. Palm, Mycologia 83:787, 1991. (4) A. Y. Rossman, et al. Mycol. Progr. 3:275, 2004.

Negative per capita effects of two invasive plants, Lythrum salicaria and Phalaris arundinacea, on the moth diversity of wetland communities.

Invasive plants have been shown to negatively affect the diversity of plant communities. However, little is known about the effect of invasive plants on the diversity at other trophic levels. In this study, we examine the per capita effects of two invasive plants, purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea), on moth diversity in wetland communities at 20 sites in the Pacific Northwest, USA. Prior studies document that increasing abundance of these two plant species decreases the diversity of plant communities. We predicted that this reduction in plant diversity would result in reduced herbivore diversity. Four measurements were used to quantify diversity: species richness (S), community evenness (J), Brillouin's index (H) and Simpson's index (D). We identified 162 plant species and 156 moth species across the 20 wetland sites. The number of moth species was positively correlated with the number of plant species. In addition, invasive plant abundance was negatively correlated with species richness of the moth community (linear relationship), and the effect was similar for both invasive plant species. However, no relationship was found between invasive plant abundance and the three other measures of moth diversity (J, H, D) which included moth abundance in their calculation. We conclude that species richness within, and among, trophic levels is adversely affected by these two invasive wetland plant species.

First Report of Crown Gall Caused by an Agrobacterium sp. on Diffuse Knapweed (Centaurea diffusa).

Diffuse knapweed (DK) plants were discovered in Mosier, Wasco County, OR (45.6842°N, 121.4021°W) with crown gall-like symptoms near the soil line. Specimens were collected on 27 July 2004 and sent to the USDA-ARS at Ft. Detrick, MD for identification of disease and pathogen. Pure culture of a bacterium was obtained on potato dextrose agar, and hyperplasia and hypertrophy developed on carrot disks and tomato stems after wound inoculation with a needle contaminated by the agar culture. The same bacterium was reisolated from the galls on DK, thus fulfilling Koch's postulates. Pathogenicity tests involving needle inoculations of stems and petioles resulted in gall formation on Acroptilon repens, Carthamus tinctorius, Centaurea solstitialis, C. maculosa, C. cyanus, Crupina vulgaris, Helianthus annuus, and Rubus armeniacus. In biochemical tests typically used for identification of Agrobacterium species (3), the DK strain grew on D1M agar but not on 2% NaCl medium, produced acid from erythritol but not from melezitose, converted malonic acid to base, and turned litmus milk alkaline. These results are characteristic of Agrobacterium rhizogenes (= Biovar 2), except for the litmus milk reaction. Using 16S rRNA cluster analysis by unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA, 500 replicates) and basic local alignment search tool (BLAST), the DK strain clustered most closely with A. rubi (GenBank Accession Nos. D12787 and AM181759). The DK strain differed from A. larrymoorei (GenBank Accession No. Z30542), A. tumefaciens (GenBank Accession No. AJ389896), A. rhizogenes (GenBank Accession No. AB247607), and A. vitis (GenBank Accession No. AB247599) on the basis of 16S rRNA sequence cluster analysis. The DK strain differed from A. rubi on the basis of differential reactions with erythritol, litmus milk, and 2% NaCl medium (2,4); and the 16S rRNA sequence of the DK strain differed from that of A. rubi by 11 bp (99.2% similarity). Comparisons also were made between the DK strain and two strains (83A and 135A) of A. tumefaciens (= Biovar 1), described from New Mexico on A. repens (1), a plant species in the same tribe and subtribe of the Asteraceae as DK. Host range reported for the two A. repens strains after artificial greenhouse inoculations was similar to that of the DK strain and it included diffuse knapweed (1). However, 16S sequencing, which confirmed identification of both A. repens strains as A. tumefaciens, showed they differed from the DK strain. The DK strain belongs in the genus Agrobacterium, but it could not be assigned to any known species on the basis of data from phenotypic or 16S sequence comparisons. To our knowledge, this is the first report of crown gall on diffuse knapweed in the field. This strain has been deposited into the International Collection of Phytopathogenic Bacteria at Fort Detrick (Accession No. 60099), and the 16S rRNA sequence has been deposited into the GenBank database (Accession No. EF687663). References: (1) A. J. Caesar, Plant Dis. 78:796, 1994. (2) B. Holmes and P. Roberts, J. Appl. Bacteriol. 50:443, 1981. (3) L. W. Moore et al. Page 17 in: Laboratory Guide for Identification of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria. 3rd ed. N. W. Schaad et al., eds. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN, 2001. (4) K. Ophel and A. Kerr, Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 40:236, 1990.

The bacteriological quality of British beef 2. Frozen minced beef.

Frozen minced beef was obtained from five commercial wholesale producers, and the aerobic plate count, and counts of coliforms, Escherichia coli type 1 and Staphylococcus aureus, determined. No E. coli O157:H7 or salmonellas were detected. The results were evaluated in relation to: (1) two earlier surveys involving fresh mince purchased from retail butchers and supermarkets in the UK (Roberts et al., 1980; Hudson et al., 1986); and (2) the standards set out in Annex II of the Minced Meat Directive 94/65/EC. In respect to the latter, none of the 99 samples of mince examined was unsatisfactory.

The bacteriological quality of British beef 3. Frozen primal joints.

The bacteriological status of 286 primal cuts stored frozen in intervention stores in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland for between 18 and 216 weeks was assessed in two surveys carried out during 1993 (120 cuts) and 1994 (166 cuts). Overall the aerobic plate count at 25°C and the presumptive pseudomonad counts were <10(5)cm(2) on 269 (94%) and 273 (95·5%) of the cuts, respectively. Similarly the coliform and enterococcal counts were <10(3)cm(2) on 98·3% and 97·9% of the cuts, respectively. These findings suggest that the quality of dressing and butchery of the carcasses was of a generally satisfactory standard although on occasions there may have been suboptimum hygiene control during slaughter and butchery or some delay before freezing. The bacterial numbers were higher on average on the cuts obtained from the lower part of the carcass while there was a tendency for the number of aerobic spoilage organism to decrease slightly with increasing storage time. Evidence was obtained in the second survey which indicated differences between microbiological quality of meat coming from different boning plants although it was not possible to make a detailed evaluation of this point as the number of cuts available for sampling from each plant differed in each year.

A conceptual framework for home nursing.

Home nursing is typically dismissed as a series of tasks, limited in range and basic in nature. The present article describes research which repudiates this view while presenting a conceptual framework of home nursing which captures the dynamics and impact of this form of nursing upon the patient. Through using the approach of 'grounded theory' (Glaser & Strauss 1967) the present stereotype was found to be deficient. Home nursing was observed to be far more complex and challenging than generally acknowledged. Whilst the development of a conceptual framework was the primary aim of the research, the author has compared the home nursing studied in Australia to the observations of Kratz (1976, 1978) upon district nursing in England. It was found that the home nurse plays a central role in the patient's response to chronic illness. Lawrence & Lawrence (1979) have described how nursing intervention can produce, through adaption to the stress of long-term illness, a higher form of human functioning than that existing before the onset of the disorder. Surprisingly, this process has never been examined in relation to home nursing which, more than ever, is caring for increasing numbers of patients experiencing chronic illness and disability. The present study found that different variables and parameters which exist in home nursing but not in acute facilities affect the nursing intervention. If a body of nursing knowledge is to be developed and maintained from which nursing education can be co-ordinated, understanding of different nursing situations and the variables active in each is essential.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Home support services in Australia: a confusion of intergovernmental responsibilities and provision.

This article describes the current provision of community and domiciliary health and welfare services in Australia focusing upon national programs and outlining how these have been interpreted and implemented by each of the six States and two Territories which constitute the Australian Federation. The funding of home support services is described, particularly in relation to institutional services and State differences. Changing emphases have been highlighted and considered relative to the needs of those requiring support to remain at home. The article presents an account of a medley of initiatives and programs which are failing to meet ever increasing demand. The recent report of an Inquiry into Accommodation and Home Care for the Aged and the policy of the recently elected Australian Labor Party in relation to domiciliary care are examined.

The impact of an evaluation of hospital accreditation.

One of the conditions under which public hospitals in New South Wales were allowed to participate in the Hospital accreditation program was that the program itself be evaluated. The evaluation was funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek Michigan, USA. This article describes the principle results of the evaluation and assesses the impact that the evaluation had on the program and relevant decision makers.

Respiratory function after repair of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Respiratory function studies were carried out in 22 infants who had successful repair of diaphragmatic herniae of the Bochdalek type. Thoracic gas volume was initially reduced in only 3 of these, but subsequent studies showed that improvement occurred. There were no consistent abnormalities in either dynamic compliance or mean pulmonary conductance. This is evidence that there is rapid adaptation which compensates for any alteration in the parenchymatous tissue in the lungs or abnormalities in the bronchial tree in infants soon after the repair of congenital diaphragmetic herniae. Further studies are necessary to determine the changes in these lungs with growth.

The sensitivity of urinary pathogens seen in a private pathological practice.

In a private pathological practice, the sensitivity pattern of 1,000 strains of bacteria isolated from urine has been tested. Ampicillin, nitrofurantoin, sulphamethoxazole-trimethoprim and cephalexin stand out, in that over 75% of all organisms are sensitive to these antibacterial agents.