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The four scenarios lead to differences in the size of the equine population: maybe twice as many horses as today, in the ‘Everybody on Horseback’ scenario, or half as much in the ‘High-Society Horse’ scenario. Businesses, facilities, as well as the types of employment would also be very different (cf. those in ‘The civic horse’ scenario). Likewise, the location of horses in the French regions or the categories of rural areas would differ to a great extent… They all raise shared concerns in terms of (i) the relationship between man and horse, (ii) economic efficiency, (iii) environmental issues, (iv) the preservation of breeds and pressure on surfaces and (v) health, welfare and caring for animals up to and beyond death. These questions call for research development in the fields of animal behaviour, economic and social sciences, breeding and genetic improvement. They also emphasize the need to enhance knowledge and innovation transfer.

We report on a 5.5‐year‐old girl with dysmorphic features and psychomotoric developmental delay with a mitotically stable supernumerary marker chromosome. The origin of the marker was identified by microdissection and reverse painting of marker DNA as the pericentromeric region of chromosome 1. Fine mapping by FISH with selected YAC or BAC clones identified no p‐arm material on the marker. The marker has retained its original centromere and euchromatin from 1q21.1‐q21.3 but only small remnants of the 1q12 heterochromatin. Furthermore, some FISH clones presented single signals on the marker and others presented double signals indicating a partial duplication within the marker. These observations suggest a multi‐step origin of the marker most probably with ring formation as the first step. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

We Report our cumulative experience for the prenatal diagnosis of succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) deficiency in seven ‘at-risk’ pregnancies from four unrelated families. Prenatal diagnosis was performed by determination of 4-hydroxybutyric acid (4-HBA) concentration in amniotic fluid using isotope-dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in conjunction with assay of SSADH activity in biopsied chorionic villus and/or cultured amniocytes. In three of four pregnancies predicted as affected, confirmation was obtained by demonstration of deficient SSADH activity in fetal tissues. Our results suggest that determination of 4-HBA concentration in amniotic fluid combined with enzyme determination in cultured or biopsied tissue represents a reliable method for the prenatal diagnosis of SSADH deficiency.

We Report our cumulative experience for the prenatal diagnosis of succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) deficiency in seven ‘at-risk’ pregnancies from four unrelated families. Prenatal diagnosis was performed by determination of 4-hydroxybutyric acid (4-HBA) concentration in amniotic fluid using isotope-dilution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in conjunction with assay of SSADH activity in biopsied chorionic villus and/or cultured amniocytes. In three of four pregnancies predicted as affected, confirmation was obtained by demonstration of deficient SSADH activity in fetal tissues. Our results suggest that determination of 4-HBA concentration in amniotic fluid combined with enzyme determination in cultured or biopsied tissue represents a reliable method for the prenatal diagnosis of SSADH deficiency.

Sequential specimens from nine allograft recipients were examined by using a variety of methods to detect primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection as rapidly as possible posttransplantation. Sera were examined for immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies by immunoblotting, enzyme immunoassay, and immunofluorescence and also by complement fixation, latex agglutination, and an immunofluorescence test for antibody to CMV early antigen. Urine and occasionally blood, tissue, and other specimens were centrifuged onto cell cultures to enhance CMV infectivity. Eight of the nine patients showed laboratory evidence of primary CMV infection, and CMV was isolated from seven of the eight: in no case was virus isolated before seroconversion had become evident. However, serological tests differed in their abilities to detect antibody response to CMV infection in different patients; while immunoblotting, latex agglutination, and enzyme immunoassay for IgG antibodies generally detected seroconversion before complement fixation, this was not invariably the case. At present, optimal laboratory detection of CMV infections in these patients can be achieved only by a combination of serological methods and virus isolation.

A group of 120 sera from blood donors was screened by complement fixation and commercially available immunofluorescence, solid-phase fluorescence immunoassay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and indirect hemagglutination tests. Twenty-four of the sera were positive by three or more of the five tests and judged to be true positives; 89 were negative by three or more of the tests and considered to be true negatives. The tests were ranked for accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, false-positive rate, and false-negative rate. The indirect hemagglutination test scored best, followed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, solid-phase fluorescence immunoassay, complement fixation, and immunofluorescence, in that order. When the tests were ranked on the basis of technical demands, turnaround time, requirement for special equipment, and subjectivity in reading, the indirect hemagglutination test again scored best, followed by solid-phase fluorescence immunoassay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence, and complement fixation in that order. Our findings suggest that the indirect hemagglutination test is the most reliable and effective commercially available test for the identification of those donors who are very unlikely to transmit cytomegalovirus to recipients.

A microcarrier culture system in combination with enzyme immunofiltration with a herpes simplex virus (HSV) group monoclonal antibody was found to be as sensitive as immunofluorescence for the detection of HSV type 1 (HSV-1) in cell cultures and to give specific identification at the same time as the appearance of the cytopathic effect with very high infectious inocula and within 10 to 24 h of the appearance of the cytopathic effect with very high infectious inocula and within 10 to 24 h of the appearance of the cytopathic effect with low to high inocula. Multiplicities of infection from 10(-5) to 10(1) were tested at 8 to 96 h postinfection. When applied to the identification of HSV-1 and HSV-2 in cultures of clinical samples, the system detected HSV antigens in 50% of the samples after 2 days and in 100% of the samples after 3 days. With 2 ml of microcarrier suspension and with 50 to 300 microliter per sample, several portions are available for replicate and sequential sampling without destroying the culture. The system requires only that 2 X 10(5) microcarriers be added to the culture tube at the time or before it is seeded with cells, at an extra cost of 6 cents (U.S.) per tube and little extra labor.

During a measles outbreak, 283 serum specimens from 221 suspected cases of measles were tested by immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay for the presence of measles-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies by using commercially available reagents. There was 97% agreement between the two assays; thus, the choice of the method for diagnostic testing is a matter of convenience and experience. In all 62 cases of measles from which a single blood sample was available, measles IgM-specific antibodies were detectable by both methods. Fifty percent of the 62 cases were positive within 3 days after onset of the rash. This increased to 91% 10 days after onset of the rash.

From 100 cases of gastroenteritis among children caused by adenovirus infection in Ontario, 33 virus isolates were divided into three categories according to their biological behavior in tissue cultures. So far, the results of neutralization tests, structural protein analysis, and DNA restriction patterns showed that the virus of category 1 was similar to adenovirus type 40. However, the adenovirus of category 2 was a distinct adenovirus which shared some similarities with adenovirus type 5. Viruses of category 3 are still under investigation.

Treatment of nasopharyngeal specimens with 0.25% N-acetylcysteine for 20 min at room temperature effectively reduced the nonspecific fluorescence encountered during direct examination of the specimens by immunofluorescence. The treatment did not affect specific antigen staining or the viability of several common respiratory viruses.