The response of turkeys to dietary balanced protein during two periods of growth

1. Two experiments were conducted to measure the response of growing turkeys to dietary protein content. In the first, 960 sexed British United Turkey (BUT 6) poults were used to measure the response to balanced protein from 3 to 6 weeks of age. In the second, 1440 sexed BUT and Hybrid Converter poults were raised from 14 to 17 weeks.2. In both experiments, six levels of dietary protein were fed, with feed intake, body and feather weight gain and changes in body composition measured. The levels of protein chosen ranged from 0.53 to 1.2 of the Aviagen requirements for growing turkeys.3. In the first experiment, six poults were sampled from each sex at the start of the experiment for carcass analysis, and four were sampled from each strain and sex in the second. At the end of each experiment, eight poults from each treatment were sampled. Body composition analyses were made on individual defeathered birds.4. Weight gain increased linearly with protein intake in the early period and exponentially in the later period. In both periods, feed intake decreased as protein content reduced.5. In the early period, body lipid content increased from 20.2 to 41.5 g/kg body weight, as dietary protein content decreased, but there was no change in the later period. Efficiency of utilisation of dietary protein declined linearly with an increase in dietary protein content, from 0.87 to 0.46 g/g in the first, and from 0.43 to 0.27 g/g in the later period.6. The inability of the growing turkey to increase feed intake on marginally limiting feeds may have been due to a genetic constraints to store excess energy consumed as body lipid, resulting in the observed decrease in feed intake as dietary protein content is reduced.

Bacteria detected in the honeybee parasitic mite Varroa destructor collected from beehive winter debris

AIMS

The winter beehive debris containing bodies of honeybee parasitic mite Varroa destructor is used for veterinary diagnostics. The Varroa sucking honeybee haemolymph serves as a reservoir of pathogens including bacteria. Worker bees can pick up pathogens from the debris during cleaning activities and spread the infection to healthy bees within the colony. The aim of this study was to detect entomopathogenic bacteria in the Varroa collected from the winter beehive debris.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Culture-independent approach was used to analyse the mite-associated bacterial community. Total DNA was extracted from the samples of 10 Varroa female individuals sampled from 27 different sites in Czechia. The 16S rRNA gene was amplified using universal bacterial primers, cloned and sequenced, resulting in a set of 596 sequences representing 29 operational taxonomic units (OTU97). To confirm the presence of bacteria in Varroa, histological sections of the mites were observed. Undetermined bacteria were observed in the mite gut and fat tissue.

CONCLUSION

Morganella sp. was the most frequently detected taxon, followed by Enterococcus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Rahnella sp., Erwinia sp., and Arsenophonus sp. The honeybee putative pathogen Spiroplasma sp. was detected at one site and Bartonella-like bacteria were found at four sites. PCR-based analysis using genus-specific primers enabled detection of the following taxa: Enterococcus, Bartonella-like bacteria, Arsenophonus and Spiroplasma.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

We found potentially pathogenic (Spiroplasma) and parasitic bacteria (Arsenophonus) in mites from winter beehive debris. The mites can be reservoirs of the pathogenic bacteria in the apicultures.

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of rotaviral diarrhoea in children from Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot

The aim of the present work was to analyse clinical picture of rotaviral diarrhoea and its incidence in children from Tri-city. The study was conducted on 773 children aged 1 month-11 years, who were treated in selected hospitals in 1997 due to acute diarrhoea. Apart from physical examination and collecting patients' medical history, each child was subjected to routine laboratory investigations in accordance with clinical indications. Rotaviral aetiology of the infection was confirmed in 275 out of 773 patients with acute diarrhoea. In 80.7% cases, the disease affected children aged 7-36 months old and it was more frequent in boys than in girls. Acute diarrhoea was diagnosed mainly during cold months of the year, and the increase of its incidence was recorded between March and May. The duration of the disease usually did not exceed 3 days and its symptoms included fever, vomiting and dehydration which normally required parenteral administration of fluids. Statistical analysis was performed in order to estimate the differences in the incidence and intensity of the symptoms of rotaviral and bacterial diarrhoea. The present study showed that clinical picture of rotaviral diarrhoea in children from Tri-city was similar to that reported in literature on the subject, but there were differences regarding the seasonal occurrence of the infection which was probably related to the climate of analysed region.

[Psychological and social stress in children with cleft lip and palate]

The authors analyzed representative data on the increase of inborn developmental defects in Czechoslovakia; in 1970-1980 the increment was + 50%. Inborn developmental defects are studied from the psychiatric aspect as a stimulus causing a reaction of the family to the breakdown of their parenteral expectations of a healthy child and the problem of continuation of the family. The reaction of the mothers is usually post-partum depression and impaired development of attachment to the child. The handicapped child is stressed by operations, rehabilitation, the awareness of his own insufficiency and problems of parenteral attitudes. The authors investigated the family-history, development of the health status of the children, social status of the children and personality of mother and child.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

children with cleft lip and palate suffer from social stigmatization and specific disorders of self-evaluation. In these children problems associated with adaptation in the child community, manifestations of depression, low self-esteem, impaired ego identity and a tendency of a negative attitude to the world were recorded. These phenomena increase with the severity of the damage and the visibility of the defect. If the mother bagatellizes or refutes the defect to achieve social desirability, the psychic position of the child is even worse. Approximately half the mothers and children expressed the need of special psychological care of problems associated with the defect. Actual areas are defined on which the need of care is focused in different stages of the family life cycle. The authors discuss the need of a realist attitude and acceptance of the defect in the interest of satisfactory adaptation, and the possibility of the paeditrician to assist families.

[Psychological and social problems in families with children with congenital defects]

The authors investigated a group of 109 mothers whose children with a cleft (dg. 749) were up to the age of 13-15 years in the care of the Clinic of Plastic Surgery. The cleft served as a model situation for investigation of the parents' reaction, in particular the mother's reaction, to the birth of the child with a developmental defect. The main findings: three quarters of the mothers described the birth of a damaged child as a psychic shock followed by a series of neurotic symptoms. Some mothers suffered from reactive depression which was not diagnosed and therefore not treated. It was confirmed that the poor mental condition of the mother persist in the majority of the investigated group to the time of the child's adolescence and has a marked effect on its mental prosperity. Latent or manifest negative attitudes of the parents cause mental handicapping phenomena in the children (impaired self-esteem, impaired sexual identification etc.). Aggravating factors are stigmatizing manifestations from the environment of the family and child community, which affect some three quarters of mothers and children. The authors discuss suitable forms of medical and counseling care which after delivery and later would help to reduce the psychic trauma of the parents and promote adequate somatic and mental development of the child.

[Incidence of the minimal brain dysfunction syndrome in children]

The paper explains the social need of epidemiological research of the incidence of behavioural and learning disorders associated with the syndrome of minimal brain dysfunction (MBD). The authors draw attention to the continuous incidence of various inborn developmental defects in the population from very severe to mild ones and provide evidence of it on the basis of research in behavioural teratology. They discuss the possible relationship of MBD with psychosocial and chemical influences. They discuss preventive measures to avoid secondary deterioration of the mental and general health status. A specific approach to teaching of these children and psychotherapeutic influencing of parents is essential and one cannot rely only on early therapeutic effects by drugs. To implement preventive measures the latter must be planned on the background of knowledge regarding the incidence in the child population and the severity of the affection. This calls for the elaboration of a screening method for the early diagnosis of MBD. Knowledge of the incidence of MBD in the population along with possible aetiopathogenetic factors, will make more profound research of these association and primary prevention possible.

[Epidemiologic study of symptoms of minimal brain dysfunction. 1. Design and testing of methods--the incidence of symptoms in the study group]

The authors inform on the elaboration of a screening method for recording of symptoms of minimal brain dysfunction and its initial verification in the research problem "Incidence of signs of minimal brain dysfunctions in children in the North Bohemian region". In the first stage a population group of children in the second form of primary school in three districts was examined, a total of 5080 children, and data were assembled from their 9000 parents. The authors describe the elaboration of the method which comprises rating scales which evaluate specific striking features in the behaviour, dysfunction in school skills (the forms were completed by teachers and mothers) and performance tests administered by the children themselves. Results of statistical analyses which confirmed the satisfactory consistency, composition, empirical and postdictive validity of the method are presented. The analyses revealed that the method used detects disorders included under the term of minimal brain dysfunctions and probably also disorders with the incidence of some identical symptoms (disorders of intellect, behavioural disorders in the wider sense of the word). The authors inform on the method of calculation and the ratio of the detected problem child population which was 14.8%. The group comprises 4.8% children which were unable to keep up with the first form of primary school and attend some special school. The method used detected, however, another 10% population with identical values. The authors discuss problems of screening diagnosis of specific developmental learning and behavioural disorders which form part of minimal brain dysfunctions. Problems associated with the evaluation of the assembled findings are discussed.