Gastrointestinal tract development in red deer (Cervus elaphus) calves from 1 to 12 months of age.

This study provides a detailed description of the development of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus) calves over the first 12 months of age. GIT development was measured using a combination of computerised tomography (CT) scanning and traditional slaughter plus dissection techniques. Red deer calves of a known birth date were randomly assigned to two treatment groups. A group of five animals were repeatedly CT scanned at 31, 63, 92, 135, 207, 275 and 351 days of age to identify GIT organs and determine their volume. From a group of 20 animals, subsets of four individuals were also scanned at corresponding ages (except 135 days of age). They were immediately euthanised and dissected after CT scanning to compare CT-scanned results with actual anatomical measurements. Individual organ weights were compared with their respective organ volumes determined by CT scanning and were found to have a strong, positive relationship. The combined rumen and reticulum (RR) CT-scanned volume was compared with its volume determined by the water-displacement technique and this also showed good correlation between the two techniques (R = 0.92). The allometric growth rates of organs, relative to animal live weight gains, in descending order, were the rumen, omasum, reticulum, abomasum, caecum blind sac, kidneys, spleen and liver. The red deer GIT was continuing to grow and develop when the last measurement was taken at 351 days of age. The greatest growth of the RR, when expressed in terms of empty weight, was between 31 and 92 days of age. Compared with sheep and cattle, it appears that the red deer have a similar or greater rate of RR development up until approximately 60 to 90 days of age; however, the final increments of GIT maturity in deer may take longer to complete, with the empty weight of the RR gaining 7.5 g/day between 275 and 351 days of age. CT scanning was validated in this study as a viable technique to follow GIT development in the same animals over time, and it provided novel information on allometric organ growth. The success of CT scanning highlights the potential future use of diagnostic imaging for GIT development studies.

Improved survival of Hodgkin's patients in south-east Netherlands since 1972.

In the past 30 years, staging and treatment of Hodgkin's disease have changed dramatically, and prolonged remission can now be induced in the majority of patients. Our purpose was to assess improvement in long-term survival, previously reported for specific patient groups, among unselected patients diagnosed and treated between 1972 and 1993 in general hospitals in South-East Netherlands. Data on all 345 Hodgkin's patients were derived from the population-based Eindhoven Cancer Registry; histopathology and clinical records were reviewed. Follow-up was attained up to 1994. Relative survival rates, i.e. the ratio of observed to expected rates, were 80% after 5, 70% after 10 and 67% after 15 years. Independent prognostic factors for lower overall survival were (in decreasing order of significance): advanced age, histology (lymphocyte depletion), advanced stage and earlier period of diagnosis. Distribution of age and stage did not change over the study period, but there was a modest increase in the incidence of the nodular sclerosis histological subtype. Crude 5-year survival rates improved from 60% in the period 1972-1976 to 81% in the period of 1987-1992 (P < 0.005). The largest improvement occurred in the 1970s and was most prominent among those aged over 50 years. As previously reported, cured Hodgkin's patients exhibit a higher mortality rate, which can be explained by treatment-related long-term complications such as second malignancies and cardiovascular diseases. The relatively high survival rates compared to other population-based studies may be attributable to the existence of a regional network within the framework of a comprehensive cancer centre. Better staging, new combinations of chemotherapy, improved radiation technology, advances in supportive care as well as more frequent intensive treatment of the elderly could explain the improvement in prognosis.

Disappearance of prognostic significance of histopathological grading of nodular sclerosing Hodgkin's disease for unselected patients, 1972-92.

The importance of the subclassification of nodular sclerosing Hodgkin's disease (NSHD) according to the British National Lymphoma Investigation Group (BNLI) criteria, which had an independent prognostic value for 90 unselected patients diagnosed in our region in the period 1972-83, is still equivocal. Because survival of patients with Hodgkin's disease improved in our region during the period 1972-92 and because treatment may modify prognostic factors, we re-evaluated the prognostic value of NSHD subclassification up to 1993. A registry-based study was performed with data on all 345 Hodgkin patients diagnosed in the period 1972-92. Available histology was reviewed. The prognostic value of nodular sclerosis (NS) grading was evaluated for two periods, 1972-80 and 1981-92, designated as the seventies and the eighties, respectively. NSHD was diagnosed in 57% (n = 195) of all registered cases of Hodgkin's disease, 17 of which could not be evaluated. NS stage I (NSI; 73%) and NS stage II (NSII; 27%) patients exhibited the same distribution of stage during both periods; NSII patients were older than NSI patients in the seventies. NSII patients presented with an elevated ESR and B symptoms more frequently during the eighties and subsequently received combined modality therapy more often. The crude 5-year survival rate for grade I v grade II NSHD was 85% v 38% (P < 0.05) for the seventies and 84% v 83% for the eighties. Subclassification of NSHD was not an independent prognostic factor after adjustment for age, stage, gender, B symptoms and ESR, though it remained of independent prognostic value when ESR was left out of the Cox model. The most important factors adversely influencing survival were advanced age, advanced stage and male gender. The independent prognostic value of the subclassification of NSHD has disappeared, as reflected by the clearly improved survival of NSII patients, probably due to more intensive treatment in the eighties, whereas survival of NSI patients did not changes.

Composition and activity of the photosynthetic apparatus in temperature-sensitive mutants of higher plants.

Six nuclear mutants of corn, six of soybean, and seven of cotton displayed low temperature-induced virescence when grown in controlled environments. For the group of plants studied, an increase in leaf chlorophyll a/b ratio was correlated with a temperature-sensitive biosynthetic sequence leading to a reduction in total chlorophyll content. These pigment alterations were reflected in the composition and quantity of the two major chlorophyll-protein complexes of chloroplast membranes. Changes in the amount of the major light-harvesting chlorophyll-protein complex was a prime consequence of the nuclear mutations. A decrease in the light-harvesting chlorophyll component of the light reaction centers of the leaf may account for the decrease in size of the photo-synthetic unit frequently noted in chlorophyll-deficient mutants. Variations in the concentration of the chlorophyll-protein complexes in the chloroplast lamellae may be causally related to variations in CO(2) compensation points of mutant soybean and cotton plants.

A comparative study of translocation of assimilated(14)C from leaves of different species.

Translocation of assimilated(14)C from the leaves of different species varied both in the rate of export and in the total percentage moved out. Those species which are known to have high photosynthetic rates, such as the tropical grasses sorghum and millet, exported 70% or more of the assimilated(14)C during the first 6 h after assimilation, compared to values of 45 to 50% for tomato, castor bean,Nicotiana affinis and soybean.The compounds in which the(14)C was retained in the leaves varied from species to species. Except for castor bean only small amounts were retained in sucrose, with generally much higher amounts in fructose, glucose and malic acid. Most of the(14)C was retained in the ethanol-insoluble fraction.

Effects of temperature on the gas exchange of leaves in the light and dark.

Evolution of CO2 into CO2-free air was measured in the light and in the dark over a range of temperatures from 15 to 50°. Photosynthetic rates were measured in air and O2-free air over the same range of temperatures. Respiration in the light had a different sensitivity to temperature compared with respiration in the dark. At the lower temperatures the rate of respiration in the light was higher than respiration in the dark, whereas at temperatures above 40° the reverse was observed. For any one species the maximum rates of photosynthesis and photorespiration occur at about the same temperature. The maximum rate for dark respiration generally is found at a temperature about 10° higher. Zea mays and Atriplex nummularia showed no enhancement of photosynthesis in O2-free air nor any evolution of CO2 in CO2-free air at any of the temperatures.