Quantitative analysis of Babesia ovis infection in sheep and ticks.

A quantitative PCR, based on the gene encoding Babesia ovis Surface Protein D (BoSPD) was developed and applied to investigate the presence of Babesia ovis (B. ovis) in its principal vector, the tick Rhipicephalus bursa (R. bursa), and in the ovine host.

Molecular detection of Babesia ovis in sheep and ticks using the gene encoding B. ovis surface protein D (BoSPD).

The gene encoding Babesia ovis surface protein D (BoSPD) was cloned from B. ovis cDNA library. This gene encodes a polypeptide chain of 155 amino acids, including a predicted 22 amino acid signal peptide.

Losing the battle but winning the war: game theoretic analysis of the competition between motoneurons innervating a skeletal muscle.

The fibers in a skeletal muscle are divided into groups called "muscle units" whereby each muscle unit is innervated by a single neuron. It was found that neurons with low activation thresholds have smaller muscle units than neurons with higher activation thresholds. This results in a fixed recruitment order of muscle units, from smallest to largest, called the "size principle.

Outbreak of subclinical mastitis in a flock of dairy goats associated with atypical Staphylococcus haemolyticus.

Staphylococcus haemolyticus is a pathogen frequently isolated from dairy cows and small ruminants. However, it always appears in only a few animals and not as a major pathogen. Recently, in a dairy goat herd of approximately 250 milking animals, 25.