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The feeding value for ruminants of green hemp biomass, from the low Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) variety of Cannabis sativa L. is unknown. Twelve Merino ewes were individually penned and randomly allocated on a stratified liveweight basis to one of two pelleted dietary treatments, control (0% hemp, n = 6) or hemp (42% green hemp biomass, n = 6) that delivered a diet meeting the nutrient requirements of the animals. The experimental period consisted of 17 d dietary and housing adaptation, followed by 7 d total urine and feces collection for determination of apparent nutrient digestibility. A ruminal fluid sample was collected on day 27 and assessed for pH, ammonia, volatile fatty acid (VFA), and cannabinoid concentrations. A blood sample from the jugular vein and incisional subcutaneous fat biopsy from an area around the base of the tail were collected on day 28 with additional fat biopsies taken 35 d and 140 d post-feeding to measure cannabinoids. The dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) digestibilities, along with total VFA concentration did not differ (P = 0.713) between the two diets; however, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibilities (P < 0.001), water intake (P = 0.023), and fecal water output (P < 0.001) were significantly lower for the sheep-fed Hemp. Rumen pH did not vary (P = 0.256) between diets, but ruminal ammonia concentration was significantly lower (P = 0.024) for sheep consuming Hemp. Sheep-fed Hemp had significantly greater molar proportions of butyric (P = 0.039) and hexanoic (P = 0.012) acids and lower molar proportions of propionic acid (P = 0.003). There were no differences between diets for N intake (P = 0.175), fecal N output (P = 0.253), and N balance (P = 0.695), with all sheep in positive N balance; however, there was significantly lower (P = 0.001) urinary N output for sheep-fed Hemp. Cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) were detected in plasma of all sheep-fed Hemp. ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol was present in the subcutaneous fat of four of the six sheep on the final day of being fed Hemp, and in all (six) sheep 35 d post-feeding and one sheep 140 d post-feeding Hemp. No cannabinoids were detected in the corresponding samples taken from the sheep-fed Control. Thus, despite green hemp biomass being nutritionally a suitable feed for ruminants, under current Food Standards in Australia, the presence of these cannabinoid residues restricts its use in ruminant diets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a detailed description of the Herschel /SPIRE Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) Spectral Feature Finder (FF). The FF is an automated process designed to extract significant spectral features from SPIRE FTS data products. Optimizing the number of features found in SPIRE-FTS spectra is challenging. The wide SPIRE-FTS frequency range (447–1568 GHz) leads to many molecular species and atomic fine structure lines falling within the observed bands. As the best spectral resolution of the SPIRE-FTS is ∼1.2 GHz, there can be significant line blending, depending on the source type. In order to find, both efficiently and reliably, features in spectra associated with a wide range of sources, the FF iteratively searches for peaks over a number of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) thresholds. For each threshold, newly identified features are rigorously checked before being added to the fitting model. At the end of each iteration, the FF simultaneously fits the continuum and features found, with the resulting residual spectrum used in the next iteration. The final FF products report the frequency of the features found and the associated SNRs. Line flux determination is not included as part of the FF products, as extracting reliable line flux from SPIRE-FTS data is a complex process that requires careful evaluation and analysis of the spectra on a case-by-case basis. The FF results are 100 per cent complete for features with SNR greater than 10 and 50–70 per cent complete at SNR of 5. The FF code and all FF products are publicly available via the Herschel Science Archive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A systematic programme of calibration observations was carried out to monitor the performance of the Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver (SPIRE) Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) instrument on board the Herschel Space Observatory. Observations of planets (including the prime point-source calibrator, Uranus), asteroids, line sources, dark sky and cross-calibration sources were made in order to monitor repeatability and sensitivity, and to improve FTS calibration. We present a complete analysis of the full set of calibration observations and use them to assess the performance of the FTS. Particular care is taken to understand and separate out the effect of pointing uncertainties, including the position of the internal beam steering mirror for sparse observations in the early part of the mission. The repeatability of spectral-line centre positions is <5 km s-1, for lines with signal-to-noise ratios >40, corresponding to <0.5-2.0 per cent of a resolution element. For spectral-line flux, the repeatability is better than 6 per cent, which improves to 1-2 per cent for spectra corrected for pointing offsets. The continuum repeatability is 4.4 per cent for the SPIRE Long Wavelength spectrometer (SLW) band and 13.6 per cent for the SPIRE Short Wavelength spectrometer (SSW) band, which reduces to ~1 per cent once the data have been corrected for pointing offsets. Observations of dark sky were used to assess the sensitivity and the systematic offset in the continuum, both of which were found to be consistent across the FTS-detector arrays. The average point-source calibrated sensitivity for the centre detectors is 0.20 and 0.21 Jy [1σ; 1 h], for SLW and SSW. The average continuum offset is 0.40 Jy for the SLW band and 0.28 Jy for the SSW band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insulin-like growth factor-1 could be a useful marker in the horse for diagnostic, selection, or forensic purposes, provided its physiological regulation is well understood. The objective of this study was to investigate factors, such as acute exercise, fitness training, time of day, sex, and age, that may influence serum IGF-1 in normal, healthy horses. Throughout a 9-wk training program, 6 geldings maintained a mean (±SEM) IGF-1 concentration of 302±29 ng/mL. Moderate or high intensity exercise had no effect on IGF-1 concentrations, when pre-and postexercise values were compared. Over a 24-h period, there was some variation in IGF-1 concentrations but no clear diurnal rhythm, Concentrations of IGF-1 were measured in a large population of thoroughbred horses (1,880) on 3 continents, The population deviated slightly from a normal distribution (P < 0.001) because of large IGF-1 concentrations in 10 horses. The global mean IGF-1 concentration was 310 ± 2.2 ng/mL, with a greater mean value (P < 0.001) in gonad-intact males (336 ± 5.6 ng/mL) than in females (303 ± 3.2 ng/mL) or geldings (302 ± 3.2 ng/mL). However, the greatest IGF-1 concentrations observed for all stallions, mares, and geldings were 627, 676, and 709 ng/mL, respectively. In mares and geldings, IGF-1 concentrations showed a gradual decrease with advancing age (P < 0.001), but the effect was much less marked in stallions. This study confirms that IGF-1 concentrations are stable, compared with GH concentrations, in the horse and that a meaningful measure of IGF-1 status can be obtained from a daily serum sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two doses of a live, attentuated influenza A/England/42/72 (H3N2) vaccine virus (inhibitor-insensitive Alice strain) were administered intranasally to 130 university students, and placebo was given to 134 students. Fourfold or greater rises in titer of hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody occurred in 68% of all vaccine recipients and in 88% of those with initial titers of < 1:8; the geometric mean titer of hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody increased from 1:15 to 1:77. A 3.2-fold rise in titer of neuraminidase-inhibiting antibody occurred in 24% of the students. Side effects produced by administration of the vaccine include mild rhinitis and sore throat, which were found only during the first four days after administration of the first dose. Inhibitor-insensitive virus was shed only by three of 31 intensively studied vaccine recipients; these three subjects all had initial serum titers of hemagglutination- inhibiting antibody of < 1:8. No transmission of vaccine virus to spouses was detected. During a 12-month interval after vaccination, the geometric mean titer of hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody in serum and the prevalence of antibody decreased minimally among the 47 vaccine recipients still available for study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An outbreak of influenzalike illness occurred at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in February 1978. Epidemiologic and laboratory data indicate that the outbreak was due to influenza A/USSR/77 (HINI) virus. A self-administered questionnaire inquiring about the presence and spectrum of illness was given to faculty members, dental students, and residents of an undergraduate dormitory. Age-specific attack rates were 61.5% for persons ⩽22 years of age, 24.7% for those 23 or 24 years of age, and 9.7% for those ⩾25 years of age. This pattern of age-specific attack rates parallelled the age distribution of persons without hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody to influenza A/USSR/77 virus found in independent serosurveys. Prior swine influenza (HINI) immunization provided no protection from illness in this outbreak. Past epidemic antibody titers in undergraduates were only weakly associated with clinical illness. The data on disease impact gathered in this study indicate that in a university setting influenza A/USSR/77 virus produced a short-lived outbreak of respiratory illness with a very high attack rate in young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]