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At least 757 records · Page 42Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Detection of eastern equine encephalomyelitis viral antigen in avian blood by enzyme immunoassay: a laboratory study.

An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) was evaluated for its efficacy at detecting eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus in avian blood and brain specimens. Preliminary analysis of blood from experimentally infected house sparrows and naturally infected whooping cranes showed that EEE antigen could be detected with the EIA. Polyclonal mouse antibodies were selected for antigen capture, and rabbit antibodies were selected for antigen detection. Overnight antigen incubation increased sensitivity. The lower limit of EEE antigen detection was 10(3.5) TCID50/ml for a stock of virus. Sensitivity was 10% (2/20) for antigen detection in the blood of chicks inoculated with EEE virus less than 24 hr earlier. At 24 and 48 hr after infection, sensitivity was 100% (10/10). Sensitivity and specificity of antigen detection were excellent (100% for both) in house sparrows experimentally inoculated with EEE, Highlands J (HJ), western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE), or St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) virus and bled at 24 hr intervals. Cross-reactivity was observed, however, with high concentrations (10(5.5) TCID50/ml) of HJ virus. EEE antigen was detected in avian blood by the EIA after infectious virus had declined to undetectable levels. The EIA is a useful alternative to virus isolation in cell culture for diagnosis or detection of EEE virus infections in birds. The test has the advantages of being simple, rapid, and capable of detecting antigen in the absence of infectious virus.

Alphavirus↗
PubMed1986

Viremic enhancement due to transovarially acquired antibodies to St. Louis encephalitis virus in birds.

Adult house sparrows (Passer domesticus) were captured and experimentally inoculated with St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) virus to produce high concentrations of circulating antiviral antibody. Nestlings, 5-7 and 14-16 days of age, from SLE immune adult females and challenged with SLE virus, exhibited viremic enhancement by producing viremias of greater duration and magnitude than did controls. Nestlings possessing maternal antibody and challenged with SLE virus between 8 and 13 days of age did not produce viremias differing significantly from controls in magnitude, duration, or temporal appearance. Experimental nestling sparrows possessed detectable amounts of maternally derived passive antibody to SLE virus prior to challenge with this virus. Passive geometric mean antibody titers ranged from a high of 1:34.5 in nestlings tested 5-7 days posthatching, to a low of 1:11.2 in 14-16-day-old birds. Results presented imply that enhancement of SLE virus infections could lead to increased viral amplification and dissemination rates during natural disease cycles.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Emotional behavior in female rabbits: hippocampal EEG and neuroendocrine aspects.

Behavior, hippocampal electrical activity, plasma hormones and hippocampal choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) were considered in two groups of female rabbits, different in age and condition of breeding, both in the presence and absence of emotional stimuli. In the two groups of female rabbits (4 and 18 months old), permanent electrodes were implanted bilaterally in the two dorsal hippocampi and, one week later, the animals were exposed for three consecutive days to the following tests: Day 1, novel environment (NE); Day 2, object with odor (O); Day 3, sparrow hawk (SP). Behavior: in comparison with Day 1, exploration was decreased by the object and by the sparrow hawk in the older females and increased in the younger ones. Quiet and alert immobility was higher during the SP test, while freezing and pointing were lower in the older females than in the young ones. Electrical activity: peak frequency was lower in younger females than in the older ones. The frequency band distribution corresponding to exploration and immobility showed that in the older females the % of high frequency band increased from the first to the third day of testing, while an opposite trend was present in the younger females. In the case of freezing the hippocampal electric activity showed a more rhythmical component in younger females than in the older ones. Hormones: increased corticosterone levels after the SP test were directly correlated with exploration and inversely correlated with freezing. Dorsal hippocampal ChAT was directly correlated with quiet immobility. These data indicate a relationship between the responses to the anxious/fearful stimuli and the age and/or breeding experience of the female rabbits; this is shown by both the hippocampal electrical activity and the behavioral differences between the two groups.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Breeding conditions induce rapid and sequential growth in adult avian song control circuits: a model of seasonal plasticity in the brain.

In adult songbirds, seasonal changes in photoperiod and circulating testosterone (T) stimulate structural changes within the neural song control circuitry. The mechanisms that control this natural plasticity are poorly understood. To determine how quickly and in what sequence the song nuclei respond to changing daylength and circulating T, we captured 18 adult male white-crowned sparrows and kept them on short days for 12 weeks. We killed five of these birds and exposed the rest to long days (LD) and elevated T. We killed these birds either 7 or 20 d after LD + T exposure. We measured song nuclei volumes and cellular attributes, the mass of the vocal production organ (the syrinx), and song behavior. The neostriatal song control nucleus HVC (also known as "high vocal center"), added 50,000 neurons and increased in size within 7 d of exposure to LD + T. Efferent targets of HVC, the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA), and area X of the parolfactory lobe grew more slowly and were not significantly larger until day 20 of the study. The tracheosyringeal portion of the hypoglossal nucleus (nXIIts), which receives projections from RA and normally grows in response to seasonal cues, did not grow over the time course of this study. Syringeal mass increased within 7 d of LD + T treatment. The anatomical changes in the brain were accompanied by behavioral changes in song production. On day 7 when the song circuitry was incompletely developed, male sparrows sang less stereotyped songs than males at day 20 with more completely developed song circuits. These results suggest that the song circuitry responds rapidly and sequentially to breeding-typical conditions (long days and elevated T), and that song stereotypy increases as nuclei within this circuitry grow.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Afferent input is necessary for seasonal growth and maintenance of adult avian song control circuits.

The neural circuits that regulate song behavior in adult songbirds undergo pronounced seasonal changes in morphology, primarily in response to changes in plasma testosterone (T). Most song nuclei have T receptors. We asked whether seasonal growth and maintenance of nuclei within these circuits are direct responses to the effects of T or its metabolites or are mediated indirectly via the effects of T on afferent nuclei. Photosensitive white-crowned sparrows were exposed to one of three treatments. (1) The neostriatal nucleus HVc (also known as the "high vocal center") was lesioned unilaterally, and the birds were exposed to long-day (LD) photoperiods and breeding levels of T for 30 d. (2) Birds were exposed to LD plus T (LD+T) for 30 d; then HVc was lesioned, and the birds were killed after an additional 30 d exposure to LD+T. (3) HVc was lesioned, and the sparrows were housed on short-day (SD) photoperiods in the absence of T treatment for 30 d. In both LD+T groups, the direct efferent targets of HVc, the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA) and area X, were smaller ipsilateral to the lesion. The lesion did not prevent growth of the hypoglossal motor nucleus, which does not receive direct afferent input from HVc. RA and area X were also smaller ipsilateral to the lesion in the SD birds. These results indicate that afferent input is required both for the growth of adult song circuits in response to typical breeding photoperiod and hormone conditions and for the maintenance of efferent nuclei in either their regressed or enlarged states.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A hydrologic network supporting spatially referenced regression modeling in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

The U.S. Geological Survey has developed a methodology for statistically relating nutrient sources and land-surface characteristics to nutrient loads of streams. The methodology is referred to as SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes (SPARROW), and relates measured stream nutrient loads to nutrient sources using nonlinear statistical regression models. A spatially detailed digital hydrologic network of stream reaches, stream-reach characteristics such as mean streamflow, water velocity, reach length, and travel time, and their associated watersheds supports the regression models. This network serves as the primary framework for spatially referencing potential nutrient source information such as atmospheric deposition, septic systems, point-sources, land use, land cover, and agricultural sources and land-surface characteristics such as land use, land cover, average-annual precipitation and temperature, slope, and soil permeability. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed that covers parts of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington D.C., SPARROW was used to generate models estimating loads of total nitrogen and total phosphorus representing 1987 and 1992 land-surface conditions. The 1987 models used a hydrologic network derived from an enhanced version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's digital River Reach File, and course resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). A new hydrologic network was created to support the 1992 models by generating stream reaches representing surface-water pathways defined by flow direction and flow accumulation algorithms from higher resolution DEMs. On a reach-by-reach basis, stream reach characteristics essential to the modeling were transferred to the newly generated pathways or reaches from the enhanced River Reach File used to support the 1987 models. To complete the new network, watersheds for each reach were generated using the direction of surface-water flow derived from the DEMs. This network improves upon existing digital stream data by increasing the level of spatial detail and providing consistency between the reach locations and topography. The hydrologic network also aids in illustrating the spatial patterns of predicted nutrient loads and sources contributed locally to each stream, and the percentages of nutrient load that reach Chesapeake Bay.

Delaware↗
PubMed1977

Susceptibility of laboratory and domestic animals to experimental infection with Orungo virus.

Laboratory and domestic animals: mice, hamsters, rabbits, sparrows, chickens and lambs were inoculated with Orungo virus to determine their susceptibility as evidenced by clinical response, viraemia and antibody development. Mice and hamsters circulated the virus and developed neutralising antibodies; clinical signs of disease included ruffled hair coat, hypersensitivity to sudden noise and hindleg paralysis. There was an age-related susceptibility to infection in these two animals. Rabbits and lambs developed neutralising antibody but not viraemia, nor did they show signs of illness. Sparrows and chickens neither circulated the virus, nor developed neutralising antibodies to Orungo virus.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[Comparative studies of paramyxovirus isolates from wild birds].

As a result of a surveillance programme in North-Germany, paramyxovirus-isolates of serogroup 1 with different pathogenicity were isolated from different species of feral birds (Black-headed gull, mallard, tawny owl, tree sparrow, mute swan). In chick embryo fibroblast monolayers these isolates produced plaques exhibiting different plaque morphology. After cloning the isolates, further physicochemical, serological and pathogenicity testings were performed. On the basis of mean death time and intracerebral pathogenicity index, two of the isolates were found to be avirulent (lentogenic), whereas the others proved to be virulent (velogenic). SDS-Polyacrylamide-gel-electrophoresis showed polypeptide patterns similar to that of the PMV-1 reference strains. Summarizing all relevant findings of these investigations under consideration of the suggestions for the virological description of avian PMV (Alexander, 1987; Alexander et al., 1987; Who-Expert-Committee, 1980), including the recently established serotyping by means of monoclonal antibodies, the following designations of the PMV isolates tested herein are proposed: 1. PMV-1/black-headed gull/Germany/SSP-233/83, lentogenic NDV, monoclonal antibody group G 2. PMV-1/mallard/Germany/SSP-284/83, lentogenic NDV, monoclonal antibody group H 3. PMV-1/tawny owl/Germany/SSP-262/84, velogenic NDV, monoclonal antibody group B 4. PMV-1/tree sparrow nestling/Germany/SSP-352/84, velogenic NDV, monoclonal antibody group B 5. PMV-1/mute swan/Germany/SSP-204/85, velogenic NDV, monoclonal antibody group B.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Hearing in passerine and psittacine birds: a comparative study of absolute and masked auditory thresholds.

Operant conditioning and a psychophysical tracking procedure were used to measure auditory thresholds for pure tones in quiet and in noise for seven species of small birds--the budgerigar, canary, cockatiel, European starling, song sparrow, swamp sparrow, and the zebra finch. Audibility curves are roughly similar among the seven birds, with the maximum sensitivity between 2 and 5 kHz and poorer sensitivity outside this narrow region. Critical ratios (signal-to-noise ratio at masked threshold) were calculated from pure-tone thresholds in noise. Except for the budgerigar, the critical ratio functions of all birds increase at the rate of 3 dB/octave. This pattern is typical of that observed in most vertebrates. Critical ratios in the budgerigar, on the other hand, decrease gradually from 0.5 kHz to 2.8 kHz and increase dramatically above 2.8 kHz. The present research demonstrates that the critical ratio function for the budgerigar is not only different from other vertebrates but also different from other birds.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Serological evidence of persistence of Japanese encephalitis virus activity in Bihar, India.

A total of 64 sera samples from ducks, 212 from 245 fowls, 1 from 16 sparrows and 5 from human were examined for HI and CF antibodies to Japanese encephalitis (JE), West Nile (NW), Dengue-2 (DN-2), and Chikungunya (CHIK) viruses. The results were compared with those obtained earlier while examining pigs' sera from the same area. The results revealed that ducks, fowls and peridomestic sparrows possessed antibodies to JEV. JEV activity in ducks and fowls was significantly higher compared to its activity in pigs in the same area reported earlier indicating persistence of its activity.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An epornitic of avian pox in a research aviary.

An outbreak of avian pox in a bird research colony was reported. Although 10 species of passerine birds were housed within the facility, clinical signs and mortality were restricted to canaries and house sparrows. Post-mortem lesions initially occurred in the upper and lower respiratory tracts and were characterized by proliferative rhinitis, proliferative bronchopneumonia, and proliferative airsacculitis, and diphtheritic lesions occurring in the esophagus were characterized by proliferative granulomatous esophagitis. Cutaneous lesions occurred subsequently in some birds, and a diagnosis was made by histopathology, electron microscopy, and virus isolation. The occurrence of diphtheritic lesions in pox infections of wild birds has been rare, and a sparrow showed an unusual combination of both diphtheritic and acute systemic lesions previously undescribed.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

[Epizootiology and pathogenesis of avian mycobacteriosis in the field rook (Corvus frugilegus)].

The occurrence of avian mycobacteriosis in the rook (C. frugilegus) was investigated in the years 1966-1985. A total of 188 birds captured at three localities of the Czech Republic were subjected to patho-morphological examination and to culture examination. Patho-anatomic lesions were observed in five rooks (2.6%), M. avium was isolated from 10 rooks (5.3%). Positive findings occurred in each examined locality. Rook sensitivity to M. avium infection was tested by experimental infections. After intramuscular infection with M. avium suspension macroscopic tuberculosis lesions were found out at the place of puncture, histological lesions in liver and spleen at the beginning of the trial (days 12-35). Mycobacteria were isolated from particular organs and tissues, more frequently at the beginning of the trial. Peroral infection by feed contaminated with liver of tuberculous fowl failed to induce tuberculous lesions, while a proof of M. avium from the organs was the only one after 157 days. The contact of the rook with the tuberculous fowl did not lead to the origin of tuberculous lesions after 238 days nor were the mycobacteria proved in the rook tissues. In comparison with e.g. the house sparrow, tree sparrow and pheasant, the rook is very resistant to M. avium infection according to the results of experimental infections. A relatively frequent occurrence of tuberculous processes or of mycobacteria in the rook captured in the open area is probably conditioned by a possibility of repeated, frequent contacts of the rook with the contaminated environment during its longer life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Development of neural selectivity for birdsong during vocal learning.

Juvenile white-crowned sparrows learn to sing by first memorizing an adult's song and then progressively matching their vocalizations to this model during plastic song. Previous studies have shown that neurons in the song-system nucleus HVC of adult sparrows respond preferentially to a bird's own song. In this study, the auditory selectivity of HVC neurons in subadult birds was examined. In young, nonsinging birds who had been song tutored, these cells responded to song stimuli, and at some recording sites had distinct preferences for one song or another. As a population, however, HVC neurons in these birds showed no preference for familiar song. They were no more likely to prefer normal tutor song to reversed tutor song or to the song of another white-crowned subspecies. By contrast, in birds producing plastic song, HVC neurons were selective for the bird's own songs, even in preference to their tutor song. Therefore, during song learning the response properties of HVC neurons appear to be dynamically modified, perhaps by auditory feedback from the bird's own vocalizations. The emergence of song selectivity during plastic song may be significant both for song learning and for song perception in adult birds.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Seasonal change in neuron size and spacing but not neuronal recruitment in a basal ganglia nucleus in the avian song control system.

Neural plasticity in the song control system of seasonally breeding songbirds accompanies seasonal changes in singing behavior. The volume of Area X, a song control nucleus that forms a portion of the avian basal ganglia, is 75% larger in the spring than it is in the fall. The neuronal basis of the seasonal plasticity in Area X is largely unknown, however. We examined neuronal attributes of Area X in wild adult male song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) captured during the spring and the fall after being implanted for 30 days with osmotic pumps containing [3H]thymidine. We measured the volume of Area X from thionin-stained sections, and neuronal density and number, and average area of the soma from sections labeled with an antibody against Hu, a neuron-specific protein. We sampled two neuron classes: "small" neurons that were most likely striatal-like spiny neurons and "large" neurons, which most likely included pallidal-like projection neurons. We also analyzed seasonal patterns of neuronal recruitment to Area X. The average area of the soma and neuronal spacing for both neuronal classes were greater in breeding birds. There was no difference in total neuron number for both neuronal classes between seasons. The average area of the soma and density and number of newly recruited neurons did not vary across seasons. These results demonstrate that seasonal plasticity in Area X includes changes in neuron size and neuronal density, but not changes in the rate at which new neurons are recruited.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Reproductive development according to elevation in a seasonally breeding male songbird.

Seasonal temperate zone breeders respond to increasing day length to anticipate the approach of spring breeding conditions. Other (supplementary) environmental cues, such as temperature and precipitation, were historically thought to play unimportant roles in reproductive timing. We demonstrate variation in reproductive timing across small geographic distances by examining the vernal testicular recrudescence of adult song sparrows (Melospiza melodia morphna) breeding in coastal (0-10 m elevation) and montane (280-1220 m elevation) habitats. Each year, these birds experienced the same photoperiod, but were exposed to different supplementary cues that varied with altitude. Coastal birds experienced warmer and more stable temperatures during late winter and early spring than did montane birds. We measured bud opening, emergence of new green shoots, and arthropod biomass to monitor the pace of spring's approach. New spring shoots emerged 2 months earlier on the coast than in the mountains and buds on flowering trees and shrubs also tended to open earlier at the coast. Arthropod biomass was similar in both the mountains and the coast during early spring, and began to increase in early summer. Reproductive morphology (i.e. testis volume and cloacal protuberance length) developed up to 2 months earlier on the coast than in the mountains. Testicular recrudescence occurred earlier on the coast in most years and proceeded at a faster rate in 1 year. Circulating levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone and prolactin increased through the season, but did not correlate with differences between sites. Both populations responded similarly when exposed to identical photoperiodic cues in the laboratory. Therefore, we suggest that an integrated response to cues characteristic of location and elevation account for differences in patterns measured in the field.

Altitude↗
PubMed1989

The relevance of pharmacological dose--response curves to airway narrowing.

A defect in the smooth muscle of airways has been discarded as a possible cause of asthma in recent years because of the lack of correlation between airflow obstruction in patients and the contractile responsiveness of the isolated airway smooth muscle. Howard Mitchell and Malcolm Sparrow question the relevance of comparing parameters obtained from pharmacological dose-response curves (e.g. EC50) of strips of airways in vitro with those describing airways narrowing in vivo (e.g. resistance). They point out that in small airways the upper half of the dose-response curves seen in strips of airway wall is not represented in perfused tubular airway segments because they are fully constricted at or near the EC50 of the strip.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Vocal production in different social contexts relates to variation in immediate early gene immunoreactivity within and outside of the song control system.

In songbirds, a major function of song during the breeding season is mate attraction, and song in this context can be highly sexually motivated. Vocal learning, perception, and production are regulated by the song control system, but there is no evidence that this system participates in the motivation to sing. Instead, brain regions involved in sexual motivation and arousal, including the medial preoptic nucleus (POM), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), nucleus taeniae (Tn), and area ventralis of Tsai (AVT) might regulate the motivation to sing, at least in a sexual context. The role of these nuclei and song control nuclei (area X and HVC) in vocal production within a breeding context, and other courtship behaviors, was investigated using immunocytochemistry for protein products of immediate early genes (IEGs), ZENK and c-fos (Fos), in flocks of male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) presented with females. Compared to vocalizations from other perches, vocal behavior from a nest box is more likely directed toward females, and sexually motivated. The numbers of ZENK and Fos labeled cells within rostral, but not caudal POM related positively only to vocalizations produced from a nest box. In contrast, the number of ZENK-labeled cells within area X related negatively to vocalizations from a nest box. Additionally, numbers of IEG-labeled cells within rPOM, Tn and AVT related positively to mount attempts. The results support the hypothesis that the POM interacts with the song control system to regulate sexually motivated vocal expression, and are consistent with work indicating that (a) rostral and caudal POM play distinct roles in sexual behavior, and (b) involvement of area X in song is context specific.

Amygdala↗
PubMed2004

A behavior analysis of absolute pitch: sex, experience, and species.

Absolute pitch (AP) perception refers to the ability to identify, classify, and memorize pitches without use of an external reference pitch. In tests of AP, several species were trained to sort contiguous tones into three or eight frequency ranges, based on correlations between responding to tones in each frequency range and reinforcement. Two songbird species, zebra finches and white-throated sparrows, and a parrot species, budgerigars had highly accurate AP, they discriminated both three and eight ranges with precision. Relative to normally reared songbirds, isolate reared songbirds had impaired AP. Two mammalian species, humans and rats, had equivalent and weak AP, they discriminated three frequency ranges to a lackluster standard and they acquired only a crude discrimination of the lowest and highest of eight frequency ranges. In comparisons with mammals even isolate songbirds had more accurate AP than humans and rats.

Acoustics↗