No abstract

SUMMARY The granulomatous inflammatory response is a special type of chronic inflammation characterised by often focal collections of macrophages, epithelioid cells and multinucleated giant cells. In this review the characteristics of these cells of the mononuclear phagocyte series are considered, with particular reference to the properties of epithelioid cells and the formation of multinucleated giant cells. The initiation and development of granulomatous inflammation is discussed, stressing the importance of persistence of the inciting agent and the complex role of the immune system, not only in the perpetuation of the granulomatous response but also in the development of necrosis and fibrosis.

After the 1999 outbreak of West Nile (WN) encephalitis in New York horses, a case definition was developed that specified the clinical signs, coupled with laboratory test results, required to classify cases of WN encephalitis in equines as either probable or confirmed. In 2000, 60 horses from seven states met the criteria for a confirmed case. The cumulative experience from clinical observations and diagnostic testing during the 1999 and 2000 outbreaks of WN encephalitis in horses will contribute to further refinement of diagnostic criteria.

No abstract

It is demonstrated that hierarchical classifications have computational advantages over cluster analyses. Flexible programs are outlined providing two sorting strategies and four alternative similarity-coefficients. Preliminary results suggest that for qualitative data one of the strategies and two of the coefficients are superior to the remainder of the system; the further refinements desirable for a large-scale production program are discussed.

In the first comprehensive floristic classification of Australian rainforests and monsoon forests, fresh insights made possible by the use of floristic as distinct from structural data are outlined. A set of 561 individual communities, on sites ranging from North Queensland westwards to the Kimberley region and southwards to Tasmania, is defined by the presence or absence of 1316 tree species, or 406 genera. The data have been subjected to numerical classification, first with respect to species, then to genera.The species classification first divides into three 'ecofloristic regions': A, temperate (microtherm) and subtropical (mesotherm) humid evergreen rainforests; B, tropical (megatherm) humid evergreen grading into highly seasonal raingreen (monsoon) forests; and C, subtropical {mesotherm} moderately seasonal humidisubhumid raingreen forests. The sites are further divided into eight' ecofloristic provinces', for each of which a core area is identified and the ten most common diagnostic tree species listed for selected floristic elements, whose ecological relationships are briefly described.Gradients of quantitative thermal-moisture indices are added to standard climatic typology to provide a more ffexible identification of local climates that characterize community-types of each

No abstract

No abstract