Influence of Disease Process and Duration on Acute Phase Proteins in Serum and Peritoneal Fluid of Horses with Colic

Background

The acute phase proteins (APP) serum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin, and fibrinogen are valuable blood biomarkers in equine inflammatory diseases, but knowledge of factors influencing their concentrations in blood and peritoneal fluid (PF) of horses with colic is needed.

Objectives

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of demographics (age, sex, breed), disease process (simple obstruction, strangulating obstruction, inflammatory), disease location, disease duration, hypovolemia, and admission hospital on concentrations of APP, lactate and white blood cell counts (WBC) in horses with colic admitted to 2 referral hospitals.

Animals

The study included 367 horses with colic admitted at 2 referral hospitals.

Methods

Prospective multicenter observational study of clinical data, as well as blood and PF biomarkers. Associations between biomarker concentrations and clinical variables were analyzed using multivariate linear regression analysis.

Results

Increasing pre‐admission duration of colic was associated with increased concentrations of APP in blood and PF. Blood concentrations of SAA and fibrinogen were associated with disease process (inflammatory, strangulations, simple obstructions) in more colic duration groups (5–12 and >24 hours) than any of the other biomarkers. No relevant associations between demographic factors, hospital, or hydration status and the measured biomarkers were found.

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

In horses with colic, concentrations of APP are associated mainly with disease process and duration of colic and may thus be used for assessment of disease independently of demographic or geographic factors. Serum amyloid A may be a diagnostic marker for use in colic differential diagnosis, but further evaluation is needed.     

土壤水分动态对林地地表径流的影响概况

指出了土壤水分是影响地表径流产生重要因素之一 ,研究土壤水分在土壤中的分布、土壤水分动态变化规律以及影响土壤水分变化的因子 ,对林地的生态环境保护具有重要意义.土壤水分的分布受空间和时间的影响 ,不仅如此 ,土壤水分动态变化和分布规律还受到诸如气象因子、地形因子、地形利用因子、人为活动等因子的影响.这些影响因素都导致了土壤水分动态变化在空间和时间上的差异 ,从而导致了林地降雨-产流的差异.因此 ,深入研究影响土壤水分变化的各种因素 ,以及研究各种因素对土壤水分动态变化的作用规律 ,一方面能够为降雨-地表径流的发生规律提供参考 ,另一方面为保护林地植被生长提供了重要的条件.     

Impacts of water resource planning on regional water consumption pattern: A case study in Dunhuang Oasis,China

Water resources are critical for the existence and development of oases in endorheic basins. Thus, to enable sustainable development, it is fundamentally important to understand how to allocate and use these resources in a reasonable way. We therefore simulated and analyzed changes in water consumption pattern within the Dunhuang Oasis of China under three scenarios using a system dynamic model that corresponds to different water consumption pattern. This was done to assess the impacts of regional water resource planning (comprehensive planning of the rational use of water resource and protection of ecosystem services in the Dunhuang Basin) on water consumption pattern within the Dunhuang Oasis. The first of these, Scenario 1, is a baseline in which the status quo is maintained, while Scenario 2 incorporates the comprehensive effects of agricultural water-saving irrigation measures with an inter-basin water diversion project, and Scenario 3 focuses on ecological rehabilitation. In the baseline Scenario 1, the total water consumption within the Dunhuang Oasis increased progressively while agricultural water consumption remained extremely high and threatened overall ecological security. In contrast, Scenario 2 would decrease agricultural water consumption by almost 5.30×10⁷ m³ following the implementation of water-saving practices. The additional water allocated from an inter-basin water diversion project would play an important role in alleviating ecological strain on the oasis. Finally, in Scenario 3, the total irrigated land must be decreased to 20.6×10³ hm² by 2025 assuming that water supply for ecosystem restoration would be at least 50% of the total consumption. Although water resource planning plays a very important role in alleviating the ecological water crisis within the oasis, it is necessary to consider the suitable scale of oasis with regard to current water consumption pattern.     

花生田施用绿僵菌对土壤微生物群落的影响

昆虫病原真菌绿僵菌对地下害虫防治具有良好应用前景，而大量释放绿僵菌可能引起土著微生物群落变化，从而影响其植物保护的综合效果。本文研究了花生播种期施用绿僵菌后，在根际和根围土壤中绿僵菌自身种群及土著细菌、真菌和放线菌种群的消长和群落结构变化。结果表明，绿僵菌种群在30 d内快速下降，之后降速减缓，以低密度持续存活。随花生生长，土壤微生物自身有消长过程，施用绿僵菌对放线菌影响最大、真菌其次、细菌最小，在根际的影响大于在根围的影响。分别地，绿僵菌处理对根际和根围细菌、根围真菌无显著影响；使根际真菌种群初期的下降速度减缓，到达谷底时间由15 d推迟到30 d，但回升速度加快，达峰顶由60 d提前到45 d，峰值降低1/3；绿僵菌明显抑制了根际放线菌种群，使其消长变化周期与对照完全相反，且45 d时回落至低点后不再回升；绿僵菌减缓了根围放线菌种群下降，使达谷底时间由30 d推迟到45 d，且回升幅度减小。土壤微生物群落结构在施菌后15～30 d的幼苗至初花期有明显变化，细菌种群总体占比显著下降，但与对照相比，施菌后的根际细菌占比提高，真菌占比下降，放线菌占比显著地先抑后扬。在根围的变化相对较小。45 d即盛花期后，三类微生物结构逐渐恢复趋近原来状态。     

Diets of endangered silver chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana,Kirtland, 1844) in Lake Erie and implications for recovery

Silver chub (Macrhybopsis storeriana, Kirtland, 1844) is a native Cyprinid in Lake Erie, one of the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. It is listed as endangered by the US state of New York and Canada, which has a recovery plan, and as special concern by the state of Michigan. Silver chub faces a potential threat to recovery from control efforts for invasive Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella, Valenciennes 1844). Among the knowledge gaps for protection and restoration is current diet data. I describe the diet of silver chub from western Lake Erie in 2014, and I compare it to past studies to assess changes in diet through time. Silver chub captured in bottom trawls May–September 2014 were frozen in the field, and stomach contents were preserved in ethanol. Diet taxa were identified to the lowest practical taxonomic unit, then dried and weighed. Frequency of occurrence in silver chub diets was highest for Hexagenia spp. mayflies (79%). Dreissena spp. and Hexagenia spp. were both 41% of the diet by dry weight. Analysis of δ¹³C isotopes identified Hexagenia spp. as the primary source of carbon in silver chub. Compared to past studies, Dreissena spp. have mostly replaced Sphaeriidae and Gastropoda in silver chub diets. There also have been seasonal shifts in relative amounts of shelled organisms and Hexagenia spp. This study and past research suggest a functional link between silver chub and Hexagenia spp. abundance. Maintenance and recovery of silver chub may be dependent on maintaining Hexagenia spp. populations.     

Boom‐bust like dynamics of invasive black bullhead (Ameiurus melas) in Lake Sava (Serbia)

The life‐history traits and population dynamics of the black bullhead Ameiurus melas (Rafinesque) were studied monthly from August 2009 to December 2012 in Lake Sava in Belgrade (Serbia). This period included a mass mortality event in May 2011 and subsequent population recovery during 2012. Available evidence suggests the mass mortality was caused by European catfish virus that only affected the black bullhead. Changes in key life‐history traits and the recovery potential (increase in catch‐per‐unit‐effort, doubling of young‐of‐the‐year to adult ratio, earlier maturation and increased fecundity) following the mass mortality event suggest population resilience typical of a recurring boom‐bust pattern and demonstrate the species’ capacity to recover rapidly and re‐establish following disturbance. Repeated systematic mass removals of both juveniles and adults (using fyke nets) will be required if future fishery management measures aimed at limiting the population size are to be effective.     

青藏高原草地降水利用效率时空动态及对气候变化的响应

本研究利用CASA(Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach)模型模拟了2000—2013年青藏高原草地净植被生产力(Net Primary Production，NPP)，结合实测数据、气象数据和土地覆被数据计算了草地降水利用效率（PUE），探究其时空分布特征，以及不同草地类型PUE及其对气候变化的响应。结果表明：青藏高原草地PUE在研究年限内呈现波动增加趋势，增加速率为每年0.0035 g·m^-2·mm^-1，14 a的平均值为0.38 g·m^-2·mm^-1。PUE的空间分布具有明显的异质性，呈现东部高、中西部低的基本格局。PUE分布在0.2～0.4 g·m^-2·mm^-1之间的比例最大，占青藏高原总面积的55.63%，呈减少趋势的区域主要分布在青藏高原的北部和西部，以及东部的边界地区，呈增加趋势的地区集中在研究区的中部和南部。研究年限内PUE的变异系数分布在0.07～0.85之间，变化稳定的区域所占面积最大，为总面积的43.43%，主要分布在唐古拉山脉和横断山脉附近。不同草地类型间PUE均值存在差异，具体表现为：草甸（1.06 g·m^-2·mm^-1）>坡面草地（0.80 g·m^-2·mm^-1）>平原草地（0.30 g·m^-2·mm^-1）>高山与亚高山草甸（0.29 g·m^-2·mm^-1）>荒漠草地（0.23 g·m^-2·mm^-1）>高山与亚高山草地（0.094 g·m^-2·mm^-1）。总体上，青藏高原草地PUE与降水成负相关关系，而与气温呈正相关，PUE的变化对降水响应更加敏感。     

Price volatility dynamics in aquaculture fish markets

Abstract

In this paper, a time-varying student-t copula is used to capture information on price volatility dependence in the short-, medium-, and long-run horizon in the US market for frozen and fresh salmon, trout, tilapia and catfish. Using monthly data from July 1992 to March 2017, the volatility dynamics for these aquaculture species are assessed. The analysis allows indicating significant differences in the volatility relationships, depending on time-frequency. While short-run volatility has limited dependency, there is significant dependency in both the medium- and long-run, indicating that market integration is stronger in the long-run. The information is particularly important to buyers and producers utilizing the futures markets, as contracts are typically traded using a set of frequencies, and may help them manage and reduce price risk.     

Realizing the potential of trait‐based approaches to advance fisheries science

Analysing how fish populations and their ecological communities respond to perturbations such as fishing and environmental variation is crucial to fisheries science. Researchers often predict fish population dynamics using species‐level life‐history parameters that are treated as fixed over time, while ignoring the impact of intraspecific variation on ecosystem dynamics. However, there is increasing recognition of the need to include processes operating at ecosystem levels (changes in drivers of productivity) while also accounting for variation over space, time and among individuals. To address similar challenges, community ecologists studying plants, insects and other taxa increasingly measure phenotypic characteristics of individual animals that affect fitness or ecological function (termed “functional traits”). Here, we review the history of trait‐based methods in fish and other taxa, and argue that fisheries science could see benefits by integrating trait‐based approaches within existing fisheries analyses. We argue that measuring and modelling functional traits can improve estimates of population and community dynamics, and rapidly detect responses to fishing and environmental drivers. We support this claim using three concrete examples: how trait‐based approaches could account for time‐varying parameters in population models; improve fisheries management and harvest control rules; and inform size‐based models of marine communities. We then present a step‐by‐step primer for how trait‐based methods could be adapted to complement existing models and analyses in fisheries science. Finally, we call for the creation and expansion of publicly available trait databases to facilitate adapting trait‐based methods in fisheries science, to complement existing public databases of life‐history parameters for marine organisms.     

3WZF-400A型果园风送喷雾机改进设计

3WZF-400A型果园风送喷雾机通过安装直线导流板引导了气流速度场，在一定程度上解决了传统轴流式风送喷雾机农药浪费以及防治效果差的问题，但仍无法使靶标区域的气流速度分布与作物冠层轮廓匹配。本文以计算流体力学为手段，对该型喷雾机进行了改进设计。通过设置不同数量和角度的短导流板进一步引导喷雾机气流场，并建立了对应的气流速度场分布模型。通过对比选取最佳的改进设计方案，并进行了试验验证与喷雾性能测试。研究结果表明，当短导流板数量为2，喷雾机导流板角度组合为45°、15°、-15°和5°,且风机风速为20m/s时，在靶标处的气流速度分布能够与作物冠形轮廓匹配，所建立的模型能够较准确地模拟喷雾机实际气流速度场的分布。在此基础上以雾滴覆盖率为指标评价了改进设计后的喷雾机喷雾性能，并与改进前的喷雾机喷雾性能作对比，结果表明雾滴能够在垂直平面内按照作物冠形合理分布。