Ecological implications of motor oil pollution: Earthworm survival and soil health

The nontarget effects of fresh and used motor oil were studied in a soil test system involving such criteria as earthworm survival, response of soil dehydrogenase and urease, and nitrification. When earthworms were exposed to motor oil-contaminated soil for 4 weeks, the observed median lethal concentrations (LC₅₀) were 40.33 and 3.88 g kg⁻¹ soil for fresh and used oil, respectively. Only fresh motor oil application increased earthworms' body weight even at the higher dose of 19 g kg⁻¹ soil. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry revealed that used motor oil contained more of aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals than fresh oil. This disparity in the chemical composition might be the factor responsible for the significant toxicity of used motor oil towards earthworms. Activities of soil dehydrogenase and urease were significantly enhanced in presence of both the motor oils, while there was a significant inhibition in nitrification by the used motor oil even at a low concentration of 0.2 g kg⁻¹ soil. This study clearly demonstrated that earthworm survival and nitrification could serve as suitable indices to assess motor oil pollution in soil.     

88%异丙甲草胺乳油防除高粱田杂草田间药效评价

为寻找高粱田适宜除草剂,2013年在林甸县农业科学技术推广中心试验园区试验地进行了高粱播后苗前土壤封闭处理化学除草试验。结果表明:在高粱播后苗前土壤封闭喷施88%异丙甲草胺乳油1 350~1 650g·hm-2,对一年生禾本科杂草稗草、狗尾草和部分阔叶杂草藜、反枝苋等具有较好的防除效果,控草时间长达40d以上,对高粱生长安全。     

镉、铜胁迫对路易斯安娜鸢尾生理生化的影响

通过溶液培养的方法,研究了Cd、Cu胁迫对路易斯安娜鸢尾幼苗生长及生理生化的影响.结果表明:Cd、Cu胁迫下,路易斯安娜鸢尾幼苗生长缓慢,地上、地下干重下降,叶片中的叶绿素含量均随胁迫浓度的增加而降低；植株叶片的丙二醛和游离脯氨酸含量、超氧化物岐化酶活性均随处理浓度、处理时间的延长而增加.     

蓝莓贮藏保鲜技术研究进展

本文介绍了蓝莓的营养成分和保健功效，并综述了国内外贮藏保鲜技术的研究进展，包括冷藏、预温处理、气调、涂膜、熏蒸、UV-C辐射和高压静电场等保鲜方式。鉴于我国蓝莓市场的广阔前景，提出了其产业的发展方向和研究着重点。     

Comparative pharmacokinetics and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis by nonlinear mixed‐effects modeling of cefquinome in nonpregnant,pregnant, and lactating goats after intravenous and intramuscular administration

Cefquinome is a fourth‐generation cephalosporin that is used empirically in goats. Different physiologic factors like pregnancy or lactation could determine the pharmacokinetic behavior of drugs in the organism. The objectives of this study are to (a) compare the pharmacokinetics of cefquinome after intravenous and intramuscular administration in adult nonpregnant (n = 6), pregnant (n = 6), and lactating goats (n = 6), at a dose of 2 mg/kg, with rich sampling by nonlinear mixed‐effects modeling, (b) conduct a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis to evaluate the efficacy of the recommended posology in goats with different physiological states, and (c) determine the optimal posology that achieve a PTA value ≥ 90%, taking into account a T > MIC ≥ 60% of a MIC value ≤ 0.25 µg/ml, in the different subpopulations of goats for both routes. Gestation significantly increased Ka and V1, while reduced F0, Cl, and Q. On the other hand, lactation significantly increased V1 and reduced Tk0. Cefquinome concentrations achieved in placental cotyledon, amniotic fluid, and fetal serum indicate a minimal penetration across the placental barrier. Moreover, milk penetration of cefquinome was minimal. The total body clearance of cefquinome for goats was 0.29 L kg^?1 hr^?1, that is apparently higher than the reported for cows (0.13 L kg^?1 hr^?1) and pigs (0.16 L kg^?1 hr^?1). So, the optimal dose regimen for cefquinome after intravenous and intramuscular administration required higher dose and frequency of administration compared with recommendations for cows or pigs. Therefore, 2 mg kg^?1 8 hr^?1 and 5 mg kg^?1 12 hr^?1 could be used for IV and IM routes, respectively, for the treatment of respiratory infections caused by P. multocida and M. haemolytica, but only 5 mg kg^?1 12 hr^?1 by both routes should be recommended for Escherichia coli infections.     

Caudal epidural co-administration of methadone and morphine in horses: An evaluation of analgesic properties and effects on locomotor function,mentation and physical examination parameters

Caudal epidural analgesia is a well-established therapeutic modality for pain alleviation in horses. Additionally, epidural analgesia could potentially be a complementary diagnostic tool for confirmation of pain-related conditions in horses presenting with nonspecific signs of poor performance or rideability issues. To use the epidural as a diagnostic tool, the administered medications should provide efficient analgesia without accompanying adverse effects. Therefore, the objectives of the current study were to evaluate the analgesic properties and effects on locomotor function, mentation and physical examination parameters of caudal epidural co-administration of methadone and morphine in horses. Five mares received a caudal epidural injection of 0.1 mg/kg bwt methadone and 0.1 mg/kg bwt morphine diluted to a total volume of 4.4 mL/100 kg. Before and several times thereafter, horses were subjected to mechanical nociceptive threshold evaluation, physical examination, assessment of mentation and locomotor function examination. Horses were assigned ataxia scores (0–4) by a group of inexperienced raters (three senior-year veterinary students) and a group of experienced raters (two board-certified internal medicine specialists) that assessed the locomotor examinations either live or video-based. The epidural co-administration of methadone and morphine resulted in clinically relevant and statistically significant increases of horses’ tolerance to mechanical noxious stimuli at the coccygeal, perineal, sacral, lumbar and thoracic regions. Analgesia was evident after 4.4 h and lasted at least 5 h. Regional differences in the onset of analgesia reflected a cranial spread of the analgesic solution. No horses showed signs of gait disturbances; the overall median ataxia score was 0 at all times; and the average difference in scores between two randomly selected raters for a random horse at a random time point was 0.377 indicating high inter-rater agreement. There were no adverse changes of mentation and physical examination parameters. Observed side effects included signs of decreased frequency of defaecation, generalised sweating, and pruritus.     

Study on the Change Rule of Egg Yolk Antibody in Laying Hens after First Immunization by Japanese Encephalitis Virus

The purpose of this experiment was to study the immunization rule of the egg yolk antibody affected by different vaccines,immunization dose and injection ways and further to discuss the optimal immunization procedures of the laying hens for the preparation of egg yolk antibody against swine Japanese encephalitis virus.180 brown laying hens without any vaccines were selected and divided into 18 groups randomly,each group of 10 hens.Groups 1,2 were the control groups,injected with the sterile saline;Groups 3 to 10 were injected with subcutaneous or intramuscular injection,and the vaccine was injected with 0.2,0.5,1.0 and 1.5 mL successively.Groups 11 to 18 were also adopted two kinds of injection,followed by the same dose of vaccine immunization.Six eggs of each experimental group were gathered before immune day and after 3,7,10,14,18,21 and 28 days,the egg yolk antibody was extracted and the titer was determined.As a result,the egg yolk antibody titers of groups 1 to 6,11 and 12 were all 0,and no significant immune response produced;The hens from 7 to 10 groups were injected with the inactivated vaccine.After 7 days,the average antibody titer reached the peak,and the duration of the antibody was 14 days.The hens from 13 to 18 groups were injected with the attenuated virus vaccine.After 14 days,the average antibody titer reached the highest value,and the duration of the antibody was 21 days.The egg yolk antibody titers were not significantly different in the two compared experiment groups with the same injection dose but with different injection ways (P>0.05).With the same injection way of each experiment group,and the difference was significant (P>0.05).Compared with some groups with the same injection and vaccine,the titer of yolk antibody was gradually increased with the increase of the immune dose,and the difference was significant (P<0.05).The results showed that,no matter intramuscular or subcutaneous injection,in order to produce a significant immune response to hens,the immune antigen dose was 1.0 mL inactivated vaccine or 0.5 mL attenuated vaccine at least.Compared with the attenuated and inactivated vaccine,inactivated vaccine stimulated the body to produce the antibody faster,but the maintenance time was shorter;The lower dose of attenuated vaccine could stimulate the body to produce antibodies,but the speed was slower,the maintenance time was longer.     

Relationship between calving difficulty and fertility traits in first‐parity Iranian Holsteins under standard and recursive models

The main objective of this study was to estimate the genetic and phenotypic relationships between calving difficulty (CD) and fertility traits, including success at first service (SF), number of inseminations to conception (INS), interval from calving to first service (CTFS), interval between first and last service (IFL) and days open (DO), in first‐parity Iranian Holsteins under standard (SMMs) and recursive (RMMs) mixed models. The data analysed in this paper included 29 950 records on CD and fertility traits, collected in the time period from 1995 to 2014 by the Animal Breeding and Improvement Center of Iran. Under all observed SMMs and RMMs, five bivariate sire‐maternal grandsire models (ten bivariate analyses in total) were used for the analyses. Recursive models were applied with a view to consider that CD influences the fertility traits in the subsequent reproductive cycle and the genetic determination of CD and fertility traits by fitting CD as covariate for any of the fertility traits studied. The existence of such cause‐and‐effect is considered in RMMs but not in SMMs. Our results implied a statistically non‐zero magnitude of the causal relationships between CD and all the fertility traits studied, with the former influencing the latter. The causal effects of CD on SF (on the observed scale, %), INS, CTFS, IFL and DO were ?2.23%, 0.10 services, 1.93 days, 3.76 days and 5.61 days, respectively. Direct genetic correlations between CD and the fertility traits under both models were not statistically different from zero (95% HPD interval included zero), except for the correlation between CD and CTFS, which were 0.197 and 0.134 under SMM and RMM, respectively, indicating that genes associated with difficult births also increase intervals between calving and the first insemination afterwards. Comparison of both models by the deviance information criterion (DIC) demonstrated the plausibility of RMMs over SMMs.     

Sublethal effects of nine insecticides on Drosophila suzukii and its major pupal parasitoid Trichopria drosophilae

Background

Although the pupal parasitoid Trichopria drosophilae is used in conservative and augmentative biocontrol of Drosophila suzukii infestations, current pest management strategies mostly rely on multiple insecticide applications. In this context, the aim of the study was to investigate the baseline toxicity of nine insecticides on D. suzukii larvae and their multiple sublethal effects (LC₁₀) on immature stages of the pest feeding on contaminated diet and T. drosophilae developing within the intoxicated host.

Results

Chlorpyriphos and azadirachtin showed the lowest and the highest LC₁₀, the values of which were 9.78 × 10¹³ and 1.46 × 10³ times lower than their recommended label field rate, respectively. Among tested insecticides, imidacloprid, malathion and dimethoate were the only treatments that did not affect the juvenile development time of D. suzukii, while spinosad and the organophosphates chlorpyriphos and dimethoate did not influence fly pupal size. No sublethal effects were recorded on T. drosophilae degree of infestation (DI) and juvenile development time. On the contrary, cyazypyr and dimethoate negatively affected the success of parasitism (SP) and the number of progeny of the pupal parasitoid, in association with malathion for the first parameter and spinosad for the fertility. Compared to the untreated control, more female progeny emerged following azadirachtin exposure, while dimethoate caused the opposite effect. Imidacloprid, lambda-cyhalothrin and spinetoram decreased hind tibia length of emerged parasitoids.

Conclusion

This study provides new insights on the (eco)toxicological profile of nine insecticides and new information needed to support the deployment of T. drosophilae in the field within the sustainable management techniques against D. suzukii. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.     

The Biological Effects of Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields on Cells

The biological effects of ELFMES including proliferation and apoptosis of cells as well as the damage of DNA are initially evaluated with the treatment of plant cells and human pulmonary fibroblasts in low frequency magnetic fields with certain intensity and different time intervals in vitro. Cell culture, counting in vitro, fluorescent dyeing analysis and single cell gel electrophoresis are adopted. The results demonstrate that the electromagnetic field with the intensity of 3mT can affect the proliferation and apoptosis of cells significantly.