The Determination of Soil Boron Fractions,Their Relationships to Soil Properties and the Availability to Olive (Olea europea L.) Trees

This study was conducted to investigate the various boron fractions in olive tree grown soils. The correlations between boron fractions in leaves, fruits and soil properties were examined. For this purpose cv “Gemlik” olive (Olea europaea L.) orchards were visited. Soil samples from 0–30 cm and 30–60 cm deep, the leaf and fruit samples were collected. The greatest proportion of total soil boron is present in residual form (85–88%). It is followed by organically bound B (2.84–4.50%), specifically adsorbed on soil colloid surfaces (0.93–1.31%), oxides (manganese oxyhydroxides, amorphous Fe and Al oxides, crystalline Fe and Al oxides) bound B (7.27–8.31%). The smallest one readily soluble (extracting plant available) boron values were composed of only 0.40–0.50% of total boron ranging. To determine readily soluble boron five different extraction solutions were in the order Hot water ? 0.01 M CaCl₂ ? 1 M NH₄OAc ? 0.1 M KCl ? 0.005 M DTPA. Fruit boron concentration and soil boron fractions showed close correlations than leaf boron concentration.     

Chemical Composition of Urban Wet Deposition in Amman,Jordan

Precipitation events were collected during the period from October 1996 to April 1997 from two sites in the city of Amman, Jordan. The samples were analyzed for major cations (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and NH4+), major anions (F-, Cl-, NO3- and SO42-), in addition to heavy metals (Cu2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, and Pb2+). High levels of Ca2+ and SO42- were observed. The results were comparable with some regional values and they indicate that about 58% of Na+ and Cl- are of marine origin, while Ca2+, K+ and a large fraction of SO42- are of soil dust origin. Heavy metals were detectable in most of the samples, zinc showed the highest concentrations. Significant correlation was obtained between zinc and lead, which may indicate automobile emission source.     

Effects of juniper berry oil on growth performance and blood parameters in common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

In this study the effects of commercial juniper berry oil (JBO) as a feed additive in diets for common carp (Cyprinus carpio) was investigated in terms of growth performance, feed utilization and blood parameters. The experimental diets were prepared to contain JBO at rate of 0 (JBO‐0), 5 (JBO‐5) and 10 (JBO‐10) ml/kg. Common carps (3.07 ± 0.15 g) were fed with test diets for a period of 60 days in 40‐L aquariums of triplicate groups. The feeding experiment revealed that JBO groups showed significantly better growth performance and feed utilization compared with the control group (JBO‐0) (p < 0.05). No significant effect was observed on hemoglobin amount, haematocrit ratio and consequential erythrocyte indices (p > 0.05). In the JBO groups, serum cholesterol, triglyceride, glutamic–pyruvic transaminase and alkaline phosphatase levels decreased significantly (p < 0.05). In contrast, the total protein level showed a significant increase, while glucose, albumin and lactate dehydrogenase levels did not present any significant variation (p > 0.05). Therefore, dietary addition of 5 ml/kg JBO promoted fish growth and positively influenced the blood parameters in common carps.     

Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex antibodies in free-ranged wild boar and wild macaques in selected districts in Selangor and reevaluation of tuberculosis serodetection in captive Asian elephants in Pahang,Peninsular Malaysia

Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic inflammatory and zoonotic disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) members, affecting several domestic animals, wildlife species and humans. The preliminary investigation was aimed to detect antibody against MTBC among indigenous wildlife which are free-ranged wild boar, free-ranged wild macaques and captive Asian elephants in selected areas of Selangor and elephant conservation centre in Pahang, respectively. The results indicate that MTBC serodetection rate in wild boar was 16.7% (7.3–33.5 at 95% confidence interval (CI)) using an in-house ELISA bPPD IgG and 10% (3.5–25.6 at 95% CI) by DPP^®VetTB assay, while the wild macaques and Asian elephant were seronegative. The univariate analysis indicates no statistically significant difference in risk factors for sex and age of wild boar but there was a significant positive correlation (P<0.05) between bovine TB in dairy cattle and wild boar seropositivity in the Sepang district.     

Growth enhancement and protective potential of feed-based outer membrane proteins against vibriosis in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Macrobrachium rosenbergii</Emphasis>

The use of antibiotics to curtail vibriosis, which is a major infectious disease, plaguing shrimp and prawn is rather becoming less effective and the need for a better alternative is expedient. The outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of V. alginolyticus were extracted, mixed with powdered commercial feed and fed to the prawns to evaluate its effect on growth performance and protective potential. Sixty prawns were divided into groups A, B and C of 10 prawns each, with two replicates in six (150 L) glass aquaria. Groups A, B and C were fed with OMPs mixed diet, with OMPs-Freund’s incomplete adjuvant mixed diet and OMPs or adjuvant free diet (control diet) respectively. All the prawns were weighed weekly, and haemolymph was collected to determine the total haemocyte count (THC) and phenoloxidase (PO) activity. At the end of the feeding trial, prawns were intramuscularly challenged with 50 μL of 10⁷ CFU V. alginolyticus. The treated groups were significantly higher in growth performance and THC than the control group, but no significant difference between the groups in terms of PO activity and mortality rate. The study, however, submitted that oral administration of OMPs with or without adjuvant is a good growth promoter and has the potential for protection against vibriosis in giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii).     

New withanolides from Mandragora officinarum: First report of withanolides from the Genus Mandragora

Two new withanolides named mandragorolide A (1) and mandragorolide B (2) were isolated from the MeOH extract of the whole plant of Mandragora officinarum of Jordanian origin, along with five known withanolides namely larnaxolide A (3), withanolide B (4), datura lactone 2 (5), withanicandrin (6) and salpichrolide C (7). Compound 3 has been reported only once before, from the leaves of Larnax glabra. This is the first report of withanolides of different biogenetic types from the genus Mandragora. Isolation of known fatty compounds, coumarins, sterols and tropane alkaloids was also achieved in this study.     

Cold storage of oil rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) flowers

Oil rose flowers were stored at 0 °C in four different packaging materials [plastic box + stretch film (PB + SF), Xtend^®, Smartbag^® and polyethylene (PE)] for 60 days. During storage, weight loss, O₂ and CO₂ concentrations in the packages, petal color and sensorial attributes were investigated besides essential oil content and composition. Storage duration and packages had significant (p < 0.01) effects on weight loss. At the end of storage, the lowest weight loss was in PE package (1.696%) whereas the highest weight loss was in Xtend^® (10.081%). The essential oil content was significantly (p < 0.01) affected by storage duration and packages. In addition, the essential oil contents obtained from all packages for a storage period of 10 days and the essential oil contents obtained from unstored (control) petals were included in the same group. At the end of storage, the essential oil contents decreased by 91.3, 57.7, 80.0 and 64.3% in PB + SF, Xtend^®, Smartbag^® and PE packages, respectively as compared to control. In addition, storage duration and package types significantly (p < 0.01) affected petal color, O₂ and CO₂ concentrations in the packages and sensorial scores. The concentration of citronellol, a main component of rose oil, increased in all packages during storage of 10 days in comparison to the control group while it varied in other storage durations and package types. However, nerol and geraniol were lower than the control group during storage while concentrations of nonadecane, heneicosane and eicosane were higher. In conclusion, loss of oil yield and quality, due to various reasons and particularly due to fermentation in oil rose from the harvest of petals to their distillation, can be minimized with storage of petals in all package types for up to 10 days.     

Protective effect following intranasal exposure of goats to live Pasteurella multocida B:2

This study aimed to determine the effect of intranasal exposure to low doses of Pasteurella multocida B:2 on survival of goats challenged with high doses of the same organism. Eighteen goats were selected and divided into three groups. Goats of group 1 were exposed intranasally twice, with a two-week interval, to 7× 10⁶ cfu/ml of live P. multocida B:2. Goats of group 2 were not exposed to P. multocida B:2 but were kept together with the exposed group 1. Goats of group 3 remained as unexposed controls and were kept separated from the other two groups. Serum samples were collected at weekly intervals to determine the antibody levels. At week 5 post exposure, all goats were challenged subcutaneously with 3.7× 10¹⁰ cfu/ml of live P. multocida B:2. Following challenge exposure, 8 (67%) goats (4 goats from each of groups 1 and 2) were killed owing to haemorrhagic septicaemia. Four goats were killed peracutely within 48 h post challenge, while the other four goats were killed acutely between 2 and 4 days post challenge. None of the goats of group 3 were killed for haemorrhagic septicaemia. Goats of groups 1 and 2 showed significantly (p<0.05) higher antibody levels following the first intranasal exposure to P. multocida B:2. However, only group 1 retained the significantly (p<0.05) high antibody levels following a second intranasal exposure, and remained significantly (p<0.05) higher than groups 2 and 3 at the time of challenge. P. multocida B:2 was successfully isolated from various organs of goats that were killed between 1 and 4 days post challenge.     

Detection and characterization of Leptospira spp. in dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease in Selangor,Malaysia

Leptospirosis is a serious bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. A wide range of symptoms have been described in humans; the disease in dogs is commonly associated with kidney and/or liver disease. In Malaysia, information about the common serovars infecting dogs is limited. Therefore, we investigated the occurrences of leptospirosis in 124 pet dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease. Blood, urine, abdominal effusion, and/or kidney and liver were collected from the dogs. Based on microscopic agglutination testing, 53 of 124 (42.7%) dogs were seropositive for leptospiral exposure. Sera were frequently positive to serovars Bataviae (n = 12), Javanica (n = 10), and Icterohaemorrhagiae (n = 10). Direct detection using PCR showed that 42 of 124 (33.9%) of the whole blood and 36 of 113 (31.9%) urine samples were positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. By PCR, 2 of 23 (9.1%) kidney and 2 of 23 (9.1%) liver were positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. Abdominal effusion from 4 dogs were PCR-positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. The species detected were L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, L. kirschneri, and L. kmetyi by partial 16S rRNA sequencing. We further identified and characterized 11 Leptospira spp. isolates from 8 dogs as serovars Bataviae, Javanica, and Australis. The mortality rate of the Leptospira-infected dogs was high (18 of 53; 34%).