Tissue sulfonamide concentration and correlation in turkeys

Nineteen hen turkeys (10 to 12 kg each) were used in a feeding study to determine sulfadimethoxine and sulfaquinoxaline concentrations in blood serum, liver, and skeletal muscle, as well as the respective ratios at selected withdrawal intervals. Two feeds were prepared by use of premixes to achieve 60 mg of sulfadimethoxine/kg and 100 mg of sulfaquinoxaline/kg, respectively. Each of the medicated feeds was given to 9 turkeys for 7 days. The turkeys were then fed nonmedicated feed at intervals from 24 to 56 hours and were slaughtered. One turkey was used as control. The serum/liver and serum/muscle ratios for sulfaquinoxaline were 60 to 70% higher than for sulfadimethoxine. However, the liver/muscle ratio for both sulfonamides was equivalent, approximately 3. Disposition of both sulfonamides approximated first-order pharmacokinetics. The calculated half-life of sulfadimethoxine was half that of sulfaquinoxaline, approximately 16 vs 30 hours. The coefficients of variation in the serum/tissue ratios for both sulfonamides were between 13% and 25% for serum/liver and less than 15% for serum/muscle, indicating excellent potential for using serum as a predictor of actionable concentrations of sulfonamide residues.     

Plasma biochemistry and hematologic values for wild-caught flying foxes (Pteropus giganteus) in India.

Although bats of the genus Pteropus are important ecologically as pollinators and natural hosts for zoonotic pathogens, little is known about their basic physiology. Hematology and plasma biochemistries were determined from wild-caught flying foxes (Pteropus giganteus) in northern India (n=41). Mean lymphocyte differential count was higher for juveniles than adults. Mean platelet count was lower than previously reported. No hemoparasites were observed. No differences were observed between plasma biochemistry values of male and female bats, juveniles and adults, or lactating and nonlactating females. Variation in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was seen based on body condition score. Blood urea nitrogen and cholesterol concentrations were lower in P. giganteus than other mammalian groups, but were consistent with those reported from other Pteropus species. Alanine aminotransferase and AST concentrations were higher than those reported for Pteropus vampyrus, a closely related species. This study provides basic physiologic information that can be used in future health and disease studies of Indian flying foxes.     

Effects of environmental factors on plant functional traits across different plant life forms in a temperate forest ecosystem

New Forests - Plant functional traits have been shown to vary with environmental conditions. However, we lack empirical data on how plant functional traits of different plant life forms respond to...     

Applying forest restoration principles to coral reef rehabilitation

• 1. Forest restoration through silviculture (gardening) programs revives productivity, biodiversity, and stability. As in silviculture approaches, the coral ‘gardening’ strategy is based on a two‐step protocol.
• 2. The first step deals with the establishment of in situ and/or ex situ coral nurseries in which corals are farmed (originating from two types of source material: asexual [ramets, nubbins], and sexual [planula larvae, spat] recruits).
• 3. The second is the reef rehabilitation step, where maricultured colonies are transplanted into degraded sites.
• 4. We compare here the rationale of forest restoration to coral reef ecosystem restoration by evaluating major key criteria. As in silviculture programs, a sustainable mariculture operation that focuses on the prime structural component of the reef (‘gardening’ with corals) may promote the persistence of threatened coral populations, as well as that of other reef taxa, thus maintaining genetic diversity. In chronically degrading reef sites this may facilitate a halt in biodiversity depletion.
• 5. Within the current theoretical framework of ecosystem restoration, the recovery of biodiversity indices is considered a core element since a rich species diversity provides higher ecosystem resilience to disturbances.
• 6. The gardening measure may also be implemented worldwide, eliminating the need to extract existing colonies for transplantation operations. At degraded reef sites, the coral gardening strategy can assist in managing human and non‐human stakeholders' requirements as is done in forest management.

Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Climatic implications of an 8000-year hydrogen isotope time series from bristlecone pine trees

Tree rings from three dendrochronologically dated bristlecone pines were analyzed for stable hydrogen isotopic composition. These trees give a continuous time series from 8000 years ago to the present that indicates the presence of a postglacial climate optimum 6800 years ago and a continuous cooling since then. The qualitative agreement between this record and records from other sources, such as ice cores, pollen, and treeline fluctuations, indicates that these climate changes were global. This record can serve as a reference for other climate indicators throughout the past 8000 years.