Combined effects of water temperature and daily food availability period on the growth and survival of tench (Tinca tinca) larvae

A 16‐day experiment was designed to find the best combination of water temperature (27, 30, 33°C) and daily duration of food availability (12, 18, 24 h) for larval tench (Tinca tinca) growth and survival. Larvae with an initial mean size of 5.7 mm total length (TL) and 0.7 mg wet body weight (BW) were stocked at 15 L^?1. Larvae were fed in excess with live Artemia nauplii with the period of food availability lasting 12, 18 or 24 h daily. The largest final larval size was recorded at 27 and 30°C in groups fed for 24 h a day (17.7 and 17.9 mm TL, 76.1 and 77.7 mg BW, respectively). The combination of the highest temperature and the longest daily food availability was the only set of conditions under which final larval survival was affected (95.4% survival; 98.7–99.9% under all other conditions). The combination of water temperature of about 28.6°C and continuous food availability is recommended as the optimum combination for rearing T. tinca larvae under controlled conditions. Providing continuous food supply to fish larvae under aquaculture conditions was also advantageous in helping to mitigate the effects of slower growth relative to developmental progress, which can occur at high water temperatures. However, should one wish to limit the daily feeding period to 12 h per day, the use of a water temperature between 27.4 and 27.9°C would be the best solution.     

Differentiation of interglycosidic linkages in permethylated flavonoid glycosides from linked-scan mass spectra (B/E)

A series of per-O-methylated flavonoid di- and tri-glycosides, linked with 1-2 and/or 1-6 glycosidic bonds between sugar rings that were isolated from different plant materials were analyzed. It was demonstrated that the fragmentation behavior of permethylated flavonoid glycosides is dependent on the glycosidic bond placement between sugars. Y(n) type fragment ions, created after glycosidic bond cleavage with oxygen retention on sugar at the reducing end for permethylated compounds, were observed in the normal and linked-scan mass spectra recorded for alpha(1-2) bonded conjugates of flavonoid di- and tri-glycosides. Moreover, for alpha (1-6) linked glycosides, Y fragments created after rearrangement and elimination of internal sugar residues were observed in addition to Y(n) type ions, but these fragment ions were not registered in normal desorption ionization spectra. This second type of fragmentation was also reported previously in collision-induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry (CID MS/MS) spectra of some oligosaccharides and flavonoid glycosides, but their presence was independent of the glycosidic bonds placement between sugar rings.     

Influence of oral co-administration of a preparation containing calcium and magnesium and food on enrofloxacin pharmacokinetics

The objective of this study has been to determine the influence of food and ions on the pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin (ENRO) in turkeys, administered per os at a dose of 10 mg/kg of body weight (b.w.). Co-administration of ENRO with ions or with food significantly retarded its absorption, and the interaction was more pronounced when the drug was given together with food. The bioavailability of ENRO was 65.78 ± 7.81% and 47.99 ± 9.48% with ions and food, respectively. The maximum concentration (C_max) in plasma of animals exposed to ions reached 0.87 ± 0.26 μg/ml in a t_max of 2.07 ± 0.76 h; in animals which were fed while medicated, the analogous parameters were 0.36 ± 0.13 μg/ml and 8.06 ± 3.08 h. The PK/PD analysis demonstrated that a decrease in the concentration of ENRO in turkeys’ blood due to the interaction with ions or food might impair the drug's clinical efficacy toward some pathogenic microorganisms in turkeys if a routine dose of 10 mg ENRO/kg b.w. is administered.     

Mercury in the Diatoms of Various Ecological Formations

Mercury is a neurotoxin, its main source in the human organism being fish and seafood. The first level in the marine food web is formed of planktonic and benthic photosynthetic microorganisms, which form a biofilm on the surface of the hard bottom (epilithon) or plants (epiphyton). They are carriers of nutritional as well as toxic substances and pass these on to subsequent levels of the trophic web. Their biomass is often dominated by diatoms. This was the basis for the presented study into Hg accumulation in epilithic, epiphytic and planktonic diatoms, which was carried out in 2012–2013 in the coastal zone of the Puck Lagoon and the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic). In this coastal area, both micro- and macroorganisms develop particularly intensively. The collected results indicate an increase in Hg concentration in the biofilm during the warm season which, with the lengthening of the vegetative period due to global warming in recent years, is of great significance. As a consequence, the annual mercury load entering the trophic web is larger in comparison with a year in which there is a long, cold winter. An important parameter influencing the accumulation of Hg was the function of those organisms from the biofilm-forming communities. In this case, the highest concentrations of Hg were measured in organisms forming high-profile guilds.     

Antioxidant defence of colostrum and milk in consecutive lactations in sows

Background

Parturition is supposed to be related to oxidative stress, not only for the mother, but also for the newborn. Moreover, it is not clear whether consecutive pregnancies, parturitions, and lactations are similar to each other in regards to intensity of metabolic processes or differ from each other. The aim of the study was to compare dynamic changes of antioxidative parameters in colostrum and milk of sows taken during 72 h postpartum from animals in consecutive lactations. Activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione transferase (GSH-Tr), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and amount of vitamin A and C were measured. Healthy pregnant animals were divided into 4 groups according to the assessed lactation: A -1^st lactation (n = 10), B - 2^nd and 3^rd lactation (n = 7), C - 4^th and 5^th lactation (n = 11), D - 6^th - 8^th lactation (n = 8). The colostrum was sampled immediately after parturition and after 6, 12, 18 and 36 h while the milk was assessed at 72 h after parturition. Spectrophotometric methods were used for measurements.

Results

The activity of antioxidative enzymes and the concentration of vitamin A increased with time postpartum. The concentration of vitamin C was the highest between the 18th and 36th h postpartum.

Conclusions

Dynamic changes in the values of antioxidant parameters measured during the study showed that sows milk provides the highest concentration of antioxidants in the 2^nd and 3^rd and 4^th and 5^th lactation giving the best defence against reactive oxygen species to newborns and mammary glands.     

A Highly Sensitive Spectrophotometric Method for Gallium Determination with Chrome Azurol S in the Presence of Mixed Cationic-Nonionic Surfactants and its Application in Plant Analysis

A simple and very sensitive spectrophotometric method determining microgram quantities of gallium (Ga) has been developed. The method is based on the complex of Ga(III) with Chrome Azurol S (CAS) in the presence of benzyldodecyldimethylammonium bromide (ST) and polyoxyethylenesorbitan monopalmitate (Tween 40). The complex forms in weakly acid solution (pH 3.8) and shows the absorption maximum at 627 nm. The molar absorptivity (ε) of this system is 1.87 × 10⁵ L mol^?1 cm^?1, and it is clearly higher than ε of other spectrophotometric methods of gallium determination. The detection and quantification limits (LOD, LOQ) are 7.6 × 10^–3 and 0.023 µg mL^?1, respectively. Beer^‘s law is obeyed in the range from 0.02 to 0.60 µg mL^?1 of Ga. The precision and accuracy are good. This first spectrophotometric method of Ga(III) determination in the four-component system has been successfully applied for the analysis of mushrooms and grasses with low content of gallium.     

Using DNA from museum specimens to preserve the integrity of evolutionarily significant unit boundaries in threatened species

Use of DNA from museum samples is a powerful tool to directly establish historical ESU boundaries in areas where populations of a species have been extirpated. The brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) has suffered extensive reductions in range and population size since European settlement in Australia. Populations of this species have been grouped into three putative evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) which were likely once contiguous along the south-east coast of Australia. However, there is currently a gap of ∼320 km between extant populations of the southern and central ESUs. Conservation plans for the brush-tailed rock-wallaby include re-introductions of animals to locations within their former range. In order to preserve the historic geographic integrity of the genetic lineages within the species, it is necessary to map the boundary between the southern ESU and central ESU to allow more informed management decisions about which lineages should be used to re-stock specific geographic locations. We have extracted DNA from samples from museum specimens that come from locations between the southernmost extant colony of the central ESU and the remaining wild colony of the southern ESU. We sequenced a 177 bp interval of the left domain of the mitochondrial DNA control region and used phylogenetic analysis to group obtained sequences with previously published sequences belonging to the three ESUs. We have extended the range of the central ESU southwards and the range of the southern ESU northwards such that the gap between the ESUs is now approximately 160 km. We recommend that, where suitable historical museum collections exist, this technique be incorporated into re-introduction plans for other threatened species.     

Effects of temperature on growth, survival and body composition in larvae of barbel, Barbus barbus (L.)

Barbel larvae were reared for 21 days at 21.0, 24.1, 27.2 or 30.0 °C and fed ad libitum live Artemia nauplii for 16 h a day. The final survival rates exceeded 99 %. The highest mean daily growth rates, amounting to 0.97 mm total length (TL) and 17.3 % body weight (BW), were found at 27.2 °C. The optimum temperature calculated for the growth of larvae was 26.9 °C for TL and 26.5 °C for BW. An increase in water temperature accelerated the development rate to a larger degree than the growth rate. Temperature significantly influenced the final fish body chemical composition. The lowest dry matter content (19.1 %) was found at 24.1 °C. The highest values of ash content were determined for 27.2 and 30.0 °C and were 11.3 and 11.0 % of dry matter, respectively. The fish body caloric value was the highest at 30.0 °C (30.0 J mg^?1). The analysis of changes in the fish body chemical features against the effective day-degrees age scale did not reveal significant influence of temperature. Therefore, the effects of temperature on larval body composition seem to be related mainly to differences in barbel developmental progress at particular temperatures.