Untersuchungen über die Salzverträglichkeit verschiedener Pappel-und Weidenarten sowie -klone unter Labor- und Freilandbedingungen

The salt tolerance of various poplar and willow species and clones in the laboratory and field. The resistance of 10 black and 10 grey poplar clones and of 36 willow clones was examined by dipping shoots in a higly concentrated NaCl solution. All the black and most of the grey poplars showed high resistance. Only eleven willow-clones showed sufficient resistance. The studies are to be continued with enlarged material under various ecological conditions.     

An “electronic nose” as a potential device for fire detection of forest product fire loads in enclosures

Abstract

Saving lives and properties are of primary importance in fire disasters. Unfortunately, current fire detectors are not fast enough to allow the detection of many fires, especially, at the smouldering stages. Some preliminary studies on laevoglucosan (LG), as an important product from cellulose degradation, have shown interesting properties and could be detected by devices classified as “electronic noses” (e-noses). In the present work, the mechanisms of pyrolysis of some ligno-cellulosic materials were investigated using thermo-gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and by a tube furnace with a view to determining the major degradation products from wood, white paper and cardboard samples. Additionally, an odour sensor, made of tin oxide semiconductor thin film, was employed to evaluate its sensitivity in detecting LG. It was found that LG can be readily found among the thermal degradation products of cellulosic materials in question, and that the metal oxide sensor employed was sufficiently sensitive in detecting its presence. Therefore, the work opens up the potential of using such a sensor as an “e-nose” for the early detection of fires stemming from forest product fire loads in storage places and in other enclosures.     

Cytotoxic activity of Origanum dictamnus

Several extracts of Origanum dictamnus, an endemic plant of Greece growing only in the island of Crete and the bioassay-directed isolated ursolic acid, were tested in vitro against the P388 (murine leukemia) and the human bronchial epidermoid cancer NSCLC-N6 (non small cell lung cancer) cell lines. Both the initial dichloromethane extract and the isolated from it ursolic acid exhibited cytotoxic activity. Ursolic acid was also tested in vivo, on murine ascite leukemia P388, where it exhibited at a dose of 50 mg/kg a marginal antileukemic activity.     

Hepatic lipidosis: Liver characteristics and acute phase proteins in affected turkeys

The hepatic lipidosis (HL) in fattening turkeys is a disease has been known for a long time, but the cause and pathogenesis is still not clarified. A recent study reported unexplained high levels of iron in liver tissue of fattening turkeys suffering from HL. In this study, the iron status, possible infectious or inflammatory influences in form of an acute phase reaction and the analysis of fatty acid pattern in liver tissue of turkeys affected by HL were examined. Three cases of HL on three different fattening turkey farms were investigated during the outbreak of the disease. Clinically affected and non-affected animals were subjected to a pathological examination, where the diagnosis HL or non-affected was made. In total, 70 birds were examined (40 with HL, 30 without HL) and blood and liver samples were taken. Additionally, samples from 15 slaughtered birds were taken as a further control group. In liver tissue, the iron content and the content of long-chain fatty acids were determined; in blood samples, ferritin and transferrin were measured. The iron content in liver tissue was more than three times higher for animals with HL than among non-affected animals and the control group. The transferrin levels were lowest for animals with HL, highest in the control group and in between for non-affected animals. The fatty acid pattern in liver tissue of affected animals indicated a shift from polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fatty acids compared to the control group and the non-affected animals. Overall, the non-affected animals of a flock affected by HL were similar to the healthy animals of the abattoir. The low acute phase protein levels for animals with HL together with high iron contents could indicate a previous malnutrition/starvation period and/or severe liver damage for those animals suffering from HL.     

Effect of strenuous exercise and ex vivo TLR3 and TLR4 stimulation on inflammatory gene expression in equine pulmonary leukocytes

The effects of strenuous exercise and ex vivo stimulation of TLR3 and TLR4 pathways on the expression of six inflammatory genes in equine pulmonary leukocytes were investigated. The genes tested were interferon-beta (IFN-β), interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10), chemokine (c-c motif) ligand 5 (RANTES) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). We hypothesized that strenuous exercise would modulate basal gene expression on one hand and modulate the response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and to polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (Poly IC) on the other hand. Eight young Thoroughbred mares were selected for the experiment. Bronchoalveolar lavages were performed on horses 48 h before and 24h after the completion of treadmill exercise until fatigue. Differential counts were performed on the bronchoalveolar lavage cells. Real-time PCR was used to quantify cytokine expression in pulmonary leukocytes. Target gene expression was normalized to the expression of three housekeeping genes (HKG). There were no significant differences in the mRNA expression of the six cytokines between pre-exercise and post-exercise cells. LPS and Poly IC induced respectively significant increases of TNF-α, IFN-β, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α, IFN-β, IP-10 and RANTES, both before and after exercise. However, exercise induced a significant decrease of the genes response to LPS and Poly IC. These findings may suggest that strenuous treadmill exercise exerts a deleterious effect on part of the pulmonary immune response in horses 24h following an intense physical activity.