Clinical,pathologic, and toxicologic characterization of Salvia reflexa (lance-leaf sage) poisoning in cattle fed contaminated hay

Salvia reflexa (lance-leaf sage)-contaminated alfalfa hay was fed to ~500 mixed-breed beef cattle. Within hours of exposure, nearly half of the cattle developed lethargy, anorexia, depression, and recumbency, followed by bellowing, colic, and death. Even though the uneaten contaminated hay was removed the first day, nearly 100 animals died within the first 48 h. Three of these cattle were examined postmortem, and tissues and hay samples were collected for microscopic and chemical analysis. Several days later, a smaller number of the clinically poisoned cattle developed neurologic disease with aberrant behavior, aggression, icterus, blindness, exhaustion, and death. A total of 165 cattle were fatally poisoned. Poisoned cattle had swollen, dark, mottled livers that had a prominent nutmeg-like lobular pattern on cut section. Histologically, there was severe centrilobular-to-panlobular hepatic necrosis with marked hepatocellular swelling, degeneration, and necrosis. The surviving cattle developed liver disease characterized by altered serum biochemical analyses and microscopic hepatocellular degeneration and necrosis. In subsequent biopsies and analysis, these lesions resolved within 6–7 mo. After confirming toxicity of the hay in cattle, goats, and mice, followed by a mouse bioassay–guided chemical fractionation process, Salvia reflexa was identified as the contaminant in the hay responsible for the hepatotoxicity. S. reflexa has not been reported previously to cause fatal hepatotoxicity in livestock in North America, to our knowledge.     

Use of a cyclic high-pressure sodium lamp to inhibit flowering of chrysanthemum and velvet sage

Photoperiod is commonly controlled in the commercial production of ornamental crops to induce or prevent flowering. Flower induction in short-day (SD) plants can be prevented or delayed when the natural daylength is short by providing low-intensity lighting during the dark period. A stationary high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamp with an oscillating aluminum parabolic reflector (cyclic HPS) has been developed to provide intermittent lighting to greenhouse crops. We determined the efficacy of a cyclic HPS lamp at preventing flowering in SD plants garden chrysanthemum [Chrysanthemum × grandiflorum (Ramat.) Kitam.] ‘Bianca’, pot chrysanthemum ‘Auburn’, and velvet sage (Salvia leucantha L.) relative to traditional night interruption (NI) lighting strategies. Plants were grown in a glass-glazed greenhouse at a mean daily temperature of 19.5–20.7 °C with natural SD photoperiods. NI lighting was delivered during the middle of the night (2230–0230 h) from a 600 W cyclic HPS lamp mounted at one gable end of the greenhouse or from incandescent (INC) lamps that were illuminated for the entire 4 h (CONT INC) or for 6 min every 30 min for 4 h. Plants under cyclic HPS were grown at lateral distances of 1, 4, 7, 10, or 13 m from under the lamp. Control plants were grown under an uninterrupted 15 h skotoperiod. As the distance from the cyclic HPS lamp increased from 1 to 13 m, the maximum irradiance measured during the NI decreased from 25.4 to 0.3 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ and time to visible inflorescence (VI) and the number of nodes at VI decreased. All species had a VI within 54 d, but ≤10% of plants flowered when grown at a lateral distance of 1 or 4 m from the cyclic HPS lamp or under CONT INC. Plants grown without NI had a VI 2 to 15 d earlier and flowered 7 to 24 d earlier than plants grown at 10 or 13 m from the cyclic HPS. All garden chrysanthemums flowered under cyclic INC, whereas velvet sage and pot chrysanthemum had 15% and 35% flowering, respectively. These results indicate that a cyclic HPS lamp can be used effectively to delay flower induction and prevent flowering in these species when NI is delivered at ≥2.4 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹.     

Nitrogen and carbon mineralization of semi-arid shrubland soil exposed to long-term atmospheric nitrogen deposition

Anthropogenic N-deposition represents a significant input of N into semi-arid chaparral and coastal sage scrub (CSS) shrublands of southern California. High levels of atmospheric N deposition have the potential to increase soil C and N mineralization, and we hypothesize that semi-arid shrubland soil exposed to long-term (decades) high N deposition will have significantly higher C and N mineralization potentials. This hypothesis was tested in a laboratory incubation where the inorganic N (NH₄+NO₃) and CO₂ production of soils maintained at a constant temperature of 25°C and a soil moisture of 0.25 g H₂O/g (65% water-filled pore space) were sampled sequentially over a 50-week period. The temporal trend in cumulative C and N mineralization was well described by a first- and zero-order model, respectively. Long-term atmospheric N deposition significantly increased potential N mineralization but not C mineralization, and both the rate and total N mineralization were significantly positively correlated with the surface (0–10 cm) soil δ ¹⁵N natural abundance and negatively correlated with the surface soil C:N ratio. While the incubation techniques used here do not provide realistic estimates of in situ C or N mineralization, these assays indicate that atmospheric N deposition has significantly altered ecosystem N storage and cycling.     

S3307浸种对一串红生长发育的影响

[目的]为筛选盆栽一串红株型控制的最佳浓度。[方法]分别用5、10、20、30、40 mg/L的烯效唑(S3307)对一串红妙火种子进行浸种,研究S3307对一串红生长发育的影响。[结果]S3307对一串红的发芽率具有明显的抑制作用,随着浓度的增加,发芽率降低。S3307对一串红的营养生长,叶片面积均有抑制作用,且浓度越高,抑制的效果越明显。S3307浸种对茎粗、植株节间距有明显的抑制作用,浓度为20 mg/L时,着叶节指数增加到最大;S3307浓度越高,始花期延迟时间越长,花序的长度越短。[结论]20～30 mg/L的S3307处理一串红,其植株矮化,节间距缩短,叶色加深,花序整齐,花期适中,叶片大小均一,为妙火株型控制的最佳浓度。     

电子束和赤霉素复合处理一串红干种子对M1代生长发育的影响

一串红干种子经电子束辐照处理后，以赤霉素进行复合处理。对处理后的一串红种子的发芽率、成活率、盛花期的株高、花轴长、单轴花朵数、花粉生活力、叶绿素含量以及叶解剖结构等参数进行统计分析，结果表明，一串红的电子束处理半致死剂量在55Gy左右，85Gy为电子束处理一串红的致死剂量，电子束与赤霉素复合处理明显减轻了植株的损伤，25mg／L的赤霉素为最适宜处理浓度。     

矮壮素对一串红幼苗生长的影响

研究了不同浓度的矮壮素(CCC)喷施一串红穴盘苗对其植株高度、叶面积、叶绿素含量、全株干重和根冠比的影响。结果表明:浓度0.01%、0.02%、0.04%CCC均能明显抑制一串红穴盘苗的株高,使其株型紧凑,叶面积减小,叶绿素含量增加,叶色浓绿。其中,以浓度0.02%CCC处理的效果最好。     

Historical change in coastal sage scrub in southern California,USA in relation to fire frequency and air pollution

Invasions resulting in the transformation of one ecosystem to another are an increasingly widespread phenomenon. While it is clear that these conversions, particularly between grassland and shrubland systems, have severe consequences, it is often less clear which factors are associated with these conversions. We resampled plots from the 1930s (Weislander VTMs) to test whether two widely assumed factors, changes in fire frequency and nitrogen deposition, are associated with the conversion of coastal sage scrublands to exotic grasslands in southern California. Over the 76-year period, coastal sage scrub cover declined by 49%, being replaced predominantly by exotic grassland species. Grassland encroachment was positively correlated with increased fire frequency and, in areas with low fire frequencies, air pollution (percent fossil carbon as indicated by ∂¹⁴C, likely correlated with nitrogen deposition). We conclude that increases in fire frequency and air pollution over the last several decades in southern California may have facilitated the conversion of coastal sage shrubland to exotic grassland systems.     

自适应域多群体遗传算法求解发酵动力学模型参数

从道统说的形成与释奠仪的开展可以看到朱熹的学术思想、心志理念与具体礼仪开展之间交相并进的特点。朱熹的沧州精舍祭祀实现了二者的统合,但在道统谱系的论述与祭祀对象上仍然存在一些差异。     

Dietary Supplementation of Oregano and Sage Dried Leaves on Performances and Meat Quality of Rabbits

The aim of this research was to evaluate the dietary supplementation 1% （w/w） of oregano and sage dried leaves on performances and meat quality of broiler rabbits. A feeding trial, which lasted 48 d, was carried out on 105 male Bianca Italiana rabbits randomly divided in seven groups and fed ad libitum. At the end of the trial ten animals per group were slaughtered and samples of dorsal muscle were taken in order to perform laboratory analysis. Mortality rate did not statistically differ between groups. Growth performances of animals fed diets supplemented with aromatic plants were higher （P〈0.05） than those of animals of control group, whereas carcass parameters were not affected by treatments excepting for the slaughter weight that showed the same trend as growth performances. Meat quality traits, oxidative lipid stability and fatty acid proifle were not inlfuenced by aromatic plant supplementation. In conclusion, oregano and sage in form of dried leaves can be used in rabbit without adverse effects on performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits.     

一串红新品种神州红的选育与SRAP鉴定

用一串红品种帝王自交系种子搭载"神舟4 号"宇宙飞船,进行空间诱变处理,诱变后代材料经多代选择,育成了新品种神州红,2008年12月通过浙江省非主要农作物品种委员会认定。与原品种帝王相比,神州红的开花期、单花序观赏期和成活率明显改善,但其他性状差异不显著。SRAP分析结果显示,在所用的33对SRAP引物组合中有17对呈现多态性,二者的遗传相似系数为0.945,说明空间诱变处理引起了一串红遗传物质的变异。本研究的结果证明,空间诱变对一串红是一种有效的育种途径,SRAP技术是分析空间诱变的有效方法。