Conservation of Mediterranean oak woodlands: understorey dynamics under different shrub management

The effect of experimental disturbances on the dynamics of a shrub community was studied on a ‘Montado’ ecosystem, in southern Portugal. The evolution of the community physiognomy, composition and diversity were monitored after shrub clearing followed by biomass removal, deposition on soil surface and incorporation with the soil, over a 9-year period. Maximum shrub density was recorded in the first year after the disturbances, excepting in mulched plots which showed the greatest number of individuals 1 year later. The increment of shrub leaf biomass was very fast in the first 3 years, whereas wood production was slower but occurred along the whole study period. At the end of the study, leaf and wood biomass was still significantly lower than in the pre-disturbance situation. The variation pattern of leaf area index was similar to that of leaf biomass. The evolution of total plant cover and diversity was similar across treatments. The highest species richness and diversity were recorded 2 years after cutting, decreasing afterwards with the increasing dominance of shrubs. Thus it seems likely that, although a 9 year period is too short for these communities to reach steady equilibrium, they are very resistant and resilient to disturbances, as regeneration was fast and vegetation dynamics was not influenced by differences among treatments. We can conclude that shrub clearing promotes biodiversity and the time of permanence of shrub patches depends on the particular goal we want to achieve.     

Mechanized thinning of walnut plantations established on ex-arable land

The study compares two product strategies—chips versus firewood—and two technological levels—manual versus mechanized—as applied to the thinning of walnut agroforestry plantations, established on ex-arable land. Such plantations are widespread all across Europe, and their establishment was subsidized under the provisions of EU Directive 2080/90, and of regional grant schemes. Field test data were used to build a simple deterministic model for estimating thinning productivity and cost under varying work and economic conditions. This model can assist prospective users when checking the profitability of an operation, or when assessing the competitiveness of alternative options. Removing nurse alder from young walnut plantations yields between 25 and 50 t of fresh biomass per hectare and is crucial to the good development of the stand. The study shows that the removal of nurse alder from walnut plantations is economically viable, and it can also offer some profits if stand and market conditions are favourable. As a rule, the average DBH of removal trees should not be smaller than 12 cm. Best results are obtained with mechanized harvesting, which does not seem to cause heavier stand and soil damage than manual harvesting. Manual harvesting is preferable only if the annual utilization of machinery is very low, and in this case it should be geared to firewood production. The manual whole-tree harvesting (WTH) method used in this study offers the lowest performance under all conditions, and should be replaced with some other manual alternative to WTH. Mechanized WTH offers a significant cost reduction over mechanized short-wood (SWS) harvesting, but this difference is still rather limited: hence, other parameters come into play when deciding what system to apply, and namely product price and mass output. In this respect, one also has to consider the cost of managing the harvesting residue, and that of fertilizing, if soil nutrient depletion is to be feared.     

Developmental expression of glutathione-S-transferase in maize and its possible connection with herbicide tolerance

Summary Crop improvement for tolerance to specific herbicides is an important breeding target, since molecules performing well with regard to environmental safety are frequently not completely selective for crops. The glutathione (GSH)/glutathione-S-transferase (GST) system is a general mechanism of detoxification that in higher plants may confer tolerance to some herbicides. GSH level and GST activity were measured in different maize inbred lines, in the absence or in the presence of EPTC (a thiocarbamate) and of Alachlor (a chloroacetanilide); a wide genetic variability was observed for these parameters, which appear to be involved in plant tolerance to herbicides. Isozyme analysis was performed on roots, leaves, scutellum, pollen, coleoptile, mesocotyl of the same inbreds: it revealed the presence of many GST forms in maize, showing high polymorphism; they are controlled by at least five genes, the expression of which is developmentally regulated in the different tissues analyzed.     

Palatal sclerotherapy for the treatment of intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate in 51 standardbred racehorses

This retrospective study evaluated the efficacy and side effects of palatal sclerotherapy in standardbred racehorses suspected to have intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate (IDDSP). Fifty-one horses were treated with multiple endoscopically guided injections of 3% sodium tetradecyl sulfate in the soft palate. Two groups were identified: those that had respiratory noises during exercise (n = 27) and those that did not (n = 24). Treatment was well-tolerated. Furthermore, horses significantly reduced their racing times for the last 400 m compared with their times before treatment and even when their times were compared to the mean times for horses in the same race. In conclusion, palatal sclerotherapy appears to be a suitable alternative therapeutic option for horses suspected to have IDDSP.     

Epidemiology of canine heartworm in its southern distribution limit in South America: Risk factors, inter-annual trend and spatial patterns

This study was aimed at understanding some aspects of the canine heartworm epidemiology in the southern distribution limit of the parasite in South America. With this objective, 19,298 blood samples of owned dogs from 65 localities of 13 municipalities of Buenos Aires Province were tested for Dirofilaria immitis circulating microfilariae and/or female antigens. The overall heartworm prevalence was 1.63% by microhematocrit tube technique (n=19,136), 3.65% by modified Knott (n=713), and 14.41% by antigen test kit (n=118). Microfilaremic dogs showed a median of 1933 microfilariae per millilitre (q1=375, q3=5625, n=100). Male dogs belonging to breeds of short hair and large size recorded significantly higher prevalences than the other categories. Also, the prevalence increased significantly with the age and only dogs younger than 12 months were not found infected. A clear decreasing trend of the annual prevalence was observed during the whole study period, from 3.91% in 2001 to 1.17% in 2006. D. immitis-infected dogs were detected in 32 localities of 9 municipalities (prevalence range: 0.2-6.7%). Generalized linear models were used to assess associations between heartworm prevalence and environmental variables. The resulting significant models were univariate and included variables related with soil cover and human population density. The best model predicted maximum heartworm prevalences around middle values of bare soil cover, and lower at high and low covers. According to our analyses, canine heartworm infection in urban temperate Argentina could be described as relatively low, endemic, and spatially heterogeneous. Host and environmental factors affecting heartworm transmission at local level were identified and discussed.     

In silico structural characteristics and α-amylase inhibitory properties of Ric c 1 and Ric c 3, allergenic 2S albumins from Ricinus communis seeds

The major Ricinus communis allergens are the 2S albumins, Ric c 1 and Ric c 3. These proteins contain a trypsin/α-amylase inhibitor family domain, suggesting that they have a role in insect resistance. In this study, we verified that Ric c 1 and Ric c 3 inhibited the α-amylase activity of Callosobruchus maculatus, Zabrotes subfasciatus, and Tenebrio molitor (TMA) larvae as well as mammalian α-amylase. The toxicity of 2S albumin was determined through its incorporation in C. maculatus larvae as part of an artificial diet. Bioassays revealed that 2S albumin reduced larval growth by 20%. We also analyzed the tridimensional structures of Ric c 1 and Ric c 3 by (a) constructing a comparative model of Ric c 1 based on Ric c 3 NMR structure and (b) constructing the theoretical structure of the Ric c 1-TMA and Ric c 3-TMA complexes. Our biological and theoretical results revealed that Ric c 1 and Ric c 3 are a new class of α-amylase inhibitors. They could potentially be used to help design inhibitors that would be useful in diverse fields, ranging from diabetes treatment to crop protection.     

Topoedaphic Variability and Patch Burning in Sand Sagebrush Shrubland

Patch burning is the deliberate application of fire to a management unit in a heterogeneous manner, resulting in the heterogeneous distribution of grazing animal impact. The application of patch burning typically has been discussed within a framework of imposing heterogeneity on a homogeneous landscape or management unit, yet most landscapes and management units are actually distinguished by an inherent level of heterogeneity. Within landscapes and management units, differing topography and soils interact to create patterns of contrasting patches, also known as topoedaphic sites. Thus, introduction of a heterogeneous disturbance such as patch burning on a landscape or management unit is more accurately described as the imposition of one layer of heterogeneity onto a pre-existing layer of heterogeneity. We examined effects of patch burning on vegetation structure and animal distribution across contrasting topographical sites in sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia Torr.) shrubland of the southern Great Plains in North America. Landscapes at our study site were characterized by an inherent amount of heterogeneity in vegetation structure due to variability in topoedaphic sites, and the patch burning treatment superimposed additional heterogeneity that was constrained by topoedaphic characteristics. Shrub-dominated sites were more dependent on patch burning for heterogeneity of vegetation structure than sites dominated by short grasses. Distribution patterns of cattle (Bos taurus) were not significantly different across treatments, though they followed patterns similar to previous studies. We demonstrated that heterogeneity was dependent on topoedaphic patterns and the application of patch burning management for heterogeneity was dependent on the inherent variability of a landscape.     

mRNA expression of canine ATP10C, a P4-type ATPase, is positively associated with body condition score

Mouse and human Atp10c genes are strong candidates for changes in bodyweight and glucose homeostasis. Using comparative genomic analysis, a novel canine P4-type ATPase, ATP10C, was identified. Expression of ATP10C was compared between sex-matched lean (body condition score, BCS<8; n=7) and obese (BCS?8, n=8) client-owned dogs of comparable ages. Canine ATP10C is highly expressed in visceral and subcutaneous fat at approximately 3-fold levels compared to the omental adipose depot. There was a 5-fold significant increase (P<0.0001) in mRNA expression of ATP10C in dogs with a BCS?8.     

ASSESSMENT OF A RADIOTHERAPY PATIENT IMMOBILIZATION DEVICE USING SINGLE PLANE PORT RADIOGRAPHS AND A REMOTE COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY SCANNER

Radiation treatment requires a precise procedure for interfraction repositioning of the patient. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of our fixation device in treatment position and to evaluate the setup accuracy with two different methods. The positioning data of 19 canine patients with tumors in the head region (oral, nasal, cerebral) treated with photon or proton irradiation were included in this study. The patients were immobilized by means of an individualized fixation device. Focus was set upon interfraction displacement with systematic and random components. In one method, treatment position was evaluated using single plane port radiographs and megavoltage x-rays. In the other method, two orthogonal CT-topograms were acquired to evaluate the precision of positioning of the patient in the immobilization device. Systematic and random displacements were calculated and presented as mean values with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. In spite of a difference between both methods, the positioning seemed to be accurate within the expected range. It seems that a safety margin of 3.7 mm would be enough for both methods to take into account systematic and random position variability in the fixation device, thereby preventing geometric inaccuracies of treatment delivery. The reported immobilization protocol provides accurate patient immobilization for photon and conformal proton radiation therapy.