Evaluation of Five Most Commonly Grown Cotton Cultivars (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Under Mediterranean Conditions: Productivity and Fibre Quality

Studies were conducted in four regions of central Greece (Larisa, Karditsa, Livadia, Thiva), to evaluate the productivity and fibre properties (fibre strength and fibre length) of the five most commonly grown cotton cultivars in these regions. The experiments lasted for 6 years (1995–2000). All the characteristics tested were strongly influenced by the factors ‘year’, ‘cultivar’ and ‘region’. Significant cultivar × region, year × cultivar, region × year and cultivar × region × year interactions occurred for all the characteristics studied. The cultivar Alegria had the highest seed‐cotton and lint yield, while Aria had the lowest ones. Both cultivars gave the highest mean lint percentage but the lowest mean boll weight (MBW). Alegria had the lowest fibre strength, while Aria had the highest. The Acala‐type cultivars, Acala SJ2 and Zeta 2, had intermediate seed‐cotton and lint yield, while Vered 171 had high seed‐cotton and satisfactory lint yield. The three cultivars mentioned above had the highest MBW and very good fibre strength. Positive correlation was observed between fibre strength and length. In spite of the fact that mean fibre length was statistically the same in all cultivars, it was influenced by the factor ‘year’, as a result of different weather conditions. The year 1996 was the most unfavourable one for seed‐cotton yield and MBW, because it was characterized by lower than average air temperatures and rather dry conditions for all study sites. The factor ‘region’, a combination of different climatic conditions and cultural practices, influenced significantly all the parameters studied.     

Dietary crude protein concentration does not affect the leucine requirement of growing dogs

The objective of the present study was to examine the interaction between graded levels of leucine and dietary crude protein. Dose–response curves were generated using four 3 × 3 Latin squares (two dogs/square). Each square represented one of two concentrations of crude protein (140 or 280 g/kg diet) and one of two combinations of three concentrations of leucine (5.0, 7.0 and 9.0 g/kg diet or 9.0, 11 and 13 g/kg diet). An additional experiment was performed by feeding crude protein at 210 g/kg diet with either 7.0 or 11 g leucine/kg diet. Weight gain, food intake, nitrogen retention, plasma albumin and plasma amino acids were measured. The requirement was determined to be the minimum leucine concentration required to maximize weight gain and nitrogen retention. For 8–14-week-old male Beagle dogs, 140 g crude protein/kg diet in a diet containing 18 kJ metabolizable energy/g does not appear to support maximal growth. The leucine requirement was not affected by doubling the dietary crude protein level from 140 to 280 g/kg diet. From these results, the leucine requirement of 8–14-week-old Beagle dogs appears to be 11 g leucine/kg diet independent of the level of dietary crude protein, whereas dogs over 14 weeks require only 7 g leucine/kg diet for maximal nitrogen retention.     

关于促进瘦肉生长的饲喂方法

随着瘦肉生长率的提高 ,猪对氨基酸的需要量也增加了。能影响生产水平的一切因素都能影响猪对氨基酸的需要量 ,比如遗传、健康、温度 ,等等。在确定氨基酸需要量的时候对这些因素都应加以考虑。     

Lack of effect of recombinant bovine interferon alpha I1 in the treatment of experimentally-induced bovine warts.

Fifteen four-month old calves were inoculated, on five scarified sites on each side of the neck, with a suspension of ground wart tissue from a steer naturally infected with bovine papilloma virus 1. Warts started to appear about one month postinfection and were measurable in ten calves two months postinfection, when the trial started. After stratification on the size of the warts, all fifteen calves were allocated randomly to one of the following treatment groups: twice weekly intramuscular injections of 5 mg recombinant bovine interferon alpha I1 (rBoIFN alpha I1), weekly injection of 5 mg of rBoIFN alpha I1 or placebo, for three weeks. The biggest wart on each calf at the beginning of the trial was measured and photographs of all warts were taken weekly for five weeks. An analysis of covariance on the log of the volumes of warts during the five weeks of the trial showed a significant difference between groups (p = 0.026). Warts in treated groups tended to grow faster than in the placebo group.     

Radiographic interpretation of normal skeletal variations and pseudolesions in the equine foot.

Effective radiographic interpretation requires a veterinarian who is knowledgeable of equine limb anatomy and the various principles that affect the resulting image. The normal and its variations must be recognized and understood before the abnormal can be confidently identified as pathologic. Proper patient positioning and sound radiographic technique are mandatory if reliable diagnostic radiographs are to be produced. This review emphasizes equine foot radiographic variations of normal and pseudolesions that occur with commonly used radiographic views performed in equine practice.     

Relationships between clinical and pathological signs of disease in calves infected with Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica type A1.

Respiratory disease was induced in 16 calves, and the terminal clinical signs of disease and postmortem pathological observations were recorded. By Spearman's correlation coefficient, the respiratory rate, rectal temperature and clinical scores of the calves were significantly correlated with the extent of lung consolidation. The respiratory rate was the clinical sign most consistently correlated with the other clinical and pathological signs of respiratory disease.     

Nitrogen uptake by ryegrass from organic wastes applied to a sandy loam soil

Sandy‐textured Mediterranean soils are invariably depleted in organic matter and supply only small amounts of N to crops. To compensate for these deficiencies, we tested the N supply from six organic wastes applied to a Cambic Arenosol in pots growing ryegrass. The results showed that the behaviour of the wastes in supplying N to a ryegrass crop grown in this soil can be predicted by observing their performance in laboratory aerobic incubations. The N made available during these incubations fitted well to a one‐pool kinetic model.