Monitoring of leptospirosis seroprevalence in a colony of captive collared peccaries (Tayassu tajacu) from the Peruvian Amazon

Leptospirosis, an endemic zoonoses, is maintained in the environment by several wildlife species in the Peruvian Amazon. In order to evaluate the possible role of collared peccaries (CP) in the maintenance this disease, two serological surveys of leptospirosis were performed and zootechnical parameters were monitored in a captive CP colony in an interval of 27 months. Total seroprevalence changed from 100% (n = 27) to 86.4% (n = 22), with reactions to a diversity of serogroups of zoonotic importance. Serological reactions to Leptospira licerasiae serogroup Iquitos, a new species recently identified locally and Leptospira interrogans serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae were highly prevalent. The observation of leptospiral antibodies in both surveys, changes on serological reactions to different serogroups in large part of the herd and poor reproductive performances, provided an indication of the role of CP farms as a favourable environment for maintaining leptospirosis. Further research regarding the role of CP in the epidemiology of leptospirosis in the Peruvian Amazon is encouraged.     

Platelet-Rich Plasma as an Adjunctive Therapy for the Management of a Severe Chronic Distal Limb Wound in a Foal

Distal limb wounds are frequent in horses after traumatic events. The use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) represents a simple method of treating wounds in equines. A case of a chronic severely contaminated distal limb wound in an 8-month-old foal is presented. The patient was managed with the combination of standard wound therapy (debridement and bandages), surgery, and PRP obtained by a manual tube protocol. No complications were observed with the PRP treatment, and the foal was fully recovered 2 months later. The results from this case report indicate that PRP and its by-products (platelet-poor plasma) could be used as an adjunctive treatment in severe distal limb wounds in horses. A clinical controlled study should be performed to test this hypothesis.     

Determination of in vitro digestibility of forage species used in ruminant feeding

Within the evaluation of the quality of forage resources, the main parameter that defines it is the digestibility of dry matter, which together with the amount of neutral and acidic detergent fibers and crude protein constitutes the basic information to assess forages which are supplied in the diet of the cattle. This research was carried out at the University of Los Llanos (Villavicencio, Colombia), and its objective was to determine the digestibility of three forages in cattle through three different in vitro techniques: inoculation with ruminal fluid and with feces and enzymatic digestibility technique, making the comparison with the in situ technique in order to validate the techniques and equipment that are being used for these procedures. The following species were evaluated: Pennisetum purpureum (PP), Tithonia diversifolia (TD), and Bauhinia variegata (BV), assessing the curve and rate of degradation of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and total protein (TP) (0 to 72 h). A design of repeated measures was used, under which the analysis of variance was carried out to determine the ranges of deviation between the techniques and thus establish the trend of the data; the variables evaluated were the DM, NDF, and TP digestibilities of the three forages using the four techniques (three in vitro and one in situ). After verifying the differences between the variances of the digestibilities and checking the sphericity assumption with the Mauchly test, multiple comparisons were made with the Bonferroni test with a significance of 5%. The digestibility of DM, NDF, and TP varied between 38.62 and 44.22, 54.18 and 66.97, and 47.54 and 57.05%; 49.07 and 70.70, 72.52 and 75.44, and 62.61 and 74.02%; 29.93 and 34.84, 26.21 and 70.88, and 25.67 and 50.60% respectively in forages PP, TD, and BV, depending on the technique used for their estimation. Despite finding statistically significant differences between several of the comparisons made in the digestibility techniques, a high coefficient of determination and a high correlation between the in vitro estimations with respect to the in situ estimation were found; therefore, it is possible to use these techniques routinely thus avoiding the need to have cattle with fistulae to perform digestibility tests, with enzymatic digestibility technique being the most practical one.

     

Transgressive segregation in inter and intraspecific crosses of barley

Summary Six populations of F₂-derived lines of barley and their parents were evaluated for heading date, plant height, grain yield, bundle weight, and harvest index in a replicated experiment in the field. These data were used to estimate the minimum number of effective factor pairs segregating for each trait, the number of favorable factors contributed by each parent in a cross, and the frequencies and magnitudes of transgressive segregates.Heading date, plant height, and harvest index were controlled by three to four effective factor pairs, whereas grain yield and bundle weight were controlled by five or more.All three H. spontaneum strains used in our study contributed one or more useful genes for each of the traits, grain yield, heading date, plant height, bundle weight, and harvest index. Therefore, it seems that H. spontaneum can be a useful source of favorable genes for quantitative traits, especially for grain yield, which could be incorporated into barley varieties readily by backcrossing. Transgressive segregates for grain yield in the interspecific crosses may provide the basic materials for improving the productivity of cultivated barley varieties.Journal Paper No. J-9760 of the Iowa Agric. and Home Econ. Exp. Stn., Ames, IA 50011. Project 2227. Supported in part by a grant from the Science and Education Administration-Cooperative Research, United States Department of Agriculture.     

Soil erosion modelling of burned and mulched soils following a Mediterranean forest wildfire

Soil erosion modelling applied to burned forests in different global regions can be unreliable because of a lack of verification data. Here, we evaluated the following three erosion models: (1) Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP), (2) Morgan-Morgan-Finney (MMF) and (3) Universal Soil Loss Equation-Modified (USLE-M). Using field plots that were either untreated or mulched with straw, this study involved observations of soil loss at the event scale at a burned pine forest in Central Eastern Spain. The erosion predictions of the three models were analysed for goodness-of-fit. Optimization of the MMF model with a new procedure to estimate the C-factor resulted in a satisfactory erosion prediction capacity in burned plots with or without the mulching treatment. The WEPP model underestimated erosion in the unburned areas and largely overestimated the soil loss in burned areas. The accuracy of soil loss estimation by the USLE-M model was also poor. Calibration of the curve numbers and C-factors did not improve the USLE-M model estimation. Therefore, we conclude that an optimized MMF model was the most accurate way to estimate soil loss and recommend this approach for in Mediterranean burned forests with or without postfire mulching. This study gives land managers insight about the choice of the most suitable model for erosion predictions in burned forests.     

Astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis Prevents Oxidative Stress on Human Endothelial Cells without Toxicity

Astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant, is a good candidate for the prevention of intracellular oxidative stress. The aim of the study was to compare the antioxidant activity of astaxanthin present in two natural extracts from Haematococcus pluvialis, a microalgae strain, with that of synthetic astaxanthin. Natural extracts were obtained either by solvent or supercritical extraction methods. UV, HPLC-DAD and (HPLC-(atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI)+)/ion trap-MS) characterizations of both natural extracts showed similar compositions of carotenoids, but different percentages in free astaxanthin and its ester derivatives. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay showed that natural extracts containing esters displayed stronger antioxidant activities than free astaxanthin. Their antioxidant capacities to inhibit intracellular oxidative stress were then evaluated on HUVEC cells. The intracellular antioxidant activity in natural extracts was approximately 90-times higher than synthetic astaxanthin (5 µM). No modification, neither in the morphology nor in the viability, of vascular human cells was observed by in vitro biocompatibility study up to 10 µM astaxanthin concentrations. Therefore, these results revealed the therapeutic potential of the natural extracts in vascular human cell protection against oxidative stress without toxicity, which could be exploited in prevention and/or treatment of cardiovascular diseases.     

Plasma and synovial fluid endothelin-1 and nitric oxide concentrations in horses with and without joint disease

OBJECTIVE: To compare plasma and synovial fluid endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations in clinically normal horses and horses with joint disease. ANIMALS: 36 horses with joint disease, and 15 horses without joint disease. PROCEDURE: Horses with joint disease were assigned to 1 of the 3 groups (ie, synovitis, degenerative joint disease [DJD], or joint sepsis groups) on the basis of findings on clinical and radiographic examination and synovial fluid analysis. Endothelin-1 and NO concentrations were measured in plasma from blood samples, collected from the jugular vein and ipsilateral cephalic or saphenous vein of the limb with an affected or unaffected joint, as well as in synovial fluid samples obtained via arthrocentesis from the involved joint. RESULTS: Plasma ET-1 concentrations between affected and unaffected groups were not significantly different. Median concentration and concentration range of ET-1 in synovial fluid obtained from the joint sepsis group (35.830 pg/mL, 7926 to 86.614 pg/mL; n = 7) were significantly greater than values from the synovitis (17.531 pg/mL, 0.01 to 46.908 pg/mL; 18), DJD (22.858 pg/mL, 0.01 to 49.990 pg/mL; 10), and unaffected (10.547 pg/mL, 0.01 to 35.927 pg/mL; 10) groups. Plasma and synovial fluid NO concentrations between affected and unaffected groups were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Endothelin-1 is locally synthesized in the joints of horses with various types of joint disease. Synovial fluid concentrations of ET-1 varied among horses with joint disease, with concentrations significantly higher in the synovial fluid of horses with joint sepsis. These results indicate that ET-1 may play a role in the pathophysiologic mechanism of joint disease in horses.