Acute Phase Responses of Different Positions of High-Goal (Elite) Polo Ponies

The aim of this study was to investigate the acute phase response (APR) in 15 horses by quantifying physiological venous blood variables and serum acute phase proteins (APP) at 5 minutes and 6 and 12 hours after a training match of high-goal polo. The horses were divided into three experimental groups based on their team positions, including defense (n = 6), midfield (n = 5), and attack (n = 4). Serum proteinograms were obtained by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Data were evaluated using analysis of variance for repeated measures. The match represented a high-intensity stimulus for all positions. Defenders appeared to use the anaerobic pathway more than the other positions, as shown by their lower pH and greater lactatemia. Alterations in muscle membrane permeability were observed in all horses, as seen by the increase in serum creatine kinase activity without a correlation with APR. Significant elevations in total serum protein, albumin, ceruloplasmin, haptoglobin, alpha-1 antitrypsin, and 23-kDa protein were seen only during the course of the physical exertion of the match, although there were no differences in these values among positions of the team. After 6 hours of the match, the concentration of transferrin declined, whereas that of alpha-1 acid glycoprotein remained unaltered at all assessed times. These results demonstrated that the defenders required the most use of the anaerobic pathway during the match, and that equestrian polo exercise triggers an acute phase response of relatively short duration; this APR is characterized as noninflammatory, as APR appears to be a physiological alteration related to the stress inherent in physical exercise.     

Throughput capacity of large quantities of chopped straw in partly slatted farrowing pens for loose housed sows

Abstract

The aim of the present paper was to study the throughput capacity (i.e. the ability of straw to drain through slatted flooring) of 15 kg of chopped straw used around the time of farrowing. A cohort study including 96 sows was conducted in two commercial herds, comparing chopped wheat straw of three length categories (mass median length 39, 70 and 130 mm). Straw with short and medium chop lengths was completely absent in 83% (plastic slats) and 85% (cast-iron slats), respectively, of the pens on Day 4 after farrowing, compared to 7% and 6% of pens provided with the longest straw category. We conclude that it is technically feasible to have an efficient throughput of straw and to maintain good pen hygiene in partly slatted farrowing pens provided with 15 kg of chopped straw at farrowing. However, straw chop lengths need to be adjusted to the type of slatted flooring used.     

Deoxynivalenol oligoglycosides: new "masked" fusarium toxins occurring in malt, beer, and breadstuff

The co-occurrence of deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside with its parent toxin, deoxynivalenol, has been recently documented in many cereal-based foods, especially in those produced by enzyme-catalyzed processes. The presence of this masked mycotoxin in the human diet has become an issue of health concern, mainly because of its assumed bioavailability. A selective immunoaffinity-based preconcentration strategy, followed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution orbitrap mass spectrometry, revealed that, in addition to the most common deoxynivalenol-3-glucoside, also oligoglycosylated deoxynivalenols with up to four bound hexose units were present in cereal-based products. The structure, origination, and fate of these deoxynivalenol conjugates during malt/beer production and bread baking have been thoroughly investigated. Special attention has been paid to the changes of deoxynivalenol conjugates enabled by industrial glycosidase-based enzymatic preparations. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the first study documenting the complexity of masked deoxynivalenol issue.     

Herded cattle and wild grazers partition water but share forage resources during dry years in East African savannas

Wild herbivore diversity and abundance have declined in African savannas for the past 20 years. Competition for forage resources between wild herbivore and livestock species might contribute to this decline, given habitat and diet overlap under conditions of resource limitation. Development of conservation and management strategies rely on understanding the spatial distribution of resources for livestock and wildlife, especially since the combination of transhumance pastoralism and wildlife conservation is common over Africa. We studied the distribution patterns of wild grazers in relation to cattle abundance, and distance to permanent and seasonal water bodies in semi-arid Kenya between 1983 and 2000. Cattle were abundant far from permanent water bodies during dry and wet years. Wild grazers less dependent on water also concentrated far from water during all years. Only wild grazer species more dependent on water remained concentrated close to water. Hence, wild grazers and cattle show spatial partitioning in the use of permanent and seasonal water bodies, but not in their forage resources. Our study provides no strong evidence of spatial displacement of wild grazers by cattle. We suggest that pastoralist decisions on cattle distribution do not need to negatively affect wildlife distribution and that coexistence can be possible through spatial partitioning. Our results show that pastoralist decisions play an important role in the interactions between livestock and wildlife in African savannas and that herd mobility is a key component in supporting sustainable use of resources for both wildlife and livestock.     

Scoring tail damage in pigs: an evaluation based on recordings at Swedish slaughterhouses

Background

There is increasing interest in recording tail damage in pigs at slaughter to identify problem farms for advisory purposes, but also for benchmarking within and between countries as part of systematic monitoring of animal welfare. However, it is difficult to draw conclusions when comparing prevalence’s between studies and countries partly due to differences in management (e.g. differences in tail docking and enrichment routines) and partly due to differences in the definition of tail damage.

Methods

Tail damage and tail length was recorded for 15,068 pigs slaughtered during three and four consecutive days at two slaughterhouses in Sweden. Tail damage was visually scored according to a 6-point scale and tail length was both visually scored according to a 5-point scale and recorded as tail length in centimetres for pigs with injured or shortened tails.

Results

The total prevalence of injury or shortening of the tail was 7.0% and 7.2% in slaughterhouse A and B, respectively. When only considering pigs with half or less of the tail left, these percentages were 1.5% and 1.9%, which is in line with the prevalence estimated from the routine recordings at slaughter in Sweden. A higher percentage of males had injured and/or shortened tails, and males had more severely bitten tails than females.

Conclusions

While the current method to record tail damage in Sweden was found to be reliable as a method to identify problem farms, it clearly underestimates the actual prevalence of tail damage. For monitoring and benchmarking purposes, both in Sweden and internationally, we propose that a three graded scale including both old and new tail damage would be more appropriate. The scale consists of one class for no tail damage, one for mild tail damage (injured or shortened tail with more than half of the tail remaining) and one for severe tail damage (half or less of the tail remaining).     

Are drought and wildfires turning Mediterranean cork oak forests into persistent shrublands?

In the Iberian Peninsula Mediterranean oak forests have been transformed into a mosaic landscape of four main patch-types: forests, savannas, shrublands and grasslands. We used aerial photographs over a period of 45 years (1958–2002) to quantify the persistence and rates of transitions between vegetation patch-types in southern Portugal, where cork oak is the dominant tree species. We used logistic regression to relate vegetation changes with topographical features and wildfire history. Over the 45 years, shrublands have been the most persistent patch-type (59%), and have been expanding; forests are also persistent (55%) but have been decreasing since 1985; savannas and grasslands were less persistent (33% and 15%, respectively). Shrublands persistence was significantly correlated with wildfire occurrence, particularly on southern exposures after 1995. In contrast, forest persistence decreased with wildfire occurrence, and forests were more likely to change into shrublands where wildfire had occurred after 1995.     

An Effect of Weather and Soil Conditions and Their Interaction on Infection of Leaves and Tubers of Potato with Bacteria <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clavibacter michiganensis</Emphasis> subsp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">sepedonicus</Emphasis>

The aim of research was to evaluate an effect of weather conditions in the years of study considering the air temperature and precipitation as well as granulometric distribution of soil, taking into account the temperature and moisture content, on asymptomatic infection caused by Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus (Cms) in leaves and tubers. The level of infection of leaves and tubers with Cms was differentiated by the thermal and humidity conditions occurring in the years of research. The granulometric distribution of soil (soil profile) had a significant effect on the level of leaf infection. In the year 2014, with moderate temperature and humidity, the highest intensity of leaves and tubers infection was observed on soil of the highest moisture content – sandy loam. In the years with extreme weather conditions, i.e. the drought in 2015 or the abundant rainfall in 2016, the most intensive infection was observed in leaves and tubers grown on soil of low humidity – slightly loamy sand and loamy sand. The degree of infection was found to decrease with increasing air temperature and precipitation level as well as with the increase of soil moisture. On the other hand, increasing soil temperature favoured infection in tubers.     

Properties and set-recovery of surface densified Norway spruce and European beech

The chemistry and wetting behaviour of surface densified wood were investigated using FT-IR spectroscopy and contact angle analyses. Furthermore, set-recovery of the surface under conditions of fluctuating humidity was measured and quantitative microscopy analyses were undertaken. FT-IR indicated that no significant chemical changes took place during the densification process. However, the wettability of the densified surfaces was significantly lower than unmodified surfaces. Following several high humidity-oven dry cycles, it was found that this densification process was almost completely reversible, i.e., there was full set-recovery.     

Comparison of the main bioactive compounds and antioxidant activities in garlic and white and red onions after treatment protocols

Polish garlic and white and red onions were subjected to blanching, boiling, frying, and microwaving for different periods of time, and then their bioactive compounds (polyphenols, flavonoids, flavanols, anthocyanins, tannins, and ascorbic acid) and antioxidant activities were determined. It was found that blanching and frying and then microwaving of garlic and onions did not decrease significantly the amounts of their bioactive compounds and the level of antioxidant activities ( P > 0.05). The HPLC profiles of free and soluble ester- and glycoside-bound phenolic acids showed that trans-hydroxycinnamic acids (caffeic, p-coumaric, ferulic, and sinapic) were as much as twice higher in garlic than in onions. Quercetin quantity was the highest in red onion among the studied vegetables. The electrophoretic separation of nonreduced garlic and onion proteins after boiling demonstrated their degradation in the range from 50 to 112 kDa.