Laparoscopic Application of PGE2 to the Uterine Tube Surface Enhances Fertility in Selected Subfertile Mares

Topical application of prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) gel to the surface of the uterine tubes via a laparoscopic procedure improved embryo recovery rates or pregnancy rates in 28 subfertile mares suspected of uterine tubal pathology. Gelatinous masses may occlude the lumen of the uterine tube and prevent sperm from reaching the site of fertilization or prevent embryos from reaching the uterus. PGE₂ is secreted by the early equine embryo, promoting passage of the embryo into the uterus; topical administration of PGE₂ onto the surface of the uterine tube has been shown to stimulate early transport of the embryo into the uterus. Embryos were produced or a pregnancy was obtained from 24 of the 28 barren mares treated with direct laparoscopic application of 0.2 mg of PGE₂ to their uterine tubes. Mares had been barren for an average duration of 1.9 ± 0.6 years and an average of 6.9 ± 3.8 estrous cycles prior to treatment, without donating an embryo or becoming pregnant. Seventeen of 20 mares bred as embryo donors produced one or more embryos with an average of 2.1 ± 1.9 embryos collected per mare (0.45 embryos per cycle) after PGE₂ treatment. Seven of 8 mares bred to carry their own pregnancy became pregnant within the first two cycles following PGE₂ treatment. These 8 mares were bred an average of 5.6 ± 1.8 cycles without a pregnancy prior to treatment. The laparoscopic PGE₂ procedure was performed during various stages of the estrous cycle; the stage varied among treated mares.     

Comparison of Efficacy of Two Dose Rates of Histrelin for Inducing Ovulation in Broodmares

Between February 14 and April 26, 2012, 75 broodmares (7 maiden, 11 barren, and 57 foaling) maintained on pasture in southeast Texas were examined three times weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) by transrectal palpation and ultrasonography. On Tuesday or Thursday, mares in estrus with uterine edema, a relaxed cervix, and a dominant follicle ≥30-mm diameter were alternately assigned to treatment with 0.5 mg of intramuscular (IM) histrelin (group 1) or 0.25 mg IM histrelin (group 2). Ovulation was confirmed by ultrasound examination. No differences in proportion of maiden plus barren (96%) compared to foaling (86%) mares ovulating within 2 days was found (P > .10); therefore, responses for all mares were combined for analysis. No differences in ovulation rates within 2 days were noted for 0.5 mg histrelin compared to those for 0.25 mg histrelin treatment (42 of 46, 91%; 44 of 52, 85%; P > .10). No differences were detected between response rates to 0.5 or to 0.25 mg histrelin for any month (P > .10). The use of 0.5 or 0.25 mg histrelin were found to be effective treatments for inducing ovulation within 2 days of administration throughout the early breeding season.     

Screening Mangrove Endophytic Fungi for Antimalarial Natural Products

We conducted a screening campaign to investigate fungi as a source for new antimalarial compounds. A subset of our fungal collection comprising Chinese mangrove endophytes provided over 5000 lipophilic extracts. We developed an accelerated discovery program based on small-scale cultivation for crude extract screening and a high-throughput malaria assay. Criteria for hits were developed and high priority hits were subjected to scale-up cultivation. Extracts from large scale cultivation were fractionated and these fractions subjected to both in vitro malaria and cytotoxicity screening. Criteria for advancing fractions to purification were developed, including the introduction of a selectivity index and by dereplication of known metabolites. From the Chinese mangrove endophytes, four new compounds (14–16, 18) were isolated including a new dimeric tetrahydroxanthone, dicerandrol D (14), which was found to display the most favorable bioactivity profile.     

Importance of personality traits in horses to breeders and riders

Especially in horses, personality traits play an important role because horses' behavior influences their quality as a riding partner. In contrast to that, no objective assessment of horses' personality traits is available at present. Although initial efforts are made in this field, a successful implementation of behavior tests into horse performance tests depends on the acceptance of the riders and breeders. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the importance of personality traits to breeders and riders as well as the degree of riders' acceptance of a temperament test as a more objective means of assessing equine personality traits. Using a web-based survey consisting of a 41-item questionnaire, a total of 1087 competition riders (49.3%), breeders (39.0%), leisure riders (37.9%), and professional riders (8.6%) of 13 countries were recruited to participate in the survey. When asked to split 1000 Euro among the different traits listed in the breeding goal, respondents clearly assigned more weight to the personality-related character and temperament traits (least squares mean ± standard error; P < 0.005: €228.7 ± 17.6) and willingness to work (€123.0 ± 9.6) compared with performance traits, such as the quality of trot (€77.7 ± 6.9) or show jumping (€68.0 ± 12.3). Nevertheless, expected differences in relative weighting of traits between the different groups of riders were confirmed (e.g., character and temperament: €209.3 ± 6.1 [leisure riders] vs. €149.7 ± 5.4 [competition riders], P < 0.0001). When asking why personality traits are so important, the simplification of daily work with the horses (47.9%) and relationship between horse and human (44.9%) as well as a more comfortable and safer handling (31.5%) were most commonly listed. As much as 45.6% of all participants see quality problems with the current assessment and suggested the evaluation of all breeding animals (30.1%), followed by a better standardization of assessment procedures (25.5%) and a move to more objective criteria such as the introduction of a temperament test (20.3%) for solving the problems. The present survey revealed that behavior traits are very important to all groups of riders and breeders, although there are diverse opinions about it. According to the participants, there is a need for and a high potential in the move toward more objective assessment methods of horses' personality traits, and participants would support a restructuring of the current assessment.     

Portable weighing system for monitoring picker efficiency during manual harvest of sweet cherry

Harvest costs are significant for tree fruit producers and, yet, not well studied. In this paper a prototype system for measuring harvest worker efficiency in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) is presented. This weighing system consists of a digital weighing platform compatible with standard commercial fruit bins and a data logger interfaced to a wireless radio. Weight data were transmitted every 5 s, filtered and stored to a laptop computer (database). System functionality and reliability were evaluated in five orchards in cooperation with three commercial growers. Preliminary tests showed that the system did not interfere with normal harvest activities and that the efficiency of pickers and picking teams varied within and across orchard blocks, (e.g. 0.75 to 2.87 kg/min), depending on their experience and skills (e.g. 1.37 kg/min for skilled workers vs. 0.64 kg/min for unskilled). Further, the mean picking rate of ‘Skeena’ without pedicels (stem-free) was 1.15 kg/min, almost 50 % greater than fruit with stems (mean = 0.75 kg/min) when picked by the same crew and orchard.     

Factors controlling nitrate concentrations in surface waters of an artificially drained agricultural watershed

Land managers need to clearly identify the main natural factors controlling nitrate attenuation from upstream to downstream in agricultural watersheds. All interfaces between surface waters and groundwaters such as riparian zones could be identified as retention zones in the watershed. However, in highly human-influenced agricultural landscapes, retention zones could be shortcut, abandoned and sometimes erased. Starting from this situation, this paper aims to underline the role of hydrological and biogeochemical retention processes in the determination of nitrate concentration in an artificially drained agricultural watershed. The Orgeval watershed (East part of Paris, France, belonging to a long-term environmental observatory network) is 80 % covered by drained agricultural plots, 17 % forest and 3 % urban areas and roads, covering a surface area of 104 km². The watershed is split into several nested sub-basins from 1 to 100 km². Two levels of monitoring were carried out in the 2007–2008 hydrological year: long-term at six monitoring stations (measuring nitrate concentration and discharge) and 20 points throughout the watershed (measuring discharge, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, calcium concentration and nitrogen isotopic composition) for three different dates (10/18/2007, 01/23/2008, 04/10/2008). Artificial drainage generates modified water transfer and thus nitrate transformation processes during the wet drainage season in winter. Dilution processes provided by forested areas seem to be one of the main factor determining global water quality. A threshold of 34 % forested cover maintains the nitrate concentration below the drinking-water limit (11.3 mgN L^?1). Nevertheless, statistical analysis, isotopic measurements and the analysis of the nitrate versus chloride ratio showed that retention processes also influence water quality during the dry season.