Cefotaxime pharmacokinetics in Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius) calves after single intravenous injection

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Cefotaxime is a third-generation broad-spectrum cephalosporin acting on a wide range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In this work, the...     

Importance of the hour of sampling in the lymphoblastic transformation assay of sheep peripheral blood lymphocytes

This paper describes the effect of the nycthemeral cycle on the lymphocyte response of sheep to different mitogens (PHA, Con A and PWM). A considerable decline in the lymphocyte response was evident in the afternoon and early in the morning in all 6 animals tested. Three peak responses were identified during a 24 hour study period, at 14.00 h, 24.00 h and 08.00 h. The results presented here suggest that this variation in lymphocyte response is a meaningful difference in the response ability of individual lymphocytes. Factors affecting the number of leukocytes and the proportion of different types of lymphocytes in peripheral blood might be the essential causes of variation. To obtain an accurate indication of an individual's immunocompetence, it is important to make a preliminary determination of the optimal hour for sampling. If this is not possible, all the samples must be taken at the same hour on each test day, in order to make significant comparisons.     

Effects of changed litter inputs on soil labile carbon and nitrogen pools in a eucalyptus-dominated forest of southeast Queensland,Australia

Purpose

The quantity and quality of litter inputs to forest soils are likely to be changed as a result of the climate change and human disturbances. However, the effects of changed litter inputs on soil labile carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools still remain unclear.

Materials and methods

A 15-month in situ field experiment was conducted within both high and low litter quality site in a eucalyptus-dominated native forest of Queensland, Australia. Three rates of litter inputs were applied, including (i) no litter (NL); (ii) single litter (SL), representing the average condition of the surrounding forest floor; and (iii) double litter (DL). Water-extractable organic C (WEOC) and total N (WETN), hot water-extractable organic C (HWEOC) and total N (HWETN), microbial biomass C (MBC), and N (MBN) were analyzed in the 0–5-cm soil layer seasonally.

Results and discussion

Litter input rates had no significant effects on litter decomposition at both sites (P?>?0.05). After 15-month of decomposition, mean litter mass loss was 46.3% and 31.2% at the HQ and LQ sites, respectively. Changed litter quantity had no significant effects on any of the soil labile C and N pools, regardless of litter quality. However, soil labile C and N pools significantly varied with sampling times, and the samples of different sampling times were clearly separated at both sites according to the redundancy analysis (RDA). WEOC peaked in summer, declined in autumn and winter, and increased again in spring, while the concentrations of HWEOC and MBC peaked in the winter period. The seasonal trends of MBN were opposite to the trends of WETN, which might be due to the temporal partitioning of N between plants and microbes.

Conclusions

The findings indicated that soil labile C and N pools in the eucalyptus-dominated forest of subtropical Australia were resistant to a short-term change in aboveground litter inputs. Future research should expand on these findings by keeping observing over a longer time period and considering the influence of changed belowground litter inputs.

     

Mycorrhizal influence on storage metabolites and mineral nutrition in seed propagated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plant

Abstract

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) showed a well-established mutualistic association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In the present study, earthen pots containing autoclaved soil were taken in which surface sterilized potato seeds were sown. The seed sowed earthen pots were inoculated by sterilized spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi along with sterilized inoculated maize-root fragments, while the rest half of the seed filled pots, without any inoculation depicting control but were provided with non-inoculated maize root fragments. The inoculation was performed twice; first inoculation was done 3 days prior to sowing of potato seeds and second at the time of seedling emergence. Sampling of the inoculated as well as of control plants was performed at 20-day intervals till 80?days after tuber initiation. An increment in the level of metabolites as well as mineral nutrient was found in mycorrhizal inoculated potato tubers in contrast to non-inoculated. Our work demonstrates that inoculation has a great potential in enriching storage metabolites and nutrients in potato plant in low yielding soils.     

Effect of aeration on generation and emission of hydrogen sulfide in wet wells of lifting stations

The aeration of waste water in wet wells of lifting stations was studied to control the generation and emission of hydrogen suulfide in waste water. The aeration unit comprises of a compressor, aeration pipe and a ceramic fine air bubble type diffuser. The capacity of compressor was to introduce 140 m³ h^?1 air at 147 kPa pressure in waste water. The operation of aeration system was interlocked with the operation of the screws/pumps, when the screws/pumps were shut off the compressor started working. During the project the interlock between compressor and screw/pump was removed and the operation of compressor was controlled manually. Five lifting stations were selected for the study. Three were Screw Conveyor type lifting stations while the other two were equipped with centrifugal pumps. The average daily flow of waste water in the selected lifting stations varied from 371 m³ to 18 436 m³. It was experienced that the operation of the aeration system does not dissolve sufficient oxygen to control generation of H₂S, on the other hand it increases the emission of malodorous hydrogen sulfide which reduces the concentrations of sulfides in dissolved form in the waste water. Thus it increases the nuisance of malodour emission in the wet wells and affects the areas in the vicinity of lifting stations. A theoretical assessment to evaluate the efficiency of aeration system for controlling generation of Fresh H₂S and in oxidizing the H₂S already generated in the waste water in the wet wells of lifting stations is also presented.     

Identification of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] lines tolerant to soil salinity

Crop tolerance to salinity is of high importance due to the extent and the constant increase in salt-affected areas in arid and semi-arid regions. Pearl millet (Pennistum glaucum), generally considered as fairly tolerant to salinity, could be an alternative crop option for salt affected areas. To explore the genotypic variability of vegetative-stage salinity tolerance, 100 pearl millet lines from ICRISAT breeding programs were first screened in a pot culture containing Alfisol with 250 mM NaCl solution as basal application. Subsequently, 31 lines including many parents of commercial hybrids, selected from the first trial were re-tested for confirmation of the initial salinity responses. Substantial variation for salinity tolerance was found on the basis of shoot biomass ratio (shoot biomass under salinity/ non-saline control) and 22 lines with a wide range of tolerance varying from highly tolerant to sensitive entries were identified. The performance of the genotypes was largely consistent across experiments. In a separate seed germination and seedling growth study, the seed germination was found to be adversely affected (more than 70% decrease) in more than half of the genotypes with 250 mM concentration of NaCl. The root growth ratio (root growth under salinity/control) as well as shoot growth ratio was measured at 6 DAS and this did not reflect the whole plant performance at 39 DAS. In general, the whole plant salinity tolerance was associated with reduced shoot N content, increased K⁺ and Na⁺ contents. The K⁺/Na⁺ and Ca⁺⁺/Na⁺ ratios were also positively related to the tolerance but not as closely as the Na⁺ content. Therefore, it is concluded that a large scope exists for improving salt tolerance in pearl millet and that shoot Na⁺ concentration could be considered as a potential non-destructive selection criterion for vegetative-stage screening. The usefulness of this criterion for salinity response with respect to grain and stover yield remains to be investigated.     

On-farm labour allocation and irrigation water use: case studies among smallholder systems in arid regions

On-farm measurements and observations of water flow, water costs and irrigation labour inputs at the individual parcel level were made in case studies of smallholder irrigation systems in sub-Saharan Africa and south-eastern Arabia. The systems, in which the water source supplied either single or multiple users, were analysed to address the fundamental issues of labour allocation for on-farm water management as this has important consequences for the success of such systems. Results show that the costs associated with accessing water influenced labour input, because when they were low the farmers tended to increase the irrigation rate and reduce the amount of time they spent distributing the water within their parcels. Conversely when water costs were high, lower flow rates and more time spent in water distribution were observed, and this resulted in more uniform irrigation and higher irrigation efficiency. Also, opportunities and demands for farmers to use their labour for activities other than irrigation can lead them to modify operational or physical aspects of the system so that they can reduce the time they spend distributing water within the parcels, particularly when the water is relatively cheap. Awareness and better understanding of how farmers may allocate their labour for water management will lead to more effective planning, design and management of smallholder irrigation systems.     

Determination of body measurements on the Holstein cows using digital image analysis and estimation of live weight with regression analysis

In this study, the body measurements (BMs) of Holstein cows were determined using digital image analysis (IA) and these were used to estimate the live weight (LW) of each cow. For this purpose, an image capture arrangement was established in a dairy cattle farm. BMs including wither height (WH), hip height (HH), body length (BL), hip width (HW), plus the LWs of cows were first determined manually, by direct measurement. Then the digital photos of cows were taken from different directions synchronously and analyzed by IA software to calculate WH, HH, BL and HW of each cow. After comparing the BMs obtained by IA with the manual measurements, the accuracy was determined as 97.72% for WH, 98.00% for HH, 97.89% for BL and 95.25% for HW. The LW estimation using BMs was then performed by the aid of the regression equations, and the correlation coefficient between the estimated and real (manual) LW values obtained by weighing was calculated as 0.9787, which indicates the IA method is appropriate for LW estimation of Holstein cows.     

Utilisation of unbleached kenaf fibers for the preparation of magnetic paper

Unbleached kenaf fibers were selected for the manufacture of magnetic paper using chemical coprecipitation method. This method involved precipitation and loading of nano-sized ferrite particles into the lumen of the kenaf fibers. While the degree of loading depended on both the degree of agitation and temperature of the coprecipitation, the thermal stability of the produced magnetic paper depended mainly on the temperature. The magnetic particles deposited on the fiber surface had detrimental effects on the strength of the produced paper. The coercivity value of the magnetic paper depended on the type of ferrite produced from the coprecipitation.