The effect of mesoclimate on Collembola diversity in the Zádiel Valley, Slovak Karst (Slovakia)

In 2002–2004 an investigation of Collembola communities in the Zádiel Valley (Slovak Karst, Slovakia) was carried out. The karst valley is characterised by climatic and vegetation inversion. To assess the effect of mesoclimate inversion upon soil Collembola five sites were selected in hypsometric sequence from the karst plateau down the valley: (1) subxerophilous pasture – ass. Glechomo–Festucetum, (2) lime wood – ass. Mercuriali–Tilietum, (3) beech wood – ass. Dentario bulbiferae-Fagetum, (4) maple–hornbeam wood – ass. Aceri–Carpinetum, and (5) secondary oak wood. In total 152 soil Collembola species were collected, the numbers for particular sites ranging between 70 and 108. Evidently higher species richness was observed in soil of the beech wood compared to other selected forest plots. Thirteen species revealed affinity to inversed (wet and cold) stands of beech (3) and maple–hornbeam wood (4), four of them represented montane species, whereas five species clearly preferred thermophilous sites (1, 2, 5). The presence of 11 montane species at the bottom of the gorge (4) documented the inverse character of the site: Ceratophysella sigillata, C. silvatica, Friesea albida, Deutonura albella, D. stachi, Superodontella lamellifera, Tetrodontophora bielanensis, Heteraphorura variotuberculata, Kalaphorura carpenteri, Orthonychiurus rectopapillatus and Plutomurus carpaticus. Abundance of Folsomia quadrioculata significantly correlated with the soil microclimate – moisture (p < 0.01, r = 0.92). Distribution data on Collembola were performed by cluster (PC-ORD) and CCA ordination techniques. Collembolan communities of two neighbouring forest stands with identical soil type (rendzina) – lime (2) and beech wood (3) – were the most similar in species composition. Meso-/microclimatic gradients within a karst landscape play an important role in determining diversity and community structure of the soil Collembola.     

Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging is a feasible method for characterizing regional lymph nodes in canine patients with head and neck disease

In dogs diagnosed with solid tumors, regional lymph node involvement or evidence of distant metastasis can predict worse prognoses and significantly decreased survival. Lymph node size alone has been shown to be insufficient as a predictor for the accurate clinical staging of some canine neoplasia. However, certain regional lymph nodes (including those of the oral cavity) are difficult to access for routine tissue sampling. Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has demonstrated the ability to differentiate metastatic from inflammatory/benign lymph nodes in clinical studies with human cancer patients through the calculation of quantitative values of diffusion termed apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC). The objective of this prospective, exploratory study was to evaluate diffusion‐weighted MRI and ADC as potential methods for detecting metastatic lymph nodes in dogs with naturally occurring disease. We hypothesized that diffusion‐weighted MRI would identify significantly different ADC values between benign and metastatic lymph nodes in a group of canine patients with head or neck disease. Our study population consisted of eight client‐owned canine patients, with a total of 20 lymph nodes evaluated (six metastatic, 14 benign). Our results demonstrated that two of four observers identified a significant difference between the mean ADC values of the benign and metastatic lymph nodes. When data from all four observers were pooled, the difference between the mean apparent diffusion coefficients values of the benign and metastatic lymph nodes did not reach significance (P‐value = 0.0566). Findings indicated that diffusion‐weighted MRI is a feasible method for further characterizing enlarged lymph nodes in dogs with head and neck disease, however measured ADC values did not differ for benign vs. metastatic lymph nodes in this small sample of dogs.     

Performance of spring-calving beef suckler cows and their progeny on four contrasting grassland management systems

Data were collected over four consecutive years from four, rotationally grazed, grassland management systems each with 15 spring-calving beef suckler cows and their progeny to 13 months of age. The Systems were high stocking rate (SR), high fertiliser nitrogen (N), 2 silage harvests — HH2; high SR, low N, 2 silage harvests — HL2; low SR, low N, 2 silage harvests — LL2, and low SR, low N, 1 silage harvest — LL1. High and low SR were 0.49 and 0.59 ha cow^− 1 unit, respectively, and high and low N amounted to an annual input of 239 and 57 kg ha^− 1 on the grazing areas, respectively. Where applicable, the four Systems received 114 and 80 kg of N ha^− 1 for the first and second silage harvests, respectively. Equal areas of Systems HH2, HL2 and LL2 were conserved as silage (0.29 and 0.21 ha for first (24 May) and second (4 August) harvests, respectively cow^− 1 unit) each year. Silage from System LL1 (0.37 ha cow^− 1 unit) was conserved 14 days after the other first harvests. Following the final harvesting for silage within any System these areas of grassland were then grazed. During the winter all animals were housed and cows were offered grass silage and calves were offered silage plus 1 kg of concentrate per head daily. Good cow and calf performance at pasture were obtained at both high SR and high N or low SR and low N. At the high SR, increasing the level of fertiliser N application increased cow liveweight gain at pasture by 24 kg, improved body condition score (BCS) gain at pasture by 0.36 units and prolonged the grazing season by 7 days. Similarly, at the low level of fertiliser N, reducing the SR, increased cow liveweight gain at pasture by 21 kg, improved BCS gain at pasture by 0.23 units and prolonged the grazing season by 7 days. At the low SR all the winter silage requirements could be provided in one as opposed to two harvests thereby reducing the conservation area. However, delayed harvesting of silage resulted in lower silage digestibility and reduced calf performance in winter. The results indicate the specifications for a planned lower N grassland system, particularly where qualification for EU environmental schemes is dependent on moderate stocking densities.     

Ultrafast flash thermal conductance of molecular chains

At the level of individual molecules, familiar concepts of heat transport no longer apply. When large amounts of heat are transported through a molecule, a crucial process in molecular electronic devices, energy is carried by discrete molecular vibrational excitations. We studied heat transport through self-assembled monolayers of long-chain hydrocarbon molecules anchored to a gold substrate by ultrafast heating of the gold with a femtosecond laser pulse. When the heat reached the methyl groups at the chain ends, a nonlinear coherent vibrational spectroscopy technique detected the resulting thermally induced disorder. The flow of heat into the chains was limited by the interface conductance. The leading edge of the heat burst traveled ballistically along the chains at a velocity of 1 kilometer per second. The molecular conductance per chain was 50 picowatts per kelvin.     

The efficacy of a combined oral formulation of derquantel-abamectin against anthelmintic resistant gastro-intestinal nematodes of sheep in the UK

The objective of the present studies was to evaluate the efficacy of a combined formulation (Startect(?) Dual Active Oral Solution for Sheep, Pfizer Animal Health) of derquantel (DQL) and abamectin (ABA) for the treatment of: (1) sheep experimentally infected with a moxidectin (MOX)-resistant isolate of Teladorsagia circumcincta, and (2) multi-drug resistant gastrointestinal nematode parasites under UK field conditions. In the first study, a total of 40 animals were allocated into 4 treatment groups, and were either left untreated or treated with DQL+ABA, MOX or ABA. Faecal samples were collected on days 1-5 and on day 7 after treatment to examine the reduction in faecal egg excretion and to evaluate the egg viability. On day 14 post treatment all animals were euthanised for abomasal worm counts. There was a 100% reduction in geometric mean worm counts for the DQL+ABA treated animals compared to the untreated control animals (P<0.0001), whereas the percentage reduction in worm counts for the MOX- (P>0.05) and ABA-treated (P=0.0004) animals was 12.4% and 71.8%, respectively. The data from the egg hatch assay (EHA) indicated that in the MOX-treated and the ABA-treated animals, the majority of the eggs hatched after treatment. In the field study, performed on four farms, animals were allocated into 6 groups of 11-15 animals each in order to conduct a faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT), based on arithmetic mean egg counts. One group of animals remained untreated, whereas the other animals were treated with DQL+ABA, MOX, fenbendazole (FBZ), levamisole (LV) or ivermectin (IVM). On each of the farms the reduction in egg excretion after treatment with FBZ, LV or IVM was below 95.0%, indicating anthelmintic resistance. The efficacy of DQL+ABA ranged from 99.1 to 100%, yielding significantly lower egg counts compared to the untreated control group (P≤0.003). For MOX the egg counts were significantly (P≤0.003) lower compared to the untreated group at each farm, with reductions varying from 98.2 to 100%. The post-treatment copro-cultures for larva identification indicated that T. circumcincta was the most abundant worm species after treatment (52-99% of the larvae). The results of these studies confirm the high efficacy of the DQL+ABA combination formulation against anthelmintic resistant nematodes in the UK.     

Intake, live animal scores/measurements and carcass composition and value of late-maturing beef and dairy breeds

The objectives of this study were to compare the progeny of 1) late-maturing beef with dairy breeds and 2) Charolais (CH), Limousin (LM), Simmental (SM) and Belgian Blue (BB) sires bred to beef suckler dams, for feed intake, blood hormones and metabolites, live animal measurements, carcass traits and carcass value in bull and steer production systems. The bull system included 50 late-maturing beef breeds and 22 Holsteins (HO) slaughtered at approximately 15 months of age, whereas the steer system consisted of 56 late-maturing beef breeds and 23 British Friesians (FR) slaughtered at approximately 24 months of age. Beef breeds were suckled until approximately 8 months of age, while dairy breeds were artificially reared until weaning at approximately 3 months of age. All animals were finished on an ad libitum concentrate diet. Mean live weight, live weight gain, carcass gain and feed efficiency were greater (P < 0.05) in beef than dairy breeds in both systems during the finishing period when offered concentrates. Although there was no difference in feed intake between beef and dairy breeds, intake expressed relative to live weight was lower (P < 0.001) in beef breeds in both systems. At 10 months of age and pre-slaughter, beef breeds had higher (P < 0.001) muscularity scores and greater scanned muscle depth (P < 0.001) than their dairy contemporaries. Carcass weight, kill-out proportion, carcass conformation score, meat proportion and value were greater (P < 0.001) and carcass fat and bone proportions were lower (P < 0.05) in beef than dairy breeds in both systems. Insulin concentrations were lower (P < 0.001) in beef than dairy breeds, whereas there was no difference in blood metabolites or IGF-1 concentrations. Feed intake expressed relative to live weight or feed efficiency did not differ between CH, LM, SM or BB sired progeny. Muscularity scores were greater (P < 0.05) in BB than SM, whereas skeletal scores were lower (P < 0.05) in LM than SM. Limousin had lower (P < 0.05) carcass gain per day of age than CH and SM, whereas SM had a lower (P < 0.05) carcass conformation score than BB and CH and a higher (P < 0.05) carcass fat score than CH. Simmental had a lower (P < 0.05) carcass meat proportion and a higher (P < 0.05) carcass fat proportion than CH, LM and BB, which were similar (P > 0.05). The improvement obtained for beef over dairy breeds in live weight gain was 12%, while the improvements in carcass gain and meat produced was 24% and 33%, respectively. This demonstrates that the importance of carcass data contributing to breed comparison studies cannot be over-emphasised.     

At-sea distribution of waved albatrosses and the Galápagos Marine Reserve

Albatross populations worldwide are threatened by incidental takes in longline fishery operations. The recent establishment of the Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR) is relevant to the longline bycatch issue, as it prohibits industrial longlining in the vicinity of the major nesting site of waved albatrosses (Phoebastria irrorata). However, the legality of the fishing protections is being challenged, highlighting a need for data on use of the GMR by albatrosses. We used satellite tracking over a total of four breeding seasons to determine the distribution of waved albatrosses inside and outside the GMR, and thereby assess the degree of protection that GMR provisions offer to this species. During the incubation period, breeding adults made commuting trips from the nesting island (Isla Española) to the Peruvian upwelling zone, traveling north, east, and south after leaving the nest. During the brooding period, the distribution contracted markedly, and most satellite fixes were within the GMR. During the rearing period, breeders performed both long trips outside the GMR and short trips within. The southeastern portion of the GMR is used throughout the incubation, brooding, and early rearing periods by breeding waved albatrosses. Indirect information from non-breeding adults indicates that they are likely to use the waters of the GMR extensively.     

Molecular Variability of the Capsid Protein of the Prune Dwarf Virus

Sequences of the capsid protein gene and the preceding intergenic region of eleven isolates of prune dwarf virus from central Europe were determined. The isolates were obtained from plum, cherry and peach trees. Comparison of all sequenced isolates (including two sequences published previously) revealed high (88%) conservation of the capsid protein gene. The highest degree of identity was observed in the C-terminal half, where only 13 amino acid substitutions could be observed in contrast to the N-terminal half with 22 substitutions. No reasonable correlation between amino acid substitutions and host species and/or geographic origin of the isolates was observed. Alignment with capsid protein genes of other ilarviruses revealed apple mosaic virus, elm mottle virus, lilac ring mottle virus and prunus necrotic ringspot virus as the most related to prune dwarf virus. Unlike the isolates of related prunus necrotic ringspot virus all the isolates of prune dwarf virus shared extensive conservation of the intergenic region. Portions of RNA3 were selected for design of universal primers for PCR detection.