Polyarthritis secondary to septic thrombophlebitis in an Arabian mare

A 3‐year‐old Arabian mare presented with diarrhoea and depression. During hospitalisation, the mare developed septic thrombophlebitis associated with a jugular catheter. One week later, she developed secondary bilateral tarsocrural joint septic arthritis. Following surgical intervention and intensive medical therapy, the mare recovered successfully. The case highlights an unusual and previously unreported complication of septic thrombophlebitis.     

Pedotransfer functions to assess adsorbed phosphate using iron oxide content and magnetic susceptibility in an Oxisol

Adsorbed phosphate in soils can be chemically extracted; however, this process is both time‐consuming and not cost‐effective if large numbers of samples have to be analysed. Indirect assessment of adsorbed phosphate by pedotransfer functions (PTFs) can help optimize fertilizer strategies. This study aimed to evaluate the spatial variability of adsorbed phosphate (P_ads), iron oxides and magnetic susceptibility (MS) in oxisols and to calibrate PTFs to predict P_ads. A total of 308 soil samples were collected from Hapludox and Eutrudox soils formed from sandstone in Brazil. The contents of clay (196–607 g/kg), iron oxides (40–165 g/kg), MS (1.2–29 × 10^?6 m³/kg) and P_ads (327–842 mg/kg) were in the range of typical values for these highly weathered soils. This study showed that the attributes studied were spatially dependent. Geomorphic surfaces enabled understanding of spatial variability and helped to develop a more efficient sampling scheme to calibrate PTFs. Moreover, the adsorbed phosphate in these oxisols could be predicted by a PTF using iron oxides and MS as predictors. The MS attribute enabled the most accurate prediction (concordance coefficient = 0.95, root‐mean‐square error = 46 mg/kg and relative improvement in root‐mean‐square error = ?4.12) of spatial variability through PTF compared to other predictors.     

Relationship of Icelandic cattle with Northern and Western European cattle breeds,admixture and population structure

ABSTRACT

Icelandic cattle is believed to have been brought from Norway during the settlement of Iceland around AD 870-930. Previous research on genetic relationships has indicated that Icelandic cattle is most related to northern Nordic indigenous breeds. Using single nucleotide polymorphism genotype data from Icelandic cattle and 29 Northern and Western European cattle breeds, we studied relationships and admixture among these breeds, and assessed population structure in Icelandic cattle. Population structure analysis through principal component analysis, estimation of ancestry, and analysis of patterns of population splitting and mixing revealed that Icelandic cattle are most related to three Finncattle breeds (Eastern, Northern and Western Finncattle), and Swedish Mountain cattle. Icelandic cattle has very low levels of admixture. We observed very limited population structure in Icelandic cattle. The observed structure was due to variable sire contributions. Over 1000 years of almost complete isolation has made Icelandic cattle highly genetically distinct from other cattle breeds.     

Productive and biochemical responses of durum wheat to UV filtration

A UV exclusion experiment was conducted on durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf. var. Claudio) grown in pots. Plants were grown under three different radiative treatments in greenhouses covered with plastic filters: Teflon, transparent to the entire region of natural UV‐visible sunlight (TEF); polyester, transparent above 312 nm (MYL, excluding UVB) and Lee, transparent above 400 nm (LEE, excluding both UVA and UVB). Analyses have been carried out to determine the concentration of photosynthetic pigments in leaves, UV‐absorbing compounds, nitrogen and carbon in leaves, culms and spikes and proteins and gluten in grains. In particular, plants grown under UV exclusion showed a reduction in protein and dry gluten content (consequently without variation in the ratio dry gluten/protein), but at the same time, a significant increase of gluten index, which is a parameter to define the quality of gluten, was observed. The results highlighted the influence played by UV radiation on some biochemical parameters, mainly UV‐absorbing compounds, leaf nitrogen and grain protein characteristics of durum wheat cultivated under Mediterranean conditions. In particular, natural level of UV in the Mediterranean improves the characteristics of durum wheat flour important for pasta production (high dry gluten level), while the UV exclusion could improve characteristics of flour important for bread production (high gluten index).     

Soil organic and inorganic carbon sequestration by consecutive biochar application: Results from a decade field experiment

Biochar addition can expand soil organic carbon (SOC) stock and has potential ability in mitigating climate change. Also, some incubation experiments have shown that biochar can increase soil inorganic carbon (SIC) contents. However, there is no direct evidence for this from the field experiment. In order to make up the sparseness of available data resulting from the long‐term effect of biochar amendment on soil carbon fractions, here we detected the contents and stocks of the bulk SIC and SOC fractions based on a 10‐year field experiment of consecutive biochar application in Shandong Province, China. There are three biochar treatments as no‐biochar (control), and biochar application at 4.5 Mg ha^?1 year^?1 (B4.5) and 9.0 Mg ha^?1 year^?1 (B9.0), respectively. The results showed that biochar application significantly enhanced SIC content (3.2%–24.3%), >53 μm particulate organic carbon content (POC, 38.2%–166.2%) and total soil organic carbon content (15.8%–82.2%), compared with the no‐biochar control. However, <53 μm silt–clay‐associated organic carbon (SCOC) content was significantly decreased (14%–27%) under the B9.0 treatment. Our study provides the direct field evidence that SIC contributed to carbon sequestration after the biochar application, and indicates that the applied biochar was allocated mainly in POC fraction. Further, the decreased SCOC and increased microbial biomass carbon contents observed in field suggest that the biochar application might exert a positive priming effect on native soil organic carbon.     

SALTIRSOIL: a simulation model for the mid to long‐term prediction of soil salinity in irrigated agriculture

The SALTIRSOIL model predicts soil salinity, sodicity and alkalinity in irrigated land using basic information on soil, climate, crop, irrigation management and water quality. It extends the concept of the WATSUIT model to include irrigation and crop management practices, advances in the calculation of evapotranspiration and new algorithms for the water stress coefficient and calculation of electrical conductivity. SALTIRSOIL calculates the soil water balance and soil solution concentration over the year. A second module, SALSOLCHEM, calculates the inorganic ion composition of the soil solution at equilibrium with soil calcite and gypsum at the soil’s CO₂ partial pressure. Results from comparing predicted and experimentally determined concentrations, observations and predictions of pH, alkalinity and calcium concentration in calcite‐saturated solutions agree to the second significant figure; in gypsum‐saturated solutions the standard difference between observations and predictions is <3% in absolute values. The algorithms in SALTIRSOIL have been verified and SALSOLCHEM validated for the reliable calculation of soil salinity, sodicity and alkalinity at water saturation in well‐drained irrigated lands. In simulations for horticultural crops in southeast Spain, soil solution concentration factors at water saturation, quotients of electrical conductivity (EC₂₅) at saturation to electrical conductivity in the irrigation water, and quotients of sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) are very similar to average measured values for the area.     

Mild Drought Stress‐Induced Changes in Yield,Physiological Processes and Chemical Composition in Festuca,Lolium and Festulolium

The impact of mild drought stress (3 weeks at 40 % field water capacity) on yield, physiological processes, accumulation of proline and phenolic compounds and forage quality parameters in forage grasses was evaluated in pot experiments. During four different growing periods, the effects of water deficit were assessed in nine varieties from five species (Lolium perenne, Lolium multiflorum, Festuca pratensis, Festuca arundinacea and Festulolium braunii). All measured parameters were affected by drought stress in the different cuts. Photosynthesis, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and dry matter yield were significantly lower in drought stress than under well‐watered conditions in all varieties. Higher water‐use efficiency was only observed during the first and fourth drought period, while this was not the case in the second and third. Mild drought stress significantly increased the content of proline, phenolic acid, flavonoids, water‐soluble carbohydrates and protein. All tested grasses showed also an increase of organic matter digestibility and cell wall digestibility under drought stress conditions.     

Dietary fiber in a low-protein diet during gestation affects nitrogen excretion in primiparous gilts,with possible influences from the gut microbiota

We investigated the effects of dietary fiber (DF) supplementation in normal or low crude protein (CP) diets on reproductive performance and nitrogen (N) utilization in primiparous gilts. In total, 77 Landrace × Yorkshire pregnant gilts were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial design. The groups comprised 1) equal intake of normal CP (12.82% and 0.61% total lysine), 2) low CP (LP) (10.53% and 0.61% total lysine), and 3) with or 4) without DF supplementation (cellulose, inulin, and pectin in a 34:10:1 ratio). A low-protein diet during gestation significantly reduced daily weight gain from days 91 to 110 of pregnancy (−162.5 g/d, P = 0.004). From N balance trials conducted at days 35 to 38, 65 to 68, and 95 to 98 of pregnancy, DF addition increased fecal N excretion at days 65 to 68 (+24.1%) and 95 to 98 (+13.8%) of pregnancy (P < 0.05) but reduced urinary N excretion (P < 0.05), resulting in greater N retention at each gestational stage. DF increased fecal microbial protein levels and excretion during gestation. An LP diet also reduced urinary N excretion at different gestational stages. An in vitro fermentation trial on culture media with nonprotein N urea and ammonium bicarbonate (NH₄HCO₃) as the only N sources revealed that microbiota derived from feces of gestating gilts fed the high DF diet exhibited a greater capacity to convert nonprotein N to microbial protein. Microbial fecal diversity, as measured by 16S rRNA sequencing, revealed significant changes from DF but not CP diets. Gilts fed an LP diet had a higher number of stillbirths (+0.83 per litter, P = 0.046) and a lower piglet birth weight (1.52 vs. 1.37 kg, P = 0.006), regardless of DF levels. Collectively, DF supplementation to gestation diets shifted N excretion from urine to feces in the form of microbial protein, suggesting that the microbiota had a putative role in controlling N utilization from DF. Additionally, a low-protein diet during gestation negatively affected the litter performance of gilts.