The effect of the administration of Solanum malacoxylon on the chick.

Replacement of the drinking water of chicks maintained on a normal mixed protein diet with an aqueous extract containing the equivalent of 5 g of the dried leaves of Solanum malacoxylon (DLSM) per 100 ml for one month produces a hypercalcaemia (23-49 per cent), hypomagnesamia (28-37 per cent), hypophosphataemia (26-34 per cent), hypouricaemia (29-34 per cent) and a decrease in plasma alkaline phosphatase activity (54-98 per cent). The ash content of the defatted, dried tibiae and the body weight of the DLSM treated chicks were also significantly lower (37-7 per cent and 17-79 per cent respectively) than the corresponding values for the untreated birds. The results obtained are similar to those reported for hypervitaminosis D3 in the chick.     

A model of plant virus disease epidemics in asynchronously-planted cropping systems

A mathematical model was developed of the dynamics of a plant virus disease within a spatially-referenced lattice of fields of a host crop. The model can be applied to crops in continuous, contiguous cultivation such as tropical irrigated rice. Disease progress in each field of the host crop was assumed to be logistic and determined by incidence within the field itself as well as incidence in neighbouring fields, depending on the gradient of disease spread. The frequency distribution of planting dates (represented by the proportion of the total number of fields planted in successive months) was assumed to follow a normal distribution and the variance of planting date was used as a measure of cropping asynchrony. Analysis of the model revealed that disease incidence within the lattice (i.e. mean incidence over all fields) depended upon the infection efficiency, the slope of the dispersal gradient, and the variance in planting date. Disease endemicity depended mainly on planting date variance and disease persisted in the lattice if this variance exceeded a certain threshold. Above the threshold for persistence, the response of mean disease incidence to planting date variance was non-linear and the region of greatest sensitivity was closest to the threshold. Thus, disease systems that show moderate rather than high cropping asynchrony are more likely to be influenced by changes in the variance of planting date. Implications for the area-wide management of rice tungro virus disease are discussed.     

Role of acquisition and inoculation time in the expression of clonal variation for BYDV-PAV transmission in the aphid species Rhopalosiphum padi

Vector efficiency of 20 Rhopalosiphum padi clones, originating from Europe, North America and North Africa and exhibiting different types of life cycle, was evaluated by transmitting a French BYDV-PAV isolate to barley plants under five different acquisition/inoculation sequences (AAP/IAP). Differences between clones in transmission efficiency were found only when a short AAP was followed by a long IAP (6 h/120 h) and, to some extent, when a long AAP (48 h) was followed by a short IAP (6 h), but no differences were found when the conditions for virus transmission were optimal, i.e. long AAP followed by long IAP (48 h/120 h). There were no differences in transmission rates by clones of different geographical origins and with different life cycles. As a consequence, clonal variation is probably of little importance in the vector aspects of the epidemiology of PAV serotypes transmitted by R. padi , but the availability of a range of clones exhibiting transmission differences under limiting AAP or IAP conditions could be of interest for studies of virus–vector relationships.     

长吻帆蜥鱼作为生物采集器探究海洋中深层生物微塑料污染特征

海洋中深层生物作为链接海洋上层与深层食物网的媒介,对维系大洋生态系统结构和功能的稳定有着不可替代的重要作用。由于样品采集的困难性,针对中深层生物微塑料污染研究十分缺乏。长吻帆蜥鱼(Alepisaurus ferox)具有特殊的消化机制,是优秀的生物采集器。本研究利用激光红外成像光谱技术,量化分析了长吻帆蜥鱼胃中保存的中深层物种体内微塑料的丰度和理化特征。共采集中深层鱼类和头足类7种,其肠道中检测出微塑料146个,检出率85.71%,丰度为10.43 ± 12.12个/尾, 粒径为20.34~309.89 μm(47.36 μm ± 43.41 μm)。微塑料以颗粒状(59.58%)和碎片状(36.30%)为主,聚合物成分主要是丙烯酸酯共聚物(Acrylate copolymer),占比60.27%。本研究首次证明了长吻帆蜥鱼作为生物采集器开展海洋中深层生物微塑料污染研究的可行性,研究结果对解析大洋生态系统微塑料污染及其潜在生态风险具有重要意义。     

寒地山区枣引种栽培综合技术研究

发展贫困地区经济,解决贫困农民温饱问题,是我国当前工作的重点之一.经调查,宁城县部分乡镇分布着几万公顷野生酸枣资源,仅布日嘎苏台乡就有133hm2,基本没有经济效益,多被农民砍伐,烧柴或架篱笆用.如对这一资源改造利用,可产生良好的经济效益和社会效益.本项目以当地资源为依托,引进枣树优良品种,进行栽培综合技术研究,旨在发展贫困山区经济,为农民迅速致富探索成功经验.     

The effect of urea on the voluntary intake by calves of silages preserved with formaldehyde and formic acid

Perennial ryegrass cv. S23 was preserved by fermentation (C), or with the addition of 8.7 1 formalin (35% w/w formaldehyde) per t fresh herbage (F) or of 9.0 1 equal mixture (by vol.) of formalin and formic acid (85% w/w solution) per t fresh herbage (FF). These three silages comprised the treatments in a three-period, crossover design in which urea (u) was given at the rate of 20 g per kg dietary DM to half the animals. Twelve calves were allocated to the treatment sequences when they were approximately 12 weeks of age from within groups which had previously received diets with or without urea. Calves ate significantly (P< 0.001) less of silages F or FF than of silage C when each was offered alone, but when urea was given, intakes of silages F and FF were significantly (P < 0.001) increased such that the intakes of all three silages with urea were similar (23.6, 19.6, 19.3, 24.2, 24.2, 24.7 ± 0.51 g DM per kg LW for C, F, FF, Cu, Fu and FFu, respectively). Significantly (P<0.01) more of the DM in silage C was digested than in F or FF and the addition of urea significantly (P<0.05) increased the digestibility of DM from silage FF only (73.8, 71.3, 69.8, 74.6, 70.7, 72.5 ± 0.72% for C, F, FF, Cu, Fu and FFu, respectively). When the silages were given alone, calves spent longer eating and ruminating per kg DM ingested with F or FF than with C. The time spent on F and FF was significantly (P<0.01) reduced by the addition of urea (303, 388, 411, 297, 299, 290 ± 18.9 min per kg DM ingested for C, F, FF, Cu and Fu and FFu, respectively). The results presented suggest that urea partially alleviated the reduction in voluntary intake by calves given herbage preserved using formalin, but the mode of action was not clear.