Impact of including information from bulls and their daughters in the training population of multiple‐step genomic evaluations in dairy cattle: A simulation study

The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of accounting for parent average (PA) and genotyped daughters’ average (GDA) on the estimation of deregressed estimated breeding values (dEBVs) used as pseudo‐phenotypes in multiple‐step genomic evaluations. Genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) were predicted, in eight different simulated scenarios, using dEBVs calculated based on four methods. These methods included PA and GDA in the dEBV (VR) or only GDA (VRpa) and excluded both PA and GDA from the dEBV with either all information or only information from PA and GDA (JA and NEW, respectively). In general, VR and NEW showed the lowest and highest GEBV reliabilities across scenarios, respectively. Among all deregression methods, VRpa and NEW provided the most consistent bias estimates across the majority of scenarios, and they significantly yielded the least biased GEBVs. Our results indicate that removing PA and GDA information from dEBVs used in multiple‐step genomic evaluations can increase the reliability of GEBVs, when both bulls and their daughters are included in the training population.     

Antioxidative effect of quercetin and its equimolar mixtures with phenyltin compounds on liposome membranes

Our earlier studies have shown that the compounds diphenyltin dichloride (DPhT) and triphenyltin chloride (TPhT) in the presence of UVC radiation enhanced the degree of phosphatidylcholine liposome membrane oxidation (J. Agric. Food Chem. 2005, 53, 76-83). The prooxidative behavior of the compounds has now been confirmed with the electron paramagnetic resonance method, which proved the possibility that the studied compounds can exist in free radical forms. The present work investigates the possibility of the protective action of quercetin on phosphatidylcholine liposome membranes exposed to the prooxidative action of DPhT and TPhT induced by UV radiation (lambda = 253.7 nm). The concentrations of quercetin and its equimolar mixtures with DPhT and TPhT were determined (and compared with well-known antioxidants as standards-trolox and butylated hydroxytoluene, also in the presence of phenyltins) as those that induce 50% inhibition in oxidation of liposomes radiated with UV. They are 5.1 +/- 0.10, 2.9 +/- 0.12, and 1.9 +/- 0.08 microM (differences between the values are statistically significant), constituting the following sequence of antioxidative activity: quercetin:TPhT > quercetin:DPhT > quercetin. This relation is confirmed by the results on the antiradical ability of quercetin and its mixtures with DPhT and TPhT toward the free radical 1,1-diphenyl-2-pricrylhydrazil. Similar sequences obtained in both studies suggest a possible mechanism of the antiradical action of the mixtures as free radical scavengers. We suggested that (i) quercetin's ability, documented by spectrophotometric, infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, (1)H NMR, and molecular modeling methods, to form complexes with phenyltins indicates a possible way of protection against the peroxidation caused by the free radical forms of phenyltins and (ii) the differentiation in the action of the quercetin/TPhT and quercetin/DPhT associates (statisticaly significant) may result from a different localization in the liposome membrane, which is indicated by the results of the fluorimetric studies.     

SELECTIVE ABDOMINAL ANGIOGRAPHY AS A DIAGNOSTIC METHOD FOR DIAPHRAGMATIC HERNIA IN THE DOG: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

Difficulty in recognition of some diaphragmatic hernias in dogs have stimulated the authors to develop a diagnostic method consisting of selective angiography of the cranial mesenteric and celiac arteries. The basis for the experimen was that each herniated visceral organ is usually displaced with its vessels. The experiment was carried out on 14 mongrel dogs. Four dogs served as controls. Different kinds of diaphragmatic hernias were surgically created in 10 dogs. Survey abdominal radiographs, gastrointestinal tract contrast studies and selective abdominal angiography were performed 14 days later. In angiograms of dogs with omental diaphragmatic hernias, displacement of branches of the left gastroepiploic artery into the thorax was seen. In angiograms of dogs with hepatic diaphragmatic hernias, branches of the common hepatic artery were seen to enter the thorax. In dogs with herniated small intestine, the jejunal branches of the cranial mesenteric artery were seen entering the thorax. Potential possibilities of selective abdominal angiography for diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernias are discussed.     

Dissolved Silica Retention and Its Impact on Eutrophication in a Complex of Mountain Reservoirs

This paper reports on studies conducted during 2005 in the ecosystem of the Solina–Myczkowce mountain complex of mesotrophic reservoirs on the San River, SE Poland. Of the 1,950 t of dissolved silica calculated to flow into the reservoirs in the course of the year, c. 20% of the load was retained in the reservoirs. However, most of this retention took place in the lower Myczkowce Reservoir. Far-reaching depletion to below 10 μM L^?1 of silicate was noted during the summer in the epilimnetic waters of the two reservoirs. In turn, the hypolimnion was seen to go through an enrichment process connected with sedimentation and releases from sediment. The observed depletion causes a decrease in the DSi:DIP ratio in the euphotic zone of the reservoirs, with simultaneous growth of non-siliceous algae expressed as chl a concentration.     

Species-specific spatial structure,species coexistence and mortality pattern in natural,uneven-aged Scots pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus sylvestris</Emphasis> L.)-dominated forest

Complexity of uneven-aged forests results from the heterogeneity of their structure reflected among others by the spatial pattern of their components. Forest structure is usually modified by various processes operating at different scales and time. Structure and processes are not independent, and both are important drivers of forest dynamics. The impact of natural processes on forest structure manifested in the specific spatial pattern of trees can be quantified by point pattern analysis applied to long-term repeatedly measured stem-mapped plots. Such studies are relatively scarce in the literature although they provide better insight into the mechanisms affecting forest dynamics. Our study is focused on the spatiotemporal analysis of the structure of mixed uneven-aged Scots pine-dominated forest located at the Kampinoski National Park (Poland). Univariate analysis showed that the initial pattern of all live trees was initially random and it shifted toward more uniform with forest aging. Spatial patterns of individual tree species varied from that stated for all forest community. We observed changes in spatial pattern of Scots pine and common oak from random toward more clumped (pine) or uniform (oak) pattern. In case of black alder and common birch, the initial aggregated pattern was maintained over the examined 14-year period of the forest succession. Bivariate analysis showed that the most common interspecific association between pairs of tree species was spatial segregation (pine vs. alder, alder vs. birch and oak vs. birch) followed by spatial independence (pine vs. oak and oak vs. alder). The positive association was stated only for pine and birch and only for certain spatial scales (> 5 m). Simultaneously, at small distances they showed reciprocal repulsion. Changes in spatial relationships between tree species were negligible over 14-year period of forest succession. Our results confirmed the density-dependent mortality process in the uneven-aged Scots pine-dominated forest over 14-year period of forest development. Our study showed that spatial interactions between individuals along with species-specific ecological requirements should be incorporated into realistic models of forest development, helping to manage the forest ecosystems toward their greater structural complexity.     

Effect of Land Use,Seasonality, and Hydrometeorological Conditions on the K<Superscript>+</Superscript> Concentration–Discharge Relationship During Different Types of Floods in Carpathian Foothills Catchments (Poland)

The purpose of the study was to determine the role of land use, seasonality, and hydrometeorological conditions on the relationship between stream water potassium (K⁺) concentration and discharge during different types of floods—short- and long-duration rainfall floods as well as snowmelt floods on frozen and thawed soils. The research was conducted in small catchments (agricultural, woodland, mixed-use) in the Carpathian Foothills (Poland). In the woodland catchment, lower K⁺ concentrations were noted for each given specific runoff value for summer rainfall floods versus snowmelt floods (seasonal effect). In the agricultural and mixed-use catchments, the opposite was true due to their greater ability to flush K⁺ out of the soil in the summer. In the stream draining woodland catchment, higher K⁺ concentrations occurred during the rising limb than during the falling limb of the hydrograph (clockwise hysteresis) for all flood types, except for snowmelt floods with the ground not frozen. In the agricultural catchment, clockwise hystereses were produced for short- and long-duration rainfall floods caused by high-intensity, high-volume rainfall, while anticlockwise hystereses were produced for short- and long-duration rainfall floods caused by low-intensity, low-volume rainfall as well as during snowmelt floods with the soil frozen and not frozen. In the mixed-use catchment, the hysteresis direction was also affected by different lag times for water reaching stream channels from areas with different land use. K⁺ hystereses for the woodland catchment were more narrow than those for the agricultural and mixed-use catchments due to a smaller pool of K⁺ in the woodland catchment. In all streams, the widest hystereses were produced for rainfall floods preceded by a long period without rainfall.     

Weak competitive ability may explain decline of Taxus baccata

Context

Taxus woodlands suffer from a lack of natural regeneration across its whole distribution range.

Aims

In Knyazhdvir Reserve in Ukraine Taxus baccata primarily competes with Abies alba. It has been assumed that in the conditions of deep shade, yews have a greater competitive advantage than firs.

Methods

To verify this hypothesis, a plot with both species growing under the canopy was established. Wood samples were taken from 20 trees of T. baccata and 20 trees of A. alba.

Results

There were no differences in the mean tree-ring width, height and age between both species. Due to a lack of spatial separation of both species, yews and firs inhabited the same area in the analysed plot. Fir seedlings (up to 0.5?m) were recorded to grow under yew saplings (above 0.5?m), but the inverse situation of yew seedlings growing under fir saplings was not seen.

Conclusion

Seedling distribution, tree-ring growth rate, possibility of growth of fir seedlings under yew saplings and greater potential growth suggested that fir was predisposed to having the competitive edge over yew. Our results may confirm the hypothesis that T. baccata has a restricted distribution because of weak competitive abilities and can exist only in habitats where faster growing species are absent. The results call into question the prevailing opinion that human influences are the principal cause for the decline of T. baccata.     

Growth performance, feed intake and morphology of juvenile European catfish, Silurus glanis (L.) fed diets containing different protein and lipid levels

The study was carried out with juvenile European catfish to evaluate the effects of commercial diets on growth, feed utilization and changes of selected morphometric traits of fish. Three diets containing different levels of crude protein and lipid: 37 and 12 %, 45 and 15 %, 45 and 20 %, respectively, were fed to triplicate groups of European catfish for 50 days. The fish were fed continuously (24 h day^?1) by automatic belt feeders for fish with a clock drive. Biometric characteristics of fish included the determination of plasticity traits using modified Pravdin method. Fish growth rate and final body weight were statistically higher in variant 45/20 diet (specific growth rate of 2.6 % day^?1). The intergroup significant differences were recorded for food conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER), during the particular decades of the experiment. For the whole period of the growth test, no significant differences in FCR were observed, but the most favorable values of PER were obtained in variant 37/12. Protein retention in fish body ranged from 18.7 to 21.0 %, and fat retention was significantly more variable, ranged from 87.5 to 121.3 %. Fish survival rate recorded during the growth test was higher in all variants (above 95 %). Statistically significant increases in protein and lipid content were found in fish fed diets 45/15 and 45/20. The tested diets have no effect on changes in fish body proportions. The most effective in juvenile European catfish rearing was diet with 45 % of crude protein and 20 % of lipid.     

The origin of clones among androgenic regenerants of hexaploid triticale

Doubled haploids (DH) have become a standard tool in breeding and genetic studies of many crops and in most cases androgenesis is the only available route of their production. It has been recently observed that some populations of DH lines obtained via androgenesis contain high proportions of clones. This seriously reduces the efficiency of breeding and may jeopardize genetic studies. This study was designed to determine at which stage of androgenesis these clones are created, using samples set aside during routine production of DH lines in breeding of hexaploid triticale. The fate of each androgenic structure was carefully followed through the entire regeneration process, and all obtained plants were genotyped using DNA markers. Overall, 189 plants were regenerated forming 33 families, each originating from a single original androgenic structure (callus, polyembryos). In ca. 80 % of cases all members of a family were genetically identical. However, in about 20 % of cases the families of regenerants were genetically heterogeneous, showing that not all androgenic structures originate from single microspores. The evidence shown here demonstrates that retention of single plants from each original structure guarantees the production of only unique genotypes but it reduces the total output of plants. If maximum output is desired, multiple regenerants from single callus can be retained but must be genotyped using at least 10 polymorphic markers to identify clones.     

Monitoring BTEX and Aldehydes in Car Exhaust from a Gasoline Engine During the Use of Different Chemical Cleaners by Solid Phase Microextraction-Gas Chromatography

All commercial gasoline fuels build up deposits on the spark plugs, injectors, oxygen sensors, catalytic converter, and inside the combustion chamber, which will lower the engine's performance and increase air pollution. As a result, fuel-based detergents have been developed to prevent and remove unwanted deposits. Unfortunately, many of the detergents use high amounts of aromatic solvents, which result in a greater risk of exposure to aromatic compounds like benzene. In this study, car exhaust was analyzed for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), as well as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde during engine cleaning service using different chemical cleaners. A special device was designed for sampling from car exhaust using solid phase microextraction. The extracted compounds were analyzed using a gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector. The cleaning products were rated with regard to the amount of pollutants produced during the cleaning service.