Subject-based reference values: biological variation, individuality, and reference change values

Subject-based reference values have been largely overlooked in veterinary medicine. These values represent longitudinal data rather than the cross-sectional data represented by standard population-based reference values. As such they provide information about biological and analytical variation. Inherent random variation of analytes around a homeostatic set point is referred to as biological variation; data on biological variation are underutilized in veterinary medicine and have multiple applications that include setting analytical goals, predicting the utility of population-based reference intervals (RIs), assessing the value of partitioning reference values, and evaluating the significance of changes in serial results. To generate these data, relatively few individuals are sampled for a short period of time. Given the difficulty of obtaining specimens from large number of healthy individuals to establish a cross-sectional RI for many veterinary species, especially exotic species, use of subject-based RIs is a practical alternative approach for the veterinary diagnostician. Furthermore, for the majority of biochemical analytes and even many hemostatic variables, population-based reference values are less sensitive than subject-based reference values for detecting pathologic changes in an individual. The focus of this review is the clinical usefulness of subject-based reference values and diagnostic implications for their use. Implementation of the concepts of biological variation, individuality, and reference change value (RCV) may allow large diagnostic laboratories to offer more sensitive reference values to assess health and detect disease.     

Silvopastoralism in New Zealand: review of effects of evergreen and deciduous trees on pasture dynamics

Complex interactions between livestock, trees and pasture occur in silvopastoral systems. Between trees and pasture, competition for soil resources (nutrients and water) occurs, becoming especially relevant when one of them is in scarce supply. Trees reduce light and water reaching the understorey layers according to tree density and canopy size. However, they may ameliorate extreme climatological features (reducing wind speed and evapotranspiration, and alleviating extreme temperatures), and improve soil properties, for example, deciduous tree litter may contribute to increased pH and soil nutrient concentrations. During tree establishment, there are generally negligible effects on pasture, irrespective of tree type. However, there is a decline in pasture production and nutritive value under shade with increasing tree age and higher stand density. Under the same conditions, deciduous trees affect pasture later (extinction point of pasture occurs at 85% of canopy closure) than evergreen trees (about 67% for Pinus radiata D. Don). This is mainly because deciduous trees have a leafless period that enables pasture recovery, and their litter smothers pasture less intensely because of its relatively fast decomposition. Silvopastoral studies conducted in New Zealand are reviewed to discuss these effects, and differences in the effects of evergreen and deciduous trees are shown using the examples of P. radiata, and Populus and Salix spp. respectively, which exist in many temperate countries. Future research needs are outlined.     

Chia Oil Extraction Coproduct as a Potential New Ingredient for the Food Industry: Chemical,Physicochemical, Techno-Functional and Antioxidant Properties

The aim of this work was to characterize the coproduct obtained from chia oil production (cold-pressing) with a view to its possible application in new food product development. For this characterization, the following determinations were made: proximate composition, physicochemical analysis, techno-functional properties, total phenolic and flavonoid content, polyphenolic profile and antioxidant capacity (using four different methods). Chia coproduct showed significantly higher levels of proteins and total dietary fiber and lower levels of fats than chia seeds, pointing to the promising nature of this coproduct as an ingredient of food formulations since it remains a source of high biological value proteins and total dietary fiber (as chia seeds themselves) but with a lower energy value. This chia coproduct presents similar techno-functional properties to the original chia seeds and significantly higher levels of polyphenolic compounds and, consequently, higher antioxidant activity.     

Interspecific variation of constitutive chemical compounds in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus</Emphasis> spp. xylem and susceptibility to pinewood nematode (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bursaphelenchus xylophilus</Emphasis>)

Pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causal agent of pine wilt disease (PWD), was detected in Spain in 2008. This gives rise to serious concern, as the disease has caused severe environmental and economic losses in Portugal and in Asian countries. We studied interspecific variation in susceptibility to pine wilt disease and differences in constitutive chemical compounds in the xylem tissue of the seven pine species -P. canariensis, P. halepensis, P. pinaster, P. pinea, P. sylvestris, P. radiata and P. taeda. Two-year-old trees were inoculated with B. xylophilus. Water potential and nematode densities were measured for each species on specific dates; whereas, wilting symptoms were recorded weekly until the end of the assay. Chemical compounds in the xylem were determined prior to inoculation. Three different resistance groups can be established in terms of the pine species susceptibility to PWN: non- to slightly-susceptible (P. canariensis, P. halepensis, P. taeda and P. pinea), susceptible (P. pinaster and P. radiata), and highly-susceptible (P. sylvestris). Nematodes migrated downward to the roots in all seven species. Constitutive xylem nitrogen, total polyphenols, and marginally phosphorus were negatively correlated with mortality caused by PWN. The most susceptible species, Pinus sylvestris, presented high levels of constitutive lipid-soluble substances and low levels of manganese, pointing to a possible relation between these components and PWN susceptibility. The results suggest P. sylvestris, P. pinaster and P. radiata forests could be severely damaged by PWN in Spain and highlight how constitutive chemical compounds such as nitrogen might play a role in resistance mechanisms against PWN.     

Tolerance of potentially diazotrophic bacteria to adverse environmental conditions and plant growth-promotion in sugarcane

Sugarcane is one of the crops responsible for the high consumption of fertilizers in Brazil. To minimize this demand a sustainable alternative is to increase the studies to evaluate the beneficial effects of the relationship between plants/microorganisms, mainly plant growth-promoting bacteria. The objectives of this study were: a) to evaluate potentially diazotrophic bacteria isolates from sugarcane in adverse environmental conditions; b) inoculate these bacteria in sugarcane to evaluate their ability in plant growth-promotion. The study was carried in the Northeast of Brazil. Bacterial genera Burkholderia sp., Pantoea sp., Stenotrophomonas sp. and Enterobacter sp. were evaluated in different culture medium and later the bacterial isolates were inoculated in sugarcane evaluating the plant growth-promotion. Stenotrophomonas sp. and Pantoea sp. were tolerant to salinity and to different sources of carbon in acid medium and too tolerated high concentrations of pesticides and produced quorum sensing molecules (QS), but did not increase the dry matter production of sugarcane. Burkholderia sp. and Enterobacter sp. were more sensitive to salinity and pest control, but were more effective in plant growth-promotion. The tolerance of the bacteria to the adverse environmental conditions interfered negatively in the ability to plant growth-promotion.     

Morpho‐demographic traits of two maërl‐forming algae in beds with different depths and fishing histories

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Estimating soil resilience to a toxic organic waste by measuring enzyme activities

The ability of a degraded soil to respond to successive additions of a toxic organic waste (olive-mill solid waste) and its vermicompost was studied in a controlled incubation experiment for 32 weeks. Hydrolytic enzyme activities (phosphatase, β-glucosidase), oxidoreductase activities (dehydrogenase, o-diphenol oxidase) and indole acetic acid production, were used as measures of soil perturbation. No microbial activity, indicated by the total lack of dehydrogenase activity, was detected when the olive-mill solid waste was added to the soil. However, after 16 weeks, the activity returned to the original soil levels (1.35 μg INTF g⁻¹ h⁻¹). The addition of vermicomposted olive-mill solid waste increased the original soil dehydrogenase activity by five-fold, indicating a loss of toxicity of the waste during the vermicomposting process; the activity remained high throughout the experiment. At week 21, a second addition of olive solid waste, was made to both olive waste and vermicompost-amended soils, when the soil originally amended with olive waste had reached the activity measured in soil amended with vermicompost. Dehydrogenase activity recovered immediately, reaching levels up to seven-fold higher than the background levels of the soil. The ability of soil to respond to a toxic waste clearly differed after a period of exposure to the waste. The faster response was probably related to the increased pool of stabilized organic matter present in soil, arising from the stabilization of added olive waste in the soil or through the amended vermicompost. The amplitude (period of recovery to the initial state after disturbance) and the elasticity (speed of recovery) of the soil could also be monitored by o-diphenol oxidase and β-glucosidase activities. However, indole-3-acetic acid production proved to be a useful measure of perturbation only following the second addition of the olive waste.     

Degradation of simazine by microorganisms isolated from soils of Spanish olive fields

The capability of the microbial flora isolated from an olive field soil from Andalusia to mineralize simazine has been analyzed. From this soil, a group of bacteria capable of degrading 60 mg simazine litre(-1) in less than a week has been isolated. These microorganisms showed a low capacity for degrading this herbicide to carbon dioxide. When total DNA was isolated from this group of bacteria, we were able to detect by PCR the presence of only the atzC and the trzN genes. Some components of this bacterial population have been identified by sequencing of specific fragments from bacterial 16S rDNA, including Variovorax sp, Pseudoxanthomonas mexicana Thierry et al, Acidovorax sp and Methylopila capsulata Doronina et al. These data suggest that this consortium of bacteria performs an incomplete degradation of the simazine