A recent growth increase of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) at its Mediterranean distribution limit contradicts drought stress

Future changes in tree growth, associated with a warmer and drier climate, are predicted for many species and locations across the European Mediterranean Basin. However, quantification of the intensity and severity of related consequences for forest ecosystem functioning and productivity remains challenging. Species-specific distribution limits that are particularly sensitive to small changes in the ambient climate may provide an ideal test bed to assess the nature of past growth trends and extremes and their responsible controls. Here, we seek to understand how twentieth century climate change affected the growth of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) nearby its south-eastern distribution limit in Albania and Macedonia on the Balkan Peninsula. We sampled 93 living trees from undisturbed mixed forest stands at ~1,450 m a.s.l. and 29 timbers from nearby historical buildings. Application of different tree-ring detrending techniques allowed robust composite chronologies with varying degrees of high- to low-frequency variability to be developed back to 1648 ad. Comparison with local meteorological station measurements and continental grid-box climate indices revealed spatiotemporal instability in growth–climate response patterns. Nevertheless, year-to-year and decadal-long fluctuations in radial beech growth were significantly (P < 0.001) negatively correlated at ?0.61 with June–September temperature over the 1951–1995 period. This (inverse) relationship between increased beech growth and decreased summer temperature is somewhat indicative for the importance of plant-available soil moisture, which likely controls ring width formation near the species-specific south-eastern distribution limit. Significant positive correlations between beech growth and drought (scPDSI; r = 0.57) confirm metabolistic drought constraints. However, an unexpected late twentieth century growth increase not only contradicts the previously observed growth dependency to summer soil moisture, but also denies any putative drought-induced forest ecosystem suppression in this part of the Mediterranean Basin.     

Effect of medium hydrostatic pressure on the properties of wheat flour main biopolymers

In our work, the effect of medium hydrostatic pressure on the properties of wheat flour's main ingredients, starch and proteins, is presented and discussed. The symbiotic effect of the different constituents via size exclusion chromatography, water binding, gelatinization experiments as well as atomic force microscopy measurements and X-ray diffraction is elucidated. From results of size exclusion chromatography and protein content analysis, prolamin fractions seemed to be most sensitive to pressure. Hydrostatic pressure, however, had a significant influence on the amount of bound water and gelatinization enthalpy, especially at moderate pressures and higher temperatures. In this case, an optimal interaction between macromolecules and water occurs. This was also confirmed by atomic force microscopy images and X-ray diffraction patterns. Amorphous and crystalline regions of starch granules were modified, depending on pressure and temperature. At medium pressure (200 MPa), water was pressed into the starch cavities remaining there, whereas higher pressure (600 MPa) led to complete flattening of the surface. With X-ray diffraction, it was shown that medium pressure had nearly no effect on molecular structure, whereas higher pressure caused thermal-like molecular modifications.     

Water distribution in brine salted cod (Gadus morhua) and salmon (Salmo salar): a low-field 1H NMR study

Low-field (LF) (1)H NMR T 2 relaxation measurements were used to study changes in water distribution in lean (Atlantic cod) and fatty (Atlantic salmon) fish during salting in 15% NaCl and 25% NaCl brines. The NMR data were treated by PCA, continuous distribution analysis, and biexponential fitting and compared with physicochemical data. Two main water pools were observed in unsalted fish, T 21, with relaxation times in the range 20-100 ms, and T 22, with relaxation times in the range 100-300 ms. Pronounced changes in T 2 relaxation data were observed during salting, revealing changes in the water properties. Salting in 15% brine lead to a shift toward longer relaxation times, reflecting increased water mobility, whereas, salting in saturated brines had the opposite effect. Water mobility changes were observed earlier in the salting process for cod compared to salmon. Good linear correlations ( F 相似文献   

Association between costly veterinary-care events and 5-year survival of Swedish insured warmblooded riding horses

Our objective was to estimate the 5-year survival to death in insured warmblooded riding horses (as reflected by a life-insurance claim) in horses with or without at least one costly veterinary-care event (VCE) in 1997. We also determined the impacts of gender, age, previous diagnosis of veterinary claim, geographic variables, cost for veterinary claims and life-insurance value upon the survival. The design was a retrospective cohort study using a population of warmblooded riding horses insured in a Swedish animal-insurance company (Agria Insurance, P.O. 70306, SE-107 23 Stockholm, Sweden) in 1997. All horses in this population had insurance both for veterinary-care and life ("complete" insurance reimbursing the insurance holder for most medical problems). We followed two cohorts (2,495 horses with > or = 1 VCE and 15,576 horses with no VCE in year 1997). The median VCE cost in horses with > or =1 VCE was 3,800 SEK, with 10th and 90th percentiles of 1,400 and 11,400 SEK respectively. In total 944 of the 2,495 horses (38%) in the VCE-positive cohort and 2,962 of the 15,576 horses (19%) in the VCE-negative cohort had died (had a settled life-insurance claim) after the follow-up time. An exponential-regression model showed that geldings had a higher risk of claimed death compared to mares and mares had a higher risk compared to stallions. The risk of death increased linearly with age. The risk of death increased with increasing life-insurance value. Horses with previous lameness had the lowest survival, and for high-cost claims this increased risk was not associated with age.     

Breed and Management Interaction for Production and Reproduction in Swedish Dairy Cows

The effects of grazing during summer and possible interaction effects between breed and management system on milk production and postpartum reproductive performance were studied in 93 Swedish Red and White (SRB), Swedish Holstein (SLB) and Swedish Jersey (SJB) cows with 214 initiated lactations. The cows were divided into two groups: zero-grazing with tiestalls, or grazing during summer. Effects were studied by mixed-model analysis. The results indicated that grazing (rather than zero-grazing) can reduce the milk yield in the following lactation in SLB cows, whereas it had little effect on the production of SRB cows. Grazing SJB cows produced more milk, but with a significantly lower fat content. Grazing before or during the postpartum period stimulated reproductive performance, indicating a higher conception rate in all breeds and a 13-27-day shorter interval from calving to conception in the SRB and SLB cows, whereas in the limited number of SJB cows, the trend was the converse.     

Can farm animals help to study endocrine disruption?

The phenomenon of endocrine disruption can be regarded as part of the disciplines of toxicology and environmental toxicology. These two disciplines have generated guideline protocols on how various effects of chemicals should be tested as a basis for regulatory decisions. These protocols almost exclusively involve laboratory rodents and the data obtained are then used for human risk assessment. Would it be justifiable, then, to introduce or promote the use of other species in these test protocols? There are, at any rate rationales for studying effects in species other than laboratory rodents: (1) other species may better mimic the human system; (2) they may in some cases be more useful for studying a certain mechanism or phenomenon; (3) they may highlight the diversity of effects or sensitivity between species. However, there are at least two basic criteria that must be met for a species before it can be introduced in this context: (a) we must have a good understanding of the physiological system to be studied; and (b) we must have a number of tools to study effects on this system. When it comes to the reproductive system – regarding which most endocrine disruption has been reported – farm animals are second only, or in some respects superior, to laboratory rodents with respect to these criteria. This review gives examples of how farm animals can be of use in the study of endocrine disruption with a focus on the author's own data from studies in the pig.     

Genetic and Environmental Correlations Among Female Fertility Traits,and Between the Ability to Show Oestrus and Milk Production in Dairy Cattle

Genetic and environmental correlations were estimated both between the ability to show oestrus and milk production, and among different fertility traits (heat-intensity score, number of days between consecutive inseminations, number of inseminations per service period, interval between calving and first or last insemination, and interval between first and last insemination). Milk production was measured as the average of the energy-corrected milk yield on second and third monthly test days. The number of records were approximately 450000, 350000, 180000 and 75000 in the heifer period, first, second and third lactations, respectively. A linear, trivariate model that included the effects of herd-year, year, month, age and cow's sire was applied. The results indicated that further selection for increased milk production is not expected to deteriorate heat intensity. The number of days between calving and first insemination, the number of inseminations and the heat intensity were complementary, and can be recommended for a selection index for fertility.     

Occurrence of cystic ovaries in dairy cows in Sweden

The occurrence of cystic ovaries in dairy cows in Sweden was investigated using data on almost 390 000 individuals. Longistic regression analysis was used to assess relationships between cystic ovaries and explanatory variables. Cows of the Swedish Red and White breed (SRB) had twice as many diagnosed cystic ovaries as did Swedish Friesians (SLB), and first-parity cows had half as many cystic ovaries as older cows. The odds for cystic ovaries increased with increasing parity for SRV cows, even after second parity, but not for SLB cows. The diagnosis appeared to be made earlier during lactation in SRB and in high-parity cows. Twin calving in the present lactation and cysts in the previous lactation increased the odds. Cows calving either during months with subsequent risk periods during pasturing or during months with increasing daylight had lower odds for cystic ovaries. The odds increased with increasing milk yield in the present lactation (estimated conditionally on yield in the previous lactation), but decreased with increasing production in the previous lactation (estimated conditionally on yield in the present lactation). In SRB cows, the odds decreased with increasing herd production level.