Enhanced haematological and immune responses in common carp Cyprinus carpio fed with olive leaf extract‐supplemented diets and subjected to ambient ammonia

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential effects of olive leaf (Olea europea L.) extract (OLE) on common carp (Cyprinus carpio) health in response to ambient ammonia toxicity. Fish were fed with experimental diets containing OLE (0, 1, 5 and 10 g/kg) for 60 days followed by a 3‐hr challenge with ammonia (0.5 mg/L unionized ammonia‐N). Results showed that haemoglobin levels, differential leucocyte counts and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration were not affected by dietary OLE levels and ammonia challenge. Ammonia challenge significantly increased red blood cells and decreased blood mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, plasma lysozyme, complement and bactericidal activities. Plasma lysozyme, complement and total immunoglobulin values improved by 5 and/or 10 g OLE/kg supplementation. Before the ammonia exposure, the 5 and 10 g OLE/kg treatment significantly increased blood white blood cell, but there was no significant difference among the treatments after the ammonia exposure. Ammonia exposure significantly increased plasma malondialdehyde levels; however, 1 and 5 g OLE/kg treatments had significantly lower values compared to the other treatments. The present results suggest that 1 g OLE/kg diet may improve fish health and reduce the adverse effects of ammonia toxicity on common carp.     

Physiological responses to feed restriction and starvation in juvenile Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baerii (Brandt, 1869): Effects on growth,body composition and blood plasma metabolites

An 8‐week study was applied to evaluate the effects of feed restriction and starvation on growth, proximate composition, haematological and biochemical factors in juvenile Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baerii with an average weight of 54 ± 0.6 g. Fish were randomly divided into nine indoor tanks (1,050 L volume) with 30 fish per tank in a flow‐through system at 18 ± 0.4°C. Three feeding strategies were considered: I) fed at satiation (F), II) restricted feeding at the rate of 1% body weight per day (R) and III) starvation (S) each with 3 replicates. Fish were fed with commercial pellets 4 times daily, but no feed was considered for S group throughout the trial. Basal level at the start, 4 and 8 weeks after initiation of the experiment, blood samples were taken from 5 fish/tank to measure the haematological and biochemical parameters. Moreover, growth performance was recorded every 2‐week interval. At the end of the experiment, the growth parameters and proximate composition were significantly different among the treatments. As expected, the highest weight (164.7 ± 2.1 g) was observed in F group compared to R (101 ± 1.7 g), or S (42.4 ± 0.8 g) groups. The highest (12.07 ± 0.14%) and lowest (5.37 ± 0.42%) fat contents were observed in F and S groups, respectively, while the protein was not affected in R group compared with F group. In addition, most haematological and biochemical indices of Siberian sturgeon were affected by starvation at week 4 and 8, while few changes were observed in restricted feeding. The highest mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, plasma total protein, cholesterol and triglyceride was found in S group, while the lowest value of plasma glucose was observed in this group. It can be concluded that Siberian sturgeon adjusts the physiological condition in short‐term (4 weeks) feed restriction using stored metabolites to have basal metabolism and due to this, a short period of feed restriction strategy recommends to the optimum nutritional management of Siberian sturgeon to cost‐saving during unsuitable conditions.     

Factors Affecting Mehlich III Soil Test Methodology for Extractable P

Agronomic and environmental testing laboratories in Texas and elsewhere have adopted Mehlich III (M3) as their official soil test phosphorus (P) methodology. However, M3-P data could be skewed due to non-homogenous soil samples or failure to follow standard protocol which could influence recommendations or restrictions. Twelve agricultural soils with a wide range of properties were collected from across Texas. Exhaustive efforts via multiple methods were made to prepare homogeneous representative soil samples. The standard M3 protocol selected was a 2 g weighed soil sample placed in a 148 ml disposable plastic cup, using a 1:10 soil:M3 solution ratio, shaken on a 200 rpm orbital shaker with a 2.5 cm throw for exactly 5 min, and filtered through Whatman No. 2 filter paper. The standard protocol was compared with nine different protocol variations with variables including soil weighing versus scooping, scooping repeatability of different technicians, soil sample weight, shaking type, speed and time, different filter papers, and varying soil:extractant ratios. Extent of soil pulverization on M3-P results was also evaluated. Tests were performed in four replications for all protocols to assess effects on M3-extractable soil P. Percent recovery of soil during grinding had no effect on M3-extractable P. Little difference in M3-extractable P was observed between scooping and weighing of 2 g soil samples. Shaker type had no effect on extractable P in soils with low clay contents, however, increasing shaking speed and using an orbital shaker resulted in higher extractable P, especially in clayey soils. Both Whatman No. 1 and 2 filter papers were found suitable for M3-P analyses. Different soil:extractant ratios resulted in a highly significant influence on the amount of M3-P extracted. However, when ratios were maintained between 1:9 and 1:11, few differences in extractable P were observed. Using sample weights below 3 g did not significantly alter precision or accuracy of results. However, technician variation in scooping of 2 or 5 g soil samples resulted in significant differences in M3-P.     

Effects of partial substitution of dietary fish meal by fermented soybean meal on growth performance,amino acid and biochemical parameters of juvenile black sea bream Acanthopagrus schlegeli

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of replacing fish meal protein with fermented soybean meal (FSM) on the growth performance, feed utilization, amino acid profile, body composition, morphological parameters, activity of antioxidant and digestive enzymes of black sea bream (Acanthopagrus schlegeli) juvenile. Five isonitrogenic and isolipidic diets were prepared with levels of 0 (control), 80, 160, 240 and 320 g kg^?1 FSM. Triplicate groups (40 fish per tank) of juvenile black sea bream with initial weight of 1.17 ± 0.04 g were hand‐fed to visual satiation at three meals per day for 8 weeks. The fish fed diets containing different levels of FSM had no significant differences regarding survival and specific growth rate compared with control group. Feed and protein efficiency ratios of fish fed diet containing 320 g kg^?1 FSM were significantly lower than those of control group. Daily feed intake and daily protein intake of fish fed diet containing 240–320 g kg^?1 were significantly higher than those of control group. Hepatosomatic index and condition factor of fish were not affected by different dietary FSM level. Fish fed diets containing 240–320 g kg^?1 FSM had significantly higher visceral somatic index than control group. Whole body proximate and amino acid compositions of fish were not affected by dietary FSM level. The activity of digestive enzymes in the intestine was not affected by dietary FSM level. The activity of glutathione peroxidase in liver was significantly higher for fish fed the diet containing 160 g kg^?1 FSM compared with control group. This study showed that up to 40% fish meal in the diets of juvenile black sea bream could be replaced by fermented soybean meal with supplementation of methionine, lysine and taurine.     

Biological effects of indigenous medicinal plants Curcuma longa and Alpinia galanga

The ethanolic extracts of Curcuma longa and Alpinia galanga exhibited excellent (100%) phytotoxic activity against Lemma minor. These extracts were also found to possess good antifungal activities against Trichophyton longifusus (65% and 60%, respectively), while in the brine shrimp lethality bioassay were found to be toxic with LD50 of 33 and 109 mincrog/ml, respectively. These extracts were found quite inert in antibacterial bioassay, while the extract from C. longa, tested for insecticidal activity, was also found to be devoid of any activity.     

伊犁河流域地下水埋深与TDS时空变异及水化学特征分析

采用地统计学经典理论分析了伊犁河谷典型区域在不同时期地下水TDS和埋深在时间和空间上的变异特征,对研究区浅层地下水TDS不同时期(2008—2009年)的实测数据进行了半方差函数分析,地下水埋深和TDS服从都对数正态分布。地下水TDS和埋深在时间和空间上存在明显的变异性,地下水TDS在研究区中部和北部有增加的趋势;地下水随时间从南到北盐渍化加重方向发展;地下水各项离子浓度都在积聚。利用统计软件DPS7.5,Surfer8.0和Arcgis9.2等软件绘制了地下水TDS和埋深空间分布格局图,为该地区地下水资源的管理以及防止盐渍化提供理论依据。     

INTERACTION BETWEEN WATER ALKALINITY AND NUTRIENT SOLUTION PH ON THE VEGETATIVE GROWTH,CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE AND LEAF MAGNESIUM,IRON, MANGANESE,AND ZINC CONCENTRATIONS IN LETTUCE

Alkalinity of water is considered critical for plant growth. Interactions between water alkalinity and solution pH on lettuce were investigated. Seeds of romaine type lettuce were sown in pots containing perlite and irrigated with a high alkaline nutrient solution at four pH values (5, 6, 7, and 8). Considering the high amount of Fv/Fm at pH 5; higher shoot growth (at pH 5) could be due to the improvement of the efficiency of the photosynthesis apparatus of plants and consequently higher photochemical quantum yield. Although, magnesium (Mg) concentration in leaves increased with elevating pH up to 7 and then decreased at 8, but iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) concentrations decreased at higher solution pH levels, constantly. In commercial lettuce production in which water with high pH and carbonate species is normally used, it is better to use safe acids to reduce the pH in nutrient solutions to 5.     

干旱区城市化对城市内河水质的影响研究——以吐曼河为例

随着城市社会经济的迅速发展，工业主导的城市化过程带来了许多城市生态环境问题，引起了城市内河水质的恶化。采用1996～2000年喀什市吐曼河水质观测数据、1990年与1999年卫星遥感图像和城市发展中有关的社会经济统计数据与土地利用资料，在3S技术的支持下，运用地表水污染综合指数法，对吐曼河水质进行评价，定量与定性相结合分析了干旱区城市化对城市内河水质的影响。结果表明：大气中的总悬浮颗粒是导致吐曼河水质严重污染的主要原因。此外，城市化所带来得人口增加、工业化与土地利用方式的改变也一定程度的影响了吐曼河的水质。     

IL-4, IL-5 and IFN-gamma mRNA expression in pulmonary lymphocytes in equine heaves

Heaves is a common condition of horses of cold climate that is characterized by small airway inflammation and obstruction following exposure of susceptible horses to moldy hay and straw. It has been shown that helper T lymphocytes (Th) orchestrate the inflammatory response in asthma and in various animal models of allergic lung diseases by the release of Th2-type cytokines. Results of previous studies indicate that a predominant expression of Th2-type response by airway cells may also be present in heaves. To evaluate the temporal mRNA expression of Th1 (IFN-gamma) and Th2 (IL-4, IL-5) type cytokines in heaves and their relationship to clinical disease, we studied the pulmonary mechanics and cytokine mRNA expression (IL-4, IL-5 and IFN-gamma) in bronchoalveolar lavage lymphocytes of horses with heaves (n=6) and control (n=6) before and after 24h and 9 days of continuous natural inhalation challenge. Starting 24h after challenge horses with heaves, but not control horses, had a significant increase in pulmonary elastance and the number of lymphocytes expressing mRNA for IL-4 and IL-5. These changes were further increased at 9 days, at which time the number of cells positive for IFN-gamma mRNA was decreased. In this study we have shown that BAL lymphocytes of horses with heaves during clinical exacerbation have a predominant Th2-type cytokine response and that this response coincides in time with the presence of airway obstruction.