OIL OUTLOOK:USGS Optimistic on World Oil Prospects

According to the latest estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey, the world has 20% more oil awaiting discovery in yet-to-be-found fields than the USGS estimated 6 years ago. And a newly analyzed category--oil lurking in and around known fields--offers almost as much additional oil as in those undiscovered reservoirs. But even if the additional oil is really there, pessimists argue that it pushes back the global production peak--and the end of the era of cheap oil--by years, not decades.     

Cryopreservation of Piau‐Breed Wild Boar Sperm: Assessment of Cooling Curves and Centrifugation Regimes

This study aimed to assess the effects of different cooling curves and centrifugation regimes used in cryopreservation protocols on the post‐thaw viability of Piau‐breed wild boar (Sus scrofa) sperm using in vitro assessment tests. Two centrifugations (800  g for 10 min and 2400  g for 3 min) and two cooling curves (conventional cooling using nitrogen vapour – freezing 1 and automated cooling using a programmed freezing machine – freezing 2) were tested. Therefore, the treatments were divided into M3 – centrifugation at 2400  g for 3 min and freezing 2; M10 – centrifugation at 800  g for 10 min and freezing 2; R3 – centrifugation at 2400  g for 3 min and freezing 1; and R10 – centrifugation at 800  g for 10 min and freezing 1. No significant differences (p > 0.05) between treatments occurred post‐thawing regarding the total sperm motility means recorded. The mean values of the different treatments were not different from each other regarding the supravital staining (SV), hypo‐osmotic test (HO), sperm–egg binding assay or sperm morphology. This study showed that both the cooling curve and the centrifugation regime affected the quality of post‐thaw sperm, and centrifugation for shorter times and cooling curves using automated cooling are the most suitable for minimizing sperm injury.     

Large-scale,multi-year,phenology modelling of forest insects in Pinus radiata plantations

Journal of Pest Science - Ecologically and economically harmful wood borers and bark beetles, which have the capacity to expand geographically through the international log trade, require...     

A COMPARISON OF NUTRIENT LOSSES IN BALED HAY MADE FROM FORAGE-HARVESTED, CRIMPED OR TEDDED SWARDS WITH THOSE IN BARN-DRYING

Two experiments were conducted to study the effect on nutrient loss and feeding value of making hay by different means, using a barn-drier, a forage-harvester, a crimper and conventional tedding. Both forage-harvesting and crimping of the herbage significantly increased the rate of drying, compared with tedding alone. In Exp. 2 this effect enabled the crimped and forage-harvested hays to be baled for storage 3 days earlier than the tedded hay. The use of the forage-harvester significantly reduced the yield of herbage compared with conventional mowing. Nutrient losses from cutting until storage were highest for the forage-harvested hays, the loss of dry matter between cutting and storage in the forage-harvested hays being 39·9 and 19·3%, respectively, in Expt 1 and 2 with corresponding losses in the conventionally made hays of 7·1% and 9·3%. Crimping the hay resulted in higher nutrient losses than tedding. In Expt 2 there was a loss of dry matter of 17·5% in the conventionally made hay during an 18-week storage period, compared with 3·6% in barn-dried hay, 10·8% in forage-harvested hay and 8·8% in crimped hay.
In Expt 2, in which digestibility determinations were made, conservation decreased the total digestible nutrients and starch equivalent in all treatments. The use of the barn-drier gave the most efficient conservation of total digestible nutrients, followed by the crimped, forage-harvested and conventional treatments in that order. The starch equivalent values of hays made from the same sward were 43·0 when barn-dried, 39·8 when crimped, 38·6 after forage-harvesting and 31·6 after tedding.