Effects of porcine small intestinal submucosa on elution characteristics of gentamicin-impregnated plaster of Paris

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate effects of small intestinal submucosa (SIS) on elution properties of plaster of Paris (POP). SAMPLE POPULATION: 27 POP cylinders, 27 POP spheres, and 9 polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) spheres. PROCEDURES: Pellets were loaded with gentamicin (50 mg/g) and divided into 7 groups of 9 beads each: PMMA spheres; POP cylinders coated with 0, 4, or 8 layers of SIS; and POP spheres coated with 0, 4, or 8 layers of SIS. Gentamicin concentration was measured 6, 12, 18, 24, 32, 40, and 48 hours and 3, 4, 5, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 42 days after wrapping. Porosity was evaluated via scanning electron microscopy. Curvature factor of elution curves, total amount of drug released (TDR), time required to reach 50% of total release (TDR(t50)), and number of days with concentrations > or = 1 microg/mL were compared among groups. RESULTS: SIS decreased the curvature factor and increased the TDR(t50) and TDR of POP spheres and cylinders. Curvature factor of the PMMA-release curve remained lower than that for any POP group, but all POP groups wrapped in SIS released more gentamicin than PMMA spheres. Gentamicin concentrations remained > or = 1 microg/mL in SIS-wrapped POP and PMMA groups throughout the study. Wrapping POP in SIS minimized the increase in porosity of pellets. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Wrapping POP with SIS slows the release and increases the amount of gentamicin leaching from spheres and cylinders. All groups wrapped in SIS maintained antimicrobial concentrations greater than the minimum inhibitory concentration of most pathogens.     

Application of an electrometric method for measurement of blood cholinesterase activities in sheep, goats and cattle treated with organophosphate insecticides

A modified electrometric cholinesterase method has been described for use in ruminants exposed to organophosphate insecticides. The method was used to measure cholinesterase activities in the plasma and erythrocytes of sheep, goats and cattle treated with organophosphate insecticides under field conditions. The animals were treated topically to control ectoparasites with malathion (0.05%) or diazinon (0.06%). The treated animals did not suffer from adverse effects related to cholinesterase inhibition. However, 2 h after treatments, plasma and erythrocyte cholinesterase activities significantly decreased in sheep by 20% and 39% and in goats by 18% and 30%, respectively, when compared with respective untreated control values. Diazinon did not significantly affect plasma and erythrocyte cholinesterase activities in the cattle. The results suggest that the described electrometric method could be efficiently used for detecting cholinesterase inhibition in ruminants exposed to organophosphate insecticides.     

Glutathione content of in vivo and in vitro matured canine oocytes collected from different reproductive stages

Glutathione (GSH) concentrations of oocytes are considered as an important marker of the cytoplasmic maturation. The present study was designed to compare GSH concentrations of in vivo and in vitro matured canine oocytes. In vivo matured oocytes were collected 72 hr after ovulation by flushing fallopian tubes after laparotomy. Ovaries were collected from bitches with different reproductive stages, and collected oocytes were divided into 2 groups according to the size viz. < 120 microm and > 120 microm in diameter and cultured for 72 hr in Tissue Culture Medium-199 supplemented with 10% FBS, 2.2 mg/ml sodium bicarbonate, 2.0 microg/ml estrogen, 0.5 microg/ml FSH, 0.03 IU/ml hCG, and 1% penicillin-streptomycin solution in the presence or absence of 50 microM beta-mercaptoethanol. GSH concentrations were determined by the dithionitrobenzoic acid-glutathione disulfide (DTNB-GSSG) reductase recycling assay. GSH concentrations of immature canine oocytes were 2.9 and 3.8, 3.5 and 6.8, and 3.1 and 6.5 pM/oocyte for < 120 microm and > 120 microm in diameter oocyte groups at anestrous, follicular and luteal stage, respectively (P<0.05). In vivo matured oocytes had significantly higher GSH concentrations compared with in vitro matured oocytes. The GSH content was 19.2 pM/oocyte for in vivo matured oocytes, while 4.1 to 8.1 and 5.7 to 13.2 pM/oocyte for in vitro matured oocytes cultured in the absence or presence of beta-mercaptoethanol, respectively (P<0.05). Presence of beta-mercaptoethanol increased GSH synthesis in canine oocytes cultured in vitro, and oocytes collected from follicular and luteal stage was superior to anestrus oocytes.     

Simulation of drainage water quality with DRAINMOD

The design and management of drainage systems should consider impacts on drainage water quality and receiving streams, as well as on agricultural productivity. Two simulation models that are being developed to predict these impacts are briefly described. DRAINMOD-N uses hydrologic predictions by DRAINMOD, including daily soil water fluxes, in numerical solutions to the advective-dispersive-reactive (ADR) equation to describe movement and fate of NO₃-N in shallow water table soils. DRAINMOD- CREAMS links DRAINMOD hydrology with submodels in CREAMS to predict effects of drainage treatment and controlled drainage losses of sediment and agricultural chemicals via surface runoff. The models were applied to analyze effects of drainage intensity on a Portsmouth sandy loam in eastern North Carolina. Depending on surface depressional storage, agricultural production objectives could be satisfied with drain spacings of 40 m or less. Predicted effects of drainage design and management on NO₃-N losses were substantial. Increasing drain spacing from 20 m to 40 m reduced predicted NO₃-N losses by over 45% for both good and poor surface drainage. Controlled drainage further decreases NO₃-N losses. For example, predicted average annual NO₃-N losses for a 30 m spacing were reduced 50% by controlled drainage. Splitting the application of nitrogen fertilizer, so that 100 kg/ha is applied at planting and 50 kg/ha is applied 37 days later, reduced average predicted NO₃-N losses but by only 5 to 6%. This practice was more effective in years when heavy rainfall occurred directly after planting. In contrast to effects on NO₃-N losses, reducing drainage intensity by increasing drain spacing or use of controlled drainage increased predicted losses of sediment and phosphorus (P). These losses were small for relatively flat conditions (0.2% slope), but may be large for even moderate slopes. For example, predicted sediment losses for a 2% slope exceeded 8000 kg/ha for a poorly drained condition (drain spacing of 100 m), but were reduced to 2100 kg/ha for a 20 m spacing. Agricultural production and water quality goals are sometimes in conflict. Our results indicate that simulation modeling can be used to examine the benefits of alternative designs and management strategies, from both production and environmental points-of-view. The utility of this methodology places additional emphasis on the need for field experiments to test the validity of the models over a range of soil, site and climatological conditions.     

Development and testing of a surface roughness measurement device based on aerial ultrasonic reflections

Paddy and Water Environment - Repairs of concrete irrigation channels in Japan are guided to a large extent by the degree to which their walls have degraded over decades of use. Current methods of...     

SnToxA,SnTox1, and SnTox3 originated in Parastagonospora nodorum in the Fertile Crescent

The centre of origin of the globally distributed wheat pathogen Parastagonospora nodorum has remained uncertain because only a small number of isolates from the Fertile Crescent were included in earlier population genetic and phylogeographic studies. We isolated and genetically analysed 193 P. nodorum strains from three naturally infected wheat fields distributed across Iran using 11 neutral microsatellite loci. Compared to previous studies that included populations from North America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and China, the populations from Iran had the highest genetic diversity globally and also exhibited greater population structure over smaller spatial scales, patterns typically associated with the centre of origin of a species. Genes encoding the necrotrophic effectors SnToxA, SnTox1, and SnTox3 were found at a high frequency in the Iranian population. By sequencing 96 randomly chosen Iranian strains, we detected new alleles for all three effector genes. Analysis of allele diversity showed that all three effector genes had higher diversity in Iran than in any population included in previous studies, with Iran acting as a hub for the effector diversity that was found in other global populations. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis that P. nodorum originated either within or nearby the Fertile Crescent with a genome that already encoded all three necrotrophic effectors during its emergence as a pathogen on wheat. Our findings also suggest that P. nodorum was the original source of the ToxA genes discovered in the wheat pathogens Phaeosphaeria avenaria f. sp. tritici 1, Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, and Bipolaris sorokiniana.     

Potential host range of four Phytophthora interspecific hybrids from Clade 8a

In recent years several interspecific hybrids have been reported in the plant pathogenic oomycete genus Phytophthora. Due to the large genotypic and phenotypic changes, these hybrids might have broader or more limited host ranges compared with their parental species. It is crucial to understand the host range of Phytophthora hybrids to minimize the economic losses caused by their infection. The potential host range of four hybrids belonging to Clade 8a of the Phytophthora phylogenetic tree was investigated in this study. Thirty species of herbaceous plants as well as eight species of woody plants were inoculated and monitored for any symptom of infection. In addition, the detached twigs of 32 tree species, fruits of six plant species, tubers of potato, and roots of carrot and sugar beet were investigated for susceptibility to these hybrids. Almost all hybrids caused severe rot on all tested fruits, tubers, and roots, although different isolates showed different pathogenicity on detached tree twigs. All hybrids tested had a different host range compared with their parental species: they were able to infect plants outside the host range of their parents, infect hosts of both parental species, although these parents did not have overlapping hosts, or, in some cases, they were not able to infect hosts infected by the parents.     

Response of industrial hemp to Salsola kali subsp. tragus densities under organic and conventional fertilisation

A 2-year field study was conducted to determine the effects of different nutrition systems and Salsola kali subsp. tragus densities on industrial hemp yield and its components. Experiments were conducted as a split plot in a randomised complete block design with three replicates. Factors were fertilisation (poultry manure, vermicompost and nitrogen fertiliser) as the main plot and weed density (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 plants/m²) as the subplot. Results indicated that the maximum number of racemes per plant, seeds per raceme, 1000-seed weight, biomass, grain yield and harvest index (HI) of industrial hemp were obtained using vermicompost and were reduced with nitrogen fertiliser application. All measured properties in hemp plants decreased due to increasing S. kali subsp. tragus density, especially at 15 and 20 plants/m². The most significant reduction in hemp grain yield and its components was observed by increasing weed density with the application of nitrogen fertiliser. The application of vermicompost at high weed densities resulted in greater hemp grain yield and its components compared with nitrogen fertiliser. It is recommended to apply organic fertilisers, especially vermicompost at high S. kali subsp. tragus densities.     

Retracted: Study of testis histology and sperm morphology in the Bunnei,Barbus sharpeyi (Gunther, 1874) induced by luteinizing hormone‐releasing hormone analogue and carp pituitary extract

This study was conducted to determine the effects of hormone treatment on testis structure in Barbus sharpeyi, as well as the morphology of sperm examined by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Male B. sharpeyi were divided into three groups (three fish per group) and injected with luteinizing hormone – releasing hormone analogue (LHRH–A₂) or carp pituitary extract (CPE). The first and second groups were treated with 10 μg kg^?1 LHRH–A₂ and metoclopramide (MET), and their testis were sampled pre‐ and Poststripping respectively. The third group received 2 mg kg^?1 CPE and were killed pre‐stripping. Based on the histological results obtained, the testicular connective tissue of the lumen was thicker, and seminal vesicles were of a lower volume, in fish injected with CPE in comparison to the other groups. After treatment with LHRH–A₂ and MET, not all spermatozoa within the testis were ejaculated, and only a small amount of sperm was obtained by abdominal stripping. The highest and lowest diameters of connective tissue within lobules were observed in fish receiving CPE and LHRH–A₂ treatments respectively. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in lobule space between the fish injected with the CPE and the fish injected with the LHRH–A₂ and MET. The SEM results revealed that the spermatozoa of B. sharpeyi were composed of a spherical to elliptical head, a cylindrical midpiece, and a lengthy flagellum. In conclusion, it was found that injection with LHRH–A₂ and MET improved the spermatogenic process in comparison to injection with CPE.