Trial design to estimate the effect of vaccination on tuberculosis incidence in badgers

The principal wildlife reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis in Ireland is the European badger. Studies in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) have shown that badgers culled in association with cattle herd tuberculosis breakdowns (focal culling) have a higher prevalence of infection than the badger population at large. This observation is one rationale for the medium term national strategy of focal badger culling. A vaccination strategy for the control of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in badgers is a preferred long-term option. The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has been shown to decrease disease severity in captive badgers under controlled conditions. As the vaccine has been tested in a controlled environment with precise information on infection pressure, it cannot be assumed a priori that the effects of vaccination are similar in the wild, where other environmental and/or ecological factors prevail. For this reason we have designed a vaccine field trial to assess the impact of vaccination on the incidence of TB infection in a wild badger population. The selected study area for the vaccine trial (approximately 755 square kilometers) is divided into three zones each of which has similar characteristics in terms of size, number of main badger setts, cattle herds, cattle and land classification type. Three vaccination levels (100%, 50% and 0%) will be allocated to the three zones in a way that a gradient of vaccination coverage North to South is achieved. The middle zone (zone B) will be vaccinated at a 50% coverage but zone A and C will be randomly allocated with 100% or 0% vaccination coverage. Vaccination within zone B will be done randomly at individual badger level. The objective of this paper is to describe the design of a field tuberculosis vaccination trial for badgers, the epidemiological methods that were used to design the trial and the subsequent data analysis. The analysis will enable us to quantify the magnitude of the observed vaccination effect on M. bovis transmission in badgers under field conditions and to improve our knowledge of the biological effects of vaccination on susceptibility and infectiousness.     

Effect of pasture allowance and supplementation with maize silage and concentrates differing in crude protein concentration on milk production and nitrogen excretion by dairy cows

Sixty cows (40 multiparous and 20 primiparous) averaging 140 days in milk (DIM) were assigned to five treatments to evaluate the effect of pasture allowance and supplements of a) maize silage b) high crude protein concentrate and, c) low crude protein concentrate on milk production and nitrogen (N) excretion. Two of the treatments (HG and LG) were offered herbage only (allowances of 20 and 15 kg dry matter (DM) per cow/day, respectively) while the remaining three treatments were offered a herbage allowance of 15 kg DM per cow/day plus 4 kg DM per cow/day of maize silage (M), a high CP concentrate (CP concentration of 194 g/kg DM) (HC), or citrus pulp (CP concentration of 69 g/kg DM) (LC). Total DM intake (DMI) was similar for HG, M, HC, and LC but was lower for LG (15.2 kg DM per cow/day) than HC (17.4 kg DM per cow/day). The reduction in pasture DMI per kg of supplement DM ingested was 0.44, 0.45, and 0.54 kg for cows offered maize silage, high CP concentrate, and low CP concentrate, respectively. Milk yield was greater for the supplemented treatments (23.7–24.7 kg/day) than for LG (20.7 kg/day) but not for HG (23.2 kg/day). Milk fat concentration was greater for HC (35.3 g/kg) than for HG, M, and LC but not greater than LG, while milk protein concentration was greater for HG (34.8 g/kg) than for LG and HC but not greater than M and LC. The greatest levels of N and PDIN intake were recorded for HG (662 and 2502 g/day) and HC (654 and 2506 g/day) which were greater than LC but not greater than LG and M. Treatment HC recorded the highest PDIE intake (1743 g/day) which was greater than LG, M and LC but not greater than HG. Output of N in milk was greater on HC (134 g/day) than on LG but was not greater than on HG, M, and LC. Faecal N excretion was greater on HG (171 g/day) than on all other treatments while estimated urinary N excretion was greater on HG and HC than LC (320 g/day). Treatment LC had a higher proportion of N output in milk (0.23) than treatment LG but not higher than HG, M and HC treatments. Urinary N expressed as a proportion of total N excretion was lower for HG (0.68) than all other treatments. The results of this study show that there is a large response in milk production to supplementing cows on a restricted grass allowance and that cows offered low CP supplements had similar levels of production to those offered high CP supplements. Nitrogen utilisation was improved by offering supplements of lower CP content.     

Quantifying leaf-scale variations in water absorption in lettuce from hyperspectral imagery: a laboratory study with implications for measuring leaf water content in the context of precision agriculture

Precision Agriculture - Variations in water absorption across lettuce leaves (Latuca sativa L. var. longifolia) were quantified from hyperspectral imagery acquired in the laboratory using selected...     

Fumonisin B-glucose reaction products are less toxic when fed to swine

The effects of fumonisin B-glucose reaction products in swine diets was examined. Pigs were fed diets containing 528 micromol of total fumonisin B/kg (FB), 528 micromol of total FB-glucose adducts/kg (FB-G, 122 micromol of unreacted FB/kg), or 0 micromol of total FB/kg for 15 days to test the efficacy of the FB-G reaction products in detoxifying FB. Weight gain in FB pigs was lower than in FB-G or controls, which was correlated with feed intake reduction in FB pigs. Serum aspartate aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, and total bilirubin in FB pigs were higher than in FB-G or control pigs. Serum sphinganine/shingosine ratios in FB pigs were higher than in FB-G or control pigs. Microscopic examination of tissues from FB pigs showed generalized liver necrosis and apoptosis with marked cellular pleomorphism and disorganized hepatic cords. The liver and kidneys in the FB-G group appeared to be normal. Tissues of controls were free of lesions. Results suggest that dietary FB-G products are less toxic to swine and may provide an detoxification approach in instances of widespread FB grain contamination (p < 0.05).     

Resistance to septoria nodorum blotch in the Aegilops tauschii accession RL5271 is controlled by a single gene

Septoria nodorum blotch is the most important leaf disease of wheat in Western Australia. A potentially useful source of resistance has been identified in an accession of Aegilops tauschii. To study the genetics of resistance of this source a cross was made between the resistant Ae. tauschii accession, RL5271, and a susceptible accession, CPI110889. The resistant parent took significantly longer to develop symptoms, developed significantly fewer lesions and expressed significantly lower levels of disease than the susceptible parent. The F1 mean response for disease severity indicated there was no complete dominance. The F3 families were classified using three approaches. In the first approach the individual F3 plant response was used to classify the F3 families. In the second approach the F3 family means and standard errors were used to classify the F3 families. In the final approach Best Linear Unbiased Predictors of disease score and standard error for each F3 family derived from a REML analysis were used to classify the F3 families. The genotypic ratios generated by each of the approaches suggested that resistance is controlled by a single gene. The effectiveness of the resistance and its simple genetic control in the Ae. tauschii, accession RL5271 may be a useful resistance source for use in a bread wheat breeding program. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Characterization of RAPD Markers, and the RFLP Marker Linked to Powdery Mildew Resistance Gene Derived from Different Accessions of H. villosa

The analysis was carried out on performance of the resistance gene from Haynaldia villosa accession of the former Soviet Union to different isolates of Bluemerie graminis. Polymorphisms were revealed between 6D/6V substitution line Pm930640and its pedigree parents using five RAPD markers of OPAN031700, OPAI017oo, OPAL03750, OPAD07480 and OPAG1558oscreened out from 120 random 10-mers primers. Three RAPD markers of OPAN03, OPAI01 and OPAL03 were linked with the resistance gene by analysis of F2 population of Chancellor×Pm930640. Analysis of 29 wheat lines including part of lines conferring the known genes from Pm1 to Pm20 respectively, lines conferring resistance gene from two H. villosaaccessions and the related wheat parents, were analyzed and the results showed that these markers not only linked to thegene resistant to powdery mildew from H. villosa, but also detected different genetic backgrounds. OPAL03750 can beused as the marker to distinguish the different resistant lines from two H. villosa accessions because it was only observedin the materials from H. villosa of the former Soviet Union. RFLP analysis also showed the polymorphisms between twoH. villosa accessions and their derived resistant lines.     

Two spawning stocks of icefish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Neosalanx taihuensis</Emphasis> revealed from annual reproductive cycle analyses

Neosalanx taihuensis were sampled from the Tian-e-zhou Oxbow from March 2006 through November 2007. Two separate spawning seasons were identified based on the annual reproductive cycles of the females, designated as the autumn-spawning season and the spring-spawning season. Lifespan of the offspring of the spring-spawning fish was 1 year, with them dying after the subsequent spring spawning. Autumn-spawned females seem to be the offspring of the spring-spawning fish, based on monthly changes in the length–frequency distributions. Spring-mature females had higher absolute fecundity, gonadosomatic index, and relative condition factor in 2007 than in 2006. Relative condition factor of the immature female offspring of spring-spawning fish was higher in 2007 than in 2006, portending a further increase in reproductive investment during the spring spawning of 2008. The increasing reproductive investment suggests that the population of N. taihuensis in the Tian-e-zhou Oxbow may be recovering from its recent decline.     

Reinvestigating adjuvants for the wild oat herbicide,flamprop-M-isopropyl. II: Field performance

A field trials programme was conducted in which the performance of a new emulsifiable concentrate formulation (ECI) of flamprop-M-isopropyl containing the adjuvant, ‘Dobanol’ 25-7, in a ratio of 2:1 (by weight) with the AI, was compared with the current commercial formulation of ‘Commando’, in combination with its recommended adjuvant, ‘Swirl’, for the control of wild oat (Avena fatua L.) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). A further treatment, in which the ‘Dobanol’ 25-7: AI ratio was increased to 4:1 by the spray tank addition of the former, was also included. The mean results from six trials (five wheat, one barley) showed that the addition of ‘Swirl’ to ‘Commando’ was beneficial, increasing wild oat floret control from a mean value of 80% to 92% at current recommended rates (flamprop-M-isopropyl, 600 g ha^?1; ‘Swirl’, 2.5 litre ha^?1). However, combinations of flamprop-M-isopropyl and ‘Dobanol’ 25-7 gave superior levels of control even at lower AI application rates. For example, a mean level of 96% control of Avena spp. was obtained at 300 g AI ha^?1 with 1200 g ha^?1 ‘Dobanol’ 25–7; with even better control at higher rates of application of both components. This improvement in performance was accompanied by a higher risk of crop phytotoxicity than observed with the ‘Commando’/‘Swirl’ mixtures. Symptoms initially were scorch and subsequently growth depression, particularly of tillers. None of the mean values in the six ‘efficacy’ trials reached commercially unacceptable levels, but in a further six ‘crop effects’ trials (three wheat, three barley), in which double rates were applied, the levels of phytotoxicity did become unacceptable and subsequently reduced grain yields. In contrast, two barley ‘crop effects’ trials gave yields higher than the control plots, possibly through the effects of reducing stem length and lodging thereby enabling more efficient harvesting. Nevertheless, there were rates of application of flamprop-M-isopropyl in the range 300–400 g ha^?1 with ratios of ‘Dobanol’ 25-7 in the range 2:1 to 4:1 that would achieve high levels of control of Avena spp. without undue risk of crop phytotoxicity and further trials are planned to support this new adjuvant system.