Chaotic Dynamics in an Insect Population

A nonlinear demographic model was used to predict the population dynamics of the flour beetle Tribolium under laboratory conditions and to establish the experimental protocol that would reveal chaotic behavior. With the adult mortality rate experimentally set high, the dynamics of animal abundance changed from equilibrium to quasiperiodic cycles to chaos as adult-stage recruitment rates were experimentally manipulated. These transitions in dynamics corresponded to those predicted by the mathematical model. Phase-space graphs of the data together with the deterministic model attractors provide convincing evidence of transitions to chaos.     

Quantifying Transport Between the Tropical and Mid-Latitude Lower Stratosphere

Airborne in situ observations of molecules with a wide range of lifetimes (methane, nitrous oxide, reactive nitrogen, ozone, chlorinated halocarbons, and halon-1211), used in a tropical tracer model, show that mid-latitude air is entrained into the tropical lower stratosphere within about 13.5 months; transport is faster in the reverse direction. Because exchange with the tropics is slower than global photochemical models generally assume, ozone at mid-latitudes appears to be more sensitive to elevated levels of industrial chlorine than is currently predicted. Nevertheless, about 45 percent of air in the tropical ascent region at 21 kilometers is of mid-latitude origin, implying that emissions from supersonic aircraft could reach the middle stratosphere.     

Design of Nonionic Surfactants for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Interfacially active block copolymer amphiphiles have been synthesized and their self-assembly into micelles in supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) has been demonstrated with small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). These materials establish the design criteria for molecularly engineered surfactants that can stabilize and disperse otherwise insoluble matter into a CO2 continuous phase. Polystyrene-b-poly(1,1-dihydroperfluorooctyl acrylate) copolymers self-assembled into polydisperse core-shell-type micelles as a result of the disparate solubility characteristics of the different block segments in CO2. These nonionic surfactants for CO2 were shown by SANS to be capable of emulsifying up to 20 percent by weight of a CO2-insoluble hydrocarbon into CO2. This result demonstrates the efficacy of surfactant-modified CO2 in reducing the large volumes of organic and halogenated solvent waste streams released into our environment by solvent-intensive manufacturing and process industries.     

Reference ranges for biochemical and haematological values in farmed saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) yearlings

Objective To determine reference ranges for healthy yearling farmed saltwater crocodiles by performing routine biochemical and haematological laboratory tests on blood samples.
Design A clinico-pathological study.
Procedure Blood samples were collected from 120 healthy yearlings from four Northern Territory crocodile farms and body weight and length were measured. All animals had been fasted for 2 days before sample collection. Routine biochemical analytes were determined on 120 samples and haematological values determined on 30 samples (from one farm).
Results Reference ranges for biochemical and haemato-logical values were determined for farmed yearling saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory.
Conclusion The results were comparable with published reference ranges for other crocodilian species. Other published results of haematological values from saltwater crocodiles were from very young (6-week-old) hatchlings and older (2- to 4-year-old) crocodiles. Differences in values were presumed to be caused by age-related factors.     

Does the Microbial Flora in the Ejaculate Affect the Freezeability of Stallion Sperm?

In an attempt to evaluate the possible relationship between the microbial flora in the stallion ejaculate and its ability to freeze, three ejaculates from five stallions were frozen using a standard protocol. Before freezing, an aliquot was removed for bacteriological analysis. Bacterial growth was observed in all the ejaculates studied. The isolated microorganisms were: Staphylococcus spp. and Micrococcus spp. (in all the stallions), β-haemolytic Streptococcus (in stallions 3 and 4), Corynebacterium spp. (in stallions 1, 3–5), Rhodococcus spp. (in stallion number 2), Pseudomonas spp. (in stallion number 1) and Klebsiella spp. (in stallions 1, 3 and 5). The presence and richness of Klebsiella and β-haemolytic Streptococcus in the ejaculate were related to two sperm variables post-thaw, namely the proportion of dead spermatozoa (ethidium+ cells; r = 0.55, p < 0.05) and the amplitude of lateral displacement of the sperm head (ALH, μm; r = −0.56, p < 0.05), respectively. The degree of growth of Corynebacterium spp. in the ejaculate was positively correlated with the percentage of spermatozoa showing high caspase activity post-thaw (r = 0.62, p < 0.05). The presence and number of colonies of β-haemolytic Streptococcus were negatively correlated (r = −0.55, p < 0.05) with low sperm caspase activity. It is concluded that the microbial flora of the equine ejaculate may be responsible for some of the sublethal damage experimented by the spermatozoa during cryopreservation.     

Evidence that moxidectin is a greater risk factor than ivermectin in the development of resistance to macrocyclic lactones by Ostertagia spp in sheep in south eastern Australia

AIM: To determine associations between resistance of Ostertagia (= Teladorsagia) spp to macrocyclic lactone (ML) anthelmintics and history of use of anthelmintics, by type, on commercial sheep farms in temperate regions of southern South Australia and Victoria, Australia.

METHODS: Faecal egg count reduction tests (FECRTs) were conducted during a 2.5-year period (from August 2001 to January 2004) and records of the type of anthelmintic used in the 5 years preceding the FECRTs were collected from commercial sheep farms (n=103) in southern South Australia and Victoria, and data analysed retrospectively. ML resistance was defined as <95% reduction of Ostertagia spp 10–14 days after treatment with ivermectin (IVM), orally, at half the manufacturer's recommended dose rate. Use of anthelmintics in the preceding 5 and 10 years on each property was classified according to the nett number of years each of the following classes of drug had been used: IVM oral liquid (IVO), IVM controlled-release capsules (CRCs), abamectin (ABA), moxidectin (MOX) or a non-ML an- thelmintic. The prevalence of ML resistance, by property, was analysed for associations with prior use of anthelmintics.

RESULTS: Resistance by Ostertagia spp to ML anthelmintics was evident on 51/103 (49.5%) properties. The prevalence of resistance was lowest (23%) on properties on which MOX had not been used, and was significantly higher (64–77%) on properties on which MOX had been used for ≥2 of the preceding 5 years (p<0.001). In contrast, the prevalence of resistance was highest (70–74%) on the properties on which IVM, or IVM and/ or ABA, had not been used in the previous 5 years (on which the use of MOX was predominant), and was markedly lower (20– 42%) on properties that had used IVM or IVM and/or ABA for at least one of the preceding 5 years. Prevalence of resistance was higher for properties on which the only ML anthelmintic used was MOX (19/29=66%) than for those on which the only ML used was IVO (2/19=11%; p<0.001). Properties on which the only ML used was MOX were 2.72 times more likely to have resistance than properties on which the only ML used was IVO (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.01–5.08).

CONCLUSION: Use of MOX for ≥2 of the preceding 5 years was associated with a higher prevalence of resistance to ML by Ostertagia spp on sheep farms in south eastern Australia than the use of IVO.     

Motility Characteristics and Fertilizing Capacity of Boar Spermatozoa Stained with Hoechst 33342

Flow cytometry sorting of spermatozoa using fluorescence dye Hoechst 33342 is the only effective sex selection methodology validated in numerous laboratories. This study was carried out to determine the effect of Hoechst 33342 on the motility and fertility of stained boar spermatozoa. Experiment 1 evaluated motility parameters (percentage of motile spermatozoa, velocity, angularity and oscillation) of boar spermatozoa stained with Hoechst 33342 by a computer‐aided sperm analysis (CASA) instrument. Spermatozoa (30 million/ml) were divided into five treatment groups and stained during 1 h at 35°C with 9, 18, 27, 60 and 90 μM of H33342. There were no differences in sperm motility patterns nor percentages of motile spermatozoa incubated in the presence of 9, 18 or 27 μM. Percentage of motile spermatozoa and motility parameters decreased significantly (p < 0.05) at 60 μM of Hoechst 33342. Spermatozoa were immotile at concentration of 90 μM. In experiment 2, pregnancy rates, farrowing rates and litter size from sows (n = 275) artificially inseminated (AI) with either Hoechst 33342 stained (27 μM) or unstained (control) spermatozoa were determined. Sows inseminated with stained spermatozoa had no significant lower pregnancy rate (88.33%) as compared with controls (90.32%). Staining neither affected farrowing rates (85.0 vs 87.7%) nor total number of piglets born (10.56 ± 0.32 vs 10.47 ± 0.24, stained and controls, respectively). No phenotypical abnormalities were registered among the newborn piglets. The data suggest that incubating spermatozoa with Hoechst 33342 at levels required for X‐ and Y‐bearing chromosome sperm sorting, does not impair sperm viability or their fertility after AI.     

A screening test for subclinical liver disease in horses affected by pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicosis

Objective: To evaluate various biochemical tests as indicators of subclinical liver disease in horses exposed to pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicosis.
Design: A clinical pathology field study.
Animals: Twenty-two clinically normal horses from four properties in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Procedure: Serum samples from each horse were assayed for gamma glutamyltransferase, alkaline phosphatase and aspartate aminotransferase activities, and for serum bile acid concentration, albumin and total protein. Serum protein electrophoresis was performed and their amino acid profiles determined. Bromosulphophihalein halfclearance times were measured. Horses were then subjected to a single liver biopsy. Results were analysed by, variance of group means, the Fisher-Irwin exact test, and by sensitivity and specificity calculation.
Results: Horses were classified into 2 groups, of 10 unaffected and 12 subclinically affected, on the basis of liver histology. Significant differences between the unaffected and subclinical groups were observed for gamma glutamyltransferase and alkaline phosphatase activities (P < 0.01). Gamma glutamyltransferase had sufficient sensitivity (75%) and specificity (90%) to function as a primary screening test for subclinical liver disease in horses exposed to pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Alkaline phosphatase was useful, but with lower sensitivity (58%).
Conclusion: Serum gamma glutamyltransferase activity is a useful screening test for detecting subclinical liver disease in horses exposed to pyrrolizidine alkaloids under field conditions in northern Australia.