Heavy metals in horse blood, serum, and feed in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Pollution is a subject of worldwide concern and discussion and various areas of science are seeking to integrate their knowledge in an attempt to improve understanding of the harmful effects of modern human activities. Thus, the objective of the current study was to assess the potential for using the horse as a bio-indicator of environmental pollution. Blood and serum samples from 120 horses from locations with different degrees of urbanization and industrialization and the feeds used for these animals were analyzed to determine their heavy metal (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, and Zn) content. The data obtained were compared. The results did not show increases in heavy metal concentration in the blood and serum of the horses with the intensification of urbanization and industrialization around the farms. Only Cd, as determined in the blood of the animals, showed a certain potential for using horses as bio-indicators of environmental pollution. The data for sex, age, and chemical composition of the foodstuffs supplied to the animals were not determinants in explaining the variation in the concentrations of heavy metals observed.     

Lymphosarcoma in an Eastern king snake and a rhinoceros viper

An antemortem diagnosis of lymphosarcoma was made in a captive Eastern king snake and a rhinoceros viper. The Eastern king snake died on the 1st day after biopsy of a liver nodule, and necropsy revealed multiple tumor nodules throughout all major organ systems. The rhinoceros viper died after chemotherapy with cytosine arabinoside. The major gross lesion was a large paracolonic coelomic tumor that extended into the adjacent musculature and subcutaneous tissue of the lateral abdominal wall. The immediate cause of death of the rhinoceros viper was believed to be severe renal tubular necrosis.     

The carotenoid pigments of the date

The carotenoid pigments of the date (Phoenix dactylifera) were investigated in 2 soft cultivars, ‘Hayany’ and ‘Barhee’, and in the semi-dry ‘Deglet Noor’. The total carotenoid content in the ripe fruit was 10–12 μg/g fresh weight. The carotenoid pattern in all investigated fruits was that of the chloroplast type, with only slight differences between the cultivars. Changes in the carotenoid pattern during ripening were followed in ‘Hayany’ and ‘Deglet Noor’. The total carotenoid content decreased drastically from 36.3 to 21.2 μg/g dry weight in the soft dates, and from 23.2 to 12.0 μg/g dry weight in the semi-dry cultivar. The carotenoid degradation may be due primarily to the loss of moisture during maturation, and is probably unrelated to the gradual darkening of the ripening fruit. The pattern of the retained carotenoids remained essentially similar.The vitamin A values of the 3 cultivars, expressed as retinol equivalents, were calculated.     

Fluorescent Stain Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Mitochondrial Potential and Integrity of Plasma and Acrosomal Membranes in Boar Sperm

The purpose of this study was to validate a technique for simultaneous evaluation of the plasma, acrosomal and mitochondrial membranes in boar spermatozoa, using an association of fluorescent probes: Propidium iodide (PI), fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated Pisum sativum agglutinin (FITC-PSA) and JC-1. Three ejaculates from each of four different boars, all showing motility >or=80% and abnormal morphology 相似文献   

Practical Techniques for Bovine Sperm Simultaneous Fluorimetric Assessment of Plasma, Acrosomal and Mitochondrial Membranes

This experiment was performed to develop and validate practical techniques for simultaneous evaluation of the integrity of plasma and acrosomal membranes, as well as mitochondrial function in bovine spermatozoa using associations of fluorescent probes. Four protocols of fluorescent probes association were defined: protocol 1: propidium iodide (PI), fluorescein isothiocyanate‐conjugated Pisum sativum agglutinin (FITC‐PSA) and rhodamine 123; protocol 2: PI, FITC‐PSA and MitoTracker Green FM (MITO); protocol 3: PI, Hoechst 33342 (H342), FITC‐PSA and CMXRos; and protocol 4: PI, H342, FITC‐PSA and JC‐1. Three ejaculates from each of the four bulls (n = 12) were utilized, showing sperm motility ≥80% and abnormal morphology ≤10%. The semen was diluted in Modified Tyrode’s medium (TALP) (25 × 10⁶ spermatozoa/ml) and split into two aliquots, one sample was flash‐frozen in liquid nitrogen and thawed. Samples for three treatments were prepared with the following ratio of fresh semen : flash‐frozen semen: 100 : 0, 50 : 50 and 0 : 100. Samples were stained in all four protocols and evaluated by epifluorescence microscopy. Protocol 1 did not result in a satisfactory stain, so it could not be validated. Protocols 2, 3 and 4 were validated and showed high determination coefficient to plasma membrane integrity (R² = 0.95, 0.93 and 0.92, respectively), acrosome integrity (R² = 0.95, 0.92 and 0.91, respectively) and mitochondrial function (R² = 0.84, 0.93 and R² = 0.93, respectively). These techniques are efficient for the simultaneous integrity evaluation of plasma and acrosomal membranes and mitochondrial function in bovine spermatozoa. However, JC‐1 has an advantage over MITO and CMXRos, as it separates two cell populations with high and low mitochondrial membrane potential.     

Effect of Combined Non‐ionized Ammonia and Dissolved Oxygen Levels on the Survival of Juvenile Dourado,Salminus brasiliensis (Cuvier)

The aim of this study was to assess the mean lethal concentration (LC₅₀) of dissolved oxygen in high ammonia concentration and also the LC₅₀ of ammonia under hypoxic conditions for juveniles of dourado, Salminus brasiliensis. In the first experiment, the non‐ionized ammonia (NH₃) concentrations were: 0.026, 0.447, 0.612, 0.909, and 1.334 mg/L, and the dissolved oxygen concentration was maintained at approximately 1.65 mg/L. In the second experiment, the dissolved oxygen concentrations were: 1.64, 1.99, 3.33, 5.10, and 7.77 mg/L, and the non‐ionized ammonia concentration was kept at approximately 0.927 mg/L. The mean lethal concentrations of non‐ionized ammonia varied from 0.584 to 0.577 mg/L, indicating that LC₅₀ values were almost unaffected by exposure time. The estimated LC₅₀ of dissolved oxygen varied from 4.02 to 5.02 mg/L, indicating a slight increase in the mean lethal concentrations as the exposure time increased. Results from this study indicate that interaction between these two parameters increases mortality and also suggest that dourado is susceptible to the combination of high ammonia with low dissolved oxygen concentrations.     

Cross-pollination improves ‘Orri’ mandarin fruit yield

‘Orri’, a selection of ‘Orha’ mandarin [Temple (Citrus temple hort. ex Y. Tanaka) × Dancy (Citrus tangerina hort. ex Tanaka)], is a new high-quality Israeli mandarin which, in the last decade, has become one of the leading varieties in Israel. ‘Orri’ has an excellent taste, the rind is deep orange in color and easily removed, and it contains few or no seeds. However, ‘Orri’ grown in Israel suffers from inadequate yield and no published studies have yet addressed this problem. In the present study we determined that ‘Orri’ productivity depended on conditions being favorable to cross-pollination. Under cross-pollination conditions a positive correlation (R² = 0.97) was found between yield per tree and number of fruits per tree, and more than 90% of the fruits exceeded 60 mm: the most profitable size range. These data suggest that the number of fruits per tree, and not fruit size, is the limiting factor for yield improvement in ‘Orri’ orchards. Studying seed set showed that ‘Michal’ mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) is a compatible pollenizer for ‘Orri’ flowers: the number of seeds per ‘Orri’ fruit increased as the distance from ‘Michal’ trees decreased. The present study demonstrated that cross-pollination of ‘Orri’ resulted in yield improvement, yet at the price of increased seed set.     

Uniconazole is an effective blossom thinner for ‘Bing’ cherry (Prunus avium)

Small fruit size is one of the limiting factors in marketing cherries (Prunus avium L.). Several techniques have been used to improve fruit size; among them, blossom and fruit thinning in order to reduce crop load have proved effective. Unfortunately, hand thinning is very costly, and chemical thinning has proved ineffective. In the present study, carried out in two consecutive years (2006–2007), application of uniconazole (E-1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl-1-penten-3-ol)) at 100–125 mg l⁻¹, in the form of 0.2–0.25% Magic™, at 30% full bloom, reduced the fruit set of ‘Bing’ cherry fruit. As a result time spent in hand thinning was reduced by about 50% and the crop load by about 40%, and there was a considerable shift to larger fruit size (>26 mm), provided the crop load was not too low. No negative effects were observed on the return bloom and yield in the following year.