Emended descriptions of indole negative and indole positive isolates of Brachyspira (Serpulina) hyodysenteriae

Two type/reference strains of Brachyspira (B.) hyodysenteriae, 14 Belgian and German indole negative, and 14 Belgian, German and Swedish indole positive field isolates of strongly β-haemolytic intestinal spirochaetes were compared by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns, biochemical reaction patterns, 16S rDNA sequences and MIC determinations of six antibacterial substances. Three tests for indole production, including a spot indole test, were compared with congruent results. All field isolates were classified as B. hyodysenteriae due to a high genetic and phenotypic similarity with the type strains. The Belgian and German indole negative isolates had identical and unique PFGE patterns for the tested restriction enzymes MluI and SalI, as well as identical 16S rDNA sequences, and they could not be differentiated by any of the methods used. Seven unique PFGE patterns were achieved from the 14 indole positive field isolates. The patterns were identical and unique for epidemiologically related isolates. Type/reference strains and isolates without known relation to other tested isolates showed unique banding patterns. The MICs of tylosin, tiamulin, erythromycin, clindamycin, carbadox and virginiamycin were determined in broth for all isolates. In contrast to Belgian and German isolates, the majority of the Swedish field isolates were susceptible to tylosin, erythromycin and clindamycin. Probable pathways of infection for some of the Swedish isolates were determined. The PFGE patterns of epidemic clones of B. hyodysenteriae remained stable for a period of up to 8 years. In vivo development of resistance to macrolide and lincosamide antibiotics due to use of tylosin was clearly indicated for two epidemic clones.     

Outcome and racing performance after internal fixation of third and central tarsal bone slab fractures in horses. A review of 20 cases

Twenty horses with central and third tarsal bone slab fractures, were treated internal fixation. Eighteen of the 20 cases were Standardbred trotters, one was a Thoroughbred racehorse and one a Swedish Warmblood. The central tarsal bone (CT) was involved in 12 cases and the third tarsal bone (T3) in 8 cases. The fractures were treated by lag screw fixation with one (18 cases) or two (2 cases) 3.5 or 4.5 mm cortical screws. Horses were confined to stall rest for one month and then put on a gradually increasing exercise programme. Convalescence time was 3-8 months until the fracture had healed and training could be resumed. Fifteen of the horses regained athletic soundness. Thirteen of the horses (72%) raced after surgery (12 Standardbreds and 1 Thoroughbred). Nine (69%) of these 13 horses won races after surgery.     

Customer adapted grading of Scots pine sawn timber using a multivariate method

To define new grading rules, or to customize the ones in use in a rule-based automatic grading (RBAG) system of boards, is a time-consuming job for a sawmill engineer. This has the effect that changes are rarely made. The objective of this study was to continue the development of a method that replaces the calibration of grading rule settings by a holistic-subjective automatic grading, using multivariate models. The objective was also to investigate if this approach can improve sawmill profitability and at the same time have a satisfied customer. For the study, 323 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) boards were manually graded according to the preferences of an important customer. That is, a customer that regularly purchases significant volumes of sawn timber. This manual grading was seen as reference grading in this work. The same boards were also scanned and graded by a RBAG system, calibrated for the same customer. Multivariate models for prediction of board grade based on aggregated knot variables, obtained from the scanning, were calibrated using partial least squares regression. The results show that prediction of board grades by the multivariate models were more correct, with respect to the manual grading, than the grading by the RBAG system. The prediction of board grades based on multivariate models resulted in 76–87% of the boards graded correctly, according to the manual grading, while the corresponding number was 63% for the RBAG system.     

The fibrillar orientation in the S2-layer of wood fibres as determined by X-ray diffraction analysis

Summary It is the fibrillar orientation in the S2-layer which to a great extent determines the mechanical properties of the wood fibre, with regard both to strength and stiffness and to swelling properties. Measurements of the average fibril angle of fibres are not however easy and the results differ between the methods used. In order to evaluate in more detail how the fibril angle varies in spruce wood, an X-ray method based on diffraction from the 040-plane was developed. By comparison with microscopic examination it is concluded that reliable results relating to the fibrillar orientation in the S2-layer are obtained with the X-ray technique. It is shown that the fibril angle of mature wood is rather constant with regard to both age of the annual ring and its position in the height of the tree. The fibril angle of the earlywood is found to be only slightly higher than that of latewood fibres. It is also shown that compression wood may be easily identified by virtue of the fact that its fibril angle is much higher than that of normal mature wood.The authors thank Ms Ulla Jonsson for the microscopic measurements and Dr Anthony Bristow for the linguistic revision     

关注林权:中国集体林政策研究国际研讨会综述

公共资源面对的挑战、风险与机遇受到国际社会的关注。文章以“国际公共资源研究协会第十届大会”为背景,对中国集体林研究课题的成果、相关国际会议内容及专家发言作了介绍。研究成果主要形成8个专题报告,国际会议分“中国集体林政策和法律框架的总体回顾”和“中国集体林与生态保护、公司 社区模式”两个部分展开,并形成了5点结论。     

Vorläufige Untersuchungsergebnisse über die Lebensweise des PappelknospenwicklersSemasia oppressana Tr. und des PappeltriebwicklersSemasia aceriana Dup.

Ohne ZusammenfassungDie vorliegenden Untersuchungen wurden auf Anregung von Herrn Prof. Dr.-Ing. E. Schimitschek und mit Unterstützung der Landesforstverwaltungen Hessen und Schleswig-Holstein durchgeführt.     

Growth and nutrition of Betula pendula at different relative supply rates of zinc

Small birch plants (Betula pendula Roth) were cultivated in a hydroponic spray solution where the relative growth rate (R(G); day(-1)) was controlled by the relative supply rate of zinc (R(Zn); day(-1)). After an adjustment phase to steady-state growth, R(G) equaled R(Zn). The R(Zn) treatments were 0.05, 0.125 and 0.20 day(-1) with free access to all other nutrients. In an additional treatment, there was free access to all nutrients, including zinc (FA treatment). The pH of the nutrient solution was approximately 4.5 and conductivity was 100 &mgr;S cm(-1). The duration of each treatment depended on R(Zn) and ranged from 4 (FA treatment) to 10 weeks (at R(Zn) = 0.05 day(-1)). The plants showed persistent and typical zinc-deficiency symptoms at steady-state growth when R(G) was 0.05 and 0.125 day(-1), whereas there were few symptoms when R(G) was 0.2 day(-1). The Zn concentration of the plants ranged from 8 (at R(Zn) = 0.05 day(-1)) to 21 &mgr;g g(DM) (-1) (DM = dry mass) (at R(Zn) = 0.2 day(-1)) and was approximately 42 &mgr;g g(DM) (-1) in the FA treatment. Uptake rates of Zn, calculated per root growth rate (&mgr;mol g(DM, root) (-1)), were about 2.8 times higher at R(Zn) = 0.20 day(-1) than at R(Zn)= 0.05 day(-1). The root and stem biomass fractions were approximately constant at all supply rates of Zn, whereas the leaf biomass fraction tended to increase with increasing supply rate of Zn. Net assimilation rate was constant from FA to an R(Zn) of 0.125 day(-1) but decreased by a factor of about 2 at R(Zn) = 0.05 day(-1). Leaf area ratio and specific leaf area were smaller at low supply rates of zinc than at high supply rates.     

Policies Affecting Forestry Entrepreneurship

Many demand and supply-side policies impede or foster forestry entrepreneurship. A study was conducted to consolidate existing knowledge on policies influencing forestry entrepreneurship in Finland, Norway, Japan, Australia, the Philippines and the USA, and to draw conclusions on these impeding and fostering factors. From the country studies it was difficult to find common structures on policies affecting forestry entrepreneurship. This is understandable because most policies in forestry are aimed at supporting sustainable forest management, wood production and ecological services of the forests rather than entrepreneurship as such. Despite the high variety of policies applied in the study countries, it can be concluded that strict public control on forests’ use and management potentially impedes forestry entrepreneurship. While these policies assist to correct market failure and to promote sustainability of forest management, they may also result into unnecessary and ineffective regulations that limit the opportunities for forestry entrepreneurship. A common feature promoting the demand for forestry entrepreneurship in some of the countries studied is the strong emphasis on forestry cooperatives, which were important institutions to support small-scale forestry entrepreneurship. In many study countries, different ad hoc programs are implemented to find new economic and entrepreneurial opportunities aside from the current use of wood and forests. Subsidies and tax incentives are commonly applied to reduce risks from making forestry investments or otherwise increase the economic return from timber production.     

Why cuckoos should parasitize parrotbills by laying eggs randomly rather than laying eggs matching the egg appearance of parrotbill hosts?

The coevolutionary interaction between cuckoos and their hosts has been studied for a long time, but to date some puzzles still remain unsolved. Whether cuckoos parasitize their hosts by laying eggs randomly or matching the egg morphs of their hosts is one of the mysteries of the cuckoo problem. Scientists tend to believe that cuckoos lay eggs matching the appearance of host eggs due to selection caused by the ability of the hosts to recognize their own eggs.In this paper, we first review previous empirical studies to test this mystery and found no studies have provided direct evidence of cuckoos choosing to parasitize host nests where egg color and pattern match. We then present examples of unmatched cuckoo eggs in host nests and key life history traits of cuckoos, e.g. secretive behavior and rapid egg-laying and link them to cuckoo egg laying behavior. Finally we develop a conceptual model to demonstrate the egg laying behaviour of cuckoos and propose an empirical test that can provide direct evidence of the egg-laying properties of female cuckoos. We speculate that the degree of egg matching between cuckoo eggs and those of the host as detected by humans is caused by the ability of the hosts to recognize their own eggs, rather than the selection of matching host eggs by cuckoos. The case of Common Cuckoos(Cuculus canorus) and their parrotbill hosts(Paradoxornis alphonsianus), where it has been shown that both have evolved polymorphic eggs(mainly blue and white), was used to develop a conceptual model to demonstrate why cuckoos should utilize parrotbill hosts by laying eggs randomly rather than laying eggs matching the appearance of host eggs.In conclusion, we found no evidence for the hypothesis that cuckoos lay eggs based on own egg color matching that of the parrotbill-cuckoo system. We argue theoretically that laying eggs matching those of the hosts in this system violates a key trait of the life history of cuckoos and therefore should be maladaptive.     

Phylogenetic analysis of the SSU rRNA gene from the piscine diplomonad Spironucleus torosus (Diplomonadida: Hexamitinae)

Previous studies have recorded Spironucleus torosus Poynton et Morrison, 1990 from several species of gadoid fishes, including the only freshwater gadoid, the burbot Lota lota (L.). Two morphologically different isolates of S. torosus have been described (elongate and pyriform). Both have been found in saltwater, while only the elongate has been found in freshwater. To address the conspecificity of the two morphs of S. torosus, and to identify the source of S. torosus in burbot in Norway, we have sequenced the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene from 43 isolates of S. torosus from six species of gadoid fishes sampled at 15 localities in Norway, Sweden and the Baltic Sea. Phylogenetic analyses of the SSU rRNA gene sequence data recovered two major clades, one containing mainly isolates from burbot, while the other contained isolates from marine gadoid fishes only. The genetic distance (based on 25 nucleotide substitutions in 789 base pairs) separating the two assemblages was not large enough to consider the two groups separate species. Spironucleus torosus isolated from burbot displayed limited genetic variation in the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene along the post-Pleistocene migration route of its host. The present study is the first report of S. torosus in tusk Brosme brosme (Ascanius), whiting Merlangius merlangus (L.), and fourbeard rockling Enchelyopus cimbrius (L.).