Phytoremediation of Alkylated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in a Crude Oil-Contaminated Soil

Phytoremediation uses plants and their associated microorganisms in conjunction with agronomic techniques to remove or degrade environmental contaminants. The objective of the field study was to evaluate the effect of vegetation establishment plus fertilizer addition on the biodegradation of alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a crude oil-contaminated soil. Four replications of the following treatments were used: non-vegetated non-fertilized control; fescue (Lolium arundinaceum Schreb.) ? ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) mixture + fertilizer; or bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.) ? fescue mixture + fertilizer. Vegetation was successfully established at the site that had an initial total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration of 9,175 mg/kg. While alkylated two-ring naphthalenes were degraded in all treatments equally, there was greater degradation of the larger three-ring alkylated phenanthrenes-anthracenes and dibenzothiophenes in the vegetated fertilized plots compared to the non-vegetated non-fertilized plots. In this field study, an increase in rhizosphere soil volume associated with increased root length along with nutrient additions resulted in increased total bacterial, fungal, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degrader numbers that most likely resulted in increased biodegradation of the more recalcitrant alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds in the crude oil-contaminated soil.     

Postcolumn Fluorimetric HPLC Procedure for Determination of Niacin Content of Cereals

Analytical procedures for determining niacin or vitamin B3 content of foods are tedious, require large quantities of toxic chemicals, and are timeconsuming. In addition, food matrices are difficult as samples because of their complex nature. A selective, sensitive HPLC technique was developed with postcolumn derivatization as well as fluorescence and spectroscopic detection systems. Niacin was separated and retained for 6.5 min on a polymeric column with an aqueous mobile phase containing sodium acetate buffer. A postcolumn system consisting of a stainless-steel pump and reaction coil allowed detection and quantitation of niacin. An acid-enzyme sample-extraction method was most compatible with HPLC and postcolumn derivatization with 5% each of acidified p-aminophenol and cyanogen bromide. Lower detection limit and mean recovery were 3.6 ng and 99.43%, respectively. Fluorescence response for nicotinamide was half that of nicotinic acid. A lower response for nicotinamide was also noted with conventional spectroscopy. However, the new method yielded comparable values for six of eight ready-to-eat commercial cereal samples. No significant difference was observed between the AACC reference and HPLC fluorimetric methods. Chemical derivatization was done within a reaction coil with reagents at half strength, limiting exposure to hazards and minimizing waste-disposal problems.     

Cytoplasmic male sterility in quinoa

Summary The quinoa cultivar Apelawa carries both normal and male sterile cytoplasms. Plants with male sterile cytoplasm produce flowers characterized by the complete absence of anthers and prominent exsertion of stigmas. Intraspecific crosses between male sterile quinoa plants and normal male fertile pollen donors consistently produced male sterile offspring under greenhouse conditions. Interspecific hybridization between male sterile quinoa plants and the related weed species Chenopodium berlandieri resulted in offspring with partial restoration of male fertility. The male sterile cytoplasm found in Apelawa has potential for use in the production of quinoa hybrids, although a more complete restorer system than that identified in C. berlandieri would be desirable.     

A History of Equine Embryo Transfer and Related Technologies

The first successful equine embryo transfer was reported in 1972, 21 years after the first reported embryo transfer in cattle. Adaptations of embryo transfer and the various related technologies have generally been more rapid in the equine than in cattle, with the exceptions of superovulation, in vitro fertilization and cryopreservation. Recent progress has been achieved in all three of these areas. This paper presents a time line of various events in the history of equine embryo transfer and related technologies. Approximately 25,000 equine embryo transfers are being conducted per year, worldwide.     

重新评估母猪妊娠期日粮的纤维营养

养猪生产者有机会通过给妊娠母猪饲喂富含纤维的日粮来维持和改善其繁殖性能。 概述：笔者查阅了1975～2007年发表的24篇报告,以确定给妊娠母猪饲喂高水平纤维型日粮所产生的总体影响。母猪及其产仔性状通过每个试验内各个处理的母猪窝数来权衡。总体而言,母猪妊娠阶段可以安全地采食高纤维日粮,而几乎不会带来的有害影响。母猪采食高水平纤维型日粮后产生的积极影响可明显地反映在窝产仔数（提高0.2～0.6头/窝）和哺乳期的采食量（提高0.5～0.8lb/d）上,但在母猪持续采食高水平纤维型日粮后的第2个繁殖周期前,这些影响并不是非常显著。通过饲喂高水平纤维型日粮,可能有助于确保母猪及其所产仔猪的生产性能得到改善,但纤维类饲料必须在母猪配种之前加入所喂的日粮中。     

The effect of tibial plateau angle on ground reaction forces 4-17 months after tibial plateau leveling osteotomy in Labrador Retrievers

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between postoperative tibial plateau angle (TPA) and ground reaction forces (GRFs) in Labrador Retrievers at least 4-months after tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) surgery. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective longitudinal study. ANIMALS: Thirty-two Labrador Retrievers with unilateral cranial cruciate ligament disease that had TPLO and concurrent meniscal surgery. METHODS: TPA and GRFs were measured pre- and > or = 4 months postoperatively. Preoperative GRFs, preoperative TPA, duration of injury, postoperative TPA and degree of rotation were each compared with postoperative GRFs using correlation analysis. Dogs were also grouped by postoperative TPA and compared using 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Postoperative function was compared with meniscal release/meniscectomy, patient age, sex, body weight and follow-up time using ANOVA. RESULTS: No significant relationship was found between preoperative GRFs, preoperative TPA, duration of injury, postoperative TPA, degree of rotation, or meniscal release/meniscectomy and postoperative function. Mean preoperative GRFs for all dogs were 28.8 +/- 9.5 for peak vertical force (PVF) and 9.3 +/- 3.1 for peak vertical impulse (VI). Mean postoperative GRFs for all dogs were 40.4 +/- 5.0 for PVF and 14.1 +/- 1.9 for VI. CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant relationship was found between postoperative TPA and GRFs after TPLO > or = 4 months after surgery, where the postoperative angle was between 0 and 14 degrees. No significant relationship was found between the preoperative TPA and postoperative function. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Limb function in Labrador Retrievers was not affected by postoperative TPA and re-operation for cases with a postoperative TPA between 0 and 14 degrees is not recommended.     

兽医行业组织建设及其作用

对一名兽医而言,第一届中国兽医大会是一个非常好的思考的机会.尽管在整个行业中,兽医从事的工作是多样化的,但每一位兽医对于行业的进步和社会发展都肩负着重大的责任与使命.作为一个正式的职业,兽医服务社会已有几百年的历史.     

New transtracheal bronchoalveolar lavage technique for the diagnosis of respiratory disease in sheep

A new transtracheal bronchoalveolar lavage technique for the diagnosis of respiratory disease in sheep under field conditions was tested in 76 sheep. The sheep were divided into three groups, normal sheep, sheep with clinical signs of respiratory disease and housed sheep, on the basis of their respiratory disease history and husbandry conditions. The detection of Mannheimia haemolytica and Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae or parainfluenza virus type 3 and bovine respiratory syncytial virus antigen in the lavage samples was closely correlated with clinical disease. The sheep with clinical respiratory disease had a higher mean percentage of neutrophils in the lavage fluid than the sheep in the other two groups.