Surgical retrieval of a metallic foreign body from the spleen of a dog

This is the first report of a metallic foreign body in the spleen of a dog. The animal had abdominal discomfort with a tucked-up abdomen and occasional vomition. Radiography and ultrasonography were used to identify a splenic foreign body which was surgically removed through a ventral midline celiotomy. Migration of the foreign body through the stomach wall was suspected as the most likely cause.     

Why Brazilian companies are certifying their forests?

The paper examines the two forest certification schemes in Brazil, the Brazilian Program of Forest Certification (Cerflor) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), from the private sector perspective. The main focus is to test the relevance of three mechanisms—market, learning, and signaling—suggested by Overdevest and Rickenbach (2006), to explain forest certification adoption by Brazilian companies. Furthermore, companies' familiarity with certification systems, external influences on pursuing forest certification, and companies' intention to recertify their forests are investigated. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) suggests that signaling and learning mechanisms lead to better and more transparent forest management, explaining the movement towards certification, but market incentives do not play an important role in the adoption of forest certification. An importance and performance analysis (IPA) demonstrates that companies do not see any return in terms of a better price for certified products; however, certificate holders indicated overall high satisfaction with market access. Interestingly, a high performance was found for non-economic benefits such as public confidence, improvement of forest management and practices, improvement of management systems and performance, self-discovery of non-conformance, and better public, landowner, and supplier communication. International consumers and shareholders were considered the most important groups influencing companies to seek certification and FSC was reported to be the most familiar scheme. Generally, companies were pleased with certification and indicated their intention to recertify.     

Crop water stress index for scheduling irrigation of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) based on water use efficiency considerations

The study was conducted to determine the feasibility of canopy temperature based crop water stress index (CWSI) for scheduling irrigation of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea). Field crop experiments were conducted in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh (India) during three consecutive cropping seasons (2015, 2016 and 2017). The experimental field was divided into five plots with different levels of irrigation treatments based on depletion of total available soil water (TASW) in the crop root zone. The maximum soil moisture depletion (SMD) of TASW at 10%, 30% and 50%, full irrigated (non-stressed) and extremely dry (full stressed) conditions were maintained in respective plots. Relationships were developed between canopy-air temperature differential (T_C-T_A) and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) for non-stressed and fully stressed conditions to generate non-water-stressed baseline (NWSB) and maximum water-stressed baseline (MWSB) baselines for Indian mustard crop. The CWSI was computed for different SMD of TASW by using a proven empirical approach based on the baselines. The irrigation treatment corresponding to 30% SMD with a mean CWSI of 0.4 resulted in optimal yield and maximum water use efficiency. Results of the study suggest that established CWSI value can be used to detect stress and schedule irrigations for Indian mustard.     

Characterization of recycled mushroom compost leachate by chemical analysis and thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry

Recycled compost leachate (RCL or euphemistically named "goody water") can be a potent source of foul odor on mushroom substrate production sites and contributes to composting smells. A complex mixture of sulfur compounds, fatty acids, and nitrogen containing compounds is responsible for odor production. Fifty samples, collected from 14 compost production sites in Ireland and the U.K. over a 2 year period, were analyzed for chemical properties and by thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry (TG-MS) for compositional differences. Results indicated that aerated samples had lower values of electrical conductivity, redox potential, and dry matter content than nonaerated samples and that the higher thermal stability of aerated samples measured by TGA could be attributed to greater mineralization of the substrate due to aerobic processes. The lower temperatures noted for peak evolution of methane, water, and carbon dioxide from TG-MS analysis suggested that a more energetic process had occurred in aerated RCL storage facilities, producing greater decomposition of macromolecules that volatilized at lower temperatures. Chemical composition, thermal stability of the freeze-dried leachate, pyrolysis profiles, and relative amounts of pyrolysis products were all markers of as to how effective control measures could influence RCL quality.     

Effect of home processing and storage on ascorbic acid and β-carotene content of bathua (Chenopodium album) and fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum) leaves

The present investigation was conducted to study the effect of selected processing and storage methods on the concentration of ascorbic acid and β-carotene in Bathua and fenugreek, leaves. Methods included storage of leaves with or without polythene bags for 24 and 48 h in a refrigerator at 5°C; at 30°C in polythene bags; drying (sun and oven); blanching (5, 10, 15 min); open pan and pressure cooking. Ascorbic acid content of fresh leaves was 220.97 to 377.65 mg and β-carotene content was 19.00 to 24.64 mg/100 g, DW. The percent loss of ascorbic acid ranged from 2.03 to 8.77 and 45.15 to 66.9 while lower losses (0.0 to 1.75 and 1.63 to 2.84) of β-carotene were observed in leaves, stored in, the refrigerator and at 30°C, respectively. A markedly greater reduction in ascorbic acid and β-carotene was observed in dried, blanched and cooked leaves. The study data suggest that storage of leaves in refrigeration, drying in oven, blanching for a short time and cooking in a pressure cooker results in better retention of these two vitamins.     

Facilitating User Participation in Irrigation Management

This paper examines various factors which contribute to performance of water user associations. The capability of collective organizations such as WUAs to develop appropriate rules and to enforce them while keeping the level of conflict low is considered to be the core of organizational performance. We focus on the processes in collective organizations with greater attention to costs of working together. Four factors representing benefits and costs, the rights held by the WUAs, magnitude of expected benefits, external assistance received and leadership explain most of the differences in performance. The prospect of benefits is a necessary condition for individuals to act collectively. But it is not sufficient. Expected organizational costs need to be low. The prospect of costs being low or being absorbed by one or more individuals – either external agents or internal leaders – provides an encouraging environment. Effective internal leadership appears to be essential as it can lead to greater congruence in interests and greater possibility of mutual assurances which are critical for collective action.     

Modification of growth and yield responses of Amaranthus tricolor L. to sUV-B under varying mineral nutrient supply

The decrease in stratospheric ozone has heightened concern over the consequences of increasing solar UV-B radiation on plants. The present study was conducted to evaluate the interactive effects of supplemental UV-B (sUV-B: 280–320 nm) and mineral nutrients on a leafy vegetable amaranthus (Amaranthus tricolor L. var Pusa badi) under natural field conditions in a dry tropical environment. The nutrient treatments were recommended dose of NPK, 1.5 times recommended dose of NPK, 1.5 times recommended dose of N and 1.5 times recommended dose of K sUV-B radiation inhibited growth and biomass accumulation and altered the patterns of biomass partitioning. In K amended plants larger proportion of biomass has been translocated to roots which further increased under sUV-B treatment. The application of 1.5 times recommended dose of NPK reduced the magnitude of yield loss. The study shows that amaranthus is a potentially UV-B sensitive species and a higher NPK dose above the recommended is required to minimize the adverse impact of sUV-B.     

Effect of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes supplementation on milk production and nutrient utilization in Murrah buffaloes

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of commercial exogenous fibrolytic enzyme (EFE) mixture added at 1.5 and 3.0 g (cellulase 4,000 μM glucose/g/h + xylanase 7,990 μM xylose/g/min; 50:50 w/w) per kilogram of dry matter (DM) of feed on nutrient digestibility, milk production, milk composition, and some blood constituents in lactating Murrah buffaloes. Eighteen buffaloes were allotted to three dietary treatments, on the basis of milk yield (8.48, 8.52, and 8.53 kg/day) and days in lactation (68.5, 80.33, and 82.00) for 90 days. The buffaloes were fed a total mixed ration (TMR) comprising of 45% chaffed wheat straw, 15% chopped green maize, and 40% concentrate on DM basis (control group), the same TMR plus EFE at 1.5 g/kg DM (T-1 group) and the same TMR plus EFE at 3.0 g/kg DM (T-2 group) supplemented through the concentrate mixture. There was no effect of fortifying EFE mixture on DM intake and crude protein intake (grams per day) whereas total digestible nutrients intake (kilogram per day) was higher by (P < 0.05) 12.53% in T-1 group over that of control, and there was no significant difference between T-2 and control groups. The average daily milk yield and 4% fat-corrected milk (FCM) yield was higher (P < 0.05) by 12.99% and 15.17% in T-1 group as over that of control, and there was no difference between T-2 and control groups. There was no (P > 0.05) difference in blood glucose and blood urea nitrogen concentration in different experimental groups. It is concluded that supplementation of cellulase and xylanase mixture at 1.5 g/kg of DM of TMR containing wheat straw (45%), green maize (15%), and concentrate (40%) on DM basis significantly increased (P < 0.05) the average daily milk yield and FCM yield in Murrah buffaloes due to improved dietary fiber digestion.     

Microwave-assisted extraction for the simultaneous determination of thiamethoxam, imidacloprid, and carbendazim residues in fresh and cooked vegetable samples

Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was carried out for the simultaneous determination of the insecticides thiamethoxam [(EZ)-3-(2-chloro-1,3-thiazol-5-ylmethyl)-5-methyl-1,3,5-oxadiazinan-4-ylidene(nitro)amine], imidacloprid [1-(6-chloro-3-pyridylmethyl)-N-nitroimidazolidin-2-ylideneamine], and the fungicide carbendazim (methyl benzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate) in vegetable samples. Five crop samples consisting of cabbage, tomatoes, chilies, potatoes, and peppers were fortified with the three pesticides and subjected to MAE followed by cleanup to remove coextractives prior to analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography. Using the selected microwave exposure time and power setting, the recoveries of the three pesticides from the fortified vegetable samples ranged from 68.1 to 106%. The corresponding recoveries for samples processed simultaneously but without microwave exposure ranged from 37.2 to 61.4%. The recoveries by MAE were comparable to those obtained by the conventional blender extraction technique. The precision of the MAE method was demonstrated by relative standard deviations of <7% for the three pesticides. The cooked cabbage and tomato samples showed no breakdown of the parent compounds, and the recoveries of three pesticides were comparable to those obtained with the uncooked samples.