Effect of induced back pain on gait and performance of trotting horses

Back pain was induced in Standardbred horses by multiple intramuscular injections of a concentrated lactic acid solution into the left longissimus dorsi muscle. The investigation was divided into 2 parts. In Stage 1, 2 trotters were exercised on a treadmill and filmed by high speed cinematography before and after the induction of back pain. No signs of hindlimb lameness were evident and no quantitative changes in the components of the gait resulted, but a noticeable reduction was seen in performance capacity. Stage 2 involved a more intensive clinical and cinematic analysis of 3 horses. In these animals some changes were detected in the stride pattern, but no obvious gait disturbance was produced. The principal effect was stiffness in the thoracolumbar spine and an inability to perform at fast paces.     

A pmp genes-based PCR as a valuable tool for the diagnosis of avian chlamydiosis

In a previous study we described the use of a new set of PCR primers (CpsiA/CpsiB) specific of the conserved pmp-family genes of Chlamydophila abortus as an efficient tool for the detection of these bacteria in ruminants including also preliminary results on avian strains. In this work, the use of this set of primers was extended to representative strains of the six major avian serovars (serovars A-F) and to field isolates of C. psittaci. For all the studied representative strains, using purified genomic DNA as a template, CpsiA/CpsiB primers allowed, as observed for C. abortus, a minimal 10-fold PCR signal increase compared to the one observed with ompA specific primers. In comparison to primers targeting the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer, similar or increased sensitivity was observed depending on the strain. All the field isolates were amplified with CpsiA/CpsiB primers. On clinical samples, our primers are the best among those tested for detection of C. psittaci by simple conventional PCR. RFLP experiments performed using PCR fragments amplified with the CpsiA/CpsiB primers gave promising results demonstrating that these primers may provide an interesting tool for molecular typing when the bacterium cannot be grown from pathological samples.     

21世纪初期农业节水的目标和任务

2 1世纪初期 ,要在农业用水量为 40 0 0亿～ 42 0 0亿m3 的情况下 ,满足 16亿人口粮食安全和农村用水需要 ,必须走节水高效灌溉农业与旱地农业并举的道路 ;把提高用水效率作为农业节水的核心 ;水利与农业两部门必须紧密结合 ;国家应将节水高效农业建设列为国家重大基础建设项目     

基于适合度的普通群体基因型熵的逐代演变规律

本文在引入＂熵＂来定量普通群体的基因型的＂杂＂中,考虑到适合度的差异。把适合度量化为一个具有不同基因型群体产生的下一代达到性成熟的相对比例。推算出兼有自花与异花传粉群体的某世代中活到性成熟的3种基因型所占的比例。通过对多种不同的适合度及自交率的群体的不同世代基因型熵变曲线及平衡趋势分析,发现自交率越高,平衡状态的熵越小,达到平衡状态的速度越快。在自交率很高的情况下,变化过程的熵与平衡状态的熵很接近。     

Antiprotozoal activities of organic extracts from French marine seaweeds

Marine macrophytes contain a variety of biologically active compounds, some reported to have antiprotozoal activity in vitro. As a part of a screening program to search for new natural antiprotozoals, we screened hydroalcoholic and ethyl acetate extracts of 20 species of seaweeds from three phyla (Rhodophyta, Heterokontophyta and Chlorophyta), sampled along the Normandy (France) coast. We tested them in vitro against the protozoa responsible for three major endemic parasitic diseases: Plasmodium falciparum, Leishmania donovani and Trypanosoma cruzi. The selectivity of the extracts was also evaluated by testing on a mammalian cell line (L6 cells). Ethyl acetate extracts were more active than hydroalcoholic ones. Activity against T. cruzi and L. donovani was non-existent to average, but almost half the extracts showed good activity against P. falciparum. The ethyl acetate extract of Mastocarpus stellatus showed the best antiplasmodial activity as well as the best selectivity index (IC(50) = 2.8 μg/mL; SI > 30). Interestingly, a red algae species, which shares phylogenetic origins with P. falciparum, showed the best antiplasmodial activity. This study is the first to report comparative antiprotozoal activity of French marine algae. Some of the species studied here have not previously been biologically evaluated.     

Behavior of flavor compounds in model food systems: a thermodynamic study

Physicochemical parameters, such as hydrophobicity, water solubility, and volatility, of four flavor compounds (ethyl acetate, ethyl butyrate, ethyl hexanoate, and 2-pentanone) were determined. The amount of flavor compounds released from different model matrices (mineral water, purified triolein, an oil-in-water emulsion, a carbohydrate matrix, and a complex matrix containing lipids and carbohydrates) into the gaseous phase was determined at thermodynamic equilibrium, at 37 degrees C, by static headspace gas chromatography. The degree of interaction between the flavor compounds and the matrix components was shown by measuring the percentage retention using the water matrix as the reference. The partition of flavor compounds was principally dependent on their hydrophobicity. Physicochemical interactions that occurred in the different media led to different degrees of flavor retention. An impact of fat on flavor retention was demonstrated when a water matrix and an oil-in-water matrix or carbohydrate and complex matrices were compared. A carbohydrate impact on flavor compound retention was also detected, which was evident even in the presence of lipids.     

节水农业生产分区技术优化配套的研究

水资源紧缺巳成为全球突出问题之一,国内外对研究节水灌溉都给予高度的重视,但大多数都是从单项内容进行研究,如节水灌溉技术、充分利用雨水、保水农业栽培措施等都取得了一定成效和生产效益。我们认为:节水农业就是充分利用降水和当地水资源,水利措施与农业措施紧密结合以提高水的利用率和水的利用效率。也就是灌溉农业和旱地农业相结合。针对不同的农业生产类型区采取不同的技术措施,从而得出不同的农、水措施优化体系,在中国农科院商丘666.7ha(万亩)节水农业试验区进行了四年的试验与推广,取得了综合节水6％、增产8％的效益。对指导缺水地区生产和宏观控制水、土资源合理开发利用具有现实的意义。     

Predictors of the distribution of street and backyard vegetation in Montreal,Canada

Urban vegetation is shown to be unevenly distributed across cities and there is evidence of disparities in benefits provided by vegetation and of public health problems induced by urban heat islands. In order to improve vegetation cover, it remains crucial to understand the underpinning of such unevenness. In this paper, we investigate in Montreal (Canada) how the built environment, sociodemographic factors and administrative boroughs influence tree and lawn cover in public and residential land. The analysis was conducted at the dissemination area (DA) level, a Canadian census unit containing about 400–700 people. Six vegetation indicators were used as dependent variables: the proportion of a DA covered by trees/shrubs, lawn and total vegetation; the proportion of streets covered by trees/shrubs and the proportion of residential yards covered by trees/shrubs and total vegetation. Three sets of independent variables were studied: the built environment, sociodemographics and borough names. We used spatial autoregressive models to control for dependence and the spatial autoregressive term explained a large amount of variability in vegetation cover. The built-environment variables tend to have higher effects than the socio-demographic variables when predicting the three DA vegetation indicators, backyard vegetation, and to a lesser degree, street tree/shrub cover. In particular, population density is associated negatively to all indicators but positively to street tree cover. Socio-demographics are substantial in the explanation of the distribution of street trees, especially the presence of recent immigrants (negative effect) and of university degree holders (positive effect). These findings call for appropriate greening programs adapted to the local socio-demographic profile. The significance of boroughs also suggests the need for further research on the impact of within-city administrative hierarchies on the unevenness of urban vegetation.     

柑橘黄龙病疫情监测与防控技术研究

为了研究柑橘黄龙病传播介体种群消长规律和疫情动态,破解柑橘黄龙病防控问题,以主栽的早熟‘宫川’品种为重点在古城和大田柑橘园设立2个柑橘木虱监测点,采用定点定人定树定枝定时方法对柑橘木虱进行系统监测;以乡镇为单位每年在10-11月的果实显症期对全市柑橘园柑橘黄龙病进行全境式普查。结果表明,柑橘木虱季节性消长规律主要呈三峰型曲线变化,其峰期主要在6月下旬至7月下旬、8月中旬至9月中旬、10月上旬至11月上旬,其年度之间和果园之间总体趋势基本一致,但其峰值峰次差异却较大,主要受初见期、基数和气温等三要素影响所致,并建立柑橘木虱时序成若虫数量与其气温关系模型：D=0.018T+17.365（n=36,r=0.3563*）。针对柑橘木虱传播柑橘黄龙病的特征特性,摸索集成了“一挖两治”防控策略和“三防五关”防控技术。经过3年的全面应用,将柑橘黄龙病发病面积持续控制在5%以内,2008-2010年将加权平均株发病率分别控制在0.084%、0.077%、0.051%,基本达到了持续控制效果,保障了临海市柑橘产业持续健康发展。