Variation in phenotypic characters of pale flax (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Linum bienne</Emphasis> Mill.) from Turkey

The diversity of pale flax (Linum bienne Mill.) as the progenitor of cultivated flax (L. usitatissimum L.) has not been well documented and the domestication syndromes in cultivated flax are poorly understood. An attempt was made to characterize 34 pale flax accessions and six cultivated flax accessions collected during 2007 summer in Turkey. A total of 12 quantitative and 7 qualitative characters covering vegetative and generative plant parts, including phenological traits, were assessed. The occurrence of yellow anthers well known in cultivated flax is reported for the first time in pale flax. Pale flax displayed larger variation in vegetative plant parts and growth habit than the cultivated flax and more heterogeneity within accessions. Within pale flax, a higher degree of variation was observed in many generative parts such as the flower characters than in the capsule and seed characters. Based on the assayed characters, the pale flax from Turkey was grouped into three clusters and these clusters were associated with site elevation and longitude, further confirming local genetic differentiation in pale flax from Turkey. These findings are significant for further studies of flax domestication history and useful for further exploitation of wild flax in genetic improvement of cultivated flax.     

Variations of nutrient concentrations and contents between summer and autumn within tree compartments of European beech (Fagus sylvatica)

The paradigm of sustainable forest management was initially aimed to ensure continuous wood supply but has gradually been extended for many functions and services of forest ecosystems, including the aspect of nutrient sustainability. The current tendency towards harvesting all year round and whole‐tree export for energy purposes raised the question of how the input : output balance of nutrients depends on site conditions, tree species, and harvest intensity. Possible differences in nutrient export between harvesting in autumn and summer have been more or less neglected. Based on compartment‐wise analyses of biomass and nutrient (Ca, K, Mg, and P) concentrations of adult European beeches (Fagus sylvatica [L.]), nine compartments were sampled in summer and nine in autumn. We found, for the majority of the compartments (especially in branch wood), increased levels of nutrient concentrations: 81% (Ca), 54% (K), 90% (Mg), and 96% (P) in autumn compared to summer. Upscaling our results to stand level revealed up to 10.0% and 1.6% less mineral nutrient exports of Ca and Mg, respectively, for whole‐tree harvest in forest stands when carried out in summer instead of autumn. Nutrient removal was increased by 0.8% and by 13.0% for K and P, respectively, in summer. Despite lower nutrient export, many ecological, logistic, and technical reasons discourage harvesting in summer. Our findings, however, deliver an additional yet so far missing mosaic piece for a better understanding and assessment of the frame conditions for sustainable nutrient management in beech forests.     

Progesterone and pregnanediol-glucuronid concentrations in saliva, milk and urine of female alpacas and their application in pregnancy diagnosis

The objective of the present study was the measurement of the pregnancy associated hormones progesterone (P4) and pregnanediol-glucuronide (PdG) in saliva, milk and urine of alpacas and their potential use in pregnancy diagnosis. Sample of blood, saliva, milk and urine were obtained from 36 female alpacas before mating and throughout the pregnancy. Concentrations of P4 and PdG were determined using an enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Pregnancy was checked by ultrasonography at any sampling time. The milk samples were also tested using a commercial on-farm progesterone kit which was designed for dairy cattle. EIA-Concentrations of P4 in blood, milk and urine and urine PdG concentrations were significantly higher in pregnant than in not pregnant alpacas. There was no difference in concentrations of P4 or PdG in saliva. The accuracy of the progesterone kit was 90% for diagnosis of pregnancy and 69% for non-pregnancy. However, 70% of the false positive results also showed relatively high P4 milk concentrations in the EIA. Values of P4 in blood and PdG in urine are comparable to previous reports in alpacas and therefore can be confirmed as an indicator for pregnancy. Saliva seems unsuitable in pregnancy diagnosis in alpacas, whereas milk seems to be an adequate alternative. The use of milk and urine would simplify the pregnancy diagnosis in alpacas since in contrast to the current methods (e. g. blood progesterone) the owners can take the samples. The avoidance of blood sampling results in a considerable stress reduction for the animals. P4 measurement in milk and PdG measurement in urine are good alternatives in pregnancy diagnosis during the first month of pregnancy, when a trans-abdominal ultrasonographic examination is not yet reliable. However, since high values of P4 and PdG only show the presence of active luteal tissue and therefore are indirect markers of pregnancy the diagnosis should be confirmed using ultrasound later in pregnancy.     

Effect of orally administered probiotic E. coli strain Nissle 1917 on intestinal mucosal immune cells of healthy young pigs

Several beneficial effects of probiotics have been described in studies using rodent disease models and in human patients; however, the underlying mechanisms remained mostly unclear. Only a few studies focused on the effects of probiotics on the intestinal mucosal immune system. Here, we studied the effect of the probiotic strain E. coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) administered orally to young pigs at two concentrations (10(9) and 10(11)CFU/d for 21 days) on the gut-associated lymphatic tissue. This probiotic strain was shown recently to reduce recurrence of inflammation in ulcerative colitis patients. We quantified the number and distribution of intestinal immune cells (granulocytes, mast cells, CD4+, CD8+, CD25+, IgA+ lymphocytes) and the mucosal mRNA expression of cytokines (IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, TGF-beta, IL-10) and antimicrobial peptides (PR-39, NK-lysin, prepro-defensin-beta 1, protegrins). The number and distribution of cells were highly different between small intestinal and colon segments in all groups, but were not influenced by EcN, except high dose EcN fed pigs (10(11) CFU/d) showing an increase in mucosal CD8+ cells in the ascending colon. The mRNA analysis revealed no changes associated with EcN feeding. In conclusion, according to our analyses EcN has only minor effects on the distribution of mucosal immune cells in the gut of healthy individuals. The well-established preventive effects of EcN might therefore be relate to other mechanisms than simple modulation of immune cell distribution.     

Modelling the effects of land-use change on runoff and sediment yield for a meso-scale catchment in the Southern Pyrenees

The Southern Pre-Pyrenees experienced a substantial land-use change over the second half of the 20th century owing to the reduction of agricultural activities towards the formation of a more natural forest landscape. The land-use change over the last 50 years with subsequent effects on water and sediment export was modelled with the process-based, spatially semi-distributed WASA-SED model for the meso-scale Canalda catchment in Catalonia, Spain. It was forwarded that the model yielded plausible results for runoff and sediment yield dynamics without the need of calibration, although the model failed to reproduce the shape of the hydrograph and the total discharge of several individual rainstorm events, hence the simulation capabilities are not yet considered sufficient for decision-making purposes for land management. As there are only a very limited amount of measured data available on sediment budgets with altered land-use and climate change settings, the WASA-SED model was used to obtain qualitative estimates on the effects of past and future change scenarios to derive a baseline for hypothesis building and future discussion on the evolution of sediment budgets in such a dryland setting. Simulating the effects of the past land-use change, the model scenarios resulted in a decrease of up to 75% of the annual sediment yield, whereas modelled runoff remained almost constant over the last 50 years. The relative importance of environmental change was evaluated by comparing the impact on sediment export of land-use change, that are driven by socio-economic factors, with climate change projections for changes in the rainfall regime. The modelling results suggest that a 20% decrease in annual rainfall results in a decrease in runoff and sediment yield, thus an ecosystem stabilisation in regard to sediment export, which can only be achieved by a substantial land-use change equivalent to a complete afforestation. At the same time, a 20% increase in rainfall causes a large export of water and sediment resources out of the catchment, equivalent to an intensive agricultural use of 100% of the catchment area. For wet years, the effects of agricultural intensification are more pronounced, so that in this case the intensive land-use change has a significantly larger impact on sediment generation than climate change. The WASA-SED model proved capable in quantifying the impacts of actual and potential environmental change, but the reliability of the simulation results is still circumscribed by considerable parameterisation and model uncertainties.     

Arthropod species richness in the Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) canopy along an elevation gradient

Norway Spruce is the economically most important tree species in Europe and has been cultivated in plantations on a large-scale at low elevations, far outside its natural range. In the Bohemian Forest, it naturally occurs in pure stands above 1150 m a.s.l. and as a mixed tree species from 650 to 1150 m a.s.l. An understanding of natural distributions and the diversity along temperature gradients at various elevations is important for conservation, pest management, and predictions of future species assemblages by global warming. Here we investigated the species richness of canopy arthropods in spruce trees along a gradient from 300 to 1300 m a.s.l. using flight-interception traps. We analyzed species richness by combining diversity partitioning with a moving window approach after standardizing sample size per plot. Total richness decreased linearly as the elevation increased, which reflected declining temperatures and a declining regional species pool. Phytophages (herbivores excluding xylophages) were the most influenced. Richness did not peak at the transition zones of the three ecological elevation zones, neither for all species, nor for any of the separate functional groups. However, the proportion of both beetle and true bug spruce specialists significantly increased with elevation and actually doubled in richness above 1000 m a.s.l., where spruce is naturally dominating. Our results indicate that even planted spruce trees at lower elevations maintain high levels of species richness. Further climate warming will promote overall species richness, especially of phytophages, at all elevations. However, spruce specialists may be seriously threatened by global warming.     

Milking-Related Changes in the Surface Temperature of the Bovine Teat Skin

The surface temperature of the teat at rest is about 30°C in healthy dairy cows kept indoor under ordinary conditions. It usually decreases by about 1°C during manual premising teat stimulation (Hamann & Dück 1984, Eichel 1986, Hamann 1988,1992). And it usually increases above the level prior to the stimulation by up to about 2.5°C during the milk removal phase of conventional machine milking (Schneider 1981, Hamann & Dück 1984, Hamann 1985,1988,1989, Mayntz 1990, Eichel 1992). The statements made are supported by the results of our own investigations, i.e. − 0.8 and + 2.1 °C, respectively.     

Neurogenic and Myogenic Responses in Isolated Smooth Muscle of The Bovine Teat

Strips of bovine teat smooth muscle were studied. Their innervation was investigated with analytical pharmacology on field stimulated preparations. The content of noradrenaline in the teat wall and the sphincter region was determined. The main results were: teat smooth muscle has properties of single unit smooth muscle i.e. automaticity and active response to stretch. Especially the sphincter region is inclined to rapid phasic rhythmicity. The teat smooth muscle receives excitatory adrenergic innervation. The noradrenaline released from the nerves preferentially activates α-adrenoceptors, while β-adrenoceptors essentially are noninnervated and humoral. The sphincter region has a higher concentration of noradrenaline and a more intimate neuro-effector arrangement. This is probably of functional significance. Moderate chilling increases the response to adrenergic nerve stimulation while it is decreased at higher temperatures. This has most likely physiological importance. The results are discussed with respect to in vivo findings and it is concluded that the bovine teat smooth muscle with its excitatory adrenergic nerves forms a normally very efficient neuro-effector system with a particular strength in the sphincter around the streak canal.     

Cost-utility analysis of surgical obstetrics in cattle with torsio uteri intra partum

This study presents a cost-utility analysis concerning profitability of surgical obstetrics in bovines with torsio uteri intra partum. The calculations are based on 43 surgical treated cows and their postoperative outcome. Cows with torsio uteri intra partum which can not be treated conservatively are mostly, until the end of the follwing lactation period, a loss for the owner/farmer of the animal. The total loss of untreated - euthanized patients is almost 1000 euro (mainly expenses for the replacement of animals) whereas the loss of surgical treated animals, including calculated risks, is on an average 200 euro variing from -452 euro to +28 euro. The calculations presented in this study show, that the surgical treatment of conservatively incorrectable uterine torsion intra partum pays.