Effect of Prophylactic Intramuscular Administration of Polysulfated Glycosaminoglycan on Developmental and Traumatic Joint Injuries in Thoroughbred Foals

The objective of this study was to determine whether a prophylactic regimen of intramuscular polysulfated glycosaminoglycans (PSGAG), administered to growing Thoroughbred foals, would significantly reduce the incidence or severity of osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) or traumatic joint lesions that had been found in untreated foals (historical controls) from the same farm during the preceding 3 years. The number of PSGAG-treated foals with clinically significant joint lesions was 44.1% lower than the number of foals with OCD/joint injuries that had been found in the untreated historical controls. Surgical intervention of the treated foals declined 87.7% from the incidence on the farm during the preceding 3 years. Although the incidence of OCD lesions of the hock, stifle, and fetlocks in treated foals was not significantly different from that found in the matched controls, the lesions in the PSGAG-treated foals resolved without surgery. These results suggest that PSGAG has the potential to improve the clinical course of osteochondrosis (OC) and OCD. Additional studies are underway to determine whether a shorter or more targeted prophylactic regimen will provide a similar benefit.     

Geospatial methods provide timely and comprehensive urban forest information

Urban forests are unique and highly valued resources. However, trees in urban forests are often under greater stress than those in rural or undeveloped areas due to soil compaction, restricted growing spaces, high temperatures, and exposure to air and water pollution. In addition, conditions change more quickly in urban as opposed to rural and undeveloped settings. Subsequently, proactive management of urban forests can be challenging and requires the availability of current and comprehensive information. Geospatial tools, such as, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS) and remote sensing, work extremely well together for gathering, analyzing, and reporting information. Many urban forest management questions could be quickly and effectively addressed using geospatial methods and tools. The geospatial tools can provide timely and extensive spatial data from which urban forest attributes can be derived, such as land cover, forest structure, species composition and condition, heat island effects, and carbon storage. Emerging geospatial tools that could be adapted for urban forest applications include data fusion, virtual reality, three-dimensional visualization, Internet delivery, modeling, and emergency response.     

Agent-based land-use models: a review of applications

Agent-based modelling is an approach that has been receiving attention by the land use modelling community in recent years, mainly because it offers a way of incorporating the influence of human decision-making on land use in a mechanistic, formal, and spatially explicit way, taking into account social interaction, adaptation, and decision-making at different levels. Specific advantages of agent-based models include their ability to model individual decision-making entities and their interactions, to incorporate social processes and non-monetary influences on decision-making, and to dynamically link social and environmental processes. A number of such models are now beginning to appear—it is timely, therefore, to review the uses to which agent-based land use models have been put so far, and to discuss some of the relevant lessons learnt, also drawing on those from other areas of simulation modelling, in relation to future applications. In this paper, we review applications of agent-based land use models under the headings of (a) policy analysis and planning, (b) participatory modelling, (c) explaining spatial patterns of land use or settlement, (d) testing social science concepts and (e) explaining land use functions. The greatest use of such models so far has been by the research community as tools for organising knowledge from empirical studies, and for exploring theoretical aspects of particular systems. However, there is a need to demonstrate that such models are able to solve problems in the real world better than traditional modelling approaches. It is concluded that in terms of decision support, agent-based land-use models are probably more useful as research tools to develop an underlying knowledge base which can then be developed together with end-users into simple rules-of-thumb, rather than as operational decision support tools. This paper arises from research conducted as part of the UK Research Councils’ RELU Programme (award number RES-224-25-0102). RELU is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council, with additional funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department.     

Parasitism of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trichoderma</Emphasis> on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Meloidogyne javanica</Emphasis> and role of the gelatinous matrix

Trichoderma (T. asperellum-203, 44 and GH11; T. atroviride-IMI 206040 and T. harzianum-248) parasitism on Meloidogyne javanica life stages was examined in vitro. Conidium attachment and parasitism differed beween the fungi. Egg masses, their derived eggs and second-stage juveniles (J2) were parasitized by Trichoderma asperellum-203, 44, and T. atroviride following conidium attachment. Trichoderma asperellum-GH11 attached to the nematodes but exhibited reduced penetration, whereas growth of T. harzianum-248 attached to egg masses was inhibited. Only a few conidia of the different fungi were attached to eggs and J2s without gelatinous matrix; the eggs were penetrated and parasitized by few hyphae, while J2s were rarely parasitized by the fungi. The gelatinous matrix specifically induced J2 immobilization by T. asperellum-203, 44 and T. atroviride metabolites that immobilized the J2s. A constitutive-GFP-expressing T. asperellum-203 construct was used to visualize fungal penetration of the nematodes. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the formation of coiling and appressorium-like structures upon attachment and parasitism by T. asperellum-203 and T. atroviride. Gelatinous matrix agglutinated T. asperellum-203 and T. atroviride conidia, a process that was Ca²⁺-dependent. Conidium agglutination was inhibited by carbohydrates, including fucose, as was conidium attachment to the nematodes. All but T. harzianum could grow on the gelatinous matrix, which enhanced conidium germination. A biomimetic system based on gelatinous-matrix-coated nylon fibers demonstrated the role of the matrix in parasitism: T. asperellum-203 and T. atroviride conidia attached specifically to the gelatinous-matrix-coated fibers and parasitic growth patterns, such as coiling, branching and appressoria-like structures, were induced in both fungi, similarly to those observed during nematode parasitism. All Trichoderma isolates exhibited nematode biocontrol activity in pot experiments with tomato plants. Parasitic interactions were demonstrated in planta: females and egg masses dissected from tomato roots grown in T. asperellum-203-treated soil were examined and found to be parasitized by the fungus. This study demonstrates biocontrol activities of Trichoderma isolates and their parasitic capabilities on M. javanica, elucidating the importance of the gelatinous matrix in the fungal parasitism.     

The Knockdown Resistance (kdr) Mutation in Pyrethroid-Resistant German Cockroaches

A point mutation in thepara-homologous sodium channel gene has been shown to be associated with knockdown resistance (kdr) in several insect species including the German cockroach. In this study, we analyzed the genomic organization of the region where thekdrmutation resides and then performed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing using genomic DNA as the template to detectkdrmutation in 24 pyrethroid-resistant German cockroach strains, most of which have been collected recently from the field. Thekdrmutation, G to C at nt 2979 resulting in a leucine to phenylalanine amino acid substitution, was detected in 20 strains including 2 strains from overseas (China and Germany). Our results clearly indicate that thekdrmutation is widespread in German cockroach populations. However, the super-kdrmutation detected in super-kdrhouse flies was not found in any of the 4 strains that showed higher levels of knockdown resistance. Little correlation was observed between the presence of thekdrmutation and the level of knockdown resistance, suggesting the existence of multiple resistance mechanisms in many of these strains.     

Chaos theory and assessment of forest stakeholder attitudes towards Australian forest policy

The Regional Forest Agreement process has dominated Australian forest policy for the past decade. The RFA process set in place a mechanism by which benchmark conservation values were established for forest ecosystems, whilst addressing the needs of the timber industry. The outcomes of a number of RFA's have been fraught with controversy. Key stakeholder groups have shown disagreement with processes and outcomes of methods employed by government both in establishing conservation reserves and areas allocated to timber harvesting. This research uses non-linear techniques to examine the dynamical behavior in stakeholder responses and to identify patterns of behavior that may lead to prediction of stakeholder responses. The method developed in this research provides a bridge between social sciences and Chaos theory.¹     

A KCNJ10 mutation previously identified in the Russell group of terriers also occurs in Smooth-Haired Fox Terriers with hereditary ataxia and in related breeds

Background

Hereditary ataxias with similar phenotypes were reported in the Smooth-Haired Fox Terrier, the Jack Russell Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier. However, segregation analyses showed differing inheritance modes in these breeds. Recently, molecular genetic studies on the Russell group of terriers found independent mutations in KCNJ10 and CAPN1, each associated with a specific clinical subtype of inherited ataxia. The aim of this study was to clarify whether or not Smooth-Haired Fox Terriers with hereditary ataxia and dogs of other related breeds harbor either of the same mutations. A sub goal was to update the results of KCNJ10 genotyping in Russell group terriers.

Findings

Three Smooth-Haired Fox Terriers with hereditary ataxia and two Toy Fox Terriers with a similar phenotype were all homozygous for the KCNJ10 mutation. The same mutation was also found in a heterozygous state in clinically unaffected Tenterfield Terriers (n = 5) and, in agreement with previous studies, in Jack Russell Terriers, Parson Russell Terriers, and Russell Terriers.

Conclusions

A KCNJ10 mutation, previously associated with an autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia in Jack Russell Terriers, Parson Russell Terriers, and Russell Terriers segregates in at least three more breeds descended from British hunting terriers. Ataxic members of two of these breeds, the Smooth-Haired Fox Terrier and the Toy Fox Terrier, were homozygous for the mutation, strengthening the likelihood that this genetic defect is indeed the causative mutation for the disease known as “hereditary ataxia” in Fox Terriers and “spinocerebellar ataxia with myokymia, seizures or both” in the Russell group of terriers.