Responses of cucumber (Cucumissativus L.) to ozonated water under varying drought stress intensities

This study explores the effect of drought stress and ozone on cucumber. A factorial experiment with complete randomized design was carried out in a greenhouse. Experimental treatments were drought stress, including three levels 100% (control), 80%, and 60% of the field capacity (FC) and three ozone concentrations of 0, 0.5, and 1 ppm. The drought stress (80% and 60% of the FC) significantly reduced fruit length, weight, and yield, leaf area, and number of fruits. Across the levels of drought stress, the statistical analysis showed significant increments in the fruit weight with the increasing in the ozone concentrations. An enhancement in the total suspended solids values was obtained with the increase in the drought stress level. The height, dry, and fresh weights of plant decreased with the increase in the drought stress level. The highest leaf area, dry, and fresh weights were observed in the 0.5 ppm ozone and 100% FC.     

Investigation of the potential use of recycling spent mushroom compost as Marigold (Calendula officinalis) bedding medium

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different culture media on plantlet emergence, vegetative and generative traits of Marigold (Calendula officinalis) in randomized complete block design with ten treatments and three replications. The treatments were consisted of spent mushroom compost (SMC), alluvium soil (AS), garden soil (GS), SMC + AS (2:1), SMC + GS (2:1), SMC + AS (1:2), SMC + GS (1:2), AS + GS (2:1), GS + AS (2:1) and SMC + AS + GS (1:1:1). The results showed that application of SMC had positive effects on the vase life of flower and the number of days from the first bloom appearance. The vase life of flower was the highest (17.4 days) in the media containing SMC alone and the shortest (12.3 days) in media containing SMC + AS (1:2). However, mixture of SMC with AS or GS had significant positive effects on the evaluated traits. Generally, AS, SMC + AS or GS (2:1) and GS treatments had a better situation than other media.     

High iNOS expression in macrophages in canine leishmaniasis is associated with low intracellular parasite burden

The expression of iNOS by macrophages in 33 dogs suffering from spontaneous leishmaniasis was analysed by immunohistochemistry in skin, liver and lymph nodes. A correlation study between the number of macrophages expressing iNOS and the number of macrophages containing leishmania amastigotes was carried out. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections from the skin (28 cases), popliteal lymph nodes (8 cases) and liver (3 cases) of dogs of different age, sex and breed suffering from leishmaniasis were included in the study. Dogs were referred as positive for Leishmania spp by serology and the diagnosis was confirmed by demonstration of leishmania amastigotes within macrophages by histopathology. Tissue samples of skin (3 cases), popliteal lymph nodes (5 cases) and liver (3 cases) from dogs seronegative for leishmaniasis with no histopathological changes were included in the study as controls. The immunohistochemical study revealed that macrophages containing a high number of leishmania did not express iNOS. Correlation between the number of macrophages expressing iNOS and the number of macrophages containing leishmania amastigotes was assessed using the Spearman test. High expression of iNOS in macrophages was related with low number of leishmania amastigotes in macrophages in all cases (r=-0.47, p=0.002). These results suggest that iNOS expression by macrophages plays an important role during the control of Leishmania infection in dogs.     

Experimental Evaluation of Procedures to Quantify Carbohydrate Carbon in Some Calcareous Soils

Carbohydrates are an important component of soil organic matter, and a method is needed to quantify them, which would be efficient in terms of time and cost. Different extractants and methods were examined in this work for their efficiency to extract carbohydrate C from four calcareous soils. Four extractants (distilled water, 0.5 M potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄), and 0.25 and 0.5 M sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄)) and three incubation methods (shaking for 16 h, heating in an oven (85 °C) for 16 h, and heating in a water bath (85 °C) for 2.5 h) were compared. The results show that significantly more carbohydrate C was extracted from all four soils with oven and water bath heating of the soil–extractant suspensions than with shaking them at room temperature. The efficiency of the extractants decreased in this order: 0.5 M H₂SO₄ > 0.25 M H₂SO₄ > 0.5 M K₂SO₄. The combination of the heated–water bath incubation method with 0.5 M H₂SO₄ as extractant was the most efficient method.     

Pathological and immunohistochemical study of gastrointestinal lesions in dolphins stranded in the Canary Islands

This paper describes the gross, histopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of gastrointestinal lesions and regional lymph nodes of six common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), 11 striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) and six Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) found stranded along the coasts of the Canary Islands. The most common lesion was chronic granulomatous gastritis of the glandular stomach, associated with the parasite Pholeter gastrophilus, and characterised by the parasites, their eggs, or parasite debris in the mucosa, submucosa or tunica muscularis, surrounded by numerous lysozyme-positive macrophages and neutrophils, and more peripherally by abundant fibrous tissue containing variable numbers of immunoglobulin (Ig) G+ plasma cells, and small numbers of CD3+ T lymphocytes and IgM+ and IgA+ plasma cells. Anisakis simplex nematodes were found in two dolphins that were also parasitised by P gastrophilus and had parasitic granulomatous gastritis and multiple small chronic gastric ulcers. Lymphoplasmacytic enteritis was found in eight cases, three of them parasitised by Diphyllobothrium species; the lesion was characterised by moderate to severe infiltrations of CD3+ T lymphocytes and IgG+ plasma cells, with small numbers of IgM+ and IgA+ plasma cells in the lamina propria and submucosa, mainly of the small intestine. One dolphin had severe fibrinopurulent peritonitis, which may have been secondary to gastric perforation caused by the large mural granulomatous gastritis associated with P gastrophilus parasitism.     

Fecundity in adult Haemonchus contortus parasites is correlated with abomasal tissue eosinophils and γδ T cells in resistant Canaria Hair Breed sheep

Canaria Hair Breed (CHB) sheep are more resistant than Canaria sheep (CS) to experimental Haemonchus contortus infection. Protective responses appear effective against the adult stage of the parasite, not as commonly reported in other breeds against the larval stages. In this study we have quantified several abomasal immune cells and correlated these with parasitological variables for each breed. A significant negative correlation between CD4+ T cell numbers and worm burden or length at 28 dpi was seen only in CS sheep. Significant negative correlations for both abomasal eosinophils and γδ/WC1+ T cells, and fecundity of the adult worms were observed only in the resistant CHB sheep breed. Tissue eosinophils and γδ/WC1+ T cells were positively correlated in CHB sheep. We suggest that the two sheep breeds have disparate immune responses following infection with the parasite and that γδ+ T cells in association with eosinophils may play a hitherto unrecognised role in modulating fecundity in H. contortus adult female parasites.     

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING AND CROSS SECTIONAL ANATOMY OF THE NORMAL EQUINE SINUSES AND NASAL PASSAGES

The purpose of this investigation was to define the magnetic resonance imaging anatomy of the rostral part of the equine head. 10 mm-thick, T1-weighted images of two isolated equine cadaver heads were obtained using a 1.5 Tesla magnet and a body coil. MR images were compared to corresponding frozen cross-sections of the cadaver head. Relevant anatomic structures were identified and labeled at each level. The resulting images provided excellent anatomic detail of the oral and nasal cavities, paranasal sinuses and associated structures. Annotated MR images from this study are intended as a reference for clinical MR imaging studies of the equine head.     

保护活疫苗的热稳定剂

疫苗是一类需要给予精心管理的敏感产品,将其置于适当的温度下进行保存和运输极为重要.热应激可能会降低疫苗的效价,或甚至会使其失去活性,目前的疫苗热稳定剂功效如何呢?     

Microbial Growth Models in Gilthead Sea Bream (Sparus aurata) Stored in Ice

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes microbiological changes in whole, ungutted farmed gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) stored for an 18-day period in ice using traditional methods for mesophilic aerobic bacteria, psychrotrophic, Pseudomonas spp., Aeromonas spp., Shewanella putrefaciens, Enterobacteriaceae, sulphide-reducing Clostridium (Clostridia), and Photobacterium phosphoreum in muscle, skin, and gills, evaluating their seasonal differentiation. Two different statistical models were used to analyze microbiological growth. Simultaneously, physicochemical parameters such as the temperature, pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD), total dissolved solids, salinity, ammonia nitrogen, and total phosphorus content of growing waters were analyzed. The results showed that by the end of the storage time, specific spoilage bacteria (SSB) such as Pseudomonas spp., Aeromonas spp., and S. putrefaciens as H₂S-producing bacteria were dominant in sea bream harvested in temperate water in the Canary Islands. Muscle tissue had the least contamination, followed by skin and gills. The values of the analyzed seawater parameters were constant during the four seasons, except that the temperature showed a small difference between winter and summer. Seasonal effects were observed among the fish analyzed, suggesting that the lower levels of contamination detected in winter may have been due to the slight difference observed in water temperature in that season.