Plasma concentrations of cortisol, testosterone, glucose and blood gases in male goats during anaesthesia with pentobarbitone sodium

Fasting for 24 h had no statistically significant effect on cortisol, glucose or testosterone concentrations. A dose of pentobarbitone sodium which induced light anaesthesia resulted in an immediate decrease in cortisol values from 5.0-11.1 ng/ml to 2.2-3.6 ng/ml until waking-this latter event was accompanied by an excessive release of cortisol (up to 16.6 ng/ml). In two out of three goats testosterone concentrations decreased from 4.0-9.0 ng/ml to less than 0.5 ng/ml after pentobarbitone; low values were maintained for 4.5-6 hours. Glucose concentrations were unaffected. Precise doses of pentobarbitone (20 mg/kg or 30 mg/kg) resulted in similar cortisol profiles as above but with higher concentrations achieved upon waking from the higher dose of pentobarbitone. On two out of nine occasions increased PCO2 values were recorded concurrently with increased cortisol concentrations during the period of anaesthesia, suggesting that a sufficiently strong stressful stimulus can break through the pentobarbitone blockade.     

Effects of xylazine on the stress response to transport in male goats.

A 20-min van journey increased plasma cortisol concentrations to 15-25 ng/ml in male goats, blood glucose concentrations were not affected, but respiratory rates and heart rates were increased, the latter by 40 beats per min. A 2-h van journey increased plasma cortisol to greater than 25 ng/ml and blood glucose to greater than 5 mmol/l. Respiratory rates were increased to greater than 40 breaths per min and heart rates by greater than 100 beats per min. Xylazine alone (0.01 mg/kg) suppressed resting plasma cortisol concentrations, increased blood glucose concentrations to 4.5 +/- 0.8 mmol/l and suppressed respiratory rates by 5-10 breaths per min and heart rates by 20 beats per min. Cortisol concentrations were suppressed by xylazine treatment if given before a 20-min van journey, and for approximately 60 min if given 20 min after the start of a 2-h journey. When combined with transport, xylazine caused an additive effect on glucose concentrations, but suppressed respiratory and heart rates. However, for the latter criteria the timing of suppression was different depending on the time of onset and duration of the stressor. Injection of 50 micrograms ovine corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) caused an immediate elevation of cortisol concentrations (but not glucose) which lasted for at least 6 h compared with the return to baseline within 60 min after either length of journey. Xylazine pretreatment did not alter the cortisol response to CRF, suggesting that xylazine must act centrally above pituitary level when blocking the cortisol response to transport. It is proposed that under resting conditions the hypothalamus is under alpha 2-adrenergic suppression. Stimulation of cortisol secretion in response to a stressor can be inhibited by an alpha 2-adrenergic agonist.     

Probabilistic risk assessment of agrochemicals in the environment

Concern for the environment has resulted in greater scrutiny of both old and new plant protection products and increased efforts have been directed to developing more rigorous but more realistic procedures for the ecotoxicological risk characterization of these agrochemicals. These techniques include probabilistic analysis of toxicity and exposure data and better understanding of the relationship between structure and function in populations of wildlife and the role of keystone species in maintaining ecosystem functioning. The ecological risk assessment method described here is centered on the use of probabilistic distribution functions that independently describe exposure concentrations and toxicological responses of organisms to the chemical of concern. The distributions are transformed to permit calculation of linear regression parameters. The regression parameters for the two distributions are then used to determine joint probabilities which interrelate the exposure and toxicology data. For ease of presentation the results are presented as an exceedence plot which depicts, based on the exposure data the percent of species likely to be affected and the percent of observations likely to cause this level of effect. In this paper, the use of the method is illustrated using data for chlorpyrifos in North American aquatic environments. These probabilistic risk assessment methods are being assessed for incorporation into assessment procedures in a number of regulatory jurisdictions.     

STUDIES ON THE MAGNESIUM CONTENT OF MIXED HERBAGE AND SOME INDIVIDUAL GRASS AND CLOVER SPECIES

The magnesium contents of mixed herbage and four individual grass and clover species were studied under four treatments—control, magnesium sulphate, magnesian limestone and carboniferous limestone.
The magnesium values were lowest in the spring and early summer and then increased to maximum values by the autumn. The seasonal variations, however, differed appreciably from year to year.
The effect of magnesian limestone on the magnesium content of mixed herbage was relatively small in the year of application, but increased during the following years and reached a maximum in the fourth year after application. The increase in magnesium uptake from the magnesium sulphate treatment was small after the first year, whilst carboniferous limestone slightly depressed the magnesium content. This depression, however, was very small and probably of no practical significance.
The magnesium content of red clover was about 50% higher than that of Italian ryegrass, cocksfoot and white clover. In the second year after application magnesian limestone had a much greater effect on the magnesium content of the clovers than on that of the grasses.     

Effect of reforestation on turnover of 15N-labelled nitrate and ammonium in relation to changes in soil microflora

The effects of incubation time, vegetation type (represented by a pine plantation, a protected and a periodically burnt eucalypt forest), lime and finely ground pine needles on the transformation of (¹⁵NH₄)₂SO₄ and K¹⁵NO₃ were studied in incubation experiments with a sandy lateritic podzolic soil from south-east Queensland. Microorganisms were counted so as to relate N transformations to particular groups of microorganisms.The heterotrophic miroflora utilized NH⁺₄ as a source of N in preference to NO^?₃, and autotrophic nitrifiers seemed to be weak competitors for NH⁺₄. Lime caused a slight loss of NO^?₃ and this was accompanied by an increase in the population of denitrifying bacteria.Lime promoted immobilization of NH⁺₄ by heterotrophic bacteria and subsequent mineralization by nitrifying bacteria, but when pine needles were also added the nitrifiers were suppressed and immobilization by heterotrophic bacteria dominated. Pine needles alone stimulated fungi to immobilize NH⁺₄.While reforestation with exotic pines caused a loss of total-N there was evidence of increased turnover, i.e. more rapid immobilization and nitrification, in pine plantation soils. Prescribed burning also promoted nitrification while reducing total-N.     

The effects of dredging operations on the benthic community of a chalk stream

Sampling of the benthic fauna showed that dredging operations produced relatively short-term effects on invertebrate population levels. The behaviour of the animals was immediately affected, the differences between species were noted and the implications of dredging at different times of year are discussed.