Rodenticide-induced signs simulating Rift Valley fever in sheep and goats in Egypt

Epidemic Rift Valley fever is generally recognised when a higher than expected frequency of abortions and haemorrhages occurs in sheep and other livestock. Other infectious agents can cause similar clinical signs. In Egypt, an outbreak of abortions and haemorrhages in sheep and goats in 1982 was traced to intoxication with the rodenticide brodifacoum. The epidemic lasted for three weeks and resulted in 120 deaths. The end of the epidemic coincided with a heavy rainstorm. This outbreak demonstrates the need for the strict control of the use of rodenticides and widens the differential diagnosis of epidemic abortion in sheep and goats.     

Hard clam relocation as a potential strategy for QPX disease mitigation within an enzootic estuary

Monitoring of persistent QPX infections in clams of Raritan Bay (New York) shows certain areas of the estuary have remained without any significant disease prevalence. This study was conducted to investigate the potential to mitigate QPX disease by relocating infected hard clams, Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus), from enzootic areas to nearby sites with prevailing environmental conditions suggested to deter infection and favour remission and healing. Clams were collected from a location with consistent disease prevalence in central Raritan Bay and brought to near shore habitats subject to lower salinities and higher summer temperatures. A reduced host density treatment was included in the study to examine the common observation of high clam density in the most persistently infected locales. An additional treatment retained clams above the sediment, since sediments are suspected to represent a QPX reservoir. At the end of the 4‐month study all treatments displayed less QPX disease than the control group and the greatest contrast was provided by the disappearance of infections in a tidal creek.     

Effect of Nitrogen Fertilization and Season of Growth on Nitrate Content of Spinach Plants (Spinacia oleracea,L.)

A pot experiment was carried out in two seasons, winter and spring, using three nitrogen sources, ammonium sulphate, calcium nitrate and urea, in five rates of application, 0,25,50, 100 and 150mg N/Kg soil. Spring sown spinach outyielded the winter plants and accumulated higher amounts of N. Winter plants contained more protein. Source of N had no effect on yield or the plants content of any of the studied N-fractions. The first N-dose increased the yield over the control. Protein and water soluble N content increased with the successive N-additions up to 100 mg N/Kg soil. Most of the soluble-N was accumulated in spinach in the nitrate form. The first N-dose increased NO, % to 3 fold over the control. The nitrate content increased also with every yield increment. Petioles contained higher amounts of nitrate than leaf blades. There was a linear relationship between total and nitrate-N.     

Reducing transaction costs of tradable permit schemes using Blockchain smart contracts

Tradable permit schemes (TPS) are market-based policy instruments, which are claimed to be more statically and dynamically efficient in achieving their policy objectives compared to the traditional regulatory instruments. However, some researchers argue that the high level of transaction costs associated with these policy instruments might undermine their efficiency. This paper addresses this issue through exploring the use of Blockchain technology in order to lower transaction costs that arise from TPS transactions. More specifically, it identifies the benefits of using Blockchain smart contracts in implementing TPS that include: increasing the amount of relevant information available to interested actors thus reducing uncertainties; reducing the amount of irrelevant information available to interested actors thus decreasing complexities; correcting information asymmetries among the actors involved thus limiting opportunistic behaviours; lowering the need for the involvement of intermediaries thus decreasing direct monetary costs; and facilitating the linkage between buyers and sellers thus improving trading quality. These potential benefits can increase the efficiency of TPS by decreasing policy-related transaction costs.     

Die Aufnahme und Verlagerung des Phosphorsäurediäthylesters im Vergleich zum Orthophosphat

Uptake and Translocation of Diethyl Phosphoric acid Ester in Comparison to the Orthophosphate. . The uptake of the diethyl phosphoric acid ester (DEP) through intact adventive roots of maize plants and its further translocation to the shoots was studied over a wide range of concentrations (0.001–50.0 mM P/L) in comparison to the orthophosphate (MP). The effect of the relative humidity (r.h.) and the metabolic inhibitor Na N₃ on both processes, uptake and translocation, was also investigated. At low concentrations the plants tended to retain a greater part of the MP intaked in the absorbing roots. Depression of the transpiration streaming influenced relatively the phosphate translocation to the shoots. The higher the MP-outside-concentration was, the greater the effect of the transpiration streaming was on its translocation. Treatment with 10^-4 MNaN₃ inhibited MP-accumulation but not its translocation from the treated roots. The results showed that passive processes are mainly responsible for the DEP-uptake and translocation by the maize plants. Both processes were dependent to a great extent on the transpiration streaming. The r.h. affected the translocation patterns of both DEP and MP dissimilarly at low concentration, though, they come close to each other when their outside concentrations were increased. The results are discussed on the basis of the symplasm theory (2) and the dual mechanisms of ion uptake (28).