Interactions of fungicide-herbicide combinations against plant pathogens and weeds

The fungicide cyproconazole and four herbicides, DNOC, dicamba, ioxynil and bromoxynil, were tested singly and in mixtures against Rhizoctonia cerealis (in vitro and on wheat) and against Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides (in vitro, as well as against two weeds, Avena fatua and Sinapis alba. Cyproconazole showed very strong fungicidal acitivity against both fungi. DNOC was inhibitory to the fungi in vitro but had little effect on the disease; dicamba had low activity against the fungi in vitro but prevented the disease on wheat. Ioxynol and bromoxynil were moderately fungitoxic both in vitro and against the disease. Cyproconazole-herbicide mixtures were synergistic in their action against both fungi in vitro and against the disease. The level of synergism depended on the relative proportion of fungicide and herbicide components in the mixtures. Mixtures of herbicides with cyproconazole against weeds were at best additive in their activity.     

Comparison of haemodynamic changes during two surgical methods for neutering female dogs

The aim was to investigate if intraoperative registrations of blood pressure and heart rate could be used to estimate surgical trauma. In a prospective clinical trial, registrations in eight dogs neutered by laparoscopic ovariectomy (LOE) were compared with eight dogs subjected to open ovariohysterectomy (OHE). For comparisons phases were used: phase zero = steady state after induction of anaesthesia; phase one = opening of abdomen; phase two = severing of ovarian pedicles; and, phase three = abdominal closure. During LOE, mean systolic blood pressure increased by 7 mm Hg (p = 0.05) and 15 mm Hg (p = 0.01) from phase zero to phase one and two, respectively, and during OHE by 3 mm Hg (ns) and 29 mm Hg (p < 0.0001), respectively. The increase from phase one to phase two differed between groups (p = 0.03). Heart rate did not change. Frequent intraoperative measurements of blood pressure appear a promising method for evaluating surgical trauma.     

Ultrasonography of the rumen in 30 Saanen goats

This study describes the results of ultrasonographic examination of the rumen in 30 healthy Saanen goats. A linear or convex transducer with a variable frequency of 5 to 13 MHz was used to scan standing, non-sedated goats. The location and size of the rumen, the distance between the wall of the rumen and abdominal wall and the appearance and size of the gas, fibre mat and fluid layers of the ruminal contents were assessed. The rumen was seen as a large organ medial to the left abdominal wall. The wall of the rumen appeared as a thick echogenic line. The longitudinal groove was seen as an echogenic notch, which divided the rumen into the dorsal and ventral sacs. The rumen could be visualized from the 9th to 12th intercostal space (ICS) and flank on the left side in all the goats. The rumen was largest in the 12th ICS at 41.6 ± 5.13 cm and smallest in the 8th ICS at 11.3 ± 4.29 cm. The dorsal sac of the rumen was largest in the left cranial flank (17.4 ± 4.43 cm) and the ventral sac was largest in the 12th ICS on the left (29.1 ± 6.03 cm). In the cranial left flank, the rumen was situated immediately adjacent to the abdominal wall in all the goats. The spleen was located between the rumen and abdominal wall in the 8th to 12 th ICS in many of the goats. The gas, fibre mat and fluid layers of the ruminal contents could be visualized in all the goats. The gas layer was 9.9 ± 3.05 cm, the fibre mat layer 16.0 ± 4.55 cm and the fluid layer 12.2 ± 5.57 cm.     

Consumption of oxidized oil increases oxidative stress in broilers and affects the quality of breast meat

A total of 120 4-week-old broiler chickens were allotted to 12 pens and fed one of three diets including control, oxidized diet (5% oxidized oil), or antioxidant-added diet (500 IU vitamin E) for 2 weeks. Blood samples were collected at the end of feeding trial, and breast muscles were sampled immediately after slaughter. Breast meats were also collected 24 h after slaughter and used for meat quality measurements. Oxidative stress in blood, lipid and protein oxidation, and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2(+)-ATPase (SERCA) activity of breast muscle were determined. The oxidized diet increased oxidative stress in blood and increased carbonyl content in breast meat compared with the other two dietary treatments (P < 0.05). Lipid oxidation of breast muscles with the antioxidant-supplemented diet was lower than that with the oxidized and control diet groups (P < 0.05). Meat from birds fed the oxidized diet showed higher drip loss after 1 and 3 days of storage and greater 0-1 h post-mortem pH decline (P < 0.05). Significant differences in specific SERCA activity in breast muscles from birds fed control and oxidized diets (P < 0.05) were detected. This suggested that dietary oxidized oil induced oxidative stress in live birds and increased lipid and protein oxidation in breast muscle. Decrease in SERCA activity in breast muscles due to oxidative stress in live animals accelerated post-mortem glycolysis, which sped the pH drop after slaughter and increased drip loss, indicating that oxidation of diet can cause PSE-like (pale, soft, and exudative) conditions in broiler breast muscles.     

Impact of housing nursery pigs according to body weight on the onset of feed intake,aggressive behavior,and growth performance

Tropical Animal Health and Production - Housing nursery pigs according to body weight is an observed common practice in production systems and, supposedly, improves growth performance and reduces...     

Variations in annual precipitation and selenium accumulation by Milk‐Vetch

Four Se accumulators and two non‐accumulator plants were examined for their Se content in wet and dry years. No significant change in Se quantity was noted in the non‐accumulators in relation to variations in annual precipitation. However, the concentration of Se found in accumulator plants is significantly higher in wet years than in dry ones. Furthermore, in wet years there is a higher percentage of water soluble Se in these plants than in dry ones. The soils supporting these plants were also examined for their Se content. In dry years these soils contain more water soluble Se than in wet ones but, in dry years, this form of Se is less available due to the lack of available moisture. High precipitation may tend to reduce absorption of Se by plants by diluting the water soluble Se present in the soil solution, but it is clear that it also promotes absorption of Se by encouraging vigorous growth of these accumulator plants.     

Aluminum tolerance in maize: Minimizing pH changes in screening solutions 1

Preliminary screening of maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes for aluminum (Al) tolerance in nutrient solutions over a 12‐day growth period showed greater plant‐induced pH changes in solutions without Al than in solutions containing Al. Such pH changes may alter the specific effect of Al on relative root length (length in Al‐containing solution/length in 0 Al solution) commonly used as an index to rank genotypes with respect to Al tolerance. The objective of this study was to examine several screening methods for identifying Al‐tolerant maize genotypes, and to identify those procedures which resulted in minimal pH fluctuations during the course of screening. The following methods of controlling pH in nutrient solutions were compared: (i) 12‐day exposure to 0 or 5 mg Al/L in nutrient solutions (a) with or (b) without daily pH adjustment or (c) with different NO₃ ^‐/NH₄ ⁺ ratios, and (ii) 2‐day exposure to 0, 5, 10, 25 or 40 mg Al/L treatment solutions followed by a 3‐day recovery period in solutions with an initial pH at (a) 4.6 or (b) 4.0. In the 12‐day experiments, daily pH adjustment to 4.6 did not eliminate large pH fluctuations in the control (0 Al) solutions, and it substantially decreased the soluble Al concentration in the Al‐treatment solution. Varying the ratio of NO₃ ^‐ to NH₄ ⁺ did not eliminate large pH fluctuations. Exposing the seedlings for 2 days to Al solutions at pH 4.6 resulted in large pH differences between 0 Al and Al‐containing solutions and in precipitation of large amounts of Al. In contrast, the 2‐day procedure using solutions with an initial pH at 4.0 was more satisfactory in that the pH was maintained between 4.0 and 3.7 in all solutions, and Al precipitation was minimized. When the 2‐day method at pH 4.0 was used to screen the genotypes, PDMR3 had consistently higher relative root lengths in Al‐containing solutions than did Kalimpos, IPB Varl, UPCA Varl and Trinidad Grp1&2.     

Effects of low root temperature on sap flow rate,soluble carbohydrates,nitrate contents and on cytokinin and gibberellin levels in root xylem exudate of sand‐grown tomato

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculuntum Mill.) grown in open fields in dry land areas or in non‐controlled greenhouses are subjected to substantial daily changes in root temperature. In the field, root‐zone temperatures fluctuate both diurnally and during the growing season. The purpose of this study was to monitor root‐zone temperature effects on tomato initial growth, transpiration, sap flow rate, leaf and air temperatures differences, nitrate accumulation, total nitrogen, and soluble carbohydrates in the shoot and roots as well as levels of endogenous cytokinins and gibberellins in xylem exudate. Tomato seedlings were grown in three growth cabinets with variable control of root temperatures. Three day/night root temperature regimes (12/12, 16/8 and 20/20°C) were employed. Low day root temperatures of 12 and 16°C reduced shoot dry weight by 47 and 26%, root dry weight by 36 and 14%, shoot nitrate by 79 and 50%, root nitrate by 49 and 16%, levels of cytokinins in root xylem exudate by 27 and 13% and gibberellins by 65 and 23%, in relation to the respective values of 20°C day root temperature. Soluble carbohydrates in the shoot and roots were increased significantly (18 and 111%) by 12°C root temperature. The main effects of low root temperatures on shoot growth stem from slow upward transport of plant hormones and nitrate rather than reduction in their rate of biosynthesis or entry to the root, respectively.