Distribution and fractionation of heavy metals in pairs of arable and afforested soils in Denmark

Afforestation of sandy arable soils in northern Europe is likely to lead to an increase in the soil's acidity and changes in the behaviour of the organic matter, and this might affect the ability of the soil to retain heavy metals. It is important to assess the impact of such a change in the land use on the solubility of the heavy metals and to assess the risk of leaching to surface‐ and groundwater and the possible entrapment of heavy metals in the tree canopy. The impact of afforestation was assessed by excavating soil profiles in adjacent 34‐year‐old Norway spruce stands and arable plots at four different sites. We found that after 34 years the pH had decreased and cations were depleted in the topsoil under forest. The aqua regia‐extractable heavy metals were determined, and the heavy metal binding within the soil was assessed using a modified version of the BCR (Community Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction procedure. Higher contents of heavy metal were found in the arable plots in the loamy sand soils. Cadmium was found only in the most mobile fractions. The content of Pb in the subsoil was strongly correlated with the clay content, but not in the topsoil, which suggested that Pb had been added to the topsoil. We found strong correlations between the clay content and the Cu, Ni and Zn in the residual fraction, leading us to conclude that much of the Cu, Ni and Zn is of geological origin. No significant differences in the heavy metal fractionation between forest and arable soil were found, presumably because 34 years of different land use is not long enough to produce such differences.     

Carcinoembryonic antigen present in human colonic neoplasms serially propagated in hamsters

Carcinoembryonic antigen, as measured by radioimmunoassay, is present in two different human colonic tumors that have been serially transplanted and maintained in the cheek pouches of unconditioned, adult golden hamsters. This finding shows that a human tumor-associated antigen can be produced in an animal host.     

Ash and biochar amendment of coarse sandy soil for growing crops under drought conditions

Appropriate soil amendments may increase plant available water and crop yields on coarse sandy soils under drought conditions. In this study, we applied straw ash or straw biochar from gasification to a Danish coarse sandy subsoil to assess the effects on soil water retention, evapotranspiration and crop yields. Spring barley (2016, 2017) and winter wheat (2018) were grown over three years in columns containing 25cm of organic matter-rich topsoil, 80 cm of amended coarse sandy soil (1.5%, 3%, 6% wt. ash or 1% wt. biochar or control soil) and 45 cm of un-amended subsoil. Precipitation, evaporative demands and soil moisture were recorded across the growth seasons, with 2018 having severe drought conditions. This year evapotranspiration levels increased with increasing ash and biochar content (by 54% and 33% for the 6% ash- and 1% biochar-amended soils, respectively), and plant dry matter increased by 18% in both the 1% biochar- and 6% ash-treated soils compared to the untreated control. A linear relationship was established between in situ field capacity and ash dosage (R² = .96), showing an increase of 2.2% per percentage (wt.) of ash added, while the 1% biochar treatment increased the capacity by 3.5%, indicating a higher efficiency than for ash. However, we did not find significant positive effects on grain yields. The results show that ash and biochar have the potential to significantly increase soil water retention, evapotranspiration and total dry matter yield in drought conditions, but that this may not correspond to an increase in grain yield.     

Lactose Synthase Components in Milk: Concentrations of α-Lactalbumin and β1,4-Galactosyltransferase in Milk of Cows from Several Breeds at Various Stages of Lactation

It is believed that milk production is determined by the number and activity of mammary secretory cells. Secretory activity, as assessed by milk volume, depends on secretion of the major osmole in milk, lactose, which is produced by lactose synthase. The amount of either of the two proteins in lactose synthase may regulate milk production. The objective of this study was to determine whether the concentrations in milk of the two components of lactose synthase, α‐lactalbumin (α‐LA) and β1,4‐galactosyltransferase (B4GALT), were related to genetic background, stage of lactation, breed or parity of dairy cows. α‐Lactalbumin and B4GALT concentrations were measured by ELISA and by enzyme assays, respectively, from single milk samples. Two herds with a total of 279 cows were used in the analysis. One herd contained Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Holstein and Jersey cows; the second herd contained two groups of cows; Holsteins selected for high milk production and Holsteins with 1960s genetics. The α‐LA concentration in milk was greater in Jerseys and Ayrshires than in Holsteins and Brown Swiss. However, no difference in α‐LA concentration was observed in milk from high and low genetic merit cows in the Minnesota herd or among different genetic backgrounds in the Illinois herd. β1,4‐Galactosyltransferase concentrations were similar for all groups that were analyzed. α‐Lactalbumin concentrations were positively correlated with milk protein concentration, milk fat concentration and lactose concentration. β1,4‐Galactosyltransferase concentration in milk exhibited a strong positive correlation with number of days in milk. Although the concentration of B4GALT increased as lactation progressed, the values did not show any correlation with persistency of lactation or late lactation milk production. In conclusion, this survey shows that the two components of lactose synthase are each correlated to protein concentration and individually correlated to the concentration of other milk components and stage of lactation.     

The occurrence of antibodies to bovine virus diarrhoea,infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and parainfluenza 3 viruses in sera from New Zealand cattle

Abstract

Extract

Despite many viruses having been isolated from bovine respiratory and intestinal tracts, only those of bovine virus diarrhoea (BVD), bovine parainfluenza 3 (PI 3) and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis-infectious pustular vulvovaginitis (IBR) have so far been associated with specific clinical complexes. Serological surveys have demonstrated the wide geographical distribution of all three viruses (Huck, 1962 Hack, R. A. 1962. Some recently isolated viruses from cattle. Vet. Bull., 32: 493–504.  [Google Scholar]; Paterson, 1962 Paterson, A. B. 1962. Virus diseases in calves. Vet. Rec., 74: 1384–1389.  [Google Scholar]; French and Snowdon, 1964 French, E. L. and Snowdon, W. A. 1964. Mucosal disease in Australian cattle. Aust. vet. J., 40: 99–105.  [Google Scholar]; Dawson and Darbyshire, 1964 Dawson, P. S. and Darbyshire, J. H. 1964. The occurrence and distribution in the United Kingdom of antibodies to parainfluenza 3 and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis viruses in bovine sera. Vet. Rec., 76: 111–115.  [Google Scholar]), although so far only IBR has been confirmed as being present in New Zealand (Webster and Manktelow, 1959 Webster, R. G. and Manktelow, B. W. 1959. Some observations on bovine rhinotracheitis in New Zealand. N.Z. vet. J., 7: 143–148. [Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). However, in view of a previous outbreak of a mucosal-like disease (Salisbury etal., 1961 Salisbury, R. M., Hartley, W. J., Mcintosh, I. G., Hansen, N. F., Te Punga, W. A. and Jamieson, S. 1961. A mucosal disease-like syndrome of cattle in New Zealand. Bull. Off. int. Epiz., 56: 62–79.  [Google Scholar]) together with the frequent occurrence of upper respiratory tract symptoms, it seemed most unlikely that other members of this virus trio would be absent from cattle in this country.