Assessment of mild hindlimb lameness during over ground locomotion using linear discriminant analysis of inertial sensor data

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Hindlimb lameness is common and can be difficult to diagnose or quantify in evaluating response to nerve blocks. An objective measure of lameness can also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment's contribution to evidence-based medicine. The inertial sensor system can be used to capture 6 degree of freedom movement during over ground locomotion and here was used to quantify tuber coxae movement in nonlame and lame horses. HYPOTHESIS: Tuber coxae movement is useful for discriminating between nonlame and lame horses. OBJECTIVES: To measure left and right tuber coxae movement in lame and nonlame horses during over ground locomotion and to implement a linear discriminant analysis to discriminate between lame and nonlame horses. METHODS: Two inertial sensors were attached to the skin over left and right tuber coxae of 21 horses (9 mildly and 12 not lame). Horses were trotted on a hard surface. A total of 1021 strides were collected. For each stride 34 features were extracted from the dorsoventral and craniocaudal movement and used in 2 different classification scenarios (lame vs. nonlame or left lame, right lame and nonlame) using linear discriminant analysis. RESULTS: Six degree of freedom inertial sensors were successfully used to collect kinematic data continuously from left and right tuber coxae in horses during over ground locomotion. These data were used for an automated classification of lameness. In the first scenario, a sensitivity of 89% was achieved with a specificity of 75%. In the second scenario, all horses could be correctly assigned to the correct class in a simple 3 class reclassification test. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: A mobile system that reliably detects and quantifies hindlimb lameness in horses during unconstrained locomotion could be a valuable tool to perform an evidence-based assessment of lameness in horses in a clinical setting, e.g. before and after nerve blocks or before and after surgery.     

Bacteraemia in neonatal foals: clinicopathological differences between Gram-positive and Gram-negative infections, and single organism and mixed infections

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Treatment for bacteraemia in foals must be started before the identity of the causative organism is known. Information aiding selection of effective antimicrobials should improve outcome. OBJECTIVES: To describe differences in clinical and clinicopathological data and outcome in foals with bacteraemia due to different classes of bacteria. METHODS: Records of foals with a positive blood culture, age < 10 days and presenting to a university hospital 1995-2004, were reviewed. Bacterial culture results, subject details, historical information, physical examination findings at admission and clinicopathological data generated during the first 48 h of hospitalisation were analysed. Results from foals with Gram-positive or Gram-negative organisms, single or mixed organism bacteraemias, and with bacteraemia due to 3 commonly isolated organisms were compared. RESULTS: Eighty-five foals met the inclusion criteria. Gram-negative organisms (n = 59) Gram-positive organisms (n = 13) or multiple organisms (n = 19) were cultured from individual foals. Foals with Gram-negative bacteraemia had lower total white blood cell and lymphocyte counts at admission than did those from which only Gram-positive bacteria were cultured. Mixed organism bacteraemia was associated with tachycardia, increased serum concentrations of sodium, chloride and urea nitrogen, acidosis, respiratory distress, recumbency on admission and nonsurvival. Actinobacillus spp. infections were associated with leucopenia, neutropenia, lymphopenia and depression on hospital admission. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Recognising particular patterns of clinical and clinicopathological findings associated with infection with specific groups of bacteria may, in the future, aid antimicrobial selection and influence prognosis in bacteraemic foals.     

Water use estimates for various rice production systems in Mississippi and Arkansas

Rice irrigation-water use was estimated in Mississippi (MS) and Arkansas (AR) in 2003 and 2004. Irrigation inputs were compared on naturally sloping (i.e. contour-levee system) and mechanically graded fields. In MS, rice production consumed, on average, 895 mm water, but irrigation inputs were greatly affected by production system. Contour-levee systems accounted for 35% of the production area and consumed 1,034 mm irrigation. Fields mechanically graded to a consistent slope of approximately 0.1% (i.e. straight-levee systems) consumed 856 mm irrigation and accounted for 60% of the production area. Fields devoid of slope (i.e. zero-grade system) accounted for 5% of the production area and consumed 382 mm irrigation. In AR, contour-levee rice production consumed 789 mm compared to 653 mm with a straight-levee system. Using low pressure, thin wall (9–10 mil) disposable irrigation tubing to deliver water to each paddy independently reduced irrigation inputs by 28% in MS and 11% in AR when compared to a single-point (levee-gate) distribution system.     

Assessing the efficacy and impact of management of an invasive species in a protected area: Poa annua on sub‐Antarctic Macquarie Island

Plant eradication is difficult, particularly in remote, protected areas. The Southern Ocean Islands are very isolated and highly protected, but the flora contains many alien plants. Small restricted populations have been eradicated, but eradication of established species has proven difficult. A better understanding of the efficacy of control methods at sub‐Antarctic temperatures and their off‐target impacts may increase eradication success. With interest in controlling non‐native Poa annua in the region, we aimed to determine if physical and chemical methods can control P. annua (the sub‐Antarctic biotype) in sub‐Antarctic conditions and examined their impact on native plants. We quantified the effectiveness of physical control methods on P. annua in situ on sub‐Antarctic Macquarie Island through field‐based experiments and assessed their selectivity on P. annua compared with native grasses. We also quantified the effectiveness of several herbicides on P. annua at sub‐Antarctic temperatures and assessed their selectivity on native grasses. Of the four physical disturbance methods tested, none effectively reduced P. annua cover as one‐off treatments. Of the herbicide treatments, glyphosate and trifloxysulfuron sodium were effective and were less damaging to native grass species, indicating potential selectivity. Physical control was of limited effectiveness, but did not affect native species richness. An integrated weed management programme utilising the strategic use of selective herbicides with follow‐up chemical and physical intervention may balance control and biodiversity outcomes. This research highlights the importance of site‐specific testing of control methods and understanding off‐target impacts of control when managing alien plant species in protected areas.     

Influence of light intensity on biofilm formation and the performance of pink shrimp Farfantepenaeus paulensis juveniles reared in cages

A reduction in light intensity may increase shrimp activity, although it may also negatively affect the development of photoautotrophic organisms present in biofilm, an important natural food source for shrimp. This experiment evaluated the influence of light intensity on biofilm development and on the growth of cultured Farfantepenaeus paulensis juveniles. Six cages were deployed in a shrimp culture pond and stocked with 60 juveniles (0.72 ± 0.03 g). Three cages were randomly chosen and covered with five layers of polyamide net to reduce light incidence (shaded treatment), while the other three cages were not covered (control treatment). Biofilm chlorophyll a and microorganism abundance, as well as shrimp growth, were monitored during the experiment. Chlorophyll a concentration and the abundance of bacteria and flagellates were significantly lower in the shaded treatment (P<0.05). After 75 rearing days, shrimp stocked in control treatment achieved significantly higher (5.98 g) (P<0.05) mean weight than shrimp reared in shaded treatment cages (5.13 g). Similarly, the biomass produced was also significantly higher (P<0.05) in the control treatment (322.92 g) than in the shaded treatment (287.31 g). The results of this study demonstrate that light intensity has a huge influence on shrimp performance mainly due to the increase in natural food availability.     

Spawning,egg attachment and egg retention in captive lobsters (Homarus americanus)

The numbers of eggs spawned, attached, and carried through to hatching were examined in three groups of captive lobsters (Homarus americanus). Wild born/lab spawned H. americanus, lab born/lab spawned H. americanus, and hybrids of H. americanus ♂ × H. gammarus ♀ spawned 8800–11500 eggs per female (weight range 336–945 g). Hybrid females attached 77% of all spawned eggs. Purebred females attached either most eggs of a spawn or fewer than 10%. In some instances where attachment was poor, females were known to be virgins or had been mated to a sterile hybrid male. Unfertilized eggs could attach, but the percentage which did was low. Some wild born/lab spawned H. americanus carried portions of their clutches through until hatching; however, many purebreds and all hybrids dropped their clutches before hatching. Possible factors which cause eggs to drop prematurely are discussed.     

Crop rotation and nitrogen fertilization effect on soil CO2 emissions in central Iowa

Depending upon how soil is managed, it can serve as a source or sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂). As the atmospheric CO₂ concentration continues to increase, more attention is being focused on the soil as a possible sink for atmospheric CO₂. This study was conducted to examine the short-term effects of crop rotation and N fertilization on soil CO₂ emissions in Central Iowa. Soil CO₂ emissions were measured during the growing seasons of 2003 and 2004 from plots fertilized with three N rates (0, 135, and 270 kg N ha⁻¹) in continuous corn and a corn–soybean rotation in a split-plot design. Soil samples were collected in the spring of 2004 from the 0–15 cm soil depth to determine soil organic C content. Crop residue input was estimated using a harvest index based on the measured crop yield. The results show that increasing N fertilization generally decreased soil CO₂ emissions and the continuous corn cropping system had higher soil CO₂ emissions than the corn–soybean rotation. Soil CO₂ emission rate at the peak time during the growing season and cumulative CO₂ under continuous corn increased by 24 and 18%, respectively compared to that from corn–soybean rotation. During this period, the soil fertilized with 270 kg N ha⁻¹ emitted, on average, 23% less CO₂ than the soil fertilized with the other two N rates. The greatest difference in CO₂ emission rate was observed in 2004; where plots that received 0 N rate had 31% greater CO₂ emission rate than plots fertilized with 270 kg N ha⁻¹. The findings of this research indicate that changes in cropping systems can have immediate impact on both rate and cumulative soil CO₂ emissions, where continuous corn caused greater soil CO₂ emissions than corn soybean rotation.     

The homogenizing influence of agriculture on forest bird communities at landscape scales

Landscape Ecology - Agricultural expansion is a principal driver of biodiversity loss, but the impacts on community assembly in agro-ecosystems are less clear, especially across regional scales at...     

A new framework of spatial targeting for single-species conservation planning

Context

Organisations acting to conserve and protect species across large spatial scales prioritise to optimise use of resources. Spatial conservation prioritization tools typically focus on identifying areas containing species groups of interest, with few tools used to identify the best areas for single-species conservation, in particular, to conserve currently widespread but declining species.

Objective

A single-species prioritization framework, based on temporal and spatial patterns of occupancy and abundance, was developed to spatially prioritize conservation action for widespread species by identifying smaller areas to work within to achieve predefined conservation objectives.

Methods

We demonstrate our approach for 29 widespread bird species in the UK, using breeding bird atlas data from two periods to define distribution, relative abundance and change in relative abundance. We selected occupied 10-km squares with abundance trends that matched species conservation objectives relating to maintaining or increasing population size or range, and then identified spatial clusters of squares for each objective using a Getis-Ord-Gi* or near neighbour analysis.

Results

For each species, the framework identified clusters of 20-km squares that enabled us to identify small areas in which species recovery action could be prioritized.

Conclusions

Our approach identified a proportion of species’ ranges to prioritize for species recovery. This approach is a relatively quick process that can be used to inform single-species conservation for any taxa if sufficiently fine-scale occupancy and abundance information is available for two or more time periods. This is a relatively simple first step for planning single-species focussed conservation to help optimise resource use.