Pharmacokinetic profiles of meloxicam after single IV and PO administration in Bilgorajska geese

The purpose of this study was two-fold: I) to determine the pharmacokinetic profile of meloxicam (MLX) in geese after intravenous (IV) and oral (PO) administration and II) to assess tissue residues in muscle, heart, liver, lung, and kidney. Ten clinically normal female Bilgorajska geese were divided into two groups (treated, n = 8; control, n = 2). Group 1 underwent a 3-phase parallel study with a 1-week washout period. In phase I, animals received MLX (0.5 mg/kg) by IV administration; the blood was collected up to 48 hr. In phases II and III geese were treated orally at the same dosage for the collection of blood and tissue samples, respectively. Group 2 served as control. After the extraction procedure, a validated HPLC method with UV detection was used for plasma and organ analysis. The plasma concentrations were quantifiable up to 24 hr after both the administrations. The elimination phase of MLX from plasma was similar in both the administration groups. The clearance was slow (0.00975 L/hr*Kg), the volume of distribution small (0.0487 L/kg), and the IV half-life was 5.06 ± 2.32 hr. The average absolute PO bioavailability was 64.2 ± 24.0%. Residues of MLX were lower than the LOQ (0.1 µg/kg) in any tested tissue and at any collection time. The dosage used in this study achieved the plasma concentration, which provides analgesia in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots for 5 out of 24 hr after PO administration. MLX tissue concentrations were below the LOD of the assay in tissue (0.03 µg/ml). A more sensitive technique might be necessary to determine likely residue concentrations in tissue.     

Does drone remote sensing accurately estimate soil pH in a spring wheat field in southwest Montana?

Precision Agriculture - Soil acidification is a growing problem in semi-arid agroecosystems. In the state of Montana, USA, soil pH levels below 5.5 have been documented in nearly half of the...     

Closing the compliance gap in marine protected areas with human behavioural sciences

Advocates, practitioners and policy-makers continue to use and advocate for marine protected areas (MPAs) to meet global ocean protection targets. Yet many of the worlds MPAs, and especially no-take MPAs, are plagued by poaching and ineffective governance. Using a global dataset on coral reefs as an example, we quantify the potential ecological gains of governing MPAs to increase compliance, which we call the ‘compliance gap’. Using ecological simulations based on model posteriors of joint Bayesian hierarchical models, we demonstrate how increased compliance in no-take MPAs could nearly double target fish biomass (91% increases in median fish biomass), and result in a 292% higher likelihood of encountering top predators. Achieving these gains and closing the compliance gap necessitates a substantial shift in approach and practice to go beyond optimizing enforcement, and towards governing for compliance. This will require engaging and integrating a broad suite of actors, principles, and practices across three key domains: (i)) harnessing social influence, (ii) integrating equity principles, and (iii) aligning incentives through market-based instruments. Empowering and shaping communication between actor groups (e.g., between fishers, practitioners, and policy-makers) using theoretically underpinned approaches from the behavioural sciences is one of the most essential, but often underserved aspects of governing MPAs. We therefore close by highlighting how this cross-cutting tool could be further integrated in governance to bolster high levels of compliance in MPAs.     

Identification of Volatiles of the Dinoflagellate Prorocentrum cordatum

The dinoflagellate Prorocentrum cordatum, often called P. minimum, is a potentially toxic alga found in algal blooms. Volatile compounds released by the alga might carry important information, e.g., on its physiological state, and may act as chemical messengers. We report here the identification of volatile organic compounds emitted by two strains, xenic P. cordatum CCMP 1529 and axenic P. cordatum CCMP 1329. The volatiles released during culture were identified despite their low production rates, using sensitive methods such as open-system-stripping analysis (OSSA) on Tenax TA desorption tubes, thermodesorption, cryofocusing and GC/MS-analysis. The analyses revealed 16 compounds released from the xenic strain and 52 compounds from the axenic strain. The majority of compounds were apocarotenoids, aromatic compounds and small oxylipins, but new natural products such as 3,7-dimethyl-4-octanolide were also identified and synthesized. The large difference of compound composition between xenic and axenic algae will be discussed.     

Restriction endonuclease analysis of infectious laryngotracheitis viruses: comparison of modified-live vaccine viruses and North Carolina field isolates

Six modified-live (ML) infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) vaccine viruses, three reference strains, and 18 field isolates were compared by restriction endonuclease analysis of their DNA. Viral DNA digestion patterns were established for vaccine viruses using restriction endonucleases PstI, BamHI, KpnI, and HindIII. Using these enzymes, five of six ML vaccine viruses had identical restriction endonuclease cleavage patterns. Vaccine viruses had distinct patterns compared with ILT virus reference strains Illinois-N71851, Cover, and NVSL. Restriction endonuclease cleavage patterns of 18 field isolates of ILT virus, obtained from ILT outbreaks in North Carolina, were indistinguishable from vaccine viruses. These results suggest a possible role of vaccine or vaccine-like viruses in recent ILT outbreaks.