Anthelmhntic effects of injectable and oral paste formulations of ivermectin against 28-day infections of parascaris equorum

Efficacy of ivermectin treatment (0.2 mg/kg) against 28-day experimental infections of Parascaris equorum was determined in 18 pony foals6–17.5 weeks old. There were 6 foals in each group: nontreated control, ivermectin injectable or oral paste. In comparison with larvae found in the nontreated controls, ivermectin injectable or paste was 96.0% and 99.9% efficacious. There was a distinct difference in drug effect against the larger (ca 26mm.) vs the smaller (13–19mm) larvae by the 2 formulations of ivermectin. There were no adverse signs related to treatment of the young foals.     

Effect of the Nixtamalization Process on the Dietary Fiber Content,Starch Digestibility,and Antioxidant Capacity of Blue Maize Tortilla

Nixtamalization is an ancient process developed by the Mesoamerican cultures. Initially, volcanic ashes were used and then calcium hydroxide in commercial production, and more recently nixtamalization with calcium salts (NCS) has been proposed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of NCS on carbohydrate digestibility and antioxidant capacity in the elaboration of blue maize tortillas. NCS in blue tortillas showed a high amount of total dietary fiber (14.27 g/100 g), the main fraction being insoluble dietary fiber. The contents of resistant starch and slowly digestible starch did not change with the nixtamalization process. The predicted glycemic index value was lower in blue tortillas with the NCS process (58) than with the traditional nixtamalization process (71). In general, NCS in blue tortillas presented a higher antioxidant capacity than traditional tortillas (ferric reducing antioxidant power method), indicating that phenolics present in blue maize maintain their activity after cooking. It can be concluded that the nutraceutical features (high dietary fiber content and antioxidant capacity) of blue maize tortillas are enhanced when they are elaborated with the NCS process.     

Tolerance of benzalkonium chloride, formalin, malachite green, and potassium permanganate in goldfish and zebrafish

OBJECTIVE: To determine tolerance of goldfish and zebrafish to benzalkonium chloride, formalin, malachite green, and potassium permanganate. DESIGN: Tolerance study. ANIMALS: Adult goldfish (Carassius auratus) and zebrafish (Danio rerio). PROCEDURES: Groups of fish (n = 10/group) were exposed to each disinfectant at the therapeutic dosage; at 0.25, 0.5, 3, and 5 times the concentration used for the therapeutic dosage; and at the concentration used for the therapeutic dosage but for 3 or 5 times the recommended exposure time. RESULTS: In both species, exposure to malachite green at the therapeutic dosage resulted in toxic effects, including death. Exposure to formalin at the therapeutic dosage resulted in toxic effects in goldfish, but not zebrafish, and exposure to potassium permanganate resulted in toxic effects in zebrafish, but not goldfish. On the basis of the ratio of therapeutic dosage to median lethal dosage, in goldfish, formalin was more toxic than benzalkonium chloride, which was more toxic than malachite green, which was more toxic than potassium permanganate. In zebrafish, potassium permanganate was more toxic than formalin and benzalkonium chloride, which were approximately equally toxic and more toxic than malachite green. Extending treatment time increased the toxicity of potassium permanganate in zebrafish and the toxicity of formalin and malachite green in goldfish, but did not alter the toxicity of the other disinfectants. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicated that there was no consistency between zebrafish and goldfish in their tolerance to disinfectants, and that therapeutic dosages reported in the literature for these disinfectants were not always safe.     

Hepatitis E virus in Cuba: A cross-sectional serological and virological study in pigs and people occupationally exposed to pigs

Surveillance of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in risk groups is an important strategy to monitor its circulation pattern and to timely detect changes thereof. The aims of this cross-sectional study were to estimate the prevalence of HEV infections in pigs and humans from different regions of the country, to identify risk factors for increasing anti-HEV IgG prevalence and to characterize HEV strains. The presence of anti-HEV antibodies was assessed by commercial ELISA in serum samples from the general population, farm and slaughterhouse employees, as well as pigs sampled in the three regions of Cuba from February to September 2016. Overall, individuals with occupational exposure to swine or swine products (70/248, 28.2%) were 4 times more likely to be seropositive compared to the general population (25/285, 8.7%; OR: 4.18; p < .001). Within the risk group, risk factors included age, number of years working in a professional activity with direct exposure to swine, geographic region and distance between residence and closest professional swine setting, while wearing gloves had a protective effect. Prevalence of total anti-HEV antibodies in swine was 88.2% (165/187) and HEV RNA was detected by real-time RT-PCR in 9.2% (16/173) swine stools. All HEV strains sequenced clustered within genotype 3. Some strains clearly belonged to subtype 3a, while another group of strains was related with subtypes 3b and 3 k but partial HEV sequences did not allow unequivocal subtype assignment. These findings suggest that the high HEV exposure in Cuban individuals with swine-related occupations could be due to enzootic HEV in certain regions, direct contact with infectious animals or their products as well as environmental contamination.     

玉溪市林分植被覆盖变化及驱动力分析

林分植被覆盖在很大程度上能够反映林分生态系统的健康与否,其时空变化是林分生态系统发展方向的判断依据。对玉溪市2010—2019年林分植被覆盖的时空格局变化进行了分析,并利用单因素和多元回归分析方法分别建立回归模型探索了林分植被覆盖改善与退化的驱动因素。结果表明:林分植被覆盖整体呈向好趋势,各驱动因素与斜率均不是简单线性关系;道路和居民区与林分植被覆盖改善速度呈负相关、与退化速度呈正相关;DEM、坡度、大型水体、公益林管护与林分植被覆盖改善速度呈正相关、与退化速度呈负相关;坡向与林分植被覆盖改善速度呈正相关,地形起伏度与林分植被覆盖退化速度呈负相关。林分植被覆盖改善与退化的驱动力不尽相同,影响机制也存在差异,这为更好制定生态保护相关政策提供了有力的科学依据。     

结合Landsat 8与PALSAR-2影像的龙南县针叶林蓄积量遥感估测研究

林分蓄积量估测是林业遥感的重要研究领域,由于云雾天气和光谱饱和现象等因素限制了光学遥感影像估测林分蓄积量的精度。合成孔径雷达(SAR)具有穿透性强、受云雾影响小等特点,弥补了光学遥感的不足。以江西省龙南县的针叶林为研究对象,结合Landsat 8与PALSAR-2双极化SAR影像数据,在遥感数据预处理基础上,提取了光谱信息、植被指数、纹理信息和后向散射系数等共245个遥感因子。基于Pearson相关系数法和多元逐步回归法,筛选出65个遥感因子参与林分蓄积量估测。以林分郁闭度作为分层因子,分别采用线性、KNN、支持向量机(SVM)、多重感知机(MLP)和随机森林(RF)5种模型估测林分蓄积量,并对估测结果进行精度检验。实验结果表明:1)相比单独使用Landsat 8的光谱和纹理信息,基于郁闭度分级并融合PALSAR-2的后向散射信息明显提高了蓄积量的反演精度;2)对于低郁闭度林分,线性模型精度最高(rRMSE=21.16%),中郁闭度林分,多重感知机模型估测效果最好(rRMSE=30.61%),高郁闭度林分,多重感知机模型估测效果最好(rRMSE=27.53%)。在结合PALSAR-2的后向散射系数的基础上,郁闭度分层能有效改善中高蓄积量区域的反演精度。     

我国木材标准体系构建刍议

笔者在调查分析目前我国木材标准体系制、修订及研究工作现状的基础上,从标准化的对象着手,提出了由基础标准、技术标准和管理标准三大属性构建的木材标准体系新框架,同时给出基于标准化对象的木材标准体系实施建议。