The effects of transportation stress on Japanese quail (Coturnix Coturnix japonica) fed corn‐based diet in comparison with wheat‐based diet supplemented with xylanase and phytase

Harvesting, handling and transporting quails to the slaughterhouses, other farms and laboratories might covertly reduce their welfare. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of two major sources of energy in poultry nutrition on reducing transportation stress in Japanese quail (Coturnix Coturnix japonica). Male quails (n = 60) were divided into two groups. The first group was fed corn‐based diet, and the second was fed wheat‐based diet supplemented with xylanase and phytase. At the end of the experiment (day 35), quails were subjected to 80 km of transportation. Immediately on arrival and after 24 h, heterophil counts, lymphocyte counts and H:L ratios were measured. On arrival, H counts were lower, L counts were higher, and H:L ratios were lower for corn‐fed group. After 24 h, wheat‐fed group showed lower increment of H counts, greater increment of L counts and also decrement of H:L ratios rather than corn‐fed group which showed increment of H:L ratios. However, these ratios were still lower in corn‐fed group. Results indicate that corn‐based diets can help Japanese quail to better resist transportation stress, although it seems that feeding wheat‐based diets supplemented with xylanase and phytase could have positive effects for coping better with stress after journeys.     

若干家蚕品种的复壮及比较试验

对浙江省夏秋蚕品种薪杭,白云,丰1和54A等进行了充血复壮改良,基本稳定后的复壮系与现行生产系进行了生产性能的比较试验。结果表明复壮系在各项性状都有一定的提高,其中龄期经过,各品种的复壮系与生产系之间差别不大,只有薪杭丙和白云丙稍有延长。全茧量和茧层量基本上复壮系都比生产系有所提高。生命率差异比较大,奠中薪杭的复壮系低下生产系,差异达到显著水平,白云复壮系略微低于白云甲,但高于白云乙,丰1的复壮系与生产系无明显差异,54A则是复壮系高于生产系。良卵数除薪杭丙比薪杭甲略低外,其他品种的复壮系都比生产系显著提高,有的甚至达到极显著水平。说明复壮系在生产性能上有较大的改良,有一定的推广应用价值。     

Effect of Dietary Gamma‐irradiated and Fermented Soybean Meal on the Growth Performance,Body Composition,and Digestive Enzymes Activity of Caspian Brown Trout,Salmo trutta caspius,Juvenile

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of gamma‐irradiated soybean meal (SBM) as a dietary ingredient on the performance, body composition, and digestive enzyme activity of Caspian brown trout, Salmo trutta caspius, juveniles. Five isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets were formulated, in which fish meal was replaced by untreated (untreated SBM), gamma‐ray irradiated at 15 (15ISBM) and 30 (30ISBM) kGy, fermented (FSBM), fermented 15 KGy irradiated soybean meal (FISBM), respectively. Juvenile fish (2.1 ± 0.3 g) were fed with the test diets for 6 wk. Final body weight was significantly affected by dietary SBM treatment with highest values in fish fed FISBM and FSBM (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in hepatosomatic and visceral indexes, condition factor, and survival among experimental groups (P > 0.05). The carcass proximate composition of lipid and protein in Caspian brown trout in FSBM and FISBM groups was higher than that of other groups. Levels of most whole‐body amino acids were not significantly different among Caspian brown trout fed the five diets. Results of this experiment showed that replacing SBM with FSBM and FISBM in the diet significantly increased the activities of proteolytic enzymes activities (P < 0.05). However, no significant differences were observed in both amylase and lipase activities among dietary treatments. Results of this study indicated that the level of gamma radiation used did not work but fermentation of SBM did increase some growth parameters of Caspian brown trout.     

Microfibril angle non-uniformities within normal and compression wood tracheids

The pattern and extent of variation of microfibril angle (MFA) in normal and compression tracheids of softwood were investigated by using confocal laser scanning microscopy technique. All measurements support the idea that the orientation of microfibrils in single wood tracheids is not uniform. MFA of the radial wall of earlywood tracheids was highly non-uniform and had an approximately circular form of arrangement around the bordered pits (inside the border). Between the bordered pits the measured MFAs were less than the other parts of the tracheid. In the latewood tracheids MFA was less variable. The average orientation of simple pits in the crossfield region was consistent with the mean MFA of the tracheids; however some of the measurements showed a highly variable arrangement in the areas between the simple pits. In many cases the local measured MFAs of compression wood tracheids agreed with the orientation of natural helical cavities of compression wood. Comparing the measured results in different growth rings showed that MFAs in juvenile wood are generally larger than in perfect wood.     

Micromechanics of wood subjected to axial tension

Summary The behaviour of a small group of wood fibers of Sitka spruce during tensile loading is investigated. The load-extension curves for both early and late wood fibers consist of three distinct segments. The first segment is almost a straight line, at some stage of loading a yield point is observed. Beyond this point the specimen becomes less stiff and undergoes a large, mainly irreversible deformation. As the load is increased further, the curve exhibits the third segment showed by a significant change in slope. These curves look different from those obtained on thick specimens. In this respect, the behaviour of a thin wood specimen subjected to cyclic type tensile loading along its longitudinal direction is also illustrated. Based on wood microstructure, a model is presented to interpret the evolution of the Young's modulus of a wood fiber during tensile loading. The model considers wood as an assembly of cylindrical fibers pasted together in a longitudinal direction. We have assumed the cell wall to comprise only an S₂ layer made of a composite material consisting of a lignin and hemicellulose matrix reinforced by helical microfibrils along the fiber. Furthermore, it is assumed that the microfibril angle a in the S₂ layer is not uniform along the fiber axis and matrix degradation occurs in the zones where the microfibril angles are bigger. The validity of this assumption is verified by using holographic interferometry to visualize the displacement field of the specimen's surface under tension.The work reported in this paper is supported by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, and its support is gratefully acknowledged     

Study of Aerosol Deposition at a Wind Exposed Forest Edge Using 210Pb and 137Cs Soil Inventories

Water, Air, &; Soil Pollution - The radionuclide 210Pb derived from gaseous 222Rn present in the atmosphere becomes attached to the same aerosols as the bulk of the main pollutants sulphur and...     

Spatial variability of water retention parameters and saturated hydraulic conductivity in a calcareous Inceptisols (Khuzestan province of Iran) under sugarcane cropping

The objective of this study was to quantify inherent spatial variability and spatial cross-correlation of the van Genuchten retention parameters and saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) of surface and subsurface layers in a calcareous Inceptisols (Khuzestan province, Iran) under sugarcane cropping. Measurements were performed on 100-cm³ undisturbed soil cores collected at 94 locations along a 30-m-long transect with horizontal sampling distance intervals of 0.3 and 1 m at soil depths of 0–40 and 40–80 cm, respectively. Spatial variability was investigated using conventional statistics and geostatistical techniques. Coefficient of variation (CV) varied from 8.2% (for shape parameter, n at 40–80 cm depth) to 256.7% (for K_s at 0–40 cm depth). The n parameter and saturated water content, θ_s, showed a small-scale spatial heterogeneity with a maximum CV of 11.3% for the first depth and 9.2% for the second depth. Most of the hydraulic parameters at both depths showed a spatial structure and convex experimental semivariograms with dominant spherical models with the influence range of 3.2–41 m. In most cases, the extent of spatial correlation scales of cross-semivariograms for pairs of cross-correlated hydraulic variables was found to be different with reference to those relating to the direct semivariograms of correlated variables.     

Quantifying Fine-Scale Variability in Pollutant Deposition in Complex Terrain using 210Pb Inventories in Soil

The accumulation of 210Pb in organic material within the surface (0 to 20 cm depth) horizons of soil is used to quantify local variability in the atmospheric inputs through wet deposition, cloud droplet deposition and dry deposition of aerosols. The method has been applied to quantify the long-term (~50 yr) average enhancement in deposition as a consequence of orographic effects on a 800 m mountain in southwest Scotland. The 210Pb inventory increases by a factor of 2.5 up the hillslope and is comparable to the modeled increase in wet deposition of major ions, and larger than the increase in rainfall with altitude by a factor of two. A second study site examined the increase in deposition beneath a Norway spruce canopy relative to open grassland at an elevation of 450 m in the Scottish Borders. The inventory of 210Pb under the forest canopy exceeded that in the grassland by approximately 35%, in good agreement with deposition estimates obtained from a continuous record of cloud frequency and meteorological variables.     

Effects of chronic high stocking density on liver proteome of rainbow trout (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oncorhynchus mykiss</Emphasis>)

The main aim of the present study was to assess the effects of chronic high stocking density on liver proteome of rainbow trout. Rainbow trout juveniles (42.6 ± 2.3 g average body weight) were randomly distributed into six tanks at two stocking densities (low stocking density (LD) = 20 kg m^?3 and high stocking density (HD) = 80 kg m^?3). Both treatments were performed in triplicate tanks for a period of 60 days. High stocking density caused a reduction in the growth performance compared with LD fish. Lysozyme activity increased with stocking density, while serum complement activity presented the opposite pattern. Serum cortisol and total protein levels did not show significant differences (P > 0.05) between experimental groups. The fish reared at high stocking density showed significantly lower osmolality and globulin values but higher albumin level. The HD group had significantly higher activities of catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde content in the liver when compared to the LD group. Comparative proteomics was used to determine the proteomic responses in livers of rainbow trout reared at high stocking density for 60 days. Out of nine protein spots showing altered abundance (>1.5-folds, P < 0.05), eight spots were successfully identified. Two proteins including apolipoprotein A-I-2 precursor and mitochondrial stress-70 protein were found to increase in HD group. The spots found to decrease in the HD group were identified as follows: 2-peptidylprolyl isomerase A, two isoforms of glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, an unnamed protein product similar to fructose-bisphosphate aldolase, 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein, and serum albumin 1 protein.