Quick-cooking beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): I. Investigations on quality

Soaking three beans cultivars (Phaseolus vulgaris L.: Great Northern, kidney, and pinto) in mixed salt solution (sodium chloride 2.5% + sodium bicarbonate 1.5% + sodium tripolyphosphate 1.0% + sodium carbonate 0.5%) resulted in 80%–85% reduction in cooking time over corresponding controls. Irradiation (-rays) at 500 krads of soaked and dehydrated beans caused a reduction of nearly 50% in cooking time. Water uptake and leaching losses for each treatment during soaking at 22°, 37°, and 45°C were investigated. High temperature (37° and 45°C) and pH (9.0) caused greater water imbibition and total solid loss than at room temperature (22°C). Organoleptic evaluation revealed that quick-cooking Great Northern beans appear to be more acceptable than kidney and pinto beans. Quick-cooking cooked beans had better in vitro protein digestibility than conventionally cooked beans. Phenolic content was found to be inversely related to in vitro digestibility.Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Journal article no. 2481.     

Pronuclear Embryo Yield in Canindé and Saanen Goats for DNA Microinjection

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of donor breed on pronuclear‐stage embryo yield to be used for DNA microinjection in a transgenesis goat program. Twelve Canindé and twelve Saanen goats were heat synchronized using a progestagen‐cloprostenol treatment. Forty‐eight hours before the sponge removal, superovulation was induced with a total administration of 4.4 mg/kg bodyweight NIH‐FSH‐P1, given twice daily in decreasing doses over 3 days. In addition, goats received 100 μg of GnRH and they were hand‐mated at 36 and 48 h after progestagen removal. Embryo recovery was performed by oviduct flushing at 72 h after sponge removal. Embryos were microinjected with a DNA construct and noticeable swelling of the nuclei was the criterion for successful microinjection. The total diameter, cytoplasm diameter, zona pellucida thickness and pronuclei diameter were measured for each microinjected embryo. A higher (p < 0.05) percentage of fertilized ova was observed in Canindé (89.9%) than Saanen (36.2%) goats. In addition, Canindé donors produced a higher percentage of pronuclear embryos when compared with Saanen: 72.5% vs 20.6% (p < 0.05), respectively. Successful microinjection was verified in 96.7% and 73.3% of times in Canindé and Saanen embryos, respectively (p < 0.05). Significant differences were observed for all morphometric parameters except for cytoplasm diameter. In conclusion, under our study experimental conditions, Canindé were more efficient than Saanen goats concerning the pronuclear embryo yield and manipulation. The use of Canindé goats in transgenesis programs could be increase the interest in their breeding and could be contribute to saving them from extinction.     

Seed dormancy and germination in the summer annual Galeopsis speciosa

This study examined germination and dormancy in Galeopsis speciosa (Lamiaceae), a common summer annual weed in cold‐temperate areas. Seeds collected in southern Sweden were subjected to several experiments. The seeds were dormant at maturity. Seeds sown outdoors after collection produced a small number of seedlings that emerged early in the spring. After long cold stratification or stratification outdoors over two winters, the maximum germination was 40–50%; germination occurring over a wide range of temperatures. Warm stratification preceding cold stratification had no effect on germination, but repeated warm and cold periods seemed to promote germination. Gibberellic acid (GA) stimulated germination, but full germination was only achieved after more than 2 months of incubation at the most suitable temperature regime tested. Excised embryos grew and developed into normal seedlings. With these results, the species does not fit into the currently used system for seed dormancy classifications. The response to GA and the growth of excised embryos indicate non‐deep or intermediate physiological dormancy, but dormancy alleviation by stratification was not in line with the guiding principles for these classifications. Galeopsis speciosa has a strong dormancy that is sufficiently alleviated during the winter to allow germination of only part of a seed batch each year; hence a stepwise germination pattern occurs over a period of several years.     

Unilateral scrotal pyocele in ram caused by Staphylococcus capitis

A massive unilateral scrotal pyocele caused by Staphylococcus capitis in a 6‐year‐old ram is reported. Ultrasound examination of the right hemiscrotum showed an irregular hyperechoic mass in an anechoic fluid. A dense exudate was collected from the scrotum for microbiological analysis. Grossly, there was an extensive greenish purulent exudate and a completely atrophied right testis. Coagulase‐negative S. capitis was isolated in pure culture. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of genital infection by S. capitis in rams. This microorganism should be included in the differential diagnosis of ovine genital infections.     

Interaction between Eimeria uzura infection and aflatoxicosis in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

The clinical signs and gross lesions caused by Eimeria uzura (10(5) oocysts) in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) exhibited little or no influence in the face of intercurrent dietary aflatoxicosis (1 p.p.m. of aflatoxin B1 from Day 0 to 55). Similarly, no significant differences in the mucosal morphology of the intestine were evident histologically between the two groups of Japanese quail. The nervous signs of ataxia, leg weakness, incoordination of movement, torticollis and terminal opisthotonos were toxin-induced manifestations. In the aflatoxic quail, hypoplastic changes and selective depletion of lymphocytes were more prominent in the bursa of fabricius. Increased relative mean weights of liver, kidney, spleen, crop, proventriculus and gizzard were observed in birds due to aflatoxin sensitivity. The combination of E. uzura infection and aflatoxicosis in Japanese quail may cause significant weight loss, and increased oocyst production and reproductive potential.     

Effects of temperature pre-treatments on the forcing of strawberry plants (cv. Glasa)

The results of an experiment, designed to study the effects of certain temperature treatments during the autumn season on the subsequent development of strawberries (cv. Glasa) during forcing, have been presented in this paper. This study was under-taken in the interest of both breeding new varieties suitable for forcing and improving the present forcing methods.Practical experience has shown that the chance of success is small when forcing is started before the 15th of January.In a recent publication it has been suggested to provide plants with strong artificial light for assimilation, which would make it possible to start forcing at an earlier date.In the present experiment, however, in which forcing was started as early as the 5th of January, good results were obtained under ordinary light conditions by previously exposing the plants to 12°C for three weeks in November. The pre-treated plants showed earlier flowring and fruiting, better fruit set and a higher yield than the control plants.These observations indicate that in order to obtain satisfactory results the inflorescences must have attained a certain stage of development at the beginning of forcing, and that this stage was reached at an earlier date by the accelerating effect of the temperature treatment.     

An adaptive analysis of covariance using tree-structured regression

In this article, we propose an adaptive procedure for testing for the effect of a factor of interest in the presence of one or more confounding variables in observational studies. It is especially relevant for applications where the factor of interest has a suspected causal relationship with a response. This procedure is not tied to linear modeling or normal distribution theory, and it offers a valuable alternative to traditional methods. It is suitable for applications where a factor of interest is categorical and the response is continuous. Confounding variables may be continuous or categorical. The method is comprised of two basic steps that are performed in sequence. First, confounding variables alone (i.e., without the factor of interest) are used to group observations into subsets. These subsets have the property that, when restricted to a subset, there is little or no remaining variation in the response that is attributable to the confounding variables. We then test for the factor of interest within each subset of observations. We propose to implement the first step using a technique that is generally referred to as tree-structured regression. We use a non parametric permutation procedure to carry out the second step. The proposed method is illustrated through an analysis of a U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service data set and an air pollution data set.     

Abnormal p-wave delays in the geysers--clear lake geothermal area, california

Large teleseismic delays, exceeding 1 second, are found near Mount Hannah in the Clear Lake volcanic field and in the steam-production area at The Geysers. The delays are superimposed on a general delay field of about 0.5 second extending over the volcanic rocks and the steam reservoir. It is postulated that a magma chamber under the surface volcanic rocks with a core of severely molten rock beneath Mount Hannah and a highly fractured steam reservoir probably underlain by partially molten rock at The Geysers are responsible for the observed delays. Both zones extend to depths of 20 kilometers or more.