Bronchoalveolar lavage in horses: effect of exercise and repeated sampling on cytology

SUMMARY Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was performed at weekly intervals in 10 Thoroughbred horses in race training (group 1) and in 4 rested horses (group 2) for 10 weeks. Lavages were continued on a weekly basis in 4 group 1 horses for an additional 9 weeks (group 3). Cytological analysis of samples included leukocyte counts, erythrocyte counts, differential leukocyte counts, and haemosiderophage score. The mean leukocyte concentration was significantly lower in group 1(92.1 ± 4.6 cells/μL) when compared with group 2 (133.5 ± 8.2 cells/μL), P = 0.037. The differential leukocyte data were not significantly different between groups. There was a large amount of variability in the percent-age of macrophages and lymphocytes in the differential counts over time with no obvious trends. The proportion of neutrophils demonstrated a tendency to decrease over time for both groups 1 and 2. Erythrocyte counts and haemosiderin scores were significantly higher in the exercising group than the rested horses. Neither exercise nor the technique itself evoked an inflammatory response in the BAL fluid.     

Using an individual-based model to examine the roles of habitat fragmentation and behavior on predator–prey relationships in seagrass landscapes

Seagrasses, which form critical subtidal habitats for marine organisms worldwide, are fragmented via natural processes but are increasingly being fragmented and degraded by boating, fishing, and coastal development. We constructed an individual-based model to test how habitat fragmentation and loss influenced predator–prey interactions and cohort size for a group of settling juvenile blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus Rathbun) in seagrass landscapes. Using results from field studies suggesting that strong top-down processes influence the relationship between cannibalistic blue crab populations and seagrass landscape structure, we constructed a model in which prey (juvenile blue crabs) are eaten by mesopredators (larger blue crabs) which in turn are eaten by top-level predators (e.g., large fishes). In our model, we varied the following parameters within four increasingly fragmented seagrass landscapes to test for their relative effects on cohort size: juvenile blue crab (prey) predator avoidance response, hunting ability of mesopredators and predators, the presence of a top-level predator, and prey settlement routines. Generally, prey cohort size was maximized in the presence of top-level predators and when mesopredators and predators exhibited random searching behavior vs. directed hunting. Cohort size for stationary (tethered) prey was maximized in fragmented landscapes, which corresponds to results from field experiments, whereas mobile prey able to detect and avoid predators had higher survival in continuous landscapes. Prey settlement patterns had relatively small influences on cohort size. We conclude that the effects of seagrass fragmentation and loss on organisms such as blue crabs will depend heavily on behaviors of prey and predatory organisms and how these behaviors change with landscape structure.

     

评估调质时间和温度对猪颗粒饲料淀粉糊化度和维生素沉积的影响

本论文研究了饲料加工的两个关键参数(调质温度和时间)对育肥猪颗粒饲料淀粉糊化度和维生素沉积的影响。日粮配方为含30%干酒糟及其可溶物的玉米-豆粕型基础日粮。整个试验中配方保持不变。本试验采用2×3双因子设计,调质温度分别为77℃和88℃,调质时间分别15秒、30秒和60秒。此外,本试验还设置一个对照组,对照组饲料不采用调质制粒工艺,而是采用粉料饲喂。因此,本试验共有7个处理组。采集调质后制粒前(热干粉)、制粒后冷却前(热制粒)、以及制粒冷却后(冷制粒)的样品,并分析这三种样品的总淀粉率、淀粉糊化     

Changes in the fish species composition of all Austrian lakes >50 ha during the last 150 years

Abstract  The fish communities of all Austrian natural lakes ( n  = 43) larger than 50 ha in surface area were assessed and the historical fish communities in c . 1850 were reconstructed. During the last 150 years, the fish communities of Austrian lakes have altered: in 49% of lakes at least one indigenous fish species, usually sensitive or small-bodied taxa, is now missing. Conversely, in all but one of the 43 lakes the number of fish species has increased. In particular, certain fish species of interest to angling and commercial fisheries now occur in more lakes. Generalised linear models were used to identify variables that would explain the loss of fish species using categories of lake use (ranking score). The category human population density around the lakes seemed to be one of the main causes for the loss of fish species.     

Turloughs - Ireland’s unique wetland habitat

Turloughs are karst wetland ecosystems that are virtually unique to Ireland. Flooding annually in autumn through springs and fissures in the underlying limestone and draining in the springtime, often through the same fissures or swallow-holes, they have been described as ‘temporal ecotones’. Over 300 have been documented. They are priority habitats in the EU Habitats Directive and support a variety of wet grassland and fen type vegetation. Though the vegetation has been recorded and mapped for over 80 turloughs, records for invertebrates are more sporadic. Characteristic species include some aquatic species-often benefiting from the absence of fish-, and many wetland terrestrial species, including carabid beetles that are rare on a European scale. Due to their shallow nature and the full vegetation cover of the basin, turloughs can host internationally significant numbers of visiting winter wildfowl, particularly whooper swans. The variety of plant and invertebrate communities between turloughs is primarily due to different hydrogeomorphological characteristics, but also depends on the range of grazing practices on turloughs. Since these often vary within a turlough basin, this helps maintain within-turlough biodiversity. The main threat to turloughs in the past was drainage, but pollution by nutrients is also now potentially detrimental. However, a more recent and important threat may be the cessation of farming within turloughs. As potentially threatened wetlands of European importance, turloughs require a full inventory of their biodiversity and the factors affecting it. The collation here of all literature concerning turloughs will provide a basis for an integrated approach to future research on turloughs that is essential for a full understanding of these complex ecosystems.     

工业型城乡交错区土壤重金属含量及其空间分异的特征-以无锡典型城乡交错区为例

Phosphorus （P） is necessary for growth and nitrogen fixation, and thus its deficiency is a major factor limiting legume production in most agricultural soils. The effect of phosphorus supply on nodule development and its role in soybeans （Glycine max L.） was studied in a nutrient solution. Plants were inoculated with Bradyrhizobium japonicum and grown for 35 days in a glasshouse at a day and night temperature of 25℃ and 15℃, respectively. Although increasing P supply increased the concentrations of P and N in the shoots and roots, the external P supply did not significantly affect the P concentration in the nodules, and the N fixed per unit nodule biomass decreased with increasing P supply. The nitrogen content in the shoots correlated well with the P content （r=0.92＊＊）. At an inoculation level of 10^2 cells mL^-1, the P supply did not affect the number of nodules; however, at inoculation levels of 10^3.5 and 10^5 cells mL^-1, increasing P supply increased both the number and size of nodules. Irrespective of the inoculation level, increasing P supply increased the nodule biomass relative to the biomass of the host plant. It is suggested that the P deficiency specifically inhibited the nodule development and thereby the total N2 fixation.     

Self-Assembled Smectic Phases in Rod-Coil Block Copolymers

Rod-coil block copolymers are self-assembling polymers that combine the physics of orientational ordering of rodlike polymers and the microphase separation of coil-coil block copolymers. Several new solid-state morphologies were observed in a series of anionically synthesized model poly(hexyl isocyanate-b-styrene) rod-coil diblock copolymers examined by transmission electron microscopy and selected-area electron diffraction. The rod-coils formed smectic C-like and O-like morphologies with domain sizes ranging from tens of nanometers to almost 1 micrometer. Both structural and orientational changes were found for increasing rod volume fractions. In addition, some morphologies exhibited spontaneous long-range orientational order over many tens of micrometers.     

Pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature of magnesium diboride

We studied the pressure and temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity of the superconducting compound magnesium diboride (MgB(2)). The superconducting transition temperature decreases monotonically with pressure, being parabolic or linear, depending on samples. The rate of decrease under pressure is higher than in conventional superconductors. We discuss our results in terms of the semimetallic character of the electronic band structure of MgB(2).