Effects of the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide on soil mineral N, pasture yield, nutrient uptake and pasture quality in a grazed pasture system

Recent lysimeter studies have demonstrated that the nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD), can reduce nitrate (NO) leaching losses from cow urine patches in grazed pasture systems. The objective of this study was to quantify the effects of fine particle suspension (FPS) DCD on soil mineral N components, pasture yield, nutrient uptake and pasture quality under grazed pasture conditions. A field study was conducted on the Lincoln University dairy farm, Canterbury, New Zealand, from 2002 to 2006. FPS DCD was applied to grazed pasture plots at 10 kg ha^?1 in early May in addition to applied cow urine patches at a nitrogen (N) loading rate of 1000 kg N ha^?1, with DCD reapplied in early August. Soil mineral N levels in the urine patches were monitored. Pasture yield, N and cation concentrations and uptake were measured in treatment urine patches and inter‐urine areas of the pasture. Comparisons were made with control plots which did not receive DCD. NO levels under the DCD‐treated urine patches (0–7.5 cm) were in the order of 10 kg N ha^?1 compared with 40–80 kg N ha^?1 under untreated patches, and soil ammonium (NH) levels were consistently higher under the DCD‐treated patches. The DCD significantly and consistently increased pasture yield in both the urine patches, and inter‐urine areas of the pasture in all 4 years of the trial. Mean annual dry matter (DM) yields over 4 years were inter‐urine areas, 10.3; inter‐urine + DCD, 12.4; urine, 12.4 and urine +DCD 16.0 t DM ha^?1, representing an average DM yield increase of 20 and 29% in inter‐urine and urine patch areas, respectively. On a whole paddock basis, the increase in annual DM yield resulting from DCD application was estimated to be 21%. N, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K) concentrations in pasture were unaffected by treatment with DCD; however, total annual uptake of these nutrients by pasture was significantly higher in all years where DCD had been applied. Pasture DM, protein, carbohydrate, metabolizable energy and fibre levels and sward clover content were not affected by treatment with DCD. The results demonstrate the agronomic value of the DCD treatment in addition to the environmental benefits in a grazed pasture system.     

Waxy durum acts as a unique form of crumb softener in bread

Flour milled from waxy durum grain was incorporated into bread formulations and its effects on crumb softness and loaf volume compared to those of added fats and emulsifiers. Waxy durum had a small effect on increasing loaf volume, and little of this effect could be explained by dough height or oven spring; effects of most other additives were closely related to dough height or oven spring. For all additives, the relationship between crumb softness and loaf volume fitted a power law relationship. Waxy durum and some of the additives had a greater softening effect than predicted from their effect on volume while others produced a much firmer crumb. With only one exception, when combined with other additives waxy durum reduced compression of the crumb more than predicted on the basis of the effects on loaf volume of the additives alone. In common with some of the added lipids, during compression analysis, crumb prepared with waxy durum flour had similar levels of structural damage as crumb baked from the standard formulation; other lipids and emulsifiers produced more fragile crumb. Waxy durum flour appears to have unique effects on crumb softness.     

Risk factors for Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica contamination in French broiler-chicken flocks at the end of the rearing period

Broiler-chicken are often Salmonella carriers. However, these bacteria are responsible for major food-borne human infection, in which poultry-meat products are frequently implicated. In order to prevent Salmonella spread during the slaughtering process, control measures should be implemented at the farm level to reduce the prevalence before slaughtering. The objective of this study was to identify the risk factors for Salmonella contamination in French commercial broiler flocks at the end of the rearing period. A prospective study was carried out in 1996 and 1997 on 86 broiler flocks located in western France. The Salmonella status of the flocks was assessed by means of litter swabs and dust samples analyzed with classical bacteriological methods. Sixty flocks (70%) had at least one contaminated environmental sample and were classified as Salmonella-contaminated flocks. Logistic regression was used to assess association of managerial practices, general hygiene and results of environmental Salmonella recovery, with the odds that the flock itself would be Salmonella-contaminated at the end of the rearing period. Salmonella contamination of the house before placing day-old chicks and the Salmonella contamination of day-old chicks were significantly related to Salmonella contamination of the flock at the end of the rearing period. The risk for Salmonella contamination of the flock was increased when feed trucks parked near the entrance of the change room and when feed meal, instead of small pellets, was provided at the start.     

In vitro effects and in vivo efficacy of a novel cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor in dogs with experimentally induced synovitis

OBJECTIVE: To determine cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) selectivity, pharmacokinetic properties, and in vivo efficacy of ML-1,785,713 in dogs. ANIMALS: 21 healthy male and female mixed-breed dogs and 24 healthy male Beagles. PROCEDURE: Selectivity of ML-1,785,713 for inhibiting COX-2 was determined by comparing the potency for inhibiting cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) with that of COX-2 in canine blood. Pharmacokinetic properties were determined after i.v. (2 mg/kg) and oral (8 mg/kg) administration in female mixed-breed dogs. In vivo efficacy was evaluated in male mixed-breed dogs with urate crystal-induced synovitis. Prophylactic efficacy was evaluated by administering ML-1,785,713 two hours before induction of synovitis whereas therapeutic efficacy was determined by administering ML-1,785,713 one hour after induction of synovitis. RESULTS: Blood concentrations that resulted in 50% inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 activity in vitro were 119.1 microM and 0.31 microM, respectively, and selectivity ratio for inhibiting COX-2 relative to COX-1 was 384. ML-1,785,713 had high oral bioavailability (101%), low systemic clearance (77 mL/min/kg), and an elimination half-life of 5.9 hours. ML-1,785,713 was efficacious when administered prophylactically and therapeutically to dogs with urate crystal-induced synovitis. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: ML-1,785,713 is a novel, potent COX-2 inhibitor that is the most selective COX-2 inhibitor described for use in dogs to date. ML-1,785,713 has oral bioavailability and low systemic clearance that is comparable to other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It is effective after prophylactic and therapeutic administration in attenuating lameness in dogs with urate crystal-induced synovitis. Drugs that specifically inhibit COX-2 and not COX-1 at therapeutic doses may have an improved tolerability profile, compared with nonselective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.     

Diagnosis of brucellosis by agglutinins in milk

Extract

First let me express my appreciation of being the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for research in New Zealand and also for the privilege of discussing brucellosis before the New Zealand Veterinary Association.     

Comparison of oil adjuvant and aluminium phosphate-adsorbed toxoid for the passive immunization of lambs against tetanus

Immunization of ewes with oil emulsion toxoid followed by an aluminium phosphate-adsorbed toxoid both containing 10 Lf per dose, resulted in a very high antitoxin level in their lambs. Two injections of aluminium phosphate-adsorbed toxoid also imparted a passive immunity to lambs which is considered to be adequate to protect them against tetanus for 4 weeks after birth.     

Production of eosinophil chemoattractant activity by ovine gastrointestinal nematodes

Eosinophilia is a well documented feature of helminth infections but the precise nature of the interaction between parasite and eosinophil remains an enigma. This paper describes experiments demonstrating that ruminant gastrointestinal trichostrongyles produce potent chemoattractant activity for ovine bone marrow-derived eosinophils in vitro. This activity was initially identified as a constituent of whole worm extracts of third and fourth larval (L3, L4), and adult stages of Teladorsagia circumcincta, and adult Haemonchus contortus. Similar activity was detected in excretory/secretory (E/S) material derived from live T. circumcincta L3. Subsequently, by adapting the assay technique to incorporate live worms directly into the system, it was shown that L3 of both T. circumcincta and H. contortus produced eosinophil chemoattractant activity. In contrast, neither whole worm extracts, or E/S preparations from mixed stages of the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans contained eosinophil chemoattractant activity, and there was no evidence of chemoattractant production by live C. elegans. The results described are challenging to the traditional dogma that eosinophils are host-protective effector cells, and raise the intriguing possibility that ovine nematodes actively encourage recruitment of eosinophils. Local eosinophil-mediated mucosal damage, comparable to that seen in the asthmatic lung, may then provide a permissive local microenvironment for the parasite. Moreover, if they prove important for pathogenicity, nematode chemoattractants could offer future potential as novel therapeutic targets.