DOPPLER SONOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF THE DIGITAL BLOOD FLOW IN HORSES WITH LAMINITIS OR SEPTIC PODODERMATITIS

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of Doppler ultrasonography to monitor vascular blood flow dynamics in defined diseases of the equine digit in a noninvasive way. Doppler sonography was used to evaluate medial digital artery blood flow in eight horses with septic pododermatitis and four horses with laminitis in comparison with 10 horses of a control group. Doppler sonographic measurement and lameness examinations were performed in lame horses before treatment (day 0) and at 3, 6, and 9 days following treatment. Before treatment, blood flow velocities, arterial diameter, and flow volume were significantly higher in the lame horses, while pulsatility indices (PIs) were significantly lower (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, there was no significant difference of resistive indices (RI) in the septic pododermatitis group, but these indices were significantly lower in the laminitis group. No significant difference between the two lame groups was recorded. After treatment, blood flow velocities and flow volume decreased significantly and PIs increased significantly in both lame groups, while RI and arterial diameter did not change. No correlation between Doppler parameters and the degree of lameness was found. Doppler sonography can be used to monitor vascular blood flow dynamics in horses suffering from septic pododermatitis and laminitis, while blood flow velocities and PI can serve as parameters for monitoring the course of the disease.     

ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF COMBINED ORGANIC OR INORGANIC POLLUTION ON SOIL MICROBIAL ACTIVITIES

Combined effects of organic or inorganic pollutants on soil microbial activities were investigated in field plots grown with four types of covering plants. It was derived from this study that combined effects were dependent not only on the type and dose of pollutants, addition of soda lime, plant type and season variation, but also on test parameters. When jointly added, higher doses of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn and As caused significant inhibition. Addition of soda lime could even enhance inhibition. Joint effects of phenanthrene, MET (active ingredient: paclobutrazol) and 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene were not significant, and may be covered by other biotic or abiotic factors. Compared with other two parameters (respiration and microbial biomass), dehydrogenase activity appeared to be more sensitive for evaluating the toxicity of anthropogenic pollutants in soil. Soil samples collected in summer often had higher microbial activities than those in fall. The microbial activity in soil decreased with covering vegetation in the order alfalfa > pine > poplar and maize, albeit some exceptions were observed.     

Physical transport of young pollock larvae (Theragra chalcogramma) near Shelikof Strait as inferred from a hydrodynamic model

An advective model was used to simulate the drift of larval walleye pollock ( Theragra chalcogramma ) over a 40-day period (late April through early June) near Shelikof Strait, Alaska. This model was used: (i) to assess how much of the observed change in larval positions during that period can be explained by transport at fixed depth; (ii) to demonstrate that observed change can be related to mean large-scale meteorological forcing; and (iii) to investigate accumulation of larvae in specific areas near the coast. Based on availability of larval and circulation data, three years were studied: 1988, 1989 and 1991. Velocity fields generated from a hydrodynamic model driven by winds and runoff were used to advect particles seeded in accordance with observed larval distributions in late April of each year. The modelled larvae were tracked at 40 m depth, corresponding to the mean depth of sampled larvae and the depth of neutrally buoyant drifters employed in field studies. Specific features observed in late May larval surveys were reproduced by the model, such as the accumulation of larvae in a shoal area downstream of the strait. Differences among the modelled years include extensive flushing of larvae to the south-west in 1988 and 1991, vs. limited flushing in 1989. These differences appear related to the mean large-scale atmospheric pressure patterns for April-May of those years.     

Simulation of physically mediated variability in prey resources of a larval fish: a three-dimensional NPZ model

A three-dimensional biophysical nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton model was used to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of food resources for young walleye pollock in the western Gulf of Alaska, to further understanding of recruitment processes for pollock. We modeled nitrogen, phytoplankton, a large herbivorous grazer parameterized as Neocalanus spp. (the biomass dominant copepod in the Gulf), and the 13 stages (egg, naupliar and copepodite) of Pseudocalanus spp. (a major constituent of the diet of pollock) so that the appropriate size class of food for each size of larval pollock was represented. Model results identified an area between the Semidi and Shumagin Islands that may not be suitable as a nursery area early in the year due to low prey abundance. Modeled mesoscale eddies, previously hypothesized to be important for larval pollock retention in Shelikof Strait, contained higher prey concentrations than the surrounding waters when they were cyclonic. This work also help to understand the consistency of pollock spawning in time and space in Shelikof Strait, by examining the timing and location of prey availability which, along with transport, narrows the window for optimal spawning.     

Interannual variability of the early life history of walleye pollock near Shelikof Strait as inferred from a spatially explicit, individual-based model

A coupled biophysical model is used to hindcast the early life history of a population of walleye pollock ( Theragra chalcogramma ), to assess possible physical causes of interannual variability in recruitment. The modelling approach combines a primitive equation, rigid'lid hydrodynamic model with a probabilistic, individual-based biological model of growth, development, and mortality. Individuals are tracked through space using daily velocity fields generated from the hydrodynamic model, along with self-directed vertical migrations appropriate to each life stage in the biological model. The hydrodynamic model is driven with wind and runoff time series appropriate to each year. Biological model output compares favourably with observed spatial distributions for specific years. Lloyd's index of patchiness, calculated from model output, was similar to values calculated from field data. Five noncontiguous years were chosen for hindcasts to span a wide range of meteorological conditions (winds, runoff) and recruitment success. Interannual comparisons suggest that two years of above average recruitment (1978 and 1988), and one year of below average recruitment (1991), experienced flow fields which carried many individuals into the Alaskan Stream. At the same time, the vigorous flow fields generated in each of these years carried some individuals onto the shelf area to the south-west of the spawning site. A year with low runoff and weak winds (1989) exhibited weak circulation, with extended retention of larvae near the spawning site. A year with high runoff (1987) was notable for the strength and frequency of mesoscale eddy activity. Eddies appear capable of both enhancing patchiness of early larvae (through retention) and dissipating patchiness of juveniles (through mesoscale mixing). Larvae retained in an eddy feature exhibit a narrower range of sizes than the population outside that feature.     

Influence of application rate and manure amendment on cnloridazon dissipation in the soil

Plots of a sugar beet field in Belgium were treated pre-emergence with 1.3, 1.95 or 2.6 kg a.i. ha^-1 chloridazon. Some of these plots had been amended 1 month before sowing with 50 1 ha^-1 cow manure. Soil samples were taken al regular intervals and analysed by gas-liquid chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry. During the first month following chloridazon application, soil dissipation followed apparent first-order kinetics with soil half-lives being independent of the dose, and were 37 days in the non-manured plots and 96 days in the manured plots. After the first month, rates of chloridazon soil dissipation increased, giving the same residual chloridazon soil concentration of c. 0.25 mg a.i, kg^-1 in all plots 1.8 months after application. Residual levels remained at this concentration up to the third month after application, and then disappeared, leaving no delectable soil residues at harvest. Chloridazon soil dissipation thus occurred according to unusual kinetics.