A comparison of the properties of manufactured soils produced from composting municipal green waste alone or with poultry manure or grease trap/septage waste

Manufactured soil for landscaping purposes was produced by composting for 6 weeks (1) municipal green waste alone, (2) green waste amended with 25% v/v poultry manure, or (3) green waste immersed in, and then removed from, a mixture of liquid grease trap waste/septage. Composting temperatures increased most rapidly and reached highest values (78oC) in the grease trap/septage-amended green waste. In comparison with green waste alone, addition of poultry manure prolonged the period of elevated temperatures and increased the maximum temperature attained from 52oC to 61oC. Following composting, each of the materials was split into (1) 100% compost, (2) 80% compost plus 20% v/v soil, and (3) 70% compost plus 20% soil plus 10% coal fly ash. Addition of poultry manure or grease trap/septage to green waste prior to composting increased bulk density and reduced total porosity of the composted product. Addition of soil, or soil and ash, to composts increased bulk density, reduced total porosity, decreased percentage macropores, and increased percentage mesopores and available water-holding capacity. Bicarbonate-extractable P, exchangeable NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻, electrical conductivity (EC), soluble C, soluble C as a percentage of organic C, basal respiration, and metabolic quotient were all markedly greater in the grease trap/septage-amended than poultry manure-amended or green waste alone treatments. Values for extractable P and EC were considered large enough to be damaging to plant growth and germination index (GI) of watercress was less than 60% for all grease trap/septage composts. Extractable P and EC were also high, and GI was <100%, in the green waste alone and poultry manure-amended green waste alone treatments. Addition of soil or soil and ash to these composts resulted in GI values >100%.     

Studies on the mode of action of diflufenican in selected crop and weed species: Basis of selectivity of pre- and early post-emergence applications

Diflufenican, a pre- and early post-emergence herbicide, was found to be highly active against a wide range of weeds at application rates of 50–250 g ha-1. Studies on the mode of selectivity with [14C]diflufenican have demonstrated that selectivity between cereal crops and selected weed species is primarily due to differential uptake and indirectly to translocation; ‘depth protection’ appears to be the major reason for selectivity of soil-applied diflufenican.     

Lymphocyte blastogenic responses of calves experimentally infected with Ostertagia ostertagi

Twelve 9-week-old calves were divided into four groups; two groups were maintained helminth-free as controls and the other groups were given Ostertagia ostertagi infective-stage larvae (L3) orally. One group received 100,000 L3 as a single inoculum and the other group received L3 in increasing dosages at weekly intervals for 8 consecutive weeks. The blastogenic responses to concanavalin A (Con A), phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and a soluble larval antigen from O. ostertagi (SLA) of peripheral blood lymphocytes were evaluated using tritiated thymidine incorporation into DNA as a measure of blastogenesis. The responses to Con A of all infected calves were significantly depressed while the responses to PHA were not. SLA, at concentrations of 4 micrograms ml-1 and above, caused blastogenic activity in lymphocytes from uninfected calves. Using SLA at 1 microgram ml-1 in lymphocyte cultures supplemented with autologous serum, an antigen-induced blastogenic response was detected in calves receiving serial inoculations of L3.     

Immunomodulation with killed Propionibacterium acnes in guinea pigs simultaneously vaccinated with Brucella abortus strain 19

Immunomodulation with killed Propionibacterium acnes was attempted in guinea pigs simultaneously vaccinated with Brucella abortus strain 19. Two groups, each comprised of 9 guinea pigs, were injected by different routes (s.c. and or i.v.) with 1.4 mg of P. acnes and 5 X 10(8) CFU of B. abortus, S-19, while 3 other groups each received either P. acnes, B. abortus S-19, or saline (s.c.). The antibody titers to B. abortus measured at 6, 10 and 14 weeks after vaccination indicated no significant (P less than 0.01) response in the 2 groups immunopotentiated with P. acnes concurrent with B. abortus S-19 vaccination. The delayed hypersensitivity response to 3 Brucella antigens conducted 8 weeks after immunization did not show a significant difference between the B. abortus S-19 vaccinated group compared with the 2 groups immunopotentiated and vaccinated. However, the proliferative response of lymphocytes to the B. abortus soluble antigen diluted 1:100 indicated significantly enhanced blastogenesis in the (s.c.) immunopotentiated and immunized guinea pigs compared with the B. abortus S-19 vaccinated group. A slightly enhanced response was also observed in the group immunopotentiated (i.v.) and vaccinated (s.c.). The guinea pigs were challenged with B. abortus strain 2308 and necropsied 4 weeks later. The mean splenic CFU of the Brucella in the group immunopotentiated (i.v.) and vaccinated (s.c.) was significantly decreased when compared with the guinea pigs vaccinated with B. abortus S-19 alone. These findings indicated that P. acnes administered simultaneously with B. abortus S-19 vaccine was able to augment the immune response in guinea pigs. Immunomodulation as evidenced by enhanced clearance of B. abortus from the spleens of immunopotentiated animals was presumably brought about by activated macrophages or a T-cell mediated cytolytic mechanism or both.     

Liver biopsy techniques for adult horses and neonatal foals to assess copper status

Objective To evaluate standing, percutaneous, ultrasound-guided, transthoracic liver biopsy in mares, and transabdominal, laparoscopically-guided, liver biopsy under general anaesthesia in foals, as techniques for obtaining tissue for assessment of copper status. The techniques were evaluated with respect to ease of use and effect on the animal.
Procedure Twenty of 24 Thoroughbred mares and 21 of their foals were biopsied. The animals were part of a larger study of the effect of copper supplementation on copper status and the prevalence of developmental orthopaedic disease. Livers were also collected from unrelated horses and sampled to investigate the variability in the distribution of copper in liver tissue.
Result The biopsy technique caused no lasting effect on the mares, but there was an increased risk of viscus penetration associated with taking multiple biopsy cores. The use of ultrasonography to scan the target area for the liver identified four cases that were not appropriate candidates for liver biopsy, because of large intestine being located in the biopsy area. In the foals there were no serious postoperative adverse effects, nor was there any evidence of problems caused by the procedure when the abdomen was examined post-mortem at 5 months of age. In livers collected to investigate the variability of copper concentration, copper appeared to be relatively evenly distributed through the liver.
Conclusion Standing, percutaneous, ultrasound-guided, transthoracic liver biopsy in mares, and transabdominal, laparoscopically-guided, liver biopsy under general anaesthesia in foals are convenient procedures for obtaining liver tissue for assessing copper status in horses. The use of ultrasound to identify liver tissue is recommended, especially in older mares.     

Two Cycles of Recurrent Maternal Half-Sib Selection Reduce Foliar Late Blight in a Diploid Hybrid Solanum phureja-S. stenotomum Population by Two-thirds

Foliar late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is an important disease problem worldwide. Foliar resistance to late blight was found in a hybrid population of the cultivated diploid species Solanum phureja-S. stenotomum (phu-stn). The objective of this study was to determine if resistance to late blight could be improved by recurrent maternal half-sib selection in the phu-stn population. Four clones from each of 72 maternal half-sib families plus the check cultivar ‘Atlantic’ were evaluated for late blight resistance in replicated field trials in Pennsylvania. The most late blight resistant clone from each of the 72 families was randomly intermated to advance the population. The cycle 1, 2, and 3 populations were evaluated in 1996–1997, 2003–2004, and 2009–2010, respectively. Percent infected foliage was recorded several times towards the end of the growing season and used to compute area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC). Mean AUDPC was 652 (cycle 1), 556 (cycle 2), and 276 (cycle 3), whereas the mean AUDPC of ‘Atlantic’ ranged from 775 to 863 each cycle. Narrow-sense heritability for resistance was estimated as 0.78, 0.77, and 0.80 in cycles 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Recurrent maternal half-sib selection continues to improve the levels of resistance to late blight in this diploid population with no adverse effect on the amount of additive genetic variance. Additional improvements for late blight resistance are likely to occur if this approach is continued.