Endocrine effects of heat stress in boars

The purpose of this study was to describe the temporal changes in peripheral plasma levels of testosterone and Cortisol in boars during and after heat stress. A total of 8 boars were utilized, 4 of them were exposed to 35°C, for 100 h in a climatic room, and 4 served as controls and were kept at 20 °C for 100 h in the climatic room.Blood samples were obtained via permanent vein catheters 3 times daily from 5 days before heat stress until 20 days after termination of heat stress. Testestorone levels were determined by radioimmunoassay and Cortisol by a competitive protein binding technique.For both hormones the pre-exposure levels were similar in both groups of boars. The control boars had significantly higher testosterone levels, while being in the climatic room, than during any other period. The experimental boars had slightly increased testosterone levels during the first day of heat stress and thereafter continuously decreased levels. In the control boars the testosterone levels returned to pre-exposure levels immediately after removal from the climatic room, whereas in the experimental boars the testosterone levels were dramatically increased during the first 5 days after exposure. The differences in Cortisol levels, between the 2 groups of boars were restricted to the period spent in the climatic room. During this period the experimental boars had significantly higher Cortisol levels.Key words: boars, heat stress, testosterone, cortisol     

Evaluation of the perioperative stress response in dogs administered medetomidine or acepromazine as part of the preanesthetic medication

OBJECTIVE: To compare the perioperative stress response in dogs administered medetomidine or acepromazine as part of the preanesthetic medication. ANIMALS: 42 client-owned dogs that underwent elective ovariohysterectomy. PROCEDURE: Each dog was randomly allocated to receive medetomidine and butorphanol tartrate (20 microgram/kg and 0.2 mg/kg, respectively, IM) or acepromazine maleate and butorphanol (0.05 and 0.2 mg/kg, respectively, IM) for preanesthetic medication. Approximately 80 minutes later, anesthesia was induced by administration of propofol and maintained by use of isoflurane in oxygen. Each dog was also given carprofen before surgery and buprenorphine after surgery. Plasma concentrations of epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, and beta-endorphin were measured at various stages during the perioperative period. In addition, cardiovascular and clinical variables were monitored. RESULTS: Concentrations of epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol were significantly lower for dogs administered medetomidine. Concentrations of beta-endorphin did not differ between the 2 groups. Heart rate was significantly lower and mean arterial blood pressure significantly higher in dogs administered medetomidine, compared with values for dogs administered acepromazine. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results indicate that for preanesthetic medications, medetomidine may offer some advantages over acepromazine with respect to the ability to decrease perioperative concentrations of stress-related hormones. In particular, the ability to provide stable plasma catecholamine concentrations may help to attenuate perioperative activation of the sympathetic nervous system.     

CO2-defatted oats: Solubility,emulsification and foaming properties

Functional properties of conventional oat materials are relatively poor with respect to foam and emulsion formation and stabilization. This is largely due to the poor solubility of oat proteins and the presence of lipids in aqueous extracts of oats. In the experimental part of this study, extracts were prepared from different type oat flours (oat endosperm flour, oat fine flour, CO₂-defatted whole oat flour and CO₂-defatted oat flour) with a buffered aqueous extraction procedure at acidic (pH 4.5 and 6.5) and basic (pH 8.5 and 10.5) regions. The solubility of proteins was the highest at pH 10.5 and NaCl concentration of 2%. Among the extracts, CO₂-oat flour showed improved foaming and emulsifying properties at basic pH values. The presence of 0.1% NaCl resulted in the lowest foam volumes, but the emulsion activity and stability values being the highest. Sucrose addition resulted in increased foam and emulsion stability of suspensions. Heat treatment at 80 °C impaired foam properties, whereas the stability of emulsions increased with the increase in temperature from 20 °C to 80 °C. CO₂-extracted oats can be useful raw materials in beverages and other aqueous applications where protein functionality plays an important role.     

Kemira肥料在茶树上的应用研究

对茶树施用3种不同配比的Kemira肥料，结果表明，经过不同氮、磷、钾配比的Kemira肥料处理，土壤中有效磷，有效钾的水平和茶叶中氮、磷、钾各养分元素的含量均比仅施用氮肥的对照高，而土壤有效氮的含量低于对照，施用Kemira肥的各处理均改善了春茶某些生理生化指标，提高了茶叶的品质，同时增加了茶叶的产量和茶叶生产的经济效益。茶叶产量比对照增加5．44％～13．88％，经济产值增加3635～5717元／hm^2，增幅达到10．00％～15．72％。     

Peat Biofilters in Long-Term Experiments for Removing Odorous Sulphur Compounds

Peat was employed as a biological filter material for the removal of hydrogen sulphide (H_2> S) dimethyl sulphide (Me₂S) and methyl mercaptan (MeSH) from odorous ventilation air. Removal of H₂S was possible without the need to inoculate the filter material with oxidizing microbes whereas Me₂S required inoculation for degradation. The removal of Me₂S was decreased as a result of MeSH addition. Liming of the filter material, i.e., addition of calcium hydroxide, increased removal efficiency and activated the oxidation of H₂S without any adaptation period. As a consequence of the poor Me₂S removal efficiency of natural peat, a limed and inoculated biofilter was needed to purify mixtures of gases containing sulphur. The highest H₂S load tested with limed but otherwise natural peat was 136 g-S m^-3 day^-1, yielding a 99 % reduction. The maximum Me₂S elimination capacity with limed and inoculated peat was 175 g-S m^-3day^-1, but removal became unstable when the load exceeded 150 g-S m^-3day^-1. The maximum MeSH load tested was 107 g-S m^-3day^-1, yielding 98 % removal.     

Clone distribution of the earthworm Eiseniella tetraedra (Sav.) (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) across an altitudinal gradient on subarctic mountains of NW Europe

In earlier studies, we have shown that clone diversity of the parthenogenetic earthworm Eiseniella tetraedra increases from the upper reaches of rivers in northern Sweden towards their mouths. Now we survey brooks in the Scandes Mountains in the watershed between Sweden and Norway where major rivers originate. Using starch gel enzyme electrophoresis, we found 37 clones in a total catch of 379 individuals from six mountains. The most abundant clone made up 48.3% of the individuals collected. It was present on most mountains and was found at different elevations. In comparison with other clones it may represent a general-purpose genotype adapted to environmental conditions ranging from alpine through to subalpine to boreal habitats in the mountains. Diversity of clone assemblages decreased with increasing elevation. On four mountains, one to two clones were found at higher elevations. Passive downstream dispersal of E. tetraedra propagules from wider areas of the mountains was responsible for the more diverse clone pools in the lower reaches of the brooks (i.e., “small rivers behave like large ones”). Two clone groups, which deviated from the norm clone in their number of enzyme variants, were evenly distributed among different elevations. Therefore, we could not correlate genotype differences (i.e., adaptation of clones to mountain elevations). Clone pool similarities among the mountains were low on average (range 0–58%) but in a cluster of four mountains, similarities varied from 46% to 58%. Clone pool similarities between different elevations of the same mountain ranged from 27% to 83%. One mountain brook was sampled over 3 years to assess clone turnover. Only the norm clone was found in upstream habitats but it and three other clones were recorded downstream in at least 2 years. Ten clones were found once in the latter habitat as well.