Prevalence of Cryptosporidium sp in equids in Louisiana

In 1985, 22 pony foals reared in a helminth-free environment were tested daily for oocysts of Cryptosporidium sp by use of fecal flotation. Oocysts were found in all foals. Oocysts were first observed in feces collected from foals 9 to 28 days after birth. The mean period of oocyst shedding was 10 days and ranged from 2 to 18 days in individual foals. Diarrhea was observed in 14 of 22 (64%) foals and began before the period of oocyst shedding. Fecal samples also were examined for other infective agents. Salmonella poona was isolated from 1 foal that did not have diarrhea, and coronavirus particles were observed in the feces of 2 foals with diarrhea. Cryptosporidium sp oocysts also were observed in feces of 2 of 17 Thoroughbred foals, 3 of 14 Quarter Horse foals, and 3 of 26 pony foals reared on pastures with their dams. Samples from pasture-reared foals were collected at irregular intervals. Of the 11 Cryptosporidium-positive fecal samples collected from pastured foals, 2 were from foals with diarrhea. A similar survey was conducted during the 1986 foaling season, using the same procedures. Examination of 300 samples from 58 Quarter Horse, Arabian, and pony foals did not detect oocysts. Daily examination of feces from 10 pony foals reared under helminth-free conditions for 30 days also failed to detect Cryptosporidium oocysts.     

工厂化水产养殖水质监测系统

工厂化水产养殖的密度高、风险大,养殖对象对pH、溶解氧、温度、氨氮、亚硝酸盐等水质参数的变化敏感,受影响严重,监测水质参数极为重要。本文针对工厂化水产养殖水质监测特点和需求,研发了工厂化水产养殖水质监测系统。分析研究pH、溶解氧、温度、亚硝酸盐等水质参数的阈值,设计水质监测数据无线采集节点和基于Zigbee的无线监测网络,建立水质监测系统软件平台。结果表明,该系统能够实现工厂化水产养殖水质实时监测,保证生产安全,提高水产养殖生产效率。     

Reproductive seasonality in a swamp-locked African cichlid

Abstract –  This study quantified the seasonal pattern of reproduction in a swamp-dwelling population of the African cichlid Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae. In the hypoxic waters of the Lwamunda Swamp, Uganda, P. multicolor was reproductively active throughout the year, even during the peak of the dry seasons. However, the degree of activity was seasonal, with rainfall providing a predictor of the percentage of ripe, mature females. There was no correlation between aquatic oxygen availability dissolved oxygen (DO) and either adjusted mean gonad mass or percentage of mature females, suggesting that DO is not limiting reproductive activity in this system. Reproductively mature females were larger during drier periods and may maximise their lifetime reproductive success by producing young throughout the year; but with a lower brooding efficiency. A comparison with Welcomme's (1969) study of a river-swamp system feeding Lake Victoria suggests that reproductive patterning is variable among populations of P. multicolor and may reflect adaptive response to chronically hypoxic conditions in the Lwamunda Swamp.     

Grain number and grain weight in wheat lines contrasting for stem water soluble carbohydrate concentration

In wheat, the ability to store and remobilise large amounts of stem water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) to grain constitutes a desirable trait to incorporate into germplasm targeted to regions with frequent terminal drought. The main aim of this paper was to examine the relationships between WSC storage, grain number and grain weight across several environments. A small set of recombinant inbred lines (2–4) contrasting in stem WSC were grown in six field trials where water availability, sowing date and/or N level were manipulated, with line yields ranging from 400 to 850 g m⁻² across experiments. Biomass, N and WSC concentration (WSCc, mg g⁻¹ dry weight) and amount (WSCa, g m⁻²) were monitored. A resource-oriented area-based model [Fischer, R.A., 1984. Growth and yield of wheat. In: Smith, W.H., Bante, S.J. (Eds.), Potential Productivity of Field Crops Under Different Environments. International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, pp. 129–154] and intrinsic rates of organ growth were used to investigate the consequences on grain number of potential competition between spike and stem around flowering.     

黄土耕作坡面溅蚀过程中微地形响应特征

[目的]探究60mm/h雨强下不同耕作坡面在溅蚀阶段的微地形变化特征,为黄土坡地水土保持耕作方式布设提供科学依据。[方法]在室内人工模拟降雨试验的基础上,采用激光扫描量测方法分别获取溅蚀前后4种不同耕作方式(人工锄耕、人工掏挖、等高耕作、耙磨整平)黄土坡面微地形相对高程,并对能反映微地形变化的高精度M-ΔDEM进行了分析。[结果]不同耕作措施下坡面微地形均具有较弱的空间变异,其空间分异主要受耕作措施的影响;降雨对微地形具有一定的夷平效应,且不同耕作坡面在1~1.3m尺度范围内均表现出侵蚀平衡现象;不同耕作微地形对溅蚀均具有阻滞作用,其中人工掏挖和等高耕作具有较强的水土保持作用。[结论]微地形水系分维能较好地反映复杂的微地形特征,而坡面耕作方式是溅蚀过程中微地形时空变异分布状况的控制性因子。     

Soil nitrogen availability alters rhizodeposition carbon flux into the soil microbial community

Purpose

Soil microorganisms are important in the cycling of plant nutrients. Soil microbial biomass, community structure, and activity are mainly affected by carbon substrate and nutrient availability. The objective was to test if both the overall soil microbial community structure and the community-utilizing plant-derived carbon entering the soil as rhizodeposition were affected by soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) availability.

Materials and methods

A ¹³C-CO₂ steady-state labeling experiment was conducted in a ryegrass system. Four soil treatments were established: control, amendment with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), amendment with ammonium nitrate (NF), combined CMC and NF. Soil phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and ¹³C labeling PLFA were extracted and detected by isotope ratio mass spectrometer.

Results and discussion

The combined CMC and NF treatment with appropriate C/N ratio (20) significantly enhanced soil microbial biomass C and N, but resulted in lower soil inorganic N concentrations. There was no significant difference in soil PLFA profile pattern between different treatments. In contrast, most of the ¹³C was distributed into PLFAs 18:2ω6,9c, 18:1ω7c, and 18:1ω9c, indicative of fungi and gram-negative bacteria. The inorganic-only treatment was distinct in ¹³C PLFA pattern from the other treatments in the first period of labeling. Factor loadings of individual PLFAs confirmed that gram-positive bacteria had relatively greater plant-derived C contents in the inorganic-only treatment, but fungi were more enriched in the other treatments.

Conclusions

Amendments with CMC can improve N transformation processes, and the ryegrass rhizodeposition carbon flux into the soil microbial community is strongly modified by soil N availability.

     

Effect of nitrogen fertiliser on temporal and spatial variation of mineral nitrogen and microbial biomass in a silvopastoral system

This paper describes a field study to assess the effect of increasing the frequency of split applications of N fertiliser on the pattern of plant uptake, soil N availability, and microbial biomass C and N. Measurements were taken during the growing season in different positions relative to young trees (Prunus avium L.) in an upland silvopastoral system in its first year after establishment. At fertiliser rates of 72 and 144 kg ha^-1 N applied as NH₄NO₃, increasing the number of split applications increased N uptake by the pasture. Mineral forms of soil N measured 2 weeks after application indicated that residual NH _inf4 ^sup+ -N and total mineral N were also greater in this treatment on certain dates. Soil NO _inf3 ^sup- -N was positively correlated with the soil moisture content, and nitrification reached a maximum in early May and declined rapidly thereafter except within the herbicide-treated areas around the trees where soil moisture had been conserved. Results of the study suggest that high NO _inf3 ^sup- -N in herbicide-treated areas was probably caused by mineralisation of grass residues and low uptake by the tree rather than by preferential urine excretion by sheep sheltering beside the trees. Mean microbial biomass C and N values of 894 and 213 kg ha^-1, respectively, were obtained. Microbial C was slightly increased by the higher frequency of split applications at 144 kg ha^-1 N and was probably related to the greater herbage production with this treatment. Microbial N was not significantly affected by the N treatments. Both microbial biomass C and N increased during the growing season, resulting in the net immobilisation of at least 45 kg ha^-1 N which was later released during the autumn.