Comparison of an in vitro and a damping-off assay to test soils for suppressiveness to Pythium aphanidermatum

Testing of soil samples in greenhouse assays for suppressiveness to soilborne plant pathogens requires a considerable investment in time and effort as well as large numbers of soil samples. To make it possible to process large numbers of samples efficiently, we compared an in vitro growth assay with a damping-off assay using Pythium aphanidermatum as the test organism on tomato seedlings. The in vitro test compares the radial growth or relative growth of the fungus in soil to that in autoclaved soil and reflects suppressiveness of soils to the pathogen. We used soils from a field experiment that had been farmed either organically or conventionally and into which a cover crop (oats and vetch in mixture) had been incorporated 0, 10, 21, and 35 days previously. We obtained a significant, positive correlation between damping-off severities of tomato seedlings in damping-off assays and both relative and radial growth in vitro. In addition, radial and relative growth of P. aphanidermatum in the in vitro assay were positively correlated with several carbon and nitrogen variables measured for soil and incorporated debris. We did not find differences between the two farming systems for either growth measures of P. aphanidermatum or disease severities on tomato at different stages of cover crop decomposition. The in vitro assay shows potential for use with any fungus that exhibits rapid saprophytic growth, and is most suitable for routine application in suppressiveness testing.     

Comparison of the pharmacokinetic profiles of two different amphotericin B formulations in healthy dogs

This study was conducted to compare the pharmacokinetic profiles of conventional (Fungizone^®) and liposomal amphotericin B (AmBisome^®) formulations in order to predict their therapeutic properties, and evaluate their potential differences in veterinary treatment. For this purpose, twelve healthy mixed breed dogs received both drugs at a dose of 0.6 mg/kg by intravenous infusion over a 4‐min period in a total volume of 40 ml. Blood samples were collected at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hr after dosing, and concentrations of drug in plasma were determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Pharmacokinetics was described by a two‐compartment model. Although both formulations were administered at the same doses (0.6 mg/kg), the plasma pharmacokinetics of liposomal amphotericin B differed significantly from those of amphotericin B deoxycholate in healthy dogs (p < .05). Liposomal amphotericin B showed markedly higher peak plasma concentrations (approximately ninefold greater) and higher area under the plasma concentration curve values (approximately 14‐fold higher) compared to conventional formulation. It is concluded that AmBisome^® reached higher plasma concentration and lower distribution volume and had a longer half‐life compared to Fungizone^®, and therefore, AmBisome^® is reported to be an appropriate and effective choice for the treatment of systemic mycotic infections in dogs.     

无缝烟夹不同针尖处理对烤后烟叶孔径的影响

为优化无缝烟夹装置设计,充分发挥无缝烟夹装烟方式的优势,对不同直径、不同形状针尖及不同方向的无缝烟夹烤后烟叶的针孔面积进行了比较研究。结果表明:不同直径烟针相比,3 mm直径无缝烟夹烤后针孔面积小于5 mm直径无缝烟夹;无缝烟夹在3 mm直径条件下,扁形针尖平行处理烤后针孔面积最小;在5 mm直径条件下,圆形针尖平行处理烤后针孔面积最小。     

密集烤房不同循环风机烘烤烟叶的色素降解及感官质量

采用三速和单速循环风机,研究密集烤房不同循环风机对烤烟色素及感官质量的影响.结果表明:采用三速循环风机烤后烟叶的叶绿素a、叶绿素b含量分别为5.10、167.74 μg/g,分别为单速循环风机的72.11％和93.30％;叶黄素、β-胡萝卜素、类胡萝卜素含量分别为0.84、155.56、156.40 μg/g,分别为单...     

Comparison of pregnancy per AI of heifers inseminated with sex-sorted or conventional semen after oestrus detection or timed artificial insemination

The objective of the study was to compare the fertility after using sex-sorted or conventional semen either with oestrus detection (EST) or timed artificial insemination (TAI) in Holstein heifers. Holstein heifers were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Heifers in the EST group were inseminated with sex-sorted (n = 114) or conventional semen (n = 100) after spontaneous or induced oestrus. Heifers in the TAI, subjected to the 5-day Cosynch+Progesterone protocol (GnRH+P4 insertion-5d-PGF_2α+P4 removal-1d-PGF_2α-2d-GnRH+TAI), were inseminated with sex-sorted (n = 113) or conventional semen (n = 88). Statistical analyses were performed using PROC GLIMMIX procedure of SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Overall P/AI was 60.7% for EST and 54.2% for TAI regardless of types of semen and 68.1% for conventional and 48.9% for sex-sorted semen regardless of insemination strategies. Fertility of heifers inseminated with either sex-sorted (53.5%; 44.2%) or conventional (69.0%; 67.0%) semen did not differ between EST and TAI respectively. Besides, the interaction between the semen type and the insemination strategy was not significant for P/AI. The embryonic loss was significantly greater with sex-sorted semen (17.1%) compared to conventional semen (1.6%). There was no sire effect with sex-sorted semen on P/AI (52.6% vs. 46.2%) and embryonic loss (16.4% vs. 18.0%). As expected, sex-sorted semen resulted in more female calves (89.8% vs. 51.6%) than conventional semen. Thus, sex-sorted semen can be used with 5-day Cosynch+Progesterone protocol to eliminate the inadequate oestrus detection and to increase female calves born in dairy heifers.     

Herd characteristics influence farmers’ preferences for trait improvements in Danish Red and Danish Jersey cows

The aim of this study was to characterize preferences of farmers for breeding goal traits with Danish Red (DR) or Danish Jersey (DJ) cows. A breed-specific survey was established to characterize farmers’ preferences for improvements in 10 traits, by means of pairwise rankings using the online software 1000Minds. These pairwise rankings were based on equal economic worth of trait improvements. The DR survey was filled in by 87 farmers and the DJ survey by 76 farmers. Both DR and DJ farmers gave the highest preference to improvements in mastitis, and the lowest to calving difficulty. By means of a cluster analysis, three distinct clusters of farmers were identified per breed. Comparisons of herd characteristics between clusters suggest that farmers choose to improve traits that are problematic in their herds. This study shows that heterogeneity exists in farmers’ preferences for trait improvements and that herd characteristics influence these preferences in DR and DJ.     

散叶烤房系列研究 2.装炕技术研究

为解决散叶烤房烟叶堆放问题，采用插板式装烟法和自然堆积法研究了散叶烤房的装炕技术，结果表明：散叶烤房装烟时以自然堆积法，稍稍用力推挤，单层密度保持在75~85kg/m3为宜，并提出了相应的采收和装炕技术要点，即下部叶适时早收，中部叶尚熟至适熟采收，上部叶充分成熟采收。装炕时烟束要叠放整齐，叶片背面靠向界墙方向，正面面向装烟者，保持叶片与装烟板水平面夹角70~80°，一层靠一层。     

烤烟烘烤测控系统的设计与实现

烤烟烘烤环境因素是一个具有时变性、非线性及各因素间具有强耦合性的多变量系统.为此,利用单片机技术和传感器技术设计了一种符合烟叶烘烤需要的自适应分层模糊控制系统.该系统可对烤房的温度、湿度和通风等参量进行自动测量与精确控制.系统采用模块化结构设计,简单易用,维护方便.运行结果表明,系统运行稳定,鲁棒性强,适用于烤烟烘烤过程的自动控制.     

水分调控和钝化剂处理对水稻土镉的钝化效应及其机理

采用盆栽试验,研究了水分管理和钝化剂处理对红壤性水稻土重金属镉的钝化效应及其作用机理。结果表明,在土壤镉含量为0．75mg·kg。下,添加海泡石复配磷肥可以显著提高土壤pH值,长期淹水、常规管理水分条件下,土壤交换态cd分别降低了20．4％和15．7％,碳酸盐结合态cd分别下降了15．5％和14．1％,糙米cd分别降低了52．3％和46．O％。未添加钝化剂条件下,长期淹水处理的根表Fe（Ⅱ）含量比常规处理增加了1．2倍,根表cd含量则是常规处理的82．6％。土壤经钝化处理后,长期淹水和常规管理水分条件下,根表Fe（Ⅱ）分别增加了40．1％和70．0％,而根表cd分别降低了35．3％和42．4％。糙米cd含量与根表Fe（Ⅱ）含量呈显著负相关,与根表cd含量呈显著正相关。土壤Fe“和cd“对水稻根表吸附点位的竞争以及土壤镉较低的生物有效性是钝化处理组糙米镉含量下降的主要原因。