Effect of s-methylmethionine sulphonium chloride on oesophagogastric ulcers in pigs

Objective: To assess the value of s-methylmethionine sulphonium chloride (SMMSC) (200 mg/kg) on nutritional performance of pigs and as prevention or therapy for oesophagogastric ulcers. Design: Sixty pigs from a high health status herd with continuing oesophagogastric ulcer problems were endoscopically assessed for the presence or absence of oesophagogastric ulcers. Forty-eight pigs were then selected and allocated according to an initial oesophagogastric epithelial (ulcer score) classification to replicated treatment groups in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Weight gain and feed intake were measured over 49 d, after which pigs were killed and stomachs were collected, re-examined and scored for oesophagogastric ulceration. Results: There was no difference over the 49 d in weight gain, feed intake and backfat in pigs with and without SMMSC supplementation between pigs with or without fully developed oesophagogastric ulcers at the start of the study. In pigs with an initially low ulcer score, feeding SMMSC did not prevent further oesophagogastric ulcer development. No significant effect of SMMSC was apparent when final mean oesophagogastric ulcer scores were compared in pigs with existing high ulcer score. However, further analysis of the changes in individual pig oesophagogastric ulcer scores during the experiment showed that the observed reductions in scores of the high ulcer group was significantly different from all other groups. Conclusion: This study has indicated that supplementation of pig diets with SMMSC cannot be justified unless the slight ulcer score improvement observed could be translated to some commercial production advantage such as a reduction in pig mortalities due to oesophagogastric ulcers. This study has further confirmed the benefit of endoscopy as a tool to enable objective assessment of oesophageal gastric health.

High subsoil chloride concentrations reduce soil water extraction and crop yield on Vertosols in north-eastern Australia

Salinity, sodicity, acidity, and phytotoxic levels of chloride (Cl) in subsoils are major constraints to crop production in many soils of north-eastern Australia because they reduce the ability of crop roots to extract water and nutrients from the soil. The complex interactions and correlations among soil properties result in multi-colinearity between soil properties and crop yield that makes it difficult to determine which constraint is the major limitation. We used ridge-regression analysis to overcome colinearity to evaluate the contribution of soil factors and water supply to the variation in the yields of 5 winter crops on soils with various levels and combinations of subsoil constraints in the region. Subsoil constraints measured were soil Cl, electrical conductivity of the saturation extract (ECse), and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP). The ridge regression procedure selected several of the variables used in a descriptive model, which included in-crop rainfall, plant-available soil water at sowing in the 0.90-1.10 m soil layer, and soil Cl in the 0.90-1.10 m soil layer, and accounted for 77-85% of the variation in the grain yields of the 5 winter crops. Inclusion of ESP of the top soil (0.0-0.10 m soil layer) marginally increased the descriptive capability of the models for bread wheat, barley and durum wheat. Subsoil Cl concentration was found to be an effective substitute for subsoil water extraction. The estimates of the critical levels of subsoil Cl for a 10% reduction in the grain yield were 492 mg cl/kg for chickpea, 662 mg Cl/kg for durum wheat, 854 mg Cl/kg for bread wheat, 980 mg Cl/kg for canola, and 1012 mg Cl/kg for barley, thus suggesting that chickpea and durum wheat were more sensitive to subsoil Cl than bread wheat, barley, and canola.

Improving added value and small medium enterprises capacity in the utilisation of plantation timber for furniture production in Jepara region

Improving added value and Small Medium Enterprises capacity in the utilisation of plantation timber for furniture production in Jepara region of Indonesia: improving recovery, design, manufacturing, R&D and training capacities.

Enhancing somatic embryogenesis in avocado (Persea americana Mill.) using a two-step culture system and including glutamine in the culture medium

The development of a more efficient in vitro regeneration system for somatic embryos (SEs) of avocado (Persea americana) would facilitate the development of new superior cultivars for this valuable horticultural crop. In this study, we report a new and efficient method for maintenance and regeneration of avocado SEs. Avocado SEs of four cultivars remained healthy and viable in vitro for 11 months on a medium used for mango somatic embryogenesis, compared with 3-4 months on Murashige and Skoog medium. Various supplements and media modifications were investigated to improve the low conversion rate of regenerated plants from avocado SEs reported previously. The one-step system for regeneration of white-opaque somatic embryos (WOSEs) used solid medium only over a period of 12-14 weeks (sub-culturing every 6 weeks). Addition of praline and glutamine improved the total regeneration from 0 to 17.5% and 10.5%, and plant/shoot recovery from 0 to 12.5% and 5%, respectively. A two-step culture system involving the transfer of WOSEs of cultivar 'Reed' after 6 weeks on solid to liquid medium for 12-15 days as an intermediate step, followed by subculturing again onto solid medium for 6 weeks improved total regeneration to 29% and plant/shoot recovery to 18.3 from 0% when regenerated by subculturing on solid medium only. Supplementation with proline in the solid as well as liquid medium in the two-step culture system at 0.4 g/L increased total regeneration to 35% and plant/shoot recovery to 20%. We were able to achieve highest regeneration using glutamine at 1 g/L in the two-step culture system in terms of both total regeneration (58.3%, including 43.3% bipolar regeneration) and plant/shoot recovery (36.7%) rates, which were significantly higher than in any other treatment investigated. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Estimating Resource Requirements to Staff a Response to a Medium to Large Outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Australia

A recent report to the Australian Government identified concerns relating to Australia's capacity to respond to a medium to large outbreak of FMD. To assess the resources required, the AusSpread disease simulation model was used to develop a plausible outbreak scenario that included 62 infected premises in five different states at the time of detection, 28 days after the disease entered the first property in Victoria. Movements of infected animals and/or contaminated product/equipment led to smaller outbreaks in NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania. With unlimited staff resources, the outbreak was eradicated in 63 days with 54 infected premises and a 98% chance of eradication within 3 months. This unconstrained response was estimated to involve 2724 personnel. Unlimited personnel was considered unrealistic, and therefore, the course of the outbreak was modelled using three levels of staffing and the probability of achieving eradication within 3 or 6 months of introduction determined. Under the baseline staffing level, there was only a 16% probability that the outbreak would be eradicated within 3 months, and a 60% probability of eradication in 6 months. Deployment of an additional 60 personnel in the first 3 weeks of the response increased the likelihood of eradication in 3 months to 68%, and 100% in 6 months. Deployment of further personnel incrementally increased the likelihood of timely eradication and decreased the duration and size of the outbreak. Targeted use of vaccination in high-risk areas coupled with the baseline personnel resources increased the probability of eradication in 3 months to 74% and to 100% in 6 months. This required 25 vaccination teams commencing 12 days into the control program increasing to 50 vaccination teams 3 weeks later. Deploying an equal number of additional personnel to surveillance and infected premises operations was equally effective in reducing the outbreak size and duration.

Small-scale capture, transport and tank adaptation of live, medium-sized Scombrids using "Tuna Tubes"

The transport of live fish is a crucial step to establish fish culture in captivity, and is especially challenging for species that have not been commonly cultured before, therefore transport and handling methods need to be optimized and tailored. This study describes the use of tuna tubes for small-scale transport of medium-sized pelagic fish from the Scombridae family. Tuna tubes are an array of vertical tubes that hold the fish, while fresh seawater is pumped up the tubes and through the fish mouth and gills, providing oxygen and removing wastes. In this study, 19 fish were captured using rod and line and 42% of the captured fish were transported alive in the custom-designed tuna tubes to an on-shore holding tank: five mackerel tuna (Euthynnus affinis) and three leaping bonito (Cybiosarda elegans). Out of these, just three (15.8% of total fish) acclimatized to the tank's condition. Based on these results, we discuss an improved design of the tuna tubes that has the potential to increase survival rates and enable a simple and low cost method of transporting of live pelagic fish.