Managing Manure on Organic Farms

The booklet provides information on typical nutrient contents of livestock manures – from organic and ‘conventional’ sources; describes the availability of manure nutrients to the growing crop; outlines best management practices to optimise manure nutrient supply and outlines best management practices to optimise manure nutrient supply. It draws on scientific research undertaken in the 1990, much of it in the UK, and most of it funded by DEFRA

Myocardial material properties and cardiac dilatation following chronic sympathetic activation in hypertension

Increases in internal dimensions of the chambers of the heart (cardiac dilatation), mediated by right shifts in cardiac chamber diastolic pressure-volume (P-V) relations, predict mortality in patients with established heart failure. However, the mechanisms responsible for the transition from concentric cardiac hypertrophy to cardiac dilatation are unclear. Recent evidence suggests that decreases in the cross-linked properties of myocardial collagen may increase the propensity of collagen to cleavage and hence reduce cardiac myocyte tethering, thus promoting cardiac dilatation. However, decreases in myocardial collagen cross-linking may also reduce myocardial stiffness, thus explaining right shifts in cardiac diastolic P-V relations. In the present dissertation I evaluated whether right shifts in diastolic P-V relations produced by chronic β-adrenoreceptor activation (isoproterenol, a β-adrenoreceptor agonist, 0.02 mg.kg-1.day) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) with compensated cardiac hypertrophy (12 months of age), can be explained by adverse chamber remodelling or alterations in the myocardial material properties of the heart. After 7 months of daily isoproterenol administration, SHR had marked right shifts in left ventricular (LV) diastolic P-V relations as determined in isolated, perfused hearts, with increases in the volume intercept of these relations, a change that translated into increases in LV cavity diameters (echocardiography). LV dilatation was associated with reductions in LV pump function (decreases in LV endocardial fractional shortening and the slope of the LV systolic P-V relation [LV E]). The reductions in pump function were attributed to the LV dilatation rather than to alterations in intrinsic myocardial contractile properties as LV midwall fractional shortening and myocardial systolic elastance (LV En) were unchanged. Although SHR not receiving isoproterenol had increases in the LV diastolic wall thickness-to-radius ratio, a change commensurate with compensatory concentric LV hypertrophy, LV wall thickness-to-radius ratio in SHR exposed to chronic β-adrenoreceptor activation was reduced to values similar to those noted in normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) control rats, despite further increases in LV weight. SHR not receiving isoproterenol had a marked increase in myocardial stiffness (slope of the linearized LV diastolic stress-strain relationship) as compared to WKY rats, a change that was associated with an increased myocardial collagen of the cross-linked phenotype. Although SHR receiving daily isoproterenol had further increases in myocardial collagen, this did not translate into changes in LV diastolic myocardial stiffness, as the further increase in myocardial collagen was of the non cross-linked phenotype. However, through a susceptibility to digestion, this collagen phenotype could have contributed to LV dilatation. In conclusion, these data suggest that LV dilatation in SHR following chronic β-adrenoreceptor activation is attributed to adverse chamber remodelling rather than to alterations in myocardial material properties as indexed by diastolic stress-strain relations

Pitfalls in developing coastal climate adaptation responses

Increasing awareness of the risks to coastal communities and infrastructure posed by sea level rise and possible climate-induced changes to the frequency and intensity of catchment flooding events have triggered a large number of studies that have assessed the risk, and developed a prioritisation of actions. These prioritised action recommendations are typically encapsulated in climate adaptation plans and pathways documents, risk reduction strategies, and climate action plans. These studies typically involve a vulnerability assessment task and an action prioritisation task, often performed in the same study. Most of the focus on research and method development over recent decades has been on the first task that aims to quantify the vulnerability of coastal communities and infrastructure. It is argued here that as a result of this emphasis on assessing vulnerability, at the cost of adequate consideration of response actions, along with the linear ‘fix and forget’ management approach to climate adaptation, has led to a lack of uptake in coastal climate adaptation studies and strategies. To this end the aim of the work presented here is to highlight common shortfalls in this fix and forget approach and in particular in the response prioritisation task. Ways that these shortfalls can be avoided, based on knowledge from decision theory, are presented

Individual sequences in large sets of gene sequences may be distinguished efficiently by combinations of shared sub-sequences

BACKGROUND: Most current DNA diagnostic tests for identifying organisms use specific oligonucleotide probes that are complementary in sequence to, and hence only hybridise with the DNA of one target species. By contrast, in traditional taxonomy, specimens are usually identified by 'dichotomous keys' that use combinations of characters shared by different members of the target set. Using one specific character for each target is the least efficient strategy for identification. Using combinations of shared bisectionally-distributed characters is much more efficient, and this strategy is most efficient when they separate the targets in a progressively binary way. RESULTS: We have developed a practical method for finding minimal sets of sub-sequences that identify individual sequences, and could be targeted by combinations of probes, so that the efficient strategy of traditional taxonomic identification could be used in DNA diagnosis. The sizes of minimal sub-sequence sets depended mostly on sequence diversity and sub-sequence length and interactions between these parameters. We found that 201 distinct cytochrome oxidase subunit-1 (CO1) genes from moths (Lepidoptera) were distinguished using only 15 sub-sequences 20 nucleotides long, whereas only 8–10 sub-sequences 6–10 nucleotides long were required to distinguish the CO1 genes of 92 species from the 9 largest orders of insects. CONCLUSION: The presence/absence of sub-sequences in a set of gene sequences can be used like the questions in a traditional dichotomous taxonomic key; hybridisation probes complementary to such sub-sequences should provide a very efficient means for identifying individual species, subtypes or genotypes. Sequence diversity and sub-sequence length are the major factors that determine the numbers of distinguishing sub-sequences in any set of sequences

PATRISTIC: a program for calculating patristic distances and graphically comparing the components of genetic change

BACKGROUND: Phylogenies are commonly used to analyse the differences between genes, genomes and species. Patristic distances calculated from tree branch lengths describe the amount of genetic change represented by a tree and are commonly compared with other measures of mutation to investigate the substitutional processes or the goodness of fit of a tree to the raw data. Up until now no universal tool has been available for calculating patristic distances and correlating them with other genetic distance measures. RESULTS: PATRISTICv1.0 is a java program that calculates patristic distances from large trees in a range of file formats and allows graphical and statistical interpretation of distance matrices calculated by other programs. CONCLUSION: The software overcomes some logistic barriers to analysing signals in sequences. In additional to calculating patristic distances, it provides plots for any combination of matrices, calculates commonly used statistics, allows data such as isolation dates to be entered and reorders matrices with matching species or gene labels. It will be used to analyse rates of mutation and substitutional saturation and the evolution of viruses. It is available at and requires the Java runtime environment

Prevalence of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) in wild Red Deer (Cervus elaphus): coproantigen ELISA is a practicable alternative to faecal egg counting for surveillance in remote populations

Red deer (Cervus elaphus) are hosts of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica); yet, prevalence is rarely quantified in wild populations. Testing fresh samples from remote regions by faecal examination (FE) can be logistically challenging; hence, we appraise frozen storage and the use of a coproantigen ELISA (cELISA) for F. hepatica surveillance. We also present cELISA surveillance data for red deer from the Highlands of Scotland. Diagnoses in faecal samples (207 frozen, 146 fresh) were compared using a cELISA and by FE. For each storage method (frozen or fresh), agreement between the two diagnostics was estimated at individual and population levels, where population prevalence was stratified into cohorts (e.g., by sampling location). To approximate sensitivity and specificity, 65 post-slaughter whole liver examinations were used as a reference. At the individual level, FE and cELISA diagnoses agreed moderately (κfrozen = 0.46; κfresh = 0.51), a likely reflection of their underlying principles. At the population level, FE and cELISA cohort prevalence correlated strongly (Pearson’s R = 0.89, p < 0.0001), reflecting good agreement on relative differences between cohort prevalence. In frozen samples, prevalence by cELISA exceeded FE overall (42.8% vs. 25.8%) and in 9/12 cohorts, alluding to differences in sensitivity; though, in fresh samples, no significant difference was found. In 959 deer tested by cELISA across the Scottish Highlands, infection prevalence ranged from 9.6% to 53% by sampling location. We highlight two key advantages of cELISA over FE: i) the ability to store samples long term (frozen) without apparent loss in diagnostic power; and ii) reduced labour and the ability to process large batches. Further evaluation of cELISA sensitivity in red deer, where a range of fluke burdens can be obtained, is desirable. In the interim, the cELISA is a practicable diagnostic for F. hepatica surveillance in red deer, and its application here has revealed considerable geographic, temporal, sex and age related differences in F. hepatica prevalence in wild Scottish Highland red deer

A comparison of protocols for passive and discriminative avoidance learning tasks in the domestic chick

A one-trial learning task where chicks learn that a bead of a particular shape and/or colour has a bitter taste (100% Methyl anthranilate – MeA) and subsequently avoids it on test has been widely used by research groups across the world. However, there are some differences in the results reported by different research laboratories. One important difference is found when chicks are trained on a diluted bitter taste (10 or 20% MeA) such that memory is not consolidated and fades, e.g. memory lasts for 30 min at Monash University versus 4-6 hours at the Open University (OU). Differences in protocol that may explain this apparent discrepancy are whether the chicks have seen the bead before (novelty), and whether the colour or the shape of the bead is a more important feature. In this review, we discuss these and other factors that may contribute to the differences in the characteristics of memory processing between Monash and the OU, e.g. strain, hatchery or laboratory incubated chicks, age at training. It is clear that there is a difference between passive avoidance and discriminative avoidance and this may explain the differences in duration of the memory and the different stages. Is the OU task a more salient experience because of the novelty of the bead and therefore a 'stronger' learning experience? The different protocols may allow different questions to be addressed

Radiotherapy for Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Proximal Lower Extremity

Soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) is a histopathologically diverse group of tumors accounting for approximately 10,000 new malignancies in the US each year. The proximal lower extremity is the most common site for STS, accounting for approximately one-third of all cases. Coordinated multimodality management in the form of surgery and radiation is often critical to local control, limb preservation, and functional outcome. Based on a review of currently available Medline literature and professional experience, this paper provides an overview of the treatment of STS of the lower extremity with a particular focus on the modern role of radiotherapy