COVER CROPS FROM WINTER WHEAT, TRITICALE AND PEAS CULTIVATED IN PURE STANDS AND MIXTURES – SOIL AND WEED SUPPRESSION BENEFITS

Cover crops had shown a potential to improving carbon sequestration in soil and environmental quality, but these beneficial effects can be modulated by precipitation conditions. In this paper was evaluated the effectiveness of three cover crops on soil chemical properties and weed suppression. The experiments were performed on cambic chernozem soil from NARDI Fundulea Romania in two contrasting years regarding the amount of precipitation. Three cover crops were studied. The cover crop consisting of peas + triticale has increased more soil carbon content and infestation with weeds were lower as compared with cover crop consisting of peas or triticale. The differences concerning carbon sequestration, soil organic carbon, carbon to nitrogen ratio, weed suppression were influenced also by level of precipitations from experimental site. Cover crops were slow to impact C/N ratio of soil. In contrast, the floristic composition, and the degree of weed infestation were very significantly influenced by the composition of the cover crops. The use of cover crop mixtures offered an additional benefit to weed suppression that of individual cover crops

FORAGE MIXTURES WITH ALFALFA CULTIVARS, PERENNIAL GRASSES AND ANETHUM GRAVEOLENS

Fodder crops consisting of several species are a way to obtain very good quality feed. They have been used more and more recently in Europe because, in addition to the superiority of feed production and quality, sowing mixtures of several species can lead to a significant reduction in the need for nitrogen fertilizer, an increase in performance and animal health. In Romania, there are few studies on the use of multi-species feed mixtures to reduce dependence on expensive inputs in order to increase the profitability and quality of feed, in organic agriculture production system. The objective was to compare forage yield, degree of coverage and weed infestation of alfalfa single crop and perennial grasses mixtures, which include 10 synthetic alfalfa cultivars and 5 varieties, grasses (a cultivar of Dactylis glomerata, Festuca arundinacea, Phleum pratense), mixed with herb Anethum graveolens. A field experiment was established in 2022 in the experimental field of the Center for Organic Agriculture at NARDI Fundulea. The results showed that mixtures of alfalfa with dill and festuca had a higher yield than alfalfa in pure crop. Anethum graveolens seeded with forage mixtures proved the efficacy as a natural repellent of Hypera variabilis in the first year of crop. In general, alfalfa-grass mixtures had beside higher feed yields and lower weed and pests infestations than alfalfa monocultures or mixtures of two species

Rat Animal Model of Pectus Excavatum

Background: pectus excavatum (PE) is the most common congenital deformity of the thoracic wall. Lately, significant achievements have been made in finding new, less invasive treatment methods for PE. However, most of the experimental work was carried out without the help of an animal model. In this report we describe a method to create an animal model for PE in Sprague-Dawley rats. Methods: We selected 15 Sprague-Dawley rat pups and divided them into two groups: 10 for the experimental group (EG) and 5 for the control group (CG). We surgically resected the last four pairs of costal cartilages in rats from the EG. The animals were assessed by CT-scan prior to surgery and weekly for four consecutive weeks. After four weeks, the animals were euthanized and the thoracic cage was dissected from the surrounding tissue. Results: On the first postoperative CT, seven days after surgery, we observed a marked depression of the lower sternum in all animals from the EG. This deformity was present at every CT-scan after surgery and at the post-euthanasia assessment. Conclusions: By decreasing the structural strength of the lower costal cartilages, we produced a PE animal model in Sprague-Dawley rats

Comparison of Type I and Type III Collagen Concentration between <i>Oreochromis mossambicus</i> and <i>Oreochromis niloticus</i> in Relation to Skin Scaffolding

Background and Objectives: Skin scaffolding can be done using allografts and autografts. As a biological allograft, the skin of Oreochromis niloticus (ON) has been used due to its high type I and III collagen content. Oreochromis mossambicus (OM) is also a member of the Oreochromis family, but not much is known regarding its collagen content. As such, this study aimed to assess and compare the collagen content of the two fish species. Materials and Methods: This is a crossover study comparing the skin collagen contents of the two fish. Young fish were chosen, as they tend to have higher collagen concentrations. The skin samples were sterilized in chlorhexidine and increasing glycerol solutions and analyzed histochemically with Sirius red picrate under polarized light microscopy. Results: 6 young ON and 4 OM specimens were used. Baseline type I collagen was higher for OM, but at maximum sterilization it was higher for ON, with no differences in between Type III collagen was higher for OM across all comparisons with the exception of the last stage of sterilization. Generally, collagen concentrations were higher in highly sterilized samples. Conclusions: OM skin harvested from young fish, with its greater collagen III content may be a better candidate for use as a biological skin scaffold in the treatment of burn wounds, compared to ON