Effects of Melatonin Implants During Non‐Breeding Season on Sperm Motility and Reproductive Parameters in Rasa Aragonesa Rams     

A Casao  S Vega  I Palacín  R Pérez‐Pe  A Laviña  FJ Quintín  E Sevilla  JA Abecia  JA Cebrián‐Pérez  F Forcada  T Muiño‐Blanco 《Reproduction in domestic animals》2010,45(3):425-432

The effect of melatonin implants administered during non‐breeding season in Rasa Aragonesa rams on sperm motility parameters and other reproductive traits was assessed. In a first experiment, two Rasa Aragonesa rams were implanted (with melatonin group M), remaining other two males as control group (C). Semen of each group was collected from 1 May to 23 June, twice or three times a week, and motility parameters were assessed using a computer‐assisted sperm analysis system. Melatonin increased the percentage of progressive motile spermatozoa, particularly during 46–75 days after melatonin implantation (p < 0.01). In experiment 2, M and C in vitro fertilization ability had been determined by zona‐pellucida binding assays, using spermatozoa from experiment 1, obtained 60–70 days after melatonin was implanted. A significantly higher number of spermatozoa attached per oocyte was observed in frozen‐thawed immature ovine oocytes incubated with sperm from M animals than in those incubated with sperm from the C group (p < 0.01). Finally, a field assay (experiment 3) was performed. In this case, five Rasa Aragonesa rams were implanted with melatonin and three remained as control group. Sperm doses from those animals were used for artificial insemination of 2608 Rasa Aragonesa ewes from 39 different farms at non‐breeding season. Fertility, litter size and fecundity were studied. Semen from melatonin implanted rams seemed to increase both fertility and fecundity in ewes inseminated with spermatozoa obtained 46–60 days after implantation (p < 0.1). Thus, melatonin treatment in rams during non‐breeding season modifies sperm motility parameters and seems to improve the fertilization parameters obtained.  相似文献   

Behavioural responses of the maize weevil,Sitophilus zeamais,to host (stored‐grain) and non‐host plant volatiles     

Donald A Ukeh  Michael A Birkett  Toby JA Bruce  Eunice J Allan  John A Pickett  A Jennifer Mordue 《Pest management science》2010,66(1):44-50

BACKGROUND: Four‐arm olfactometer bioassays were conducted to assess the behavioural responses of the adult maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), to harvested seeds of host plants, i.e. white maize, yellow maize (Zea mays L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (Poaceae), and non‐host plant materials, i.e. alligator pepper, Aframomum melegueta (Rosk) K. Schum (Zingiberaceae), rhizomes of ginger, Zingiber officinale (Roscoe) (Zingiberaceae), and West African black pepper, Piper guineense Thonn and Schum (Piperaceae). Additional bioassays with host plant volatiles were conducted in the presence of three doses of non‐host plant materials. RESULTS: Both sexes of the weevil showed strong attraction to maize and wheat seed volatiles, but were significantly repelled (P < 0.001) by odours from A. melegueta, Z. officinale and P. guineense. Furthermore, S. zeamais avoided maize and wheat seeds presented in combination with the non‐host plant material at 10% (w/w) and 33% (w/w) levels. CONCLUSIONS: A. melegueta, Z. officinale and P. guineense have the potential for use in the protection of stored grains by resource‐poor farmers with local access to these plants. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry  相似文献   

Off-axis crustal thickness across and along the east pacific rise within the MELT area   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

JP Canales  RS Detrick  S Bazin  AJ Harding  JA Orcutt 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1998,280(5367):1218-1221

Wide-angle seismic data along the Mantle Electromagnetic and Tomography (MELT) arrays show that the thickness of 0.5- to 1. 5-million-year-old crust of the Nazca Plate is not resolvably different from that of the Pacific Plate, despite an asymmetry in depth and gravity across this portion of the East Pacific Rise. Crustal thickness on similarly aged crust on the Nazca plate near a magmatically robust part of the East Pacific Rise at 17 degrees15'S is slightly thinner (5.1 to 5.7 kilometers) than at the 15 degrees55'S overlapping spreading center (5.8 to 6.3 kilometers). This small north-south off-axis crustal thickness difference may reflect along-axis temporal variations in magma supply, whereas the across-axis asymmetry in depth and gravity must be caused by density variations in the underlying mantle.  相似文献   

The Quantum Event of Oceanic Crustal Accretion: Impacts of Diking at Mid-Ocean Ridges     

JR Delaney  DS Kelley  MD Lilley  DA Butterfield  JA Baross  WSD Wilcock  RW Embley  M Summit 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1998,281(5374):222-230

Seafloor diking-eruptive events represent the irreducible, quantum events of upper oceanic crustal accretion. They record events by which a large portion of the oceanic crust has formed through geological history. Since 1993, the U.S. Navy's real-time Sound Surveillance System has allowed location of ongoing acoustic signatures of dike emplacement and basalt eruptions at ridge crests in the northeast Pacific. These diking-eruptive events trigger a sequence of related, rapidly evolving physical, chemical, and biological processes. Magmatic volatiles released during these events may provide nutrients for communities of subseafloor microorganisms, some of which thrive in high-temperature anaerobic environments. Many of the organisms identified from these systems are Archaea. If microorganisms can thrive in the water-saturated pores and cracks within deep, volcanically active portions of our planet, other hydrothermally active planets may harbor similar life forms.  相似文献   

Magnetic Field and Plasma Observations at Mars: Initial Results of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

MH Acu?a  JEP Connerney  P Wasilewski  RP Lin  KA Anderson  CW Carlson  J McFadden  DW Curtis  D Mitchell  H Reme  C Mazelle  JA Sauvaud  C d'Uston  A Cros  JL Medale  SJ Bauer  P Cloutier  M Mayhew  D Winterhalter  NF Ness 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》1998,279(5357):1676-1680

The magnetometer and electron reflectometer investigation (MAG/ER) on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has obtained magnetic field and plasma observations throughout the near-Mars environment, from beyond the influence of Mars to just above the surface (at an altitude of approximately 100 kilometers). The solar wind interaction with Mars is in many ways similar to that at Venus and at an active comet, that is, primarily an ionospheric-atmospheric interaction. No significant planetary magnetic field of global scale has been detected to date (<2 x 10(21) Gauss-cubic centimeter), but here the discovery of multiple magnetic anomalies of small spatial scale in the crust of Mars is reported.  相似文献   

Benign masses in the pericardium of two dogs   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

DJ SIMPSON  GB HUNT  DB CHURCH  JA BECK 《Australian veterinary journal》1999,77(4):225-229

Two miniature Schnauzer dogs were treated for pericardial masses. In one dog the mass consisted of necrotic fat that was attached to the apex of the pericardium by a pedicle. No obvious communication with the abdomen was present. The second dog had a peritoneopericardial hernia associated with a chronic cystic haematoma. In each case the mass was presumed to have arisen following congenital displacement of the omentum into the pericardium. The pericardial mass was removed and subtotal pericardectomy performed in both dogs. Recovery was complete in each case.  相似文献   

BOOK REVIEWS     

CP STEPHENS  JA GIBSON  PJ BLACKALL 《Australian veterinary journal》1990,67(12):466-466

Book reviewed in this article:
Guide to the Dissection of Domestic Ruminants . RE Habel
Biology and Medicine of Rabbits and Rodents . JE Harkness and JF Wagner  相似文献   

Inorganic mercury poisoning in a dog     

JA GREENWOOD  VP STUDDERT  ND SULLIVAN 《Australian veterinary journal》1990,67(11):421-422

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Porcine pleuropneumonia in Australian pigs due to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serovar 5     

CP STEPHENS  JA GIBSON  PJ BLACKALL 《Australian veterinary journal》1990,67(12):462-462

Book reviewed in this article: Guide to the Dissection of Domestic Ruminants . RE Habel Biology and Medicine of Rabbits and Rodents . JE Harkness and JF Wagner  相似文献   

Giardia infection in budgerigars     

LJ FILIPPICH  PA McDONNELL  E. MUNOZ  JA UPCROFT 《Australian veterinary journal》1998,76(4):246-249

Budgerigars ( Melopsittacus undulatus ) from two different breeding colonies were found to have Giardia infection. Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and in-vitro and in-vivo studies confirmed the species was G psittaci . Chicks were clinically affected and showed signs of retarded growth, dehydration and diarrhoea. The faeces of adult birds treated with metronidazole in drinking water were negative for Giardia 5 days after treatment. Megabacteria were also found in adult birds but were not treated. This study extends the known host range for Giardia in Australia to include budgerigars.  相似文献