Repeatability and heritability of sperm competition outcomes in males and females of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Tribolium castaneum</Emphasis>

Differences among males in their success in achieving fertilisations when females mate with more than one partner are now recognised as an important target of sexual selection. However, very few studies have attempted to determine whether particular males are consistently successful in sperm competition and whether success in sperm competition is a heritable trait. Additionally, the potential heritability of female traits that influence the outcome of sperm competition has received only limited attention. Using the polyandrous beetle Tribolium castaneum, we examined repeatability of male success in sperm competition by mating pairs of males carrying different visible genetic markers to a string of different females. Males showed consistency in their ability to successfully transfer sperm to females, but not in their success in sperm competition. Furthermore, when we independently compared success in sperm competition of fathers with their sons, we found no evidence for heritability of this trait. Similarly, females that exhibited high or low first male sperm precedence did not tend to have daughters that showed the same pattern. Our results suggest that we should be wary of assuming that success in sperm competition is heritable through either sex.     

Health care system hazard vulnerability analysis: an assessment of all public hospitals in Abu Dhabi

Hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) is used to risk‐stratify potential threats, measure the probability of those threats, and guide disaster preparedness. The primary objective of this project was to analyse the level of disaster preparedness in public hospitals in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, utilising the HVA tool in collaboration with the Disaster Medicine Section at Harvard Medical School. The secondary objective was to review each facility's disaster plan and make recommendations based on the HVA findings. Based on the review, this article makes eight observations, including on the need for more accurate data; better hazard assessment capabilities; enhanced decontamination capacities; and the development of hospital‐specific emergency management programmes, a hospital incident command system, and a centralised, dedicated regional disaster coordination centre. With this project, HVAs were conducted successfully for the first time in health care facilities in Abu Dhabi. This study thus serves as another successful example of multidisciplinary emergency preparedness processes.     

Effect of dietary phytogenics (herbal mixture) supplementation on growth performance,nutrient utilization,antioxidative properties,and immune response in broilers

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This experiment was conducted to study that effect of a phytogenics (herbal mixture) supplementation as alternative to antibiotics on the growth...     

Natural organic compounds as alternative to methyl bromide for nematodes control

Thirty-three organic acids and furfural metabolites were examined for their nematicidal activity against plant-parasitic, free-living and predacious nematodes. Propionic acid, 2-methylhexanoic acid, lactic acid, maleic acid, and furic acid were the most effective nematicides among normal chain organic acids, branched organic acids, hydroxy/keto-acids, dicarboxylic acids and furfural metabolites, respectively. Seven of the tested compounds were found to have more than 90% mortality thus designating them as highly active nematicides. Of the highly active tested compounds, an average octanol/water log P of 0.97 was observed with a range from 0.28 to 2.64, and a Henry's Law constant averaging 2.6 x 10(- 7) atm.m3/mole. Tested chemicals with minor or low nematicidal activity showed an average log P of 1.76 with a range from 0.15 to 3.42 and a Henry's Law constant averaging 16.6 x 10(- 7) atm.m3/mole.     

Impacts of Alternative Manure Application Rates on Texas Animal Feeding Operations: A Macro Level Analysis1

Abstract: An integrated economic and environmental modeling system was developed for evaluating agro‐environmental policies and practices implemented on large scales. The modeling system, the Comprehensive Economic and Environmental Optimization Tool‐Macro Modeling System (CEEOT‐MMS), integrates the Farm‐level Economic Model (FEM) and the Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) model, as well as national databases and clustering and aggregation algorithms. Using micro simulations of statistically derived representative farms and subsequent aggregation of farm‐level results, a wide range of agricultural best management practices can be investigated within CEEOT‐MMS. In the present study, CEEOT‐MMS was used to evaluate the economic and water quality impacts of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) based manure application rates when implemented on all animal feeding operations in the State of Texas. Results of the study indicate that edge‐of‐field total P losses can be reduced by about 0.8 kg/ha/year or 14% when manure applications are calibrated to supply all of the recommended crop P requirements from manure total P sources only, when compared to manure applications at the recommended crop N agronomic rate. Corresponding economic impacts are projected to average a US$4,800 annual cost increase per farm. Results are also presented by ecological subregion, farm type, and farm size categories.     

Occurrence and concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in sewage sludge from three wastewater treatment plants in Kuwait

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations were measured in sewage sludge samples collected from three wastewater treatment plants in Kuwait over a six month period. PBDEs were detected in all samples analyzed and there were significant differences between the three wastewater treatment plants. The mean (and range) of summation PBDEs concentrations measured are as follows: Jahra 52.5 ng g(-1) (5.7-169.5 ng g(-1)); Reqqa, 144 ng g(-1) (32-296 ng g(-1)); Umm Haylaman, 377 ng g(-1) (23-1599 ng g(-1)). The differences in concentrations of the sum of penta congeners were consistently different at the three treatment plants with values increasing in the order: Jahra相似文献   

Environmental benefits and economic costs of manure incorporation on dairy waste application fields

Model simulations performed representing dairies in a 93000 ha watershed in north central Texas suggest that manure incorporation results in reduced phosphorus (P) losses at relatively small to moderate cost to producers. Simulated manure incorporation with a tandem disk on fields double-cropped with sorghum/winter wheat resulted in up to 33, 45, and 37% reductions in per hectare sediment-bound, soluble, and total P losses in edge-of-field runoff, relative to simulated surface manure applications. The effects of incorporation were evaluated at three different manure application rates. On aggregate across all three manure application rates, significant declines in P losses were obtained with incorporation except for sediment-bound P losses under the N-based manure application rate scenario.We found that the practice of incorporating manure shortly after it has been broadcast on the soil surface could help reduce P losses in such situations where P-based rates alone prove inadequate. The cost the producer incurs when manure is incorporated is on average about 1% of net returns when manure is applied at the N rate and 2-3% when it is applied at alternative P-based rates. In practice the costs could be lower because producers may substitute the manure incorporation operation for a tandem disk operation performed prior to manure application. As more and more dairy producers switch to the use of sorghum and corn silage in dairy rations and consequent on-farm production of these forages, the practice of manure incorporation may help to reduce phosphorus losses resulting from dairy manure applications to fields with these forage crops.     

Meiobenthic nematode Oncholaimus campylocercoides as a model in laboratory studies: selection,culture, and fluorescence microscopy after exposure to phenanthrene and chrysene

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Numerous studies have focused on the response of meiofauna after exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), but none has been devoted to...     

Test of APEX for nine forested watersheds in East Texas

Hydrologic/water quality models are increasingly used to explore management and policy alternatives for managing water quality and quantity from intensive silvicultural practices with best management practices (BMPs) in forested watersheds due to the limited number of and cost of conducting watershed monitoring. The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model was field-tested using 6 yr of data for flow, sediment, nutrient, and herbicide losses collected from nine small (2.58 to 2.74 ha) forested watersheds located in southwest Cherokee County in East Texas. Simulated annual average stream flow for each of the nine watersheds was within +/- 7% of the corresponding observed values; simulated annual average sediment losses were within +/- 8% of measured values for eight out of nine watersheds. Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (EF) values ranged from 0.68 to 0.94 based on annual stream flow comparison and from 0.60 to 0.99 based on annual sediment comparison. Similar to what was observed, simulated flow, sediment, organic N, and P were significantly increased on clear-cut watersheds compared with the control watersheds. APEX reasonably simulated herbicide losses, with an EF of 0.73 and R(2) of 0.74 for imazapyr, and EF of 0.65 and R(2) of 0.68 for hexazinone based on annual values. Overall, the results show that APEX was able to predict the effects of silvicultural practices with BMPs on water quantity and quality and that the model is a useful tool for simulating a variety of responses to forest conditions.