Effects of sprayer configuration on efficacy for the control of scab on crabapple using electron beam analysis

Foliar diseases like apple scab result in significant economic losses to growers each year. Assessment in past studies involved only macroscopic disease ratings. More complete knowledge of the fate and behavior of fungicide has been needed to reduce pesticide use with less off‐target contamination. Field studies were conducted in a production nursery for over 4 years. A moderately susceptible cultivar of ornamental crabapple, Malus spp. cv “Candied Apple”, was sprayed with a fungicide using two sprayer/nozzle configurations. The fungicide used in this study was Mankocide, combination of Cu(OH)₂ and mancozeb that permitted electron beam analysis (EBA) identification based on the presence of Cu, MN and Zn in the molecule and formulation. EBA was conducted using a cold field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x‐ray microanalyzer. Fresh leaf samples were placed on sticky stubs after each fungicide treatment. The presence or absence of fungal conidia and fungicide residue were measured. EBA permitted direct visualization and identification of the pathogens, morphologically, and chemical characterization of fungicide present. EBA was useful to quantify disease control related to fungicide coverage, sprayer configuration and treatment efficacy. SCANNING 31: 24–27, 2009. Published 2009 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Dynamics of ammonia volatilization from simulated urine patches and aqueous urea applied to pasture. III. Field verification of a simplified model

Published field experimental data [11, 15, 19] were used to compare measured NH_3(g) losses following applications of urine or aqueous urea to pasture soils with values predicted by a simplified ammonia volatilization model [16]. Total measured losses were generally in close agreement with predictions. For example, predicted losses following applications of urine to a ryegrass-white clover pasture in Canterbury, New Zealand were 20.7% in summer and 22.4% in autumn and were highly correlated with measured losses of 21.5% and 24.4% respectively (r = 0.998).The model was also tested for instantaneous rate of ammonia gas loss at 33 discrete sampling times for the summer experiment. Correlations were again highly significant (r = 0.951 for urine and r = 0.885 for urea).The interception of urine solution by herbage and litter on the pasture surface is discussed and was shown to account for some of the discrepancies between measurements and predictions. Soil surface pH was confirmed as an important factor in determining the extent of ammonia gas loss, and the practicalities of measuring this parameter under field conditions are presented. It was concluded that the model offers the potential for predicting ammonia volatilization losses following urine or aqueous urea applications to short pasture in non-leaching, non-nitrifying environments.     

Hormone changes in relation to the time of fetal death after prostaglandin-induced abortion

The changes in unconjugated estradiol-17beta and estriol, progesterone and chorionic somatomammotropin (HCS) in peripheral plasma have been studied in 18 women at 30-minute intervals following intra-uterine prostaglandin E2 administration for therapeutic termination of second trimester pregnancy. The hormonal changes were related to the time of fetal death detected by the disappearance of fetal heart pulsations. Prostaglandin E2 was given by the intra-amniotic route with urea (5 patients) or with intravenous oxytocin (5 patients), or by the extra-amniotic route with intravenous oxytocin (8 patients). Fetal death occurred rapidly with intra-amniotic PGE2, but usually at a late stage with extra-amniotic PGE2. Three fetuses in the extra-amniotic group died at or just before abortion. A variety of fetal heart changes were noted and the time of fetal death did not appear to influence the time of abortion within each treatment subgroup. Estradiol and estriol showed a sligh but persistent fall over 24 hours prior to induction of abortion. A more rapid fall usually occurred after induction, with a consistent fall around the time of fetal death. Progesterone and HCS usually fell much less before and immediately after fetal death. A marked rise in estradiol sometimes occurred before fetal death, particularly in the intraamniotic PGE2 and urea subgroup. Estriol levels declined more rapidly before than after fetal death, whereas fetal death had less consistent effects on the other hormones. All hormones had usually fallen considerably at the time of abortion, and in some individuals marked fluctuations in hormone levels were seen.     

Value of bone marrow biopsy in the diagnosis of amyloidosis

Amyloid involvement of the bone marrow is not commonly diagnosed before necropsy. Paraffin sections of the trephine bone biopsy specimen are superior to marrow aspiration cell smears for the antemortem diagnosis. Thirteen cases of amyloidosis were diagnosed from the bone biopsy specimen during a ten-year period. Amyloid was detected in only two of the corresponding aspirates. Three morphologic patterns of marrow involvement were found: vascular, focal extravascular/perivascular, and diffuse. Five (38%) of the cases were associated with multiple myeloma. An abnormal immunoglobulin was detected in the serum or urine or both in ten of 11 cases when determined. Although the bone marrow may not be the best site for the diagnosis of amyloidosis, it should not be neglected and marrow biopsies taken for other diagnostic reasons may "incidentally" reveal amyloid. Amyloidosis should be included in the list of non-primary hematologic conditions of the bone marrow in which the trephine biopsy may prove useful for diagnosis.     

Kinetics of populations of enterocytes of experimental tumors of the large intestine in rats

To determine whether somatostatin, an inhibitor of glucagon and growth hormone secretion, might be useful as an adjunct to insulin the management of diabetic hyperglycaemia, seven insulin-requiring diabetic men were given somatostatin (100 microgram/h, IV) continuously for 3 days after their diabetes had been treated intensively by diet and insulin on a metabolic ward. During infusion of somatostatin and despite reduction in average insulin dose exceeding 50%, there was improvement in diabetic control as assessed by postprandial hyperglycaemia, 24-h glycosuria and the average daily serum glucose level and its fluctuation; when somatostatin was discontinued, but insulin doses held constant, diabetic control rapidly worsened. No adverse effects were observed. These results indicate that somatostatin plus insulin can be a more effective regimen than insulin alone in controlling diabetic hyperglycaemia. A longer acting and more selective somatostatin preparation may prove useful as an adjunct to insulin in the management of diabetes.     

The dominance of arginine-containing peptides in MALDI-derived tryptic mass fingerprints of proteins.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) is a powerful tool for mass finger-printing of peptide mixtures obtained after enzymatic ingel digestion of proteins separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE). In the course of a proteome analysis of mycobacteria using mass spectrometric identification, it was found that 94% of the most intense MALDI-MS peaks denote peptides bearing arginine at the C-terminal end. The effect was demonstrated to be equally prominent using an equimolar mixture of the synthetic peptides known to be present in the tryptic digest of the mycobacterial 35 kDa antigen ("synthetic mass map"). In addition, several binary mixtures of synthetic peptides differing exclusively at the C terminus (Arg or Lys) were examined to rationalize the higher sensitivity toward arginine-containing peptides. The extent of the effect described depends on the matrix used and may facilitate a more reliable assignment of mass fingerprint data to protein sequences in databases.