bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Treatment of experimental arthritis by inducing immune tolerance with human adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cells
Authors: González Manuel A. , Gonzalez‐Rey Elena , Rico Laura , Büscher Dirk , Delgado Mario
Published: March 2009

Objective

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease caused by loss of immunologic self tolerance and characterized by chronic joint inflammation. Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were recently found to suppress effector T cell responses and to have beneficial effects in various immune disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine a new therapeutic strategy for RA based on the administration of human adipose‐derived MSCs (AD‐MSCs).

Methods

DBA/1 mice with collagen‐induced arthritis were treated with human AD‐MSCs after disease onset, and clinical scores were determined. Inflammatory response was determined by measuring the levels of different mediators of inflammation in the joints and serum. The Th1‐mediated autoreactive response was evaluated by determining the proliferative response and cytokine profile of draining lymph node cells stimulated with the autoantigen. The number of Treg cells and the suppressive capacity on self‐reactive Th1 cells were also determined.

Results

Systemic infusion of human AD‐MSCs significantly reduced the incidence and severity of experimental arthritis. This therapeutic effect was mediated by down‐regulating the 2 deleterious disease components: the Th1‐driven autoimmune and inflammatory responses. Human AD‐MSCs decreased the production of various inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, decreased antigen‐specific Th1/Th17 cell expansion, and induced the production of antiinflammatory interleukin‐10 in lymph nodes and joints. Human AD‐MSCs also induced de novo generation of antigen‐specific CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg cells with the capacity to suppress self‐reactive T effector responses.

Conclusion

Human AD‐MSCs emerge as key regulators of immune tolerance by inducing the generation/activation of Treg cells and are thus attractive candidates for a cell‐based therapy for RA.
CTLA4/ICOS gene variants and haplotypes are associated with rheumatoid arthritis and primary biliary cirrhosis in the Canadian population
Authors: Walker Erin J. , Hirschfield Gideon M. , Xu Chun , Lu Yan , Liu Xiangdong , Lu Yue , Coltescu Catalina , Wang Kesheng , Newman William G. , Bykerk Vivian , Keystone Edward C. , Mosher Dianne , Amos Christopher I. , Heathcote E. Jenny , Siminovitch Katherine A.
Published: March 2009

Objective

The co‐occurrence of different autoimmune diseases in patients and their families suggests the presence of shared genetic risk factors. Two compelling candidate autoimmune disease susceptibility genes are those that encode CTLA4 and inducible costimulator (ICOS), immunoregulatory proteins. Associations of CTLA4 polymorphisms with various autoimmune diseases have been reported, but for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), the association data are inconsistent and have largely excluded analysis of polymorphisms in the ICOS gene adjacent to CTLA4. We undertook this study to examine whether CTLA4 and ICOS influence RA and PBC susceptibility by testing CTLA4/ICOS polymorphisms for association with these diseases in Canadian subjects.

Methods

Caucasian RA patients (n = 1,140), PBC patients (n = 481), and controls (n = 1,248) were typed for 21 biallelic polymorphisms across the CTLA4/ ICOS genes using a multiplex genotyping array, and the results were analyzed using a false discovery rate method to correct for multiple testing.

Results

Significant associations of multiple CTLA4 and ICOS gene polymorphisms with RA and PBC were observed, with the strongest association signals for both diseases coming from a CTLA4/ICOS intergenic single‐nucleotide polymorphism, rs17268364 (corrected P [Pcorr] = 6.0 × 10–4 and Pcorr < 1.0 × 10–4, respectively). Significant associations, which were common to both diseases, were also observed with other alleles and haplotypes across 3 linkage disequilibrium blocks within the CTLA4 gene, the intergenic region, and the ICOS gene.

Conclusion

Our results provide evidence for RA and PBC association with the CTLA4/ICOS locus and suggest that the risk allele(s) within this region may be common to both diseases.
An exact multinomial test for equivalence
Authors: Frey Jesse
Published: March 2009

Existing equivalence tests for multinomial data are valid asymptotically, but the $\alpha$ level is not properly controlled for small and moderate sample sizes. We resolve this difficulty by developing an exact multinomial test for equivalence and an associated confidence interval procedure. We also derive a conservative version of the test that is easy to implement even for very large sample sizes. Both tests use a notion of equivalence that is based on the cumulative distribution function, with two probability vectors being considered equivalent if their partial sums never differ by more than some specified constant. We illustrate the methods by applying them to Weldon's dice data, to data on the digits of $\pi$, and to data collected by Mendel. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 37: 47–59; © 2009 Statistical Society of Canada
Nonparametric estimation of the shape function in a Gamma process for degradation data
Authors: Wang Xiao
Published: March 2009

The author considers estimation under a Gamma process model for degradation data. The setting for degradation data is one in which n independent units, each with a Gamma process with a common shape function and scale parameter, are observed at several possibly different times. Covariates can be incorporated into the model by taking the scale parameter as a function of the covariates. The author proposes using the maximum pseudo‐likelihood method to estimate the unknown parameters. The method requires usage of the Pool Adjacent Violators Algorithm. Asymptotic properties, including consistency, convergence rate and asymptotic distribution, are established. Simulation studies are conducted to validate the method and its application is illustrated by using bridge beams data and carbon‐film resistors data. The Canadian Journal of Statistics 37: 102‐118; 2009 © 2009 Statistical Society of Canada
An activating mutation in the PDGF receptor alpha results in embryonic lethality caused by malformation of the vascular system
Authors: Kurth Patricia , Moenning Anne , Jäger Richard , Beine Gaby , Schorle Hubert
Published: March 2009

Platelet‐derived growth factors (PDGF) and their receptors control cell proliferation, survival, and migration. To test the influence of an oncogenic mutation to embryonic development, a transgenic mouse line expressing PDGFRα (D842V) was established and analyzed. Most of the embryos die on embryonic day 12.5 due to massive hemorrhages in the trunk. In mesenchymal cells of mutant animals, proliferation is decreased while apoptosis is increased. Further analyses reveal that the aortic blood vessels are enlarged showing a reduced numbers of vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMC) around the aorta. We hypothesize that the process of aortic wall formation is impaired, leading to subsequent rupture and leakage of the blood vessel resulting in death of the embryos. We speculate that misexpression of PDGFRα in SMCs causes failure of vSMC recruitment to the aorta. Developmental Dynamics 238:1064–1072, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Spatio‐temporal dynamics of theta oscillations in hippocampal–entorhinal slices
Authors: Cappaert N.L.M. , Lopes da Silva F.H. , Wadman W.J.
Published: March 2009

Theta oscillations (4–12 Hz) are associated with learning and memory and are found in the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex (EC). The spatio‐temporal organization of rhythmic activity in the hippocampal–EC complex was investigated in vitro. The voltage sensitive absorption dye NK3630 was used to record the changes in aggregated membrane voltage simultaneously from the neuronal networks involved. Oscillatory activity at 7.0 Hz (range, 5.8–8.2) was induced in the slice with the muscarinic agonist carbachol (75–100 μM) in the presence of bicuculline (5 μM). Time relations between all recording sites were analyzed using cross‐correlation functions which revealed systematic phase shifts in the theta oscillation recorded from the different entorhinal and hippocampal subregions. These phase shifts could be interpreted as propagation delays. The oscillation propagates over the slice in a characteristic spatio‐temporal sequence, where the entorhinal cortex leads, followed by the subiculum and then the dentate gyrus (DG), to finally reach the CA3 and the CA1 area. The delay from dentate gyrus to the CA3 area was 12.4 ± 1.1 ms (mean ± s.e.m.) and from the CA3 to the CA1 region it was 10.9 ± 1.9 ms. The propagation delays between the hippocampal subregions resemble the latencies of electrically evoked responses in the same subregions. Removing the entorhinal cortex from the slice changed the spatiotemporal pattern into a more clustered pattern with higher local synchrony. We conclude that in the slice, carbachol‐induced theta oscillations are initiated in the entorhinal cortex. The EC could serve to control the information flow through the neuronal network in the subregions of the hippocampus by synchronizing and/or entraining their responses to external inputs. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
First‐order exchange coefficient coupling for simulating surface water–groundwater interactions: parameter sensitivity and consistency with a physics‐based approach
Authors: Ebel Brian A. , Mirus Benjamin B. , Heppner Christopher S. , VanderKwaak Joel E. , Loague Keith
Published: March 2009

Distributed hydrologic models capable of simulating fully‐coupled surface water and groundwater flow are increasingly used to examine problems in the hydrologic sciences. Several techniques are currently available to couple the surface and subsurface; the two most frequently employed approaches are first‐order exchange coefficients (a.k.a., the surface conductance method) and enforced continuity of pressure and flux at the surface‐subsurface boundary condition. The effort reported here examines the parameter sensitivity of simulated hydrologic response for the first‐order exchange coefficients at a well‐characterized field site using the fully coupled Integrated Hydrology Model (InHM). This investigation demonstrates that the first‐order exchange coefficients can be selected such that the simulated hydrologic response is insensitive to the parameter choice, while simulation time is considerably reduced. Alternatively, the ability to choose a first‐order exchange coefficient that intentionally decouples the surface and subsurface facilitates concept‐development simulations to examine real‐world situations where the surface‐subsurface exchange is impaired. While the parameters comprising the first‐order exchange coefficient cannot be directly estimated or measured, the insensitivity of the simulated flow system to these parameters (when chosen appropriately) combined with the ability to mimic actual physical processes suggests that the first‐order exchange coefficient approach can be consistent with a physics‐based framework. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
MCF‐7 human mammary adenocarcinoma cells exhibit augmented responses to human insulin on a collagen IV surface
Authors: Listov‐Saabye Nicolai , Jensen Marianne Blirup , Kiehr Benedicte , Hansen Erik W. , Svendsen Jette E. , Lundby Anders , Holm Gitte‐Mai Nelander , Oleksiewicz Martin B.
Published: March 2009

Human mammary cell lines are extensively used for preclinical safety assessment of insulin analogs. However, it is essentially unknown how mitogenic responses can be optimized in mammary cell‐based systems. We developed an insulin mitogenicity assay in MCF‐7 human mammary adenocarcinoma cells, under low serum (0.1% FCS) and phenol red‐free conditions, with 3H thymidine incorporation as endpoint. Based on EC50 values determined from 10‐fold dilution series, β‐estradiol was the most potent mitogen, followed by human IGF‐1, human AspB10 insulin and native human insulin. AspB10 insulin was significantly more mitogenic than native insulin, validating the ability of the assay to identify hypermitogenic human insulin analogs. With MCF‐7 cells on a collagen IV surface, the ranking of mitogens was maintained, but fold mitogenic responses and dynamic range and steepness of dose–response curves were increased. Also, PI3K pathway activation by insulin was enhanced on a collagen IV surface. This study provided the first determination and ranking of the mitogenic potencies of standard reference compounds in an optimized MCF‐7 assay. The optimized MCF‐7 assay described here is of relevance for in vitro toxicological testing and carcinogenicity safety assessment of new insulin compounds. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Expression profiles of sex differentiation‐related genes during ontogenesis in the European sea bass acclimated to two different temperatures
Authors: Blázquez Mercedes , Navarro‐Martín Laia , Piferrer Francesc
Published: March 2009

The European sea bass is a teleost fish that lacks sex chromosomes and for which temperature influences sex ratios. However, correlation between temperature, developmental stage at a given age and sex‐specific gene expression is hampered by the lack of sex markers. To study this correlation, fish were exposed to feminizing (15°C) or masculinizing temperature (21°C) from 0–120 days post fertilization, throughout the thermosensitive period (TSP). Aromatase (cyp19a1a), 11β‐hydroxylase (cyp11b), androgen receptor (arb) and estrogen receptors (era, erb1 and erb2) were assessed by qPCR prior and during sex differentiation. Canonical discriminant analysis (CDA), with length—as proxy for developmental stage—and cyp19a1a expression as predictors, was validated and used to reliably assign gonadal sex to fish sampled within and outside the TSP. Differences in cyp19a1a and cyp11b expression could be detected 1‐month before the first signs of histological sex differentiation. Cyp19a1a and cyp11b were significantly higher in future females and males, respectively, and revealed as robust molecular markers to predict future ovarian and testicular differentiation. In contrast, no association between phenotypic sex and arb, era, erb1 and erb2 expression was found, suggesting that these genes do not contribute to the differentiation of a particular sex. The CDA‐based approach implemented here could be used to sex undifferentiated animals in species where genetic sex cannot be known owing to the lack of simple sex determining systems, as it is the case of many fish and reptiles with or without temperature‐dependent sex determination, and provide a useful tool to relate gene expression and phenotypic sex. J. Exp. Zool. (Mol. Dev. Evol.) 312B:686–700, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Opening the black box of cancer surgery quality: WebSMR and the Alberta experience
Authors: Mack L.A. , Bathe O.F. , Hebert M.A. , Tamano E. , Buie W.D. , Fields T. , Temple W.J.
Published: March 2009

A web‐based synoptic operative report, the WebSMR (Surgical Medical Record), was developed to define and improve the quality of cancer surgery. Surgeons accurately record the essential steps of an operation including important decision‐making in an analyzable format. Outcomes can be reviewed with provincial aggregates for quality improvement and maintenance of certification. Future synoptic pathology and follow‐up templates will open the “black box” of surgical processes to define quality indicators for the improvement of cancer outcomes. J. Surg. Oncol. 2009;99:525–530. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A theoretical investigation into dimethylcarbene and its diamino and diphosphino analogs: effects of cyclization and unsaturation on the stability and multiplicity
Authors: Kassaee M. Z. , Ghambarian M. , Musavi S. M. , Shakib F. A. , Momeni M. R.
Published: March 2009

High levels of ab initio and DFT calculations (B3LYP/6‐311++G**, B3LYP/AUG‐cc‐pVTZ, and CCSD(T)/6‐311++G** levels) coupled with isodesmic reactions are used to compare and contrast the multiplicities and relative stabilities of singlet (s) and triplet (t) acyclic carbenes, including: dimethylcarbene, diaminocarbene, and diphosphinocarbene along with their saturated and unsaturated cyclic ones. Cyclization is unfavorable for all acyclic carbenes while unsaturation of cyclic analogs appears favorable. The simultaneous cyclization and unsaturation of dimethylcarbene increases the singlet–triplet energy gap (ΔEs–t), while for diphosphinocarbene the situation is reversed. For diaminocarbene the increase of ΔEs–t is encountered only during cyclization. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The interplay between metal–metal bonds, four‐electron donor carbonyl groups, and five‐electron donor nitrosyl groups in highly unsaturated binuclear rhenium carbonyl nitrosyls
Authors: Xu Bing , Li Qian‐Shu , Xie Yaoming , King R. Bruce , Schaefer Henry F.
Published: March 2009

Optimization of structures for the highly unsaturated binuclear rhenium carbonyl nitrosyls Re2(NO)2(CO)n (n = 5, 4) using the MPW1PW91 and BP86 methods of density functional theory indicate complicated potential energy surfaces with eight singlet and three triplet energetically accessible structures for Re2(NO)2(CO)5 and 11 singlet and six triplet energetically accessible structures for Re2(NO)2(CO)4. The lowest energy structure for Re2(NO)2(CO)5 is a singlet predicted to have two bridging nitrosyl groups and a formal ReRe triple bond to give both rhenium atoms the favored 18‐electron configuration. However, other relatively low‐energy structures for Re2(NO)2(CO)5 are found with five‐electron donor bridging nitrosyl groups, four‐electron donor bridging carbonyl groups, and coordinatively unsaturated rheniumatoms. The lowest energy structures for Re2(NO)2(CO)4 are predicted to be unbridged structures having rhenium–rhenium distances short enough for formal triple or even quadruple bonds. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2009
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Domestic Violence Survivors' Experiences with Their Informal Social Networks
Authors: Trotter Jennifer L. , Allen Nicole E.
Published: March 2009

Informal social networks play a critical role in buffering the negative effects of stressful life events. For women experiencing the stress of a violent relationship, family and friends are among the first sources of support sought; however, reactions to the abuse by family and friends are not uniformly perceived as helpful by survivors. The current study takes a qualitative approach to examining the range of possible reactions survivors may encounter from their social networks regarding the abuse. Special attention is given to negative and mixed reactions, as they have previously been under‐examined in the literature. Findings suggest that survivors (N = 45) regularly experience negative and mixed reactions. Emergent themes suggest that both positive and negative reactions to abuse could be understood in four broad arenas: safety, emotional availability, input, and aid. However, positive and negative reactions emerged as distinct constructs within each arena; mixed reactions took multiple forms including being withinperson and withinnetwork.
ON GENERATORS AND PRESENTATIONS OF SEMIDIRECT PRODUCTS IN INVERSE SEMIGROUPS
Authors: DOMBI E. R. , RUŠKUC N.
Published: March 2009

In this paper we prove two main results. The first is a necessary and sufficient condition for a semidirect product of a semilattice by a group to be finitely generated. The second result is a necessary and sufficient condition for such a semidirect product to be finitely presented.
DIFFERENCES OF COMPOSITION OPERATORS ON THE BLOCH SPACE IN THE POLYDISC
Authors: FANG ZHONG-SHAN , ZHOU ZE-HUA
Published: March 2009

Let φ and ψ be holomorphic self-maps of the unit polydisc Un in the n-dimensional complex space, and denote by Cφ and Cψ the induced composition operators. This paper gives some simple estimates of the essential norm for the difference of composition operators Cφ−Cψ from Bloch space to bounded holomorphic function space in the unit polydisc. The compactness of the difference is also characterized.
Some factors affecting milk yield
Authors: Hammond J. , Sanders H. G.
Published: March 2009

(1) The variation of the total yields according to the month of calving is given, and causes for this variation are suggested from the mean lactation curves of cows calving in each month.

(2) A curve showing the effect of pregnancy on the lactation yield has been prepared and corrections are given for different lengths of service periods after calving—“100 days” being chosen as a standard, as that was found to be the average of all service periods obtained, and as it gives a calf at about the same time in the following year.

(3) The variation in yield as the cow gets older has been studied and corrections are given. The maximum yield appears to be reached at the fifth calf; it was found that service periods varied in a definite way with age.

(4) The effect of the dry period before calving on the subsequent yield is shown; “85 days” has been taken as a standard and corrections given accordingly; the standard was the mean of all dry periods obtained, but is probably above the average throughout the country.

(5) By applying these corrections, the variation of individual totals is reduced by approximately 20 per cent, and the number of lactations showing less than 5 per cent, variation is increased by 27·3 per cent.

(6) A brief review of other literature on the subject is given, and the results obtained in this paper are compared with those of other investigators.

The thanks of the authors are due to the members of the Penrith Milk Recording Society for the loan of their registers, which made this investigation possible, and to Mr Garnet, the Live Stock Officer of the district, and the Live Stock Branch, of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for the collection of the data; the authors are also greatly indebted to Mr G. Udny Yule, M.A., F.R.S., for much assistance in the purely statistical part of the work, and to Dr F. H. A. Marshall, F.R.S., for his advice during the course of the investigation.
A milling character of home-grown wheat
Authors: Greer E. N.
Published: March 2009

The records of the Home-Grown Wheat Committee, set up in 1901 by the National Association of British and Irish Millers, whose work continued up to 1938, dealt in the main with the trial of wheat for baking strength. Nevertheless, references to milling character were occasionally noted; for instance in 1923, Sir Albert Humphries, writing of his twenty-year trial on Red Fife wheat in England, states ‘Each lot, including those originally of very high moisture content, was found to possess the free milling characteristics of Manitoba wheat. … Stated differently, it may be said that each lot behaved in milling very differently from average English wheats, excluding Yeoman.’
Induced twin ovulations and multiple pregnancy in cattle
Authors: Hammond John
Published: March 2009

Cows were treated with various doses of pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin given either towards the end of the normal cycle, or prior to expression of the corpus luteum. The animals were kept under normal farm conditions; the object of treatment was to obtain twin ovulations and calvings.

Some success was achieved, but of the treatments tried none could be considered commercially worth while; many variants of treatment are possible and much more requires to be done. For practical application it is important that a treatment should not, or only rarely, result in more than three ovulations. The few cows reported in this paper which were pregnant and which had more than three corpora lutea aborted at about 5 months.

This work was carried out from the School of Agriculture, Cambridge, during tenure of a grant from the Agricultural Research Council. It was possible only through the help of those farmers who provided animals for experiment; I here record my indebtedness to them.
Sesame cake meal as a protein concentrate for laying pullets
Authors: Hale R. W. , Bolton W.
Published: March 2009

An experiment using eight pens each of twenty-five pullets was conducted to investigate the suitability of sesame cake meal as a protein concentrate for laying pullets. In meal mixtures supplying equal amounts of crude protein, sesame cake meal gave slightly lower production than fish meal and earthnut cake meal, but the differences were of doubtful statistical significance. Body weights appeared to be maintained less well on sesame cake meal, but only by an unimportant amount.

The authors thank Prof. R. G. Baskett for his advice and constructive criticism, and Miss M. E. Osborne for the care and attention devoted to the management of the pullets.
Studies on the storage of potatoes: I. Changes in composition during storage in clamps
Authors: Crook E. M. , Watson D. J.
Published: March 2009

Changes in the percentage of dry matter, sugars, starch and nitrogen present in Arran Banner and Majestic potato tubers during storage in clamps until July or later were studied in two seasons. In the first season, the ascorbic-acid content and the distribution of nitrogen between three fractions (insoluble, soluble coagulable, soluble non-coagulable) were also determined. In the second season, weighed samples of tubers were introduced into the clamps, so that changes in absolute amounts of the different constituents present in the tubers or sprouts could be measured. The effects of removing or retaining the soil cover on the clamps after early April were compared.
The growth of the alimentary tract of the fowl and the goose
Authors: Hallsworth E. G. , Coates J. I.
Published: March 2009

A study has been made of the internal volume of the different parts of the alimentary tract of geese and fowls.

It has been shown that although the adult geese were two or three times as heavy as the adult fowls, the mean total gut capacity, exclusive of the crop, was proportionately less. Although the gizzard was much greater in weight than in the fowl, its capacity in proportion to body weight is only half that of the fowl, whilst the caeca are relatively even smaller. The distended oesophagus of the goose, which replaces the crop of the fowl, was at all times smaller relative to body weight.

The gut capacities of both chicks and goslings increased rapidly when they began to feed, and reached a maximum, relative to body weight, within the first fortnight after hatching. At 16 weeks, the capacity of the alimentary canal had almost the same relation to body weight as in the adult.

In both, the small intestine constitutes the major proportion of the volume in the adult, being 33–40% in the fowl and more than 50% in the goose.

Feeding a diet containing 21% crude fibre and supplemented with procaine penicillin G produced chicks with relatively greater gut capacities, and this effect was enhanced by the concurrent inclusion of procaine penicillin G, but where the fibre was reduced to 17·4%, the gut capacities were not significantly different, in relation to body weight, than in the control group.

Histological examination of the wall of the gut of chickens raised on different diets showed marked abrasion on high-fibre diets, and a much thinner intestinal wall in those birds receiving antibiotic.
Liquid manure as a grassland fertilizer. I. The response to liquid manure and to dry fertilizer
Authors: Castle M. E. , Drysdale A. D.
Published: March 2009

1. A small-scale plot experiment was conducted for a 3-year period, 1958–60, to study the comparative effect of applications of liquid manure, water and dry fertilizer on the yield and quality of an established meadow fescue and white clover sward.

2. The liquid manure was collected from a cowshed and contained on average 0·23% N, 0·003% P2O6 and 0·48%K2O.

3. The treatments applied each year were: (1) control, no fertilizer; (2) and (3) a low and a high rate of water equal in weight to the liquid manure applied in treatments (4) and (5) respectively; (4) a low rate of liquid manure supplying 75 lb. nitrogen and 159 lb. K2O; (5) a high rate of liquid manure supplying 150 lb. nitrogen and 318 lb. K2O/acre; (6) and (7) liquid manure as in (4) and (5) plus 82 lb. P2O6/acre; (8) a low rate of normal dry fertilizer supplying 87 lb. nitrogen, 82 lb. P2O6 and 84 lb. K2O/acre; and (9) a high rate supplying 174 lb. nitrogen, 82 lb. P2O5 and 168 lb. K2O/acre.

All treatments were applied in five equal dressings each year, one for each cut, except the P2O5 which was applied twice a year.

4. The yields of herbage dry matter and crude protein were not affected by the water treatments, but both the liquid-manure and dry-fertilizer treatments caused significant increases in yield. The application of phosphate on the liquid-manure treatments had no significant effect on yields.

5. The crude-protein contents of the herbage on the different treatments did not show any large or consistent differences.

6. The botanical compositions of the swards were significantly different at the end of the third experimental year. On the liquid-manure treatments the content of clover had increased and the meadow fescue and dicotyledonous weeds decreased compared with the control. The mean content of clover in the swards at the end of the trial was 32, 18 and 15% on the liquid-manure, dry-fertilizer and control treatments respectively.

7. There were no major differences between either the pH values or the contents of P2O5 in samples of soil on the different treatments after 3 years, but the average K2O value on the control and two water treatments was almost half that on the high liquid-manure treatment.

8. The mineral contents of the herbage were determined. In 2 of the 3 years the liquid-manure treatments produced herbage with high K and lowered Ca, Mg and Na contents. The Mg content of the herbage on the four liquid-manure treatments averaged 0·26%.
The effect of gibberellic acid on the germination, growth and development of Trifolium repens L
Authors: Fletcher W. W. , Martin D. J.
Published: March 2009

1. Gibberellic acid had no effect on the germination of six species of small-seeded legumes.

2. Seven varieties of Trifolium repens L. plants were treated with gibberellic acid and their responses determined. All varieties showed an increase in petiole length and individual leaf area due to an increase in cell numbers; a decrease in stolon numbers and length was also noted. The total leaf area per plant remained unchanged. Total dry weight, shoot dry weight and root dry weight were each significantly reduced.

3. The stolons lost their normal diageotropic response and became negatively geotropic and it is postulated that the stoloniferous habit may be due to a gibberellic acid/indole-acetic acid interaction.

4. Because treated plants of Wild white clover closely resembled untreated plants of Ladino clover it is postulated that endogenous levels of gibberellins may play an important part in the development of varieties and in the evolutionary process as a whole.
Field experiments on the magnesium requirement of potatoes in Great Britain
Authors: Holmes M. R. J.
Published: March 2009

1. During the years 1954–57 thirty field experiments were carried out on the magnesium requirement of main crop potatoes; eighteen covered a range of typical potato soils while the remainder were sited on sands and loams. In nine of the experiments the effect of heavy applications of potash on magnesium requirements was also investigated.

2. Magnesium application to the seed-bed as kieserite raised yield in four of the experiments; the largest yield increase was 2·15 ton/acre of tubers from 45·lb./acre of MgO. Apart from these four experiments there was also a small mean increase in yield over all the remaining sites.

3. Application of a very high rate of potash depressed yield compared with a normal rate, but only in one experiment could this be attributed to induced magnesium deficiency, and there was no indication of such an effect in the average results.
The yields of barley following leys based on different grass species
Authors: Hammerton John L. , Edwards R. S.
Published: March 2009

In two earlier papers (Henderson, Edwards & Hammerton, 1962a, b) data on the yields of dry matter and crude protein obtained in an experiment carried out at Aberystwyth over the period 1954–56 were presented. The experiment compared the productivity of five leys, each based on a single grass species with white clover, at six levels of compound fertilizer, under a management regime of three cuts per annum. Subsequent to 1956 the fertilizer application and cutting regime were continued, but no yield data were collected. Early in 1960, the experimental area was ploughed up and sown to barley, in order to study the effects of the previous experimental treatments on arable productivity. Barley was also sown in 1961 and 1962, and the present paper is concerned with the yields of the three successive crops of barley.
Losses in the conservation of grassland herbage in lined trench silos:I. A comparison of long and lacerated silages made by the warm fermentation process
Authors: Brown W. O. , Kerr J. A. M.
Published: March 2009

A conservation experiment is described in which a comparison is made of quality and of nutrient losses in long and lacerated silages of warm fermentation type made in large lined trench silos. High losses of 29.5 and 34.7% of the dry matter in the long grass silages and 32.8 and 32.4% in the lacerated silages were recorded. Losses of starch equivalent were correspondingly high amounting to 43.3 and 49.5% in the long grass silages and 49.1 and 46.5% in the lacerated silages. The mean loss of dry matter in the effluent from the lacerated silages was 1.3% higher than in the long grass silages.
Effects of fertilizers and farmyard manure on swedes and turnips
Authors: Reith J. W. S. , Inkson R. H. E.
Published: March 2009

Thirty-eight experiments on swedes and turnips, using factorial designs without replication, were carried out to measure the responses and two-factor interactions produced by applying nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The effect of F.Y.M. was measured at fourteen of the centres.

The yield of tops was substantially increased by nitrogen. Phosphorus produced a moderate response but potassium had practically no effect on top growth.

The yield of roots showed small to moderately large responses to nitrogen in most experiments. There was a considerable variation in the rate required to produce the largest response, depending on the previous cropping of the field.

Phosphorus increased the yield of roots in all but four of the experiments and this nutrient generally had a greater effect than either nitrogen or potassium.

The response to potassium was significant in only half of the experiments and its effect on yield was normally less than that of nitrogen.

The two-factor interactions were practically without exception small and far from significant, the highest values usually occurring on responsive soils. The means show no interaction between nitrogen and phosphorus, and small positive interactions between nitrogen and potassium and between phosphorus and potassium.

F.Y.M. produced higher yields at the majority of the centres but had very little effect at some. At suboptimal P2O5 levels F.Y.M. tends to increase the response to nitrogen, but with adequate phosphorus this manure reduced the most profitable nitrogen rate. The response to phosphorus was markedly reduced by placing F.Y.M. in the bottom of the ridges but the effect of ploughing-in this manure during autumn or early winter on the phosphorus response was very small. In all experiments F.Y.M. produced a substantial reduction in the response to potassium.

As a result of the inadequate phosphorus rates these experiments do not provide satisfactory estimates of the amounts of nutrients supplied by F.Y.M. but suggest that 15 tons per acre will supply at least 15 lb. N, 15 lb. P2O5 and 70 lb K2O to the first crop grown after application.

The mineral composition of the roots showed large variations between crops grown on different soils. The application of a nutrient generally produced a small increase in its percentage in the roots. The nutrient uptakes showed a much greater apparent recovery of both nitrogen and potassium than of phosphorus.

The most profitable nutrient dressings have been calculated from these experiments, and at current prices about 65 lb. N, 125 lb. P2O5 and 125 lb. K2O should be about the average optimal rates per acre in the absence of F.Y.M. In the presence of a normal dressing of the latter suitable optimal rates seem to be about 50 lb. N, 110 lb. P2O5 and 55 lb. K2O.
A comparison of the chemical and dissectible carcass composition of New Zealand Romney Marsh ewes
Authors: Ulyatt M. J. , Barton R. A.
Published: March 2009

Data from the chemical and dissection analyses of thirty-nine New Zealand Romney Marsh ewe carcasses are presented and compared. One side of each carcass was dissected into muscle, fat, and bone and the other side was totally ground and chemically analysed for water, fat, protein, and ash. There were strong statistical relationships between the two methods of carcass analysis and accordingly the quicker and more simple chemical technique could replace dissection in many carcass studies.
The effect of different levels of nutrition during late pregnancy on the subsequent milk production of Blackface ewes and on the growth of their lambs
Authors: Peart J. N.
Published: March 2009

1. Using blood plasma FFA and ketone values to assess the nutritional state of individual ewes, high (H), medium (M) and low (L) planes of nutrition were imposed on 3 groups of Blackface ewes during pregnancy. By this method, ewes bearing single or twin foetuses were equally well or severely undernourished within treatment groups. The effects of these planes of nutrition during pregnancy have been assessed in terms of milk production, lamb growth, and live-weight changes by the ewes duriug their subsequent lactation. Immediately after parturition all ewes were individually fed a pelleted food ad lib. and their voluntary food intakes recorded. From 5 weeks of age individual voluntary intakes of solid food by the lambs were also recorded. Because of insufficient pen accommodation group-M ewes and lambs were discarded after 5 weeks of lactation.
The use of fats in pig rations
Authors: Bayley H. S. , Lewis D.
Published: March 2009

1. An experiment has been carried out using 64 pigs individually fed. They received a common ‘grower’ ration to 120 lb. live weight and were then divided into four groups. The ‘finisher’ rations contained 0, 2·5, 5 or 10% fat.

2. The rations containing more fat also had a higher protein content and the scales of feeding were so arranged that the pigs received the same daily intake of protein and ‘energy’.

3. The growth rate was slightly more rapid with the fat-supplemented diets and the carcass characteristics were not in any way impaired.

4. The efficiency of feed utilization (f.c.r.) improved considerably when fat was included in the ration: the f.c.r. was 3·93 in the absence of fat and 3·30 when the ration contained 10% added fat.
Variations in the iodine value of fats from the fatty, muscular and bone tissues of mature Romney ewes
Authors: Shorland F. B. , Barton R. A. , Rae A. L.
Published: March 2009

1. Investigations on the fats from different tissues of forty-eight Romney ewes have shown that the iodine numbers of the fats cover a wide range from 32·7 for a perinephric fat to 83·7 for the fat from a metacarpal bone, while the percentage fat varies from as low as 3·8 in a longissimus dorsi muscle sample up to as high as 95·5 in a perinephric fat sample.

2. The mean iodine values of the fat and percentage fat respectively in the tissues examined were as follows: perinephric, 39·8, 88·1; loin subcutaneous, 41·7, 80·9; loin intermuscular, 44·4, 71·4; longissimus dorsi muscle, 53·1, 7·7; femur, 45·1, 39·8; tibia-tarsus, 54·3, 30·6 and metacarpus, 79·9, 24·3.

3. In the carcass tissues the muscle fat was significantly higher in iodine value than the fat from the fatty tissues. In the long bones analysed, the fats from the metacarpus had a highly significantly greater iodine value than was found for the other bones or carcass tissues. The fat from the tibia-tarsus was comparable in iodine value to that of the muscle tissue while the iodine value of the fat from the femur approached that from a fatty tissue.

4. A distinctive feature of the fats examined was their variability in iodine value. The values varied between animals by 15·3 units for perinephric fat, by 13·0 units for subcutaneous fat, by 16·9 units for intermuscular fat and by 12·4 units for muscle fat.

5. The present results for the iodine values of the fats of Romney ewes generally agree with those obtained by Callow (1958) for Suffolk lambs. However, whereas in Suffolk sheep in accordance with the temperature theory of Henriques & Hansen (1901) the subcutaneous fats have higher iodine values than do the intermuscular fats, in the Romney sheep studied the reverse holds.
The effect of fertilizers on the yield of red clover seed
Authors: Dent J. W. , Hawkins R. P.
Published: March 2009

The effect of fertilizers in increasing the yield of clover seed was examined by a series of manurial trials. The initial mineral status of the crop and the extent of the uptake of the applied nutrients were determined by analyses of the leaf. The techniques for sampling and analysing leaves to determine mineral status are described.

The high yields of seed and lack of response to fertilizers in trials at Cambridge led to their being repeated at Saxmundham on land known to be extremely deficient in minerals. Even then there was a response only to phosphate which although significant was small.

Leaf samples were also collected from commercial crops of red clover in 1955, 1956 and 1957. The analyses of these samples indicted that none of them was as deficient as the crops at Saxmundham, and no relationship was found between mineral status and seed yield.

It is concluded that yields of red clover seed in Eastern England are not likely to be increased materially by the application of fertilizers.
Studies of the skeleton of the sheep VII. A further comparison of skeletal resorption during pregnancy and lactation in ewes fed diets differing in digestible crude-protein value
Authors: Duckworth J. , Benzie D. , Cresswell E. , Boyne A. W. , Hill R.
Published: March 2009

1. An experiment has been carried out to compare the results of feeding the B-group diets of Parts II and III of this series to ewes during pregnancy and lactation.

2. The ewes fed a diet containing maize in place of dried molassed sugar beet pulp again maintained better bodily and skeletal condition.

3. The basis for other experiments in this series is discussed.
Selection criteria in grass breeding. I
Authors: Lazenby Alec , Rogers H. H.
Published: March 2009

1. To evaluate selection criteria in grass breeding, a series of investigations was conducted measuring plant performance in a wide range of field environments.

2. This paper reports on the behaviour of one variety of Lolium perenne, S. 24, grown in a logarithmically related series of densities and frequently defoliated for 2 years. Half the plots received only natural rainfall, the rest were irrigated so that the calculated soil moisture deficit did not exceed 2 in.

3. In 1958, with little effect of irrigation, swards yielded most per unit area, widest spacing (24 in.) least; there were no significant differences in yields from the other densities (3, 6 and 12 in.). In 1959, when yields were lower, irrigation increased production in all plots, the higher the density the greater the increase. In contrast to 1958, over the range of spaced densities, the higher the density the greater the yield. Individual harvests did not always conform to the annual pattern.

4. Lowest mean production per plant was from broadcast plots in both 1958 and 1959, yields of plants from 3, 6 and 12 in. plots showed a linear increase with a reduction in density, those from 24 in., though heaviest, yielded less than linear expectation. In 1959 irrigation increased yields per plant.

5. Of the components of yield, number of sterile tillers gave the best estimate of total fresh weight (95·3% reliability). However, total number of tillers (sterile plus fertile) was almost as efficient (94%). Tiller weight was a much less reliable index.

6. The results and their value in establishing efficient criteria for selection in grass breeding are discussed.
Statistical research on the fate of dietary mineral elements in dry and lactating cows: II. Magnesium
Authors: Lomba F. , Paquay R. , Bienfet V. , Lousse A.
Published: March 2009

Statistical analyses were carried out on the data obtained under very strict conditions in metabolism stalls with 41 different rations fed to 127 adult non-pregnant dry cows, and with 14 other different rations fed to 35 adult non-pregnant lactating cows that had calved 2 to 6 months earlier and whose daily milk production ranged from 11 to 20 kg.

The correlation between faecal and urinary losses of magnesium, magnesium in milk, digestible magnesium, and magnesium balance and the other nutritive factors of the 55 above-mentioned experimental diets have been calculated.

The magnesium absorption is enhanced by increasing magnesium and calcium intake, while nitrogen and, to a lesser extent, fat, giving higher faecal losses, have an opposite effect. There is no influence at this level of lactating requirements.

The urinary losses of magnesium are not related to the magnesium intake and digestibility, and the balance is thus directly proportional to the digestible amounts. But this balance is decreased when the diet contains more dry matter or energy, to the benefit of urine in dry cows. We were not able to determine whether this balance reduction also benefits the milk production in the lactating cows.

Our results demonstrate that the faecal endogenous losses of magnesium can be highly variable.

The balance of magnesium is frequently but not inevitably negative in cows with a daily milk production of 11–20 kg.
A comparison between a method of jointing meat carcasses based upon their anatomical structure and a method based upon standardized butchering practice: I. Description of the jointing methods
Authors: Williams D. R.
Published: March 2009

The diversity of methods for jointing meat animal carcasses is indicated and the need for a standardized method with good repeatability is considered. A standardized butcher-type method of jointing, in which anatomical reference points were used to determine cutting lines, is described briefly. A semi-anatomical method in which the jointing was based still more closely upon the anatomy of meat animals is described in full. Three modifications to the semi-anatomical method are suggested to improve the consistency of jointing.
A comparison between maize and wheat in respect of leaf area after flowering and grain growth
Authors: Allison J. C. S.
Published: March 2009

A comparison of leaf-area index (L) in the postflowering period was made between a single cross maize hybrid in Rhodesia and a winter and a spring wheat variety in England. At the beginning of the period L of the maize was lower than that of the wheat but it remained near its initial value for a relatively long time, whereas L of the wheat decreased rapidly. The proportion of L consisting of sheath was much lower in the maize than in wheat. Grain yield was higher in the maize largely because of its longer period of grain growth. In Rhodesia maize might benefit from a greater L than that recorded in this study. The high yields achieved by maize are partly due to the relatively long life of its leaves.