whether fungus can kill ticks in sheep pastures. This would also benefit future hikers. Tick##ites in sheep can lead to the disease tick-borne fever (TBF)
which causes high fever and weakens the immune system. As a result of TBF animals may become seriously ill from diseases they usually cope with.
Bioforsk is therefore conducting field trials where the aim is to reduce tick populations in sheep grazing areas by using a tick pathogenic fungus called Metarhizium.
Potential for recreational areasif the application of Bipesco 5 against ticks in sheep pasture is successful the areas of application could potentially also benefit hikers:
#Low levels of blood calcium in dairy cows may affect cow health, productivitythe health of dairy cows after giving birth plays a big factor in the quantity and quality of the milk the cows produce.
Now researchers at the University of Missouri have found that subclinical hypocalcemia which is the condition of having low levels of calcium in the blood
and occurs in many cows after giving birth is related to higher levels of fat in the liver.
John Middleton a professor in the MU College of Veterinary medicine says these higher levels of fat are often precursors to future health problems in cows.
We found that about 50 percent of dairy cows suffered subclinical hypocalcemia and subsequent higher levels of fat in the liver after giving birth to their calves Middleton said.
These higher levels of fat in the liver are tied often to health problems in dairy cows including increased risk for uterus and mammary infections as well as ketosis
which is a condition that results in the cows expending more energy than they are taking in through their diet.
All of these conditions can decrease the amount of milk these dairy cows will produce. Middleton along with Jim Spain MU vice provost for undergraduate studies and professor of dairy nutrition in the MU College of Agriculture Food and Natural resources studied 100 dairy cows over two
years to determine how subclinical hypocalcemia affected the health of the cows after they gave birth.
Previous research done at MU has found that these issues also have a negative impact on cow fertility and reproduction.
While the researchers did not find any direct links to health problems they say correlations with higher levels of fat in the liver call for further research into the health implications of low blood calcium levels.
Dairy cows begin producing milk after giving birth and continue for 11 to 12 months until they are dried off by a dairy farmer about 45-60 days before their next calving.
To maximize the health of the cows and the amount of quality milk dairy cows produce Middleton recommends paying close attention to dietary management in the late dry/early lactating period as well as providing supplemental sources of calcium during early
lactation for cows at risk for subclinical hypocalcemia. Because our study suggests some potential risks for health issues in dairy cows with subclinical hypocalcemia it is important for dairy farmers to monitor these levels in their cows Middleton said.
For herds experiencing a high incidence of subclinical hypocalcemia around the time of calving adding anionic salts to their diets
or providing calcium solutions orally or by injection at the time of calving could be beneficial to their overall health and productivity.
This study was published in the Journal of Diary Science and was featured a article selected by the journal's editor-in-chief in the November issue.
and describe a new species of scorpion Euscorpius lycius coming from the area of ancient Lycia nowadays the regions of the Muä la and Antalya Provinces in Southwestern Turkey.
and Muä la Province in the southwest of Turkey. explains Dr. Yaä mur the lead author of the study.
Further studies are in progress to understand the quantity and distribution of the different species and populations of the genus Euscorpius in Turkey and their relationship with the Greek populations.
#Origins of cattle farming in China uncoveredan international team of researchers co-led by scientists at the University of York
and Yunnan Normal University has produced the first multi-disciplinary evidence for management of cattle populations in northern China around the same time cattle domestication took place in the Near east over 10000 years ago.
The domestication of cattle is a key achievement in human history. Until now researchers believed that humans started domesticating cattle around 10000 years ago in the Near east
which gave rise to humpless (taurine) cattle while two thousand years later humans began managing humped cattle (zebu) in Southern Asia.
However the new research which is published in Nature Communications reveals morphological and genetic evidence for management of cattle in north-eastern China around 10000 years ago around the same time the first domestication of taurine
cattle took place in the Near east. This indicates that humans may have started domesticating cows in more regions around the world than was believed previously.
A lower jaw of an ancient cattle specimen was discovered during an excavation in northeast China and was dated carbon to be 10660 years old.
The jaw displayed a unique pattern of wear on the molars which the researchers say is explained best to be the results of long-term human management of the animal.
Ancient DNA from the jaw revealed that the animal did not belong to the same cattle lineages that were domesticated in the Near east and South Asia.
The combination of the age of the jaw the unique wear and genetic signature suggests that this find represents the earliest evidence for cattle management in northeast China;
a time and place not previously considered as potential domestication centre for cattle. The research was led co in the Department of biology at the University of York by Professor Michi Hofreiter and Professor Hucai Zhang of Yunnan Normal University.
Professor Hofreiter said: The specimen is unique and suggests that similar to other species such as pigs
and dogs cattle domestication was probably also a complex process rather than a sudden event.
Johanna Paijmans the Phd student at York who performed the DNA analysis said: This is a really exciting example of the power of multi-disciplinary research;
the wear pattern on the lower jaw itself is already really interesting and together with the carbon dating
and ancient DNA we have been able to place it in an even bigger picture of early cattle management.
Just because someone is allergic to cow's milk doesn't mean they are allergic to milk from all other animals said Dr. Bahna.
Yong Guan an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and his students have devised a system that offers anonymity for honest users and accountability for dishonest users.
The lack of accountability on these anonymous services is easy to exploit Guan says. Criminals use anonymous systems to commit crimes against innocent people online and in the real world.
Guan's system named THEMIS is designed to minimize the computing power used to send messages and provide a way to track the source of the message should it be thought of as malicious.
With a level of accountability criminal activity online will decrease Guan says. By that measurement computing power expended to support criminal activity will also decrease.
Providing reliable anonymity is the first step Guan says. Without it users won't use the system.
or harmful messages Guan says Without some kind of accountability users tend to show an absence of restraint.
Forging keys is computationally difficult Guan says. If a node wishes to obtain a signing key
If no one reports the message as malicious Guan says law enforcement cannot get involved. There would be no way for them to know about it.
Guan envisions his system as a way for law enforcement to track down senders of threatening emails and those who leak important documents.
The next step Guan says is to test it on a large scale over the Internet. This way we can really see how well it performs.
#White-lipped peccary trails lead to archeological discovery in Brazil: 4, 000-to 10,000-year-old cave drawingswhile tracking white-lipped peccaries and gathering environmental data in forests that link Brazil's Pantanal
and Cerrado biomes a team of researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and a local partner NGO Instituto Quinta do discovered Sol ancient cave drawings made by hunter-gatherer societies thousands
when Keuroghlian and her team were conducting surveys of white-lipped peccaries herd-forming pig-like animals that travel long distances
The peccaries are vulnerable to human activities such as deforestation and hunting and are disappearing from large swaths of their former range from southern Mexico to northern Argentina.
While following signals from radio-collared white-lipped peccaries and the foraging trails of peccary herds the team encountered a series of prominent sandstone formations with caves containing drawings of animals and geometric figures.
Keuroghlian contacted Aguiar a regional specialist in cave drawings who determined that the drawings were made between 4000-10000 years ago by hunter-gatherer societies that either occupied the caves
Oddly the subject of the WCS surveys in the area--peccaries--are absent from the illustrations.
The Rice lab of bioengineer Jane Grande-Allen found through studies of pigs'heart valves that age plays a critical role in the valves'progressive hardening
Tissues from pig valves are used commonly to make human heart-valve replacements. VWF helps regulate blood clotting in both pigs
and humans but as the Rice team discovered it finds its way over time into the collagen-rich interior of the valve tissues.
The paper's lead author Liezl Balaoing a graduate student of Grande-Allen and Rice research scientist Joel Moake studied valves from pigs of three ages:
Through staining Balaoing traced the migration of a number of clotting-related proteins common to pigs and humans from the surface endothelial cells to the inner interstitial cells.
and then provided fodder once cattle were domesticated. The process is still underway in the region's pristine floodplains.
#The prevalence of colds and pneumonia in cows can be controlledrespiratory diseases in cattle are a great threat to animal welfare and lead to financial losses in the cattle industry.
The bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) is one of the main causes of respiratory disease in cattle.
The BRS virus is equivalent to the human RS virus and causes most of the cases of serious pneumonia that lead to fatalities in calves and to epidemics
and infection distribution of the virus between Norwegian cattle herds and found that during the course of one year nearly half of the cattle herds were infected newly
while almost as many herds became free of infection. It therefore appears that the virus does not survive for a long time in one herd
Five calves in the herds were tested for antibodies against this virus and then again six months later.
and focusing on measures to combat infection in these herds ought to be effective strategies for limiting the prevalence and the consequences of BRSV infection in cattle.
The research group Viral infections in cattle at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science which carried out this study is engaged currently in projects that seek to identify the most effective ways of preventing new infections in herds.
#Genetic study demonstrates Israels wild boars originated in Europewild boars look more or less the same in Israel as they do anywhere else:
So scientists had no reason to suspect Israeli wild boars were any different than their brothers
. Dorothee Huchon of TAU's Department of Zoology have found that unlike the Near Eastern wild boars in surrounding countries Israel's wild boars originated in Europe.
After a genetic and archaeological analysis the researchers suggest the wild boars living in Israel are domesticated descendants of pigs brought to Israel starting almost 3000 years ago by the Philistines and other seafaring raiders.
Pillagers and pig loversour DNA analysis proves that the wild boars living in Israel today are the descendants of European pigs brought here starting in the Iron age around 900 BCE says Prof.
Given the concentration of pig bones found at Philistine archaeological sites the European pigs likely came over in the Philistines'boats.
Pig bones have been found in abundance at Philistine archaeological sites along Israel's southern coastal plane dating from the beginning of the Iron age around 1150 to 950 BCE.
But pig bones are rare or absent at Iron age sites in other parts of the country including in the central hills where Ancient Israel is thought to have emerged.
whether the Philistines and other Sea Peoples--groups of seafaring invaders from around the Aegean sea--made use of local pig breeds
and the shape between European and Near Eastern pigs the researchers had to use DNA testing to identify the origins of the animals.
Genetics researchers divide the pigs of the world into three main groups: European Far Eastern and Near Eastern.
To the researchers'surprise each of the 25 modern-day wild boars they analyzed from Israel share a European genetic signature
whereas modern-day boars from nearby countries like Egypt Syria Turkey Armenia Iraq and Iran have a Near Eastern genetic signature.
The researchers conclude that European pigs arrived in Israel at some point and overtook the local pig population.
To find out when the researchers collected and analyzed pig bones from archaeological sites across Israel--ranging from the Neolithic period to medieval times 9500 BCE to 1200 CE--the most comprehensive study of ancient DNA
The results showed that pigs from the Bronze age and the beginning of the Iron age display the local Near Eastern genetic signature
Domestic European pig breeds may have been introduced by groups of Sea Peoples--including the Philistines mentioned in the Bible--who migrated to the coast of the Levant starting in the 12th century BCE and settled in places like Gaza Ashkelon and Ashdod.
Making themselves at homeadditional European pigs could have been brought to the Levant during the Roman-Byzantine period and during the Crusades.
Over time the European pigs overtook the European pigs and their descendants are the only wild boars living in Israel today.
The domestic European pigs could have driven the local pigs to extinction or mated with them
To find out for sure they are further analyzing the DNA of modern wild boars. If the European pigs mated with the local pigs as we suspect today's modern wild boars should have some Near Eastern DNA says Dr. Meiri who conducted the laboratory work for the study in a special highly sterile lab in TAU's Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute
of Archaeology. If the European pigs just out-competed the locals we'd expect the wild boars to have purely European DNA.
The pig study is part of a larger project directed by Prof. Finkelstein and Prof. Weiner which makes use of modern exact
-and life-science methods to study the Iron age. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Friends of Tel aviv University.
#Gene responsible for hereditary cancer found to disrupt growth-regulating cellular pathwaywhitehead Institute scientists report that the gene mutated in the rare hereditary disorder known as Birt-Hogg-Dub cancer syndrome
In the case of Birt-Hogg-Dub syndrome the mutated gene prevents mtorc1 pathway activation early in the formation of tumors.
In the early 2000s scientists determined that mutations in the gene coding for FLCN caused the rare cancer Birt-Hogg-Dub syndrome
Birt-Hogg-Dub syndrome causes unsightly but benign hair follicle tumors on the face benign tumors in the lungs that can lead to collapsed lungs and kidney cancer.
For Birt-Hogg-Dub syndrome patients and their families better understanding of FCLN's function moves the field one step closer to developing a therapy.
and herds of roaming bison. For the first time a research team led by the University of Colorado Boulder has gotten a peek at another vitally important
Currently the dried distiller's grains with solubles (DDGS) generated as a co-product are sold to the cattle-feed market
This can lead to grass tetany or milk fever in livestock but the problems don't stop there.
and a symbol of Africa--are on the verge of disappearing from the country's national parks. According to the results of a recent survey African lions in Uganda have decreased by more than 30 percent over the past 10 years in some areas of the country mostly the result of poisoning by local cattle
herders retaliations for livestock predation and other human-related conflicts. The downward trend in lion numbers has concerned conservationists about the species'long-term chances in the country often described as the Pearl of Africa for its natural wonders.
The study appears in the latest edition of the journal Oryx. The authors include: Edward Okot Omoya Tutilo Mudumba Paul Mulondo and Andrew J. Plumptre from WCS and Stephen T. Buckland of the University of St andrews. African lions are a vital component
They play an important role in disease control of antelopes and buffalo by killing the sick animals.
The researchers used a buffalo calf distress call (broadcast via speakers mounted on a vehicle roof rack) to attract both medium
#Veterinary Scientists Track the Origin of a Deadly Emerging Pig Virus in the United Statesveterinary researchers at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary medicine at Virginia Tech have helped identify the origin
and possible evolution of an emerging swine virus with high mortality rates that has already spread to at least 17 states.
The virus which causes a high mortality rate in piglets was recognized first in the United states in May of this year.
The virus typically only affects nursery pigs and has many similarities with transmissible gastroenteritis virus of swine said Meng who is a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical sciences and Pathobiology.
There is currently no vaccine against porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in the United states . Although some vaccines are in use in Asia we do not know
Symptoms include acute vomiting anorexia and watery diarrhea with high mortality rates in pigs less than 10 days old.
It's very clear that historically infections have moved from buffalo to cattle says corresponding author Matthew Hall of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
Foot and mouth disease FMD) is devastating to livestock all over the world but it's a particular problem in Africa where wildlife that harbor the virus are thought to pass it on to their domesticated cousins.
and culling has ended an outbreak among livestock. The relationships between the 250 sequences also indicate that it's possible the original source of the SAT 2 viruses that are now found in wild
and feed their livestock. The policies governing the park are top-down with little input from residents Carter said.
Policies in Chitwan's buffer zone such as prohibiting livestock from freely grazing in the forests and community-based forest management improved habitat quality.
The ads emphasized personal health nutritional value taste cleaner water humane treatment of livestock community support and a combination of these egoistic and altruistic claims.
and the fact that straw also plays an important role as bedding in livestock farming only about half of these 30 megatons are actually available in the end.
and feed their livestock and the policies that govern it are top-down with little input from residents.
Policies in Chitwan's buffer zone such as prohibiting livestock from freely grazing in the forests and community-based forest management improved habitat quality.
or to feed livestock it would significantly increase their energy content and nutritional values said Brookhaven biochemist Changcheng Xu who led the research.
or feed for livestock you want more oil said Xu. But plants don't normally store much oil in their leaves and other vegetative tissues.
#The pig, the fish and the jellyfish: Tracing nervous disorders in humanswhat do pigs jellyfish and zebrafish have in common?
It might be hard to discern the connection but the different species are all pieces in a puzzle.
The pig the jellyfish and the zebrafish are being used by scientists at Aarhus University to among other things gain a greater understanding of hereditary forms of diseases affecting the nervous system.
In a project which has just finished the scientists have focussed on a specific gene in pigs.
The pig The SYN1 gene can with its specific expression in nerve cells be used for generation of pig models of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's.
The reason scientists bring a pig into the equation is that the pig is suited well as a model for investigating human diseases.
Pigs are very like humans in their size genetics anatomy and physiology. There are plenty of them
Before the gene was transferred from humans to pigs the scientists had to ensure that the SYN1 gene was expressed only in nerve cells.
The results of this investigation pave the way for the SYN1 gene being used in pig models for research into human diseases.
The pig with the human gene SYN1 can presumably also be used for research into the development of the brain and nervous system in the fetus.
I think it is interesting that the nervous system is preserved so well from an evolutionary point of view that you can observe a nerve-cell-specific expression of a pig gene in a zebrafish.
It is impressive that something that works in a pig also works in a fish says Knud Larsen.
And in East Africa scientists found that a decline in wildebeest populations in the Serengeti-Mara grassland-savanna system decades ago allowed organic matter to accumulate
Intake of fruit vegetables nuts seeds pasta poultry and vegetable oil was related to a lower mortality risk
It appears that the intake of some food groups is more beneficial (fruits legumes nuts seeds pasta poultry vegetable oil) or more detrimental (soft drinks butter margarine cake cookies) with respect to mortality risk
#Badgers ultimately responsible for around half of TB in cattlebadgers are ultimately responsible for roughly half of tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in areas with high TB prevalence according to new estimates based on data from a previous badger culling trial.
However only around six per cent of infected cattle catch TB from badgers with onward transmission between cattle herds accounting for the remainder the study suggests.
Mathematical models based on data from the trial were used previously to calculate an estimate of the proportion of TB in cattle that could ultimately be attributed to transmission from badgers.
The new paper by scientists at Imperial College London provides a more detailed analysis. It estimates that badgers ultimately account for 52 per cent of cattle TB in areas where prevalence in cattle is high.
The mathematical model suggested that 5. 7 per cent*of transmission to cattle herds is from badgers to cattle with the rest of the contribution from badgers resulting from onward transmission between cattle herds.*
Parambath Sudeep a research scholar at Cochin University of Science and Technology India; Rice senior faculty fellow Robert Vajtai;
Cattle ranching is the main land use directly north of the lake. So one restoration practice is to pay ranchers to restore wetlands
Besides nonrenewable reserves alternative phosphate resources include municipal wastewater and agricultural organic residues such as livestock manure or digestate from biogas plants.
Especially in swine and poultry manure up to 50 per cent of the overall phosphorus is present in the organic form.
and overfertilisation from the application of livestock manure on the agricultural fields is prevented. This realisation of efficient phosphorus recovery not only generates valuable products from an otherwise wasted residue
in which three out of the four siblings suffer from RP said Ziqiang Guan an associate research professor of biochemistry in the Duke university Medical school and a contributing author of the study.
Guan's collaborators had sequenced previously the genome of this family and found that the children with RP carry two copies of a mutation at the dehydrodolichol diphosphate synthase (DHDDS) gene which makes the enzyme that synthesizes organic compounds called dolichols.
and mass spectrometry Guan said. Using these techniques he analyzed urine and blood samples from the six family members
Guan believes dolichol profiling could effectively distinguish RP caused by DHDDS mutation from that caused by other mutations.
Guan and his collaborators hope to develop the dolichol profiling method as a first-line diagnostic test to identify RP patients with abnormal dolichol metabolism.
but Guan hopes his research will shed light on potential drug design strategies for treating RP caused by DHDDS mutation.
There is something in that smell without any other cues--visual or tactile--that steers you toward the bakery.
To further investigate how bats fit into this picture the researchers surveyed more than 250 bats in remote forest ecosystems in Liberia Guinea and Cote d'ivoire in Western Africa.
#Secret of cattle ticks resistance to pesticidescientists have discovered how a tick which transmits devastating diseases to cattle has developed resistance to one of the main pesticides used to kill it.
Approximately 80%of cattle around the world mostly in the tropics and subtropics are exposed to the cattle tick--Rhipicephalis microplus
--which can cause anemia reduced rate of growth and death resulting in a major economic impact on farmers.
Prevention of disease is through frequent treatment of cattle with acarides-pesticides for ticks and mites--mainly amitraz ivermectins and pyrethroids but ticks have become increasingly resistant to these treatments.
The study was conducted on cattle at the University of Queensland's Pinjarra Hills Campus in Australia where the impact of ticks
and using tick-resistant cattle might all delay the development of resistance. However without empirical studies to test the value of the management strategies it is really impossible to provide evidence-based recommendations to farmers.
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