The objective of this study was to evaluate genetic and phenotypic parameters for some reproductive traits of Black Bengal does. Genetic parameters were estimated by Residual Maximum Likelihood procedure, fitting an animal model ignoring maternal genetic or permanent environmental effects. The least-squares means of litter size at birth (LSB), litter size at weaning (LSW), litter weight at birt...

Plasma testosterone levels were higher in pooled samples from male fetuses than from female fetuses on day 19 of pregnancy. Plasma testosterone from female fetuses with males located caudally in the uterus was higher than from females that lacked such males. Testosterone level of both male and female fetuses was correlated with maternal testosterone. No correlation was found between maternal te...

Surface litter from a natural and a sewage-enriched cypress dome in north-central Florida showed a pronounced seasonal pattern of nitrogenase (acetylene reduction) activity associated with seasonal leaf fall from deciduous trees in the domes. Samples of peat from cores indicated negligible nitrogenase activity below the surface layer. Integrating the monthly rates of nitrogen fixation (based on...

Oebalus poecilus (Dallas) is an important pest affecting irrigated rice in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It hibernates during the coldest months of the year in refuges such as bamboo litter. This study examined O. poecilus hibernation to determine the causes of mortality during this period. The study was conducted in a 140 m(2) bamboo plantation located in a rice-growing area in Eldorado do Sul Co...

Intestinal coccidiosis, caused by Eimeria species, is an economically-important disease of poultry production industry worldwide. This study was designed to investigate the prevalence of different Eimeria species in the farmed broilers of Khoy city, West Azarbaijan, North West Iran. A total of 26 broiler farms of different production capacities were arbitrarily selected and examined in 2013. In...

ruary-March; Experiment 2, April-May; and Experiment 3, June-July. Birds received a corn-soybean meal starter (0.68 kg/bird; 22% CP, 3087 kcal/kg ME), grower (1.36 kg/bird; 20% CP, 3131 kcal/kg ME), and finisher (c.a. 2.27 kg/bird; 17.5% CP, 3197 kcal/kg ME) to 42 days of age. Treatments were control (CON); Poultry Litter Treatment (PLT), Poultry Guard (PG) or 50:50 All-Clear:PLT (ACPLT) at 100...

The Trichoptera fauna was sampled in a first order tributary of Paquequer River, in the district of Teresópolis, Rio de Janerio State. Quantitative samples of litter from pools, litter from riffles, sand, and stones were taken on each season from February 1991 to February 1992. The life cycles of common genera were categorized into three groups of biological strategies. The largest group repres...

Two experiments, designed to give more information about the suppression of litter decomposition by radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) roots and their associated microflora, were carried out. In the first, root activity was reduced by cutting the boundaries of small areas of the forest floor in an unthinned stand. Samples collected after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months showed that less litter accumulat...

This communication presents preliminary results of studies on the mite fauna observed in the spruce stands of the Bucegi Massif in central Romania. In the collected material a total of 6436 specimens were found, which were classified to 62 species from 15 families. The most numerous were the species Veigaia nemorensis (1660 individuals), Leptogamasus parvulus (804) and Leptogamasus tectegynellu...

In this study, a novel 'rope-assisted swab method' for the collection of saliva samples from 45 adult pigs was established and validated. This method was efficient for harvesting 2 milliliters or more of saliva from each of the pigs for subsequent analyses within two min. The amount of α-amylase and lipase in the collected saliva samples was between 38-6,655 and 2-52 U/l, respectively. For HCO3...