Nonlethal indices of contaminant exposure can facilitate research on the accumulation and effects of contaminants in wildlife. Here, we tested the efficacy of using amputated toes ("toe clips"), a common byproduct when marking amphibians in population and genetic studies, to determine mercury (Hg) concentrations in amphibians. We examined total mercury (THg) concentrations in American toads (Bu...

The erythrocyte osmotic fragility and other erythrocyte indices in fowls of two different age groups (7-9 week-old and 49 week-old) were studied using Nera Black strain usually raised commercially for egg production in Nigeria. Erythrocytes in the 49 week-old birds were more fragile than those in the 7-9 week-old at sodium chloride (NaCl) concentrations of 0.2% (p<0.05), 0.7% (p<0.05), 0.8% (p<...

Resistance to Meloidogyne arenaria race 1 is not currently available in commercial peanut cultivars. Moderate levels of resistance have been identified in Arachis hypogaea plant introductions (PI) in previous greenhouse studies. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the effects of resistance in peanut PI on populations dynamics of M. arenaria in field plots. The PI designated as resistant in...

BACKGROUND Levels of IgE antibody to egg white of greater than 7 kIU/L are highly predictive of clinical reactivity to egg, and lower levels often require evaluation with oral food challenge (OFC) to establish definitive diagnosis. OFCs have inherent risks, and diagnostic criteria indicating high likelihood of passing would be clinically useful. OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether the si...

Dolenec, Z.: Correlations between egg characteristics and laying order in the starling (Sturnus vulgaris) in NW Croatia. Nat. Croat., Vol. 10, No. 1., 11–17, 2001, Zagreb. This article analyses the effect of body weight and wing length of female starlings on clutch size as well as the effect of laying order on egg size. Egg length averaged 29.43 mm, egg breadth 21.32 mm, egg volume 6829 mm3, eg...

While safety of fasting therapy is debated in humans, extended fasting occurs routinely and safely in wild animals. To do so, food deprived animals like breeding penguins anticipate the critical limit of fasting by resuming feeding. To date, however, no molecular indices of the physiological state that links spontaneous refeeding behaviour with fasting limits had been identified. Blood proteomi...

In order to study the effect of turmeric rhizome powder (TU) and enzyme in some blood parameters of laying hens, an in vivo study was conducted. In a 5 * 2 completely randomized block design with factorial arrangement, 5 levels of TU (0.0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20 %) and 2 levels of enzyme (0.0, and 0.05%) with 4 blocks (replicate) , 480, 100-week old laying hens for 4 weeks fed wheat-soybean...

Dolenec, Z.: Breeding characteristics of the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) in NW Croatia. Nat. Croat., Vol. 11, No. 4., 439–445, 2002, Zagreb. The research was carried out in the village of Mokrice (46°00'N, 15°55'E) in NW Croatia during 1998–1999. Egg length averaged 19.16 mm, egg breadth 13.72 mm, egg volume 1840.8 mm3, egg shape index 1.40 and egg weight 1.81 g (during both years). The nest...

Spawning stock biomass (SSB) is one of the most common measures of stock status. However recent research on reproductive potential has shown that alternative variables may be an improvement over SSB. In the case of European hake (Merluccius merluccius), it is known that large individuals produce more eggs by unit of body weight, and their quality is better than those of small individuals. Under...

A simple objective method to quantify embryo dwarfism induced by infectious bronchitis virus in embryonated chicken eggs has been used to determine endpoints in virus titration and neutralization assays. The eggs and the respective embryos were weighed and embryo:egg weight (EE) ratios were calculated. The EE ratios were compared with the uninoculated control eggs and endpoints could be calcula...