Effects of a muscle-infecting parasitic nematode on the locomotor performance of their fish host.

The southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma, host to the nematode Philometroides paralichthydis that is embedded in place of the inclinator muscles of the dorsal and anal fin elements, is hypothesized to impair two aspects of locomotor performance (swimming and burying capacity). Peak swimming acceleration and both measures of burying performance did not differ between infected and uninfected fish, whereas swimming velocity of infected fish was significantly lower than that of uninfected fish. Smaller infected fish swam at significantly slower speeds than smaller uninfected fish, whereas there was no difference among larger fish.

Interactions of energy and predicted metabolizable protein in determining nitrogen efficiency in the lactating dairy cow.

Lactating cows are relatively inefficient in converting dietary N to milk N compared with the efficiency of N use for growth in simple-stomached animals. The majority of productive N losses occur in the postabsorptive system. The aim of the study was to test whether predicted metabolizable protein (MP) and dietary energy exerted independent effects on milk protein synthesis and postabsorptive N efficiency.

Denitrification in san francisco bay intertidal sediments.

The acetylene block technique was employed to study denitrification in intertidal estuarine sediments. Addition of nitrate to sediment slurries stimulated denitrification. During the dry season, sediment-slurry denitrification rates displayed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, and ambient NO(3) + NO(2) concentrations ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF