The in ovo application of Cu colloids may ensure an efficient penetration of Cu into the embryonic tissue with long lasting effects on postnatal growth. The method may provide a successful alternative to using Cu as a feed additive. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Social insect workers usually participate first in intranidal tasks (i.e. act as nurses within the nest) and then switch to extranidal tasks and become foragers. However, foragers sometimes switch back again to brood care and become reverted nurses. Behavioural and physiological correlates of the transition nurse-forager (behavioural maturation) and forager-reverted nurse (behavioural reversion) are relatively well known in the honeybee, although they are less explored in ants. To understand better the role of biogenic amines in ant behavioural maturation and behavioural reversion, the levels of octopamine (OA), dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) are examined in the brains of nurses, foragers and reverted nurses of the red wood ant Formica polyctena Först. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Brain OA levels and the ratios OA : DA and OA : 5-HT are higher in nurses than in foragers and reverted nurses. Reverted nurses and foragers do not differ significantly with respect to brain biogenic amine levels and amine ratios. Biogenic amine levels in brains of workers of F. polyctena are thus maturation-related rather than task-related. This is one of the first studies of neurochemical correlates of ant behavioural maturation and the first attempt to identify neurobiological correlates of ant behavioural reversion. The data obtained provide further evidence that neurobiological processes underlying honeybee and ant behavioural maturation and behavioural reversion reveal important differences.

The effects of ketamine anesthesia (3 mg/kg i.v.) on cardiovascular parameters and noradrenaline, adrenaline and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) activity in plasma were studied in 12 patients. At 3, 6 and 10 min after induction of anesthesia, a pronounced increase in heart rate (+28%) and in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (+28% and 17% resp.) was observed. Concomitantly noradrenaline and adrenaline concentrations increased significantly from 187 to 415 ng/l and from 97 to 271 ng/l, respectively. DBH-activity in plasma remained almost unchanged. From these results it can be concluded that the well known cardiovascular stimulant effect of ketamine is due to greatly enhanced sympatho-neuronal and sympatho-adrenal activity, presumably brought about by a central mechanism of action of the drug. Furthermore, DBH-activity in plasma appeared not to be a reliable index of sympathetic activity in man.

The paper reports application of a Markov-like stochastic process agent-based model and a "virtual farm" concept for enhancement of site-specific Integrated Pest Management. Conceptually, the model represents a "bottom-up ethological" approach and emulates behavior of the "primary IPM actors"-large cohorts of individual insects-within seasonally changing mosaics of spatiotemporally complex faming landscape, under the challenge of the local IPM actions. Algorithms of the proprietary PESTonFARM model were adjusted to reflect behavior and ecology of R. cerasi. Model parametrization was based on compiled published information about R. cerasi and the results of auxiliary on-farm experiments. The experiments were conducted on sweet cherry farms located in Austria, Germany, and Belgium. For each farm, a customized model-module was prepared, reflecting its spatiotemporal features. Historical data about pest monitoring, IPM treatments and fruit infestation were used to specify the model assumptions and calibrate it further. Finally, for each of the farms, virtual IPM experiments were simulated and the model-generated results were compared with the results of the real experiments conducted on the same farms. Implications of the findings for broader applicability of the model and the "virtual farm" approach-were discussed.

Meat from Ayam Cemani chickens is a rich source of protein and could be highly valued by gourmet consumers, connoisseurs and dieticians for its rarity and originality. The results of this study show that genotype (Ayam Cemani, Ayam Cemani × Sussex, Hubbard JA 957) affected the quality and color of meat and the histological profile of chicken breast and leg muscles.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are a hot topic for debate among researchers from a wide range of scientific disciplines – in particular, agriculture, biotechnology and environmental protection. The debate, however, is not limited to science. GMOs are also discussed in the mass media, giving rise to extreme emotions, both positive and negative. Without entering the argument between the supporters and opponents of GMOs, this paper addresses the following questions. How do future experts in agriculture, biotechnology and environmental protection approach the topic of GMOs? Do they have similar or dramatically different views on this subject? What do they know about GMOs? Is their knowledge related to their attitudes? University students specializing in those three disciplines can be considered as future experts in the field, and so a questionnaire survey was conducted among them to answer the above questions. The results show that agricultural, biotechnology and environmental protection students differ in their attitudes to and knowledge about GMOs.

Summary The Tukey mean‐difference plot, also called the Bland–Altman plot, is a recognized graphical tool in the exploration of biometrical data. We show that this technique deserves a place on an introductory statistics course by encouraging students to think about the kind of graph they wish to create, rather than just creating the default graph for the variables types they have. This graphical technique is described, and two examples are presented: one dealing with official agricultural data of Poland and the other one with an experiment on anorexia. Our opinion is that the plot is so easy and yet efficient in visualizing paired data that it should be included in statistics courses to support understanding and interpretation of data and their analysis. © 2014 The Authors. Teaching Statistics © 2014 Teaching Statistics Trust

The aim of the experiment was to investigate the relationship between consumption of cholesterolenriched diet and plasma and tissue cholesterol content as well as the degree of atherosclerosis in rabbits, to make further investigations on the role of emotional and behavioural factors in diet induced atherosclerosis more conclusive. The experimental rabbits (E) were offered 150 g standard pellet feed daily mixed with 1 egg yolk and 1.5 g cholesterol in substantia during 7 weeks, whereas the control rabbits (C) were fed the same amount of feed without egg yolk and supplementary cholesterol. Significant effect of diet type on total plasma cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol (high density lipoprotein cholesterol) and cholesterol content in liver, heart and muscle was found. However negative correlations between cholesterol food consumption and total plasma cholesterol (r =-0.24) and atherosclerosis (r = -0.40) were found in group E. The relative increase of total plasma cholesterol in E group was greater than that of plasma HDL-cholesterol. Females demonstrated significantly higher total plasma cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol than males. The degree of atherosclerosis was positively correlated with the total plasma cholesterol (r=0.73, P<0.01) and plasma HDL-cholesterol concentration (r = 0.29) but negatively correlated with ratio HDL/total cholesterol (r = -0.66, P<0.01) as estimated after the end of the experiment.