•Factors affecting the fungus Metarhizium-tick Rhipicephalus annulatus interaction.•Climate, ground covers, oils in formulation affect fungus efficiency outdoors.•Applying fungus on female ticks ...outdoors affects further stages (no larvae).
High infectivity of entomopathogenic fungi to ticks under laboratory conditions has been demonstrated in many studies. However, the few reports on their use under field conditions demonstrate large variations in their success, often with no clear explanation. The present study evaluated the factors affecting the efficacy of the fungus Metarhizium brunneum against the tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus. It demonstrates how environmental conditions and ground cover affect the efficiency of the fungus under field conditions. During the summer, 93% of tick females exposed to fungus-contaminated ground died within 1 week, whereas during the winter, only 62.2% died within 6 weeks. Nevertheless, the hatchability of their eggs was only 6.1% during the summer and 0.0% during winter. Covering the ground with grass, leaves or gravel improved fungal performance. Aside from killing female ticks, the fungus had a substantial effect on tick fecundity. Fungal infection reduced the proportion of female ticks laying full-size egg masses by up to 91%, and reduced egg hatchability by up to 100%. To reduce the negative effect of outdoor factors on fungal activity, its conidia were mixed with different oils (olive, canola, mineral or paraffin at 10% v/v) and evaluated in both laboratory and field tests for efficacy. All tested oils without conidia sprayed on the sand did not influence tick survival or weight of the laid eggs but significantly reduced egghatchability. Conidia in water with canola or mineral oil spread on agarose and incubated for 18h showed 57% and 0% germination, respectively. Comparing, under laboratory conditions, the effects of adding each of the four oils to conidia in water on ticks demonstrated no effect on female mortality or weight of the laid egg mass, but the percentage of hatched eggs was reduced. In outdoor trials, female ticks placed on the ground sprayed with conidia in water yielded an average of 175 larvae per female and there was no hatching of eggs laid by females placed on ground sprayed with conidia in water with canola or mineral oils.
•Ergot disease was identified for the first time in sorghum fields in Israel.•Dihydrolysergol was identified for the first time as a significant ergot alkaloid component.•The medically utilized ergot ...alkaloid dihydroergotamine was identified within the sclerotia of C. africana.•Ergot infected sorghum silages were determined to be safe for feed consumption at the honeydew stage.
Sorghum ergot is a disease caused commonly by C. africana. In 2015, ergot was identified for the first time in sorghum fields in Israel, leading to measures of eradication and quarantine. The aims of the study were to identify the ergot species by molecular and ergot alkaloid profile analysis, to determine the ergot alkaloid profile in pure honeydew and in infected sorghum silages and to estimate the safety of sorghum silages as a feed source. C. africana was rapidly and reliably identified by microscopical and molecular analysis. Dihydroergosine was identified as the major ergot alkaloid. Dihydrolysergol and dihydroergotamine were identified for the first time as significant ergot alkaloid components within the C. africana sclerotia, thereby providing for the first time a proof for the natural occurrence of dihydroergotamine. The sorghum silages were found to be safe for feed consumption, since the ergot alkaloids and the regulated mycotoxins were below their regulated limits.
Patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and late arrival (>12 h) after symptom onset, are at high risk for mortality and heart failure and represent a challenge for management. We ...aimed to define patient characteristics, management, and outcome of late-arrival STEMI in Israel over the last 20 years.
We analyzed data of late-arrival STEMI (12–48 h and > 48 h) from the biennial acute coronary syndrome Israeli Surveys (ACSIS), as well as time-dependent changes early (2000–2010) Vs. late (2013–2021) period.
Data regarding time from symptom onset to hospital arrival was available in 6,466 STEMI patients. Of these, 9.6 % arrived 12–48 h and 3 % >48 h from symptom onset. Late-arrival patients were more likely to be older women with diabetes and high GRACE score and less likely to have prior myocardial infarction.
In recent years, 95 % of patients arriving 12–48 h and 96 % of those arriving > 48 h had coronary angiography, as opposed to 75 % and 77 % in the early years (p = 0.007). Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) increased from 60 % and 55 % respectively to 85 % (p ≤ 0.001).
TIMI-3 flow after primary PCI was 89–92 %, irrespective of arrival time. Late arrival patients (12–48 h but not > 48 h) who had PCI had better adjusted 1-year survival, HR 0.49 (95 %CI 0.29–0.82), p = 0.01.
Late-arrival STEMI patients have higher risk characteristics. Most late-arrival patients undergo coronary angiography and PCI and have TIMI-3 flow after primary PCI. In patients arriving 12–48 h after symptom onset PCI is associated with better survival.
The concentrations of the enviromental pollutant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin were measured in the blood of 44 infertile women with endometriosis (study group), and in 35 age-matched women ...with tubal infertility (control group). Eight women with endometriosis (18%) were dioxin positive as compared to one woman (3%) in the controls (P = 0.04). Although the concentrations of dioxin did not seem to be directly correlated with the severity of endometriosis, these observations contribute to the accumulating data linking dioxin to endometriosis in humans.
A novel non-destructive sampling approach is described for the identification of food matrices contaminated with deoxynivalenol and other mycotoxins. This technique is different from currently ...applied sampling procedures for this purpose and is based on the principle that surface material from the tested goods is collected on a filter and brought to chemical or spectroscopic analysis.
This approach has been applied to several matrices and mycotoxins, with a focus on those mycotoxin-matrix combinations that are of main relevance due to current or future legislation. Tests were carried out with a facility that has been shown to be suitable to process large quantities of materials at points of transaction, such as harbour. Further experiments with a small sampling lance prototype showed that analytical results from the chemical analysis of the tested goods can be correlated with the results obtained with this novel sampling procedure.
In February 2014 a new law was approved by the Israeli parliament, namely the Control of Animal Feed Law. The law intends to regulate the production and marketing of animal feed. In preparation for ...the law's implementation in 2017, we have assessed the current feed and food safety challenges in Israel in recent years in association with the presence of common undesirable contaminants in various common feed and food commodities. Tight collaboration between regulatory authorities and feed/food industry, enhanced feed and food quality monitoring, transparency of survey results and readily accessible and reliable information for the public about health hazards of chemical contaminants, will guarantee the safety and quality of food and feed.
"Reforms in agriculture have become an integral part in policymaker's agenda. Research on past reforms in various sectors showed their effect on farmer's decision making regarding the continuum of ...farm work. This research objective is to expand and predict implications of emerging policy reforms on eggs branch farmers economics' viability. The theory presented here aims to analyze the farmer's decision
making on income diversification by accounting for socio-demographics, wealth, and peripherality. The study of income diversification that is presented here can throw light on how risky the reforms are for farmers that their income is exclusively based on agriculture. Logistic regression and classification tree were employed in analyzing a sample of eggs producers in Israeli's periphery. The main findings signify that the younger, educated, and wealthier farmers who are more peripheral, prone towards diversifying income. Policymakers should acknowledge this variability in potential risks
while designing agricultural reforms."
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are carcinogenic and genotoxic phytochemicals found exclusively in angiosperms. The ingestion of PA-containing plants often results in acute and chronic toxicities in ...man and livestock, targeting mainly the liver. During February 2014, a herd of 15–18-month-old mixed-breed beef cattle (n = 73) from the Galilee region in Israel was accidently fed hay contaminated with 12% Heliotropium europaeum (average total PA intake was 33 mg PA/kg body weight/d). After 42 d of feed ingestion, sudden death occurred over a time period of 63 d with a mortality rate of 33%. Necropsy and histopathological examination revealed fibrotic livers and moderate ascites, as well as various degrees of hyperplasia and fibrosis of bile duct epithelial cells. Elevated γ-glutamyl-transferase and alkaline phosphatase levels were indicative of severe liver damage. Comprehensive PA profile determination of the contaminated hay and of native H. europaeum by LC–MS/MS revealed the presence of 30 PAs and PA-N-oxides, including several newly reported PAs and PA-N-oxides of the rinderine and heliosupine class. Heliotrine- and lasiocarpine-type PAs constituted 80% and 18% of the total PAs, respectively, with the N-oxides being the most abundant form (92%). The PA profile of the contaminated hay showed very strong resemblance to that of H. europaeum.
Essential oil from Achillea fragrantissima exerted a bactericidic effect on several gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains, as well as on Candida albicans. The oil was fractionated on ...sillica gel columns by a gradient of ether in petrol ether (30 degrees C - 40 degrees C). Two fractions which contained less polar compounds were active against C. albicans only. The fractions which contained more polar compounds inhibited the growth of all the microorganisms tested. One of these compounds was identified as terpinen-4-ol. Commercial terpinen-4-ol had a similar antimicrobial activity.
PDF
