Plants of Sumatran fleabane [Conyza sumatrensis (Retz.) E. Walker] were identified in a field with an unusual rapid leaf-injury herbicide symptoms after application of 2,4-D in mixture with glyphosate. The objectives of this study were to confirm the occurrence of resistance to 2,4-D herbicide and to characterize the occurrence of rapid necrosis as the mechanism associated with the herbicide resistance in C. sumatrensis. The studies performed were an initial screening, effect of 2,4-D alone and associated with glyphosate, cross- and multiple-resistance evaluation, effect of commercial formulation and analytical product, and rate of H2O2 evolution. The Marpr9-rn accession was identified with rapid necrosis symptoms and survival to 804 g ae ha−1 of 2,4-D. The resistance factor to the herbicide 2,4-D was 18.6 at 49 d after spraying. The analytical product 2,4-D and the commercial formulation resulted in similar symptoms of rapid necrosis. This symptom did not occur for the six other auxinic herbicides (dicamba, florpyrauxifen-benzyl, fluroxypyr, halauxifen-methyl, picloram, and triclopyr), indicating absence of cross-resistance. Multiple resistance to the herbicides paraquat, saflufenacil, and ammonium glufosinate was not identified in the Marpr9-rn population. However, survival following treatment with the herbicides glyphosate and chlorimuron-ethyl occurred. The evolution of H2O2 began at 15 min after application and was less pronounced in low light. These results indicate the first case of resistance to 2,4-D and occurrence of rapid necrosis in C. sumatrensis.

Piglets can often suffer impaired antioxidant status and poor immune response during post-weaning, especially when chronic inflammation takes place, leading to lower growth rates than expected. Oral administration of dietary antioxidant compounds during this period could be a feasible way to balance oxidation processes and increase health and growth performance. The aim of the trial was to study the effects of an antioxidant feed supplement (melon pulp concentrate) that contains high concentration of the antioxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) on inflammation, antioxidant status and growth performance of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenged weaned piglets. In total, 48 weaned piglets were individually allocated to four experimental groups in a 2×2 factorial design for 29 days. Two different dietary treatments were adopted: (a) control (CTR), fed a basal diet, (b) treatment (MPC), fed the basal diet plus 30 g/ton of melon pulp concentrate. On days 19, 21, 23 and 25 half of the animals within CTR and MPC groups were subjected to a challenge with intramuscular injections of an increasing dosage of LPS from Escherichia coli (serotype 0.55:B5) (+) or were injected with an equal amount of PBS solution (−). Blood samples were collected at the beginning of the trial and under the challenge period for interleukin 1β, interleukin 6, tumour necrosis factor α, haptoglobin, plasma SOD activity, total antioxidant capacity, reactive oxygen species, red blood cells and plasma resistance to haemolysis, and 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2’-deoxyguanosine. Growth performance was evaluated weekly. A positive effect of melon pulp concentrate was evidenced on total antioxidant capacity, half-haemolysis time of red blood cells, average daily gain (ADG) and feed intake, while LPS challenge increased pro-inflammatory cytokines and haptoglobin serum concentrations, with a reduced feed intake and gain : feed (G : F). The obtained results show that oral SOD supplementation with melon pulp concentrate ameliorates the total antioxidant capacity and the half-haemolysis time in red blood cell of post-weaning piglets, with positive results on growing performance.

Six trials were conducted during 2014/15 and 2015/16 growing seasons in Brazil to determine the effect of 2,4-D formulations and spray nozzles on 2,4-D spray drift under conventional field conditions. An experimental 2,4-D choline formulation with Colex-D® Technology (GF-3073) and a 2,4-D dimethylamine (DMA) formulation were applied with either XR and AIXR flat-fan spray nozzles. Each plot was 30 m wide by 24 m long (720 m2) with 60 glyphosate-resistant soybean rows spaced 50 cm apart and also 35 potted tomato plants distributed on a grid across the plot 5-m apart. Applications were performed one meter away from the plot edge perpendicular to the soybean rows when wind direction was parallel to the rows with less than 30 degrees of angle deviation. Spray drift treatments were applied in 100 L ha−1 with tractor sprayers at 276 kPa equipped with a 7-m wide boom at 50 cm above the canopy of the soybean plant, operating at 6.8 km h−1. The distance from the plot edge to the farthest plant with 2,4-D symptoms was assessed for every four soybean rows at 10 and 20 days after treatment (DAT) and potted tomatoes at 10 DAT. GF-3073 reduced the distance of the farthest injured plant with 2,4-D symptoms compared to the 2,4-D DMA formulation regardless of the spray nozzle, assessment date and sensitive species. GF-3073 applied through the AIXR nozzle reduced the relative drift affected area to the standard by 68% at 10 DAT and 67% at 20 DAT for soybean and 60% at 10 DAT for potted tomatoes.

The invasive but highly profitable snow crab has made its way into the waters of the High Arctic, precipitating a direct confrontation between the EU and Norway over the interpretation of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty. Norway claims the Treaty does not apply due to its strict interpretation of the Treaty's terms, which pertain only to the archipelago's terra firm and territorial sea. The EU claims the Treaty's equal access and non-discrimination provisions follow the evolution of the international law of the sea, and make the living (and mineral) resources of Svalbard's surrounding continental shelf and waters open to all states parties to the Treaty. The dispute has gone on for decades, but this Article maintains, through a review of Norway's increasingly isolated legal and political stance that time is out of joint for Norway and its long-term appropriative design and strategy to territorialize this area of the High North.

New oral treatments are needed for all forms of leishmaniasis. Here, the improved oral efficacy of quercetin (Qc) and its penta-acetylated derivative (PQc) was evaluated in cutaneous leishmaniasis after encapsulation in lipid-core nanocapsules (LNCs) of poly(ε-caprolactone). Leishmania amazonensis-infected BALB/c mice were given 51 daily oral doses of free drugs (16 mg kg−1) or LNC-loaded drugs (0·4 mg kg−1). While treatment with free Qc reduced the lesion sizes and parasite loads by 38 and 71%, respectively, LNC-Qc produced 64 and 91% reduction, respectively. The antileishmanial efficacy of PQc was similar but not as potently improved by encapsulation as Qc. None of the treatments increased aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase or creatinine serum levels. These findings indicate that when encapsulated in LNC, Qc and, to a lesser extent, PQc can safely produce an enhanced antileishmanial effect even at a 40-fold lower dose, with implications for the development of a new oral drug for cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes are known to express furosemide (Lasix®)-sensitive P-type membrane Na+-ATPase. In the present study, furosemide activity was studied in intracellular amastigotes and infected BALB/c mice to investigate its efficacy in cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Intracellular parasites, but not macrophages, were found to be sensitive to killing by furosemide (IC50 = 87 µ m vs CC50 ≫ 1000 µ m, respectively). Although furosemide did not induce nitric oxide production or intracellular pH changes in infected macrophages, it led to a significant reactive oxygen species (ROS) burst. Freshly isolated tissue parasites expressed a high degree of Na+-ATPase activity that decreased with culture, indicative of a higher enzyme expression in amastigotes than in promastigotes. Both intraperitoneal and oral treatment of L. amazonensis-infected mice with furosemide dosages equivalent to that prescribed as a diuretic significantly reduced the parasite's growth compared with the situation in untreated mice. Combination with oral furosemide increased the efficacy and safety of intraperitoneal treatment with sodium stibogluconate (SSG). To summarize, furosemide control of intracellular leishmanial growth by means of parasite Na+-ATPase inhibition, and macrophage ROS activation may help explain its sole and SSG-combined therapeutic effect against murine CL.