University News

Needle-Free Injection Technology Research Expected to Stimulate Adoption

Mike Agar - AcuShot Inc — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 30, 2010

A Manitoba-based mass vaccination injector manufacturer is confident research into the use of needle-free injectors will help potential customers decide whether or not to invest in the technology.

Needle-free injectors use a high-speed blast of gas to propel veterinary compounds through the skin, replacing the need for needles.

Researchers with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences in partnership with AcuShot Inc. are using high-speed photography to track the dispersion of liquids injected into different mediums, including ballistic gels and commercial foams, to assess the technology.

AcuShot regional marketing and technical support manager Mike Agar is confident having an independent third party assessment of the equipment will help encourage uptake of the technology.

Clip-Mike Agar-AcuShot Inc:
Certainly AcuShot will make use of the information for the support of our existing equipment and its capability.

I'm sure the University of Manitoba Biosystems Engineering will use it for future reference in other research that they could do relative to tissue models or further needle-free injection technology testing.

The possibilities are limitless there.

Customers around the world or potential users of the equipment will access the information to help them make decisions about how they would want to proceed and where it would fit.

Specifically economic and science-based organizations, when you're talking the food industry in particular, they don't make decisions just because people say this is good.

They do their research and they require good solid information to be able to make decisions of this type on because when they buy equipment or make a change within their organizations these are massive investments and they need good information to be able to help them make those decisions.

Agar says, because needle-free technology is so new, global uptake is still a fraction of a percent but AcuShot is hoping to change that.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

New Compounds Expected to Improve Testing of Needle-Free Injectors

Dr. Jason Morrison - University of Manitoba — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 29, 2010

New compounds for testing needle-free injectors are expected to speed up improvements in the devices.

Needle-free injectors are used to administer pharmaceuticals and nutritional supplements to animals without the use of needles.

Researchers with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences in partnership with AcuShot Inc. are assessing ballistic gels and commercial foams as mediums in which to analyze the dispersion patterns produced by the jet streams the devices use to administer the compounds.

Dr. Jason Morrison, an assistant professor in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, says the devices offer an alternative to needles.

Clip-Dr. Jason Morrison-University of Manitoba:
When you put a needle into an animal or person and you inject it, there's a ball of fluid at the end of the needle.

When you use a needle-free injector, the fluid is injected via a stream into the animal and instead of having just a small localized ball like you would with a needle, with the needle-free injector you get a more dispersed injection if you will.

Our project is about studying exactly where does the fluid go once it's below the skin.

What does that distribution of the stream look like when it's in tissue and how can we study it better.

What we want to be able to do is inject into let's say a ballistic gel or a foam and through the use of a high speed camera capture how does it look and what kind of substance should we be injecting into to best simulate the animal being injected into and the tissues being injected into.

Dr. Jason Morrison hopes the research will assist manufacturers in making improvements that will allow the devices to be used to administer a broader range of medications and supplements.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Biological Root Maggot Controls Expected to Be Most Effective Option

Dr. Neil Holliday - University of Manitoba — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 28, 2010

Researchers with the University of Manitoba are confident biological control will prove effective in reducing damage caused by root maggots in canola crops.

Root maggots cost western Canadian canola growers an estimated 20 to 40 million dollars each year.

Researchers with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences are gathering the data necessary to petition for the release of Aleochara bipustulata, a natural enemy of the cabbage root maggot found in Europe, as a biological control.

Department of Entomology head Dr. Neil Holliday says virtually no control methods are used operationally at the moment for controlling root maggot.

Clip-Dr. Neil Holliday-University of Manitoba:
Canola growers have received information from a number of researchers which suggest that high seeding rates are one way of reducing the impact of root maggots, that long rotations are a possible way of reducing root maggots and that possibly reduced tillage in some circumstances or increased tillage in other circumstances may have an effect.

One of my colleagues, Lloyd Dosdall at the University of Alberta, has been doing some work also on the timing of weed control.

The problem with all of these is that very often they do not fit with other priorities that producers may have.

Increasing the seeding rate for example increases the cost of putting in a crop and is generally not recommended by industry.

Industry is also moving to shorter rotations so that the production of canola from the land base can be increased.

So I would have to say that in general the alternative control measures are seldom practiced and in fact are often tricky to make work if they work at all.

Dr. Holliday says successful establishment of a biological control may be able to reduce root maggot populations and without cost to the producer.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Researchers Prepare to Petition for Release of Natural Enemy of Cabbage Root Maggot

Dr. Neil Holliday - University of Manitoba — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 27, 2010

Research conducted by the University of Manitoba suggests a natural enemy of the cabbage root maggot holds potential for controlling the pest in canola.

Root maggots cause an estimated to 20 to 40 million dollars damage to western Canadian canola crops each year.

Researchers with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences are gathering data needed to petition for the release of Aleochara bipustulata, a natural enemy of the cabbage root maggot found in Europe, as a biological control for root maggots.

Department of Entomology head Dr. Neil Holliday says scientists spent two to three years identifying the range of other organisms, other flies, this beetle might attack and where it might do those attacks.

Clip-Dr. Neil Holliday-University of Manitoba:
We've narrowed down our understanding of what it might attack and what sorts of locations it might do those attacks in.

We're relatively happy that it will in fact confine its attentions to root maggots in open areas such as canola fields.

What we're doing now, because the adults eat all sorts of small insects, is finding out how wide that diet of the adults is.

The literature indicates that its preferred food is root maggot eggs and we know that is true, that they will eat root maggot eggs.

We've been doing trials on now about 30 different species of other things that they might come into contact with to determine what other items that would be non-target items could be eaten by the adults.

So far we have shown that they are in fact fairly specific and that they don't have as broad a diet of non-target items as we had originally feared.

Dr. Holliday hopes to have data necessary to petition for release of Aleochara bipustulata in late 2011 or 2012.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Manitobans Encouraged to Take Steps to Minimize Mosquito Bites

Dr. Mahmood Iranpour - University of Manitoba — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 26, 2010

The public is being encouraged to take extra precautions to avoid mosquito bites over the next couple of months to protect themselves from the risk of West Nile virus.

Warm wet weather through the spring and summer have contributed to higher mosquito populations this year.

Although Aedes vexans has accounted for over 90 percent of the adult mosquitoes collected, higher numbers of Culex tarsalis and Culex restuans, the species capable of carrying West Nile virus, are also reported.

Dr. Mahmood Iranpour, an adjunct professor with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says the risk peaks at the end of summer in August and September.

Clip-Dr. Mahmood Iranpour-University of Manitoba:

Since 2003-2004 which the West Nile virus came to Canada we have had fluctuations of the number of cases from one year to another year.

For example in the last two years we haven't had that many cases of the West Nile virus and I think that's because we didn't have the vector.

As I remember there was not even any cases last year but this year, because we have the vectors around, I expect that we are going to have some cases of West Nile virus this year.

What is suggested actually for the people is first of all using the repellent to keep the mosquitoes away from themselves.

It's good to not be outside during the time that these two species are active, which is basically in the evening but if people want to enjoy the outside and some outside activity it's better to be in the protected area, under a screen or a net that protects them from these mosquitoes.

Dr. Iranpour says the province and the city of Winnipeg have done a very good job using both adulticide and larvicide to keep mosquito populations, especially those two species, at low numbers to prevent the transmission of disease.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Manitoba Adopts Provincial Soil

Dr. Brian Amiro - University of Manitoba — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 23, 2010

Manitoba has officially adopted Newdale Soil as its provincial soil.

Newdale Soil was passed through the Legislature and received Royal Assent last month as representing the productive soils that support Manitoba agriculture and the provincial economy.

Dr. Brian Amiro, the head of the University of Manitoba's Department of Soil Science and the past president of the Manitoba Soil Science Society, says Newdale Soil is a good representation of what we refer to as the Black Chernozem soils.

Clip-Dr. Brian Amiro-University of Manitoba:
These are soils that have developed under grasslands over centuries in Manitoba.

Manitoba has more of these Black Chernozem soils than any other province in Canada.

In soil classification we move from a really big classification like Chernozems down to Black Chernozems down through different categories and when we look at representing a provincial soil we go down to something called the soil series.

Our soil series is a classification that is quite specific.

It really reflects how that soil evolved on the landscape within that bigger category we have, these Black Chernozems.

We call it Newdale Soil because our soil series are usually named after a town, a town that would probably have that soil in that area so Newdale, Manitoba is what it's named after.

When we look at soil series, over a very large field we could have different soil series occurring where Newdale would be probably one part of that soil series in that area so it's something that's reasonably widespread through the western part of the province.

Dr. Amiro notes in Canada, provincial soils have been proclaimed in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, with soils already designated for Alberta, Quebec, and British Columbia and in the United States, every state has a designated soil.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Farmers Receptive to New Manure Management Equipment and Techniques

Mitchell Timmerman - Manitoba Agriculture and Food and Rural Initiatives — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 22, 2010

A nutrient management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives says farmers have been very receptive to the adoption of new methods for managing livestock manure.

A field workshop on soil and manure management scheduled for tomorrow at the Glenlea Research Station and the Kelburn Research Farm and hosted by the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment and Richardson International, will cover a range of topics related to manure management.

Mitchell Timmerman, a nutrient management specialist with MAFRI, says producers have been very receptive to the adoption of new equipment and strategies for managing manure.

Clip-Mitchell Timmerman-Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives:
Producers are generally very innovative in western Canada in order to become more efficient in their operations for economic reasons.

The rising cost of fertilizer means that the manure is all the more valuable and producers are striving for a better quality product, better management overall, more consistency, more uniformity and so that means trying to manage what is an imbalanced fertilizer more accurately.

Another key factor would have to be regulation.

There are risks that have to be mitigated and can be with proper management and so it's through regulation that the people in Manitoba have decided that there needs to be assurance that that intensive management will be done.

Beyond that too is the fact that producers believe in proper environmental stewardship and being good neighbors.

There are odor concerns particularly with liquid manure and environmental sustainability is a pillar on which producers generally operate because they know they need to properly manage their resources in order to protect them and ensure their long term viability as operators and often as farm families.

Timmerman says the one resistance comes in the form of cost and that's where government has come into play by offering incentives to encourage practice change, particularly where the economics don't necessarily favor that change.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

-For more information on the Soil and Manure Management Field Workshop call 745-5638 or email Mitchell.Timmerman@gov.mb.ca.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Prairie Rains Expected to Reduce Canadian Crop Output by 15 Percent

Gary Martens - University of Manitoba — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 21, 2010

A crop production instructor with the University of Manitoba estimates overall Canadian crop production could be down by 15 percent this year because of the abnormally wet prairie weather this spring.

In April seeding conditions in western Canada were excellent, farmers started planting and things looked good then rain brought work to a standstill.

The most recent estimates indicate eight to 12 million acres across the prairies won't be seeded this year with Saskatchewan hit the hardest.

Gary Martens, a crop production instructor with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says the rain has been patchy so while there are areas facing a difficult cropping situation, there are also areas where the crops look great.

Clip-Gary Martens-University of Manitoba:
This crop season we've had warmer than average temperatures so crop development has been very good.

However there are places where the crops are suffering badly.

It seems like canola is suffering as bad as anything.

It doesn't seem to be able to tolerate standing water, especially water when it's really warm and there's sunshine out.

I have seen canola plants that are flowering just turn completely brown and die within a matter of less than a week.

The cereal crops can tolerate a little bit more water but certainly they're under stress, they look yellow and they're stunted.

However in the last two weeks we've actually had really nice weather and the crops have recovered quite well in many areas.

Martens says with ten million acres unseeded, Canadian crop production might be down 15 percent which could affect the amount of grain available for export but because Canada only accounts for about two percent of the global grain trade, prices are unlikely to be affected.

He says crop quality will depend very much on the weatherso if the weather is dry at harvest, we could have good quality.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

Organic Field Tours Set for Tomorrow at Carman

Joanne Thiessen Martens - University of Manitoba — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 20, 2010

A University of Manitoba researcher says the desire to reduce crop input costs and the environmental impact of crop production and pursue niche markets are helping fuel increased interest in organic techniques.

The Ian N. Morrison Research Farm just west of Carman is operated by the University of Manitoba's Department of Plant Science with participation from Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives.

Two organic field tours are set for tomorrow afternoon at the research farm.

Joanne Thiessen Martens, a research technician with the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, recalls the organic program started around 2005.

Clip-Joanne Thiessen Martens-University of Manitoba:
We started there looking at crop rotations that could make organic systems work well and that would also provide us a land base in order to do organic research experiments.

Some of our key areas right now are looking at green manure crop management and looking at novel ways of including green manures and benefiting from green manures.

That includes grazing cover crops or grazing green manure crops.

It also includes terminating them using less tillage so using our crop roller to terminate green manures and then looking at some of the decomposition dynamics of that mulch that's left after rolling down a green manure crop.

We are also looking at some organic pulse crop production so soybeans and field beans.

Another major area is breeding cereal crops for use in organic systems or other low input systems.

Thiessen Martens suggests interest in organic crop production is being driven largely by the desire to reduce input costs by using methods that use less energy and fewer chemicals and practices used in organic can also be used on conventional farms.

For information or to register for the tours call 330-7409 or 474-6077.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences

West Nile Virus Cases Expected to Increase in Manitoba in 2010

Dr. Mahmood Iranpour - University of Manitoba — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

University News for July 19, 2010

The University of Manitoba reports higher numbers of the mosquito species that carry West Nile Virus are expected to result in higher numbers of West Nile Virus in Manitoba this year.

Warm temperatures and rain are needed for mosquitoes to reproduce in large numbers and Manitoba has had both this year resulting in higher mosquito populations than last year.

Aedes vexans has accounted for over 90 percent of the adult mosquitoes collected so far this year but higher numbers of Culex tarsalis and Culex restuans, the species capable of carrying West Nile Virus and other arboviruses, are also reported.

Dr. Mahmood Iranpour, an adjunct professor with the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, says the risk of contracting West Nile peaks in late summer.

Clip-Dr. Mahmood Iranpour-University of Manitoba:
The research has been done in the last couple of years.

The risk of the West Nile Virus for humans is high at the end of the summer in August and September.

The researchers think that because they are migratory birds...they go from north to south at the end of the summer...then these species Culex tarsalis and restuans which are primarily bird feeders, feed on the birds when the birds are around.

When the birds migrate south they switch from birds to humans and that is the time that they transmit the West Nile Virus and some other arboviruses to humans.

Basically the end of the summer, August and September, to me is basically the time that there's a high risk of transmitting the disease to humans.

Dr. Iranpour notes since the arrival of West Nile Virus in Canada in 2003-2004, the number of cases has fluctuated from year to year.

He notes there were no cases reported last year in Manitoba but, because of the higher mosquito numbers, he expects we'll certainly see cases of West Nile virus this year.

For UniversityNews.Org, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

*University News is a presentation of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Agricultural & Food Sciences