Effect of chloropheniramine maleate on liver and kidney functions as well as blood count of guinea pigs

The present study aimed at exploring the effect of antihistamine chloropheniramine maleate (H1-blocker) on liver and kidney functions as well as on blood count. 60 mature guinea pigs were used. Histamine or chloropheniramine maleate was given, either alone or together, intramuscularly for 7 successive days. At the end of the experimental period, blood samples were collected for determination of blood counts and of the levels of urea, creatinine, GOT, GPT, and alkaline phosphatase in the sera of different groups. The results showed significant groupwise variations in blood count, liver function as well as kidney function.     

Improvement of the nutritional quality of Egyptian and Sudanese sorghum grains by the addition of phosphates

1. Male broilers (0 to 35 d) were given foods with two types of yellow sorghum substituted for maize in isonutrient diets. Sorghum-based foods were also supplemented with extra phosphorus, to provide a total P of about 8 g/kg; the P being from either orthophosphoric acid or food grade dicalcium phosphate. 2. Both sorghums depressed growth and food:gain ratio and increased the incidence of locomotor disorder to about 0.50 (maize control = 0). Sorghum from Sudan, with higher concentrations of both tannin and phytate, caused more severe anti-nutritive effects than sorghum from Egypt. 3. Within the limits of statistical significance the growth depressing effect of sorghum was completely reversed by extra P. With the more toxic Sudanese sorghum this amelioration was numerically less than complete (growth = 0.94, maize control = 1). Locomotor disorders were also virtually, but not completely, eliminated by phosphorus treatment. 4. Treatment of sorghum by dry-mixing with dicalcium phosphate could form the basis of a simple and economic method for extending the use of high-tannin sorghum in poultry foods. The mode of action of the treatment remains to be determined.     

Effect of Some Weed Control Treatments on Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) and Associated Weeds

Two field experiments were carried out during 1984 and 1985 seasons at the Farm of Shandaweel Agric. Res. Station, A. R. C, Ministry of Agric. (Egypt), to study the effect of five herbicides applied as a single or in tank mixtures as well as hoeing treatment on sesame plants and dominated annual weeds under Upper Egypt growing conditions. The herbicides alachlor at 2.304, pendimethalin at 2.040, linuron at 1.200, diuron at 0.960 and prometryn at 1.920 kg a.i./ha were applied preemergence as a single herbicides, as well as alachlor and pendimethalin combined with linuron, diuron or prometryn at the same rates. Two checks were included, one was left without weed removal, while the other was hand-hoed.
Pendimethalin at 2.040 applied alone or in mixtures with linuron at 1.200 or with diuron at 0.960 kg a.i./ha gave the best grass weed control, while excellent effectiveness against annual broad-leaves was obtained by linuron at 1,200 and diuron at 0.960 kg a.i./ha alone or in mixtures with pendimethalin at 2.040 kg a.i./ha. Whereas, pendimithalin at 2.040 applied alone or in tank mixtures with linuron at 1.200 or with diuron at 0.960 kg a.i./ha gave the best control for total annual weeds and higher seed yield of sesame as well as other yield contributing characters.     

Les électrolytes du sang et des sécrétions endométriales de la vache à la suite d'une glucocorticothérapie

The effect of two synthetic glucocorticoids, 9_α-fluoroprednisolone acetate and dexamethasone (9_α-fluoro, 16_α-methylprednisolone) was studied on 12 normally breeding cows. Na, Mg, K, Ca and P concentrations were evaluated in the serum and in the uterine fluid at four stages of the estrous cycle.

No significant changes were noted in Na and Ca concentration in either serum or uterine fluid. On the other hand, significant changes in the Mg, K and P were observed. Both drugs have caused a decrease in the content of Mg in the serum (P<0.05) during diestrus, a fall in the level of uterine K (P<0.01) during proestrus and a decrease of P during proestrus both in serum (P<0.001 after dexamethasone treatment) and in uterine fluid (P<0.001 for both drugs).

It is obvious that the two drugs change the chemical composition of blood and endometrial secretions. This could jeopardize the survival of the spermatozoids and of the ovum as well as the fertilization and the implantation processes.

     

Use of an avirulent Australian strain of Newcastle disease virus as a vaccine

One-day-old chickens were transported from Australia to Malaysia and vaccinated orotracheally with an uninactivated vaccine prepared from avirulent Australian V4 strain of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The vaccination regimes were as follows: group A, once, at 2 weeks old; group B, once, at 3 weeks old; group C, twice, at 2 and at 3 weeks old; group D, direct contact with groups A, B, and C; and group E, indirect contact with groups A, B, C, and D. Group F was unvaccinated controls. Challenge was with NDV virulent Ipoh AF 2240-226 strain, administered at 4 weeks old intramuscularly to 10 chickens in each group and orotracheally to 10 chickens in each group. The remaining chickens were challenged by contact with the inoculated chickens. Group mortalities following challenge were: A, 1/77; B, 1/34; C, 0/39; D, 0/45; E, 6/43; and F, 60/60.     

Development and validation of species-specific primers that provide a molecular diagnostic for virus-vector longidorid nematodes and related species in German viticulture

The nematode species Longidorus attenuatus, L. elongatus, L. macrosoma and Paralongidorus maximusare economically important pests to the viticulture industry due to their ability to vector two nepoviruses (Raspberry Ringspot Virus and Tomato Black Ring Virus) to grapevines. In Germany, these species occur in vineyard soil with other non-vector but morphologically similar longidorid species, L. helveticus, L.profundorum and L. sturhani. Species-specific primers were designed from ribosomal DNA for all seven species to facilitate taxonomic identification for non-specialists. Primers were assessed for their reliability by screening, where possible, a number of populations of each species. Furthermore, their selectivity and sensitivity were determined when challenged with closely related longidorid species and general nematode communities typical of vineyard soil. A multiplex approach using a common forward primer combined with species-specific reverse primers enabled three target nematode species to be detected in the same PCR reaction. All primers were highly specific, detecting all nematode developmental forms from disparate populations and were sufficiently sensitive to detect a single target nematode within a whole nematode community typical of a vineyard soil comprising of a range of non-target species. Given their specificity, sensitivity and reliability, these diagnostic primers should be of great benefit to both phytosanitary/quarantine services related to the viticulture industry and also as a decision management tool for growers.     

Real-time detection of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phytophthora nicotianae</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">P. citrophthora</Emphasis>in citrus roots and soil

Two primers, specific for Phytophthora nicotianae (Pn6) and P. citrophthora (Pc2B), were modified to obtain Scorpion primers for real-time identification and detection of both pathogens in citrus nursery soils and roots. Multiplex PCR with dual-labelled fluorogenic probes allowed concurrent identification of both species ofPhytophthora among 150 fungal isolates, including 14 species of Phytophthora. Using P. nicotianaespecific primers a delayed and lower fluorescence increase was also obtained from P. cactorumDNA. However, in separate real-time amplifications, the aspecific increase of fluorescence from P. cactorum was avoided by increasing the annealing temperature. In multiplex PCR, with a series of 10-fold DNA dilutions, the detection limit was 10 pg l^-1 for P. nicotianaeand 100 pg l^–1 for P. citrophthora, whereas in separate reaction DNA up to 1 pg l^-1 was detected for both pathogens.Simple and rapid procedures for direct DNA extraction from soil and roots were utilised to yield DNA whose purity and quality was suitable for PCR assays. By combining these protocols with a double amplification (nested Scorpion-PCR) using primers Ph2-ITS4 amplifying DNA from the main Phytophthora species (first round) and PnB5-Pn6 Scorpion and Pc2B Scorpion-Pc7 (second round), it was possible to achieve real-time detection of P. nicotianaeand P. citrophthora from roots and soil. The degree of sensitivity was similar to that of traditional detection methods based on the use of selective media. The analyses of artificially and naturally infested soil showed a high and significant correlation between the concentration of pathogen propagules and the real-time PCR cycle threshold.