Effect of spiramycin and tulathromycin on abomasal emptying rate in milk-fed calves

Impaired abomasal motility is common in cattle with abomasal disorders. The macrolide erythromycin has been demonstrated to be an effective prokinetic agent in healthy calves and in adult cattle with abomasal volvulus or left displaced abomasum. We hypothesized that 2 structurally related macrolides, spiramycin and tulathromycin, would also be effective prokinetic agents in cattle. Six milk-fed, male, Holstein-Friesian calves were administered each of the following 4 treatments: spiramycin, 75 000 IU/kg BW, IM, this dose approximates 25 mg/kg BW, IM; tulathromycin, 2.5 mg/kg BW, SC; 2 mL of 0.9% NaCl (negative control); and erythromycin, 8.8 mg/kg BW, IM (positive control). Calves were fed 2 L of cow’s milk containing acetaminophen (50 mg/kg body weight) 30 min after each treatment was administered and jugular venous blood samples were obtained periodically after the start of sucking. Abomasal emptying rate was assessed by the time to maximal plasma acetaminophen concentration. Spiramycin, tulathromycin, and the positive control erythromycin increased abomasal emptying rate compared to the negative control. We conclude that the labeled antimicrobial dose of spiramycin and tulathromycin increases the abomasal emptying rate in healthy milk-fed calves. Additional studies investigating whether spiramycin and tulathromycin exert a prokinetic effect in adult cattle with abomasal hypomotility appear indicated.     

Herbaceous species diversity in relation to fire severity in Zagros oak forests,Iran

Zagros forests are mainly covered byQuercus brantii L. coppices and oak sprout clumps occupy the forest area like patches. We investigated post-fire herbaceous diversity in the first growing season after fire. For this purpose neighboring burned and unburned areas were selected with the same plant species and ecological conditions. The data were collected from areas subjected to different fire severities. Overall 6 treatments were considered with respect to fire severity and the mi-crosites of inside and outside of oak sprout clumps including： unburned inside and outside of sprout clumps （Ni and No）, inside of sprout clumps that burned with high fire severity （H）, inside of sprout clumps that burned with moderate fire severity （M）, outside of sprout clumps that burned with low fire severity （OH and OM）. Different herbaceous com-position was observed in the unburned inside and outside of oak sprout clumps. The species diversity and richness were increased in treatments burned with low and moderate fire severity. However, in treatment burned with high fire severity （H）, herbaceous cover was reduced, even-ness was increased, and richness and diversity were not significantly changed. We concluded that besides the microsites conditions in forest, fire severity is an inseparable part of the ecological effect of fire on her-baceous composition.     

Growth, reproductive performance, muscle and egg composition in grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes), fed hydrilla or formulated diets with varying protein levels

Growth, reproductive performance, muscle and egg composition were investigated in grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennnes), fed hydrilla or formulated diets with varying protein levels. Five experimental diets, with varying levels (20%, 25%, 30%, 35% and 40%) of crude protein (CP), were used. One of the fish groups was fed hydrilla. Fish (44.1±0.3 cm; 913±9 g) were stocked (20 tank^?1) in outdoor concrete tanks (20 × 10 × 1.5 m) in duplicate, and fed to satiation, twice daily, at 09:00 and 17:00 hours for the experimental duration of 360 days. High (P<0.05) weight gain was recorded in fish fed 30% and 35% CP diets. However, values for gonadosomatic index (GSI), egg diameter, relative fecundity (eggs kg^?1 body weight), fertilizability and hatchability (%) were comparable (P>0.05) in fish at ≥25% of dietary protein intake. Hydrilla‐fed fish exhibited lower (P<0.05) values for the measured parameters. Crude protein content in muscle increased with dietary protein level. Highest (P<0.05) muscle protein was obtained in fish fed 35% CP diet. Muscle fat was comparable (P>0.05) among fish receiving formulated diets. Ash content was not significantly (P>0.05) different among fish of different dietary groups. Moisture content in fish fed formulated diets, with the exception of 20% CP diet, did not vary significantly (P>0.05). Eggs of fish fed formulated diets contained higher CP and fat contents than those of hydrilla‐fed fish. High (P<0.05) moisture content was noted in the eggs of hydrilla‐fed fish. Ctenopharyngodon idella fed formulated diet, with a minimum of 25% CP, showed better reproductive performance than those fed hydrilla.     

Karyological analysis of endangered Caspian salmon, Salmo trutta caspius (Kessler, 1877)

The karyotype and chromosomal characteristics of endangered Caspian salmon, Salmo trutta caspius, in the southern part of the Caspian Sea were investigated. From the total of 60 mitotic metaphases achieved from 15 individuals, 15, 9 and 36 metaphases were with the mode <76, 76 and 80 representing 25%, 15% and 60% of metaphases respectively. So, the most common pattern of chromosome number was 80 (36 metaphases, 60%) and the number of diploid chromosomes was thus confirmed as (2n=80) of this subspecies. The karyotype consists of seven metacentric, five submetacentric and 28 telocentric pairs. The karyological parameters of the Caspian salmon, the centromic index, arm ratio, relative length and length variation range of chromosomes, were 0–0.5, 1–∞, 0.011–0.045 and 0.507–2.028 μm respectively. The total length of chromosomes in haploid series was 44.776 μm and fundamental number of chromosome arms was 104. This study may provide the first knowledge on chromosome analysis in Caspian salmon and add basic information useful for its chromosomal manipulations.     

Rates of inbreeding and genetic diversity in Iranian Holstein Cattle

The accumulation of inbreeding and the loss of genetic diversity is a potential problem in Holstein dairy cattle. The goal of this study was to estimate inbreeding levels and other measures of genetic diversity, using pedigree information from Iranian Holstein cattle. Edited pedigree included 1 048 572 animals. The average number of discrete generation equivalents and pedigree completeness index reached 13.4 and 90%, respectively. The rate of inbreeding was 0.3% per year. Effective number of founders, founder genomes, non‐founders and ancestors of animals born between 2003 and 2011 were 503, 15.6, 16.1 and 25.7, respectively. It was proven that the unequal founder contributions as well as bottlenecks and genetic drift were important reasons for the loss of genetic diversity in the population. The top 10 ancestors with the highest marginal genetic contributions to animals born between 2003 and 2011 and with the highest contributions to inbreeding were 48.20% and 63.94%, respectively. Analyses revealed that the most important cause of genetic diversity loss was genetic drift accumulated over non‐founder generations, which occurred due to small effective population size. Therefore, it seems that managing selection and mating decisions are controlling future co‐ancestry and inbreeding, which would lead to better handling of the effective population size.     

Observations on the reproductive performance of three mouth-brooding tilapia species in low-salinity underground water

The reproductive performance and seed production of three mouth‐brooding tilapia species, Oreochromis spilurus (Günther), Oreochromis aureus (Steindachner) and Taiwanese red tilapia hybrid, were compared in low‐salinity underground water (3–5 g L^?1) to select species with the highest reproductive rate. Two‐year‐old males and females having average body weights of 454 and 259 g, respectively, were stocked in 2‐m³ fibreglass breeding tanks (two tanks per species) at 1:3 male to female sex ratio and at average density of three fish m^?2. Seeds (unhatched eggs; yolk‐sac fry and the swim‐up fry) were collected weekly for 112 days. The results showed O. spilurus to have significantly higher (P<0.05) mean spawning parameters expressed as total seed tank^?1 (84 154), seed kg female^?1 day^?1 (284), seed m^?2 day^?1 (190.3) and seed female^?1 day^?1 (76.3), than O. aureus and red tilapia. Monthly seed production in O. spilurus and red tilapia gradually increased from May, peaked in July and declined in August, while in O. aureus, it continued to decrease from May to August. In this study, the observed production levels of seed in O. spilurus were among the highest levels reported for tilapia; therefore, O. spilurus could be selected as a potential candidate for mass seed production in commercial tilapia hatcheries.     

Substrate concentration affects the in vitro metabolism of 17-hydroxyprogesterone by ovaries of the carp,Cyprinus carpio

Carp ovarian tissue was incubated with ³H-17-hydroxyprogesterone in the presence of 0, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 μg ml⁻¹ unlabeled 17-hydroxyprogesterone. The pattern of metabolites formed showed a marked variation with substrate concentration. Formation of glucuronide and sulphate conjugates was important only at low substrate concentration. At high substrate concentration (10 and 100 μg ml⁻¹) 17,20α-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one was the major metabolite, but at intermediate concentrations polar 7α-hydroxypregnanetetrols predominated. The results support the hypothesis that at low substrate concentrations conjugating, 5α-reducing and 7α-hydroxylating enzymes, of high activity but low capacity, act as scavengers to deactivate any steroids formed during the relatively low pituitary gonadotrophin secretions which are necessary for oocyte development, but that during the prespawning gonadotrophin surge when high levels of substrate are present these enzymes are saturated and 17,20α-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20αP) becomes the major ovarian steroid. The possible role of 17,20αP during oocyte final maturation requires further examination.     

Investigation on the effect of titanium dioxide nano particles on camouflage properties of cotton fabrics

Cotton fabrics were dyed with three commercial vat dyes in order to provide camouflage in Vis-NIR regions and imitate reflectance profile of greenish leaves. To investigate the effect of nano particles on camouflage properties of dyed fabric, nano particles of TiO₂ were applied on dyed fabrics using pad-dry-cure method. The nano TiO₂ padded dyed fabrics were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Reflectance curves of coated dyed samples with different concentrations of nano TiO₂ were measured. Results showed that in both of the standard shades, nano TiO₂ increases the reflectance value in NIR region and with increasing the concentration of nano TiO₂, the reflectance curves of samples tend to show the maximum reflection of greenish leaves (deciduous leaves) in NIR region. Chromatic values (CIE1976 L*, a*, and b*) and color difference (according to CIECMC color difference ΔE*cmc (2:1)) of each of the coated samples were measured using the reflection spectrophotometer. By considering the influence of white color of nano TiO₂ on green shade of dyed cotton fabrics and increasing the color difference (between coated samples and the standard shades of the 1948 U.S army pattern) in visible range, optimum concentrations of nano TiO₂ for development of camouflage properties on cotton fabrics in both NIR and visible region were determined. These values for NATO and forest green shades were 0.75 % and 0.5 %, respectively. Fastness results showed that both of the samples have acceptable color fastness. The effect of washing and exposure to light on camouflage properties of coated dyed fabrics in visible (in term of chromatic values) and NIR region (in term of spectral reflectance) was investigated when those were coated in optimum concentrations of nano TiO₂. The results showed that the effect of after treatments (washing and exposure to light) on surface color spectral characteristics and camouflage properties was inconsiderable.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel reactive dyes with simultaneous insect-repellent and anti-bacterial properties

N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET) is widely used as an insect-repellent. Sulfonamides are an important class of anti-bacterial drugs. In order to combine the strength of anti-bacterial activities of sulfonamides and insect-repellent property of DEET, three azo reactive dyes were designed and synthesized. To do this, the diazoniom salts of sulfonamides viz. 4-amino-N-(4-methyl-2-pyrimidinyl) benzene sulfonamide, 4-amino-N-(4-dimethyl-2-pyrimidinyl) benzene sulfonamide and 4-amino-N-(4,6-dimethyl-2-pyrimidinyl) benzene sulfonamide were prepared using HCl and NaNO₂. The resulting diazoniom salts were then coupled to the coupling component containing N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide to produce the novel dyes. The synthesized dyes were filtered off and then purified. To investigate and analyze the dyes, analytical methods such as ¹H-NMR, FTIR, UV-visible spectroscopy, and elemental analysis were used. Consequently, the anti-bacterial activities of dyes were measured with E. coli and P. aeruginosa as a Gram-negative strain and S. aureus and S. mutans as a Gram-positive strain according to MIC method. The insect-repellent efficacy of the dyes was studied using standard methods for Anophle mosquito repellent. The results confirmed anti-bacterial and insect-repellent activity of the dyes.     

Marine Sponge Derived Natural Products between 2001 and 2010: Trends and Opportunities for Discovery of Bioactives

Marine sponges belonging to the phylum Porifera (Metazoa), evolutionarily the oldest animals are the single best source of marine natural products. The present review presents a comprehensive overview of the source, taxonomy, country of origin or geographical position, chemical class, and biological activity of sponge-derived new natural products discovered between 2001 and 2010. The data has been analyzed with a view to gaining an outlook on the future trends and opportunities in the search for new compounds and their sources from marine sponges.