Effects of silvopastoral areas on milk production at dual-purpose cattle farms at the semi-humid old agricultural frontier in central Nicaragua

In extensive cattle production systems, the composition of grazing areas may significantly influence productivity. In dual-purpose cattle production systems in the lowland tropics, pasture lands with trees, so-called silvopastoral areas, are considered as being important, particularly to facilitate the management of crossbred European native cattle. The aim of the study was to quantify the effects of silvopastoral areas on production at dual-purpose cattle farms in the semi-humid lowlands of central Nicaragua. The relationships between seasonal milk production and herd data, and the proportions of land use types were examined for 74 farms by stepwise regression analysis.     

Effects of Artemisia annua and Foeniculum vulgare on chickens highly infected with Eimeria tenella (Phylum Apicomplexa)

Background

Intensive poultry production systems depend on chemoprophylaxis with anticoccidial drugs to combat infection. A floor-pen study was conducted to evaluate the anticoccidial effect of Artemisia annua and Foeniculum vulgare on Eimeria tenella infection. Five experimental groups were established: negative control (untreated, unchallenged); positive control (untreated, challenged); a group medicated with 125 ppm lasalocid and challenged; a group medicated with A. annua leaf powder at 1.5% in feed and challenged; and a group treated with the mixed oils of A. annua and Foeniculum vulgare in equal parts, 7.5% in water and challenged. The effects of A. annua and oil extract of A. annua + F. vulgare on E. tenella infection were assessed by clinical signs, mortality, fecal oocyst output, faeces, lesion score, weight gain, and feed conversion.

Results

Clinical signs were noticed only in three chickens from the lasalocid group, six from the A. annua group, and nine from the A. annua + F. vulgare group, but were present in 19 infected chickens from the positive control group. Bloody diarrhea was registered in only two chickens from A. annua group, but in 17 chickens from the positive control group. Mortality also occurred in the positive control group (7/20). Chickens treated with A. annua had a significant reduction in faecal oocysts (95.6%; P = 0.027) and in lesion score (56.3%; P = 0.005) when compared to the positive control. At the end of experiment, chickens treated with A. annua leaf powder had the highest body weight gain (68.2 g/day), after the negative control group, and the best feed conversion (1.85) among all experimental groups.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that A. annua leaf powder (Aa-p), at 1.5% of the daily diet post-infection, can be a valuable alternative for synthetic coccidiostats, such as lasalocid.     

Interleukin-8 as a prognostic serum marker in canine mammary gland neoplasias

Mammary gland tumors in female dogs are an excellent model for the clinic-pathological, diagnostic and prognostic investigation of mammary neoplasias. Prognostic and predictive markers are effective in research and routine diagnosis. Interleukins play a fundamental role in cancer, with a particular function in tumor growth, invasion and metastatic potential. Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is known to possess tumorigenic and pro-angiogenic properties, and its overexpression is seen in a number of human tumors. IL-8 serum levels were determined and correlated with the clinic-pathological features and clinical evolution of mammary gland neoplasias in female dogs. IL-8 was measured by an immunoenzymatic assay in 30 female dogs with mammary neoplasias within a 12 month follow-up and in 50 control animals. The correlation between IL-8 concentration and clinical parameters was investigated. A statistically significant difference in the IL-8 serum levels was found in tumor-bearing dogs compared to the controls. In addition, when the individual parameters were evaluated, IL-8 content showed a positive correlation with the tumor progression, lymph node involvement, recurrence and death. Single and multivariate analyses showed associations between tumor recurrence, metastasis, high clinical staging and high IL-8, and also with the death risk. This was also consistent with the high IL-8 content in dogs showing tumor recurrence and metastasis. IL-8 superexpression has been detected in a number of human tumors, usually associated with a poor prognostic. Besides promoting angiogenesis, IL-8 is strongly related with the metastatic phenotype of mammary tumor cells. High IL-8 concentration was found in mammary gland cancer patients with advanced disease stages. Our results show that IL-8 can be used as a non-invasive prognostic marker for mammary gland cancer, and can be useful for the prediction of disease progression and recurrence in dogs with mammary neoplasias. The increased level of this cytokine acts as an independent prognostic marker of survival and the identification of animals with the poor prognostic.     

Sponge-associated fungi from a mangrove habitat in Indonesia: species composition,antimicrobial activity,enzyme screening and bioactive profiling

There is no report of diversity, biological properties and bioactive compounds of sponge-associated fungi from Indonesia’s mangrove ecosystem to date. This study was designed to isolate sponge-associated fungi from a mangrove ecosystem in Mangkang, to screen the antimicrobial and extracellular enzyme properties of the isolates, characterize the biologically promising isolates using molecular approaches, and profile the secondary metabolites using phytochemical and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analyses. An unidentified sponge that lived in association with mangrove roots was collected from Mangkang. Total of eight associated fungi were isolated from the sponge. Among all isolates, only two fungi SPMKF 1 and SPMKF 6 produced extracellular amylase, another two fungi SPMKF 4 and 5 showed antibacterial activity against MRSA, and only one fungus SPMKF 8 was able to produce extracellular amylase and show antimicrobial activity against ESBL E. coli, Salmonella enterica ser. Typhi strain MDR and C. albicans, while SPMKF 2, SPMKF 3 and SPMKF 9 did not show any biological properties. The result of genetic characterization proved that SPMKF 1 was Cladosporium tenuissimum, SPMKF 4 was Eutypella sp., SPMKF 5 was Lasiodiplodia theobromae, SPMKF 6 was Fusarium keratoplasticum and SPMKF 8 was F. solani. Furthermore, an amylase gene was detected in fungi SPMKF 1, 6 and 8 while among the BGC, only NRPS genes were detected in SPMKF 4, 5 and 8. Interestingly, several same metabolites indicating the same retention factor (Rf) values in TLC were detected in the fungal crude extracts by TLC.     

The fatty acid profiles and energetic substrates of two Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus,Linnaeus) strains,Red‐Stirling and Chitralada,and their hybrid

Protein and lipid content as well as the fatty acid (FA) composition of storage tissues were analysed in two varieties of Oreochromis niloticus (Red‐Stirling and Chitralada) and their hybrid. The animals were maintained in cages for 11 months. The samples were taken when the animals weighed 10, 50, 100, 250 and 500 g. The results showed that changes in the metabolic processes occur during an increase in body mass in both varieties of tilapia and also their hybrid, but that these differences are not found in animals collected at the commercial weight. The protein content of the fillet and liver decreased with growth and the same protein content associated with growth was found for fillet lipid content. The genetic variety did not influence the FA profile of the fillet, but different genotypes had different hepatic FA compositions. Even with the same lipid content, the hepatocytes of Chitralada accumulated higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) n6 in triglycerides and increased C22:6n3 in the hepatocyte membranes. The higher n6PUFA content was compensated by a lower fraction of saturated FA in the hepatocyte triglycerides. The skin of Chitralada also had higher n6PUFA and C22:6n3 contents, suggesting a higher ability to deposit PUFA in the skin due to alterations in the liver synthetic pathway.     

Tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of a novel benzene‐poly‐carboxylic acids complex with cis‐diammineplatinum (II) dichloride in dogs with malignant mammary tumours

The pharmacokinetic profile, tolerability and efficacy of benzene‐poly‐carboxylic acids complex with cis‐diammineplatinum (II) dichloride (BP‐C1) were studied in dogs with mammary cancer. A three‐level response surface pathway designed trial was performed on seven dogs. At each level BP‐C1 was administered subcutaneously daily for 7 days followed by a 7‐day rest period in a dose escalating manner. Adverse events according to VCOG‐CTCAE, performance status and tumour progression were recorded. The pharmacokinetic profile followed a two‐compartment model with rapid absorption, short distribution, and a slow elimination phase. The overall elimination half‐life was 125 h. The maximum tolerated dose of BP‐C1 was estimated to be above 0.46 mg kg^?1. A significant reduction in VCOG‐CTCAE toxicity which correlated negatively with increasing dose was found. The dogs' general performance status remained unchanged. No decrease in total tumour burden was found, although temporary tumour reduction was seen in some target tumours.     

A New Approach to Select Doubled Haploid Rice Lines under Salinity Stress Using Indirect Selection Index

This study determined the indirect selection index of doubled haploid(DH) rice using a multivariate analysis approach to select lines adaptive to salinity stress, comprising three experiments. The first experiment involved the selection of good agronomic characters in a field experiment conducted at an experimental station in Bogor, Indonesia. The second experiment involved salinity tolerance screening through hydroponic cultures using 0 and 120 mmol/L NaCl, conducted at a greenhouse in Bogor. The third experiment involved the validation of the indirect adaptability selection index(IASI) through a field experiment in Sukra(saline area). Field experiments followed a randomized complete block design(RCBD), whereas an RCBD nested factorial design was used for the greenhouse experiment. The first and second experiments used 56 DH lines and four check varieties with three replications. In the second experiment, Pokkali and IR29 varieties were also added as tolerant and sensitive checks of salinity, respectively. The third experiment used 28 selected DH lines, Inpari 29 and one sensitive DH line. The good agronomic index(GAI) was 0.465 yield + 0.433 number of productive tillers + 0.31 number of filled grains. This generated 24 DH rice lines with good agronomic traits. The salinity tolerance index(SaTI) was developed through the average of standardized salinity tolerance score and salinity selection index based on discriminant analysis. This generated 34 DH rice lines with good salinity stress tolerance. The IASI(IASI = GAI – Sa TI) selected 28 DH rice lines adaptive to salinity stress and it was considered effective by Sukra validation.     

Investigation of Yacon Leaves (Smallanthus sonchifolius) for α-Glucosidase Inhibitors Using Metabolomics and In Silico Approach

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius (Poepp.) H. Robinson) leaves is traditionally consumed as herbal tea in many countries including Indonesia. This plant’s antidiabetic properties have been extensively researched, but studies on the responsible active compound identification are scarce. Information on the active compounds is critical for the consistency of Yacon herbal tea quality. The aim of this study was to identify α-glucosidase inhibitors in Indonesian Yacon leaves grown in two different locations using FTIR- and LC–MS/MS-based metabolomics in combination with in silico technique. Yacon leaves ethanol (50 and 95%) and water extracts were tested for α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, with the 95% ethanol extract being the most active. Geographical origins were found to have no major impact on the activity. In parallel, chemical profile of Yacon leaves extract was determined using FTIR and LC–MS/MS. Orthogonal Projection to Latent Structure (OPLS) was used to analyze both sets of data. OPLS analysis of FTIR data showed that compounds associated to α-glucosidase inhibitor activity included those with functional groups –OH, stretched CH, carbonyl, and alkene. It was consistent with the result of OPLS analysis of LC–MS/MS data, which revealed that based on their VIP and Y-related coefficient value, nystose, 1-kestose, luteolin-3′-7-di-O-glucoside, and 1,3-O-dicaffeoilquinic acid isomers, strongly linked to Yacon’s α-glucosidase inhibitor activity. In silico study supported these findings, revealing that the four compounds were potent α-glucosidase inhibitors with docking score in the range of ? 100.216 to ? 115.657 kcal/mol, which are similar to acarbose (? 115.774 kcal/mol) as a reference drug.

Graphical abstract