Short‐term physiological role of thyroxine administration on plasma metabolites and growth performance of Sterlet sturgeon Acipenser ruthenus

Thyroid hormones (THs) play important roles in regulating growth, development and physiological functions in vertebrates. To study the role of short‐term effects of thyroxine (T4) on metabolism and growth in female Sterlet sturgeon, thirty fish with a weight of 707.97 ± 37.15 g were divided into six tanks. Fish were injected intraperitoneal with (a) coconut oil alone (control), (b) 1 mg T4 kg per BW in coconut oil (T₁) and (c) 10 mg T4 kg per BW in coconut oil (T₁₀). Blood samples were collected at 0, 4, 7, 14, 28 and 60 days for plasma biochemical analysis, and body length and mass were determined at day 60. Based on results, higher growth was indicated in T₁₀ group. The highest T4 levels were observed on day 4 in the T₁ and T₁₀ treatments and gradually declined during the trial. Plasma T3 levels were highest on days 4 and 7 in the T₁ and T₁₀ groups, respectively. Plasma triglyceride levels were significantly elevated on day 28 in the T₁ group and on day 60 in the T₁₀ group. Plasma glucose concentrations were significantly elevated on days 7 and 14 in T₁₀ group. Overall, the present results suggest that a single injection of T4 can improve growth via changes in the metabolic profile of Sterlet sturgeon.     

Segregation distortion in doubled haploid lines of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) detected by simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers

A total of 147 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers (including86 barley and 61 wheat microsatellite markers) were tested for their segregation in a doubled haploid (DH) and an F₂ population of barley. The DH population consisted of 71 doubled haploid lines, developed from F₁ plants of a cross between Tadmor and WI2291using isolated microspore culture technique. A genetic linkage map consisting of 43 microsatellite markers was constructed using the DH population. Particularly on chromosome 4H microsatellite markers showed distorted segregation ratios. Segregation of DH lines based on molecular markers were compared with segregation of 92 F₂ lines from the same cross. The proportion of loci deviating from the expected monogenic segregation ratios in the DH population was significantly higher (19/43loci, 44%) than in the F₂ population (7/43 loci, 16%). The deviation was biased towards the WI2291 parent alleles. In line with this observation, WI2291 was found to perform better than Tadmor in regenerating green plantlets with the isolated microspore-culture technique. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bioactive constituents of Leptadenia arborea

The aerial part of Leptadenia arborea has been shown to contain pinoresinol (1), syringaresinol (2), leucanthemitol (3) and E-ferulaldehyde (4). These known compounds are being reported for the first time from this plant. Among them, syringaresinol has shown an inhibitory effect against acetylcholinesterase. The IC(50) (the concentration of 50% enzyme inhibition) value of this compound was 200 microg/ml.     

Evaluation of glycoproteins purified from adult and larval camel ticks (Hyalomma dromedarii) as a candidate vaccine

In order to identify antigens that can help prevent camel tick infestations, three major glycoproteins (GLPs) about 97, 66 and 40 kDa in size were purified from adult and larval Egyptian ticks, Hyalomma (H.) dromedarii, using a single-step purification method with Con-A sepharose. The purified GLPs were evaluated as vaccines against camel tick infestation in rabbits. The rabbits received three intramuscular inoculations of GLPs (20 µg/animal) on days 0, 14, and 28. In the immunoblot analysis, Sera from the immunized rabbits recognized the native GLPs and other proteins from larval and adult H. dromedarii ticks along with those from other tick species such as Rhipicephalus sanguineus but not Ornithodoros moubata. The effects of immunity induced by these GLPs were determined by exposing rabbits to adult H. dromedarii ticks. These results demonstrated that GLP immunization led to a slightly decreased reproductive index and significantly reduced rates of egg hatchability. These results demonstrated that immunization with the purified GLPs can provide protection against infestation by H. dromedarii and some other tick species. Further studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of immunization with GLPs against other tick species.     

Non‐specific immune responses and intestinal immunity of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fed Jujube (Ziziphus jujube) fruit extract

This study investigated the effects of Jujube (Ziziphus jujube) fruit extract (JFE) as an excellent source of nutrients and phytochemicals on the innate immune responses and expression of genes involved in intestinal immunity of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fingerlings. Three hundred healthy carps (10.78 ± 0.05 g) fingerlings were randomly allocated to 12 fibre glass tanks (300L; 15 fish per tank) and fed for 8 weeks with experimental diets which contained different levels of JFE (0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, or 1%). Thereafter, serum non‐specific immune parameters [total immunoglobulin (Ig) as well as alternative complement (ACH50) and lysozyme activity (SL)] and expression of genes involved in intestinal immunity (lyz, tnf‐alpha, il1b, il8, il10, and tgfb) were measured. The results revealed a significant elevation of Ig level in the JFE‐fed fish (p < 0.05) over the control fish. However, there was no significant difference among treated groups in case of serum total Ig. The highest levels of SL and ACH50 were observed in fish fed 1% of JFE. Nonetheless, no significant difference was noticed regarding SL and ACH50 of control and other supplemented groups (0.25% and 0.5% JFE). Also, expression of lyz, tnf‐alpha, and il1b genes increased significantly (p < 0.05) in JFE‐fed fish, in a dose‐dependent manner. On the other hand, significant (p < 0.05) down‐regulation of il110 and tgfb were noticed in treated groups. The present findings suggested that extraction of Jujube, Z. jujube fruit, possesses beneficial effects on immune responses of common carp.     

Preparation of Polyurethane Silicon Oxide Nanomaterials as a Binder in Leather Finishing

Leather finishing processes using toxic organic solvent based produce volatile organic compounds (VOC), chronic exposure to this chemicals effect on workers' health causing many diseases especially lung cancer. So, polyurethane waterbased was synthesized for application in leather finishing instead of organic solvent based because it’s economic and safety for industry and workers. Preparation of water-based polyurethane (PU) depends on the reaction of polyethylene glycol (PEG, 300) with isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and the reaction of IPDI-1,4-butanediol (BDO) together with dimethylolpropionic acid (DMPA), was synthesized by poly-addition polymerization reaction. PU was then modified with different amounts of silicon dioxide nanoparticles (1-5 % SiO₂), used as a binder in leather finishing. Leather coated was characterized physically, chemically and thermally by FTIR, GPC, DLS, TEM, SEM and TGA. The results revel that, water vapor permeability (WVP) of leather coated with PU modified with SiO₂ showed improvement due to the existence of SiO₂ particles which increases the interspaces of the polyurethane coating. SEM showed that when the amount of SiO₂ nanoparticles increases, there is uniform nanoparticles accumulated can be observed. EDX prove the presence of Si and O₂ elements and the formation of SiO₂ nanoparticles. Mechanical properties discussed that tensile strength; tear strength and elongation at break % increase with increase SiO₂ concentration until 3 % SiO₂ nanoparticles. TGA showed an improvement of thermal stability of coated leather modified with SiO₂. Therefore, this study succeeded in preparation of safe, ecofriendly of water-based polyurethane binders which modified with SiO₂ for using in leather finishing.     

Determination of Mass Transfer Parameters During Deep Fat Frying of Rice Crackers

The accuracy of the knowledge of mass transfer parameters(effective moisture diffusivity,mass transfer Biot number and mass transfer coefficient) in the case of frying food,is essential and important for designing,modeling and process optimization.This study is undertaken to develop an approach for determining mass transfer parameters during frying of spherical rice cracker in sunflower oil at 150,170 and 190 ℃.These parameters were evaluated from the plots of dimensionless concentration ratios against time of frying.Effective moisture diffusivity,mass transfer Biot number and mass transfer coefficient ranged between 1.24×10-8 to 2.36×10-8 m2/s,1.96 to 2.34 and 5.51×10-6 to 9.70×10-6 m/s,respectively.Effective moisture diffusivity and mass transfer coefficient were found to increase with an increasing frying temperature,whereas mass transfer Biot number decreased.An Arrhenius-type relationship was found between effective diffusivity coefficient and frying temperature.     

Apparent metabolizable energy value of whole date palm (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoenix dactylifera</Emphasis> L.) and its possible use as a feedstuff for aged laying hens

This study was conducted to evaluate the feeding value of whole date palm (WDP) with and without enzyme supplementation on aged laying hen’s performance. Apparent metabolizable energy value of WDP was determined by the total collection method using ten adult leghorn cockerels. WDP was substituted with a corn-soybean meal basal diet at 40% level, and then the metabolizable energy of this experimental diet and basal diet was determined. After that, a total number of 256 Bovanz 95-week-old hens were randomly allocated into eight groups consisting of four replicates of eight birds each, based on a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement of the treatments. Eight iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous experimental diets including one corn-soybean meal-based control diet and two, three, and four corn-soybean meal-based diets included 70, 140, and 210 g/kg ground WDP, respectively. Each of the diets supplemented with two levels of an enzyme (0.0 and 0.07 g/kg Natozim Plus). There was no significant difference in feed intake, feed conversion ratio, egg production, egg mass, eggshell thickness, and Haugh unit among the treatments (P > 0.05). However, yolk color score significantly decreased as dietary WDP level increased. The serum biochemical metabolites were not significantly affected by WDP and enzyme supplementation (P > 0.05). There were no significant differences in the relative weight of different organs except for abdominal fat. Our findings show that using WDP up to 21% of the diet was more economic and had no adverse effect on productive performance and serum metabolites of laying hens. However, WDP had an adverse effect on yolk color which can be ameliorated by carotenoid supplementation.