Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of tildipirosin following intravenous and subcutaneous administration in sheep

Tildipirosin is a semi‐synthetic macrolide antibiotic commonly used in cattle and swine to treat bacterial pneumonia. The objective of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetic profile of tildipirosin after a single intravenous (i.v.) and subcutaneous (s.c.) administration in healthy lambs. Eighteen lambs were randomly divided into three groups (n = 6 each). Lambs received a single s.c. dose of tildipirosin at 4 and 6 mg/kg b.w. in group 1 and 2, respectively. Lambs in group 3 received a single i.v. dose of tildipirosin at 4 mg/kg b.w. Blood samples were collected at 0, 0.5, 0.75, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 24, 36, 48 hr, and every 24 hr to day 21, and thereafter at day 28 posttildipirosin administration. The plasma concentrations of tildipirosin were determined using high‐performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (LC?MS?MS). All lambs appeared to tolerate both the intravenous and subcutaneous injection of tildipirosin. Following i.v. administration, the elimination half‐life (T_1/2), mean residence time (MRT), volume of distribution (Vd/F), and total body clearance (Cl/F) were 119.6 ± 9.0 hr, 281.9 ± 25.7 hr, 521.1 ± 107.2 L, and 2.9 ± 0.5 L/hr, respectively. No significant differences in C_max (657.0 ± 142.8 and 754.6 ± 227.1 ng/ml), T_max (1.21 ± 0.38 and 1.35 ± 0.44 hr), T_1/2 (144 ± 17.5, 156.5 ± 33.4 hr), and MRT (262.0 ± 30.2 and 250.6 ± 54.5 hr) were found in tildipirosin after s.c. dosing at 4 and 6 mg/kg b.w., respectively. The absolute bioavailability (F) of tildipirosin was 71.5% and 75.3% after s.c. administration of 4 and 6 mg/kg b.w., respectively. In conclusion, tildipirosin was rapidly absorbed and slowly eliminated after a single s.c. administration in healthy lambs. Tildipirosin could be used for the treatment and prevention of respiratory bacterial infections in sheep. However, further in vitro and in vivo studies to determine the efficacy and safety are warranted. To our knowledge, this is the first study to determine the tildipirosin pharmacokinetic parameters in sheep plasma.     

Effect of essential oils or saponins alone or in combination on productive performance,intestinal morphology and digestive enzymes' activity of broiler chickens

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of essential oils or saponins alone or in combination on productive performance, intestinal morphology, and digestive enzymes' activity in broilers. Four hundred one-day-old male broiler chickens were randomly assigned to four treatments, each with 5 replicates. The birds were fed experimental diets contained either no phytogenic feed additives (control) or were supplemented with 25.0 mg/kg of an essential oil blend from star anise, rosemary, thyme and oregano (essential oils); 46.0 mg/kg of a Quillaja saponin blend (saponins); or a combination of both phytogenic preparations (essential oils plus saponins). The experiment lasted for 42 days. Body weight, feed intake and weight gain were recorded weekly, and the feed conversion ratio was calculated, throughout the experiment. Intestinal morphology and digestive enzymes' activity were determined at the end of the experiment. It was found that the body weight was increased by all dietary supplements at the end of the experiment. There was no change in performance parameters among the treatments during the starter period. At the grower period and the overall experiment, the weight gain of birds was higher in all supplemented groups compared to the control, but the feed conversion was better in the essential oils with saponins treatment. Supplementation of essential oils or saponins alone or in combination increased the villus height and the villus/crypt ratio of the intestine. There was an increase in trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase activities in the essential oils plus saponins group only. The obtained results indicate that the phytogenic feed additives, especially essential oils with saponins, can be considered as new promising agents in promoting the growth performance of broilers. The effect could be related to its improving impact in intestinal development and increasing the protease enzymes' activity, resulting in increased protein digestibility and absorption of dietary nutrients.     

Storage of immobilized yeast cells for use in wine-making at ambient temperature

A comparative study of the storage and reuse of immobilized yeast cells on apple pieces, kissiris, and gamma-alumina was carried out. The immobilized biocatalysts were allowed to remain in the fermented alcoholic liquid after the end of each fermentation batch for extended periods at 30 degrees C before reactivation in batch fermentation for wine-making. The results showed that the biocatalysts were able to reactivate and ferment after successively increased periods of storage compared to free cell systems both on glucose medium and on grape must. In glucose medium, apple-, kissiris-, and gamma-alumina-supported biocatalysts reactivated after 120, 80, and 83 days, respectively. Possible storage periods for grape must were lower but remained high. Immobilized yeast biocatalyst on apple pieces produced wines with an improved volatiles composition compared to kissiris- and gamma-alumina-supported biocatalysts. There were no significant negative effects on the fermentation activity and volatile byproduct composition.     

Heat stress in food legumes: evaluation of membrane thermostability methodology and use of infra-red thermometry

Heat tolerance in 45 chickpea, lentil, and faba bean genotypes was investigated during 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 at Alexandria Agriculture Research Station, Alexandria, Egypt, using screening methods employing the membrane thermostability technique. Threshold temperature to be used in screening for heat tolerance at germination was also investigated for each crop. Temperatures, responsible for 50% germination were 40, 33.5, and 29°C for chickpea, faba bean, and lentil, respectively. Germination percent under high temperature varied significantly (P ≤ 0.05) amongst genotypes. Germination percentage ranged from 4.8 to 71.6, 39.2 to 90.0, and 4.8 to 68.6, in chickpea, lentil, and faba bean, respectively. Differences were significant (P ≤ 0.05) among faba bean and chickpea genotypes. Membrane relative injury (RI%) showed significant (P ≤ 0.05) variability among the genotypes and ranged from 10.57 to 58, 5.2 to 61.7, and 15.7 to 52.7 in chickpea, lentil, and faba bean, respectively. Canopy temperature was measured to evaluate heat avoidance in tested genotypes. Infra-red thermometry was used to measure canopy temperature and the gradient of canopy to ambient air temperature (∆T_C-A) in moisture stressed and unstressed treatments. Canopy temperature, leaf water potential (LWP) and leaf water content were affected by the level of soil moisture. Genotypes were able to bring their canopy temperatures to levels lower than ambient air temperatures but the differences were not significant. A heat stress index (HSI) were computed relating the ∆T_C-A in moisture stressed to unstressed treatments. Regression of leaf water potential (LWP) and the heat stress index (HSI) was significant (P ≤ 0.05) in faba bean genotypes in the stressful environment. The results of the present investigation emphasize the efficiency of membrane thermostability technique in selection for heat tolerance in early stages of growth in food legumes.     

Status and ethno-medicinal usage of invasive plants in traditional health care practices: a case study from northeastern Bangladesh

Species diversity and ethno-medicinal usage of 39 species of invasive plants were explored in and around two protected areas, Khadimnagar National Park (KNP) and Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctu- ary (RKWS), of northeastern Bangladesh,. Status of invasive plants were investigated in 60 sample plots with 5 different habitat types, including forest, roadside, homestead, fallow land and others (ponds, canals, water logged areas, agricultural land, etc.). Data about the usage of invasive plants in traditional health care were collected through interviewing 110 households. Among the five habitat types, fallow land (28 species) pos- sessed the highest number of species, followed by roadside (25 species), forest (23 species), homestead (22 species) and others (13 species). Based on the survey, invasive plants of study areas were also categorized into five degrees of invasiveness e.g., naturalized, introduced, possibly invasive, moderately invasive and highly invasive. Additionally, there is the linear trend between degrees of invasiveness and use percentage of invasive plants. Total 39 species of invasive plants belonging to 29 fami- lies were recorded, which are generally used to treat 37 diseases, ranging from simple headache to highly complicated eye and heart diseases. The majority of the species used by the local inhabitants were herbs (16 spe- cies), followed by some shrubs (11 species), climbers (5 species), trees (5 species) and grasses (2 species). The use percentage of aboveground plant parts were higher (70.58%) than that of underground plant parts (16.18%).     

Influence of cytokinins,basal media and pH on adventitious shoot regeneration from excised root cultures of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Albizia lebbeck</Emphasis>

A highly reproducible and efficient in vitro shoot regeneration system was developed in a potential medicinal plant, Albizia lebbeck using root explants. Root explants from 15 day-old-aseptic seedlings were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations (0.5, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 μM) of 6-Benzyladenine (BA), Kinetin (Kn), 2-Isopentenyl adenine (2-iP) singly as well as in combination with α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 μM). The highest rate of shoot multiplication (16.0 ± 1.87 for the average shoot number and 5.16 ± 0.38 cm for shoot length) was achieved on MS medium supplemented with 7.5 μM BA and 0.5 μM NAA. The effects of medium type, medium strength, pH and subculture on shoot induction and proliferation were also tested. An average of 21.6±2.87 shoots per explants could be obtained following this protocol. Rooting was achieved on microshoots using half strength MS medium with 2.0 μM Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) after four weeks of culture. The in vitro raised healthy plantlets were successfully established in earthen pots containing garden soil and grown in greenhouse with >80% survival rate.     

NEPER: a multiple strategy wheat expert system

This paper presents a methodology for developing a strategic Expert System for wheat crop production, which has been developed using a Multiple Design approach. This Expert System consists of six subsystems; namely, variety selection, land preparation, sowing, irrigation, fertilization, and harvest. These subsystems exchange data between them through a common database. Each subsystem advises wheat growers on the corresponding plan(s), comprising a set of agricultural/chemical operations before or during the growing season. Applying an appropriate plan reduces risk to farmers from having a problem during the growing season. The system was verified, validated, and, tested in the field. Beneficial economic and environmental impacts have been demonstrated.     

摩尔多瓦葡萄日光温室延迟栽培关键技术

为探索葡萄延迟栽培技术,以半地下式日光温室内2年生摩尔多瓦葡萄为试材,系统地研究推迟萌芽+延迟采收+挂树贮藏综合措施的延迟栽培效果。结果表明:在河北省阳原地区,摩尔多瓦葡萄可推迟至5月上旬萌芽,8月20日果粒开始着色,10月21日成熟,成熟后可挂树贮藏至元旦。浆果采收期比露地延迟50~120d,上市期为10月下旬至元旦。延迟采收前40d内,果粒体积和果粒重逐渐增大,可溶性固形物含量继续升高,酸含量、硬度降低,果皮变薄,颜色由蓝黑色变为黑色,口感多汁、浓甜和酸味消失;40d后,可溶性固形物含量继续升高,粒重开始下降,可滴定酸含量变化不大。利用春季夜间低温推迟葡萄萌芽期、秋冬季保温延迟采收和落叶后挂树贮藏3项关键技术措施,可使北方日光温室摩尔多瓦葡萄比露地栽培推迟50~120d上市,为11月至元旦市场和冬季观光采摘市场提供优质新鲜葡萄。     

Economic potential of rice precision farming in malaysia: the case study of Felcra Seberang Perak

Many attempts/efforts have been made to cope with the fluctuated production performance in rice production in Malaysia. There is a crucial need in technological advancement to tackle the issue of environmental variability, decreasing productivity and the rising cost in rice cultivation. The use of variable rate technology has increased rice yield through efficient resource allocation. Notwithstanding, an evaluation of the feasibility of this technology is required in terms of economic and intangible benefits. Therefore, this study attempted to determine the potential benefits that could come out of the use of precision agriculture technologies in rice cultivation. A precision farming technology package was developed by the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute. It consists of two components, namely a variable rate seed application system and a variable rate fertilizer application system. The study estimated the monetary benefits gained from the use of these two technology components at Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority Seberang Perak. The study also compared the performance of the technology package against the conventional practice. The Cost–Benefit Analysis exercise has been implemented to show the benefits and implications comprised in the study. It was found that there is an additional net income per hectare in between Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) 1109 to MYR 1333 due to the reduction in the production cost if the precision farming technology packages were adopted. The advancement in two cultivation stages showed a positive impact monetarily for both small-scale and large-scale farmers in the study. However, many challenges are to be faced for the technologies implementation since the existing rice cultivation recommended practices throughout all stages even yet to be practiced and taken seriously.