Modeling frequency distributions of tree height,diameter and crown area by six probability functions for open forests of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Quercus persica</Emphasis> in Iran

The prediction of the distribution of quantitative variables in a forest stand is of great interest to forest managers, for the evaluation of forest resources and scheduling of future silvicultural treatments. The aim of this research was to model the distribution of quantitative variables for Quercus persica in open forests in Iran. To investigate the probability distribution of trees in natural stands, 642 trees were selected for measurement using a systematic random sampling method. Selected trees were measured and data were analyzed. Gamma, beta, normal,lognormal, exponential and Weibull probability distributions were fitted to the height distribution of trees. Variables of distribution functions were estimated using the maximum likelihood estimation method. Actual probability and probability which derived from functions was compared using Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Anderson–Darling tests. Beta, Weibull and Weibull probability distributions explained the distributions of tree height, DBH and crown area.     

Effect of sex and rearing system on the quality and mineral content of fiber from raeini cashmere goats

The aim of this study was to compare the quality characteristics and mineral content of the fiber from male and female cashmere goats raised under different management systems. Male and female Raeini cashmere goats (<1.5 years of age, n = 48) were selected from flocks raised at a government breeding station or raised commercially under either rural or nomadic conditions. The staple length, cashmere fiber diameter, coefficient of variation for fiber diameter, percentage of cashmere in a fleece, percentage of guard hair in a fleece and cashmere tenacity averaged 4.6 ±0.1 cm, 18.0 ±0.1 μm, 20.9 ± 0.4%, 66.1 ± 1.5%, 33.8 ± 1.5% and 1.8 ± 0.2 gf/tex, respectively. The sulfur, copper and zinc content of the cashmere averaged 2.8 ± 0.1%, 0.00065 ± 0.00002% and 0.01276 ± 0.00025%, respectively. Rearing method significantly affected staple length, coefficient of variation of fiber diameter, cashmere tenacity and copper content. Males had a higher coefficient of variation of fiber diameter and cashmere tenacity than females (P < 0.05).     

Best practices for veterinary toxicologic clinical pathology,with emphasis on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries

The purpose of this paper by the Regulatory Affairs Committee (RAC) of the American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) is to review the current regulatory guidances (eg, guidelines) and published recommendations for best practices in veterinary toxicologic clinical pathology, particularly in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and to utilize the combined experience of ASVCP RAC to provide updated recommendations. Discussion points include (1) instrumentation, validation, and sample collection, (2) routine laboratory variables, (3) cytologic laboratory variables, (4) data interpretation and reporting (including peer review, reference intervals and statistics), and (5) roles and responsibilities of clinical pathologists and laboratory personnel. Revision and improvement of current practices should be in alignment with evolving regulatory guidance documents, new technology, and expanding understanding and utility of clinical pathology. These recommendations provide a contemporary guide for the refinement of veterinary toxicologic clinical pathology best practices.     

车载电源性能在环测试平台优化

为了实现车载电源性能的综合测试,搭建了由直流电动机-飞轮组成的电源测试平台,以此为基础,研究了平台结构对直流调速系统控制精度的影响。建立了测试平台的数学模型,通过实验分析了存在的问题。依据多轴机电传动理论,提出了平台结构的优化方法,建立了优化后平台的数学模型和状态空间方程。分析了无级变速器(CVT)的传动效率,确定了其速比控制约束条件。构建了基于d SPACE的硬件在环测试平台,通过实验分析了平台优化前后直流调速系统的调速效果,实验结果表明,优化后的平台具有优良的调速性能,直流调速系统的跟踪精度显著提高,为开展复合电源性能测试提供了技术支持。     

A Comparison between dietary effects of Cuminum cyminum essential oil and Cuminum cyminum essential oil,loaded with iron nanoparticles,on growth performance,immunity and antioxidant indicators of white leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

This study evaluates the effect of dietary cumin essential oil's (CEO) and cumin essential oil's loaded iron nanoparticles (CEO‐loaded NPs) on growth performance, haematological parameters and antioxidant status of white leg shrimp. Shrimps with the initial weight of 3.38 ± 0.014 g were allocated into 15 fibreglass tanks (300 L, 60 shrimps per tank) and were fed with five experimental diets containing 0 g/kg CEO (the control diet), 5 g/kg CEO, 10 g/kg CEO, 5 g/kg CEO‐NPs and 10 g/kg CEO‐NPs for 56 days. After 56 days of culture, the shrimps fed with CEO and CEO‐loaded NPs supplemented diets showed a more significant increase in growth performance (p < .05) than in the control diet. Total haemocyte count (THC) value, large‐granule cells (LGC), hyaline cells (HC)%, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity were significantly higher (p < .05) in the shrimps fed with CEO and CEO‐loaded NPs supplemented diets than the shrimps fed with the control diet. Glutathione peroxidase (GPX) enzyme activities along with the glucose and cholesterol concentrations significantly decreased in the shrimps fed with the CEO and CEO‐loaded NPs supplemented diets more than those fed with the control diet. The results suggest that the dietary CEO‐loaded NPs can improve the growth performance, the health status and the antioxidant capacity of L. vannamei.     

Assessing biodiversity of a freshwater benthic macroinvertebrate community through non-destructive environmental barcoding of DNA from preservative ethanol

Background

Previous work has shown that leaf-cutting ants prefer to cut leaf material with relatively low fungal endophyte content. This preference suggests that fungal endophytes exact a cost on the ants or on the development of their colonies. We hypothesized that endophytes may play a role in their host plants’ defense against leaf-cutting ants. To measure the long-term cost to the ant colony of fungal endophytes in their forage material, we conducted a 20-week laboratory experiment to measure fungal garden development for colonies that foraged on leaves with low or high endophyte content.

Results

Colony mass and the fungal garden dry mass did not differ significantly between the low and high endophyte feeding treatments. There was, however, a marginally significant trend toward greater mass of fungal garden per ant worker in the low relative to the high endophyte treatment. This trend was driven by differences in the fungal garden mass per worker from the earliest samples, when leaf-cutting ants had been foraging on low or high endophyte leaf material for only 2 weeks. At two weeks of foraging, the mean fungal garden mass per worker was 77% greater for colonies foraging on leaves with low relative to high endophyte loads.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that the cost of endophyte presence in ant forage material may be greatest to fungal colony development in its earliest stages, when there are few workers available to forage and to clean leaf material. This coincides with a period of high mortality for incipient colonies in the field. We discuss how the endophyte-leaf-cutter ant interaction may parallel constitutive defenses in plants, whereby endophytes reduce the rate of colony development when its risk of mortality is greatest.

     

The effects of altered ultrasound parameters on the recovery of sciatic nerve injury

Background: Initial studies have shown that low-energy ultrasound stimulates living tissue cells to reduce regeneration or speed up their recovery. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of various ultrasound parameters on the speed of recovery in injured sciatic nerves NMRI.Methods: NMRI mice (n = 200) with injured left paw, caused by crushing their sciatic nerves, were randomly selected. The animals were exposed to ultrasound radiation with various frequencies, intensities, and exposure time. They were allocated into 20 groups (19 treatment and 1 control groups). Sciatic functional index (SFI) test was used to evaluate the difference between the groups with respect to functional efficiency of the sciatic nerve and its recovery. SFI ، (P=0.000).Results: The results of SFI test obtained from the 14^th day showed a significant difference among the groups (P<0.05). On the 14^th day after treatment, one of the groups (US11) recovered up to 90%..Conclusion: Altered ultrasound exposure parameters had more favorable outcomes compared with our previous work.Key Words: Sciatic nerve, Ultrasonic therapy, Regeneration     

Effect of enzyme supplementation to dehulled lupin-based diets on growth, feed efficiency, nutrient digestibility and carcass composition of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)

High inclusion levels of dehulled lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) in salmonid diets significantly decrease growth rates. This may be caused by the high concentrations of non‐starch polysaccharides including oligosaccharide (OS) in lupin. The antinutritive effects of OS have not yet been fully investigated in fish. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of enzyme supplementation of dehulled lupin‐based diets on the fish performance. There were two control diets: a fish meal‐based diet with no plant protein (FM) and a diet that contained 50% dehulled lupin (L). Four experimental diets based on diet L and containing four different exogenous enzyme supplements were used: diet L(E) (Energex^™); diet L(B) (Bio‐Feed^™ Pro); diet L(α) (Alpha galactosidase^™); and diet L(Mix), which contained all the enzymes. Fish were randomly stocked into tanks in duplicate groups of 38 fish, 16.58±0.169 (SE) g, and were fed twice a day for 6 weeks. The supplemented enzymes did not improve weight gain in fish fed lupin‐based diets. However, mixed enzyme significantly improved Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER). Apparent digestibility of DM, CP and GE significantly improved in fish‐fed L(E) diet. None of the supplemented enzymes affected digestive tract indices or carcass composition. Surprisingly, weight gain was significantly higher in fish‐fed L(α), L(E) and L(Mix) diets as compared with FM diet. Feed intake was significantly higher in fish‐fed L, L(α) and L(E) diets compared with the FM diet. It is concluded that storing of lupin kernel under a suitable condition may have partially hidden the positive effects of exogenous enzymes through activating the endogenous enzymes.     

Laboratory diagnosis of malaria in nonhuman primates

Abstract: Nonhuman primates (NHPs) are commonly used for biomedical research because of the high level of gene homology that underlies physiologic similarity to human beings. Malaria parasites of the genus Plasmodium cause one of the most frequent parasitic diseases of NHPs originating from tropical and subtropical areas and as such represent a significant research confounder. Malaria in NHPs presents a diagnostic challenge especially to those laboratories that see no more than a few malaria cases per year in NHPs. The accurate and timely diagnosis of malaria infection in NHPs facilitates the appropriate treatment of individuals infected with the malaria parasites. Conventional microscopy based on the examination of Giemsa‐stained thick and thin blood films remains the mainstay of laboratory diagnosis of malaria infection because of the high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity and also the capability for Plasmodium species identification and parasite counts. This procedure is recognized as technically difficult and time‐consuming, requiring considerable training to obtain the necessary skills. In the past few years, efforts to replace the traditional but tedious reading of blood films have led to different techniques for the detection of malaria parasites, including fluorescence microscopy, detection of intraleukocytic hemozoin or malaria pigment using automated blood cell analyzers, immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic tests based on malaria antigen detection, and PCR assays. These techniques offer new approaches for diagnosing malaria in NHPs. This review focuses on the available laboratory diagnostic tools for malaria in NHPs.