Reactions of goldfish (Carassius auratus) to three suture patterns following full thickness skin incisions

Three different suture patterns (simple interrupted, interrupted horizontal mattress, subcuticular) were placed in a full thickness incision (skin and body wall) of 18 goldfish (Carassius auratus). After 14 days all fish were euthanized using benzocaine solution. The tissue reactions were evaluated by gross visual inspection and histopathological examination. The superficial inflammatory reactions were graded on a scale from 0 (no inflammation) to 3 (severe inflammation). The inflammatory response in histological examination was graded on a scale from 0 (no inflammatory response or normal skin tissue) to 5 (severe inflammatory response and necrosis). The interrupted horizontal mattress induced a moderately severe to severe inflammatory response and necrosis (grades 4–5) but the subcuticular suture induced a very mild to mild inflammatory response (grades 0–1). The simple interrupted suture induced a moderate to moderately severe inflammatory response (grades 2–4). In conclusion, results showed that a subcuticular suture is the most appropriate to use in the closure of a full thickness body wall incision.     

Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of microorganisms involved in the pathogenesis of surgical site infection (SSI); A 1 year of surveillance

The aim of this study is to identify the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of pathogens involved in the process of surgical site infection, in surgical wards. Changes made in the pattern of antibiotic use will result in different microorganism susceptibility patterns, which needs correct determination for precise empiric antibiotic therapy. One thousand patients (62% men and 38% women, 18- 74-years-old, with mean age 43 +/- 8)) who underwent surgical treatment, in Alzahra University Hospital, Isfahan University of Medicine, Isfahan, Iran, were studied from 2005 to 2006. Surgical wound infections, based on the reported criteria, were aspirated for culturing within 1 plus gram staining of prepared smears. Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) were determined for samples and all derived data were compared by SPSS 13 and WHO net 5 software. The prevalence of SSI was 13.3% with 150 positive cultures, totally. Of 150 bacteria, isolated from surgical site infections Staphylococcus aureus had most frequency (43%). Resistance of isolated organisms was 41.7% in amikacin, 65 and 78.6% in ceftazidime, 85.7% in ceftriaxone, 61.5% in ciprofloxacin, 78.8% in gentamicine, 6.4% in imipenem, 13% in meropenem and 70.6% in trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, respectively. 78.9% of Staphylococcus aureus isolates were MRSA and vancomycine was the most effective antibiotic without any resistance. Among 10 isolates of coagulase negative Staphylococcus, no vancomycine resistance was seen, but in contrast all cases were resistant to oxacillin. The most common gram negative organism was Klebsiella (18 isolates) in which 100 and 80% were sensitive to imipenem and meropenem, respectively. Seventeen cases were E. coli, in which the most sensitivity was to meropenem (80%) and imipenem (77.8%). Thirteen cases of Pseudomonas were detected, in which 16.7% were resistant to imipenem and 8.3% to meropenem. Our results demonstrated that the total antibiotic resistance is increasing among SSIs, with an up sloping pattern, which will contact with a constant empiric antibiotic therapy. So, precise up to date antibiogram tantalize us toward balancing the rate of total antibiotic resistance to SSIs.     

Bacillus subtilis B21 and Bacillus licheniformis B26 improve intestinal health and performance of broiler chickens with Clostridium perfringens‐induced necrotic enteritis

This study investigated the influence of Bacillus‐based probiotics on performance and intestinal health in broiler challenged with Clostridium perfringens‐induced necrotic enteritis. One‐day‐old Arbor Acre (n = 480) were randomly assigned to four treatments with 10 cages of 12 birds: (a) basal diet negative control (NC), with no probiotics nor antibiotics formulated to contain 2,930 and 3,060 kcal/kg with 24.07 and 15.98% CP, for starter and finisher diet, respectively, (b) basal diet + enramycin (5 mg/kg), an antibiotic growth promoter (AGP); (c) basal diet + Bacillus subtilis B21 at 2 × 10⁹ CFU per g (BS); (d) basal diet + Bacillus licheniformis B26 at 2 × 10⁹ CFU per g (BL); growth performance, intestinal morphology, intestinal lesion scores, short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and mucosal barrier tight junction's (TJ) mRNA expression were assessed. NC‐ and BL‐fed groups showed higher (p = 0.005) average daily feed intake from d1 to d21 than AGP and BS, whereas BS‐ and AGP‐fed groups showed higher average daily weight gain from d22 to d42 and d1 to d42 of age. Higher mortality rate of (12.5%) and lower of (5.5%) were recorded in AGP and NC fed‐groups respectively, lesion score was higher in BS and BL than in AGP, while no lesion was observed in NC group, results revealed higher duodenum and jejunum villus height to crypt depth (VH:CD) compared with NC and BS. Probiotics‐fed groups showed higher total (SCFAs), acetic and butyric acid concentrations at d21 post‐challenge (PC) than other groups. The expression of claudin‐1 was upregulated in duodenum (d7) PC and in jejunum (d7) and (d21) PC in BL group, while at d21 PC, the expression of occludens was higher in jejunum and ileum by AGP and BL. The present study indicated both BS and BL have some similarity with AGP in preventing or partially preventing NE effect in broilers.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Marsilea quadrifolia:</Emphasis> a New Bioagent for Treating Wastewater

We report for the first time the capability of four-leaf clover (Marsilea quadrifolia), a wetland plant which grows rooted in soil, in efficiently treating sewage. The use of M. quadrifolia was made possible because of the special attributes of the SHEFROL^® (SHEet Flow ROot Level) bioreactor in which it was employed. This bioreactor enables the use of free-floating aquatic plants as well as terrestrial and rooted-in-soil wetland plants by hydroponics. The plants are staked in narrow channels to enable them to support each other while sewage is made to flow rapidly as a sheet of wastewater at a level that covers only the plant roots (hence the name). It was seen that M. quadrifolia was able to treat sewage of strength varying in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) range of 600–1800 mg/L to the extent of >?80% at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of just 4.5 h. There was a near total removal of biological oxygen demand and suspended solids while total Kjeldahl nitrogen, soluble phosphorous, and heavy metal zinc were also substantially removed. The macrophyte was equally effective when used indoors under artificial lighting, as well as when used outdoors.     

Biosolubilization of phosphorus from rock phosphate and other P fertilizers in response to phosphate solubilizing bacteria and poultry manure in a silt loam calcareous soil

‘Phosphate solubilizing bacteria' (PSBs) are able to release unavailable P from native and applied P sources into plant‐available soil pool through their solubilizing and acidifying effects. The effects of three indigenous and one exotic PSBs on P solubilization from different P sources, plant biomass production, and P‐uptake efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) were examined in an incubation and greenhouse study. For incubation study, surface (0–15 cm) soil was collected from an arable field (Inceptisols) and amended with rock phosphate (RP), single superphosphate (SSP), poultry manure (PM), and RP+PM with and without PSBs. The amended soil was incubated in the control environment at 25 ± 2°C for a total of a 100‐d period to establish relative potential rate of P solubilization of added P sources. A complementary greenhouse experiment was conducted in pots by growing maize as a test crop. Growth characteristics, P‐uptake, and P‐utilization efficiency (PUE) were determined. Phosphate solubilizing bacteria generated a solubilization effect on different P sources by releasing more P into plant‐available soil pool, i.e., 14.0–18.3 µg g^?1 in RP, 5.0–9.9 µg g^?1 in SSP, 1.4–4.4 µg g^?1 in PM, and 4.5–7.8 µg g^?1 in RP+PM compared to their sole application without PSBs. The available P from inorganic SSP declined continuously from the mineral pool (after day 30) and at the end 40% of applied P was unaccounted for. However, P losses were reduced to 28 and 27% when PSBs (PSB₁ and PSB₃) were applied with superphosphate treatments. In the absence of PSBs, the recoveries of applied P (in soil) from RP, SSP, PM and RP+PM were 4, 25, 9, and 12%, respectively, those had been increased to 14, 30, 12 and 15% in the presence of PSBs. Similarly, the plant biomass in RP+PSBs treatments compared to the RP without PSBs increased between 12–30% in first sampling (30 DAG) and 13–30% in the second sampling (60 DAG). The P utilization efficiency (PUE) in plants supplemented with PSBs was 20–73% higher compared to those without PSBs. The detection of oxalic and gluconic acids in culture medium treated with PSBs (7.8–25.0 and 25–90 mg L^?1, respectively) confirmed the production of organic acids by the indigenous bacterial isolates. This study indicate that low P recovery both in plant and soil can likely be improved by using indigenous PSBs and organic amendment poultry manure, which allowed a more efficient capture of P released due to P solubilization.     

Genetic variability of Iranian strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae causing bacterial canker disease of stone fruits

Strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (Pss) were isolated from healthy and diseased stone fruits tissues sampled from 38 stone fruits orchard sites in Iran in 2010 and 2011. These strains were tested for pathogenicity and the presence of the syrB gene and were genetically characterized by using ERIC (enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus), REP (repetitive extragenic palindromes), and BOXAIR and IS50 (insertion sequences) primers and PCR. All 78 strains of Pss tested were moderately to highly pathogenic on Loring peach seedlings. A total of 78 isolates of the Pss amplified a 752-bp fragment with the syrB primers. To assess genetic diversity among the strains, genomic DNA was extracted from strains and used in rep-PCR and IS50-PCR analysis. Cluster analysis was performed using UPGMA. The strains of Pss were separated into nine distinguishable genotypic groups by the combination data set of both rep-PCR and IS50-PCR at 73 % similarity level. There was no significant correlation between genetic diversity and geographical origin of the isolates. These results indicate that a combination of rep-PCR and IS50-PCR fingerprinting can be used as a high resolution genomic fingerprinting method for elucidating intrapathovar diversity among strains of Pss. The results of this study demonstrated the existence of a considerable genetic diversity among Pss strains causing canker of stone fruit trees in Iran. In this study, genetic variability in Iranian strains of Pss were established, which will be of immense use in the development of resistant genotypes against this bacterial pathogen.     

Use of IR thermography in screening wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars for salt tolerance

Thermography is proposed to be an alternative non-destructive and rapid technique for the study and diagnosing of salt tolerance in plants. In a pot experiment, 30 cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were evaluated in terms of their leaf temperature and shoot growth and their ion distribution responses to NaCl salinity at two concentration levels: the control with electrical conductivity (EC) of 1 dS m^?1 and salinity treatment with EC of 16 dS m^?1 (150 mM). A completely randomized block design with factorial treatments was employed with three replications. The results indicated that thermography may accurately reflect the physiological status of salt-stressed wheat plants. The salt stress-based increase in leaf temperature of wheat cultivars grown at 150 mM NaCl reached 1.34°C compared to the control. According to the results obtained, it appears that thermography has the capability of discerning differences of salinity tolerance between the cultivars. Three salt-tolerant wheat cultivars, namely Roshan, Kharchia and Sholeh, had higher mean shoot dry matter (0.039 g plant^?1) and higher mean ratio of leaf K⁺/Na⁺ (14.06) and showed lower increase in the mean leaf temperature (0.37°C) by thermography compared to the control. This was while nine salt-sensitive cultivars, namely Kavir, Ghods, Atrak, Parsi, Bahar, Pishtaz, Falat, Gaspard and Tajan, had lower mean plant dry matter production (0.027 g plant^?1), lower mean ratio of K⁺/Na⁺ (9.49) and higher mean increases in leaf temperature (1.24°C).     

Effects of subsoil compaction on yield and yield attributes of wheat in the sub-humid region of Pakistan

The prolonged use of vehicular traffic for farming creates subsoil compaction, which reduces crop yield and deteriorates the physical conditions of the soil. Field experiments were conducted during 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 in Pakistan to study subsoil compaction effects on soil bulk density, total porosity, yield and yield components of wheat. Soil compaction was artificially created at the start of the experiment using 7.0 t roller having length of 1.5 m and diameter of 1.22 m. Treatments consisted of T₁ = control (no compaction), T₂ = two passes of roller, T₃ = four passes of roller, T₄ = six passes of roller. The experiments were arranged in randomised complete block with four replications. Results indicated that subsoil compaction adversely affected the bulk density, total porosity of soil and root length during both the years. Soil compaction increased the bulk density (BD) from 1.37 for T₁ to 1.57, 1.61 and 1.72 Mg m⁻³ whereas decreased the total porosity from 47.3% for T₁ to 40.0, 37.4 and 34.5% for T₂, T₃ and T_4, respectively. Similarly grain yield decreased from 4141.7 for T₁ to 3912.8, 3364.5 and 3010.3 kg ha⁻¹ for T₂, T₃ and T_4, respectively. The deteriorating effect of compaction depended upon the degree of compaction. Subsoil compaction adversely affected the yield and yield attributes of wheat during both years of experiments. The subsoil compaction adversely affected soil physical conditions, which substantially decreased the yield of wheat. Therefore, appropriate measures of periodic chiselling, controlled traffic, conservation tillage, and incorporating of crops with deep tap root system in rotation cycle is necessary to minimize the risks of subsoil compaction.     

Empirical functions for dependent variables in cutback furrow irrigation

Water scarcity and the high consumption of water resources in agriculture have strengthened the need to manage and optimize irrigation systems. Among surface irrigation systems, furrow irrigation with cutback is commonly used because of its potentially higher irrigation efficiency, lower costs and relative simplicity. The performance of this system is affected by various management and design variables, and hence different management scenarios should be evaluated before it is applied in practice. For this purpose, empirical functions for the performance evaluation indices are useful. This paper employs sensitivity, dimensional and regression analyses in the development of empirical functions for application efficiency, deep percolation, runoff and distribution uniformity. The proposed functions were evaluated using a numerical zero-inertia model and field measured data. Coefficients of determination for E _a, D _r, R _r and U _cc were calculated to be 0.90, 0.91, 0.90 and 0.84, respectively. These values indicate that the proposed functions enable the performance indices to be predicted satisfactorily. Values for the indices calculated using the developed dimensionless functions showed a very good agreement with both the outputs of the zero-inertia model and values calculated from measured field data. As the functions were general (not site and irrigation specific) and explicit, they could prove to be of practical significance in both conventional and optimal design and management of free-draining, graded furrow irrigation systems with cutback flows.

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