A survey of gastro-intestinal parasitic infection in domestic and wild birds in Chittagong and Greater Sylhet,Bangladesh

A survey of gastrointestinal parasitic infection as determined by faecal examination was conducted among domestic and wild birds in Bangladesh. Birds were sampled from households, wet markets and wetlands in Chittagong and Greater Sylhet districts during April 2012 to February 2013. Mist nets were used to catch resident wild and migratory birds. The overall prevalence of parasitic infection ranged among locations from 25 to 55% in indigenous domestic ducks (live bird samples = 304), 20% in resident wild birds (environmental faecal samples = 40) and 40% in migratory birds (live bird samples = 35). The prevalence of parasitic infection was significantly higher in indigenous domestic ducks collected during summer (39%) than winter (22%) (p = 0.04). In domestic indigenous ducks and Muscovy ducks, both single and multiple types of parasitic infections were found. However, other domestic birds and wild birds often had a single type of parasitic infection. Ascaridia spp. with an average egg load of 50–900, was commonly detected in faecal samples of domestic and wild birds in this study. Other identified parasites were Capillaria spp. and Heterakis spp. both in domestic and wild birds. Improvement of biosecurity measures for household duck farms through educating and motivating household farmers could help mitigate the effects of parasitic infection on production.     

Genetic diversity analysis and character associations in black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) based on agro-morphological and phytochemical traits

Black cumin (Nigella sativa L.) is one of the important medicinal plants that used in food and pharmaceutical industries. In the present study, 32 Iran endemic black cumin genotypes were evaluated through randomized complete block design with three replications in 2016 and 2017 growing seasons to determine the extent of genetic diversity and character associations for agro-morphological and phytochemical traits. Results showed the significant differences between genotypes for all traits studied. Clustering analysis using agro-morphological and phytochemical traits grouped genotypes into the two distinct groups. The values of percentage of essential oil and fatty oil content varied from 0.65 to 0.1.36% and 25.30% to 35.02% between genotypes, respectively. The highest seed yield and fatty oil yield obtained for Arak genotype. GC and GC/MS analyses of essential oil and fatty oil compositions of the Arak genotype revealed that p-cymene and linoleic acid were main components, respectively. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that shoot dry mass, days to ripening and seed length were the most important traits associated with seed yield, fatty oil yield and essential oil yield. Hence, these traits can be considered as important indicators for early selection for seed yield and quality in black cumin breeding programs.     

Expression Analysis of mir-21 and mir-221 in Cancerous Tissues from Iranian Patients with Gastric Cancer

Background:

Early detection is a key to survival for gastric cancer. Molecular markers such as miRNA (microRNA) can have great importance in the early diagnosis of gastric cancer. Expression of miR-21 and miR-221 are deregulated in many types of human cancers. This study aimed to investigate the differences in miRNA expression patterns within the Iranian population.

Methods:

Total RNA was extracted from gastric cancer tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues from 32 patients. Expression levels of miR-21 and miR-221 were detected by Real time RT-PCR using a specific primer, with 5s rRNA as the internal reference gene.

Results:

Our data showed that the expression levels of miR-21 and miR-221 in gastric cancer samples were significantly higher than in paired non-cancerous samples (P < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses yielded the area under the curve (AUC) values of 80.30 for miR-21 and 93.30 for miR-221, and combined ROC analysis revealed the highest AUC value of 96.90 in discriminating GC patients from healthy controls.

Conclusion:

It seems that miR-21 and miR-221 expression pattern in Iranian patients with gastric cancer are similar to any other population. Considering the increased expression level of two miRNAs in cancerous tissue compared to normal tissue as well as the area under ROC curve, miR-21 and miR-221 can be used for early detection of gastric cancer. Key Words: MicroRNAs, Tumor markers, Stomach neoplasms     

Salinity and Plant Residue Effects on Soil Available Phosphorus

The effect of salinity and plant residue on soil phosphorus (P) availability was investigated. The organic carbon content of non-saline and salinized soil samples was enhanced by 1% with applying separately different amounts of residues. Fourteen residues including roots and shoots of wheat, barley, corn, alfalfa, and clover as well as leaves of apple, oak, plant-tree, and oleaster were used. Less available P was found in the non-saline soil compared to the saline soil. Plant residues appeared to have different impacts on availability of P. The salinity influence on soil P varied in different residues. The greatest increase (307%) in available P by salinity was found in the soil treated with alfalfa leaves. By increase in the total P in the plant materials up to 0.6% the positive effect of salinity on the available P decreased and then increased at higher concentrations of total P in the plant residues.     

Removal of Chromium by Coagulation-Dissolved Air Flotation System Using Ferric Chloride and Poly Aluminum Chloride (PAC) as Coagulants

In this study, dissolved air flotation (DAF) was examined as a possible treatment method for the removal of chromium from aqueous solution and plating wastewater. Two coagulants, ferric chloride and poly aluminum chloride (PAC), were used for pretreatment of wastewater. Maximum removal of chromium was achieved for poly aluminum chloride (98 %). Artificial neural network was used for the prediction of the DAF system. The best neuron used for the prediction of chromium removal percentage of interpolated wastewater was 6 %. The mean score error and the coefficient correlation were 0.0007542 and 0.997, respectively.     

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TROPHIC LEVEL AND ECONOMICS IN AQUACULTURE

The rising share of aquaculture in supplying seafood changes the mixture of species in the world's market, because capture fisheries target carnivorous species whereas aquaculture focuses on species that are lower in the food chain. Trophic level correlates with production volume (tons/yr) and with unit value (US$/ton) in aquaculture but not in capture fisheries (FAO's fisheries data). Apparently, sustainability and economics in aquaculture both depend on ecological efficiency, i.e., the use of resources and the production of waste. Species feeding low in the food chain use efficiently the natural resources. Each level up the food chain inflates costs related to the use of resources, the production of waste and the maintenance of water quality. This effect has further repercussions on the economics of aquaculture: (1) cost influences profit and unit price, and (2) price influences demand and market share. The overall ecological efficiency, sustainability and economics of culturing carnivorous fish are improved by growing them in an ecological balance with species from low trophic levels in integrated multi-trophic aquaculture.     

Resistance of soybean vegetative storage proteins (S-VSPs) to proteolysis by rumen microorganisms

Soybean vegetative storage proteins (S-VSPs) are lysine-rich and, hence, are potentially of high nutritive value for high productive ruminants. Using S-VSPs from wild-type soybean and from transgenic tobacco plants expressing either one of the two S-VSPs subunits (S-VSP alpha or S-VSP beta) or both, we tested their stability in cow rumen fluid under in situ conditions, using SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteolysis and degradation pattern of S-VSPs from transgenic tobacco leaves occurred relatively fast compared with that of wild-type (WT) soybean plants. Comparing the two S-VSPs subunits expressed in transgenic plants, we found that S-VSP alpha was degraded much faster than S-VSP beta. The degradation pattern of S-VSPs in transgenic tobacco plants expressing both subunits resembled that of WT soybean. In contrast, the degradation pattern of transgenic tobacco plants expressing a single subunit was different. These finding suggest that the quaternary structure of S-VSPs may be an important factor determining their resistance to rumen degradation. Our results also suggest that the stability to rumen proteolysis of a given protein, when expressed in a transgenic plant, may not always be predictable and has to be verified.     

Effect of lipid levels on reproductive performance of Oreochromis karongae

A study was conducted at Bunda Fish Farm to evaluate the effects of dietary lipid levels on reproductive performance of Oreochromis karongae. Fish were reared in 12 hapas for 86 days, with four experimental diets containing 8.28%, 10.17%, 12.09% and 14.05% levels of lipid, replicated three times. At the end of the experiment, O. karongae fed 10.17% and 12.09% lipid had the highest absolute fecundity (237.5 ± 6.50 and 271.3 ± 26.19, respectively) as compared with fish fed on 8.28% and 14.05% lipid levels (90.3 ± 46.3 and 143.7 ± 30.8 respectively). Higher number of spawns (5) were observed in fish fed on diets containing crude lipid of 10.17%. We can assume also that diets of 10.17% lipid are not costly as those of 12.09% or 14.05% lipid. It was found that the size of eggs depended on the number of eggs spawned by the female fish, as the number of eggs increased, the weight of eggs and mean egg diameter decreased. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) among treatments in terms of relative fecundity. Based on these findings, it is recommended that diets containing crude lipid of 10% should be fed to broodstock for optimum reproductive performance of O. karongae.