Structure of Vomeronasal Organ (Jacobson organ) in Male Camelus Domesticus Var. dromedaris persica

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is a tubular structure in the roof of nasal cavity. The important role of this organ is olfaction of sexual odour. In this study, position, anatomical structure and histology of VNO in Iranian camels (camelus domesticus var. dromedaris persica) were determined. Fourteen healthy male camel heads were collected from an industrial slaughterhouse in Tehran, Iran, for anatomical and histological studies (seven each). The length of VNO and width of dental pad and the number and width of palatine crests were measured. For anatomical studies, the mandible was removed, and maxilla and nasal cavity was cut longitudinally and transversely. For histological studies, the mandible was removed, and first 0.5 cm of initial part of VNO was cut. Then, nasal cavity was cut in some segments with 2 cm thickness. The width of VNO was 3.85 ± 0.31 cm and 1.57 ± 0.18 cm in front and distal parts, respectively. The length of VNO was 15.61 ± 0.59 cm. In histological examinations, VNO was surrounded by J‐shape hyaline cartilage. The lining epithelium of lateral wall of VNO was originated from respiratory epithelium, while it had an olfactory epithelium origin in the medial wall. Lamina propria and tunica submucosa were a cavernous connective tissue with seromucous gland with abundant of serous secretory units. The lumen of VNO opens into nasal cavity. The presence of olfactory epithelium found in our study indicates an important role for VNO in pheromone perception and beginning of sexual behaviour.     

Herbaceous species diversity in relation to fire severity in Zagros oak forests,Iran

Zagros forests are mainly covered byQuercus brantii L. coppices and oak sprout clumps occupy the forest area like patches. We investigated post-fire herbaceous diversity in the first growing season after fire. For this purpose neighboring burned and unburned areas were selected with the same plant species and ecological conditions. The data were collected from areas subjected to different fire severities. Overall 6 treatments were considered with respect to fire severity and the mi-crosites of inside and outside of oak sprout clumps including： unburned inside and outside of sprout clumps （Ni and No）, inside of sprout clumps that burned with high fire severity （H）, inside of sprout clumps that burned with moderate fire severity （M）, outside of sprout clumps that burned with low fire severity （OH and OM）. Different herbaceous com-position was observed in the unburned inside and outside of oak sprout clumps. The species diversity and richness were increased in treatments burned with low and moderate fire severity. However, in treatment burned with high fire severity （H）, herbaceous cover was reduced, even-ness was increased, and richness and diversity were not significantly changed. We concluded that besides the microsites conditions in forest, fire severity is an inseparable part of the ecological effect of fire on her-baceous composition.     

Rates of inbreeding and genetic diversity in Iranian Holstein Cattle

The accumulation of inbreeding and the loss of genetic diversity is a potential problem in Holstein dairy cattle. The goal of this study was to estimate inbreeding levels and other measures of genetic diversity, using pedigree information from Iranian Holstein cattle. Edited pedigree included 1 048 572 animals. The average number of discrete generation equivalents and pedigree completeness index reached 13.4 and 90%, respectively. The rate of inbreeding was 0.3% per year. Effective number of founders, founder genomes, non‐founders and ancestors of animals born between 2003 and 2011 were 503, 15.6, 16.1 and 25.7, respectively. It was proven that the unequal founder contributions as well as bottlenecks and genetic drift were important reasons for the loss of genetic diversity in the population. The top 10 ancestors with the highest marginal genetic contributions to animals born between 2003 and 2011 and with the highest contributions to inbreeding were 48.20% and 63.94%, respectively. Analyses revealed that the most important cause of genetic diversity loss was genetic drift accumulated over non‐founder generations, which occurred due to small effective population size. Therefore, it seems that managing selection and mating decisions are controlling future co‐ancestry and inbreeding, which would lead to better handling of the effective population size.     

Comparison of genetic variation among accessions of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aegilops tauschii</Emphasis> using AFLP and SSR markers

Genetic diversity of 54 accessions of Aegilops tauschii from five countries was assessed using sequence-tagged microsatellites (or simple sequence repeats, SSRs) and amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). In the case of AFLP analysis, a total of 256 amplification products obtained, 234 of them were polymorphic across all the 54 accessions. A total of 224 fragments were obtained from the 24 SSR primers and 219 of fragments were polymorphic across all the genotypes screened. Based on both AFLP and SSR markers, the highest percentage of polymorphisms were obtained in Iranian and accessions of unknown origin. The highest polymorphic information content (PIC) value was observed for SSRs (0.82) while the highest marker index (MI) value was for AFLPs (8.5) reflecting the hyper-variability of the first and the distinctive nature of the second system. Principal co-ordinate analysis (PCO) revealed congruent patterns of genetic relationships for both data sets, but did not group accessions strictly according to their geographical origins. Poor correlation was found between AFLP and SSR marker loci. This low association may be due to low number of AFLP and SSR markers. These results show that molecular markers can help to organize the genetic variability and expose useful diversity for breeding purposes.     

Effect of Foliar Applications of Humic Acid on Growth,Visual Quality,Nutrients Content and Root Parameters of Perennial Ryegrass (Lolium Perenne L.)

In recent years, applying humic acid (HA) has been common in turfgrass management. A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of HA on qualitative and quantitative characteristics of “Speedygreen” perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Different concentrations of HA (0, 100, 400, and 1000 mg L^?1) were applied monthly as foliar application. Results showed that leaf phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and zinc (Zn) content, fresh and dry weight, chlorophyll content, and root fresh weights were not affected by HA. Meanwhile, HA improved the root and shoot development, except for root fresh weight. While just 100 mg L^?1 improved height, visual quality, nitrogen (N) content, roots length, and surface of roots, all of HA concentrations were effective on iron content. These results suggest that HA foliar application might be of benefit to enhance some nutrients uptake and root development of ryegrass possibly leading to improved drought resistance.     

Myocardial concentrations of fatty acids in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy

OBJECTIVE: To compare myocardial concentrations of fatty acids in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) with concentrations in control dogs. SAMPLE POPULATION: Myocardial tissues from 7 dogs with DCM and 16 control dogs. PROCEDURE: Myocardial tissues were homogenized, and total fatty acids were extracted and converted to methyl esters. Myocardial concentrations of fatty acids were analyzed by use of gas chromatography and reported as corrected percentages. RESULTS: The amount of docosatetraenoic acid (C22:4 n-6) was significantly higher in myocardial samples from dogs with DCM (range, 0.223% to 0.774%; median, 0.451%), compared with the amount in samples obtained from control dogs (range, 0.166% to 0.621%; median, 0.280%). There were no significant differences between DCM and control dogs for concentrations of any other myocardial fatty acids. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although concentrations of most myocardial fatty acids did not differ significantly between dogs with DCM and control dogs, the concentration of docosatetraenoic acid was significantly higher in dogs with DCM. Additional investigation in a larger population is warranted to determine whether this is a primary or secondary effect of the underlying disease and whether alterations in fatty acids may be a target for intervention in dogs with DCM.     

Effect of mastitis during the first lactation on production and reproduction performance of Holstein cows

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of postpartum mastitis between first calving and subsequent conception on production and reproduction performance as well as culling of Holstein cows. A data set of 9,183 first lactation cows was used. Results showed that the first cumulative 100?days' milk production and the milk yield standardized to 305?days were affected by the interval from calving to first mastitis (P??0.05). Calving year, calving difficulty score, and cumulative first 60?days milk production had significant impacts on mastitis risk (P?相似文献   

Vitamin D Deficiency Impairs Spatial Learning in Adult Rats

Background: Through its membrane and intracellular receptors, vitamin D regulates many vital functions in the body including its well known actions on musculoskeletal system. Growing body of evidences demonstrate that vitamin D undergoes some of behavioral aspects of neurocognition. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of food regimens without vitamin D or with a supplement of 1,25(OH)₂D3 on spatial performance of adult rats. Methods: The animals were trained in the Morris water maze to find a hidden platform. The time spent and the distance traveled to find the platform, speed of navigation and the percentage of unsuccessful trials were considered for assessment of the task learning. Results: Our findings indicated that the vitamin D-deprived rats had a significant lower performance compared to both the controls and the animals receiving 1,25(OH)₂D3 supplementation. Concerning the unsuccessful trials, lack of vitamin D resulted in the highest failures in the maze navigation. The regimen with additional 1,25(OH)₂D3 did not considerably influence learning of the maze task. Conclusion: We concluded that while vitamin D deficiency deteriorates the spatial task learning, the 1,25(OH)₂D3 supplementation did not effectively underlie the maze performance. Key Words: Vitamin D, Maze learning, Dietary supplements     

Mesenchymal Stem Cells as an Alternative for Schwann Cells in Rat Spinal Cord Injury

Background: Spinal cord has a limited capacity to repair; therefore, medical interventions are necessary for treatment of injuries. Transplantation of Schwann cells has shown a great promising result for spinal cord injury (SCI). However, harvesting Schwann cell has been limited due to donor morbidity and limited expansion capacity. Furthermore, accessible sources such as bone marrow stem cells have drawn attentions to themselves. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effect of bone marrow-derived Schwann cell on functional recovery in adult rats after injury. Methods: Mesenchymal stem cells were cultured from adult rats’ bone marrow and induced into Schwann cells in vitro. Differentiation was confirmed by immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR. Next, Schwann cells were seeded into collagen scaffolds and engrafted in 3 mm lateral hemisection defects. For 8 weeks, motor and sensory improvements were assessed by open field locomotor scale, narrow beam, and tail flick tests. Afterwards, lesioned spinal cord was evaluated by conventional histology and immunohistochemistry. Results: In vitro observations showed that differentiated cells had Schwann cell morphology and markers. In this study, we had four groups (n = 10 each): laminectomy, control, scaffold and scaffold + Schwann cells. Locomotor and sensory scores of cell grafted group were significantly better than control and scaffold groups. In histology, axonal regeneration and remyelination were better than control and scaffold groups. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that bone marrow-derived Schwann cells can be considered as a cell source for Schwann cells in SCI treatment. Key Words: Rats, Spinal cord injuries (SCI), Bone marrow, Schwann cells, Cell transdifferentiation