The Preference of the Omnivorous–Macrophagous, Tilapia zillii (Gervais), to Consume a Natural Free-floating Fern, Azolla pinnata

Free‐floating macrophytes are often common in standing water bodies. Fishponds are suitable medium for Azolla growth; however, it rapidly self‐propagates and doubles its biomass in a few days and could strongly influence nutrient dynamics. The preference of Tilapia zillii (Gervais) to consume the free‐floating plant, Azolla pinnata, was tested in two experiments. In the first experiment, fish with different initial body weights (2–3 g, 7–10 g, 15–20 g, and 50–60 g) were randomly distributed at a rate of 150 ± 5 g/100‐L aquarium and fed fresh A. pinnata for 8 wk. A known weight of fresh plant was given to fish; after 24 h, Azolla remaining in aquaria was collected, dried with tissue paper, and reweighed to determine amount consumed. In the second experiment, fish were fed one of five diets containing different levels of dry Azolla meal as replacements of the control diet (20% crude protein) at levels of 0 (control), 25, 50, 75, or 100% for 13 wk. Growth retardation and weight loss were observed in all fish sizes fed fresh Azolla, and the mortality rates were 53.3–56.7%. The consumption of fresh Azolla decreased over time up to the eighth week; otherwise, Azolla consumption was fish size dependent. Whole‐body contents of crude protein decreased significantly, while total lipids and ash contents increased significantly with increasing fish size. In the second experiment, fish growth was reduced when the level of dry Azolla meal in the diet exceeds 25%. The mortality rate increased significantly with increasing Azolla level in the diet. Carcass composition showed increases in moisture and ash contents and decreases in dry matter, crude protein, and total lipids with the increase of Azolla level in the diets. Amount of diet consumed decreased, while feed conversion ratio increased significantly with the increase in dry Azolla level in the diet. Moreover, protein efficiency ratio, protein productive value, and energy utilization decreased significantly with the increase in dry Azolla level in the diet. It could be concluded that the preference of T. zillii to consume Azolla plants inhabiting water bodies is limited, but it could partially consume the dry Azolla meal at low and moderate levels. The optimum inclusion level of dry Azolla meal should be no more than 25% in T. zillii diet.     

Multilocus sequence analysis supports a low genetic diversity among ‘<Emphasis Type="Italic">Candidatus</Emphasis> Phytoplasma australasia’ related strains infecting vegetable crops and periwinkle in Egypt

‘Candidatus Phytoplasma australasia’ causes important damages to the Egyptian vegetable crop production. A prerequisite for controlling the different diseases it causes to eggplant, tomato and squash, is to trace its propagation pathways. To allow the differentiation of ‘Ca. P. australasia’ strains, a multilocus sequence analysis protocol was developed. Four conserved phytoplama genes namely tuf, secY, dnaK and dppA, were selected among the CDS of a ‘Ca. P. aurantifolia’ genome draft. The corresponding genes were PCR amplified from tomato, eggplant and squash collected in 2010 from the governorates Sharkia, Elmynia and Beni sueif, as well as from Catharanthus roseus periwinkles collected in 2013 from Kafrelsheikh governorate. Sequence comparisons showed no diversity among the Egyptian isolates of ‘Ca. P. australasia’ that also constitute a distinct cluster within the 16SrII-D taxonomic subgroup. This low diversity supports a common epidemiology for the different diseases affecting vegetable crops and periwinkle in Egypt and suggests that future investigations on insect vector should focus on polyphagous leafhoppers.     

Chronic effect after acute exposure to commercial petroleum fuels on physiological status of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.)

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of bacterial flora associated with pond water, gills, and intestine of polycultured healthy common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) were carried out and identified to species level where possible. Total viable bacterial counts in the pond water ranged from 9.2?±?5.5?×?10³ to 6.6?±?5.1?×?10⁴ colony-forming units (cfu)/mL; in the gill filaments of carp and catfish, 3.3?±?3.8?×?10⁶ to 7.9?±?5.6?×?10⁶ and 1.1?±?4.6?×?10⁵ to 2.3?±?5.2?×?10⁶ cfu/g, respectively; and in the intestine of carp and catfish, 1.4?±?2.9?×?10¹⁰ to 1.7?±?6.0?×?10¹¹ and 2.7?±?3.4?×?10¹⁰ to 1.0?±?4.5?×?10¹¹ cfu/g, respectively. Gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria dominated the populations: 90% in carp, 89% in catfish, 80% in water, and 86% in the total populations. Altogether, 14 bacterial species of 10 genera were identified in total populations. Pond water bacteria had a reflection on the bacterial composition of the gills and intestine of carp and catfish. Aeromonas hydrophila, Shewanella putrefaciens, Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus sp., and Vibrio vulnificus appeared as the common bacteria in the populations, where the first three were highly significantly abundant (P?<?0.0001). Moreover, A. hydrophila was the most significantly dominant bacteria (32%; P?<?0.005) among the total populations. Pantoea sp. and Pasteurella pneumotropica were present only in carp and catfish, respectively, but Corynebacterium urealyticum and Micrococcus sp. were present only in pond water.     

Effect of Soil Sample Size on Saturated Soil Hydraulic Conductivity

Saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_sat) is regarded as a key soil physical variable to determine soil infiltration rate, percolation depth and other hydrological processes. The purpose of this study was to determine the best soil sampling’s ring size for measuring K_sat. For this purpose, 25 rings with five different diameters (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 inch) and with the same depth of 20 cm (five replicates) were hammered in close vicinity to each other into the ground of undisturbed loess deposits of a small farm to measure K_sat and bulk density. Hydraulic conductivity was measured at three constant loads of 22, 27 and 32 cm. The results showed that the ring with the internal diameter of 6 inches had the minimum variation coefficient and maximum K_sat for all the three hydraulic heads. In addition, the bulk density of this ring size was less than the other rings.     

Phosphorus Availability as Influenced by Organic Residues in Five Calcareous Soils

The use of organic residue is appropriate in maintaining long-term phosphorus (P) requirement of crops. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of time and organic residue addition on P availability in some calcareous soils. Five plant residues and two manures in a wide range of C/N ratios were added to the soil samples at rates of 20 g kg^?1 soil. The samples were incubated for 2, 72, 336, 672, 1440, and 2160 hours at constant temperature and moisture. Extractable phosphorus (Olsen-P) was determined after the incubation. There were decreases in the Olsen-P in all five amended soils during 2160 hours of incubation. The power model was found to be suitable to describe P transformation rates from amended soils. The constant b in the power model of P for amended soils was defined as transformation rate were in the order (average of five soils) vegetables waste > sheep manure > potato > poultry manure > sunflower > rape > weeds residues. There were significant correlations between C/P in residues and parameters a and parameter b. There were significant correlations between clay content and calcium carbonate and transformation rate of P in soils. The model parameters of P are suitable to estimate the P-fertilizer effect of organic residues.     

Metformin as an adjunct to insulin for glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes after CABG surgery: a randomized double blind clinical trial

Perioperative hyperglycemia is common in patients with type 2 diabetes undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery and there is a direct relation between postoperative hyperglycemia and mortality rate in these patients. The aim of the present study is to determine the efficacy of metformin on glycemic control in diabetic patients after CABG surgery. In a randomized double blind clinical trial, 100 patients with type 2 diabetes admitted in open heart ICU after CABG surgery in Mazandaran Heart Center were enrolled. They were randomly assigned to two intervention and control groups. Three hours after extubation, therapeutic antiglycemic regimens were applied in these two groups and continued for three days. Intervention group received regular insulin infusion along with two metformin 500 mg tablets per twelve hours while control group received regular insulin infusion with two placebo tablets per twelve hours. Blood glucose level and other parameters were measured and recorded in determined intervals. To analyze the data, independent T-test, paired T-test, Mann-Whitney and repeated measure ANOVA tests were employed. Mean blood glucose level was not significantly different in the two groups at the beginning of the ICU admission; however, mean glucose level in insulin-metformin group, twelve hours after the initiation of the study, was significantly lower than insulin group (p < 0.05). In addition, mean doses of potassium and insulin demand as well as mean number of episodes of hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia and glucose levels out of the accepted range were significantly lower in insulin-metformin group (p < 0.05). Alterations in mean levels of lactate, BE, pH and creatinine were not statistically significant in these two groups. It seems that adding metformin to insulin leads to a better glycemic control in type two diabetic patients undergoing CABG surgery without causing metabolic acidosis. Therefore, it might be a potential option in blood glucose control protocol in this group of patients.     

Comparing analgesic effects of a topical herbal mixed medicine with salicylate in patients with knee osteoarthritis

Knee osteoarthritis is the most common cause of disability among people and it is a common disease of joints that can lead to cartilage damage. In this study the analgesic effects of a herbal ointment containing cinnamon, ginger, mastic (Saghez) and sesame oil is compared with Salicylate ointment in patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis. It was a double-blind randomized controlled trail study. Patients with diagnosed arthritis were involved in the study and they were divided in two groups via block randomization method. For six weeks, twice a day, intervention group applied herbal ointment and control group used Salicylate ointment. The severity of pain, morning stiffness and limited motion were measured using Visual Analog Pain Scale. In order to analyze the trends of these three indexes, repeated measurement test was used. Ninety two participates with the mean age of 52.2 (+/- 12.4) years and with the mean disease period of 30.45 (+/- 30.3) months were involved in the study. There was no significant difference between two groups regarding the distribution of sex, weight, height, BMI and the duration of illness. No statistical difference was observed between two groups regarding pain relief, morning stiffness and limited motion; nevertheless in repeated measurements during second, forth and sixth weeks in both groups the decreasing trend of these three indexes had been statistically significant (p < 0.0001). It seems that using this herbal combination is clinically effective for patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis in order to decrease their pain, morning stiffness and limited motion; its effect is comparable with Salicylate ointment.