Disturbance of oxidant/antioxidant equilibrium in horses naturally infected with Trypanosoma evansi

Oxidant/antioxidant equilibrium disturbance has already been reported in trypanosome infections by several authors. The present study was aimed to explore the possible oxidant/antioxidant disturbance in surra of naturally infected horses before and after treatment. Fifteen naturally infected horses were chosen to analyse erythrocytic indices, platelet counts, lipid peroxides (LPO), nitric oxide (NO), reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) while six healthy animals acted as control. There was a highly significant (P<0.001) reduction in red blood cell (RBC) count, haemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV) and platelet levels and a significant reduction in mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (P<0.05) was noticed. A highly significant increase in NO (P<0.001), a significant increase in LPO (P<0.05) and a significant decrease in GSH, SOD and CAT (P<0.05) were found. A negative correlation of RBC count with LPO (r=-0.844) and nitrate (r=-0.702) while a positive correlation with GSH (r=0.489), SOD (r=0.580) and CAT (r=0.689) was observed. All the animals were treated with Quinapyramine sulphate (3mg/kg s.c.) only once. Nine animals recovered completely without any side effects. The recovered animals were monitored and samples were collected every seven days for up to 21 days and parameters were analysed. After treatment, a significant increase in haematological parameters was noticed whereas the oxidative indices varied without any statistical significance. To conclude, the increase in oxidant parameters and decrease in antioxidant enzymes in infected horses indicates the disturbance of oxidant/antioxidant indices. There was a significant increase in post therapy haematological values, while the oxidant/antioxidant indices changed insignificantly indicating that antioxidants might be supplemented in the therapeutic regimen.     

Functional risk assessment of handling of sheep housing and pasture areas at a scrapie-infested farm in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania

In the wake of a scrapie monitoring programme 2002 in Mecklenburg-Westpomerania a total of 10 positive cases were identified after culling at a suffolk-farm with about 1000 animals. Scientific based recommendations are difficult to judge as longitudinal studies and subsequent quantitative risk factors regarding the epidemiology of scrapie are either not available or conflicting. Given this background a risk assessment was developed that is based on the probability of validated risk factors considering special husbandry and circumstances at the very farm.     

Comparative analysis of multi-criteria probabilistic FR and AHP models for forest fire risk(FFR) mapping in Melghat Tiger Reserve(MTR) forest

A comparative study of Frequency Ratio(FR)and Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP)models are performed for forest fire risk(FFR)mapping in Melghat Tiger Reserve forest,central India.Identification of FFR depends on various hydrometeorological parameters altitude,slope,aspect,topographic position index,normalized differential vegetation index,rainfall,air temperature,land surface temperature,wind speed,distance to settlements,and distance by road are integrated using a GIS platform.The results from FR and AHP show similar trends.The FR model was significantly higher accurate(overall accuracy of 81.3%,kappa statistic 0.78)than the AHP model(overall accuracy 79.3%,kappa statistic 0.75).The FR model total forest fire risk areas were classified into five classes:very low(7.1%),low(22.2%),moderate(32.3%),high(26.9%),and very high(11.5%).The AHP fire risk classes were very low(6.7%),low(21.7%),moderate(34.0%),high(26.7%),and very high(10.9%).Sensitivity analyses were performed for AHP and FR models.The results of the two different models are compared and justified concerning the forest fire sample points(Forest Survey of India)and burn images(2010-2016).These results help in designing more effective fire management plans to improve the allocation of resources across a landscape framework.     

Therapeutic responses of piglets to experimentally induced colibacillosis.

The purpose of these experiments was to determine the effects of prior exposure to antimicrobials on subsequent treatment of artificially induced colibacillosis in pigs. One- to two-week-old piglets were given 10(7) multiple antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli orally. Two groups of the piglets received priming doses at different levels of the antimicrobial preparation, ASP-250 before challenge. The remaining group received no antimicrobial. Piglets ill as a result of the challenge were treated with chloramphenicol of chlortetracycline, or received no treatment. Chloramphenicol was significantly more effective than chlortetracycline in terminating colibacillosis in the primed and unprimed groups. There were fewer deaths and relapse cases in those groups which received chloramphenicol treatment. Results in piglets treated with chlortetracycline were not significantly better than those which received no treatment.     

Effect of Tree Diversity on Soil Organic Carbon Content in the Homegarden Agroforestry System of North-Eastern Bangladesh

Small-scale Forestry - Tropical agroforestry systems have immense potential to sequester carbon both in aboveground and belowground biomass and soil. Homegarden agroforestry is a popular land-use...     

Solvent tuning of electrochemical potentials in the active sites of HiPIP versus ferredoxin

A persistent puzzle in the field of biological electron transfer is the conserved iron-sulfur cluster motif in both high potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) and ferredoxin (Fd) active sites. Despite this structural similarity, HiPIPs react oxidatively at physiological potentials, whereas Fds are reduced. Sulfur K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy uncovers the substantial influence of hydration on this variation in reactivity. Fe-S covalency is much lower in natively hydrated Fd active sites than in HiPIPs but increases upon water removal; similarly, HiPIP covalency decreases when unfolding exposes an otherwise hydrophobically shielded active site to water. Studies on model compounds and accompanying density functional theory calculations support a correlation of Fe-S covalency with ease of oxidation and therefore suggest that hydration accounts for most of the difference between Fd and HiPIP reduction potentials.     

Deciphering the cross-talk of implantation: advances and challenges

Implantation involves a series of steps leading to an effective reciprocal signaling between the blastocyst and the uterus. Except for a restricted period when ovarian hormones induce a uterine receptive phase, the uterus is an unfavorable environment for blastocyst implantation. Because species-specific variations in implantation strategies exist, these differences preclude the formulation of a unifying theme for the molecular basis of this event. However, an increased understanding of mammalian implantation has been gained through the use of the mouse model. This review summarizes recognized signaling cascades and new research in mammalian implantation, based primarily on available genetic and molecular evidence from implantation studies in the mouse. Although the identification of new molecules associated with implantation in various species provides valuable insight, important questions remain regarding the common molecular mechanisms that govern this process. Understanding the mechanisms of implantation promises to help alleviate infertility, enhance fetal health, and improve contraceptive design. The success of any species depends on its reproductive efficiency. For sexual reproduction, an egg and sperm must overcome many obstacles to fuse and co-mingle their genetic material at fertilization. The zygote develops into a blastocyst with two cell lineages (the inner cell mass and the trophectoderm), migrates within the reproductive tract, and ultimately implants into a transiently permissive host tissue, the uterus. However, the molecular basis of the road map connecting the blastocyst with the endometrium across species is diverse (1) and not fully understood. Recent advances have identified numerous molecules involved in implantation (1-4), yet new discoveries have not yielded a unifying scheme for the mechanisms of implantation.