Unilateral ventral strabismus in an aquarium Silver Arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum)

An adult silver arowana (Osteoglossum bicirrhosum) presented with a 2‐month history of acute onset ventral strabismus of the right eye associated with a cystic structure overlying the dorsal aspect of the globe. Aspiration of the cyst, removal of redundant conjunctival tissue, and apposition of the surgical edges of the conjunctiva did not correct the strabismus. Magnetic resonance imaging of the head and histopathology of the eye did not reveal significant differences between affected and unaffected eyes except for a more posterior dorsal rectus muscle insertion site in the affected eye. This case report documents and describes a syndrome well known among arowana hobbyists as ‘drop eye’.     

Novel amoxicillin nanoparticles formulated as sustained release delivery system for poultry use

Amoxicillin is used in the treatment and prevention of a wide range of diseases in poultry breeding. However, its short half‐life and low bioavailability restrict its clinical application in these species. Entrapment of drugs into polymeric nanoparticles (nps) presents a means to improve gastrointestinal absorption and oral bioavailability of drugs. This study was aimed to overcome limitation of amoxicillin use in poultry breeding. Amoxicillin was loaded into sodium alginate‐polyvinyl alcohol (NaAlg‐PVA ) blend nps, and characterization of the prepared nps was performed. For pharmacokinetic study, commercial male broilers were used and comparative pharmacokinetics of free and nanoparticle form of amoxicillin were investigated. Twenty‐one broilers were divided into three groups. All groups received 10 mg/kg drug. Blood samples were collected, and drug plasma concentrations were determined by HPLC . The results demonstrated that the particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, and loading capacity of the nps were 513.96 ± 19.46 nm, ?45.36 ± 1.35 mV , 43.66 ± 3.30, and 12.06 ± 0.83%, respectively. In vitro drug release exhibited a biphasic pattern with an initial burst release of 18% within 2 hr followed by a sustained release over 22 hr. The pharmacokinetic results showed that amoxicillin nps have higher bioavailability and longer plasma half‐life (p  <  .01) than free amoxicillin. These results indicate that amoxicillin nano formulation is suitable for oral administration in broilers.     

Feeding broilers with thyme essential oil loaded in chitosan nanoparticles: an efficient strategy for successful delivery

ABSTRACT

1. The use of chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) for the entrapment of active components has gained considerable interest in food and pharmaceutical industries due to its mucous adhesiveness, non-toxicity, biocompatibility and biodegradability.

2. This study aimed to investigate the usefulness of feeding encapsulated thyme essential oil (E-TEO) on performance, blood parameters, immunity and ileal microflora in broilers.

3. CNPs were prepared by using ionotropic gelation and structurally characterised by dynamic light scattering; scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The encapsulation efficiency percentage of TEO in CNPs and its in vitro release were determined using ultraviolet visible spectroscopy and dialysis method, respectively.

4. An in vivo experiment was conducted with five treatments of five replicates with ten chicks per pen. Dietary treatments consisted of an unsupplemented control diet, or supplemented with chlortetracycline (80 and 50 mg/kg during the starter and grower phase, respectively); CNPs (60 mg/kg); TEO (40 mg/kg diet) or E-TEO (60 mg/kg).

5. Results showed uniform distribution of nanoparticles with roughly spherical morphology, and the size of particles ranged from 30 to 100 nm. It was observed that 68.3% of TEO was encapsulated into CNPs, from which more than 90% was released within the first 96 h. Birds treated with antibiotic and E-TEO showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher body weight gain than the control and the other treatments were intermediate. Compared to the control group, adding of E-TEO into diet significantly (P < 0.05) improved feed conversion ratio at 42 days of age. Feeding birds with E-TEO significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the number of coliform and total aerobic bacteria compared to other treatments. Birds supplemented with E-TEO showed lower heterophile to lymphocyte ratio compared to birds that received TEO.

6. The results suggested that the entrapment of TEO in CNPs and its sustained release promoted broiler performance via the improvement of physiological status and modulating intestinal microbiota and therefore could be used as substitute for antibiotic growth promoter in broiler diets.     

Migration of eels tagged in the Baltic Sea and Lake Mälaren—in the context of the stocking question

Eels (Anguilla spp.) are in decline worldwide, and the signs of reduced recruitment have been observed in continental Europe since the early 1970s. To aid recovery of the European eel, stocking is used by many European countries as a management option. In this study, tagging experiments were conducted to follow eel migration from Lake Mälaren and four sites along the Swedish east coast in the Baltic Sea. The recaptured tagged eels were retrieved from fishermen, allowing for the opportunity to investigate their origin (brackish water, stocked in freshwater or a mix in between) by otolith microchemistry and to assess for morphological differences after tagging. Several changes took place; for example, eye index increased while weight and condition decreased with migrated distance and time until recapture. In Lake Mälaren, the majority of tagged eels did not migrate out of the outlets, irrespective of their origin. Most of them were caught in the opposite direction and continued to be caught in the lake 1–3 years after tagging, with significant weight losses. Overall, overwintering is suggested to be an inferior option, but it is uncertain whether this is a natural behaviour or a result of translocation and restocking. For coastal eels, origin had no effect on migratory behaviour; a majority of the tagged eels migrated towards the outlet of the Baltic Sea. Interestingly, a minority of the recaptured eels originated from stocked fish. Instead, recaptures were dominated by natural immigrants that had spent most of their lives in brackish waters.     

电解银催化剂粒度及铺装对甲醛生产的影响

通过对进口电解银与国产电解银在甲醛生产中应用的比较，特别是对国产电解银催化剂的电解加工，造粒，定型后在直径６００ｎｍ氧化反应器内的铺装结构粒度的使用及分布和厚度对甲醛生产影响的探讨，确立了氧化反应器内催化剂层的结构和用量，试验表明可以达到工业甲醛所需的最佳生产效果。     

载银竹炭的制备及性能研究

采用还原载银法对改性竹炭进行载银试验，得到了不同载银量的载银竹炭。利用扫描电镜对其结构进行分析的结果表明，银主要分布在竹炭的外表面和大孔中。同时，对比了竹炭在载银前后的吸附能力，包括碘吸附值、苯酚吸附值、灭菌效果以及载银量对它们的影响，结果表明，该载银竹炭可基本保持其原有的吸附能力。而且具有一定的灭菌效果。     

荧光介孔二氧化硅负载丙硫菌唑纳米颗粒的制备及性能研究

近年来,丙硫菌唑作为一种新颖的广谱杀菌剂备受关注,但由于其代谢产物对操作人员存在健康风险,导致其在中国的使用和登记受到限制。将丙硫菌唑制备为具有缓慢释放、可提高农药稳定性等特点的缓释制剂可有效改善其带来的健康风险问题。本研究采用纳米荧光介孔二氧化硅制备了丙硫菌唑缓释纳米颗粒,通过扫描电镜(SEM)、透射电镜(TEM)、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、X-射线光电子能谱(XPS)、Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET)比表面积分析、热重分析(TGA)、荧光光谱以及高效液相色谱仪等手段对其结构与特性进行表征。采用透析袋法探讨了丙硫菌唑在释放介质中的释放行为;利用菌丝生长速率法测定了该载药颗粒对小麦赤霉病原菌的杀菌活性;通过激光共聚焦研究了荧光二氧化硅在小麦赤霉病菌菌丝体以及小麦中的传输情况。结果表明:所制备的载药纳米颗粒外观形貌较为规整,平均粒径为139 nm,其最大载药量可达27.14%;该纳米载药颗粒具有缓释性能,释放曲线符合Ritger-Peppas方程;载药颗粒与丙硫菌唑原药相比具有相同的毒力效果。此外,激光共聚焦结果表明,该荧光二氧化硅纳米颗粒可以在菌丝体以及小麦植株根部吸收和传导。     

Effect of growing site,sampling date,wood location in trunk and drying method on concentration of soluble proanthocyanidins in Betula pendula wood,with special reference to wood colour

Proanthocyanidins (PAs), which are common phenolic compounds in plants, are considered to be mainly defensive compounds against different kinds of stress, e.g. herbivory. In addition to increasing after stress, they may condense and/or oxidize to form coloured compounds when cells die, which may affect both the resistance of xylem to rot and its colour. This is important in the mechanical wood industry. The effects of some biological factors (growing site, sampling date, wood location in the trunk) on the concentration of soluble PAs (sPAs) were studied in fresh and dried birch wood. Those factors that affected sPA concentration most were sampling date and radial location. Drying method also had a great effect on the sPA concentration, which in turn correlated with the colour of the wood.     

抗菌耐磨实木复合地板的性能分析

本文对一种经过纳米无机银类抗菌材料和纳米TiO2光催化剂处理的抗菌耐磨实木复合地板的抗菌性能和耐磨性能进行了检测和分析。结果表明，经处理的产品能够抑制室内常见的金黄色葡萄球菌以及大肠杆菌的繁殖，同时对“黑曲霉”有防霉和灭菌的效果，且其表面耐磨性高于实木地板和实木复合地板。