Heat stress and effect of shade materials on hormonal and behavior response of dairy cattle: a review

In tropical countries, at high temperatures, several physiological rearrangements occur in cows as they attempt to facilitate heat dissipation and/or reduce metabolic heat production. Following exposure to heat, cattle appear to acclimatize within 2–7 weeks. The failure of homeostasis at high temperatures may lead to reduced productivity or even death. The situation is even worse when humidity adds to high temperature. Livestock with elevated body temperature exhibit lower DMI and growth with less efficiency, reducing profitability for dairy farms in hot and humid climates. Shading of feed and water also offers production advantages. Although several elaborate methods for reducing heat stress in cows have been reported, simple shade materials appear to be the most cost-effective methods that are currently applicable to tropical developing countries. Different materials are being used to provide shade during warm weather. The shade material determines the microclimate—it should be light, strong, durable, weatherproof, good looking and a bad conductor of heat, and free from tendency to condense moisture inside. This review discusses various shade materials and their advantages and disadvantages in different situations.     

Biodiversity and ecological assessments of Indian sacred groves

Sacred groves are patches of forests preserved for their spiritual and religious significance.The practice gained relevance with the spread of agriculture that caused large-scale deforestation affecting biodiversity and watersheds.Sacred groves may lose their prominence nowadays,but are still relevant in Indian rural landscapes inhabited by traditional communities.The recent rise of interest in this tradition encouraged scientific study that despite its pan-Indian distribution,focused on India’s northeast,Western Ghats and east coast either for their global/regional importance or unique ecosystems.Most studies focused on flora,mainly angiosperms,and the faunal studies concentrated on vertebrates while lower life forms were grossly neglected.Studies on ecosystem functioning are few although observations are available.Most studies attributed watershed protection values to sacred groves but hardly highlighted hydrological process or water yield in comparison with other land use types.The grove studies require diversification from a stereotyped path and must move towards creating credible scientific foundations for conservation.Documentation should continue in unexplored areas but more work is needed on basic ecological functions and ecosystem dynamics to strengthen planning for scientifically sound sacred grove management.     

Damage pattern and status of the leaf miner Aphanisticus aeneus Kerremans (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) in Saccharum spp.

Biology, damage pattern, incidence levels and status of the leaf miner Aphanisticus aeneus Kerremans (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) were studied in accessions of Saccharum spp. Egg, grub and pupal periods of the miner lasted 6.0 ± 0.8, 18.5 ± 1.9 and 7.0 ± 1.3 days, respectively; adults lived for 8–10 days. The grub tunneled the leaf on the lower surface just above the epidermis forming a linear channel; infested tissues showed brownish discoloration. The extent of leaf miner attack among the 331 accessions of Saccharum spp. ranged 4.00%–76.47% on cane basis and 7.14%–100.00% on leaf basis; the mined leaf area ranged 3.22–11.00 cm². When the accessions were grouped on the basis of an infestation index developed with the above three parameters, 267 occupied very low category, 51 were in low category, 11 were in moderate category and 2 were placed in high incidence category. All accessions showed miner attack in at least one study year. Within each of the four Saccharum spp., accessions differed significantly among the three study years for all infestation parameters. Among the four species, while S. robustum accessions recorded significantly highest infestation index, the other three species remained on par.     

Endosomal proteolysis of the Ebola virus glycoprotein is necessary for infection

Ebola virus (EboV) causes rapidly fatal hemorrhagic fever in humans and there is currently no effective treatment. We found that the infection of African green monkey kidney (Vero) cells by vesicular stomatitis viruses bearing the EboV glycoprotein (GP) requires the activity of endosomal cysteine proteases. Using selective protease inhibitors and protease-deficient cell lines, we identified an essential role for cathepsin B (CatB) and an accessory role for cathepsin L (CatL) in EboV GP-dependent entry. Biochemical studies demonstrate that CatB and CatL mediate entry by carrying out proteolysis of the EboV GP subunit GP1 and support a multistep mechanism that explains the relative contributions of these enzymes to infection. CatB and CatB/CatL inhibitors diminish the multiplication of infectious EboV-Zaire in cultured cells and may merit investigation as anti-EboV drugs.     

Assessment of surface and sub-surface waterlogged areas in irrigation command areas of Bihar state using remote sensing and GIS

Satellite remote sensing coupled with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) offers an excellent alternative to conventional mapping techniques in monitoring and mapping of surface and sub-surface waterlogged areas. In the present study, pre-monsoon and post-monsoon surface waterlogged areas were delineated in all the 132 irrigation command areas of the Bihar State, India using Indian Remote Sensing (IRS-1D) Linear Imaging Self Scanning Sensor (LISS-III) data acquired during the period 2002–2003. Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) was used primarily to delineate surface waterlogged areas. Perennial waterlogged and seasonal waterlogged areas were identified for the study area by integrating the waterlogged areas derived for both the pre- and post-monsoon seasons under GIS environment. Results show that the total surface waterlogged area in Bihar is 628 × 10³ ha, which is 10.57% of command area (5939 × 10³ ha) and spread over 132 command areas. Perennial surface inundation covers 2.95% of the waterlogged area in all the command areas. Maximum waterlogged area is observed in Gandak command (212 × 10³ ha) followed by Eastern Kosi irrigation scheme (116 × 10³ ha) and Sone modernization scheme (82 × 10³ ha), respectively. Further, waterlogged areas induced by rise in groundwater level were also assessed spatially under GIS environment using the ground water level data pertaining to pre- and post-monsoon seasons of the year 2002–2003 which were spread all over the study area. The analysis of pre- and post-monsoon groundwater levels indicates that the area under non-critical category during pre-monsoon period was reduced from 4287 × 10³ ha (72.72% of command) to 1391 × 10³ ha (23.42%) in the post-monsoon. Area under most critical category during post-monsoon period increased from 0.083 × 10³ ha of command area in pre-monsoon period to 50 × 10³ ha. The study demonstrates utility of integration of remote sensing and GIS techniques for assessment of waterlogged areas particularly in regions where waterlogging conditions occur both due to excessive irrigation and accumulation of rain and floodwaters.     

Usefulness of Polymerase Chain Reaction in Early Detection and Tissue Tropism of Fowl Adenovirus in Experimentally Infected Chicken

Veterinary Research Communications -     

Development and evaluation of flow through technique for diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis in sheep

A novel in vitro flow through technique was developed and evaluated for immunodiagnosis of cystic echinococcosis in sheep using hydatid specific non-cross reactive 8-kDa protein. The 8-kDa protein was prepared from hydatid cyst fluid by DEAE-Sepharose fast flow anion exchange chromatography. In this flow through technique, the 8-kDa antigen was coated on the nitrocellulose membrane of flow through device. Protein A colloidal gold was used as detector. The evaluation of the technique was performed by comparing 150 known positive hydatid serum and known negative serum collected from sheep. The test was shown to be high sensitivity and specificity that were closely correlated with those of EITB. Furthermore the immunofiltration-based assay is rapid (2 min) and easy to perform with no requirement of special skill, reagent and instrumentation. This suggests the flow through technique is an acceptance alternative to be used in clinical laboratories lacking specialized equipments as well as large scale screening of cystic echinococcosis both in the field with animal and human populations.