Proximate Factors-These factors are those that when present in abundance, elicit a settling response to birds to use a certain location.Examples may include song perches, nest sites and the vegetation.
This study illustrated the differentiation among some selected members of Lamiaceae family; Lavandula coronopifola, Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum filamentosum, Orthosiphon thymiflorus, Otostegia fruticosa and Plectranthus asirensis according to morphological characters and the effects of plant extracts on some selected parameters describing the general condition of honeybees Apis mellifera L. like body weights, head weights, head diameters, pharyngeal gland conditions (acini number and canal diameter). Whole plant species were extracted in distilled water. Three cages were used with 100 workers per one. Bees fed on sugar syrup with plant extracts during 12 and 18 days. There were plant species which promoted the physiological conditions of bees but other inhibited them. Similarity matrix and cluster analysis were constructed. Ocimum basilicum and Ocimum filamentosum were close to each other while Otostegia fruticosa and Plectranthus asirensis were distantly related to each other.
Deltamethrin is the most famous neurotoxic synthetic pyrethroid. The present work was mainly designed to evaluate the possible ameliorative role of melatonin against deltamethrin induced cerebellar neurotoxicity in pregnant rats and their offspring. In the present work, 24 pregnant Albino rats were divided into four groups (n=6). The control group received 1 ml/kg bw of ethanol (99%), the melatonin group received a daily oral dose of melatonin (10 mg/kg bw), deltamethrin treated group was received 12.5 mg/kg bw daily of deltamethrin and ameliorative group received deltamethrin simultaneously with melatonin. All groups were received their applicable dose from the 4th day of gestation till the end of weaning period (21th day). The result of the present work revealed that deltamethrin can induce severe histopathological changes in the cerebellar cortex of pregnant rats and their offspring. The immunohistochemical results elucidated strong positive expression for GFAP and weak to moderate immune reaction for synaptophysin in the cerebellar cortex of deltamethrin treated mother's rats and their offspring. Moreover, in deltamethrin treated rats, the serum levels of antioxidants enzymes (SOD, CAT and GSH) as well as serotonin and glutamate showed highly significant decrease if compared with control. Cerebellar tissue analysis revealed that deltamethrin is implicated in induction of apoptosis that confirmed by increased activity of Caspse-3 and decreased activity of bcl2. Post supplementation of melatonin to deltamethrin, successfully ameliorated the adverse histopathological, immmunohistochemical and biochemical changes in cerebellum of mother's rats and their offspring.
Experiments were carried out in the laboratory to determine antifeedant activity of four plant essential oils of Rabdosia rugosa (Wall. ex Benth), Zanthoxylum armatum (DC.), Artemisia maritima (L.) and Colebrookea oppositifolia (Sm.) against four stored product insect pests viz. Tribolium castaneum (Herbst.), Sitophilus oryzae (L.), Stegobium paniceum (L.) and Plodia interpunctella (Hubner). Feeding deterrence indices (FDI) showed that the plant essential oils had antifeedant action against the four insect pests at different concentrations. R. rugosa and Z. armatum oil at a high concentration of 300 µl/g resulted in 5.22 ± 0.21 and 6.42 ± 0.32% grain damage as compared to 70.32 ± 0.28% damage under control and FDI of 86.17 ± 0.25 and 85.71 ± 0.27% was recorded for T. castaneum followed by S. oryzae with a FDI of 70.58 ± 0.21 and 67.68 ± 0.19% and grain damage of 15.42 ± 0.12 and 16.31 ± 0.21% as compared to 85.36 ± 0.09% grain damage in control for similar concentrations of above oils. A. maritima oil at 100 µl/g showed 76.31 ± 0.16% FDI followed by C. oppositifolia oil obtaining 75.11 ± 0.35% feeding deterrence against T. castaneum whereas 65.99 ± 0.32% and 65.46 ± 0.14% FDI was obtained for similar concentrations of these oils against S. oryzae. FDI of 62.82 ± 0.32 and 60.03 ± 0.26% was observed for R. rugosa and Z. armatum oil at 300 µl/g against S. paniceum followed by 64.97 ± 0.14 and 53.35 ± 0.18% against P. interpunctella for similar concentration of oils. The present study indicated that R. rugosa and Z. armatum were highly effective followed by A. maritima and C. oppositifolia against all the insect pest.
There are a large number of plants whose anthelmintic activity has been demonstrated under controlled experimentation, either through feeding the whole plant or administering plant extracts to parasitised hosts. However, contrary to traditional expectation, there are also a great number of plants with purported antiparasitic properties, which have not been reproduced under experimental conditions. Studies on the helminthicidal activities of leaf extract of Mangifera indica+root extract of Nauclea latifolia in mice was designed to determine their efficacies against intestinal helmithes. Sixty Swiss albino mice maintained conventionally were selected randomly from laboratory animal house. The collected faecal samples were examined by simple faecal flotation techniques for isolation of parasitic eggs and/or oocysts. 42 (70.0%) of the mice under study were infected with at least one gastro intestinal parasite. The leaf extract of Mangifera indica+root extract of Nauclea latifolia was prepared by boiling in tap water. Graded concentrations (100%, 50%, 25% and 12.5%) of stock that was produce in Tetfund Zoology Laboratory of Osun State University was tested against both mice of different weights and sexes for helminthicidal efficacy. LC50 of the extract value obtained was found to be 75 mg/l in both big and small mice. Prevalence of gastrointestinal infections reduced with increased concentration of extract. Statistical analysis using analysis of variance indicated that there was a significant difference in the means of the treatment concentrations and the rates of prevalence of gastrointestinal infections in the sampled mice. The results of this research showed that the leaf extract of Mangifera indica+root extract of Nauclea latifolia are highly active against intestinal helminths in the sampled mice. The extract action also had significant influence (p>0.05) on the time of exposure of mice and the rate of prevalence. The safety of the leaf extract of Mangifera indica+root extract of Nauclea latifolia on vital organs of humans may need to be investigated to determine its safety on humans.
Diabetes is a complex chronic endocrinal distinguished with increased blood glucose level and insufficient insulin secretion and function. This disease is leading to many complications and considered as one of the most massive causes of mortality or morbidity around the world. The successful treatment of diabetes is how to regenerate pancreatic islets β-cells. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation as a new strategy for treatment of diabetes in Streptozotacin (STZ) induced diabetic male albino rats. To achieve this goal, thirty male albino rats (160-180 grams) were used in this work. Animals were divided into three groups; each of ten rats. Group I, Normal healthy control. Group II, STZ (45 mg/kg) induced diabetic group which left without treatment. Group III, STZ diabetic induced group and treated with MSC.s (2 × 106 cells/rat) via penial vein. After six weeks of treatment, animals were sacrificed; blood samples for biochemical estimations and organs of pancreas, liver, and kidney were removed for histopathological examination. The results revealed that the diabetic group had significant increase in glucose, ALT, AST, ALP, MDA, creatinine, urea, LDL, TGs, and cholesterol levels in addition to significant decrease in insulin and HDL levels. After six weeks of MSCs transplantation, the treated group showed a significant amelioration in these biochemical parameters. Histopathological examination showed an improvement in the histological structure of pancreas, liver and kidney tissues in the MSCs treated group compared with the degeneration observed in the diabetic untreated group which was in accordance with the biochemical finding. In conclusion: treatment with MSC.s transplantation as a cell-therapy could restore pancreatic β-cell function and improved liver and kidney functions in diabetes as a new strategy for diabetes treatment. However, more studies at this field are required.
Present study was conducted to investigate the growth parameters, length-weight relationship and different mortality rates of the population Ilisha filigera, the big eye shad from south-east coast of Bangladesh. From January 2013 to December 2014, a total of 852 individuals (both sex together) of fish specimens were collected and the respective analysis was done by using FAO-ICLARM stock assessment tools (FiSAT-II). The von Bertalanffy growth parameters, the asymptotic length L∞ (cm) and the growth constant K (year-1), were found to be 42.80 and 0.88, respectively. The growth performance index (Ø?) was found to be 3.207. The total length and body weight (L-W) relationship was found as W=0.116 L2.205, indicating that the growth rate showed negative allometric pattern (b=2.205<3) with a coefficient of determination (r2) value of 0.979. The annual fishing morality rate (F) was 1.04, whereas the natural mortality rate M (1.49) was comparatively higher than the fishing mortality. The obtained value of the exploitation rate (E=0.41) indicated that the said population was not in over-exploited condition.
In present studies, one pair of scapula of Common palm civet cat and Dog was utilized. The sizes of the supraspinous and infraspinous fosse were small compared to the fosse of scapula of Common palm civet cat. The size of the rough area of the scapular spine of Common palm civet cat was larger compared to the size of the rough area of the scapular spine of dog. The sub scapular fosse of the scapula of Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) was more deep compared to the scapula of Common palm civet cat. The depths of glenoid cavity and glenoid notch of scapula of Common palm civet cat were more compared to the scapula of the dog. The neck of the scapula of Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) was less constricted compared to the scapula of Common palm civet cat (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus). The scapular index of Common palm civet cat was less compared to the scapula of dog.
In present study, one pair of testes and epididymis of Yak (Bos grunniens) was utilized. In cross section of testes, tunica albugenia, tunica vasculosa layer along with cross section of seminiferous tubules were observed. The cross section of seminiferous tubules contained basement membrane, sertoli cells, spermatogonia, spermatids and spermatocytes. The Sertoli cells were pyramidal shaped and rest on basement membrane. The spermatogonia were found among the Sertoli cells. In the cross section of epididymis of pseudo stratified columnar epithelium, stereo cilia, lumen of seminiferous tubules and smooth muscles were observed. The size of the lumen of the seminiferous tubules were larger compared to the size of the seminiferous tubules of testes.
The therapeutic role of plant materials in multi-disease conditions has necessitated its continued exploration and consumption. This has led us to evaluate the antimicrobial property and phytochemical components of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G Don leaf extracts. Using standard protocols, the phytochemical screening of different extracts namely ethanol, methanol, hot water and cold water (control) extracts of C. roseus leaf was done. The antimicrobial activity of the same plant material was carried out using Agar well diffusion method. This activity was evaluated by measuring the zone of inhibition. The strongest inhibition activity of the leaf extract was observed against Aspergillus niger (1 cm zone) at 20 g of leaf extract. The result showed that methanolic leaf extract had the highest antimicrobial activity against A. niger with zone of inhibition of 1 cm with other extracts showing impressive results also. It then follows that the antimicrobial activity exhibited by these extracts on the test pathogen indicated the inhibitory potentials of the extracts against that organism.
The present study was conducted on different sites of River Indus to find out the concentration and accumulation of heavy metals; Lead and Cadmium in gills, swim bladder and muscles of Rohu. The fish were collected from three different sites Topi, Hund and Kund of River Indus at Swabi, KPK Pakistan in the month of February, March, and April 2016 respectively. Results led to the conclusion that the accumulation of heavy metals in the month of February in gills were in order Pb (0.05 ppm)>Cd (0.04 ppm) Swim Bladder Pb (0.02 ppm)>Cd (N.D) and Muscle Pb (0.03 ppm)>Cd (N.D) respectively. The overall accumulation of heavy metals in Rohu in month of March in Gills were in order Pb (0.04 ppm)>Cd (0.01 ppm) Swim Bladder Pb (0.02 ppm)Cd (0.01 ppm) respectively. The overall accumulation of heavy metals in Rohu in month of April was in Swim Bladder Pb (0.01 ppm)
Water borne bacteria, including E. coli as the top bacterial quality indicator, are over to be the vital concerns of some society. Typing of bacterial strains is used to confirm or reject epidemiologic evidence that a particular bacterium is the source of infection in a food type, water source or nosocomial infection. Molecular typing is a valued instrument for analysis of genetic relationship among the microbial strains. The purpose of the present study was to determine the molecular types of waterborne E. coli strains using REP-PCR. Present study comprised 100 waterborne E. coli strains isolated from different water sources in Karaj, Iran in 2013. Bacterial isolates were detected and identified via standard microbiological and biochemical exams. Genomic DNA was extracted via Genomic DNA Extraction Kit and genetic relationship among the strains was evaluated via REP-PCR using REP1 and REP2 primers. PCR amplicons were electrophoresed in 1.5% agarose gel and staining using ethidium bromide and visualized via a Gel DocTM XR+(BIORAD) and dendrogram was constructed based on Dice Comparison method and UPGMA Clustering. Using REP-PCR, all strains were typeable. Over 15 different bands ranging from 130 to 2300 bp were amplified in different profiles. Following digitizing (0 and 1) the positive genes and dendrogram construction by PAUP 4.0 software, dendrogram analysis showed the REP-PCR differentiated 100 environmental E. coli strains into 8 rep clusters however the r6 (28%) was the most prevalent cluster. Results of the present study indicated that E. coli strains isolated from different water sources in Karaj belong to diverse clones and different genotypes. Our finding also showed that REP-PCR is a powerful molecular tool with high performance and good discriminatory power for molecular typing of waterborne E. coli.
Diversity and abundance of zooplankton of Jebba Upper Basin, Nigeria, were studied between March and May 2015. Three stations were selected and sampled monthly and investigated for zooplankton community structure using basic measurement of diversity for qualitative and quantitative samples to characterize the zooplankton fauna. The zooplanktons were present throughout the sampling period in the month of May with average abundance of 108 individuals/10 ml. The high abundance of individuals was also recorded in March but higher in the month of May. A total number of 658 individuals of zooplanktons were enumerated from the samples. The most evenly distributed is cladocera which represented 40.58% of the total population of zooplankton, though most abundant zooplankton is copepoda (41.19%) while Rotifer is the most diverse in terms of species representation. The zooplankton abundance followed the order copepoda>cladocera>rotifer. The zooplankton community of Jebba Upper Basin dominating and characterized by the species indicate good ecological condition of the river.
The present study was conducted to explore the fish fauna of river Etai district Shangla KP, in the period of June 2015 to June 2016. The exploration survey was conducted in six different localities namely Dherai, Serai, Gujar Banda, Jalkhanai, Gir and Kas of river Etai district Shangla. During the studies 80 specimens of fish were collected. This collection was taxonomically treated in the result of 7 species of fish under seven genera, four orders and four families have been reported from river Etai district Shangla. These species were Metacembelusarmatus, Glyptothoraxstocki, Garagotyla, Tor putitora, Schizothoraxplagiostomus, Bariluspakistanicusand Channagachua. The reported fish families are Metacembelidae, Cyprinidae, Sisoridae, and Channidae. During the research also studied the different parameters of river Etai. During the research family Cyprinidae were dominant in the study area and reported from all localities of river Etai district Shangla KP.
European Alps are currently inhabited by a meta-population of Lynx lynx (L. 1758) well below the optimum level. The aim of the present study was to update and discuss the information available on the species in the study area. Two methods of field research were applied: the naturalistic and the photo-capturing. The naturalistic method was implemented in two sub-periods, 03.2009-03.2011 (58 transects, with 440.1 km walked) and 02.2013-03.2015 (78 transects with 569.9 km walked) with a total sampling effort of 1010 km distributed in a study area of 136.5 km(2). For the photo-trapping method, 4 different cameras and 2014 with a sampling effort of 152 trap-days, both on crossroads or along trails, without the use of any attractant or were placed at two sites in 2013 lure. Nat-meth produced 18 signs of the presence clusters (each cluster contains the evidences attributable to the same subject); by photo-meth we obtained 7 captures. The data obtained reveal the presence of the two adult males, concolor bigger and spotted smaller, in the study area between 2013 and 2015 without any evidence of reproductive activity (presence of adult females and kitten or non-emancipated young). The comparison between the present and previous studies leads to statistically nonsignificant differences between the relative abundances of the lynx in the study area. However, it is important to emphasize that in the 2009-11 its presence considerably declined while an increase has been recorded in the following sub-period (2013-15). Finally, it is possible to guess that the small deme present in the Ossola Valley is founded by individuals from the south-western Swiss Alps. The hypothesis that there is a flow of individuals between the two areas seems to be confirmed by the considerable numerical oscillation observed in the two sub-periods investigated in this study.
The mating system of the gobiid fish Trimma grammistes as well as bidirectional sex change in the species were investigated in Ito Beach, Chiba, Japan. Sixty-seven individuals appeared in the study area. The sex ratio in T. grammistes was female-biased (22:45), and there was no significant difference between the total length of males and females. They formed social groups that consisted of one or two males and some smaller females. The largest individual in a group was always male. All aggressive behaviors were performed by the largest individuals in each social group regardless of their sex. The largest males monopolized all mating opportunities. These results indicated that the mating system of T. grammistes was harem polygyny. In some groups, however, small males existed. The reproductive status of small males (regardless of whether the small male had reproductive ability and opportunity) remained unclear. Two and three instances of female-to-male and male-to-female sex change were observed during the study period, respectively. In addition, we confirmed that one individual changed sex from female to male and vice versa. Most of these sex changes were observed when the social status had fluctuated; e.g., a large male had disappeared or newly joined the group. Therefore, the ability to undergo sex change in this species might evolve to maximize reproductive success in the harem polygyny, and corresponds well with the prediction of the size-advantage model.
In order to investigate the effect of different levels of cattle manure under drought stress on yield and yield components of German chamomile a field experiment was conducted as a split-plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments were included five levels of drought stress as irrigation after of (50 (S1), 80 (S2), 110 (S3), 140 (S4) and 170 (S5) mm evaporation from evaporation pan) as main plot and three levels of cattle manure (0 (V1), 5 (V2) and 10 ton ha-1 (V3)) as sub plot. The results indicated that the main effect of drought stress and cattle manure was significant on all measured characteristics. Also the interaction of drought stress and cattle manure was significant on plant height, biological yield, essential oil content and essential oil yield. The highest flower yield (277.61 kg ha-1) was achieved from treatments of 50 mm evaporation from evaporation pan (among the main effects of drought stress), while the highest flower yield (223.66 kg ha- 1) from treatments of 10 ton ha-1 among the cattle manure levels. Also the most essential oil content (0.945%) was observed at the interaction of 10 ton ha-1 cattle manure and 170 mm evaporation from evaporation pan. Based on the above, using of cattle manure under drought stress led to improving of morphological and phytochemical characteristics of chamomile.
Earthworms', the natural creature and unsung heroes of soil have gained much of the scientific attention throughout the world including India to maintain fertility of soil and dietary protein source for domestic animals. Earthworms play an important role in soil ecology and are well recognized as engineers of soil. They occupy a vital position in soil food-webs. Aristotle called them intestines of the earth and considered as important biological resources that have tremendous potential in agricultural ecosystems as they remarkably influences physical structure as well organic matter composition of the soil. Of globally estimated 6500 species of earthworms, only 3500 species are discovered and described. Indian subcontinent has got a massive fauna of Oligochaete, (earthworms) which are represented by 505 species and 67 genera. Molecular markers such as Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), and Simple Sequence (SSR) have proved to be worthy and important in assessing genetic diversity.Recently DNA barcoding has exposed unexpected number of species that were often impossible to be isolated on morphological basis. The present study reviewed the diversity of earthworms with integrated approach of taxonomy including molecular markers.
The present investigations are designed to understand the applicability of chitin derived from the waste shells of a marine shrimp, Penaeus monodon as a supplement in the medium formulation in mobilizing cell biomass for biotransformation of benzaldehyde to L-Phenyl Acetyl Carbinol (L-PAC). The yeast strain Saccharomyces cerevesiae ATCC-MYA 143 (CDRL, Lucknow) was employed for the production of L-PAC using shake flask fermentation. The results depict that in the presence of Molasses, Urea and Chitin (MUC), the yeast cells attained a concentration of 145 × 106/ml or 14.5 g.l–1 at pH 5.2. The addition of chitin to the media composition (Molasses and urea) in the presence of benzaldehyde clearly indicated that MUC appears to have a definite influence on the yield of L-PAC production.
The size of the amplified product of Clinostomum schizothoraxi was found 544 bp long and the sequence obtained was submitted to GenBank and their accession number acquired was AF973619. This species also showed 47% G+C content which reflects that they are also stable at high temperature. Specimens of Clinostomum schizothoraxi was found in fish hosts of Carassius carassius, Schizothorax niger, S. esocinus, S. curvifrons and S. plagiostomus as is evident from the NJ phylogenetic tree, which means that there is some correlation between Monogenean and Digenean parasites as far as their hosts are concerned. Clinostomum schizothoraxi showed different chromosome number as well as chromosome morphology as compared to that of Monogeneans. It Possess 20 numbers of diploid chromosomes (2n= 20). First pair of chromosomes is metacentric; pairs 2 & 3 are submetacentric; pairs 4, 5 & 6 are subtelocentric and pairs 7, 8, 9 and 10 are acrocentric. The smallest chromosome measured 5.88 mu m and the largest 9.15 mu m. Number of chromosome arms (NF) are to be 26 in number; total haploid complement length (TCL) is 77.12 mu m. Arm ratio of the complement ranges between 1.51-18.31 and the centromeric index ranges from 5.18-39.88. The karyotype formulla (K) can been written as 2n=20=1m+2sm+3t+4a. This species has been studied for the first time with respect to molecular and chromosome analysis.
