Perinatal testicular torsion: literature review and local experience

Introduction Perinatal testicular torsion includes intrauterine testicular torsion (IUTT) and postnatal testicular torsion (PTT). IUTT includes cases of vanished testis and testicular mass presenting at birth. Controversies exist regarding the need for urgent exploration and contralateral orchiopexy. The aim of this study is to review our local experience in the management of these cases.Patients and methods From May 2000 to May 2010, all files of patients with perinatal testicular torsion and operated cases of undescended testes (UDT) were reviewed retrospectively.Results Seven patients presented with a unilateral nonacute testicular mass at birth. Six of these patients required elective inguinal exploration and orchiectomy, whereas one was treated conservatively. All patients underwent urgent radiological investigations. None of the cases had synchronous or asynchronous contralateral involvement. Two patients with PTT presented acutely and required immediate bilateral scrotal exploration and testicular fixation without preoperative radiological investigations. Of 450 patients with UDT, there were 13 vanished testes (2.9%). Thirteen patients with torsion of the undescended testes (TUDT) presented acutely and required immediate inguinal exploration. Most of the TUDT cases (85%) presented between 5 weeks and 6 months. None of them could be saved.Conclusion Patients with IUTT did not present acutely, whereas patients with PTT presented acutely and required immediate bilateral scrotal exploration and fixation. The prognosis in TUDT is guarded and contralateral fixation was not practiced, except in a 5-week-old infant. Early orchiopexy at 3–6 months is recommended. Cooperation between surgeons, neonatologists, and parents is mandatory to avoid time delay. Keywords: intrauterine testicular torsion, postnatal testicular torsion, torsion of undescended testi

Accumulation of poly(A) RNA in nuclear granules enriched in Sam68 in motor neurons from the SMNA7 mouse model of SMA

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a severe motor neuron (MN) disease caused by the deletion or mutation of the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene, which results in reduced levels of the SMN protein and the selective degeneration of lower MNs. The best-known function of SMN is the biogenesis of spliceosomal snRNPs, the major components of the pre-mRNA splicing machinery. Therefore, SMN deficiency in SMA leads to widespread splicing abnormalities. We used the SMN?7 mouse model of SMA to investigate the cellular reorganization of polyadenylated mRNAs associated with the splicing dysfunction in MNs. We demonstrate that SMN deficiency induced the abnormal nuclear accumulation in euchromatin domains of poly(A) RNA granules (PARGs) enriched in the splicing regulator Sam68. However, these granules lacked other RNA-binding proteins, such as TDP43, PABPN1, hnRNPA12B, REF and Y14, which are essential for mRNA processing and nuclear export. These effects were accompanied by changes in the alternative splicing of the Sam68-dependent Bcl-x and Nrnx1 genes, as well as changes in the relative accumulation of the intron-containing Chat, Chodl, Myh9 and Myh14 mRNAs, which are all important for MN functions. PARG-containing MNs were observed at presymptomatic SMA stage, increasing their number during the symptomatic stage. Moreover, the massive accumulations of poly(A) RNA granules in MNs was accompanied by the cytoplasmic depletion of polyadenylated mRNAs for their translation. We suggest that the SMN-dependent abnormal accumulation of polyadenylated mRNAs and Sam68 in PARGs reflects a severe dysfunction of both mRNA processing and translation, which could contribute to SMA pathogenesis.This work was supported by grants from: “Dirección General de Investigación” of Spain (BFU2014-54754-P and SAF2015-70801-R, cofinanced by FEDER) and “Instituto de Investigación Marqués de Valdecilla-IDIVAL (NVAL17/22). Dr. Tapia is the recipient of a grant from SMA Europe and FundAME (Spain)

Investigation of myostatin and calpain 3 gene polymorphisms and their association with milk-production traits in Sfakia sheep

Context: Genetic selection based on genetic markers for economically important traits in Sfakia sheep. Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate variation in the ovine myostatin gene (MSTN) and calpain 3 gene (CAPN3), and their association with milk-production traits. Methods: Records for milk yield, milk fat content, protein content, lactose content, and non-fat solid content, pH and somatic-cell score (log), were obtained from 376 Sfakia ewes. Polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) analyses were used to detect variation in intron 1 of MSTN and exon 10 of CAPN3. General linear models were then used to test for associations between the variation in MSTN and CAPN3, and milk-production traits. Key results: The SSCP banding patterns for MSTN showed four variants (A1, A2, A3 and A4), which contained nine nucleotide sequence differences. Four SSCP banding patterns (C1, C2, C3 and C4) were observed for CAPN3 and these contained eight nucleotide-sequence differences. The MSTN variation was associated (P < 0.05) with variation in milk yield and non-fat milk solid content. Variation in CAPN3 was associated with milk yield (P < 0.001), fat content (P < 0.05) and lactose content (P < 0.05). Association analyses between the presence/absence of MSTN and CAPN3 variants and milk-production traits showed that a variant of MSTN that had previously between associated with muscle hypertrophy was associated with decreased milk yield (P < 0.05) and a lower non-fat milk solid content (P < 0.01). A CAPN3 variant that had previously been associated with increased sheep-carcass loin lean-meat yield was associated with a decreased milk yield (P < 0.01) and a decreased milk fat content (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results have provided an insight into the effects of variation in ovine MSTN and CAPN3 on milk-production traits in sheep. Implications: To preserve the dual-purpose characteristics of Sfakia sheep, breeding goals should take into account the possible antagonism between meat and milk traits

Study the Potential Use of Waste Water Grown Microalgae Biomass as Biofertilizer

Liquid wastewater streams that contain nitrogen must be treated before being discharged into the environment to prevent eutrophication. Already there are several existing conventional treatment technologies that can remove the nitrogen from the wastewater in combination of multiple processes. Depending on the processes involved, a fraction of nitrogen will be released to the atmosphere. On the contrary, there are several types of microalgae have the voracious demand of nitrogen and can assimilate waste bound nitrogen in a single step mostly as intrinsic proteins. Once the microalgae are separated from the water the minerals inside the microalgae cells remain available for plants and it can be used as fertilizer for the plants. Furthermore, removal of microalgal biomass from the wastewater at the end of the process may completely, or at least partially, treat the waste water minimizing the processes and cost of conventional treatment processes. Qatar's climate and non-arable land are ideal combinations for cultivating microalgae. The harvested microalgae can be dried and stored for future growth of fodder plants. On theory, every kg of microalgae biomass will require 1.73 kg of CO2. Some of the microalgae can also utilize specific organic carbon sources that are available in wastewater. However, the concentration of available organic carbon in the wastewater is not sufficient to support complete removal of nitrogen by microalgae. Hence, carbon dioxide must be supplied for complete and faster treatment. As the minerals will be utilized by the fodder plants, a fraction of the organic carbon associated with the microalgae biomass will be locked in the soil and thus increasing the soil's organic content. Therefore, successful application of wastewater grown microalgae biomass as biofertilizer can provide (1) a cost and energy effective wastewater treatment process, (2) nutrients (N, P and other minerals) recycling, (3) sustainable and environmental friendly agricultural application, and (4) carbon sequestration. Algal technology group of Qatar University is growing microalgae biomass in large scale open ponds. Mineral composition of a marine microalgae, Chlorocystis sp., biomass was characterized as 3.45? N, 0.22? P, 2.78? Ca, 0.39? Fe, 0.01? Cu and 0.02? Zn. Currently, this biomass is used to study its application as biofertilizer for the growth of sorghum plants. Soil was mixed with microalgae biomass and 5 kg of the soil mix was added in each pot. Three different microalgal biomass concentrations were applied in peat soil: 1.5 g/l, 3 g/l and 4.5 g/l. In another pot 3 g/kg NPK fertilizer was added while in another pot there was no inclusion of any fertilizer. Currently, each pot is irrigated with freshwater twice a week and the experiment will continue for two months. In parallel, Scenedesmous sp., a local fast growing freshwater microalgae, is currently being grown in wastewater collected from a small wastewater treatment plant, with an aim to be used as biofertilizer. The mineral composition of wastewater-grown Scenedesmous sp. will be determined and used as appropriate ratio for growing sorghum plants. Results obtained for different fertilizers (i.e., 1. NPK, 2. marine microalgae biomass, and 3. Wastewater grown microalgae biomass) will be compared in terms of plant growth, residual minerals in the soil.qscienc

Livestock associated epidemiological information profiling in New Sandwip Island (Jahajerchar) of the Meghna estuary, Noakhali using participatory disease searching tool

Objective: The present study was conducted in New Sandwip island (Jahajerchar) of the Meghna estuary, Noakhali to explore animal species are being reared, their disease status, and also to finding out the constraints and opportunitities for keeping livestock in the island. Materials: Considering local knowledge as an epidemiological intelligence, the livestock species and their disease profile as well as livestock keeping problems were assessed through two focus group discussion with informants&#146; interview using Participatory Disease Searching (PDS) tools. The interview was conducted predominantly using semi-structured questionnaire (SSI) and other participatory epidemiology(PE) tools such as simple ranking (SR), pair-wise ranking (PWR), proportional pilling (PP) and transect work (visualization) were applied with flexibility to collect information. Results: PDS tools identified sheep (69%) is the main livestock species followed by cattle (16%) and buffalo (15%) in the island. The Peste des Petits Ruminant (PPR) in sheep (90%), anthrax in cattle (52%) and Haemorrgic Septicemia (HS) in buffalo (59%) were confirmed as top important species-wise diseases via the study. This place is prospect for sheep and buffalo raising rather than cattle. Lack of of shelter (Khella) for keeping livestock during adverse climatic condition, no access of portable water along with inadequate veterinary health care facilities were recognized as constraints for livestock raising in this island. Conclusion: This place is potential for sheep and buffalo raising rather than cattle. The study has validated the significance of accepting participatory disease searching tool in order to capture voluntarily submitted epidemiological data towards establishing a cost effective, unique national disease surveillance system in Bangladesh. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2017; 4(3.000): 267-273

Investigation of animal anthrax outbreaks in the humananimal interface at risky districts of Bangladesh during 20162017

Objective: The objective of the study was to explore the outbreak situation in terms of animal, place, and time towards minimizing the risk of animal infection at the source in future and subsequent spillover in human in the endemic rural settings. Methodology: An outbreak investigation team from the Department of Livestock Services visited in each of the outbreak sites to explore the event towards strengthening the control program in the future. Meat samples of the infected slaughtered animals were collected to confirm the causal agent of the animal outbreak using polychrome methylene blue microscopic examination technique. Participatory epidemiology tool such as semi-structured interview had been used in these investigations to realize the knowledge and practices of local people/cattle keepers on anthrax control and prevention in animal and human as well. Results: All identified affected human cases had been confirmed as a history of contact with the animal carcasses or handling/processing with infected meat. The level of awareness at the community level was not satisfactory for the prevention and control of anthrax at the source and further spillover in human. The infected slaughtered animals found to be in non-vaccinated status during the outbreak investigation and uncontrolled animal movement is considered to be responsible for new outbreaks in a vaccinated zone where enforcement of veterinary legislation is inadequate. Conclusion: A comprehensive preparedness and response strategy is to be obligatory for prevention, control and respond on anthrax in Bangladesh. Maximum vaccination coverage in the animal, increase community awareness of animal and human anthrax are also demanded for transmission of anthrax from animal to human. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2018; 5(4.000): 397-404