Technology-enhanced learning in Asia: new educational possibilities for the tomorrow's doctors and tomorrow's cures

Ye

Haematological and biochemical observations in four pure breeds of rabbits and their crosses under Egyptian environmental conditions

The present study was conducted to evaluate 16 crosses between 4 breeds of rabbits from a physiological point of view. The breeds tested were Baladi Red (BR), Chinchilla Giganta (ChG), French Giant Papillon (FGP) and Simenwar (S). A total number of 6144 blood samples were collected to detect the effect of crossing, age of kits, month of kindling and sex effects. The traits evaluated were: haematological parameters; red blood cell count (RBCs), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), haematocrit value (Ht%), biochemical parameters of plasma; total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), globulin concentration (Glo), albumin/globulin ratio (Alb/Glo) and triglycerides (TG). BR or its crosses, using BR sires or BR dams, showed the highest value of RBCs, Hb and Ht%. Crossbred rabbits obtained from mating BR and FGP rabbits had the highest Glo values. Rabbits which were born in May-June months had the highest values of TP and its fractions (Alb and Glo). Age of kits had a highly significant effect (P<0.001) on RBCs, Hb, Ht%, TP and TG. Moreover, Glo and Alb/Glo ratio (P<0.01) and Alb (P<0.05) were also significantly affected. Sex had no significant effect on all studied parameters. Significant positive correlations were found between TP and each final body weight, total weight gain, total feed intake, carcass weight and dressing percentage, while significant negative correlation was found with feed conversion.Abdel-Azeem, A.; Abdel-Azim, A.; Darwish, A.; Omar, E. (2010). Haematological and biochemical observations in four pure breeds of rabbits and their crosses under Egyptian environmental conditions. World Rabbit Science. 18(2). doi:10.4995/WRS.2010.18.1318

Optimisation of stocking density of Thai silver barb (Barbodes gonionotus Bleeker) in the duckweed-fed four species polyculture system

The optimisation of stocking density of Thai silver barb (Barbodes gonionotus) in the polyculture with Labeo rohita, Catla cat/a and Cyprinus cmpio was investigated in seasonal ponds. Three different stocking densities of Thai silver barb i.e., 5,000, 6,000 and 7,000 fingerlings ha-1 were tested with stocking density of carps fixed at the rate of 10,000 fingerlings ha-1 Duckweed was applied to all ponds supplemented with rice bran and oil cake. There were no significant variations on either water quality parameters or abundance of planktonic organisms due to the different stocking densities of silver barb. A significantly higher fish production (p<O.OS) was recorded in the ponds in which medium stocking density of Thai silver barb was maintained

Prognostic significance of ploidy and S-phase fraction in primary intraoral squamous cell carcinoma and their corresponding metastatic lymph nodes

AbstractBackgroundDespite improvements in diagnosis and therapy of oral and oro-pharyngeal carcinomas during the past 30years the 5-year disease-free survival is still poor. Patient’s prognosis is affected by cervical lymph node metastasis rather than primary tumors. The DNA ploidy and S-phase fraction (SPF) are associated with tumor aggressiveness and patient outcome in many solid tumors.PurposeAnalysis of DNA ploidy and SPF in primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and corresponding node metastasis as prognostic markers in relation to conventional prognostic factors and disease-free survival (DFS).MethodsPloidy status and SPF (mean value) of 37 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) primary OSCC tumors and their corresponding lymph node metastasis were assessed by flow cytometry (FCM) and correlated with clinicopathologic prognostic parameters and DFS.ResultsMost of OSCC tumors (86.5%) were Grade II. Among primary OSCC the incidence of aneuploidy was 19%, 51.4% showed high SPF (>10.62%) and 48.6% had low SPF (<10.62%). Border line significance (P=0.10) was detected between ploidy status and SPF in primary tumors. In lymph node metastases all tumors were diploid, 78.4% of metastatic tumors revealed low SPF and only 21.6% showed high SPF. There was a statistically significant correlation (p=0.02) between site of tumors and DFS and a highly statistically significant correlation (p=0.01) between SPF of primary tumors and DFS.ConclusionsHigh SPF of primary OSCC tumors assessed by FCM was significantly associated with decreased disease free survival rates. DNA ploidy showed no relationship to bad prognostic indicators in either primary OSCC or their metastatic tumors

The effects of artificial substrates on freshwater pond productivity and water quality and the implications for periphyton-based aquaculture

As a first step in assessing the viability of periphyton-based fish production in South Asian pond aquaculture systems, the effects of artificial substrates on development of periphyton and on water quality were evaluated. Earthen ponds (10 x 7.5 m) were provided with an artificial substrate constructed from poles of either bamboo, kanchi or hizol tree branches (1.0 m2 artificial substrate per m2 pond surface). Higher periphyton biomass, in terms of dry matter (DM) (4.9 mg cm–2) and chlorophyll a (11.5 g cm–2) developed on hizol and bamboo, respectively. Periphyton ash content was higher on hizol (41€than on the other two substrate types (29Ž Protein content of the periphyton growing on bamboo (38 f ash-free dry matter (AFDM)) was 50 igher than that on the other two substrate types. Maximum periphyton productivities of 1.01, 1.38 and 1.03 g C m–2 d–1 were obtained for bamboo, hizol and kanchi substrates, respectively. Taxonomic composition of periphyton showed a rapid development of a relatively stable community with few differences between the substrate types. In total, 56 genera of algal periphyton and 35 genera of phytoplankton were identified. Based on a periphyton productivity estimate of 2.2–2.8 g AFDM m–2 d–1, periphyton alone can sustain an estimated fish production of 5000 kg ha–1 year–1 through the addition of a substrate area equivalent to 100 f the pond surface area

Ingestion and utilization of periphyton grown on artificial substrates by Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus L.

The study was carried out to quantify the periphyton biomass developed on glass substrates over time, to investigate the effects of periphyton quantity and fish size on the ingestion rate by fish, and to determine the feed conversion ratio (FCR) of periphyton by tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. Periphyton was grown in two fertilised 1000-l tanks on glass slides and monitored as dry matter (g), ash-free dry matter (g) and chlorophyll a concentrations (mg) per unit surface area (m2) over a six week period. Ingestion rate was determined for two sizes of tilapia (7 and 24 g) which were provided with four different periphyton densities. Determination of FCR was made after feeding three individual fish ad libitum with periphyton for two weeks. Periphyton ash-free dry matter increased sharply during the first half of the trial with a peak being recorded at week 3 (75.5 g m-2). Productivity was 2.4 g ash-free dry matter m-2 d-1 during the first three weeks. Mean chlorophyll a concentration showed a cyclic pattern throughout the study with the lowest value being measured during the last week. Ingestion rates were 0.90 and 0.18 mg dry matter g fish body weight-1 h-1 for small and medium fish respectively. Ingestion rate among small fish increased significantly (P <0.05) with periphyton density, but not for medium size fish. Although periphyton ash content was high (55% dry matter), fish growth was sustained. Fish harvested 70% of total periphyton dry matter that was offered to them. The FCR for periphyton was 2.81 on a dry matter basis and 1.34 on an ash-free dry matter basis