CORRELATION BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL SPERM ASSAY PARAMETERS OF FREEZABLE AND NON-FREEZABLE BULL SEMEN

This study investigated correlation between various semen quality parameters for freezable and non-freezable ejaculates. Work was conducted at Livestock Development Board Sperm Station Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India on semen from six Jersey and two H.F x Sahiwal crossbred bulls. Total 64 ejaculates (8 per bull), were analyzed at four stages of semen processing i.e., post dilution, post equilibration, post thaw and 1hr post thaw incubation at 37ºC for progressive motility, livability, reaction to hypo-osmotic solution, acrosomal integrity and gross morphological abnormalities. Based on these parameters ejaculates were classified into freezable (n=49) and non-freezable (n=15). The percentages mean (±SE) values of each parameter were recorded at post dilution, post equilibration, post thaw and 1hr post thaw incubation for freezable and non-freezable ejaculates, respectively; live sperm (85.16±0.70, 80.51±0.76, 67.92±1.30, 53.33±1.56 vs. 80.80±1.97, 71.87±2.41 56.87±2.50, 42.13±2.17); progressive motility (80.31±0.72, 74.45±0.86, 57.33±1.76, 38.78±1.55 vs. 58.87±4.21, 53.20±4.42, 36.07±2.43, 24.27±1.90); HOST (78.51±1.00, 72.27±1.10, 60.00±1.60, 45.29±1.51 vs. 73.93±2.43, 64.00±2.81, 49.00±2.91, 37.40±1.89), intact acrosome (84.84±0.87, 78.82±1.03, 67.39±1.37, 54.12±1.38 vs. 87.60±1.45, 78.07±1.06, 66.40±2.90, 55.27±3.42) and morphological abnormalities (7.35±0.62, 7.61±0.59, 8.16±0.56, 9.14±0.63 vs. 9.27±1.18, 9.87±0.98, 10.00±1.00, 11.27±1.14). Statistical analysis of the data revealed that live sperm was positively correlated with motility (r= 0.94529, r= 0.77696, p<0.01), HOST (r= 0.88718, r= 0.90490, p<0.01), and intact acrosome (r= 0.61313, r= 0.65386, p<0.01) whereas, motility was negatively correlated with morphological abnormalities (r= -0.29514, r= -0.02852, p<0.01) in both freezable and non-freezable ejaculates, respectively.RESUMENEste estudio investigó la correlación entre varios parámetros de calidad espermática en eyaculados congelables y no congelables. El trabajo se llevó a cabo en Livestock Development Board Sperm Station Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India, con el semen de seis toros Jersey y dos mestizos H.F. x Sahiwal. Se analizaron un total de 64 eyaculados (8 por toro) en cuatro etapas de procesamiento del semen, es decir, post dilución, post-equilibrio, post-descongelación y 1hr después de la descongelación a 37ºC, para detectar motilidad progresiva, viabilidad, reacción a una solución hipoosmótica, integridad acrosomal y anormalidades morfológicas. En base a estos parámetros, los eyaculados se clasificaron en congelables (n = 49) y no congelables (n = 15). Los porcentajes medios (± SE) de cada parámetro en post-dilución, post-equilibración, post-descongelación y 1hr post-descongelación para los eyaculados congelables y no congelables, respectivamente, fueron los siguientes: espermatozoides vivos (85,16±0,70; 80,51±0,76; 67,92±1,30; y 53,33±1,56 vs. 80,80±1,97; 71,87±2,41 56,87 ± 2,50, 42,13 ± 2,17); motilidad progresiva (80,31 ± 0,72, 74,45 ± 0,86, 57,33 ± 1,76, 38,78 ± 1,55 vs. 58,87 ± 4,21, 53,20 ± 4,42, 36,07 ± 2,43, 24,27 ± 1,90); HOST (78,51 ± 1,00, 72,27 ± 1,10, 60,00 ± 1,60, 45,29 ± 1,51 vs. 73,93 ± 64,74, 64,00 ± 2,81, 49,00 ± 2,91, 37,40 ± 1,89), acrosoma intacto (84,84 ± 0,87, 78,82 ± 1,13, 67,39 ± 1,37 , 54,12 ± 1,38 vs. 87,60 ± 1,45, 78,07 ± 1,06, 66,40 ± 2,90, 55,27 ± 3,42) y anomalías morfológicas (7,35 ± 0,62, 7,61 ± 0,59, 8,16 ± 0,56, 9,14 ± 0,63 vs. 9,27 ± 1,18, 9,87 ± 0,98 , 10,00 ± 1,00, 11,27 ± 1,14). El análisis estadístico de los datos reveló que el porcentaje de espermatozoides vivo se correlaciono positivamente con la motilidad correlaciones positivas y negativas significativas (p<0,01) entre varios parámetros de calidad espermática. EL porcentaje de espermatozoides vivos tuvo una correlación positiva con la motilidad (r= 0,94529, r= 0,77696, p<0,01), HOST (r= 0,88718, r= 0,90490, p<0,01), y con el porcentaje de acrosomas intactos (r= 0,61313, r= 0,65386, p<0,01); mientras que la motilidad se correlacionó negativamente con las anormalidades morfológicas (r= -0,29514, r= -0,02852, p<0.01), tanto en los eyaculados congelables como no congelables, respectivamente

EFFECT OF CRYOPRESERVATION ON ACROSOMAL INTEGRITY IN JERSEY BULLS / EFECTO DE LA CRIOPRESERVACIÓN SOBRE LA INTEGRIDAD ACROSOMAL EN TOROS JERSEY

A study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of cryopreservation on acrosomal abnormalities in Jersey bulls. Eight Jersey bull were maintained at Livestock Development Board, Sperm Station Palampur Himachal Pradesh, India. Total 64 ejaculates were evaluated using Giemsa stained semen smears at four stages of cryopreservation process: post-dilution, post-equilibration, post thaw, 1hr post-thaw incubation. Acrosomal abnormalities were assessed and classified into swollen, ruffled, abnormal contour and detached acrosome. Results revealed highly significant difference (p<0.001) in the total acrosomal abnormalities among the four stages of semen processing and an increases of 30.51 points was observed from post-dilution stage to 1hr post-thaw. Ruffled acrosome (7.11±0.5) and detached acrosome (10.55±0.95) were the acrosomal abnormalities with highest proportions at post-dilution and post equilibration respectively, whereas detached acrosome was the abnormalities with highest proportions at post-thaw stage (14.99±0.95) and 1 hour post-thaw incubation (22.35±1.04). In conclusion, the high proportion of acrosomal abnormalities in the ejaculates of the Jersey bulls may be due to impaired spermiogenesis; cryopreservation affect acrosomal integrity, by which can compromise semen fertility. Further studies on new cryopreservation protocols that guarantee acrosomal integrity are necessary in Jersey bulls. RESUMENEste estudio se desarrolló para evaluar el efecto de la criopreservación sobre las anormalidades acrosomales en toros Jersey. Para ello se utilizaron ocho toros Jersey pertenecientes al Livestock Development Board, Sperm Station Palampur Himachal Pradesh, India. Un total de 64 eyaculados fueron evaluados usando la coloración de Giemsa en cuatro fases del proceso de criopreservación: post-dilución, post-equilibrio, post-descongelado, 1 hora post-descongelado. Las anormalidades acrosomales se evaluaron y clasificaron dentro de acrosoma hinchado, acrosoma rizado, acrosoma con contorno anormal y acrosoma desprendido. Los resultados mostraron diferencias altamente significativas en el total de anormalidades entre las cuatro fases de procesamiento  y un incremento de 30.51 puntos fue observado desde la fase de post-dilución a 1 hora post-descongelado. Los acrosomas rizados (7.11±0.5) y acrosomas desprendidos (10.55±0.95) fueron la anormalidades con mayores proporciones en la fase post-dilución y post-equilibrio, respectivamente, mientras que los acrosomas desprendidos fue la anormalidad más frecuente en la fase post-descongelado ((14.99±0.95) y 1 hora post-descongelado (22.35±1.04). En conclusión, la alta proporción de anormalidades acrosomales en los eyaculados de toros Jersey puede ser debido a fallas en la espermiogénesis; la criopreservación afecta la integridad acrosomal, por lo cual puede comprometer la fertilidad del semen. Más estudios sobre protocolos de criopreservación que garanticen la integridad acrosomal son necesarios en toros de raza Jersey. 

THE MAGIC OF AYURVEDA IN DENTISTRY: A REVIEW

Ayurveda is about 3000 years old and is increasingly becoming popular. It is a holistic treatment modality which has been successfully used to cure various oral and systemic diseases. The role of Ayurveda and its beneficial effects have also been extensively seen in the maintenance of oral health. Numerous Ayurvedic herbs have been listed in different manuscripts along with their beneficial effects. The present review focuses on various Ayurvedic herbs used in dentistry with their promising effects on oral cavity i.e., strengthening the gingival and periodontal health, preventing tooth decay, eliminating halitosis and in management of various oral mucosal lesions. The numerous beneficial effects of these phytochemicals have been listed in detail. However, many of these Ayurvedic herbs are still under study and their beneficial roles are yet to be stated

Harford County Tour Recommendation

Final project for INFM736: Information Management Capstone (Fall 2018). University of Maryland, College Park.Visit Harford — Harford County, Maryland’s destination marketing organization — would like to improve its Visitor Tour Planning Application to enhance the touring experience for people visiting the county. The current application shows each point of interest individually and lacks an integrated way to show visitor’s a tour of all the points of interest (museums, breweries, and monuments). As a result, visitors have to find and map every point of interest one by one. To improve this experience, this project aims to attract tourists to the county and make them aware of the various activities happening in the county. The county envisions a web and mobile-based user application that will provide visitors with tour recommendations based on sites’ locations and business hours, and the visitor’s time preference. This tool will benefit visitors by providing intelligent tour recommendations for visiting points of interest based on location, time preferences, and selected categories (landmark, art, sports, lodging, etc.). The visitors will have the freedom to seamlessly plan personalized tours based on the categories they select and without switching back and forth between details of each point of interest. To achieve this, data from GIS class—points of interest (POI), address, category (landmark, art, sports, lodging, etc.), contact, business hours, descriptions, and geocoding details (mainly longitude and latitude information)—of the various attractions will be made available to the app development team, which will then use it to map tours using either Google Maps or other openly available mapping application programming interfaces (APIs).Harford Count

SUCCESSFUL VAGINAL DELIVERY OF MUMMIFIED FOETUS IN A CROSS BRED COW: A CASE REPORT

The present case report was aimed at the successful clinical management of mummification in a primiparous Jersey cross-bred cow that was successfully delivered per vaginum following use of PGF2 α synthetic analogue, Valethamate Bromide and Diethylstilbestrol followed by hot fomentation of anterior vagina

Identification of vaccine targets & design of vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus using computational and deep learning-based approaches

An unusual pneumonia infection, named COVID-19, was reported on December 2019 in China. It was reported to be caused by a novel coronavirus which has infected approximately 220 million people worldwide with a death toll of 4.5 million as of September 2021. This study is focused on finding potential vaccine candidates and designing an in-silico subunit multi-epitope vaccine candidates using a unique computational pipeline, integrating reverse vaccinology, molecular docking and simulation methods. A protein named spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 with the GenBank ID QHD43416.1 was shortlisted as a potential vaccine candidate and was examined for presence of B-cell and T-cell epitopes. We also investigated antigenicity and interaction with distinct polymorphic alleles of the epitopes. High ranking epitopes such as DLCFTNVY (B cell epitope), KIADYNKL (MHC Class-I) and VKNKCVNFN (MHC class-II) were shortlisted for subsequent analysis. Digestion analysis verified the safety and stability of the shortlisted peptides. Docking study reported a strong binding of proposed peptides with HLA-A*02 and HLA-B7 alleles. We used standard methods to construct vaccine model and this construct was evaluated further for its antigenicity, physicochemical properties, 2D and 3D structure prediction and validation. Further, molecular docking followed by molecular dynamics simulation was performed to evaluate the binding affinity and stability of TLR-4 and vaccine complex. Finally, the vaccine construct was reverse transcribed and adapted for E. coli strain K 12 prior to the insertion within the pET-28-a (+) vector for determining translational and microbial expression followed by conservancy analysis. Also, six multi-epitope subunit vaccines were constructed using different strategies containing immunogenic epitopes, appropriate adjuvants and linker sequences. We propose that our vaccine constructs can be used for downstream investigations using in-vitro and in-vivo studies to design effective and safe vaccine against different strains of COVID-19

PYOMETRA IN A JERSEY CROSSBRED COW - DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

The present report focuses on the diagnosis of pyometra and salpingitis by the use of transrectal ultrasonography and its successful treatment with administration of PGF2 α at 72 hr intervals

EphH, a unique epoxide hydrolase encoded by Rv3338 is involved in the survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis under in vitro stress and vacuolar pH-induced changes

IntroductionMycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), one of the deadliest human pathogen, has evolved with different strategies of survival inside the host, leading to a chronic state of infection. Phagosomally residing Mtb encounters a variety of stresses, including increasing acidic pH. To better understand the host-pathogen interaction, it is imperative to identify the role of various genes involved in the survivability of Mtb during acidic pH environment.MethodsBio-informatic and enzymatic analysis were used to identify Mtb gene, Rv3338, as epoxide hydrolase. Subsequently, CRISPRi knockdown strategy was used to decipher its role for Mtb survival during acidic stress, nutrient starvation and inside macrophages. Confocal microscopy was used to analyse its role in subverting phagosomal acidification within macrophage.ResultsThe present work describes the characterization of Rv3338 which was previously known to be associated with the aprABC locus induced while encountering acidic stress within the macrophage. Bio-informatic analysis demonstrated its similarity to epoxide hydrolase, which was confirmed by enzymatic assays, thus, renamed EphH. Subsequently, we have deciphered its indispensable role for Mtb in protection from acidic stress by using the CRISPRi knockdown strategy. Our data demonstrated the pH dependent role of EphH for the survival of Mtb during nutrient starvation and in conferring resistance against elevated endogenous ROS levels during stress environment.ConclusionTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an EH of Mtb as a crucial protein for bacterial fitness inside the host, a phenomenon central to its pathogenesis