Evaluation of maternal antibody levels for establishing the vaccination program against Newcastle disease in ostrich chicks

ABSTRACT Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is known as one of the most important endemic viral pathogen for various avian species such as ostrich, in Iran. Therefore, establishing a routine vaccination program against ND in ostrich flocks would be useful in order to reduce the danger of this infection. Newcastle disease occurs among the ostriches and leads to high rate of mortality while most of the losses are among the youngest ones. This experiment was designed to follow up the changes of maternal antibody in ostrich chicks during the first weeks of their life. At this point of view, 700 one day old ostrich chicks were monitored and every seven days interval 10 blood samples were taken regularly and the titers of maternal antibody in their sera were studied. The haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test was used to evaluate the amount of anti-ND antibody. After hatching this study followed up to 49 th day. Due to our findings, the day 30 is recommended as a proper time to start the vaccination program against ND in flocks of ostrich chicks with maternal antibody

The Effects of Mobile Phone Radiation on Serum Level of Cortisol and Anxiety in Male Rats

Abstract Introduction: Widespread use of cell phones is the most important risk factor f human health in the age of technology. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mobile phone radiation on serum level of cortisol and changes in anxiety level in male rats. Materials and Method: In this laboratory-experimental study, the male Wistar rats were divided into control and exposed to cell phone radiation for 1h, 3h, and 6h/day, groups . After 8 weeks, Elevated Plus Maze was used for anxiety evaluation. Blood samples also were obtained using cardiac puncture method and after serum preparation, levels of cortisol were measured using ELFA method. The data were statistically analyzed using SPSS software version 19. Results: The results indicated that serum level of cortisol significantly increased in rats exposed to cell phone radiation for 6h/day compare to control animals (P < 0.05). Also the results of the elevated plus maze test showed that the percentage of time spent in open arms significantly decreased in all experimental groups compared with control rats (P< 0.001). There was also significant decrease in the percentage of entries into open arms in all experimental groups compared to control group (P< 0.001). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the exposure to cell phone radiation results in enhanced anxiety level accompanied by increased serum level of cortisol

Occurrence of liver abscesses and identification of bacterial etiology in cattle carcasses of Tabriz abattoir

The aim of this survey was to determine the occurrence of liver abscesses and identification of associated bacterial etiology in cattle carcasses of Tabriz industrial abattoir. A total of 355 cattle carcasses were inspected for the presence of liver abscesses. In the case of liver abscess presence, some characteristics of the carcasses were recorded; such as cattle’s age, gender, pregnancy and also abscesses’ characteristics (i.e., number, size and location of abscesses on liver). Abscesses as whole, were sampled and kept cold until microbiological examinations. Microbial analysis was performed on samples and cultures were incubated at aerobic, anaerobic and microaerophilic atmospheres. From 355 cattle carcasses, liver abscess was found in 28 (7.8%). Among positive results, 22 (78.57%) of livers had only 1, while 6 (21.42%) had 2 or more abscesses. Fusobacterium necrophorum was isolated from 15 (53.57%) and Arcanobacterium pyogenes from 10 (35.71%) of abscesses. According to the results of this study, Fusobacterium necrophorum was found as the most frequent bacterial causative agent of cattle liver abscess in Tabriz industrial abattoir, while Arcanobacterium pyogenes was considered as the second most frequent agent

Evaluation of some hematological changes in canine heartworm infection (Dirofilaria immitis)

This study was conducted on 80, 3-5 year old mixed breed dogs suspected of dirofilariasis in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Islamic Azad University of Tabriz. The direct method and the modified knott’s method were used for diagnosis of the parasitic microfilaria. Hematologic parameters including white and red blood cell and platelet counts and the amounts of hemoglobin and hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), fibrinogen and protein were determined. This results of this study indicated that 20 of the 80 dogs examined were infected by Dirofilaria immitis microfilaria and the prevalence of dirofilariasis in this study was 25%. The mean levels of hematocrit, red blood cells and MCV in infected dogs were decreased significantly in comparison to the un-infected dogs and the mean levels of hemoglobin, MCH, MCHC and platelets did not show any significant differences. The mean levels of fibrinogen, protein, white blood cells and absolute and relative neutrophiles, eosinophiles, monocytes and basophiles were increased significantly and the mean levels of absolute and relative lymphocytes were decreased significantly in infected dogs compared to the healthy dogs

Punching behaviour of foam filled modular sandwich panels with high-density polyethylene skins

Tahmoorian, F ORCiD: 0000-0002-5158-2077Modular composite panels are being widely used for floors and roofs in prefabricated construction. Scissors shear and punching shear strength are two critical parameters for designing the sandwich panels under concentrated out of plane load. However, there are relatively few studies on scissors shear and punching shear strength of sandwich panels in literature in comparison with tensile strength and normal shear strength. In this paper, the scissor shear and punching behaviour of an innovative structural sandwich panel is investigated. The introduced system consists of a high-density polyurethane (PUR) foam core as well as two continuous layers of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) facings. Scissors shear strength and punching strength of these panels are studied through a creative experimental procedure. The scissors shear test is also simulated using non-linear finite element models and finally, the results are compared with each other. The results show that the first yield point of composite happens due to shear stress in foam. On the other hand, due to scissors shear, the foam is ruptured on two surfaces at about 45°. The scissors shear strength for the proposed panel, is determined to be 3.1 MPa, which is in good agreement with numerical results. In addition, the results revealed that using studliner skins can improve the scissors shear strength and punching shear strength of panels by about 34% and 22%, respectively

The effects of nicotine injection in rat nucleus accumbens on anxiety

Background: Previous reports showed that nucleus accumbens involved in the etiology and pathophysiology of major depression, anxiety and addiction. It is not clear that how these mechanisms occur in the brain. In the present study, the influence of direct nicotine injection in the nucleus accumbens in rats&rsquo; anxiety-related behavior was investigated. Methods: Wistar rats were used in this study. Male Wistar rats bred in an animal house, in a temperature-controlled (22&plusmn;2 ◦C) room with a 12 hour light/darkcycle. Rats were anesthetized using intraperitoneal injection of ketamine hydrochloride and xylazine, then placed in an stereotactic instrument for microinjection cannula implantation The stainless steel guide cannula was implanted bilaterally in the right and left dorsal the nucleus accumbens shell according to Paxinos and Watson atlas. After recovery, anxiety behavior and locomotor activity were tested. We used the elevated plus maze to test anxiety. This apparatus has widely been employed to test parameters of anxiety-related behaviors including the open armtime percentage (%OAT), open arm entries percentage (%OAE), locomotor activity and we record effect of drugs after injection directly in the nucleus accumbens on anxiety-related behavior.Results: Experiments showed that bilateral injections into the nucleus accumbens Nicotine, acetylcholine receptor agonist, dose 0.1 of the dose (0.05 and 0.1, 0.25, 0.5) microgram per rat caused a significant increase in the percentage of time spent in the open arms (%OAT), compared to the control group. We did not record any significant change locomotor activity and open arm entries percentage (%OAE) in rats.Conclusion: Nicotinic receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell involved to anxiety-like behavior in male rats

Behavior of integrated connections between adjacent foam-filled modular sandwich panels

Abstract Connections represent major challenges in the design of composite structures, mainly because they entail discontinuities in the geometry of the structure and material properties, and introduce high local stress concentrations. Despite some constructability complications, integrated connection could be a reliable solution. In this paper, the structural behaviour of an integrated connection for implementation between adjacent composite sandwich panels in rapid assembly buildings is studied. The integrated connection system consists of 3-D high density polyethylene (HDPE) skin faces, and cores of high-density polyurethane (PUR) foam integrated into the sandwich panels at the moment of their production. The study included experimental investigations regarding the mechanical and structural response of the connection under actual applied loads, and its torsional rigidity, rotational stiffness and behaviour under lateral loading is investigated. Using Finite Element modelling, the stress distribution and the mechanisms of failure are studied. The results show a good agreement between the numerical and experimental results