Resistance of Alkali Activated Water-Cooled Slag Geopolymer to Sulphate Attack

Ground granulated blast furnace slag is a finely ground, rapidly chilled aluminosilicate melt material that is separated from molten iron in the blast furnace as a by-product. Rapid cooling results in an amorphous or a glassy phase known as GGBFS or water cooled slag (WCS). Alkaline activation of latent hydraulic WCS by sodium hydroxide and/or sodium silicate in different ratios was studied. Curing was performed under 100 % relative humidity and at a temperature of 38°C. The results showed that mixing of both sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate in ratio of 3:3 wt.,% is the optimum one giving better mechanical as well as microstructural characteristics as compared with cement mortar that has various cement content (cement : sand were 1:3 and 1:2). Durability of the water cooled slag in 5 % MgSO4 as revealed by better microstructure and high resistivity-clarifying that activation by 3:3 sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate, respectively is better than using 2 and 6 % of sodium hydroxide

Sensitivity and specificity for African horse sickness antibodies detection using monovalent and polyvalent vaccine antigen-based dot blotting

Background and Aim: The immune responses of animals infected with African horse sickness (AHS) virus are determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), complement fixation, and virus neutralization test. During the outbreaks of AHS in Thailand, the immune response after vaccination has been monitored using commercial test kits such as blocking ELISA, which are expensive imported products unavailable commercially in Thailand. This study aimed to assess the sensitivity and specificity of anti-AHS virus antibodies using dot blotting based on monovalent and polyvalent strains of live attenuated AHS vaccine. Materials and Methods: A total of 186 horse sera, namely, 93 AHS-unvaccinated samples and 93 AHS-vaccinated samples, were used in this study. All sera underwent antibodies detection using commercial blocking ELISA and in-house dot blotting based on monovalent and polyvalent strains of live attenuated AHS vaccine. The numbers of true positive, false positive, true negative, and false negative results in the dot blotting were compared with those in blocking ELISA and the sensitivity and specificity of dot blotting were assessed. Results: For the monovalent antigen, there were 78, 19, 74, and 15 true positive, false positive, true negative, and false negative results, respectively, while for the polyvalent antigen, the corresponding numbers were 84, 34, 58, and 9. Meanwhile, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for monovalent antigen were 83.87% and 79.57%, respectively, but 90.32% and 62.37% for polyvalent antigen. Conclusion: Dot blotting for AHS antibodies detection using vaccine antigen showed high sensitivity and rather a high specificity compared with the findings with the commercial ELISA test kit. In countries where commercial ELISA test kits are not available and when the size of a serum sample is small, dot blotting could become a good alternative test given its advantages, including its simplicity, rapidity, and convenience. To the best of our knowledge, these findings are the first report on the use of dot blotting for detecting AHS antibodies in horses. In conclusion, monovalent antigen-based dot blotting could be used as a reliable alternative serodiagnostic test for monitoring AHS humoral immune response, especially in vaccinated horses

Longitudinal humoral immune response and maternal immunity in horses after a single live-attenuated vaccination against African horse sickness during the disease outbreak in Thailand

Background and Aim: African horse sickness (AHS) has become a newly emerging disease after an outbreak in northeastern Thailand in March 2020. Mass vaccination in horses with live-attenuated AHS virus (AHSV) vaccine is essential for AHS control and prevention. This study aimed to monitor the longitudinal humoral immune response before and after a single vaccination using a live-attenuated vaccine against AHS in stallions, mares, and pregnant mares, including maternal immunity in foals born from pregnant mares during the outbreak in Thailand. Materials and Methods: A total of 13 stallions and 23 non-pregnant and 21 pregnant mares were vaccinated with live-attenuated AHSV vaccines. Serum samples from selected horses were collected on the day of vaccination and 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 12-months post-vaccination. Furthermore, seven serum samples of foals born from vaccinated pregnant mares were collected on parturition date and 1, 3, and 6-months old. The antibody titer against AHS in all collected serum samples was evaluated using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. All data were analyzed for mean and standard deviation for each group of samples using a spreadsheet program. Antibody titers between times were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance as repeated measurement, and antibody titers between horse groups were analyzed using a general linear model for statistically significant differences when p < 0.05. Results: In stallion and non-pregnant mare groups, there were no statistically significant differences in antibody titers in all 6 time periods after vaccination. The antibody titer in the pregnant mare group showed a non-statistically significant difference between each gestation stage, except at 8 months post-vaccination. Furthermore, increasing antibody titers on days 1 and 3 after receiving colostrum in foals indicate the major role of transcolostral antibody transfer for AHS. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that a single AHS vaccination using a live-attenuated vaccine could stimulate high antibody titers sufficient for AHS control and prevention during the outbreak in Thailand. Similarly, the antibody response of vaccinated horses of both genders, including various stages of pregnant mares, was statistically not different

Drinking Water Quality of Selected Tap Water Samples in Cagayan de Oro (District II), Philippines

This study was conducted to preliminarily determine present drinking water quality of selected District II communities in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines. Five community stations (total twenty stations) were established covering three months tap water monitoring. All samples were analyzed using portable meters determining the pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), temperature, conductivity, salinity, turbidity, and total dissolved solids (TDS) Overall, all studied tap water samples from selected stations passed the drinking water regulations except for conductivity (Risk quotient&gt;1). Similarly, both pH and turbidity analyses showed a sampling date specific variations (p&lt;0.05) while the analyses of temperature and salinity showed station specific variations (p&lt;0.05). A strong correlation of studied parameters was also found between conductivity-salinity (r = 0.98); conductivity-TDS (r = 0.90); and salinity-TDS (r = 0.92). Extrapolating from this it can be concluded that the tap water samples were safe to drink. The study was preliminary and further analyses incorporating metals, pathogens, and organics may be needed

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Not AvailableObjective: To assess the effect of foot and mouth disease (FMD) vaccination on seminal and biochemical profiles of semen of mithun at pre and post vaccinated stage. Methods: The breeding bulls were maintained at Semen Collection Centre, National Research Centre on Mithun, Jharnapani, Nagaland. A total of 160 ejaculates were collected from eight mithun bulls twice a week at about 4 weeks in pre vaccinated stage and 12 weeks post vaccinated stage to know the effect of vaccine stress on seminal and biochemical profiles of mithun semen. The vaccine was given at the end of the 4th week of experimental period and semen was collected and evaluated upto the 16th weeks of experimental period. Result: It revealed that FMD vaccination affected the sperm functional and biochemical parameters significantly (P<0.05) upto 10th weeks of vaccination. But the animal recovered slowly in both physical health and spermiogram. Conclusion: The adverse effect of vaccination on seminal parameters suggest that the semen collection and preservation should be suspended till 10th week of vaccination using such semen in this precious species.Not Availabl