Canine leishmaniosis and its relationship to human visceral leishmaniasis in Eastern Uzbekistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Namangan Region in the Pap District, located in Eastern Uzbekistan is the main focus of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Uzbekistan. In total, 28 cases of human VL were registered during 2006-2008 in this region. A study on the epidemiology of VL in this area was carried out in 2007-2008 in the villages of Chodak, Oltinkan, Gulistan and Chorkesar located at elevations of 900-1200 above sea level.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 162 dogs were tested for <it>Leishmania </it>infection. Blood was drawn for serology and PCR. When clinical signs of the disease were present, aspirates from lymph nodes and the spleen were taken. Forty-two dogs (25.9%) had clinical signs suggestive of VL and 51 (31.5%) were sero-positive. ITS-1 PCR was performed for 135 dogs using blood and tissue samples and 40 (29.6%) of them were PCR-positive. Leishmanial parasites were cultured from lymph node or spleen aspirates from 10 dogs.</p> <p>Eight <it>Leishmania </it>strains isolated from dogs were typed by multi-locus microsatellite typing (MLMT) and by multilocus enzyme electrophoretic analysis (MLEE), using a 15 enzyme system. These analyses revealed that the strains belong to the most common zymodeme of <it>L. infantum</it>, i.e., MON-1, and form a unique group when compared to MON-1 strains from other geographical regions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data obtained through this study confirm the existence of an active focus of VL in the Namangan region of Uzbekistan. The fact that <it>L. infantum </it>was the causative agent of canine infection with typical clinical signs, and also of human infection affecting only infants, suggests that a zoonotic form of VL similar in epidemiology to Mediterranean VL is present in Uzbekistan.</p

Investigating adverse effects of chronic dietary exposure to herbicide glyphosate on zootechnical characteristics and clinical, biochemical and immunological blood parameters in broiler chickens

Although the herbicide glyphosate is widely used globally and considered safe, more evidence of its adverse effects on animals and humans is accumulating. The present investigation was aimed at evaluating the impact of different glyphosate concentrations on zootechnical characteristics and clinical, biochemical and immunological blood parameters in Ross 308 broiler chickens. Four groups were employed, including untreated control and three experimental groups fed diets enriched with glyphosate at doses of 10, 20 and 100 ppm that conformed to 0.5, 1 and 5 maximum residue limits, respectively. The results showed that glyphosate is a stress factor triggering a multifaceted effect on important blood parameters (e.g., white blood cell and phagocytic counts), which was shown for the first time in the experiments involving productive meat-type poultry. It was first revealed that glyphosate-induced changes in blood parameters may be related to a negative impact on the zootechnical characteristics including the digestive tract organ development and body weight gain. The study findings suggested that exposure to glyphosate in the feedstuffs can adversely affect the physiological condition and productivity of broilers

Integration of higher, general, additional pedagogical education

The modern development of society requires a new system of education – "innovative training", which would form the trainees' ability to projective determination of the future, responsibility for it, faith in themselves and their professional abilities. The main legislative documents "The UNESCO IITE Educational Program for the training and professional development of teaching staff", "The Strategy of innovative Development of the Russian Federation until 2024", "The Law on Education in the Russian Federation", "The Concept of the development of additional education", Federal State educational standards, local regulations of various subjects of the Russian Federation in the field of higher, general and additional education raises the problem of integration of these education systems into the category of important state tasks and at the same time determines its relevance. The article is based on the materials of a research on the use of general and additional education resources in the training of future teachers conducted at Shadrinsk State Pedagogical University. Online questionnaires, interviewing students, solving pedagogical problem situations and modified methods of Ehlers T., Klyueva N.V., as well as methods of studying communicative and organizational abilities (COA-2) were used as diagnostic tools. The conducted research made it possible to design a system of training future teachers in the conditions of integration of higher, general and additional education, including components: setting and goal-setting, organizational-activity, performance-evaluation. During the conducted experiment, the effectiveness of pedagogical conditions in the implementation of this system was proved. The result of the work done is the development of a model for training a future teacher in the conditions of integration of higher, pedagogical and additional education systems, which can be implemented in the practice of pedagogical universities

Synthesis of BaSnO₃ as a Highly Dispersed Additive for the Preparation of Proton-Conducting Composites

The process of thermolysis of barium hydroxostannate BaSn(OH)6 as a precursor for preparing barium stannate BaSnO3 has been investigated using the method of differential thermal analysis. Thermal decomposition products of the precursor were characterized using X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, and scanning electron microscopy. It was shown that dehydration at nearly 270 °C resulted in the formation of an X-ray amorphous multiphase product, from which single-phase barium stannate crystallized at temperatures above 600 °C. The synthesized barium stannate was used as a functional additive to prepare composite proton electrolytes in the CsHSO4-BaSnO3 system. The structural and transport properties of the obtained system were investigated. It is shown that the highly conductive state of the salt is stabilized in a wide range of temperatures. High conductivity values of composite solid electrolytes in the medium temperature range create the possibility of their use as solid electrolyte membrane materials

Probiotics as an alternative to antibiotics in modulating the intestinal microbiota and performance of broiler chickens

Aims Gut bacteria play an important role in poultry nutrition and the immune defense system. Changes in the intestinal microbiome affect the physiological state, metabolism and innate im-munity of poultry. The present study aimed to characterize age-related changes in the gastrointestinal tract microflora in broiler chickens, depending on supplementation of the diet with the in-feed antibiotic Stafac® 110 and a Bacillus subtilis strain-based probiotic. Methods and results In this regard, a comprehensive analysis of the taxonomic structure of the microbial community in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of broiler chickens was carried out using a molecular genetic technique of the Terminal-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism analysis and taking into account age dynamics and feeding treatment. A beneficial effect on the microbiological composition and body weight of broilers was observed when using the antibiotic and probiotic in compound feeds. Different bacterial communities were revealed in the duodenum and cecum and their positive impact on broiler growth was established. The results obtained shed light on the formation of GIT microflora of broiler chickens during the growing period and its changes in response to the use of the antibiotic and the probiotic. Conclusions We suggest that the implementation of the tested in-feed antibiotic and probiotic can be beneficial in regulating the intestinal microflora microbiological processes in the GIT and improving the feeding efficiency and productivity of broiler chickens

Effect of a probiotic strain administration in different feeding phases on α- and β-diversity and gene expression of the rumen microbiome in lactating cows

In cows, there is a drastic metabolic stress caused by violations of the rumen microbiome composition during lactation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the α-and β-diversity of the rumen microbiome of lactating cows using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and gene expression assessed by qPCR, as well as evaluation of the corrective properties of a probiotic strain introduced into the rumen. The results showed that the addition of the probiotic to the diet contributed to an effective increase in the fat content of milk during the early lactation period (P ≤ 0.05). The NGS-based analysis of the rumen microbiome of the studied cows using the 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the Shannon and Chao1 indices of α-diversity of prokaryotic communities remained unchanged during various feeding phases, as well as due to the probiotic effects. In the early lactation period and under the probiotic’s impact, the number of representatives of the Clostridia_UCG-014 and Clostridiaceae families declined by 2.4 and 1.6 times, respectively (in Group 2 as compared to Group 1, P ≤ 0.05). Expression of the bacterial Ldh-L and ldhD genes was lower by 2.9 and 13.5 times, respectively (P ≤ 0.05), when adding the probiotic to the diet in the early lactation period

Analysis of changes in broiler microbiome biodiversity parameters due to intake of glyphosate and probiotic Bacillus sp. GL-8 using next generation sequencing

In recent years, there have been more data that the nonselective herbicide glyphosate (GLY) can negatively impact gut bacterial communities. The aim of our study was to investigate the composition of broiler caecal microbiome under chronic exposure to GLY and the introduction of a probiotic microorganism strain into the diet. 120 broilers were divided into three groups: Group 1 of control birds fed the basic diet (BD); Group 2 of experimental birds fed BD supplemented with GLY; and Group 3 of experimental birds fed BD supplemented with GLY and a probiotic strain of the microorganism Bacillus sp. GL-8. For analysis, we used the next-generation sequencing (NGS) technique. Due to the GLY administration, there was a trend of lowering the biodiversity of normal microflora representatives, along with intestinal colonization by undesirable forms of microorganisms. In particular, when adding GLY (Group 2), we observed a decreased number of Tepidimicrobium representatives (0.001 ±0.00006%) that ferment indigestible polysaccharides, while in Group 1 their content was greater (0.3 ± 0.02%; P ≤ 0.05). In Group 3 with probiotic, there was a lower number of Firmicutes (by 16.7%) and a rise in the number of Bacteroidetes (by 19.1%) as compared to Group 2 (P ≤ 0.05)

Bioactive Feed Additive for the Prevention of Clostridial Disease in High-Yielding Dairy Cattle

The purpose of this research is to develop and test a new approach to prevent clostridial disease in cattle, based on the use of a new compound biologically active feed additive (BFA). Some properties of the separate components of BFA are characterized. The research showed that a strain of the bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens159 has an expressed antagonism to toxin-producing strains of C. perfringens. When using the test strains of C. perfringens from the ATCC collection (13,124 as type A, 10,543 as type C, 12,916 as type F), the anticlostridial activity of the tested strains varied, with size range of 14.0 ± 0.95–15.0 ± 1.28 mm of delayed growth zones. The bactericidal properties of lauric acid and the sorption properties of diatomaceous earth, included in BFA, were confirmed. The experiment was conducted on Holstein cows at the beginning of lactation (control, C (n = 15) vs. experimental E48 (n = 15), E80 (n = 15) and E112 (n = 15), 48, 80 and 112 g/head/day BFA, respectively. All cows were vaccinated with “Coglavax” (vaccine against bovine and sheep clostridial disease, Ceva-Phylaxia VeterinaryBiologicals, Hungary), reinjected two weeks before the experiment. At the end of the experiment (3.5 months after the vaccination and 3 months after the start of BFA feeding according to the scheme of the experiment), the immune response in the control and Group E48 to C. perfringens β-toxin remained at the initial level, while the response in Group E80 and Group E112 became higher under the influence of BFA feeding. Cows fed BFA saw a guaranteed improvement in non-specific resistance. The increase in serum lysozyme concentration in cows of Groups E was 1.01–2.91 mkg/mL vs. control (p p p p p p p = 0.002). Serum TBA–AP/ CP ratio was directly related to TBA–AP (r = 0.87, p p = 0.03 vs. Control). Thus, feeding BFA to dairy cows was found to improve resistance, prevent toxicoses and increase milk production of cattle, which can serve as an additional strategy for bioprotection of cattle against infection