Polymorphic characterisation of gallinacin candidate genes and their molecular associations with growth and immunity traits in chickens

1.Four gallinacin (GAL) genes were assessed by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to characterise these genes in Fayoumi (F) and Rhode Island Red (R) breeds and their crosses of Rhode Island Red × Fayoumi (½R½F) and Fayoumi × Rhode Island Red (½F½R). 2.Genes examined were GAL2, GAL3, GAL4 and GAL5. The molecular associations between the SNPs of the gallinacin genes and body weight, caecal bacterial count and the serum antibody titres of IgA, IgG and IgM were determined. In the R breed, the frequency of TC genotype was higher than TT and CC genotypes for the GAL3 gene. The GG genotype frequency was higher than AA and AG genotypes for the GAL4 gene in the other genetic groups, and the CA genotype frequency was higher than CC and AA genotypes in crosses for the GAL5 gene. 3.In all populations, the frequency of the C allele was higher than the T allele for the GAL3 gene, the G allele was higher than the A allele for the GAL4 gene and the C allele was higher than the A allele for the GAL5 gene. The observed heterozygosity in R, ½R½F and ½F½R was 0.476, 0.375 and 0.158 for the GAL3 gene, 0.458, 0.615 and 0.250 for the GAL4 gene and 0.053, 0.792 and 0.739 for the GAL5 gene, while the expected heterozygosities were 0.490, 0.430 and 0.145 for the GAL3 gene, 0.430, 0.348 and 0.219 for the GAL4 gene and 0.229, 0.478 and 0.496 for the GAL5 gene, respectively. 4.On a molecular level, the genotype TT was significantly higher for body weight than TC and CC genotypes in the GAL3 gene. Birds with the GG genotype had a significantly lower Salmonella typhimurium count than birds with AA genotype in the GAL4 gene. Birds with the genotype AA had higher significant body weights than those with CC and CA genotypes in the GAL5 gene. 5.The results indicated that the GAL3, GAL4 and GAL5 genes are potential candidates for selection programmes to improve S. typhimurium resistance and body weight in chickens

Cage Culture in Iraq, Current Status & Potential: A Review

The present investigation aimed at discussing the present status of cage culture in Iraq and its future potential. Iraqi water resources can provide the basic requirements for successful fish culture in cages. Environmental conditions may maintain sustainable growth rate for 10 months at least. This has encouraged the investors and fish culturists to adopt such technique and make use of its advantages. Development of cage culture in Iraq has been reviewed from the early seventies till now. Fish production from cage culture was analyzed focusing upon recent developments in terms of fish consumption criteria and the per capita in Iraq. The floating cages culture system is considered now as the main culture system, because environmental conditions are suitable for cage culture more than the earthen ponds and recirculating systems. Cage culture industry relies on row materials that are locally available. They includes, frames, bridges, passage ways, nets, floating materials, feeders and wave breakers. Most of the cage units are locally manufactured from steel or wooden frame in square or rectangular shapes. Some circular and octahedral units are used in Kurdistan and Mosul. Researches on cage culture continued to optimize parameters such as stocking density, feeding and stocking sizes, stocking density of fish in the cages was fixed at 60-70 fish per m3 or 1500-2000 fish per cage of 1.5 x 4 x 4m using fish of 100 g in weight. Problems facing cage culture in Iraq are summarized by high prices of feeds, viral infection and other fish diseases, deterioration of water quality, the policy of importing fish from neighboring countries and lack of skills among farmers. Solutions for the above problems and recommendations for future development are discussed at the end of the article

Cage Culture in Iraq, Current Status & Potential: A Review

The present investigation aimed at discussing the present status of cage culture in Iraq and its future potential. Iraqi water resources can provide the basic requirements for successful fish culture in cages. Environmental conditions may maintain sustainable growth rate for 10 months at least. This has encouraged the investors and fish culturists to adopt such technique and make use of its advantages. Development of cage culture in Iraq has been reviewed from the early seventies till now. Fish production from cage culture was analyzed focusing upon recent developments in terms of fish consumption criteria and the per capita in Iraq. The floating cages culture system is considered now as the main culture system, because environmental conditions are suitable for cage culture more than the earthen ponds and recirculating systems. Cage culture industry relies on row materials that are locally available. They includes, frames, bridges, passage ways, nets, floating materials, feeders and wave breakers. Most of the cage units are locally manufactured from steel or wooden frame in square or rectangular shapes. Some circular and octahedral units are used in Kurdistan and Mosul. Researches on cage culture continued to optimize parameters such as stocking density, feeding and stocking sizes, stocking density of fish in the cages was fixed at 60-70 fish per m3 or 1500-2000 fish per cage of 1.5 x 4 x 4m using fish of 100 g in weight. Problems facing cage culture in Iraq are summarized by high prices of feeds, viral infection and other fish diseases, deterioration of water quality, the policy of importing fish from neighboring countries and lack of skills among farmers. Solutions for the above problems and recommendations for future development are discussed at the end of the article

A review on factors affecting drying process of pistachio and their impact on product’s quality.

This review is focusing on the parameters affecting the quality of pistachio during hot-air drying process. Accordingly, the various common existing processing methods are reviewed extensively using the current literature to investigate the latest developments in this regard. The findings revealed that both of the type of method used as well as the parameters controlling the drying rate, have different impacts on final product’s quality. The study concluded that the sun drying method has the best final quality as well as to lowest energy cost. This study provides a guide for the food technologist to the select the optimum method by which the best quality can be produced and minimum energy can be spent

Assessment of Some Mango Species by Fruit Characters and Fingerprint

Abstract: Six local mango accessions; Zebda, Zaghloul, Gemela, Ganofia, El-Madam and ElKobbaneia were collected from private farm in Sharkia Governorate. Physical and chemical characteristics of fruits study besides of molecular characterization (as total proteins). The data showed that El-Kobbaneia fruit had the biggest fruit also El-Madam produced the smallest one. The lowest fiber percentage was clear in Ganofia fruit followed by Zebda fruit as compared with all mango fruits under study. The highest fruit Juice percentage was shown in El-Kobbaneia fruit, while Ganofia fruit had the lowest one. Also, the lowest titrable acidity was clear in Ganofia fruit, but the highest one was detected in Zebda fruit. Meanwhile, the highest total sugar was clear in Gemela fruit. However, El-Madam fruit had the lowest VC. The highest total number of variable bands (seven) was existed in Zebda species while the lowest number was presented in Ganofia species (2 bands). The percentage of polymorphism in all mango species ranged between 16.7% in both EL-Kobbaneia and Gemela species to 29.2 % in Zebda species

Mass spectrometry imaging as an emerging tool for studying metabolism in human brain organoids

Human brain organoids are emerging models to study human brain development and pathology as they recapitulate the development and characteristics of major neural cell types, and enable manipulation through an in vitro system. Over the past decade, with the advent of spatial technologies, mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) has become a prominent tool for metabolic microscopy, providing label-free, non-targeted molecular and spatial distribution information of the metabolites within tissue, including lipids. This technology has never been used for studies of brain organoids and here, we set out to develop a standardized protocol for preparation and mass spectrometry imaging of human brain organoids. We present an optimized and validated sample preparation protocol, including sample fixation, optimal embedding solution, homogenous deposition of matrices, data acquisition and processing to maximize the molecular information derived from mass spectrometry imaging. We focus on lipids in organoids, as they play critical roles during cellular and brain development. Using high spatial and mass resolution in positive- and negative-ion modes, we detected 260 lipids in the organoids. Seven of them were uniquely localized within the neurogenic niches or rosettes as confirmed by histology, suggesting their importance for neuroprogenitor proliferation. We observed a particularly striking distribution of ceramide-phosphoethanolamine CerPE 36:1; O2 which was restricted within rosettes and of phosphatidyl-ethanolamine PE 38:3, which was distributed throughout the organoid tissue but not in rosettes. This suggests that ceramide in this particular lipid species might be important for neuroprogenitor biology, while its removal may be important for terminal differentiation of their progeny. Overall, our study establishes the first optimized experimental pipeline and data processing strategy for mass spectrometry imaging of human brain organoids, allowing direct comparison of lipid signal intensities and distributions in these tissues. Further, our data shed new light on the complex processes that govern brain development by identifying specific lipid signatures that may play a role in cell fate trajectories. Mass spectrometry imaging thus has great potential in advancing our understanding of early brain development as well as disease modeling and drug discovery

Frequency of venous thromboembolism during hajj sessions 2017-2019 in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), both are serious health risks. In western countries, VTE affects about 114 to 184 people per 100,000. Asian populations have a significantly lower incidence than western populations. The true incidence of VTE is still not well documented in Saudi Arabia (KSA). There are different major risk factors especially in hajj season that predispose a person to thrombosis. The mortality rate of autopsy-based pulmonary embolism reaches up to 30%. Methods: This single-centered retrospective descriptive study was done in security forces hospital Makkah, Saudi Arabia during hajj period (30 days) for consecutive three-year. All admitted confirmed DVT and PE patients (N=32) of both genders with age >14 years were included. Patients’ data were extracted from the electronic medical record. Data were analysed by SPSS version 23. Results: Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) was developed in 67.7% while 19.3% of patients suffered from pulmonary embolism (PE) out of a total of 32 subjects. Females were more affected by 18 (56.3%) than males by 14 (43.8%). The mean age of patients was 51.78 years (SD ±16.21). A statistically significant association (p<0.005) between provoked VTE status and age, immobility, and history of surgery was seen. There was no mortality documented in this study. Conclusions: This study provides insights into hajj period hospital admitted patients’ frequency of VTE, changing patient profiles, management strategies, and subsequent outcomes in patients with venous thromboembolism. There is a need for greater awareness of VTE prophylaxis about its prevention, especially in hajj season

Computer Aided Autism Diagnosis Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging

© 2013 IEEE. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), commonly known as autism, is a lifelong developmental disorder associated with a broad range of symptoms including difficulties in social interaction, communication skills, and restricted and repetitive behaviors. In autism spectrum disorder, numerous studies suggest abnormal development of neural networks that manifest itself as abnormalities of brain shape, functionality, and/ or connectivity. The aim of this work is to present our automated computer aided diagnostic (CAD) system for accurate identification of autism spectrum disorder based on the connectivity of the white matter (WM) tracts. To achieve this goal, two levels of analysis are provided for local and global scores using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. A local analysis using the Johns Hopkins WM atlas is exploited for DTI atlas-based segmentation. Furthermore, WM integrity is examined by extracting the most notable features representing WM connectivity from DTI. Interactions of WM features between different areas in the brain, demonstrating correlations between WM areas were used, and feature selection among those associations were made. Finally, a leave-one-subject-out classifier is employed to yield a final per-subject decision. The proposed system was tested on a large dataset of 263 subjects from the National Database of Autism Research (NDAR) with their Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) scores and diagnosis (139 typically developed: 66 males, and 73 females, and 124 autistics: 66 males, and 58 females), with ages ranging from 96 to 215 months, achieving an overall accuracy of 73%. In addition to this achieved global accuracy, diagnostically-important brain areas were identified, allowing for a better understanding of ASD-related brain abnormalities, which is considered as an essential step towards developing early personalized treatment plans for children with autism spectrum disorder

The Youngest Palestinian Case of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in children (MIS-C)

The multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) considers a post-infectious immunological response to coronavirus illness (COVID-19) that was originally identified in the United Kingdom and later identified in other countries.  A previously healthy 3-month-old boy was admitted to hospital context with -5-day history of fever, gastrointestinal symptoms [diarrhea, vomiting of normal gastric contents], hypoactivity, and poor oral intake, but so far no history of covid-19 active disease. The infant was dehydrated, with macular non-blanching skin rash everywhere over his body and widespread non-pitting edema. With supportive measures, methylprednisolone and IV immunoglobulin, the child improved, with his fever, skin rash, and laboratory tests returning to normal. On the seventh day of hospitalization, he was discharged. This is identified as the youngest reported case of MIS-C since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemi

A SRY-HMG box frame shift mutation inherited from a mosaic father with a mild form of testicular dysgenesis syndrome in Turner syndrome patient

Background: Sex determining factor (SRY) located on the short arm of the Y chromosome, plays an important role in initiating male sex determination, resulting in development of testicular tissue. Presence of the SRY gene in females results in XY sex reversal and increased risk of gonadal germ cell tumours if the karyotype also includes the so-called GonadoBlastoma on the Y chromosome (GBY) region. The majority of mutations within the SRY gene are de novo affecting only a single individual in the family. The mutations within the high-mobility group (HMG) region have the potential to affect its DNA binding activity.Case Presentation: We performed G- and R-banding cytogenetic analysis of the patient and her family members including her father. We also performed molecular genetic analysis of SRY gene. Cytogenetic analysis in the patient (Turner Syndrome) revealed the mosaic karyotype as 45, X/46, XY (79%/21% respectively) while her father (milder features with testicular dysgenesis syndrome) has a normal male karyotype (46, XY). Using molecular approach, we screened the patient and her father for mutations in the SRY gene. Both patient and her father showed the same deletion of cytosine within HMG box resulting in frame shift mutation (L94fsX180), the father in a mosaic pattern. Histological examination of the gonads from the patient revealed the presence of gonadoblastoma formation, while the father presented with oligoasthenozoospermia and a testicular seminoma. The frameshift mutation at this codon is novel, and may result in a mutated SRY protein.Conclusion: Our results suggest that lack of a second sex chromosome in majority cells of the patient may have triggered the short stature and primary infertility, and the mutated SRY protein may be associated with the development of gonadoblastoma. It is of importance to note that mosaic patients without a SRY mutation also have a risk for malignant germ cell tumors