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Selected AbstractsGenotoxicity of three mouthwash products, Cepacol®, Periogard®, and Plax®, in the Drosophila wing-spot testENVIRONMENTAL AND MOLECULAR MUTAGENESIS, Issue 8 2007Fábio Rodrigues Abstract Antiseptic mouthwashes used in biofilm control are widely available in the marketplace, despite inconsistent data concerning their genetic and cellular toxicity. In the present study, we investigated the genotoxic potential of three antiseptics currently used for odontologic treatment, Cepacol® (containing cetylpyridinium chloride), Periogard® (chlorhexidine digluconate), and Plax® (triclosan). Genotoxicity was evaluated using the Somatic Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART) in Drosophila melanogaster, employing flies having normal bioactivation (the standard cross) and flies with increased cytochrome P450-dependent biotransformation capacity (the high bioactivation cross). Periogard and Plax produced negative responses in both types of flies; however, Cepacol (75 and 100%) produced positive responses in both the standard and high bioactivation assays, with the genotoxic responses mainly due to the induction of mitotic recombination. Assays performed with ethanol and cetylpirydinium chloride, two major ingredients of Cepacol, indicated that the genotoxity of the mouthwash is likely to be due to ethanol. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Fatty acid status in captive and free-ranging black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis)*JOURNAL OF ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY AND NUTRITION, Issue 3 2008M. Clauss Summary The fatty acid (FA) patterns of plasma/serum triglycerides (TG), phospholipids (PL) and cholesteryl esters (CE) of captive and free-ranging black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis) were investigated. Free-ranging animals (n = 28) stemmed from four different regions. Captive animals sampled included specimens from North American (n = 11) and three different European facilities (n = 6). The European animals were tested on 1,4 different diets, resulting in a total of 15 blood samples. Regardless of differences between the free-ranging animals from different regions, differences between captive and free-ranging animals were relatively uniform: captive animals had higher overall proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), due to levels of linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n6) that were drastically increased as compared to free-ranging animals. In contrast, levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3n3) were consistently lower on conventional zoo diets. n6/n3 ratios for TG, PL and CE were 1.6, 10 and 8 in samples from free-ranging animals, respectively, as compared to 4.1,16.3, 16,148 and 40,277 in samples from captive animals. There was a distinct correlation between the proportion of grain-based products (commercial concentrates, plain grains and bread) in the diets of the European animals and the measured levels of n6 PUFA. An animal from a facility with a very low proportion of grain products in the diet nevertheless had high LA readings, most probably due to the use of sunflower oil as 2% (dry matter basis) of its diet. One animal that received a high proportion of grass meal pellets due to an oral disease had increased ALA contents after the diet change. These results allow conclusions on the suitability of diets fed in captivity: the black rhinoceros is prone to several uncommon diseases that have been suspected to be linked to oxidative damage, possibly due to the disposition of this species to excessive iron storage. An unnatural dietary loading with PUFAs would exacerbate this problem. Additionally, n6 FAs are known as precursors of pro-inflammatory mediators, and their overrepresentation could therefore exacerbate any inflammatory processes. Therefore, the current practice of using grain-based feeds as major ingredients in captive rhinoceros diets is discouraged. Diet items containing ALA (a precursor of anti-inflammatory mediators) such as, fresh grass, fresh browse, the respective silages should be included at higher levels in diets for captive black rhinoceroses. Grass meal pellets, although a good source of ALA and linked with high levels of ALA in an animal of this study, must be chosen with care for black rhinoceroses due to their particular proneness for high iron contents. [source] Ecological speciation in marine v. freshwater fishesJOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2009O. Puebla Absolute barriers to dispersal are not common in marine systems, and the prevalence of planktonic larvae in marine taxa provides potential for gene flow across large geographic distances. These observations raise the fundamental question in marine evolutionary biology as to whether geographic and oceanographic barriers alone can account for the high levels of species diversity observed in marine environments such as coral reefs, or whether marine speciation also operates in the presence of gene flow between diverging populations. In this respect, the ecological hypothesis of speciation, in which reproductive isolation results from divergent or disruptive natural selection, is of particular interest because it may operate in the presence of gene flow. Although important insights into the process of ecological speciation in aquatic environments have been provided by the study of freshwater fishes, comparatively little is known about the possibility of ecological speciation in marine teleosts. In this study, the evidence consistent with different aspects of the ecological hypothesis of speciation is evaluated in marine fishes. Molecular approaches have played a critical role in the development of speciation hypotheses in marine fishes, with a role of ecology suggested by the occurrence of sister clades separated by ecological factors, rapid cladogenesis or the persistence of genetically and ecologically differentiated species in the presence of gene flow. Yet, ecological speciation research in marine fishes is still largely at an exploratory stage. Cases where the major ingredients of ecological speciation, namely a source of natural divergent or disruptive selection, a mechanism of reproductive isolation and a link between the two have been explicitly documented are few. Even in these cases, specific predictions of the ecological hypothesis of speciation remain largely untested. Recent developments in the study of freshwater fishes illustrate the potential for molecular approaches to address specific questions related to the ecological hypothesis of speciation such as the nature of the genes underlying key ecological traits, the magnitude of their effect on phenotype and the mechanisms underlying their differential expression in different ecological contexts. The potential provided by molecular studies is fully realized when they are complemented with alternative (e.g. ecological, theoretical) approaches. [source] Liver oil of pharaoh cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831 as a lipid source in the feed of giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man 1879)AQUACULTURE NUTRITION, Issue 3 2009G. SHYLA Abstract The efficacy of pharaoh cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831) liver lipid in the feed for juveniles of giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (De Man 1879) was tested by feeding five experimental diets prepared using clam meat, groundnut oil cake, wheat bran, tapioca powder, vitamin,mineral mixture and cellulose powder as the major ingredients. The test diets T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5, containing five levels (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5%, respectively) of lipid, extracted from the liver of pharaoh cuttlefish, were fed to 30-day-old prawn juveniles for 60 days, in triplicates and compared against a control. Analysis of variance of the growth parameters showed that the juveniles fed with T2, containing 2% cuttlefish liver lipid with a total lipid content of 9.85% and lipid,carbohydrate ratio of 1 : 3.8, showed significantly better growth (P < 0.05) with the highest weight gain of 118%, greatest food conversion and protein utilization efficiency, and the highest body protein content, although the survival rates remained unaffected among treatments. Growth of the juveniles, however, declined at lipid levels >2%. Addition of cuttlefish liver lipid led to an increase of ,-3 and ,-6 fatty acids in T2, the proportion of ,-6 being higher than the former. The crude lipid content of the body of test animals also increased with the increase in dietary lipid from 1.51% in T1 to 3.27% in T5. The present study indicates that cuttlefish liver lipid can be successfully used as a substitute for conventional lipid sources in rearing juveniles of giant freshwater prawn, an eco-friendly practice in recycling cuttlefish waste , a discarded fishery by-product. [source] Effect of different oil cake sources on growth, nutrient retention and digestibility, muscle nucleic acid content, gut enzyme activities and whole-body composition in silver barb, Puntius gonionotus fingerlingsAQUACULTURE RESEARCH, Issue 16 2007Kedar Nath Mohanta Abstract Six iso-nitrogenous (30% crude protein) and iso-energetic (15 kJ g,1) diets were prepared using different oil cake sources, viz. groundnut, soybean, sunflower, sesame, mustard and mixed oil cakes as major ingredients, and protein sources along with a minimum of 5% fish meal in each diet and were fed to silver barb Puntius gonionotus fingerlings (16.20±0.11 g) ad libitum four times a day close to an apparent satiation level for a period of 60 days to determine the effect of diets on growth, nutrient utilization, apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of the nutrients in the diets, gut enzyme activity, muscle nucleic acid content and whole-body chemical composition of fish. Significantly higher (P<0.05) weight gain, specific growth rate, protein efficiency ratio, nutrient retention, ADC of nutrients in the diets, DNA:RNA ratio, protease and amylase activity with lower (P<0.05) feed:gain values were recorded in fish-fed groundnut and soybean oil cake-based diets than other diets tested. Among the dietary treatment groups, significantly higher (P<0.05) whole-body protein, lipid and energy were also found in groundnut oil cake- and soybean oil cake-based diets. The study suggests that the groundnut and soybean oil cake-based diets, which led to significantly higher (P<0.05) growth and nutrient utilization than the other oil cake-based diets in P. gonionotus fingerlings, may be used for pond culture of this species. [source] A scientific study of Choson white ware: early porcelain from a royal kiln at Kwangju UsanniARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 2 2002C. K. Koh Choo Scientific study of kiln site no. 9 at Usanni, one of the earliest royal Kwangju kiln complexes in operation (from the early 15th to the early 16th century), shows that the technological expertise used to produce white ware was inherited from the celadon technology of the Koryo dynasty. The body material, of low Al2O3 and high SiO2 content, is based on porcelain stone. Such a material, with almost no titanium and a low level of iron, was a rediscovery of the white ware material used earlier at the Sori kiln from the 9th century through to the 11th century. Ash continued to be one of the major ingredients of the glaze, and wares were fired in much the same way as the Koryo celadon, in kilns constructed of mud and rocks and in two steps. The Confucian philosophy and aesthetic of frugality and simplicity adopted from the Ming dynasty onwards by the new government acted as the catalyst for the successful ascent of the new technology. [source] |