No abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of theileriosis and babesiosis in cattle in Sirajganj district of Bangladesh during the period of December 2013 to November 2014. During one year study period a total of 395 cattle were examined, 23 and 8 were found to be infected with Theileria spp. and Babesia spp., respectively. On Geimsa stained blood smear examination, it was observed that the overall prevalence of theileriosis and babesiosis in cattle were recorded as 5.82% and 2.27% respectively. The effect of age, sex, breed and season was observed in cattle during this study. The highest prevalence of theileriosis (7.25%) and babesiosis (3.10%) was reported in the older cattle (>3 years of age) and the higher prevalence was observed in female (6.66% and 2.59%, respectively) than male (4.0% and 1.60% respectively). All crossbred cattle was showed higher prevalence than local cattle. The prevalence of theileriosis was noticed as the highest in the rainy season (6.25%) in relation to summer (5.83%) and winter (5.05%) season. But the prevalence of babesiosis was ranked the highest in summer season (2.50%) followed in rainy (2.27%) and winter (2.02%) season that was insignificant. From the study it was evident that cattle were infected with the organisms and caused a heavy economic loss which will assist to take necessary preventive measurements.Res. Agric., Livest. Fish.2(1): 79-86, April 2015

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the dynamics of ammonium nitrogen (NH 4 +-N) in the soil during an entire ricegrowing season. The NH 4 +-N dynamics were measured in paddy soils from two N application methods, namely, urea deep placement (UDP) and broadcast prilled urea (PU). The pore water samples from a 10 cm soil depth were collected using a "rhizon sampler." The samples were collected at 0, 7, 10, 14, 20, and 22 cm from the urea briquette (UB) placement point at 7, 14, 21, 35, 64, and 83 days after transplanting (DAT) of rice. The NH 4 +-N in the floodwater sample was measured for a week after each split application of PU. UDP retained NH 4 +-N at the placement site (7-10 cm depth) until 64 DAT. A small amount of NH 4 +-N moved horizontally up to 14 cm from the placement site. It's movement to the soil surface and floodwater was very low to negligible. In contrast, PU produced more NH 4 +-N in both the floodwater and in the soil surface. Therefore, broadcast urea had significantly (p < 0.05) higher ammonia volatilization (~15% of applied N) compared to UDP (<1%). UDP significantly (p < 0.05) increased grain yields, N uptake, and N recovery compared to broadcast urea. These results confirm that a single application of UDP could meet plants' N demand throughout the rice-growing period, particularly for short-and medium-duration rice varieties.

No abstract

Neurotoxicity is a serious health problem of patients chronically exposed to arsenic. There is no specific treatment of this problem. Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathological process of neurotoxicity. Polyphenolics have proven antioxidant activity, thereby offering protection against oxidative stress. In this study, we have isolated the polyphenolics from Acacia nilotica and investigated its effect against arsenic-induced neurotoxicity and oxidative stress in mice. Acacia nilotica polyphenolics prepared from column chromatography of the crude methanol extract using diaion resin contained a phenolic content of 452.185 ± 7.879 mg gallic acid equivalent/gm of sample and flavonoid content of 200.075 ± 0.755 mg catechin equivalent/gm of sample. The polyphenolics exhibited potent antioxidant activity with respect to free radical scavenging ability, total antioxidant activity and inhibition of lipid peroxidation. Administration of arsenic in mice showed a reduction of acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain which was counteracted by Acacia nilotica polyphenolics. Similarly, elevation of lipid peroxidation and depletion of glutathione in the brain of mice was effectively restored to normal level by Acacia nilotica polyphenolics. Gallic acid methyl ester, catechin and catechin-7-gallate were identified in the polyphenolics as the major active compounds. These results suggest that Acacia nilotica polyphenolics due to its strong antioxidant potential might be effective in the management of arsenic induced neurotoxicity.