Annual Research & Review in Biology

Tilapia juveniles live in littoral regions of freshwater ecosystems which have temperatures that may reach critical values for growth, especially in face of the onslaught of climate change. This study analyzes the effect of temperature (25, 30, 35, 40°C) on the growth and survival of hybrid tilapia juveniles in a re-circulating system. Duplicate groups of 30 juveniles were stocked in 200 L tanks in a closed, re-circulating system. Automatic heaters were used to establish the water temperatures, commercial food was supplied at 5% of their weight as daily ration. Fish were weighed and measured at 15-day intervals for a period of 3 months. Water temperature and dissolved oxygen were monitored daily. Ammonia, nitrates and dissolved reactive phosphorus were monitored every third day. Fish responses were estimated through variations in length, weight and inter-circuli space of fish scales. Average initial and final weight and length, Specific growth rate (SGR), Fulton Index (FI), Length-weight relationship and survival were used to assess tilapia growth performance. Weight, length, SGR and FI were significantly affected (P < 0.05) by water temperature. Growth of the fish reared at 30^oC was almost one third greater than that at 25°C and one sixth greater than that at 35°C. Except for fish reared at 40°C, the other treatments showed a positive allometric growth, with the better results recorded for the 30 and 35°C treatments. The fish reared at 40°C survived only two weeks while the survival rate of 98, 90 and 88.3% for 25, 30 and 35°C, respectively.

Aims: To investigate the status of susceptibility of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes to the WHO-approved insecticides for indoor residual spraying  in field collected samples in a malaria vector sentinel site in Nigeria and Ts to provide an update on the current status of resistance to the major insecticide classes in wild populations of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato

Study Design: Field and laboratory –experimental design was used in this study.

Place and Duration of the Study: The study was carried out at a malaria surveillance site, established by the National Malaria Elimination Programme at Oduoha-Emohua in Rivers State, between April to September, 2015.

 Methodology: Anopheles larvae were collected from stagnant pools around the malaria surveillance site. The mosquitoes were reared to adulthood in the insectary and identified using morphological keys. Two- to three-day old adult female mosquitoes were exposed to standard diagnostic doses of Deltamethrin, Lambdacyhalothrin, Alphacympermethrin, Permethrin, Bendiocarb, Propoxur, DDT and   Premiphos-Methyl using standard WHO protocols, insecticide susceptibility test kits and treated papers. Knockdown every 10 min and mortality 24 h post exposure was noted. All Anopheles mosquitoes tested belonged to the Anopheles gambiae-complex.

Results: Mortality results indicated that the vectors were susceptible to Bendiocarb and Alphacympermethrin with mortality rates of 100% and 98% respectively. There was complete resistance to Deltamethrin, Lambdacyhalothrin, Permethrin, Propoxur, DDT and Premiphos-Methyl with mortality ranges of 25%-65%.

Conclusion: The present study shows the effectiveness of Bendiocarb and Alphacympermethrin in malaria control with indoor residual spraying. It also provides baseline information for monitoring the status of insecticide resistance in Rivers State.

Salivary gland tumors show complex histopathology and the treatment depends mainly on the stage of cancer. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) have a great role in regenerative medicine as they can generate pluripotent stem cells from any available cell types as fibroblast. Thus, the aim of this work is to investigate the possible therapeutic effect of (iPS) on induced salivary gland cancer through evaluation of the silent information regulators of sirtuin-1 (Sirt-1), Tgf-β genes and their protein expressions in addition to LncRNA MALAT-1 expression. Thirty male albino rats were employed and divided into three groups (ten rats for each group), group 1 (control): Rats were injected with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), group II induced squamous cell carcinoma (SCC): rats were injected with squamous carcinoma cells (SCC), group III (induced SCC/iPS): SCC treated rats treated with 5 × 10⁶ iPS cells. Submandibular specimens were taken and prepared for histological, histochemical and immunohistochemical studies for Bax and TGF-β3 protein. Also, Real time PCR was performed for Sirt-1, Tgf-β, and MALAT-1 LncRNA genes expression. SIRT-1 and TGF-β protein level expression was assessed by western blot technique. Group III (iPS treated group) revealed more or less normal acinar structure with normal rearrangement of acini and normal intralobular ducts with an increase in their number. In the iPS treated group there was increasing in the amount of mucopoly saccharide in the acinar cells and intensity of BAX immunostaining while, TGF-β3 was decreased in its   intensity in comparison to that of the cancer treated group.  In addition to Sirt-1, Tgf-β, and MALAT-1 LncRNA expressions were increased in cancer group compared to iPS treated and control groups. Induced pluripotent stem cells play a potential therapeutic role in treatment of induced submandibular gland carcinoma.

Retraction Notice: This paper has been retracted from the journal after receipt of written complains. This journal is determined to promote integrity in research publication. This retraction is in spirit of the same. After formal procedures editor(s) and publisher have retracted this paper on 19^th August-2019. Related policy is available here: http://goo.gl/lI77Nn

Background and Aims: Rodents constitute more than 42% of the known mammalian species, with 1700 species which belongs to three different families, include Muridae, Microtidae, and Sigmodontidae. Rodents species such as R. r. diardii and R. norvegicus play an important role as hosts for ectoparasites and reservoirs for various types of viruses, bacteria, rickettsia, protozoa, and helminths which are responsible for causing zoonotic diseases to humans and other vertebrate animals. The aim of this work is to identify the species of mites, ticks, and fleas causing diseases to humans and determined the prevalence of infestation in relation to gender, age, and habitat of the rodents.

Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Malaysia, Between September 2018 and March 2019.

Methodology: Wild rats were captured using live traps from garbage areas, and places near the cafeteria in the student’s residential colleges at University Putra Malaysia. The rats were humanely euthanised and identified. They were classified as adult or juveniles. Their sex was also determined. Ectoparasites were collected by combing the fur the rodents on to a white plan sheet paper. The ectoparasites collected were washed and mounted with Hoyer’s media on a glass slide. Parasites were identified using a key morphological feature.

Results: A total of 89 wild rats were trapped and examined for ectoparasites. Eight different species of ectoparasites that comprised of L. echidnanus, L. nuttalli, O. bacoti, I. granulatus, Heamaphysalis sp., P. spinoluso, H. pacifica, X. cheopis) were identified from the rodents examined. About 55% of the rodents trapped were positive for at least one species of ectoparasite parasites, and about 45.8% of the male rats and 30.8% of female were positive for ectoparasites. Meanwhile, in the adult, 42.9% are positive for at least one species of ectoparasites, whereas 32.2% of the juvenile rodent was also found positive for at least one species of ectoparasites.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that rodents trapped from the student’s colleges in University Putra Malaysia are infected with various ectoparasites species that might play an important role in the transmission of certain zoonotic diseases to humans. Therefore, we conclude that there is potential risk of rodent-borne zoonotic diseases transmission to humans in the study area. Awareness of prevention and control of rodent-borne diseases should be introduced to educate the students on the importance of zoonotic diseases associated with rodents.

Aim: This study was conducted to develop liquid enhancer containing KCl, TU, GA, and SA for germination of drought-stressed Oryza sativa subsp. indica cv. MR284 seed.

Study Design: All experiments were conducted in a completely randomized design. Two steps were involved in the development process which are to select an ideal concentration for each KCl, TU, GA, and SA, and to find an ideal combination of chemicals from the selection of ideal concentrations acquired in step 1 to form liquid enhancer. There were 20 treatments for step 1 and 9 treatments for step 2. All of these treatments with 6 replicates.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University Putra Malaysia, between June 2018 and December 2018.

Methodology: The sterilized rice seed cv. MR284 was stressed in the -1.2 Mpa PEG 6000 solution for three days and germinated in the KCl, TU, GA, and SA solution in a series of concentration for 10 days, in a controlled room. Seed germination was observed daily.

Results: In the first step, drought-stressed rice seed showed the best germination performance in the 30 mM of KCl, 2.0 mM of TU, 0.24 mM GA, and 0.5 mM SA. Meanwhile, in the second step, the drought-stressed rice seed showed the best germination performance in the combination of 30 mM KCl + 2.0 mM TU + 0.24 mM GA + 0.5 mM SA. The best germination performance was evaluated by the highest germination percentage (%), germination index, seed vigor, leaf length, root length and biomass.

Conclusion: Therefore, the combination treatments of 30 mM KCl + 2.0 mM TU + 0.5 mM SA was found to be the most effective and simplest liquid enhancer formula that has an ability to enhance seed germination of drought-stressed rice cv. MR284 seed.

At Martín García Island—a Natural Reserve located at the confluence of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers—we used benthic-macroinvertebrate biotic indices to elucidate the structure and community parameters of the littoral benthos and their response to environmental variables and to evaluate the island's coastal water quality. Seasonal campaigns were carried out (March/1995-March/1996) at eight sites of the island's littoral sites, selected according to the substrate characteristics (fine sands, sandy-silty, reedbed, and silty with great hydrophyte development). From the sites with a soft substrate, triplicate samples were extracted using a 225-cm² Ekman manual dredge. The relative abundances of 71 taxa were measured: Nematoda, Turbelaria, Oligochaeta (23 sps.), Mollusca (21 sps.), Crustacea (11 sps.), Insecta (12 families), and Tardigrada. Macroinvertebrate density: 15-58,800 ind.m^-2. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences between the average annual macroinvertebrate-population densities among the five sites (F: 3.059; p<0.05). Site 7 exhibited the highest density at 38,700±19,000 ind.m^-2 Community parameters: diversity (H'; 0.77-2.16 bits); equitability (J; 0.16-1.02), and species richness (S; 3-29). Canonical-correspondence analysis indicated the environmental variables experiencing the greatest fluctuation to be: dissolved-oxygen concentration, pH, temperature, and conductivity. The results of this analysis suggest that macroinvertebrate-species distribution involves the physicochemical conditions of the water. Of the correlation between species and environmental variables, 95.5% were distributed on the canonical-correspondence ordering diagram's Axis 1. Functional feeding groups: In all sites and seasons, the gathering collectors predominated, followed by the scrapers, filtering collectors, shredders, and predators. Macroinvertebrate Index of Pampean-Rivers: values generally ranged from weak to weak-to-very-weak to zero pollution, but there was a high degree of pollution (2.4 and 1.5) in the spring of 1995.