Search

An 8 months feed demonstration program was conducted in the ponds of Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, West Bengal, India. The program aimed at providing hands-on training to trainees at Samaj Sevak Sikshan Mandir (SSSM) on farm-made feed formulation and use in aquaculture. Two ponds were selected, one at Shilpamandira of 0.1 h and fish were fed Feed-1, and another of 0.08 h at Samaj Sevak Sikshan Mandir (SSSM) and fed Feed-2. Indian major carps, Catla catla (catla) and Labeo rohita (rohu) were stocked at 4500 fish ha-1. The stocking size of rohu was 80-90g and of catla was 220-245g. Locally available low cost feed ingredients, rice bran, mustard oil cake, til oil cake and linseed oil sludge were used to formulate and prepare two farm-made mash feeds (Feed-1 and Feed-2). The fish were fed at 2% of total fish biomass in the ponds and were fed through bag feeding. At the end of the study rohu grew to 1.07 kg and catla to 1.6 kg in Shilpamandira pond (Feed-1), and rohu to1.5 kg and catla to 2.2 kg in Samaj Sevak Sikshan Mandir pond (Feed-2). The net production of fish was 4.9 and 6.8 t ha-1 for 8 months with Feed-1 and Feed-2, respectively. Dietary inclusion of linseed-oilsludge significantly increased the PUFA content in Indian major carps. The feed cost was substantially reduced by replacing mustard oil cake with til oil cake and incorporation of linseed oil sludge, a very low priced ingredient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nutrient profile of five freshwater fish species viz., Mystus vittatus, Ompok bimaculatus, Channa striata, Wallago attu and Pangasianodon hypophthalmus were studied. The proximate composition data shows that the moisture and fat content differed significantly (P<0.01) among the fish species. The fat content was significantly higher in P. hypophthalmus and M. vittatus. The moisture was significantly higher in C. striata. The potassium content was significantly (p<0.01) higher in C.striata. M.vittatus shows higher content of calcium. The other trace minerals like iron, copper and zinc contents of fish did not differ significantly among the species. The vitamin A content is maximum in O.bimaculatus whereas vitamin D content is higher in Mystus vittatus. The palmitic acid was significantly (p<0.01) higher in M. vittatus. The oleic acid was significantly (p<0.01) higher in C. striata and W. attu. The linoleic acid content was significantly (p<0.05) higher in P. hypophthalmus. One of the important PUFA i.e. DHA was significantly higher in O. bimaculatus and C.striata. The PUFA content was significantly (p<0.05) higher in O.bimaculatus and P.hypophthalmus. Among the amino acids, arginine, histidine, threonine and isoleucine were higher in P.hypophthalmus. C.striata and W. attu contain high amount of Tryptophan. Glutamic acid was high in O.bimaculatus and Aspartic acid was high in C. striata. The energy content was maximum in P. hypophthalmus. The nutrient profile of these fish species revealed that they were rich in all the essential nutrients required by human being. The information on nutrient profile of fish will give a guideline to dieticians, nutritionists, medical practitioners, researchers to advice consumers to take fish in their daily diet as a health food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nutrient profile of five carps, viz. Labeo bata, Labeo calbasu, Labeo fimbriatus, Cirrhinus reba and Puntius javanicus were studied. The samples were collected from different geographical locations of West Bengal, Odisha and Karnataka states of India. The data on proximate composition reveal that the moisture and fat content differed significantly (P<0.01) among the carp species. The fat content is significantly (P<0.01) higher in P. javanicus, L. bata and L. calbasu compared to L. fimbriatus. However, the protein and ash content did not differ significantly among the carp species. The potassium and copper contents differed significantly (P<0.01) among the fish species. Both potassium and copper contents were significantly higher in L. bata. The calcium content was maximum in L. fimbriatus. The saturated fatty acid (SFA), mono unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and poly unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) differed significantly (P<0.01) among all the carp species. The palmitic acid was significantly higher in L. fimbriatus, which is the predominant SFA. Among MUFA, the oleic acid was significantly higher in P. javanicus. The total MUFA was significantly (P<0.05) higher in C. reba. eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and total PUFA is significantly higher in L. bata. Among the essential amino acids, methionine was maximum in L. fimbriatus, P. javanicus and L. bata whereas in case of nonessential amino acids, the glutamic acid and aspartic acid were high in C. reba and L. calbasu. The gross energy content of the fish was higher in L. fimbriatus followed by C. reba and L. bata. The nutrient profile of these fish species reveal that they were rich in essential nutrients required for human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of pesticides in agricultural fields and public health care has led to transport and accumulation of pesticide residues in different environmental compartments including the water bodies like ponds, lakes, wetlands, rivers and estuaries are quite often found to be contaminated with pesticides as a result of run-off and discharges from different sources. Since pesticides are toxic chemicals, they adversely affect the non target organisms including fish, a common protein source to human. The present study was undertaken with the objective to find the extent and level of any persistent organochlorine pesticides (OCP) residue in edible fishes grown in waste waters, namely Mudiyali Fisheries Co-operative society and Rahara fish farm, West Bengal, India. The results revealed the presence of DDT and endosulfan in muscles and gills of Indian Major Carps (IMC) like Rohu (Labeo rohita), Catla (Catla catla) and Mrigal (Cirrhinus mrigala) reared in wastewater. However, the level of the pesticide residues found in IMCs were below the tolerance limits (TL) set by FSSAI which indicated that those fishes were safe for consumption. But, emphasis should be laid on continuous monitoring program from food safety point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of HIV testing algorithms at six programmes in five sub-Saharan African countries. Methods: In this prospective multisite diagnostic evaluation study (Conakry, Guinea; Kitgum, Uganda; Arua, Uganda; Homa Bay, Kenya; Doula, Cameroun and Baraka, Democratic Republic of Congo), samples from clients (greater than equal to five years of age) testing for HIV were collected and compared to a state-of-the-art algorithm from the AIDS reference laboratory at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium. The reference algorithm consisted of an enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay, a line-immunoassay, a single antigen-enzyme immunoassay and a DNA polymerase chain reaction test. Results: Between August 2011 and January 2015, over 14,000 clients were tested for HIV at 6 HIV counselling and testing sites. Of those, 2786 (median age: 30; 38.1% males) were included in the study. Sensitivity of the testing algorithms ranged from 89.5% in Arua to 100% in Douala and Conakry, while specificity ranged from 98.3% in Doula to 100% in Conakry. Overall, 24 (0.9%) clients, and as many as 8 per site (1.7%), were misdiagnosed, with 16 false-positive and 8 false-negative results. Six false-negative specimens were retested with the on-site algorithm on the same sample and were found to be positive. Conversely, 13 false-positive specimens were retested: 8 remained false-positive with the on-site algorithm. Conclusions: The performance of algorithms at several sites failed to meet expectations and thresholds set by the World Health Organization, with unacceptably high rates of false results. Alongside the careful selection of rapid diagnostic tests and the validation of algorithms, strictly observing correct procedures can reduce the risk of false results. In the meantime, to identify false-positive diagnoses at initial testing, patients should be retested upon initiating antiretroviral therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proximate composition, fatty acid, amino acid and fat soluble vitamins of Indian climbing perch, Anabas testudineus, locally called "Koi" were assayed in relation to its body weight. The fish samples were collected from different geographical locations and were grouped as small (10-50g) and big (52-150g) sizes. The proximate composition, essential amino acid (EAA) and non-essential amino acid (NEAA) contents in Koi did not differ significantly between the groups. The monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) content was significantly (P<0.05) higher in bigger sized Koi. The polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content was 23.67±0.85 and 13.62±1.02 (%) respectively in the small and big sizes of Koi, while the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was significantly higher in small Koi. The vitamin A content was 85.77±0.35 and 93.90 ±1.34 (I.U./100g) respectively in small and big Koi. Vitamin D content was significantly higher in small Koi compared to big one. Vitamin E and K were significantly (P<0.05) higher in big Koi. The results indicated that Anabas testudineus is a good source of protein, fat, vitamins, amino acids and fatty acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although individual HIV rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) show good performance in evaluations conducted by WHO, reports from several African countries highlight potentially significant performance issues. Despite widespread use of RDTs for HIV diagnosis in resource-constrained settings, there has been no systematic, head-to-head evaluation of their accuracy with specimens from diverse settings across sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a standardized, centralized evaluation of eight HIV RDTs and two simple confirmatory assays at a WHO collaborating centre for evaluation of HIV diagnostics using specimens from six sites in five sub-Saharan African countries. Methods: Specimens were transported to the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM), Antwerp, Belgium for testing. The tests were evaluated by comparing their results to a state-of-the-art reference algorithm to estimate sensitivity, specificity and predictive values. Results: 2785 samples collected from August 2011 to January 2015 were tested at ITM. All RDTs showed very high sensitivity, from 98.8% for First Response HIV Card Test 1-2.0 to 100% for Determine HIV 1/2, Genie Fast, SD Bioline HIV 1/2 3.0 and INSTI HIV-1/HIV-2 Antibody Test kit. Specificity ranged from 90.4% for First Response to 99.7% for HIV 1/2 STAT-PAK with wide variation based on the geographical origin of specimens. Multivariate analysis showed several factors were associated with false-positive results, including gender, provider-initiated testing and the geographical origin of specimens. For simple confirmatory assays, the total sensitivity and specificity was 100% and 98.8% for ImmunoComb II HIV 12 CombFirm (ImmunoComb) and 99.7% and 98.4% for Geenius HIV 1/2 with indeterminate rates of 8.9% and 9.4%. Conclusions: In this first systematic head-to-head evaluation of the most widely used RDTs, individual RDTs performed more poorly than in the WHO evaluations: only one test met the recommended thresholds for RDTs of =99% sensitivity and =98% specificity. By performing all tests in a centralized setting, we show that these differences in performance cannot be attributed to study procedure, end-user variation, storage conditions, or other methodological factors. These results highlight the existence of geographical and population differences in individual HIV RDT performance and underscore the challenges of designing locally validated algorithms that meet the latest WHO-recommended thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which evaluated water washed neem seed cake (WWNSC) supplementation at different levels in the diets of common carp fingerlings by conducting a feeding trial for 42 days followed by a nutrient digestibility study. The study revealed no differences in dry matter and nutrient digestibility in different diets. However, a high α-amylase activity of intestine and very high protease activity of intestine were seen in different dietary treatments.

Maternal hypothyroidism affects postnatal lung structure. High prevalence of hypothyroxinemia (low T4, normal T3) in iodine-deficient pregnant women and associated risk for neuropsychological development along with high infant/neonatal mortality ascribed to respiratory distress prompted us to study the effects of maternal hypothyroxinemia on postnatal lung development. Female Sprague Dawley rats were given a low-iodine diet (LID) with 1% KClO(4) in drinking water for 10 days, to minimize thyroid hormone differences. Half of these rats were continued on iodine-deficient diet; ID (LID with 0.005% KClO(4)) for 3 mo, whereas the rest were switched to an iodine-sufficient diet; IS [LID + potassium iodide (10 μg iodine/20 g of diet + normal drinking water)]. Pups born to ID mothers were compared with age-matched pups from IS mothers at postnatal days 8 (P8) and 16 (P16) (n = 6-8/group). ID pups had normal circulating T3 but significantly low T4 levels (P < 0.05) and concomitantly approximately sixfold higher thyroid hormone receptor-β mRNA in alveolar epithelium. Lung histology revealed larger and irregularly shaped alveoli in ID pups relative to controls. Lung function was assessed at P16 using a double-chambered plethysmograph and observed reduced tidal volume, peak inspiratory and expiratory flow, and dynamic lung compliance in ID pups compared with IS pups. Significant lowering of surfactant protein (SP)-B and SP-C mRNA and protein found in ID pups at P16. ID pups had 16-fold lower matrix metalloproteinase-9 mRNA levels in their alveolar epithelium. In addition, mRNA levels of thyroid transcription factor-1 and SP-D were significantly higher (3-fold) compared with IS pups. At P16, significantly lower levels of SP-B and SP-C found in ID pups may be responsible for immature lung development and reduced lung compliance. Our data suggest that maternal hypothyroxinemia may result in the development of immature lungs that, through respiratory distress, could contribute to the observed high infant mortality in ID neonates.

Bat spleen and mesenteric lymph node cell cultures treated with varying doses of LPS showed significant blastogenic and DNA synthetic responses between 72-96h. Peak responses were not different when the cell culture medium was supplemented either with autologous serum or heterologous serum indicating the absence of any significant suppressor factor in autologous bat serum. In contrast, blastogenesis and DNA synthesis peaks appeared early, at 48h, in lymphocytes depleted of suppressor T cells by pretreatment with cyclophosphamide. Direct antibody producing cells against SRBC were studied in normal spleen and mesenteric lymph node cell cultures. The peak PFC response was lacking even at 120h while CY pretreated bat lymphocytes, showed peak PFC responses at 96h. Thus the delayed immune response in bats seems to be a function of suppressor T cells but serum suppressor factor(s) possibly exerts no significant effect. The function of suppressor cells in bats in relation to their role as carriers of several dreaded bacteria and viruses is discussed.

In vitro activation of lymphocytes from the bat, Pteropus giganteus with Con A has been analysed in terms of blastogenesis, DNA synthesis and the effector function, the cytotoxic response. We have observed that lymphocytes of P. giganteus are capable of responding to Con A stimulus and the peak of blastogenesis, DNA synthesis and cytotoxic response have been found at 120 hours with the optimal dose of 10 micrograms X ml-1 Con A; it seems the process of activation in the bat's lymphocytes is delayed compared to this in mice. Significance of this delay in the process of activation of immune response in the bat has been discussed.