[Effect of controlled heating of colostrum on immunoglobulins absorption, performance and certain health parameters in calf]

Background: The immunity and health of newborn calf are related to immunoglobulins uptake from colostrum where treatment of colostrum may improve the uptake

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of controlled heat treating of colostrum and antibiotic addition on immunoglobulins absorption, performance and health parameters of calf

Methods: The colostrum pool was prepared from multiparous dams and was frozen after the treatments. Colostrum was fed immediately after the birth three times a day for 2 days. Twelve newborn Holstein calves were divided into three treatment groups including 1] raw colostrum [control], 2] heat-treated colostrum, and 3] colostrum with oxytetracyclin in a completely randomized design. Blood samples were obtained in days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 via jugular vein. Health score and fecal point were determined daily

Results: Results showed that heat-treating of colostrum increased immunoglobulins uptake and their apparent efficiency of absorption [p<0.01], where a 24% increase in blood immunoglobulins concentrations and a 15% in their apparent efficiency of absorption were observed by heating the colostrum compared with control group and a lower increase was observed compared with antibiotic group. No significant differences were observed in weight gain, weaning time and weight as well as the amount and time of beginning starter intake among groups. Feed conversion ratio did not affected by the treatments. There were no significant differences in blood cells counts among groups. Calves fecal point was not affected by the treatments but health score was increased by using heattreated colostrum where scour incidence was reduced [p<0.05]

Conclusions: Results of the study showed that controlled heat-treating of colostrum is an effective and practical method to improve immunoglobulins absorption and reduce scour incidence in calf

Phytoremediation of Phenanthrene from soil by Sorghum

Contaminated lands around oil fields, especially soils contaminated by Polyaromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs] Are the common problem in these areas. PAHs such as Phenanthrene, Naphthalene, Benzo-a-pyrene are the major pollutant in the fields around petroleum refineries and arise largely as a result of coal and oil burning andother refineries activities. This causes an actual or potential threat to the environment and human, so removing them from polluted soil and water is necessary. In this regard, biological methods including "phytoremediation", as a new approach, are effective and economical. The aim of Phytoremediation in Contaminated lands is using the ability of plants to uptake, accumulate, degrade and removing toxic substances. This is a promising technology for the clean-up of petroleum contaminated soils, especially in the tropical area where climatic conditions favor plant growth and microbial activity and therefore the financial resources can be limited. Grass species are excellent candidates for Phytore mediation due to their extensive fibrous root system, which allow for more interaction between the rhizosphere microbial community and the contaminant. The present study was conducted to investigate the role of a warm season grass type, Sorghum vulgare Pers. Sudananse, in Phenanthrene, a major pollutant in soils around oil and gas fields, removal. The experiment was done in a green house scale with climatic conditions similar to mentioned region, in 16 weeks growth period. Physicochemicalparameters of agricultural soil were determined by standard methods as follows. pH and EC determination in saturated extract of soil. Micro and macroelement determination. Organic carbon content. Soiltexture by soil particle size determination. Field capacity 98% Phenanthrene from Aldrich chemical company was used as contamination source. Studies showed that contaminant limits, in the region is in the range of 13-17 mg/kg, so three concentrations of Phenanthrene, 10-15-20 mg/kg, was added to soil. Spiked soil was placed in 30 kg capacity blocks with 110x 46 cm dimensions and then Sorghum seeds were planted in 4-5 cm of surface. Treatments were as follows: Control :[Planted samples in non polluted soils]. Unp[l,2,3] Unplanted contaminated soil[10-15-20 mg/kg respectively]. P[1,2,3]: Planted contaminated soil[10-15-20mg/kg respectively] Phenanthrene content in soil and plant tissues was extracted to determine pollutant concentration in different times. The fate and presence of PAHs in plant root and rhizosphere may be predicted from their K[ow] or octanol-water partition coefficient which is characteristic for each organic compound and indicates their water solubility. Partitioning of compounds to the root surface from the soil solution is directly proportional to know values and inversely proportional to solubility

Evaluation of periodontal condition of menopause women with osteoporosis and osteopenia and comparison with control group

Several risk factors directly affect the development of periodontal diseases. Also some systemic diseases act indirectly as predisposing and aggrevating factors. Osteoporosis is one of these factors and one of its main causes is lack of physical activity in postmenopause period. The incidence of osteoporosis is increasing in our country. The goal of this study was to evaluate the periodontal condition of women with osteoporosis and osteopenia referred to bone densitometric division of Loghman hospital in 2003 and compare to control group. In this case control study based on BMD [Bone Mineral Density] measurement of back and thigh using DEXA method, 60 patients referred to bone densitometric division of Loghman hospital, were randomly selected. Cases were divided into three groups, 20 with osteoporosis, 20 with osteopenia and 20 normal cases. Periodontal indices consisting of plaque index [PI], tooth loss [TL], gingival recession [GR], probing pocket depth [PPD] and papilla bleeding index [PBI] were evaluated by clinical and radiographic examination. Data were analyzed by Kruskall Wallis and Dunn tests with p<0.05 as the limit of significance. PBI, PI and TL were significantly higher in osteoporotic group than osteopenic and normal group. PPD was not different in the three groups. Due to the low prevalence of recession in our study, this parameter was not included in the statistical analysis. It seems that osteoporosis does not increase the incidence of periodontal diseases because it affects bone quality rather than quantity. In osteoporosis calcium deficiency and increasing age lead to decreased physical activity and ultimately affect the patient's oral hygiene performance. Thus, periodontal manifestations are presented as gingival bleeding and gingivitis