Anthelmintics are used traditionally as an integral part of helminthic control strategies for grazing livestock to prevent production losses from parasitic infections. The continuous and indiscriminate use of the same anthelmintics over years together as the sole means of control are now failing due to the emergence of resistance strains of helminths. Resistance to the commonly used anthelmintics in gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep has become an increasingly wide spread problem throughout the world. The present study was aimed to determine the resistance against albendazole, fenbendazole, levamisole and closantel in gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep. Fifty five naturally infected Madras Red lambs of 6 - 12 months of age were selected and distributed randomly into five treatment groups of eleven animals each. Four groups were treated orally with albendazole (5mg/kg), fenbendazole (7mg/kg), levamisole (7.5m/kg) and closantel (10 mg/kg) respectively, while the fifth group served as untreated control.  Faecal samples were collected per rectum of each lamb just prior to treatment (pre treatment) and then on days 7, 14, 21 and 28 after treatment. The anthelmintic resistance was evaluated by in vivo faecal egg count reduction test (FECRT), post treatment larval culture and in vitro egg hatch assay. In the faecal egg count reduction test, albendazole reduced the faecal egg count by 86.50 per cent, 84.81 per cent, 85.28 per cent and 84.47 per cent respectively for four weeks after treatment. Faecal egg count reduction using fenbendazole was 92.64, 93.04, 90.80 and 90.06 per cent respectively for four weeks after treatment.  The per cent efficacy for levamisole and closantel was more than 95 per cent. The post treatment larval culture contained only Haemonchus contortus. In the in vitro egg hatch assay, the ED 50 value for benzimidazole was 0.299 µg thiabenazole/ml and levamisole showed an ED 50 value of 0.283 µg /ml.

High performance thin layer chromatographic method was developed and validated according to the protocol on “Validation of Analytical Procedures: Methodology, Veterinary International Cooperation on Harmonization (VICH)” with respect to linearity, sensitivity, precision and accuracy for determination of aflatoxin B1 in feed ingredients and feed. Chromatography was performed on thin layer chromatography (TLC) silica gel 60F254, aluminum sheets by Camag Linomat-5 applicator, with mobile phase condition acetone : chloroform (1 : 9). Analysis of samples viz. feed ingredients and feed, for aflatoxin B1was carried by HPTLC method and compared with TLC method. Extraction of aflatoxin was done as per AOAC method with screening and quantification by TLC and further quantification by HPTLC using reference standards. Out of 38 samples of nine types of feed ingredients analysed, samples of Bengal gram and rice bran & wheat bran mixture were negative by both methods. The other ingredients like cumbu/bajra, de-oiled rice bran, groundnut oil cake, maize, soyabean meal and sunflower oil cake, by HPTLC method wherein the Aflatoxin B1was found to be ranging from 1.61 ppb to 630.73 ppb of 77.42% positive samples, whereas by TLC method it was from 05 ppb to 140 ppb in 70.97% positive samples. While 4 samples of wheat bran analysed were all negative for Aflatoxin B1 by TLC method, whereas 50% (2 samples) found to be positive with HPTLC method with concentration ranging from 2.73 to 17.88.Similarly out of 59 feed samples analysed, 47 and 46 samples were positive for Aflatoxin B1 representing 79.66% and 77.97% of the samples, with concentration ranging from 0.54 ppb to 204.72 ppb and from 05 ppb to 710 ppb by HPTLC and TLC respectively. In the present study, the Limit of detection by HPTLC was 0.5 ppb whereas it was 5 ppb with TLC method.

A total of 30 maize samples, 30 deoiled rice bran (DORB), 20 groundnut oil cake (expeller) and 20 dried distillers’ grain soluble (DDGs) feeds samples were collected from different parts of Namakkal district. Aflatoxin B1 was estimated in all the samples by extracting the aflatoxin and spotted in an activated thin layer chromatography (TLC) plate with standards and ascertained the concentration by visual comparison method in a UV viewing cabinet. Among 30 samples of maize, analyzed for aflatoxin, 20 samples (60%) contained traces of aflatoxin and 8 samples contained between 10-30 ppb. Two samples contained between 50-100 ppb. Similarly, among 30 samples of DORB analyzed for aflatoxin, 24 samples contained traces of aflatoxin and five samples contained between 10-30 ppb. One sample contained between 50-100 ppb of aflatoxin. Three samples of GNC and Four samples of DDGS had 50-100 ppb of aflatoxin. It reveals that, very few samples of maize and DORB contained high level of aflatoxin. Hence the regular screening of toxins in every lot of feed prior to feeding the animals or poultry needs to be regularized.

Ultrasonographic characterization of ovarian follicular dynamics was carried out in two subsequent oestrous cycles in Umblachery cows (n =10) from the day of observed oestrum (Day 0) to next oestrum. Two subsequent oestrous cycles were studied in all the animals. Out of 20 cycles studied, seven (35.00%), twelve (60.00%) and one (5.00%) cycle(s) had two, three and four waves respectively. The day at which the Wave-1 dominant follicle (DF) attained the maximum diameter varied widely from Day 5 to Day 11. It was also found that the day of Wave-2 emergence varied widely from Day 7 to Day 13 among the individual animals. The average diameters of anovulatory wave DFs ranged from 9.07 to 9.86 and that of ovulatory wave DFs averaged from 9.20 to 9.67 mm. The mean inter-oestrus intervals were significantly (P < 0.01) longer in cycles with three-follicular waves (22.17 ± 0.27 days) than two-follicular waves (19.43 ± 0.28 days). Even though follicular wave patterns were comparable with other crossbred and B.indicus cattle, smaller size of the DF and wide variation in the days to attaining maximum diameter and emergence of Wave-2 were found to be characteristic features of Umblachery cows. 

The quantum of inclusion of concentrates in cattle feeding depends solely on availability and its price. An attempt was made to model and forecast the feed prices of dairy cattle feed in Tamil Nadu using time series data collected from Central Feed Technology Unit, Kattupakkam for the period from January 2012 to December 2022. Various time series models viz., Mean, Naïve, Random drift, Seasonal naive, Simple Exponential Smoothing, Holt linear, Holt-winter, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average - ARIMA and Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average models were fitted. The error measures, parameter estimates, forecast estimates and plots were assessed to ascertain the best fit model. Random drift model and ARIMA (0,1,0) model were found to be the best fit models for dairy cattle feed. Further, Holt-winter multiplicative model and SARIMA (1,1,0)(1,0,1) model were identified as the best fit models for the dry cattle feed price forecasting. Thus, these models could be utilized by the various stakeholders to predict the short term price forecasts of cattle feed for efficient planning and making right decisions. 

A biological trial was conducted to investigate the effect of bacteriophage on carcass characteristics of commercial broilers with or without bacterial challenge. Totally 180 day old Vencobb broiler chicks were randomly allotted into five dietary treatments designated as T1 to T5 with each treatment replicated thrice. T1 and T2 served as negative and positive control respectively, while birds in T3, T4 and T5 were exposed to E. coli on different days during 35 days course. Dietary treatments included T1 - basal diet, T2 - basal diet with bacteriophage in feed (50 mg/bird/ day up to 7th day and 25 mg/bird/day up to 35th day), T3 without bacteriophage, T4-bacteriophage in feed (50 mg/bird/day up to 35th day) and T5 - bacteriophage in feed (50 mg/bird/day up to 7th day and 25mg/bird/ day up to 35th day). E. coli was introduced orally in groups T3 and T4 on day 10, while T5 on day 26 (106 CFU/ bird). The bacteriophage supplementation to E. coli challenged birds had significantly increased the weights of eviscerated carcass, giblets, ready-to-cook meat; the cut-up parts like breast, back and drumstick compared to non-supplemented group. Results shed light on the potential benefits of bacteriophage as a natural alternate approach to antibiotic growth promotors in broiler production.

Resveratrol and silibinin are natural phytochemicals with considerable anticancer properties. They induce apoptosis of cancer cells by binding to various protein targets. Hence in this study, in silico molecular interaction studies were made between ligand resveratrol and ligand silibinin with NF-kB p50 subunit and p65 subunit, MMP9, caspase 3 and Bax proteins. The in silico molecular interaction revealed that silibinin and resveratrol interacted with five receptors with a high binding affinity and docking score making them novel inhibitors against various types of diseases. 

A commercially procured flow cytometrically sorted semen was reanalyzed to validate the effect of flow cytometry on structural and functional viability of spermatozoa. Flow cytometric analysis of commercially procured sex sorted frozen thawed bull semen showed the percentage of X sperms to be 95.31± 0.21 and Y sperms to be 4.69 ± 0.27, respectively. As expected sexed sperm had lower post thaw motility than the non-sexed sperm. However, no significant differences in the percentage of sperms with intact acrosome and expression of ROS were observed. Interestingly, DNA fragmentation index was statistically lower for the commercially procured sorted than for unsorted frozen thawed bull semen.

The use of metallic silver as an antimicrobial agent has been recognized for centuries. Silver nanoparticles (SNP) are now incorporated in apparel, wound dressings, appliances, cosmetics, paints and plastics for their antimicrobial properties. Generally, silver nanoparticles are prepared by a variety of chemical methods. In this study, we have used Phyllanthus amarus and Andrographis paniculata herbal plants leaves and stem extracts to synthesis SNP and were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). SNP capped with plant extracts gave absorption peak at 420 nm as expected for silver and broadening of peak were also noticed. TEM images suggested that they were of almost spherical shape and in the range of 7-60 nm in size. Antibacterial activity of plant extracts capped SNP were tested in Mueller-Hinton agar by well diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium.  SNP of 1 mg/ml and 5 mg/ml of P.amarus exhibited almost similar antibacterial activity, whereas, 5mg/ml, not 1 mg/ml of SNP capped with A. paniculata exerted antibacterial activity. The highest zone of inhibition was noticed against B.subtilis followed by S.aureus and P.vulgaris and the least zone of inhibition was observed against E.coli and S.Typhimurium. Green synthesis of SNP is cost effective and environment friendly. Further studies are required to explore the possibility of use of P.amarus capped silver nanoparticles for the treatment of burn and wound.

The present study was carried out to find out the histopathological alterations in gill, liver and kidney of Goldfish (Carassius auratus) under sublethal concentrations of Zinc. Fishes were exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of 0.572, 1.145, 2.289, 4.578 and 9.156 mg.l -1 for 28 days which are 1/10 of their 96hr LC. The histological samples of gill, liver and kidney were collected from 14 th, 50th  and 28th day and stained by haematoxylin and eosin, observed under trinocular microscope. Vacuolation, hyperplasia, epithelial lifting and lamellar fusion, shrinkage of blood vessels, secondary lamellar damage, breakdown of epithelial cells, blood congestion and necrosis were observed in gill. Rupture of nucleus, congested blood vessels, hemorrhage in liver sinuses, increased size of kupffer cell, increased pycnotic nucleus, hypertrophied hepatocytes, vacuolation, cellular necrosis, rupture of hepatocytes were observed in liver of zinc treated fish. Shrunken glomerulus, vacuolation, blood congestion, increased in space of periglomerular, increased in space of peritubular, melanomacrophages, loss of cytoplasm, fat deposition, degenerated tubules and degenerated glomerulus were seen in kidney. The above results showed that sub-lethal toxicity of Zinc alter the internal organs of goldfish at lower concentration.