A three year old, male, Dachshund dog, weighing 10 Kg was presented to Veterinary College Hospital, Hassan with the history of snake bite (Russell’s viper). On physical examination, animal was dull and depressed, face was swollen and fang marks were observed on the right side of the face and blood tinged fluid was oozing from the bitten area. Animal was evincing pain on palpation of swollen area. Haemato-biochemical findings were within the normal range except for thrombocytopenia. The case was diagnosed as snake envenomation and treated with polyvalent anti snake venom intravenously, along with 100 ml of 0.9 per cent normal saline, dexamethasone and antibiotics for 5 days. Animal made uneventful recovery after 5 days of treatment. 

The  breeding  values  of  51  Sahiwal  sires  were estimated from the actual and predicted FL305DMY by applying four sire evaluation methods viz., least squares, simple regressed least squares, best linear unbiased prediction and derivative free restricted maximum likelihood. The derivative free restricted maximum likelihood method had lowest error variance for both actual and predicted first lactation 305-days milk yields and it was considered to be the most efficient method. The BLUP method was second efficient  followed by LSM and SRLS method.

Ten cattle with severe generalised skin lesions due to dermatophilosis were taken up for the study. Typical exudative dermatitis lesions with matting of hairs, thick scab formation and fissures on the skin were noticed in lower limbs, udder, perineum, inguinal region, axilla, neck and ears. Haematological analysis revealed anaemia and an increase in the absolute eosinophil count in affected animals. Serum biochemical estimations revealed hypoalbuminaemia, hyperglobulinaemia, a decrease in A/G ratio, increase in the blood urea nitrogen value and decrease in the zinc level in affected animals

Diet of mud crab S.tranquebarica consists of crustaceans, mollusks, fish remains, detritus, debris and undigested flesh. Quantitative analysis of the gut contents contributed 53.18% crustaceans, 24.69% molluscan remains, 16.91% fish remains and 3.02% & 1.23% of detritus and debris respectively. The study indicated that this species is primarily predators of sessile and slow moving benthic macro invertebrates. The presence of detritus, debris and undigested flesh items in the stomachs suggested that the crabs are detritivorous consuming fresh and decaying flesh of all kinds. The sex wise and size wise of diet in these crabs may be largely due to relative abundance of prey species in the habitat or related to change in cheliped strength and foraging behaviour.

The study of the influence of aqueous and hydro alcoholic extracts of Tinospora cordifolia on human mammary tumor cell line MCF-7 is a common way of discovering potential therapeutics for treating people suffering from hormone-dependent problems and diseases. In the present study, the cells were treated with the extracts at three different doses viz., 200 μg/ml, 400 μg/ ml and 600 μg/ml. Both the extracts produced degenerative changes in the cell in dose-dependent manner with maximum effect being noticed at the dose level of 600 μg/ml. Thus, these findings suggest that the extracts from Tinospora cordifolia have potential for acting as an antiproliferative agent in mammary tumour.

The squat lobster, Munidopsis cylindrophthalma (Alcock, 1894) was recorded for the first time from the Indian main land coast while investigating the biodiversity of the squat lobster of Gulf of Mannar during April, 2013. One specimen of the said species was collected as an incidental by-catch in the deep sea trawl fisheries off Thoothukudi coast of Gulf of Mannar, between 08º 35’ 22.5" N lat. 78º 27’ 40.9" E long and 08º 31’ 91.2" N lat. 78º 25’ 32.7"E long at a depth of 305-310 m. The present records show its extended distribution from Gulf of Mannar to east of Andamans and further to South China Sea. 

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of curcumin on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant levels in DMBA (7, 12 Diemthyl Benanthracene) induced mammary carcinogenesis in rats. Twenty four Sprague-Dawley rats were equally distributed to control, DMBA, Tamoxifen (Standard drug) and curcumin groups. DMBA group showed significant (P<0.05) increase in lipid peroxidation and antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels besides reduced glutathione (GSH). Whereas, curcumin and Tamoxifen treated groups did not show any significant difference in lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status when compared to the control. Selective growth advantage of tumour cells was evident in the DMBA group and curcumin was able to prevent lipid peroxidation.

The study was conducted to find out polymorphism at various growth hormone (bGH) and growth hormone receptor loci (bGHR) by using PCRRFLP technique. Fifty two blood samples of Mehsana buffalo were collected from Livestock Research Station, Sardarkrushinagar Agricultural University, Gujarat. The DNA samples were subjected to PCR amplification using bGH and bGHR specific primers. The PCR products of GH1 (436 bp), GH2 (891bp), GH3 (441bp) and GHR1 (approx 640 bp) loci were digested with Alu 1, Msp 1, Hae III and Mae II restriction enzymes respectively and only AA, CC, FF and RR genotypes were respectively found in Mehsana buffalo. All the bGH and bGHR loci studied were monomorphic.

The giant lizard mantis of Lysiosquilla sulcirostris Kemp, 1913 was recorded for the first time from Thoothukudi waters while investigating the biodiversity of the Gulf of Mannar during September, 2013. One specimen of the said species was collected as an incidental by-catch in the trawl fisheries off Thoothukudi coast of Gulf of Mannar, between 08º 35’ 22.5" N lat. 78º 27’ 40.9" E long and 08º 31’ 91.2"N lat. 78º 25’ 32.7"E long at a depth of 150-160 m.

The present study was conducted to elucidate the growth performance changes in Wistar rats given cadmium chloride in different doses at various intervals. Wistar rats (n=12/group) were divided into four groups viz, group I (Control) given normal drinking water whereas group II, III and IV rats were given CdCl2 @ 100, 250 and 500 ppm, respectively for 12 weeks. Animals of all the groups were closely observed through out the period of experiment thrice a day for clinical signs. Daily Feed intake (FI), Body Weights (BW), Body Weight Gain (BWG) and Feed Conversion Ratios (FCR) were recorded. Clinical signs observed upto first 5 weeks were less prominent in all the treatment group rats. After 5 weeks PE, rats of all treatment groups showed varying degree of toxic signs, which included inappetence, dullness, weakness, depression, lethargy, reduced feed intake, decrease in body weight, poor fur condition, loss of hair, change in behaviour, disinclination to move, increased thirst and dehydration. In addition, group IV rats also showed nervous disorders from 9th week onwards. The average values of feed consumption, body weight and body weight gain were significantly lower in all treatment group rats as compared to control group rats in dose and duration dependent manner. Moreover, FCR increased significantly in all treatment groups from 4th week PE than control group rats upto the end of trial.