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Acephate is a broad spectrum insecticide used against pests of vegetables, cotton and ornamental plants. In the present study, acephate was orally administered to female wistar rats to examine its toxic effects, if any, at dose level of 1/50th, 1/25th and 1/10th of LD50 value along with a control group for 45 days. Results revealed a remarkable decrease in the feed intake of 1/10th acephate treated rats during 5th and 6th week of treatment. The net body weights and liver weight decreased non-significantly to a small extent over 45 days of treatment. The weight of kidney and content of total soluble protein decreased significantly in a dose dependent manner in treated rats. The significant alterations in the activity of antioxidative enzymes i.e. glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and lipid peroxidation levels were observed. The appearance of comet in 1/10th dosed rats indicated DNA damage. Further, no formation of concentric rings in treated rats indicated the absence or low concentration of antibodies in the serum.

To achieve a comprehensive understanding of avian feeding guild structure the present study was conducted at Keshopur wetland Ramsar site, district Gurdaspur, Punjab, India. A total of 121 species of birds belonging to 19 orders and 47 families were observed. Direct observation techniques and focal sampling methods were used to study their foraging behaviour. Seven major feeding guilds ie., carnivorous, insectivorous, omnivorous, granivorous, herbivorous, frugivorous and nectarivorous were found. Maximum number of species were of carnivorous guild (28%) followed by insectivorous (21%). Cattle egret and red-wattled lapwing, members of carnivorous guild were observed to feed on insects also, hence placed in multiple guilds. Northern shoveler, eurasian coots and purple moorhen were seen foraging in association with each other. The large number of insectivorous birds depicts the presence of rich number of insects. The presence of birds belonging to seven foraging guilds highlight the significance of Keshopur wetland in providing a rich feeding ground to both migratory as well as resident birds.

The continuous use of pesticides to improve agriculture has not only affected the crop but also altered the food chain and worst affected the non-target organisms. Birds utilizing agricultural landscapes for feeding get exposed to these chemicals through ingestion of sprayed soils, treated granules or seeds and prey items. Raptors like owls are the most likely victims of pesticide exposure as they are at the top level of food chain. In present study, excreta samples of barn owl and spotted owlet were collected from three locations and tested for presence of pesticide residues using gas chromatography. The organophosphate residues of dichlorvos, monocrotophos, phorate, malathion, quinalphos, profenophos, ethion were not reported in excreta of both owl species but the residues of chlorpyriphos (0.037 ppm) were detected in spotted owlet samples collected from village Barnhara only. The pyrethroid residues cyhalothrin, permethrin, cypermethrin were also found to be absent or below detectable limit in samples collected from different locations. The feeding habits of birds attribute to the level of contamination in predatory birds. Although the level of chlorpyriphos residues excreted out from the body of spotted owlet does not reflect the actual level of exposure to this bird but gives an indication of their being at the risk of exposure in the environment.

In the present study, nanoemulsified essential oil of Eucalyptus globulus was analysed for its chemical composition and larvicidal activity against mosquito Aedes aegypti. GC-MS analysis revealed presence of total 22 compounds, of which the major ones were 1, 8-cineole (42.16%) and P-cymene (14.81%). Non polar fractions of oil were sonicated by mixing it in water with Tween 20 in different ratios, and 1:2 ratio was found to be the most stable. This was characterized using TEM and found to have spherical droplets of 20-40 nm. Nanoemulsified oil was found to be effective at 70 ppm with LC50 and LC90 of 51.95 and 64.21 ppm, respectively. SEM studies showed significant shrinkage and disruption of various larval body parts post treatment.

The growing threat of vector- borne diseases and environmental pollution has prompted the nanotechnology based investigations. The present study aimed to use one of the nanotechnological applications with larvicidal potential against Aedes aegypti by preparing aqueous hybrid nanoemulsion of zinc sulfide nanoparticles and Eucalyptus globulus oil. The mean droplet size of prepared and most stable hybrid nanoemulsion (9.5 ppm) was found to be 60±10.00 nm with rectangular shape. The hybrid nanoemulsion exhibited LC50 and LC90 values of 7.63 and 9.22 ppm respectively against larval stages of Aedes aegypti. The findings obtained from the larvicidal assay were corroborated with SEM, histological and biochemical profiles of Aedes larvae after treating with hybrid nanoemulsion. Under simulated conditions, nanohybrid treatment demonstrated optimum larvicidal potency after 48 hrs of exposure. Further, biosaftey studies of hybrid nanoemulsion were carried out against Scapholebris kingi and this larvicidal concentration of nanohybrid was found to be non-toxic to this species. Thus, the following research explains the larvicidal efficacy of zinc sulfide based hybrid nanoemulsion of eucalyptus oil formulated during the present study is a step towards safe and efficient approach against dengue spreading vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti.

The present study revealed the oxidative stress induced by the exposure of low density polyethylene microplastics (LDPE MPs) in Labeo rohita. Fingerlings were divided into four (control, T1, T2 and T3) groups. Fingerlings of T1, T2 and T3 groups were exposed respectively to 2, 20 and 200 mg/L of LDPE MPs for 45 days. A control was also maintained during experiment to which no MPs were added. Oxidative stress studies revealed a decrease in the activity of hepatic antioxidative enzymes i.e. superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GR) in all treated groups in dose and time dependent manner. In gills, an increase in the activities of SOD, CAT and GPx but decrease in the activities of GR and GST was found in T1 group after 30 days of exposure. However, decrease in activities of these enzymes was observed in all treated groups in dose dependent manner after 45 days of exposure. Moreover, the activities of antioxidative enzymes were found to be decreased in time dependent manner. In kidneys, increase in the activities of antioxidative enzymes was observed in T1 group followed by their decrease in T2 and T3 groups in dose and time dependent manner. However, Lipid peroxidation was found to be increased in vital organs of all treated groups in dose and time dependent manner indicating MPs induced oxidative stress in these organs due to increased production of reactive oxygen species.

Essential oils act as advantageous alternative to insecticides for the control of mosquitoes. But their improper dispersion in water is a problem and to overcome this, present study was conducted by preparing Aloe vera oil nanoemulsions in water using sonication technique. Thermodynamic stability tests revealed that the aqueous nanoemulsion having A. vera oil and Tween-20 in 1: 3 ratio was maximally stable (out of the tested three nanoemulsions prepared @ 1: 1, 1: 2 and 1: 3). Size of spherical droplets of the stable aquananoemulsion recorded through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was found to range from 20 to 50 nm (38.33±1.67). Different concentrations of the stable nanoemulsion of A. vera oil @750, 650, 550, 450, 350, 250 ppm (in triplicate) were tested for their larvicidal potential against Aedes aegypti. Amongst these 650 ppm was found to be the most effective as 100% mortality was observed within 24 hr.

Sperm morphometry, in combination with other morphological traits and sperm parameters, can be useful for developing a fertility index. In present study various morphological and morphometric characters of cauda epididymal spermatozoa from 30 house rats were measured. About 100 spermatozoa of each rat with normal morphology and abnormalities like abnormal head, midpiece swelling, coiled tail, bent tail, detached heads and cytoplasmic droplets were counted in different fields and percentage of each was calculated. About 50 spermatozoa of each rat were measured for head length (HL), mid piece length (MPL), tail length (TL), head area (HA) and head perimeter (HP) using Magnus pro analytic software. In cauda epididymal spermatozoa of rat primary abnormalities included abnormal heads and mid piece swelling and secondary abnormalities included cytoplasmic droplet, coiled tails, bent tails, free heads. Variation among the sperm abnormalities was considerably high (>50 %). There was little variation in HL, MPL, TL, HA and HP of cauda epididymal spermatozoa of 30 rats (

PH-20 (Spam-1) antigen appears to be a bi-functional sperm plasma membrane protein with hyaluronidase activity and its role is related to cumulus penetration as well as zona binding. (LDH-C4) is a key enzyme, distributed specifically in testis and is highly immunogenic, function of which relates to energy metabolism and capacitation of the sperm. Therefore, in this study, we observed the effect of purified native PH-20 and LDH-C4 antigens on sperm function and morphology in dog. Native PH-20 (46, 32 kDa) and LDH-C4 (36, 30, 28) sub units, purified from dog sperm SDS- extracts were used to test as immunocontraceptive candidates in stray dog. Dogs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5/6 and 7/8 were immunized with 46, 32, 36, 30/28, 46/32, 36/30/28 kDa sub units respectively by i/m route and semen was analysed at weekly intervals. High titre of 3200 - 6400 was achieved in all dogs after three boosters. Immune response in treated dogs was confirmed by increase in Ig level in blood serum and reaction of partially purified serum Ig of immunized dogs with respective antigens in double immune diffusion and immunoblots. Immunization of dogs either with individual PH-20/ LDHC sub units or pooled PH-20/LDHC4 sub units showed a significant effect on sperm count, percent motility, viability, HOST and sperm morphology. All the sperm parameters declined to a significant level (p 4 (36/30/28 kDa) sub units had an immunocontraceptive potential in dog.

The present work was undertaken to evaluate the antiplasmodial activity of ethanolic leaves extract of traditional medicinal plant Xanthium strumarium in Plasmodium berghei-infected BALB/c mice along with phytochemical screening and acute toxicity test to support its traditional medicinal use as a malaria remedy. The ethanolic leaves extract of X. strumarium (ELEXS) 150, 250, 350 and 500 mg/kg/day demonstrated dose-dependent chemosuppression during early and established infection long with significant (p 0.001) repository activity. The oral administration of 500 mg/kg/day concentration showed a maximum of 88.6% chemosuppression during early infection, which was more than that of the standard drug chloroquine (5 mg/kg/day) with 88.3% chemosuppression. However, 60% mortality has been found in this group. The LD(50) of ELEXS was found to be 1.5 g/kg/mouse. The administration of 350 mg/kg/day concentration of extract have been found to exert 90.40% chemosuppression during repository infection, which was well comparable to standard drug pyrimethamine (1.2 mg/kg/day) exerting 92.91% chemosuppression. The extract has been found to enhance mean survival time of mice from 21 to 26 days with 250 and 350 mg/kg/day concentrations, while 150 mg/kg/day concentration has been found to sustain all the mice up to 29 days which was similar to the employed standard drug chloroquine (5 mg/kg/day). All these findings support the ethanopharmacological use of X. strumarium as malarial remedy and indicate the potential of plant for active antiplasmodial components.

In this paper, interaction of LDHC4, PH-20, a-actin and b-tubulin on dog’s sperm surface and their immunocontraceptive effect in bitches has been elucidate. Anti spam -1 and anti LDHC4 recognized 46/32 and 36/30/28 kDa proteins in dog sperm extracts on immunoblots. Whereas, proteins of 43, 36 kDa and 62, 46, 43, 30 and 28 kDa were detected on immunoblots with anti-a-actin and anti-b-tubulin. In MALDI-TOF analysis, sequence of 46, 30, 28 and 43, 36 kDa antigens matched twice to b-tubulin and a-actin respectively. Therefore, one sub unit each of LDHC4 and a-actin had same mol wt of 36 kDa and two other sub units each of LDHC4 and b-tubulin shared the same mol wt of 30/28 kDa. Reaction of 46 kDa protein both with anti-spam-1 and b-tubulin indicated similarity in their mol wts. Similarly the reaction of 43 kDa protein both with anti-a-actin and anti- b-tubulin revealed some similarity between both. Sequence analysis revealed 19.49%, 24.28%, 21.42% and 18.75% similarity of LDHC4/ a-actin, PH-20/ a-actin, LDHC4/ b-tubulin and LDHC4/tubulin respectively. Immunofluoresence staining of dog sperm smears also indicated similarity in localization of these four proteins. Localization of PH-20 and b-tubulin was mainly on the entire head region. Whereas, LDHC4 is uniformly distributed on the whole sperm and actin is more concentrated on the post acrosomal cap. Purified native proteins of 46/32 and 36/30/28 kDa were injected to a group of two bitches respectively through i/m route to elucidate their immunocontraceptive potential. Immunization of bitches in both the groups resulted in suppressed heat, and inhibited natural mating. On being subjected to AI, ultrasonography of four immunized and two unimmunized (control) bitches 35 days after insemination confirmed the presence of 0 and 3-4 fetuses respectively. Therefore, it seems that LDHC4/PH-20 and a-actin/ tubulin share their molecular weights or interact with each other or actin/ b-tubulin superimpose LDHC4 /PH-20 on sperm surface. In view of observed contraceptive effect, it can be concluded that LDHC4 and PH-20 collectively with a-actin and b-tubulin affect estrus, process of natural mating and ultimately the fertility in bitches.