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Aim: A retrospective study was undertaken to determine the occurrence, and the distribution of the most common clinical conditions of young dogs encountered at the National School of Veterinary Medicine clinic, Tunisia, from September 2012 to July 2013, based on sex, age, breeds, and season variation. Materials and Methods: A total of 515 cases were examined, and 11 clinical conditions were recorded. Clinical examination was performed. X-ray examination and necropsy were carried out only when needed. Results: Of the 515, 298 cases (57.86%) were male, while 217 (42.14%) were female. The breed-wise difference in the occurrence of various health problems was statistically significant. Nevertheless, no significant association was found between the occurrence of a disease and age. The commonly found clinical conditions were traumatic injuries (22.72%), ectoparasitic infections (20.58%), and gastroenteritis (13.40%). The occurrence of diseases was the highest (60.19%) in the wet season (September-February) followed by 39.81% in the dry season (March-July). Conclusion: The current study presents the first recorded data about the major clinical conditions of young dogs in Tunisia. These findings can be used to develop more effective disease management and control strategies.

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Human exposure to pollutants has been on the rise. Thus, researchers have been focused on understanding the effect of these compounds on human health, especially on the genetic information by using various tests, among them the somatic mutation and recombination tests (SMARTs). It is a sensitive and accurate method applicable to genotoxicity analysis. Here, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of SMART assays in genotoxicity studies was performed to assess publication trends of this field. Data were extracted from the Web of Science database and analyzed by the bibliometric tools HistCite, Biblioshiny (RStudio), VOSViewer, and CiteSpace. Results have shown an increase in the last 10 years in terms of publication. A total of 392 records were published in 96 sources mainly from Brazil, Spain, and Turkey. Research collaboration networks between countries and authors were performed. Based on document co-citation, five large research clusters were identified and analyzed. The youngest research frontier emphasized on nanoparticles. With this study, how research trends evolve over years was demonstrated. Thus, international collaboration could be enhanced, and a promising field could be developed.

Günümüzde nanopartiküllerin üstün fizikokimyasal özelliklerinin belirlenmesinden sonra nanopartiküller ve nanoteknolojiye olan ilgi de hızlı bir şekilde artmış ve kullanım alanları da yaygınlaşmıştır. Üç fiziksel boyutundan en az biri 1-100 nm aralığında olan ve belirli nano-ölçekli özellikler gösterebilen maddeler olarak tanımlanan nanopartiküller, tıp, elektronik, kozmetik, çevresel temizlik gibi birçok farklı alanda yaygın kullanım alanına sahiptir. Bu yaygın kullanımdan dolayı insanların da nanopartiküllere olan maruziyeti gün geçtikçe artmaktadır. Ayrıca nanopartiküllerin çevreye yayılması doğada ki birçok canlı için risk oluşturmaktadır. Bu sebeple de nanopartiküllerin yol açabileceği olumlu/olumsuz biyolojik etkilerin anlaşılabilmesi için yapılan çalışmalar da hız kazanmıştır. Bu bağlamda yapılan çalışmada MgO nanopartiküllerinin farklı konsantrasyonlarının (2, 5 ve 10 mM) Drosophila melanogaster üzerindeki davranışsal toksisiteye etkisinin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır. Davranışsal toksisitenin belirlenmesinde larval ağırlık ve hareketi, ergin birey ağırlığı, pupa oluşturma başarısı, pupa pozisyonu, pupadan çıkış başarısı, negatif jeotaksis ve ömür uzunluğu deneyleri gerçekleştirilerek değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda MgO NP'lerinin genel olarak Drosophila melanogaster'da negatif bir etkiye neden olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Larval hareketin incelendiği deney kapsamında çalışma kapsamında en yüksek doz olarak belirlenen 10 mM'lık derişimin istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir şekilde azalmaya neden olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

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This study explores whether crustacean products inhibit viral infections in aquaculture. Chitosan (CHT) was extracted from waste products of Parapenaeus longirostris. Biochemical composition, viscosity measurement, molecular weight, structure and cytotoxicity tests were used to characterize the extracted chitosan. Cultures of E-11 cells derived from snakehead Ophicephalus striatus were inoculated with 106.74 TCID50 of an isolate of betanodavirus genotype RGNNV (redspotted grouper nervous necrosis virus) after being treated with solutions of 0.3% CHT for 1 h at room temperature. The antiviral effect of CHT was assessed by comparing the ability of RGNVV to replicate and produce cytopathic effects on CHT-treated cell cultures. The change in RNA expression levels of the nodavirus capsid protein gene and three mediator genes in infected cells with or without CHT treatment was evaluated by qPCR. Changes in gene expression compared to control groups were monitored at 6, 24, 48 and 71 h post treatment in all target gene transcripts. The CCR3 expression in CHT treated cells showed a significant increase (p < 0.05) until day 3. On the other hand, the expression of TNF-α decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in CHT treated cells throughout the experimental period. Likewise, the expression of the IL-10 gene showed a significant downregulation in CHT treated cells at all time points (p ≤ 0.05). As further evidence of an antiviral effect, CHT treatment of cells produced a reduction in virus load as measured by a reduced expression of the viral capsid gene and the increase in RQ values from 406 ± 1.9 at hour 1 to 695 ± 3.27 at 72 h post inoculation. Statistical analysis showed that the expression of the viral capsid gene was significantly lower in cells treated with chitosan (p ≤ 0.05). These results improve our knowledge about the antiviral activity of this bioactive molecule and highlight its potential use in fish feed industry.

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