Professionalism in Wildlife Management: The Case of Gallifoms Releases in Hellas

Hunting organizations in cooperation with the Forest Service release thousands of artificially reared pheasants and partridges in Hellas (Greece). To evaluate the effectiveness of this practice a questionnaire was applied to hunting wardens of four hunting federations in 2002 and one in 2011. Moreover data were obtained from the wildlife managers of one federation from 2009 to 2014. The release of hybrid pheasants and chukar partridges was conducted by the majority of local hunting clubs (H.C.). Most hunting wardens and wildlife managers stated that even during the most successful release only a small percentage (1% - 10%) of released birds can survive for more than three months and usually none of the released birds or a few achieve to rear chicks. However, repeated releases led to the establishment of small groups of birds in some areas, but without a serious benefit for hunting activity. In case of releases for hunting purposes (put and take), the respondents said that the majority (90%) of galliforms were killed by predators or hunters within a few days after release, and that only few (18 - 25) hunters harvested the survived birds. Until 2009, in northern and central mainland Hellas, the minimum cost per bird entering to the hunter’s bag was 143€. That amount is estimated to be 33.47€ in islands and after 2009 in mainland. In conclusion, the professionalism in galliforms releases should get improved with appropriate legal decisions and organization structures.

The Use of Intramuscular Praziquantel in South-African Ruminants against Cestode Parasites. A First Pilot Study

The objective of this small pilot study was to test the efficacy and potential development for the use of Praziquantel IM Cestodicide in South African goats. Two farms were identified as infected with the Cestode Moniezia spp, and a test herd as well as a control herd was set aside on each of these farms. Fecal float coprological analyses were performed before and after treatment of the test herds, while no treatment was administered to the animals in the control herds of each farm. Praziquantel treatment proofed to be effective in reducing Cestode numbers based on egg counts using the Mac-Master method.

Surface Morphology Investigation of Tunisian Dromedary Hair

In raw materials of dromedary hair, there are two distinct fibre populations： The fine one is of textile relevance and the coarse one is rather worthless and must be as a rule separated prior to spinning and subsequent processing. The fibre surface morphology and fibre fineness of Tunisian dromedary hair has been investigated by means of scanning electron microscope （SEM）. SEM microscopic method provides the fibre diameter, the scale shape, the scale frequency and scale height. The results show that dehaired dromedary fibre presents a relatively low mean fibre diameter （≈ 17 μm） with a high coefficient of variation （CV ≈ 25%）. The scales of the dromedary fibre are on average extremely long and quite visible, they tend not to protrude from the fibre, appear almost convex, and provide a wavy appearance in profile of the relatively coarse fibre. On counting the scale frequency, that is, the number of scale margins within a determined fibre length of 100 μm on the surface of a fine （diameter 〈 30 μm） and coarse （diameter 〉 30 μm） dromedary fibre, comes out roughly five at eight and eight at twelve scale margins, respectively. The mean height of the cuticle scale is 0.12μm and 0.24 μm, respectively, for fine and coarse dromedary fibre. These explain why dromedary fibres present a soft touch due to the prominence of the scale edges. This aspect of the surface structure has a high correlation with the felting capacity of the matter, and contributes to the concepts of handle and gloss.

A rare case of giant panda cancer:Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDAC)is a highly malignant cancer of the digestive system common among humans.However,it is rarely reported in wild animals.In 2018,a giant panda died in the Beijing Zoo.During subsequent histological observation of the pancreas,it was discovered that the glandular epithelial cells had lost the pancreatic acinar structure,tubular areas with obvious structure in the pancreas,and the ductal epithelium was substituted by high columnar mucus cells.Masson staining showed that there were several fibrous tissue proliferative reactions around the ductal adenocarcinoma and immunohistochemical staining revealed that CK7 and CK19 were positively expressed in the pancreatic tissue.Therefore,the pathological diagnosis indicated that the panda had PDAC.In this paper,the panda’s living conditions and pathological diagnosis results are examined,with the aim of providing a reference point for the future diagnosis of wild animal tumors.

Identification of host proteins that interact with African swine fever virus pE301R

African swine fever virus(ASFV)infection poses enormous threats and challenges to the global pig industry;however,no effective vaccine is available against ASFV,attributing to the huge viral genome(approximately189 kb)and numerous encoding products(>150 genes)due to the limited understanding on the molecular mechanisms of viral pathogenesis.Elucidating the host-factor/viral-protein interaction network will reveal new targets for developing novel antiviral therapies.Using proteomic analysis,we identified 255 cellular proteins that interact with the ASFV-encoded pE301R protein when transiently expressed in HEK293T cells.Gene ontology(GO)annotation,Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)database enrichment,and protein-protein interaction(PPI)network analyses revealed that pE301R-interacting host proteins are potentially involved in various biological processes,including protein translation and folding,response to stimulation,and mitochondrial transmembrane transport.The interactions of two putative cellular proteins(apoptosis inducing factor mitochondria associated 1(AIFM1)and vimentin(VIM))with pE301R-apoptosis inducing factor have been verified by co-immunoprecipitation.Our study revealed the inhibitory role of pE301R in interferon(IFN)induction that involves VIM sequestration by pE301R,identified interactions between ASFV pE301R and cellular proteins,and predicted the potential function of pE301R and its associated biological processes,providing valuable information to enhance our understanding of viral protein function,pathogenesis,and potential candidates for the prevention and control of ASFV infection.