Rats and mice

Extract of Catha edulis (khat) lowered the mitotic index in bone marrow cells of Swiss male mice at all times of exposure and in almost all the concentrations studied compared with corresponding controls. The reduction in the mitotic index revealed a mitodepressive effect of khat extract on the dividing bone marrow cells of mice. Following application of the lowest dose (125 mg/ml), 24 h was regarded the higher limit of time exposure in the experiments. After 24 h exposure and at the lowest dose (125 mg/ml) the effect of the khat extract started to decrease.

Background: Achatina fulica is a land snail that produces a glycoproteic secretion which has some biological effects. Mucus of this snail has been tested in surgical wounds of experimental animals and proved to improve the dermal cicatricial repair. On the other hand, chitosan is a fiber-like substance derived from chitin which can be prepared in the form of film or hydrogel used in burn and wound dressing. These findings gave Achatina fulica slime and chitosan the potential to be formulated as composite films for cicatrization.

Emesis, also known as nausea and vomiting, are common symptoms associated with ingestion of toxicants, drug side effects, advanced terminal diseases such as cancer and postoperative procedures. Emesis is mediated through the coordinated
action of central and peripheral regulatory centres that involve receptors including dopamine Type 2, serotonin, muscarinic cholinergic, histamine, cannabinoids and NK-1 receptors. Many anti-emetic drugs targeting these receptors are currently in
use but they also cause undesirable side effects such as excessive sedation, hypotension,dry mouth, dysphoria, hallucinations and extrapyramidal signs. This review highlights the pharmacological mechanism of emesis and current antiemtic drugs
together with detailed analysis of in vitro and in vivo anti-emetic bioassay models. The pharmacology of crude natural products extracts and purified anti-emeticcompounds (cannabinoids, chalcones, diarylheptanoids, flavonoids, hydroxycinnamic
acids, lignans, phenylpropanoids, polysaccharides, saponins, terpenes and glycosidic derivatives) are also systematically presented with their mechanism of action. The potential of natural products as sources of new clinically proven anti-emetic drugs are discussed.

Scomparire è ancora meglio che tuffarsi sott'acqua: al costume dei ranocchi, preferisco quello dei topi. Non penso, però, a quelli neri e grigi delle case e dei giardini, ma al topo giallo-rosso della foresta tropicale, che somiglia ad un minuscolo scoiattolo. Si nutre di noci, di cui nel primo autunno reca una provvista nel suo nido invernale. Là, dorme ben nascosto per sei mesi o più, mentre le foglie cadono sul terreno boschivo e le ricopre poi la neve. Io ho preso le mie precauzioni secondo il suo modello. Il moscardino, o topo di nocciole, è parente della marmotta: fin da bambino mi raffiguravo la vita di questo sognatore altamente comoda. Non è un caso che, dopo la morte del padre, io mi sia smarrito in questo mondo protettore. Nella mia solitudine, nel solaio di casa, io mi tramutavo in moscardino. Per anni, esso fu il mio animale totemico. Mi sono cercato, ai margini della foresta, un posticino per la mia tana. Il foro d'ingresso non dovrebbe trovarsi al livello del suolo, è meglio una fessura nella roccia o dentro un tronco cavo. Di là iniziai a scavare il cunicolo, giorno per giorno, sempre più in fondo, raschiando fuori il terriccio, che poi sparpagliavo perché non ne rimanesse traccia. Una volta giunto abbastanza in fondo, scavai un secondo cunicolo verso l'alto, come uscita di sicurezza. Per ogni ingresso bisogna provvedere alla sortita, per ogni via pensare al ritorno: questo mi risultava chiaro fin da allora. Il lavoro doveva avvenire in assoluto silenzio e con cautela; dall'alto vi era di giorno la minaccia dello sparviero, e di notte del gufo, al suolo animali ostili, in primo luogo la vipera-il moscardino è sempre minacciato. È il tributo che paga alla sua libertà. Dopo aver scavato i cunicoli, si passava all'abitazione, una comoda cameretta, non troppo piccina, né troppo grande. Che vi potesse stare anche una femmina, non mi veniva ancora in mente. Nemmeno per la mamma c'era da provvedere: era presente ovunque, era la tana stessa. Una volta apprestata la cameretta e levigato bene il suo ovale, scavai il cunicolo di approccio alla dispensa. Questo era più grande, con una curvatura a forma di focaccia: con un granaio

Rats are predominantly viewed and understood as pests, vermin and a risk to human health. Yet little is known about rats in the urban space and the entangled relationships they have with humans and the environment This dissertation elaborates on the multiple identities that are connotated to
rats as well as the complex relationships they have with people residing in Site C, Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa – an African township comprising formal and informal housing areas on the outskirts of the city. Through locating these complex relationships and engaging with stories and experiences of living in close proximity to rats, an image of the rat emerged, mirror like, reflecting back the realities of inequality and slow violence in the lives of people residing in Site C. To illustrate the nuances related to inequality and slow violence, this dissertation analyses the manner in which rats are controlled in the city of Cape Town and by whom, the polluted river in ‘Island’ – an informal area in Site C, and how people negotiate living alongside rats, witchcraft and violence in the everyday. This dissertation argues that instead of focusing on rats as vermin, pests or a risk to human health, through ‘following’ them and the complex entanglements they have with us as humans, we are able to learn about the realities that many people face characterised by inequality and slow violence. The dissertation ultimately contributes to an ongoing debate about rat control policies in the city of Cape Town and what considerations need to be made in order to address the violence against the rat and the violence against people residing in spaces such as Site C.

This paper presents a reading of the prose fragment “Erinnerungen an die Kaldabahn” (1914) as a document of Kafka’s zoopoetics. I draw on Akira Lippit’s conception of ‘animetaphor’ as site of an irresoluble yet productive tension between animal being and figurative language. Animetaphor is an apt description of the function and status of animal figures in Kafka’s writing, in that it describes precisely the simultaneous construction and dissolution of meaning that is a salient characteristic of the ‘Kafkaesque.’ “Erinnerungen an die Kaldabahn” is an intensely ‘Kafkaesque’ text, and one of the principal reasons for this, I argue, is its engagement with the figure of the animal as at once the agent and the undoing of literary production.

Antes de comenzar a realizar tus actividades, ingresa a la pestaña de la etapa 1 de tu aula virtual, donde encontrarás el texto " Desarrollo humano y libertad " que deberás leer detenidamente para poder concretar todas tus actividades. 1.-Foro de construcción del conocimiento. Una vez que hayas leído el texto de la etapa 1, ingresa al foro de construcción del conocimiento de la etapa 1, donde encontrarás una publicación por parte de tu docente con una serie de preguntas detonadoras sobre el tema Desarrollo humano y libertad. Dichas preguntas las deberás responder asertivamente y en base al conocimiento obtenido en la lectura de dicho texto. Una vez respondidas las preguntas, deberás formular y publicar, al final de tu actividad, una pregunta que consideres importante sobre el tema visto. Dicha pregunta deberá ser respondida por el próximo compañero que publique su actividad. La pregunta debe diferenciarse fácilmente del resto de las preguntas y con una leyenda que indique que esa es la pregunta que deberá responder el siguiente compañero. La respuesta que proporciones a la pregunta del compañero anterior, de igual manera, debe contener una leyenda que indique que es la respuesta a la pregunta del compañero anterior. (Se sobreentiende que únicamente el primer alumno en publicar su actividad, no deberá responder una pregunta adicional proporcionada por un compañero, pero si deberá publicar una pregunta para el siguiente compañero). 2.-Actividad 1-Objeto, fin y circunstancia. Ya se han planteado brevemente los elementos centrales de un acto moral voluntario: objeto, fin y circunstancia. La identificación de estos elementos en la acción humana permite tener los elementos básicos para emitir un juicio moral en torno a las acciones que realizamos los seres humanos. Todos somos sociales, nuestras acciones tienen consecuencias directas en nosotros mismos y también en los demás, llegando incluso a influir –aunque sea indirectamente-en los procesos sociales que experimenta la sociedad. Es por ello que el objetivo de este primer ejercicio es que identifiques los elementos centrales de las acciones voluntarias, para que puedas desarrollar una conciencia crítica en torno a la realidad que te toca vivir. Sigue los pasos descritos a continuación para realizar dicha actividad:

This essay explores four works of animal fantasy featuring rats to argue that fantasy may be seen as offering alternative scenarios for interaction between humans and Nature. Robert C. O’Brien’s Mrs. Frisby and the Raths of NIMH, Ursula Le Guin’s “Mazes”, Philip Pullman’s I Was a Rat, and Terry Pratchett’s The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents are examined as illustrating the reevaluation of the status of animals in the world of the anthropocene. This trend is seen as representing the contemporary mythopoesis aimed at a fundamental revision of Western ethical values, including treatment of animals and human relationships with Nature.

In the present study, the nephroprotective potentials of cinnamon and/or parsley oils was assessed on gentamicin (GM)-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. About 49 male rats were assigned randomly into 7 equal groups (7 rats each). Group 1-3: were orally administered normal saline, cinnamon oil (400 mg kgG 1 b.wt.) and parsley oil (200 mg kgG 1 b.wt.), respectively, once daily for 30 consecutive days. Group 4: rats in this group were intraperitoneally injected with GM (100 mg kgG 1 b.wt.) in the last 10 days (20-30 th day) of the experiment. Group 5: rats in this group were given cinnamon and GM while rats in group 6 were administered parsley and GM. Group 7: rats in this group were administered cinnamon and parsley plus GM. At the end of the experiment, rats were sacrificed, serum samples and kidney specimens were collected for biochemical and oxidative status evaluation. Rats administered GM alone showed significant increases in serum concentrations of creatinine, urea and glucose while renal tissue levels of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione reductase were significantly declined. Additionally, the malondialdehyde level was significantly elevated in kidney tissues. Also, GM administration caused renal histopathological alterations. The altered levels of various parameters provoked by GM toxicity were restored towards normal levels by cinnamon and/or parsley oils administration. These results suggested the nephroprotective potentials of cinnamon and/or parsley oils in rats, probably triggered by their antioxidant phytoconstituents.

Background: Melastoma malabathricum L. (Melastomaceae) is a small shrub with various medicinal uses. The present study was carried out to determine the hepatoprotective activity of methanol extract of M. malabathricum leaves (MEMM) against the paracetamol-induced liver toxicity in rats model.

Im Alpenraum, und damit in Teilen der Schweiz kommen die drei Waldmausarten Apodemus sylvaticus, Apodemus flavicollis und Apodemus alpicola sympatrisch vor. Die Bestimmung im Feld an lebenden Tieren bereitet selbst Kleinsäugerexperten immer wieder Schwierigkeiten.
Im Rahmen meiner Bachelorarbeit habe ich untersucht, ob sich diese drei Waldmausarten nach äusseren Merkmalen bestimmen lassen. Dazu führte ich Lebendfänge mit Longworth-Fallen durch. Von den gefangenen Tieren wurde eine Gewebeprobe zur DNA-Analyse entnommen und verschiedene morphologische Merkmale erfasst. Diese Daten ergänzte ich mit Untersuchungen an Präparaten aus den Sammlungen des Bündner Naturmuseums in Chur GR und der Naturkundlichen Sammlung des Fürstentum Liechtenstein Triesen FL.
Viele Ergebnisse deckten sich mit der Literatur. So wurde bei A. sylvaticus nie ein durchgehendes Halsband erfasst und A. alpicola wies die grössten Hinterfüsse auf. Es konnten aber auch neue Erkenntnisse gewonnen werden. Die deutlichen Resultate liessen die Ausarbeitung eines Bestimmungsschlüssels zu. So konnten sowohl A. flavicollis als auch A. sylvaticus aufgrund gewisser morphologischer Merkmale mit einer Sicherheit von mindestens 88 % bestimmt werden. Abschliessend wurden aufgrund dieser Arbeit noch offene Fragen, wie das Verbreitungsgebiet von A. alpicola oder die Vererbungsvorgänge der Fellmerkmale, für zukünftige Studien und zur weiteren Optimierung der Bestimmung diskutiert.

World consumption of natural juices is increasing as a consequence of the human search for a healthier life. The juice production industry, especially for orange juice, is expanding in several countries and particularly in Brazil. Despite scientific data reporting beneficial properties derived from juice consumption, some components of juices have been identified as mutagenic or carcinogenic. Carcinogenic or genotoxic effects may be mediated by the interaction of juice components with transition metals or by sub-products of juice auto-oxidation. In this study, the mutagenic potential of orange juice and two metallic agents used in dietary supplementation, FeSO4 and CuSO4, were investigated using the comet assay in mouse blood cells (in vivo). Both metal compounds were genotoxic for eukaryotic cells after 24 h treatment at the doses used. Significant damage repair was observed after 48 h of treatment with the same compounds. Orange juice had a modulating effect on the action of metallic sulfates. In the case of iron treatment, the presence of the orange juice had a preventive, but not restorative, effect. On the other hand, in the case of copper treatment, the effects were both preventive and restorative. PIXE (particle induced X-ray emission) analysis indicated a positive correlation between DNA damage and the hepatic levels of iron and a negative correlation between whole blood copper and DNA damage. A negative correlation between hepatic iron and whole blood copper content was also seen in the treatment with both ferrous and cupric sulfates.

Context: Caladium bicolor is used in ethnomedicine for the treatment of convulsions without any scientific information of its safety profile following repeated administration. Aims: To evaluate the sub-acute toxicological profile of the methanol leaf extract of C. bicolor. Methods: Oral acute toxicity test was done using Lorke's method. Oral sub-acute toxicity was done for 28 days, with hematological, biochemical and histological markers of toxicity evaluated. Results: The results showed no significant change in the organ weights of rats. Hematological indices were comparable with control groups except for a slight increase in monocyte levels (p<0.05). There were no significant changes in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels when compared to the control. However, there was a significant (p<0.05) decrease in aspartate aminotransferase (AST), levels in the rats treated with the extract. There were no significant differences in the values of serum lipids. Photomicrographs of the heart, lungs, brain, spleen, and liver showed no abnormalities, but in the kidneys, focal infiltrate of lymphocytes disrupting the renal tubules and interstitium were observed at 400 mg/kg/day. Conclusions: The methanolic extract of C. bicolor appears safe; however, prolonged use might lead to renal failure.

Solidago chilensis is a plant with therapeutic properties that is widely used in folk Brazilian medicine. In this study, we evaluated the possible acute toxicity and determined the LD50 of the hydroalcoholic extract of Solidago chilensis. Swiss mice of both sexes received intraperitoneal injections of Solidago chilensis hydroalcoholic extract (ScHE) at the doses of 30, 100, 300, 500, 750 and 1000 mg/kg. Pharmacological screening, LD50 determination, food intake evaluation, body and target organ weight measurements and histopathological analyses were performed. The LD50 value was determined to be 512.5 mg/kg. Pharmacological screening revealed central nervous system depressant activity, as shown by ptosis and decreases in general activity and motor activity. Food intake and body weight were not affected by extract administration. Macroscopic analysis of organs indicated splenomegaly and changes in the color of the liver in animals treated with ScHE; both effects were dose dependent. Significant macroscopic changes in the kidneys were not observed. Histopathological analysis showed significant morphological alterations in the livers of animals treated with high doses of the extract. Only animals treated with 1000 mg/kg had hemorrhagic foci in the kidneys. Our findings indicate that the intraperitoneal injection of ScHE causes relevant toxicity, with a relatively high LD50 (512.5 mg/kg), and affects the histopathological parameters analyzed. Further toxicological tests should be performed using oral administration to compare the effects of different routes of administration and to simulate traditional use.

Background: Rattus rattus is a widely distributed, invasive species that presents an important role in disease transmission, either directly or through vector arthropods such as fleas. These black rats can transmit a wide variety of pathogens, including bacteria of the genus Bartonella, which can cause diseases in humans and animals. In Chile, no data are available identifying fleas from synanthropic rodents as Bartonella vectors. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Bartonella spp. in the fleas of R. rattus in areas with different climate conditions and featuring different human population densities. Methods: In all, 174 fleas collected from 261 R. rattus captured from 30 localities with different human densities (cities, villages, and wild areas) across five hydrographic zones of Chile (hyper-arid, arid, semi-arid, sub-humid, and hyper-humid) were examined. Bartonella spp. presence was determined through polymerase chain reaction, using gltA and rpoB genes, which were concatenated to perform a similarity analysis with BLAST and phylogenetic analysis. Results: Overall, 15 fleas species were identified; Bartonella gltA and rpoB fragments were detected in 21.2% (37/174) and 19.5% (34/174) of fleas, respectively. A total of 10 of the 15 fleas species found were positive for Bartonella DNA. Leptopsylla segnis was the most commonly collected flea species (n = 55), and it also presented a high prevalence of Bartonella DNA (P% = 34.5%). The highest numbers of fleas of this species were collected in villages of the arid zone. There were no seasonal differences in the prevalence of Bartonella DNA. The presence of Bartonella DNA in fleas was recorded in all hydrographic areas, and the arid zone presented the highest

Die im August 1914 von Franz Kafka geschriebenen »Erinnerungen an die Kaldabahn« sind in der Forschung kaum behandelt worden und bis heute ist der Text in den meisten Ausgaben seiner Kurzprosa nicht vorhanden. Wenn überhaupt, dann wurde der Text ausschließlich mit Bezug auf den gleichzeitig geschriebenen Proceß gelesen. Sein Stellenwert als eine von Kafkas Tiergeschichten ist jedoch bisher nicht erkannt worden. Er gilt hauptsächlich als Kommentar zum Schriftstellerleben, zur Unsicherheit Kafkas angesichts der Einsamkeit und Isolation, die das Schreiben von ihm forderte. Ich erweitere diese Interpretation und zeige, wie im »Kaldabahn«-Fragment das Tier und das Tierische im Mittelpunkt von Kafkas Selbstauffassung als Schriftsteller und seines Schreibprozesses überhaupt stehen. In meiner Lektüre wird somit das Fragment als metapoetischer Schlüsseltext gedeutet, der zudem auch aufschlussreiche Perspektiven auf andere Tiertexte wie z.B. den »Bau« eröffnet.
Kafkas Zoopoetik wird von einer »grenzenlosen Transversalität« (Lippit) zwischen dem Tierischen und der Sprache bestimmt, insbesondere im Verhältnis zwischen Tier und Metapher. Ich beziehe mich hier auf die ›Animetapher‹, die Akira Lippit als den Inbegriff und zugleich den Gegensatz der Metapher beschreibt, das unauflösbare und produktive Spannungsfeld zwischen dem Tierischen und metaphorischer Sprache. Der Begriff der ›Animetapher‹ trifft auf die Funktion des Tierischen bei Kafka zu, indem er die gleichzeitige Sinnkonstruktion und -dissolution beschreibt, die Kernmerkale des Kafkaesken. Dabei ist das »Kaldabahn«-Fragment ein derart ›kafkaesker‹ Text, dass er bisweilen ans Selbstparodistische grenzt. Der Erzähler ist ein einsamer Stationswächter »im Innern Rußlands« dessen Bahnhütte unter ständigem Angriff durch eine Unzahl »eigentümliche[r] große[r] Ratten« steht, die in der Nacht unaufhörlich die Außenwände zu untergraben versuchen. Dieses nächtliche Graben entwickelt sich zu einer Metapher des Schreibens selbst, wobei es gleichzeitig auch vom Erzähler als etwas Fremdes und Bedrohliches wahrgenommen wird, das von außen kommt und das er vergeblich zu verhindern versucht. Dadurch wird das Tier zu einer Figur, die das Schreiben verkörpert aber auch ständig droht, dessen Grundlage zu unterminieren.

A callus culture of Gymnema sylvestre was cultivated under different light conditions (blue, white, red and green light). Green-white coloured gymnemic acid containing cell groups were formed on the surface of the callus culture under blue light respectively. The phytohormone kinetin enhanced the gymnemic acid formation in blue light, but was unable to induce gymnemic acid in darkness. The phytohormone 2,4-D induced the formation gymnemic acid under all light conditions studied. Analysis of the callus growth phase under all treatments revealed that gymnemic acid accumulation was maximum (12.22 mg/g d.w) in the callus during stationary phase of 45 days, grown in MS medium with 2,4-D (1.5 mg/l) and KN 0.5 mg/l under white fluorescent light. Blue light enhanced the gymnemic acid accumulation up to 4.4 fold of that found under white fluorescent light and 2.8 fold of that found in intact leaves. Present findings concluded that blue light can be used as tool for enhancing pentacyclic tri-terpenoids in batch culture of G. sylvestre.

Stress cues can affect the welfare of animals in close proximity and are possibly useful non-invasive indicators of the emitters' welfare. To facilitate their study in murids, we tested whether rats' stress odours could be collected and stored using an enfleurage-type technique. 'Donor' rats were individually exposed to a compound stressor (carried circa 75 m inside a novel container, then euthanised with rising carbon dioxide) while on blotting paper dotted with melted vegetable lard. These sheets were sealed, left at room temperature for 2-5 h, and then 'bioassayed' by a blind observer for their effects on conspecifics. Compared with control sheets (exposed to unstressed rats, to CO₂ alone, or untreated), stress-exposed sheets significantly affected the unconditioned behaviour of 16 pairs of detector rats trained to enter an arena from their home cage to obtain sucrose. When used to line this arena, the stress-exposed sheets significantly increased: i) rats' latencies to eat, to place front feet into, and to completely step into the arena and ii) shuttling movements between arena and home cage. These pilot data thus suggest that odours produced by stressed rats can be simply and successfully collected and stored for several hours, though certain potential confounds (eg urine volume) may conceivably be alternative explanations for the observed effects. Future work should control for urine volume, and assess whether fat is needed for optimal odour absorption by paper and for how long sheets can be stored at various temperatures. Much fundamental work is also still needed on the nature, functions, and sources of stress odours.

Interaction between Vitamin C (VitC) and transition metals can induce the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). VitC may also act as an ROS scavenger and as a metal chelant. To examine these possibilities, we tested in vivo the effect of two doses of VitC (1 and 30 mg/kg of mouse body weight) on the genotoxicity of known mutagens and transition metals. We used the alkaline version of the comet assay to assess DNA damage in peripheral white blood cells of mice. Animals were orally given either water (control), cyclophosphamide (CP), methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), cupric sulfate or ferrous sulfate. A single treatment with each VitC dose was administered after treatment with the mutagens or the metal sulfates. Both doses of VitC enhanced DNA damage caused by the metal sulfates. DNA damage caused by MMS was significantly reduced by the lower dose, but not by the higher dose of VitC. For CP, neither post-treatment dose of VitC affected the DNA damage level. These results indicate a modulatory role of Vitamin C in the genotoxicity/repair effect of these compounds. Single treatment with either dose of VitC showed genotoxic effects after 24 h but not after 48 h, indicating repair. Double treatment with VitC (at 0 and 24 h) induced a cumulative genotoxic response at 48 h, more intense for the higher dose. The results suggest that VitC can be either genotoxic or a repair stimulant, since the alkaline version of the comet assay does not differentiate “effective” strand breaks from those generated as an intermediate step in excision repair (incomplete excision repair sites). Further data is needed to shed light upon the beneficial/noxious effects of VitC.

I was five years old when I came across an ailing rat under my bed in the dormitory. In retrospect, it had presumably been poisoned. The institution must boast sterile facilities. The urge to look after the creature overcame me. I picked it up, placed it under my tucked-in shirt and against my warm skin. Was this uncomplicated compassion, or did I do so because I needed it's dwindling warmth, as I thought it did mine? Perhaps it was an attempt to create my own substitute for a little caring family, however short-lived. Little did I realise that the rat may well have been harbouring a particular parasite that, strangely enough, could well help to explain why I was in the institution in the first place.

Imagine intelligent humans emulating a certain parasite, the cuckoo, under the influence of yet another microbial one with devastating impact on our children? From rather disparate quarters such as psychiatrists, psychologists, parasitologists, evolutionary anthropologists, philosophers and theologians there is an emerging sense that for all our intelligence and knowledge, there is something that has become prevalently off about the human psyche. I am going to call it unnatural intelligence for reasons that will become apparent. For all this intelligence, a certain ancient wisdom has been very largely lost among many. Along the way we will find that there is a connection between parasites and philosophers, brain hemispheres and boarding school, books and depression, cat ownership and unbelief, fatherlessness and faithlessness and between crows and our Loving Heavenly Father. And we will find that there are certain common threads in such a tangled web.

What if I told you that Mary Shelley’s "Frankenstein" was a critique of the supreme propaganda piece by a certain philosopher who was one of the main champions of the mindset associated with this parasitism? What if I told you that between the monster in her story and Dr. Victor Frankenstein it was the latter that had the problematic psyche in the first place? What if I told you that the parasite affecting the fracturing of the human psyche has an accomplice in one of our most beloved pets? We like to think of ourselves as being the highpoint of creation and the pinnacle of evolution (which, as we will see, is theologically and evolutionarily naive). Those with a big head may take umbrage at this, but what if I told you that a bird brain, the crow, can inspire us out of this predicament? What if I told you that considering a certain wisdom in the derided crow, it is, in some respects, created more in the image of God than humans? Now imagine a social parasite that did its thing for the sake of the host parents at the expense of itself. What a strange parasite indeed! It has happened once, as we will see, and in so doing has provided humans with inspiration and much more that goes far beyond what crows can do.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a well-known anticancer drug in treatment of various cancers such as leukemias, lymphomas, soft-tissue sarcomas and solid tumors. Doxorubicin produces its toxicity due to generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), production of superoxide anion and hydroxyl radical. This study investigated the anti-oxidant potentials of turmeric root extract in Doxorubicin induced toxicity in the presence of vitamins C and E in Wistar rats. In this study, 54 adult Wistar rats were divided into 9 groups of six animals each. Group 1 animals served as control (normal saline), group 2 animals served as negative control, and received Doxorubicin (DOX), group 3 animals were given DOX and turmeric, group 4 animals received DOX and vitamin C, group 5 animals received DOX and vitamin E, group 6 animals received DOX, vitamins C and turmeric, group 7 animals received DOX, vitamin E and turmeric, while group 8 animals received DOX, vitamin C and vitamin E and finally, group 9 animals receive DOX, vitamin C, vitamin E and turmeric. The experiment lasted for 28 days and blood samples were collected from each animal from the various groups for oxidative stress analysis. The study revealed that, DOX causes an increase in oxidative stress by the production of free radicals or ROS which in turn reduces the activities of endogenous anti-oxidants, thus leading to a decrease in the total anti-oxidant status of the system. All these are reversed on administration of turmeric root extract, vitamins C and E individually and collectively.

As so many of the world's extra-human habitats are lost to so-called "development", "productivity", and the pandemic pressures of human overpopulation, protection of wilderness areas, (for example in National Parks), and the animals and plants they have retained, is of primary importance. But even where conservation areas can be legislatively set aside from human encroachment, their ongoing protection and maintenance still raise numerous problems. Protecting species which cannot be confined within Park boundaries, or determining the most appropriate protection measures can be confined within Park boundaries, or determining the most appropriate protection measures can be contentious. While the attempt to maintain biodiversity is a worthy goal, what are the most appropriate strategies in an era of radical climate change? While ecosystem categories such as "aliens", "invasives", "natives", "endemics", may seem to offer philosophical and practical bases, evolution is itself a continuous process, rendering such categories both protean and often inappropriate. Moreover, the philosophies of ecosystem conservation and animal welfare are increasingly at odds, making proponents of extra-human preservation, antagonists, rather than the allies they might ideally be. The paper discusses two examples of such philosophical and practical entanglements: protecting native Australian East Coast bats (flying-foxes), and an experimental move to eradicate rats from Lord Howe Island by chemical carpet bombing.

Context. Post-harvest losses by rodents have traditionally been calculated by estimates of consumption determined
in the laboratory. Methods for assessing storage losses by rodents under smallholder conditions will help farmers and
policy makers understand the impact rodents may have on food security, nutrition and health. Stored product loss
assessment methods could also be used to monitor the effects of rodent control in villages.
Aims. The present study examined a method to measure the amount of rice eaten by rodents in household granaries.
The effects of trapping and better hygiene around granaries to reduce rodent populations were investigated using the
post-harvest monitoring method to determine whether the program was successful in lowering rodent numbers sufficiently
to reduce post-harvest losses.
Methods. Baskets with known quantities of rice were placed within household granaries and monitored periodically
for moisture content, weight loss, faecal contamination and percentage of rodent-damaged grains. Using an empirical
treatment–control study, rodent management was performed at the community level through daily trapping in two
Bangladesh villages and in Myanmar at the granary storehouse level. Post-harvest losses were monitored in granaries in
villages with rodent management and in similar granaries in villages where there was no management.
Key results. Estimates of household losses in the absence of rodent control were 2.5% in Bangladesh and 17% in
Myanmar. These losses were reduced when rodent control was implemented, down to 0.5% in Bangladesh and 5% in
Myanmar.
Conclusions. The impact of rodents on smallholder storage can be accurately assessed in the field under realistic
conditions. Intensive daily trapping at the community level together with improved hygiene practices can successfully
reduce rodent numbers, and this can significantly reduce stored grain losses and rodent contamination and damage levels.
Implications. In addition to the threat of rodent pests during crop production, rodents are a major threat to food security
after harvest and have, as of yet, unquantified impacts on household nutrition and health through potential transmission
of gastroenteric diseases and zoonoses to householders and domestic livestock. Trapping and environmental management
are affordable and effective tools to reduce rodent impacts on stored grain within communities and are viable alternatives
to rodenticides.

Honey is one of the oldest substances used in wound management. Efficacy of Gelam honey in wound healing was evaluated in this paper. Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups of 24 rats each (untreated group, saline group, Intrasite Gel group, and Gelam honey group) with 2 cm by 2 cm full thickness, excisional wound created on neck area. Wounds were dressed topically according to groups. Rats were sacrificed on days 1, 5, 10, and 15 of treatments. Wounds were then processed for macroscopic and histological observations. Gelam-honey-dressed wounds healed earlier (day 13) than untreated and saline treated groups, as did wounds treated with Intrasite Gel. Honey-treated wounds exhibited less scab and only thin scar formations. Histological features demonstrated positive effects of Gelam honey on the wounds. This paper showed that Gelam honey dressing on excisional wound accelerated the process of wound healing.

Context: The function of zinc in the diabetes prevention, its management and complications are not clear.

Aim: To determine the effect of zinc supplementation on the metabolic, redox and trace element status in mild diabetic Wistar rats.

Methods: Thirty-two female Wistar rats equally distributed in four groups were studied: C: Control, CZn: Control-Zn-supplemented, D: Diabetic, DZn: Diabetic-Zn-supplemented. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin (STZ-100 mg/kg-sc, second postnatal day). In adulthood, the corresponding groups were supplemented with zinc sulfate (ZnSO4x7H2O-100 mg/kg) for 14 days.

Results: Zn supplementation in diabetic rats: -alleviated diabetes markers such as HbA1C, HOMA cell-β index, tolerance to glucose and insulin, polydipsia and polyuria; -decreased the Cu/Zn ratio levels in serum and tissues; -in liver and kidney improved excessive accumulation of Cu and increased the Zn concentrations, without causing toxicity; -increased the reduced glutathione (GSH) levels in liver and kidney and decreased the malonyldialdehyde (MDA) levels in liver, without changes in advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP); -evidenced negative correlation between tissue levels of Zn Vs MDA and AOPP.

Conclusions: Zn supplementation favored glycemic control in rats with moderate diabetes, contributing to recovery of the metabolic, redox and trace elements status. Regulation of diabetes complications was associated with the antioxidant action of Zn. Nutritional supplementation with zinc may be suggested to prevent complications of diabetes in conditions of deficiency of this micronutrient.