1. Maternal and environmental factors influence embryo development and offspring phenotypes in ways that are likely to impact fitness. Most studies that address this issue, however, fail to mimic the complexities of natural environmental parameters and only quantify selection during a single season. 2. In this study, we examined year-to-year variation in how maternal factors (egg mass, nesting ...

This paper presents the results of studies concerned with the preparation of fresh food foams based on egg white and various hydrocolloids including Iranian gum tragacanth, guar and xanthan gums at different concentrations (0.002-0.040% w/w). The basic physical parameters of the obtained foams such as overrun, stability and morphology of gas bubbles were measured. Viscosity measurements were al...

Bindin, a protein component of the acrosomal vesicle of sea urchin sperm, has been isolated from Arbacia punctulata and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus . Using this isolated bindin, we have devised a quantitative assay for bindin-mediated egg agglutination and compared the agglutination of bindin and eggs from A . punctulata and S. purpuratus . Bindin-mediated agglutination is species-specific in...

Bindin, a protein component of the acrosomal vesicle of sea urchin sperm, has been isolated from Arbacia punctulata and strongylocentrous purpuratus. Using this isolated bindin, we have devised a quantitative assay for bindin-mediated egg agglutination and compared the agglutination of bindin eggs from A. puntulata and S. purpuratus. Bindin- mediated agglutination is species -specific in both s...

In this study we examined the gross anatomy of the uterus and vagina in turkeys in egg production. With no uterine egg mass, removal of the tunica serosa that enclosed the uterus revealed deep periodic in-folding of the muscularis transversely circumscribing the sac-like segment. When the connective tissue embracing the neutral buffered formalin fixed vagina was completely teased free, the expo...

This research was conducted to study the anaerobic sludge filtration capacity regarding helminth egg removal in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors. Two 25 L lab-scale UASB reactors were operated at an ambient temperature which varied between 17.1 and 28.6 °C. Ascaris suum egg was selected as the model egg considering its similarity in terms of size and morphology to Ascaris lumbric...

This study was performed to investigate the effects of antibiotic, organic acid, probiotic and prebiotic supplementation on performance, egg shell quality, pH value of gastrointestinal (GI) tract and small intestinal morphology of laying hens. The experiment was a completely randomized design with 160 laying hens strain (W-36) from 32 to 42 weeks of age, with five treatments, four replicates an...

A 10 wk trial was conducted to investigate the effect of using ground, sterilized eggshell as a calcium source in the diet of laying hens. Egg production, egg and eggshell quality, hatching characteristics and eggshell ultrastructure were evaluated. A total of 144 hens aged 25 wk were housed in floor pens, located in a conventional open-sided layer shed. The birds were randomly divided into thr...

LOCUSTS ARE GRASSHOPPER SPECIES THAT EXPRESS PHASE POLYPHENISM modifying their behavior, morphology, coloration, life history and physiology in response to crowding. Desert locusts, Schistocerca gregaria, epigenetically modify progeny quality and quantity in response to crowding. Gregarious (crowded) females produce larger but fewer progeny than do solitarious (isolated) ones. The variability o...

Interspecific variations in the susceptibility of freshly and embryonated eggs of Aedes albopictus, Ae. aegypti, Ae. atropalpus and Culex pipiens were tested against three classes of insect growth regulators (IGRs) including ecdysone agonist (azadirachtin), chitin synthesis inhibitor (diflubenzuron) and juvenile hormone analog (pyriproxyfen) at 0.001, 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0ppm concentrations. Egg ha...