Zoological Research Articles

Bio-evaluation of the Ecological Health Status of Petroleum Effluent Receiving Water from Eleme River, Nigeria

The ecological Health Status of Eleme River receiving treated petroleum effluent wastes from Eleme Petroleum Refinery Company was evaluated using a combined approach of biological methods; petroleum effluent bioindicators, functional diversity and community assemblage metrics, and physicochemical methods; TPH, nutrients, turbidity, DO, pH, Heavy metals, and total dissolved solids analysis. This was carried out, knowing that effluent discharges change the biodiversity of aquatic macro invertebrates, particularly insects, reduce their functional roles, and change their physicochemical requirements. The River was divided into 3 stations; upstream (receiving point), midstream, and downstream, with each station further divided into 3 sampling points. The collection of macro invertebrates was done, using handnets and Eckman’s grab from floating vegetation, logs, and sediments. The samples were placed in a 4-L bucket containing 70% ethanol and 5% glycerin and transported to the Entomology Research Laboratory, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, the University of Port Harcourt for sorting and identification. Composite water samples were taken for analyses of physicochemical properties using standard devices and methods. Results obtained indicated that out of 18 species encountered, 12 were monitor indicators, 5 were facultative tolerant indicators and none were sensitive indicators. Five species (taxa) occurred at both up and mid-streams and seven occurred downstream. Daphnia barbata and macrobranchium sp., occurred commonly in the three stations. The insect indicators encountered were seven, all of the downstream, and were dominated by insects belonging to the order: Hemiptera. Three functional groups; Detritivorous, collector-herbivorous, and predators were encountered with detritivorous being dominant. The TPH, nitrate, phosphate, copper, and nickel concentrations in all sampling stations were above the intervention limits of the World Health Organization (WHO). Concentrations of physicochemical properties except DO and pH were higher downstream. Shannon-Weiner index showed that the absence of species belonging to Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera in all stations indicated that Eleme River has a poor ecological health status.

Subject of forensic veterinary examination and its significance in the theory and practice of forensic examination

The article covers the issue of the forensic veterinary examination subject and reveals its significance in the theory and practice of forensic examination. It has been established that the subject of forensic veterinary examination is a set of factual data and circumstances of the case (proceedings) related to the harm caused to the health and life of the animal, in particular, the nature, mechanism, order, sequence, severity, lifetime or postmortem and the longevity of the formation of bodily injuries, the occurrence and spread of animal diseases, the occurrence of their injury or the cause of death, defective provision of veterinary care, safety and quality of animal feed and feed additives established by a forensic veterinary expert on the basis of using special knowledge, by using appropriate means (methods) based on the results of a comprehensive study of material and materialized objects, as carriers of information, in order to solve identification, diagnostic and situational tasks of forensic veterinary examination.
 It is shown that the actual data and circumstances that constitute the subject of complex forensic veterinary-biological, veterinary-molecular-genetic, veterinary-ballistic, veterinary-art, etc., are carried out by integrating special knowledge, in particular, in veterinary medicine, animal biology, molecular genetics, ballistics, art history are: species, group, age, sex and organic-tissue belonging of biological material of animal origin the presence or absence of poisons in the body of animals and their poisoning (mammals, animal hydrobionts, bees, etc.); damage and pestilence of animal hydrobionts caused by electro trauma, damage and death of animals from the action of firearms, explosive or projectiles.
 It is argued that the criterion for distinguishing closely related types of forensic examinations, in particular: forensic-veterinary, forensic-biological, forensic molecular-genetic, etc. are the properties of material objects of research and the direct subject of forensic-expert research. It is shown that the exact definition of the subject of forensic veterinary examination allowed: to develop and formulate typical issues, which are both tasks made for solving the forensic expert; outline the range of evidence that can be established during forensic veterinary examination; determine the nature of special knowledge of the forensic veterinary expert, which follows from the subject of forensic veterinary examination; conduct forensic veterinary examination of only those material objects that are material carriers of information within the subject of this examination or complex forensic examination by integrating special knowledge, in particular, in veterinary medicine and other sciences, in particular animal biology, toxicology, chemistry, ballistics, art criticism, etc.; to supplement part 2 of article 242 of the CPC with paragraph 6 on the obligatory appointment of a forensic veterinary examination to clarify the severity and nature of damage caused to the animal's health, as well as to determine the cause of death of animals; include recommendations on the appointment of a forensic veterinary examination in the content of methods for investigating certain types of offenses against animals; dissociate forensic veterinary examination from forensic examinations of related genera or species, in particular, forensic biological, forensic molecular genetics, etc.; develop methods and separate methods of forensic veterinary examination to study the properties of its specific material objects in order to obtain the information contained in them in order to solve typical expert tasks; initiate complex forensic veterinary and biological, veterinary-molecular-genetic, veterinary-ballistic, veterinary-art expertise, etc., by integrating special knowledge, in particular, in veterinary medicine, animal biology, molecular genetics, ballistics, art criticism, etc.; organize an effective forensic veterinary examination in a specialized expert institution; identify promising areas of research work in the field of forensic expertise in general and forensic veterinary expertise in particular.

48 Semiquantitative and quantitative assessments of phospholipase C zeta 1 in stallion sperm

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

46 Fertilising ability of Arabian stallion sperm frozen with different cryoprotective agents by heterologous IVF

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

137 Incubation conditions to improve equine sperm

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

IETS 2023 Editors and Reviewers

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

15 Pregnancy loss until 120 days of Nellore clone pregnancy

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

147 Profiling boar semen quality through near-infrared spectroscopy and proteomic tools

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

177 Application of sexed semen during timed artificial insemination following oestrous synchronisation in dairy and beef cows for emerging farmers in South Africa

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

103 Co-culture of porcine

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

20 Birth of myostatin-edited calf generated by cloning using CRISPR-Cas9 protein technology

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

114 Pharmacological regulation of PPARγ in bovine embryos alters blastocyst development, cell lineage specification, and transcripts of early placental function

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

30 Effects of exogenous oxytocin on semen characteristics in banteng (

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

98 Safety and effectiveness of a lyophilised, ready-to-use, bovine

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

11 The impact of multiple ovum pickups on reproductive and productive performance of Holstein heifers

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

131 Parity effects in embryo-transfer recipients: pregnancy rate by using

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

50 Effects of lipoic acid, L-carnitine, and vitamin C on oocyte maturation and cryopreservation of

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

76 Investigating apoptosis and autophagy in hyperglycemic embryo culture

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

160 Effect of a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist on the fate of the dominant ovarian follicle and emergence of the next follicular wave in alpacas

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife

250 Effect of overnight cooling on post-thaw bull sperm characteristics

Reproduction, Fertility and Development is an international journal publishing original research , review and comment in the fields of reproduction and developmental biology in humans, domestic animals and wildlife