the pregnancy results of 17337 inseminations carried out in a dairy herd near Cairo over a period of 12 years were retrospectively analyzed in relation to environmental temperature and temperature-humidity index (THI). The overall average of pregnancy rates to all inseminations was significantly (P<0.01) lower in pluriparous cows (31.0%) than in heifers (63.5%). Stress of lactation, propensity for clinical and sub-clinical mastitis and problems associated with calving are possible underlying causes. In cows, the month of insemination significantly (P<0.05) influenced the pregnancy rate. A substantial decrease of pregnancy rates from 34.1% in May to 15.7% in July as the maximum environmental temperature increased from 33.3 0C to 36.3 0C and mean THI increased from 69 to 74 was recorded. In spite of the slight increase in pregnancy rates after July, it remained low during autumn referring to the carryover effects of the summer heat load. This resulted in significantly (P<0.05) lower pregnancy rates during summer (21.2%) and autumn (24.4%) than in winter (39.1%) and spring (37.2%). Maximum environmental temperature and mean THI accounted for 72% and 82%, respectively, of the variations in pregnancy rates. The average number of inseminations per conception was the lowest between January and April (2.4±0.2 to 2.6±0.2). This was followed by a significant (P<0.05) increase in this parameter (from 2.9±0.6 in May to 6.4±1.9 in July) coinciding with increased maximum environmental temperature to reach its peak in July. The overall average number of inseminations per conception in cows was 3.2±0.4. In heifers, the pregnancy rate was high (56.9 to 69.8%) throughout the year with no significant differences between months or seasons of insemination. Better efficiency of heifers at thermoregulation compared with pluriparous cows may be implicated. The average number of inseminations per conception in heifers was 1.6±0.04.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a self-curing skin infection distributed in tropics and SUBTROPICS. Up to one million cases of CL appeared in endemic areas a year. Leishmanization (artificially controlled infections) was widely used to control cutaneous leishmaniasis in the past. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common epithelial neoplasm of the skin. Cases of BCC developing in a leishmanial scar have been documented. We present the first case of confirmed basal cell carcinoma arising in 2020 in an 81-old physician working in Moscow (Russian Federation) in a leishmanial scar. It was 50 years after the primary lesion due to a successful leishmanization, widely used to control cutaneous leishmaniasis in the past.

Accidental infection with animal filarial worms in humans is a dilemma for clinicians and parasitologists throughout the world. To date a variety of such rare parasitoses have been reported mostly in tropics and SUBTROPICS. Human dirofilariasis is among those unusual zoonotic infections that occasionally have been observed in the eye and in subcutaneous areas exhibiting with nodule formation. Filarial worms are transmitted to humans through invertebrate biological vectors such as certain species of mosquitoes. The present report describes a peculiar case of ocular dirofilariasis in a 49-year-old man resident in Iran.

The parasite, Leishmania, is the causative agent of the disease leishmaniasis and is highly endemic in 98 countries spread across the tropics, SUBTROPICS and Mediterranean Basin. It is a vector-borne disease transmitted by the bite of infected sand flies, and it appears in three clinical manifestations namely: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis. It is known that at least 21 species are pathogenic to humans. To control the disease, there is no human vaccine, and the sole approach is through chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the available anti-leishmanial drugs are problematic due to their high toxicity, as well as increased parasite resistance. Therefore, making accurate diagnostic decisions for clinical treatment is highly important. Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is mostly caused by two Leishmania species, named as L. major and L. tropica that produce skin ulcers. It is also important to note that the symptoms of CL can be confused with other skin diseases...

Purpose: To report corneal toxicity following intentional inoculation of the juice of crushed leaves of datura (Datura Inoxia). Case Report: A 70-year-old male presented with diminished vision, redness, watering, and photophobia in his right eye one day before his presentation. The patient had instilled the juice of datura leaves in his right eye to treat his ocular problems. Slit lamp examination revealed mild conjunctival and circumcorneal congestion, corneal edema, and folds in Descemet’, s membrane. The left eye was pseudophakic with an otherwise unremarkable examination. The patient was treated with dexamethasone, cycloplegics, and lubricants. The cornea did not sufficiently recover after one month of treatment leaving him with permanent corneal decompensation that required a referral for keratoplasty. The patient was followed up for six months. We hypothesize damage to the corneal endothelial Na+/K+-ATPase pump by tropane alkaloids as a cause for corneal decompensation. Conclusion: Awareness about toxicity of this commonly grown plant in the tropics and SUBTROPICS is essential in order to avoid blindness due to accidental or deliberate use.

Moraceae, morphologically, is a heterogeneous family of trees, shrubs, lianes and herbs growing mainly in the tropics and SUBTROPICS, with a few species in temperate regions of both hemispheres. Leaf anatomy of 63 species in 32 genera is described. Characters of taxonomic value within the family include the shape of epidermal cells, cuticle striation and type of hairs. Characters of diagnostic importance at the family level include the occurrence of cystoliths and crystals in the mesophyll, the presence of hypodermis and laticifers, anomocytic stomata (except in Dorstenia species where mainly anisocytic), usually dorsiventral mesophyll, with a palisade tissue of 1-3 layers in several genera (but Dorstenia species with short, distinctively lobed cells). Leaf anatomy shows characteristic features within the family, but the family forms such a closely knit complex that some tribes and genera are difficult to delimit.