Fractionation of particulate and vapor phase fluoride in urban atmosphere

The distribution of fluoride between particulate and gaseous phases in the urban atmosphere of an industrialized city has been investigated. A new method was developed for collection of gaseous and particulate phase of fluoride. A comparison was made between the results obtained from the proposed method with those obtained from the traditional method using mixed cellulose ester (MCE) and showed an excellent agreement. The proposed method was applied for fractionation of fluoride in urban atmosphere. The seasonal variation in concentrations of gaseous and particulate fluoride in the atmosphere of the city was also investigated and showed higher concentrations of fluoride fractions in autumn and winter seasons

Comparison of various functionally graded femoral prostheses by finite element analysis

This study is focused on finite element analysis of a model comprising femur into which a femoral component of a total hip replacement was implanted. The considered prosthesis is fabricated from a functionally graded material (FGM) comprising a layer of a titanium alloy bonded to a layer of hydroxyapatite. The elastic modulus of the FGM was adjusted in the radial, longitudinal, and longitudinal-radial directions by altering the volume fraction gradient exponent. Four cases were studied, involving two different methods of anchoring the prosthesis to the spongy bone and two cases of applied loading. The results revealed that the FG prostheses provoked more SED to the bone. The FG prostheses carried less stress, while more stress was induced to the bone and cement. Meanwhile, less shear interface stress was stimulated to the prosthesis-bone interface in the noncemented FG prostheses. The cement-bone interface carried more stress compared to the prosthesis-cement interface. Stair climbing induced more harmful effects to the implanted femur components compared to the normal walking by causing more stress. Therefore, stress shielding, developed stresses, and interface stresses in the THR components could be adjusted through the controlling stiffness of the FG prosthesis by managing volume fraction gradient exponent

Genome size, morphological and palynological variations, and heterostyly in some species of the genus Linum L. (Linaceae) in Iran

Heterostyly is the occurrence of flowers with different sexual organ arrangements in different plants of the same species. This floral polymorphism occurs in four sections of genus Linum. The present study compares the morphological, palynologycal and genome size (C-value content) characteristics in the long-styled and short-styled plants in three Linum species, that is, Linum austriacum L., Linum album Ky.ex Boiss. and L. glaucum Boiss. & Nöe . 15 qualitative and quantitative morphological characters from both vegetative and reproductive organs of these plants were studied. A higher mean value of the plant height, size of the basal leaves width, flower leaves width, calyx length, sepal length and petal length occurred in the long-styled plants, while the mean value of branch number, basal leaves length, flower leaves length, calyx width, pedicel length and sepal length was higher in the short-styled plant populations. T-test analysis of morphological characters showed significant difference (p<0.05) for some of the characters studied. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) plot of long-styled and short-styled plant populations based on all morphological characters also separated these two kinds of plants in the three species studied. The pollen obtained from the mature buds was prepared for light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The polar and equatorial views of the pollen grains were similar in the long-styled (Ls) and short-styled (Ss) plants but the aperture shape differed in these populations. C-values obtained by flow cytometry, differed in the long-styled and short- styled plants of the species studied. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test performed among the three Linum species showed a significant difference in 2C-value content. Positive significant correlation was observed between 2C-value and northern distribution of the Linum species studied, while a negative significant correlation occurred with eastern distribution.Key words: Heterostyly, Linum, morphology, palynology, genome size

Contemporary interspecific hybridization between Dracocephalum kotschyi and Dracocephalum oligadenium (Lamiaceae) : evidence from morphological, anatomical and molecular data

Dracocephalum is the second largest genus in the family Lamiaceae with about 186 species. These species are native in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and occur in the territory of the extra-tropical Asia and Europe. Eight Dracocephalum species reported in Iran; these are mainly growing in the northern and central parts of the country belonging to the Irano-Turanian phytogeographical region. Dracocephalum kotschyi is an important medicinal plant .in the country. At the same time, taxonomic position of Dracocephalum oligadenium is a challenging issue. In this work morphological, anatomical and Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers were used to identify these species in Iran. MDS plot based on morphological and anatomical characters, furthermore, PCoA and MST plot based on ISSR data of species revealed hybridization between D. oligadenium and D. kotschyi

Infra-specific morphological, anatomical and genetic variations in Lallemantia peltata (L.) Fisch. & C. A. Mey. (Lamiaceae)

Lallemantia is a small genus with 5 species, which one of them is Lallemantia peltata. This aromatic plant grows in a limited area of the Iran and is known as medicinal herb in folk medicine. We have no information on the infraspecific variations on morphological, anatomical and molecular features of this species. Therefore, in the current study; we investigated these variations on six geographical populations of it. These plants were used for morphological, anatomical and molecular investigations. GenAlex, GenoDive and PAST softwares were used for statistical analyses. In morphological study, we used fifteen characteristics. PCA bi-plot revealed some characteristics had diagnostic value in separation of the populations. The studied populations were clustered into two groups. We examined fifteen qualitative and quantitative anatomical variables. PCA loading revealed that some anatomical variables had the highest positive correlation and were the most variable anatomical characters among the studied populations. Based on the anatomical traits, theses populations divided into two groups. Ten ISSR primers were used for examination of genetic variations among the populations. The STRUCTURE analyses of ISSR data revealed two groups in theses populations that they were divided into two groups in MDS plot. The results of morphological, anatomical and also ISSR studies were similar. Clustering and ordination of the studied populations separated some of these populations from the others and suggest the existence of two groups within this species

Pollen morphological analysis of the genus Lallemantia (Lamiaceae) of Iran

Lallemantia is a small genus of Lamiaceae with five herbaceous annual or biennial species. Some of these species are of medicinal value, while others have been used as the source of food. All five Lallemantia species occur in Iran. Although, there are many discussions about infra-generic variations in the genus, very scarce comprehensive studies are found about its taxonomy. Therefore, in the current study, pollen grain morphology was investigated using scanning electron microscopy. We used SPSS ver. 15 and PAST ver. 2.17 for multivariate statistical analyses of data. In total, we studied eleven qualitative and quantitative traits. Pollen equatorial and polar views were similar among the species and were prolate and circular, respectively. Pollen ornamentations differed as bireticulate (L. royleana and L. iberica), microreticulatm (L. peltata and L. Baldshuanica) and reticulate- faveolate (L. canescens). PCA-biplot showed some traits such as pori length/width ratio were important in identifications of species. The studied species created two groups in the WARD method tree of palynological data. L. royleana and L. baldshuanica were grouped together, and in the other group L. canescens and L. iberica placed nearly and L. peltata placed far from them. Our obtained results were similar to previous morphological study of the genus. The present study revealed taxonomic implication of the micromorphological study in the interspecific classification of the genus

Effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles and auxin on adventitious roots morphology and phytochemistry of Coleus forskohlii Briq. (Lamiaceae)

Coleus forskohlii Briq., a medicinal plant from the Lamiaceae family, has been utilized worldwide to treat various disorders. The primary active compound in this plant is forskolin, a diterpene that accumulates in its rhizome. This study aims to assess the in vitro culture of C. forskohlii by investigating the effects of different concentrations of auxin hormone (1 and 2 mg L-1) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (10 and 20 ppm) as elicitors on biometrical traits related to rooting as well as forskolin content. Each treatment was replicated three times, and the results were analyzed using SPSS version 20. We observed that most traits examined decreased in samples treated with 1 mg L-1 of IAA hormone. In contrast, samples treated with 2 mg L-1 of IAA exhibited the highest values compared to the control samples. However, the differences in the examined characteristics among the samples were not statistically significant. Notably, the number of adventitious roots and the forskolin content increased with each increment in IAA hormone concentration. In plants treated with 2 mg L-1 IAA hormone, all measured biometrical traits surpassed those of the control group as well as those of samples co-treated with IAA (2 mg L-1) and ZnO nanoparticles (10 and 20 ppm). The forskolin content followed a similar trend. However, the lowest values for these traits were observed in the plants treated with 2 mg L-1 IAA and 20 ppm ZnO nanoparticles. These findings indicate that 2 mg L-1 of IAA hormone significantly impacts both root morphology and phytochemical characteristics compared to 1 mg L-1. Furthermore, ZnO nanoparticles at a concentration of 20 ppm exhibited an inhibitory effect on root morphology and forskolin content, which could not be mitigated by treatment with 2 mg L-1 IAA

Systematic significance of micromorphological and palynological characteristics in Lagochilus Bunge ex Benth. (Lamiaceae) in Iran

Lagochilus is a genus with ten taxa (species, subspecies and variety) in Iran, which nine of them are endemic. This is the first micromorphological investigation of this genus. Micromorphological features of trichomes on the stems, leaves and calyces, and also pollen morphology of 19 populations were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Two types of trichome (glandular and non-glandular) including 14 forms were described. Here, among the non-glandular trichomes, cell number and size of trichomes are considered as valuable characteristics, while the glandular trichomes are observed as stalked, sessile and peltate. Lagochilus pollen grains are tricolpate and small to medium sized. The basic shape of the pollen grains in most taxa is prolate, however prolate-subprolate pollen grains was recorded for L. aucheri ssp. aucheri var. aucheri 2. Four types of exine sculpture patterns were distinguished: bireticulate, reticulate, microreticulate and incomplete reticulate. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics were examined by multivariate analysis. The results indicated that the studied taxa were separated from each other; however varieties of L. aucheri did not grouped together. The results support the existence of known varieties in L. aucheri. In general, our investigations reveal the usefulness of micromorphological characteristics in taxon delimitation at the specific and infraspecific levels

Trichomes morphology and density analysis in some "Nepeta" species of Iran

Nepeta are widely distributed worldwide and in different parts of Iran where seventy-nine species were registered. The essential oil of these aromatic plants, which accumulates and secrets by trichomes, has been used in medicinal and industrial products. In addition, these epidermal structures can be used as taxonomic traits. We examined the morphology and density of leaves trichomes of twelve Nepeta species using the light and scanning electron microscopes. Three types of indumentum are found in these species, which composed of two main types of glandular: peltate and capitate, and nonglandular; branched and unbranched trichomes. The number of the observed hairs differed between the studied species and analyses of variant test (ANOVA) showed significant variations among some of them. CA-joined plot proved that trichomes could be used as distinguishing characteristic. Therefore, we suggested that the type of indumentum and the most abundant glandular and non-glandular trichomes have high taxonomic value in species identification within the genus.</p

Examining efficacy and safety of ethyl acetate extract from Allium hirtifolium as complementary therapy in COVID-19: A randomized, multicenter, controlled clinical trial

Objective: Given the apparent life-threatening nature of COVID-19, finding an effective treatment is under investigation.Materials and Methods: We assessed effect of shallomin oral syrup (co IranAmin®) as a complementary treatment to improve the clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Patients in the control group received the approved treatment protocol (lopinavir/ritonavir), while those in the intervention group were treated with the oral syrup shallomin in addition to the approved treatment. Clinical status of treated patients was recorded and compared.Results: There were meaningful differences between the two groups regarding shortened length of hospital stay and the recovery time for cough, myalgia, sore throat, and shortness of breath. No side effect occurred in the intervention group compared to the control group in terms of biochemical and hematological factors.Conclusion: It seems that the treatment with shallomin syrup showed remarkable contribution to the recovery of COVID-19 induced symptoms in the patients under lopinavir/ritonavir therapy