Trend analysis of Air Quality Index criteria pollutants (CO, NO2, SO2, PM10 and O3) concentration changes in Tehran metropolis and its relationship with meteorological data, 2001-2009

Background and Aims: Air pollution is a serious threat to public health and environment. Factors contributing to air pollution have to be identified in order to reduce the corresponding effects. Meteorological data are among the noteworthy factors in determining the severity of air pollution. This study was conducted to investigate the trend of five criteria pollutants in air quality index and to find their correlation with meteorological data in Tehran metropolis during 2001- 2009. Materials and Methods: During this descriptive-analytical study, the required data were obtained from Air Quality Department of Tehran’s Municipality, the Environmental Protection Agency and also from the synoptic stations of Meteorological Organization. SPSS software was used for data analysis. The trends in concentration of studied pollutants including: CO, PM10, SO2, NO2 and O3, as well as meteorological data and their correlation were indeed considered. Results: The current study found that during the studied period, the concentration of O3 shows an increasing trend. Therefore, this pollutant could be a major factor, if not the only one, raising the index of air pollution in recent years. Another important result of this study can be cited to decrease in concentrations of CO, NO2, and SO2 during the years of present study. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that although the air quality in Tehran has improved in term of particulate matter, SO2 and NO2 during the period of study, however the concentration of ozone has increased beyond the standard. It was also possible to draw a meaningful conclusion relating to the impact of some meteorological parameters in airpollution. Keywords: Air pollution, Criteria pollutants, Meteorological data, Tehran metropoli

Five new records of leafminer flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) from Shiraz, Iran

A survey was conducted to identify leafminer flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) in Shiraz from April 2004 to November 2005. Among the collected specimens, five species are new records for Iran. The identifications were confirmed by Dr. Civelek (Turkey) and Dr. Henshaw (UK). All specimens were deposited in the insect collection of Jahrom Azad University

Report of Diglyphus poppoea (Hym.: Eulophidae) from Iran

A survey was conducted to identify parasitoids of leafminers in Shiraz region during spring 2005. The specimens of the Eulophid parasitoid wasp, Diglyphus poppoea Walker, were reared from wheat leaves infested by Agromyza ambigua Fallén (Dip.: Agromyzidae) larvae in Pole-Fasa, Zarghan and Zafarabad regions. This parasitoid, which is recorded for the first time from Iran, was identified by Gencer, Turkey

Fly fauna of livestock’ s of Marvdasht County of Fars Province in the South of Iran

Flies damage the livestock industry in many ways, including damages, physical disturbances, the transmissions of pathogens and the emergence of problems for livestock like Myiasis. In this research, the fauna of flies of Marvdasht County was investigating, which is one of the central counties of Fars province in southern Iran. In this study, a total of 20 species of flies from 6 families and 15 genera have been identified and reported. The species collected are as follows: Muscidae: Musca domestica Linnaeus, 1758, Musca autumnalis* De Geer, 1776, Stomoxys calci-trans** Linnaeus, 1758, Haematobia irritans** Linnaeus, 1758 Fanniidae: Fannia canicularis* Linnaeus, 1761 Calliphoridae: Calliphora vomitoria* Linnaeus, 1758, Chrysomya albiceps* Wiedemann, 1819, Lu-cilia caesar* Linnaeus, 1758, Lucilia sericata* Meigen, 1826, Lucilia cuprina* Wiedemann, 1830 Sarcophagidae: Sarcophaga africa* Wiedemann, 1824, Sarcophaga aegyptica* Salem, 1935, Wohl-fahrtia magnifica** Schiner, 1862 Syrphidae: Eristalis tenax* Linnaeus, 1758, Syritta pipiens* Linnaeus, 1758, Eupeodes nuba* Wiedemann, 1830, Syrphus vitripennis** Meigen, 1822, Scaeva albomaculata* Macquart, 1842 Species identified with * for the first time in the county and the species marked with ** are reported for the first time from the Fars province

Cloning and expression of Aca f 1: A new allergen of Acacia farnesiana pollen

Acacia farnesiana is the main source of allergenic pollen and one of the most important causes of respiratory allergic disease in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The purpose of this study was to produce a recombinant variety of allergenic Ole e 1-like protein from the pollen of this tree. To predict its allergenic cross-reactivity with other members of the Ole e 1-like protein family of common allergenic plants, the nucleotide sequence homology of the Acacia Ole e 1-like protein was evaluated. Amplification of cDNA strands encoding Acacia Ole e 1-like protein was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. Following expression in Escherichia coli using the pET-21b(+) vector, the recombinant protein was purified using metal-affinity chromatography. IgE-binding competence of purified recombinant Ole e 1- like protein (rAca f 1) was analysed by immunoassay using 25 sera collected from Acacia pollen-sensitised patients. Nucleotide sequencing revealed an open reading frame of 453 bp encoding 150 amino acid residues that belonged to the Ole e 1-like protein family, and 11 patients (44) had considerable specific IgE levels for the rAca f 1. Immunodetection and inhibition assays indicated that the purified rAca f 1 may be the same as that in the crude extract. Aca f 1, the second allergen from Acacia pollen, was identified as a member of the family of Ole e 1-like protein. A high degree of homology was found among amino acid sequences of Aca f 1 and several allergenic members of Ole e 1-like protein family

Cloning and Expression of Ama r 1, as a Novel Allergen of Amaranthus retroflexus Pollen

Sensitisation to Amaranthus retroflexus pollen is very common in tropical and subtropical countries. In this study we aimed to produce a recombinant allergenic Ole e 1-like protein from the pollen of this weed. To predict cross-reactivity of this allergen (Ama r 1) with other members of the Ole e 1-like protein family, the nucleotide sequence homology of the Ama r 1 was investigated. The expression of Ama r 1 in Escherichia coli was performed by using a pET-21b(+) vector. The IgE-binding potential of recombinant Ama r 1 (rAma r 1) was evaluated by immunodetection and inhibition assays using 26 patients' sera sensitised to A. retroflexus pollen. The coding sequence of the Ama r 1 cDNA indicated an open reading frame of 507 bp encoding for 168 amino acid residues which belonged to the Ole e 1-like protein family. Of the 26 serum samples, 10 (38.46) had significant specific IgE levels for rAma r 1. Immunodetection and inhibition assays revealed that the purified rAma r 1 might be the same as that in the crude extract. Ama r 1, the second allergen from the A. retroflexus pollen, was identified as a member of the family of Ole e 1-like protein. © 2016 Payam Morakabati et al

A checklist of the Iranian Agromyzid leaf-miner flies with 11 new records

The paper presents the first contribution to the knowledge of the leaf miner flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) of the Urmia region in the West Azerbaijan province and a list of the 46 recorded species of agromyzid flies of Iran. During a three-year survey, 20 agromyzid species were identifiedbelonging to nine genera. The species Amauromyza (Cephalomyza) luteiceps (Handel 1920), Aulagromyza populi (Kaltenbach, 1864), Cerodontha (Poemyza) lapplandica Ryden, 1956, Liriomyza hieracii (Kaltenbach, 1862), Melanoagromyza aeneoventris (Falleh, 1823), Melanoagromyza albocilia Handel, 1931, Melanoagromyza nigrissima Spencer, 1976, Ophiomyia beckeri (Hendel, 1923), Ophiomyia curvipalpis (Zerterstedt, 1848), Ophiomyia orbculata (Hendel, 1931) and Pseudonapomyza europaea Spencer, 1973 werereported as new records for the Iranian insect fauna

Designing Tuneable Narrowband Bandpass Filter Utilizing Neural Network

Abstract: In this study we aim at adjusting the singleband and dualband bandpass filter designed in a ED02AH technology. The quality factor and center frequency of the filter will change by varactor diodes. Here, we use a neural network to acquire the proper biasing voltages of varactor diodes in order to obtain specific gain and quality factor

Cerodontha (Poemyza) lapplandica Ryden

Abstract The paper presents the first contribution to the knowledge of the leaf miner flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) of the Urmia region in the West Azerbaijan province and a list of the 46 recorded species of agromyzid flies of Iran. During a three-year survey, 20 agromyzid species were identifiedbelonging to nine genera. The species Amauromyza (Cephalomyza) luteicep

Report of four hymenopteran species of Eulophidae, parasitoids of Liriomyza trifolii (Dip.:Agromyzidae) in Shiraz, Iran

A survey was conducted to identify parasitoids of vegetable leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess), in Shiraz region from April 2004 to September 2005. A total of eight eulophid species, viz. Baryscapus impeditus Nees*, Closterocerus formosus Westwood, Diaulinopsis arenaria Erdos*, Diglyphus crassinervis Erdos, Diglyphus isaea Walker, Diglyphus pulchripes Crawford*, Hemiptarsenus zilahisebessi Eros and Ratzeburgiola cristatus Ratzeburg* were collected, of which the four species marked with an asterisk are new records for Iran