Age determination and morphology of otolith in Alburnus chalcoides (Guldenstaedt, 1772) in the southern Caspian Sea

The aim of this study was to provide necessary information on the age, growth and sex ratio of one of commercially important cyprinid species, Alburnus chalcoides in the southern Caspian Sea (North of Iran) from 2010 through 2011. 53 specimens of both sexes (males and females) were collected monthly. The samples were transported to the laboratory for further biological measurements and otolith extraction. The maximum and minimum age of A. chalcoides was 4+(FL=26.0 cm) and 1+ (FL= 18.1 cm), respectively. The mean fork length of A. chalcoides was 20.21±0.287 cm; and the sex ratio was 1.00: 2.12. The calculated length-weight relationships for all individuals were as W=0.141TL2.199 (R2= 0.648). Different regressions were prepared between age and morphological measurements of fish and otolith, of which the highest correlation was between age and body length as a linear regression of TL=1.959Age+16.32 (r= 0.66). There was no significant correlation between morphometric measurements of otolith and fish morphological parameters (p> 0.05), and an allometric growth was found with a slope of b=1.926 for the study area

Age determination and morphological study using otoliths in Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758 in the Southern Caspian Sea

The relationships between sagitta otolith morphology and fish size were examined for common carp in the Southern Caspian Sea; and also the aging of different length groups were determined. Statistical tests to examine correlation between left and right otoliths dimensions were carried out and no statistically significant difference between them was found. The biggest otolith had 0.032g weight belongs to an individual with BW= 428g and FL=36cm; and the smallest otolith had 0.014g for a fish with BW=220g and FL= 26cm. Regression model relations to each otolith morphometric parameter to fish length are provided. Also, the aging of this species was done by sectioning of sagitta otolith and a high significant correlations was found between fish age and morphometric parameters of both body weight and fork length and also otolith weight and length. The maximum age was determined 6+ years. The length-weight relationship was BW= 0.006 TL^3.232 (r = 0.963). According to the morphometric relationships obtained, it was concluded that otolith length and weight are good indicators of fish body weight and fork length

Fluoride Concentration in Drinking Water Resources; North of Iran

Abstract Aims: Fluoride is one of the anions present in soil and water, and determining its level in drinking water is vital for preventing dental and bone diseases in societies. This research aimed to determine fluoride concentrations in drinking water sources of rural and urban areas of Babol City, Iran. Instrument & Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Babol City, Iran, in 2014. 384 water samples were taken from 43 wells and 3 springs in the rural areas, and from 20 wells, 3 water reservoirs, and the water distribution system in the urban areas. Fluoride concentrations of water samples were measured with a model DR2000 spectrophotometer using the standard SPADNS method. Data were entered to SPSS 16 software and were analyzed by ANOVA test. Findings: The mean fluoride concentrations in the water samples of the deep wells were higher compared to those of the springs (p=0.01). The mean fluoride concentrations in the plains areas were higher compared to the mountainous regions (p=0.02). The mean fluoride concentrations in the wells of the urban areas, in the urban reservoirs, and in the urban water distribution system were 0.40±0.14, 0.39±0.15, and 0.40±0.15mg/l, respectively (p=0.07). Fluoride concentrations in water in urban areas during various seasons varied from 0.31 to 0.45mg/l (p=0.06). Conclusion: Fluoride concentrations in all drinking water sources in urban and rural areas of Babol are less than the ranges recommended by WHO and Iranian national standards

SinGAN-Seg: Synthetic Training Data Generation for Medical Image Segmentation

Processing medical data to find abnormalities is a time-consuming and costly task, requiring tremendous efforts from medical experts. Therefore, Ai has become a popular tool for the automatic processing of medical data, acting as a supportive tool for doctors. AI tools highly depend on data for training the models. However, there are several constraints to access to large amounts of medical data to train machine learning algorithms in the medical domain, e.g., due to privacy concerns and the costly, time-consuming medical data annotation process. To address this, in this paper we present a novel synthetic data generation pipeline called SinGAN-Seg to produce synthetic medical data with the corresponding annotated ground truth masks. We show that these synthetic data generation pipelines can be used as an alternative to bypass privacy concerns and as an alternative way to produce artificial segmentation datasets with corresponding ground truth masks to avoid the tedious medical data annotation process. As a proof of concept, we used an open polyp segmentation dataset. By training UNet++ using both the real polyp segmentation dataset and the corresponding synthetic dataset generated from the SinGAN-Seg pipeline, we show that the synthetic data can achieve a very close performance to the real data when the real segmentation datasets are large enough. In addition, we show that synthetic data generated from the SinGAN-Seg pipeline improving the performance of segmentation algorithms when the training dataset is very small. Since our SinGAN-Seg pipeline is applicable for any medical dataset, this pipeline can be used with any other segmentation datasets

ПРИМЕНЕНИЕ МАТЕМАТИЧЕСКОГО МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЯ ДЛЯ ВЫБОРА СОСТАВА ПОДСЛОЯ ТЕПЛОЗАЩИТНОГО ПОКРЫТИЯ

The article considers the use of mathematical modeling while designing thermal protection coating for GTE turbine blades. The results of mathematical simulation are presented and comparison with experimental data is given. The obtained results allow to choose the composition of a underlayer to cover the metal layer of thermal protection coating.В статье рассматривается применение математического моделирования при конструировании теплозащитного покрытия для рабочих лопаток турбины ГТД. Представлены результаты математического моделирования и проводится сравнение с экспериментальными данными. Полученные результаты позволяют выбирать состав подслоя для нанесения металлического слоя теплозащитного покрытия

ВЛИЯНИЕ ПАРАМЕТРОВ ПРОЦЕССА НАНЕСЕНИЯ ЗАЩИТНОГО ПОКРЫТИЯ НА МИКРОСТРУКТУРУ НИКЕЛЕВОГО СУПЕРСПЛАВА INCONEL-713LC

The article considers the influence of the parameters of protective coating application process on the structure of the Nickel alloy. Experimental data of the conducted research of the microstructure alloy changes depending on the coating application process are presented. Recommendations on the Nickel alloy structure restoration after coating are proposed.В статье рассмотрено влияние параметров процесса нанесения защитного покрытия на структуру никелевого сплава. Представлены экспериментальные данные проведенных исследований изменения микроструктуры сплава от режима нанесения покрытия. Предложены рекомендации по восстановлению структуры никелевого сплава после нанесения покрытия

Aetiology of livestock fetal mortality in Mazandaran province, Iran

In the farming industry, the productivity of livestock herds depends on the fertility efficiency of animals. The accurate diagnosis of a broad range of aetiological agents causing fetal death is often difficult. Our aim was to assess the prevalence rates of Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, and Brucella spp. infections in ruminant abortion using bacteriological culture and molecular techniques in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. Samples were collected from 70 aborted sheep, goat, and cattle fetuses between September 2014 and December 2015. Necropsy was performed on all the received samples, and brain tissue and abomasal content were obtained from the aborted fetuses. Protozoan infections were detected by specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and bacterial agents using bacteriological examinations and PCR assay. Infectious pathogens were detected in 22 out of 70 (31.4%) examined fetuses. Moreover, T. gondii, N. caninum, and B. melitensis were verified in 13 (18.6%), four (5.7%), and two (2.85%) samples, respectively. Our results showed that infection with the mentioned pathogenic agents may lead to fetal mortality, which can be a major cause of economic loss. The listed pathogens could be considered important etiological agents of fetal loss in Mazandaran Province, for which appropriate control measures such as vaccination and biosecurity can be implemented to prevent infection and reduce reproductive loss in livestock farms