Molecular detection of Trichostrongylus species through PCR followed by high resolution melt analysis of ITS-2 rDNA sequences

Polymerase chain reaction followed by high resolution melting (PCR-HRM) analysis is a simple, rapid and accurate method for molecular detection of various nematode species. The objective of the present study was, for the first time, to develop a PCR-HRM assay for the detection of various animal Trichostrongylus spp. A pair of primers targeting the ITS-2 rDNA region of the Trichostrongylus spp. was designed for the development of the HRM assay. DNA samples were extracted from 30 adult worms of Trichostrongylus spp., the ITS-2-rDNA region was amplified using PCR, and the resultant products were sequenced and characterized. Afterwards, the PCR-HRM analysis was conducted to detect and discriminate Trichostrongylus spp. Molecular sequence analysis revealed that 24, 4, and 1 of the samples were T. colubriformis, T. vitrinus and T. capricola, respectively. Results from PCR-HRM indicated that complete agreement was relatively found between speciation by HRM analysis and DNA sequencing for the detection of Trichostrongylus species. The PCR-HRM analysis method developed in the present study is fast and low-cost; the method can be comparable with other molecular detection techniques, representing a reliable tool for the identification of various species within the Trichostrongylus genus. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

Disinfection of effluent using catalytic ozonation process and economical comparison with chlorination

Background and purpose: Many conventional disinfection methods of effluents raise some health, efficiency and economic concerns. In order to increase the efficiency of disinfection of real effluent, in this study, the catalytic ozonation process was performed and economically compared with chlorination. Materials and methods: Magnetic activated carbon was used as acatalyst in a semi-continuous reactor for disinfection of effluent of municipal wastewater treatment plant in Bandargaz, Iran in 2015. The efficiency of disinfection was determined by thermo-tolerant coliform as indication, and the effect of parameters such as catalyst concentration (0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 g/L), initial number of coliforms, contact time (1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 40 min) and catalyst reuse on disinfection process was evaluated. Finally economic comparison was done with the chlorination. Results: The results showed that the efficiency of disinfection was increased by increase in the concentration of carbon nano-composite and contact time; at 1 g/L concentration of Catalyst about 1.99 log reduction was observed after 2 min exposure time in which the effluent standards were obtained; while 1.91 log reduction of micro-organisms was measured for single ozonation. The first-order kinetics constant of single ozonation (0.42 min-1) showed an approximately 9-fold increase when the catalyst (2 g/L) was added to the solution. After 7 times reuse of nano-composite, the diminution of efficiency was negligible (1.5); and more than 57 fall of the cost was observed in a 5-year operational period compared with chlorination. Conclusion: The catalytic ozonation with the new catalyst of effluent could effectively disinfect the effluent in a short-contact-time, and due to economic considerations it can be used as an effective and economical method in wastewater treatment plants. © 2016, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Redes epóxi/amina alifáticas com perspectivas para aplicações cardiovasculares. Propriedades biológicas in vitro

Este trabalho descreve as propriedades biológicas in vitro de três redes epoxídicas à base do éter diglicidílico do glicerol (DGEG) curadas com poli(oxipropileno) diamina (D230), isoforona diamina (IPD) e 4,4'-diamino-3,3'-dimetil-diciclohexilmetano (3DCM). As interações biológicas entre os polímeros e o sangue foram estudadas por ensaios biológicos in vitro. Estudos de adsorção de proteínas, adesão de plaquetas, atividade do lactato desidrogenase (LDH) e propriedades de tromboresistência estão apresentados. Os ensaios de adsorção de proteínas na superfície dos polímeros mostrou que as redes epoxídicas adsorvem mais albumina do que fibrinogênio. Os resultados relacionados à adesão de plaquetas, atividade do lactato hidrogenase e propriedades de tromboresistência indicaram que as redes DGEG/IPD e DGEG/3DCM exibem comportamento hemocompatível. Desta maneira, assumimos que estes polímeros epoxídicos são materiais compatíveis com o sangue

Assessment of genetic relationships among cultivated and wild pistachios (Pistacia vera L.) using molecular markers

Iran is one of the main diversity centers and origins of pistachios in the world. Pistachio cultivation spread first within the ancient Persian Empire and then moved gradually westward. Knowledge of the genetic relationships among wild and cultivated varieties of pistachio is important for the efficient utilization of the available germplasm resources. Three molecular marker strategies, namely, inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR), inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism (IRAP), and retrotransposon microsatellite amplified polymorphism (REMAP), were used to study the genetic relationships among 35 pistachio accessions including 15 wild-type genotypes of Pistacia vera and 20 important cultivars from Iran. According to the results, high levels of polymorphism were observed for all three marker systems. REMAP and IRAP techniques had the higher mean values of genetic relationships parameters than ISSR technique. The results from this study showed that the 5′LTR2, Sukkula, Sukkula + UBC855, and 5′LTR2 + UBC811 primers were the most informative and could be used to evaluate the genetic relationships of pistachios accessions. Cluster analysis using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) properly separated the accessions and divided them into four main groups. The presence of most cultivated genotypes in a group indicates genetic erosion of cultivated pistachio in Iran. Wild-type genotypes of P. vera are located in different clusters indicating the high diversity of the genotypes. The results provide useful genetic information about wild pistachios in northeastern of Iran and indicate that the use of wild pistachios in breeding programs could be useful for generating new genotypes with interesting characters

Soil salinity mapping by remote sensing south of Urmia Lake, Iran

Urmia Lake is a shallow terminal Lake located in northwest Iran and it is one of the largest permanent Lakes in the Middle East. In this study, the changes in soil salinity at Urmia Lake were investigated using satellite images and the oldest salinity map of the area over a period of 45 years from 1973 to 2018. The distribution of salinity in 2018 was estimated using the supervised classification by the nonlinear hybrid model of artificial multi-layered neural network-genetic algorithm model (ANN-GA) while the salinity map for the years of 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015 was estimated by the unsupervised method. Further, the salinity data of surface soil in the region for the year 1973 was also digitized and utilized. For this purpose, 291 surface samples (258 samples for modeling and 33 samples for the re-evaluation of the model) of the studied region were collected and analyzed in 2018. The input neurons were selected by analyzing the satellite imagery bands, salinity indices, salinity ratio index and normalized difference vegetation index. The correlation coefficient and root-mean-square error of the training network model were equal to 0.94 and 0.04, respectively. The salinity map of the studied region was estimated using this model and classified into six classes (S0 to S5). The produced map of 2018 was used to re-evaluate the results. It showed that lower estimation accuracy was in classes S1 and S2. The obtained results in this study indicated that roughness, moisture, the density of halophyte plants and sodium slickspot were some of the sources for estimation of errors in lower salinity classes. The time-series changes in the salinity class of estimated maps showed that S3, S4 and S5 classes have expanded between 1973 and 2018. These are in agreement with the field observation and with the other scientific reports about the studied area. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

Characteristics and Outcome of Patients With AIDS in Dutch ICUs Between 1997 and 2014

Perioperative Medicine: Efficacy, Safety and Outcom

Prognostic significance of PD-1/PD-L1 expression in uveal melanoma: correlation with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and clinicopathological parameters

BackgroundTo understand how to improve the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors in uveal melanoma (UM), we need a better understanding of the expression of PD-1 and PD-L1, their relation with the presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), and their prognostic relevance in UM patients. Materials and methodsExpression of PD-1 and PD-L1 was assessed in 71 UM tissue samples by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), and further validated by western blotting. The effect of interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) on PD-1/PD-L1 expression was determined on four UM cell lines. ResultsImmunoreactivity of PD-1 was found in 30/71 cases and of PD-L1 in 44/71 UM samples. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes were found in 46% of UM tissues. PD-1 was expressed on TILs while tumor cells expressed PD-L1. UM with and without TILs showed expression of PD-1 in 69% and 18% cases, respectively (p=0.001). Similarly, PD-L1 was found in 75% of UM with TILs and in 50% of cases without TILs, respectively (p=0.03). DFS rate were lower in patients with TILs with expression of PD-1 and PD-L1, but the rate of DFS was higher with expression of PD-L1 in patients without TILs. After treatment of UM cell lines with IFN-gamma, PD-1 expression was induced in all UM cell lines whereas PD-L1 expression was found at a lower level in untreated cells, while expression also increased following treatment with IFN-gamma .ConclusionOur study suggests that increased infiltration with TILs promotes the aggressive behavior and suppresses the immune response of UM cells, thereby inhibiting immunotherapy.Ophthalmic researc

Price stability: Some costs and benefits in New Zealand

Tax systems based on nominal income are non-neutral to inflation. This paper evaluates the welfare effects of these non-neutralities in New Zealand. By using a stylised model of the New Zealand tax system, the paper calculates marginal effective tax rates for different values of the inflation rate. Following Feldstein (1997a, 1997b), the paper then estimates the welfare effects of going from 2 percent 'true' inflation to price stability. The results are supportive of price stability, but they are not robust to all plausible values of some key parameters.