Reproduction and feeding of Buccaneer anchovy (Encrasicholina punctifer) from coastal waters of Qeshm Island, the Persian Gulf

Encrasicholina punctifer is one of the dominant small pelagic and economically most important fishes of the Persian Gulf, especially in Qeshm Island's coastal waters. Specimens of the fish were collected monthly from the fishing area in the coastal waters of Qeshm Island by random sampling method. Investigation on biological parameters of E. punctifer continued from April 2005 to March 2006. E. punctifer is mainly caught by double-boat purse seine in this area. Reproductive studies showed that maturity season of the fish occur in August. The sex ratio fulfill the theoretical 1:1 (P>0.05). L sub(M50) was attained at a total length of 84 mm. The absolute fecundity was estimated at 1217 plus or minus 331. We showed that the species is planktonivore, its diet consisted of a board spectrum of food types, but crustaceans dominated the food with copepods and their eggs, naplius and semi digested copepods constituting 54% of the diet. The next major food groups found in the diet of the fish were Cyanophyceae 21%, Bacillariophyceae 11%, fish egg and scale 6%, Dinophyceae 4%, with Euglenahyceae, Chiorophyta, Dinoflagellates and others items consisting only 4% of the diet. Analysis of monthly variation in the stomach fullness indicated that feeding intensity fluctuated throughout the year, with the highest value in winter. Vacuity Index indicated this species was of semi-voracious appetite fishes

Population dynamic parameters of Thunnus tonggol (Bleeker, 1851) in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea

Length frequency data of the longtail tuna, Thunnus tonggol collected from October 2006 to September 2007 were analyzed for evaluation of the stock parameters. T. tonggol is mainly caught by gillnet method. Yearly tuna and tuna-like catches in Iran are of the order of 174,234 mt, close to 46% of which are longtail tuna. The VBG parameters for longtail tuna were: L∞ =133.72cm K=0.35 year^−1.The length-weight relationship was estimated as: W=0.00002 L^2.83. The instantaneous rates of total mortality (Z) was estimated by using the Powell-Wetherall plot as 1.82 year^−1. The instantaneous rate of natural mortality was obtained by Pauly equation (M=0.44 year^−1) and the instantaneous rate of fishing mortality (F) estimated from Z-M=1.38 year^−1

Reproduction and spawning patterns of the Scomberomorus commerson in the Iranian coastal waters of the Persian Gulf & Oman Sea

Reproduction and spawning patterns of the king fish (Scomberomorus commerson) were studied in the Persian Gulf (Hormozgan Province) and Oman Sea from Oct 2006 to Sep 2007. A total of 1120 fish was collected from different landing sites along the Iranian waters. Yearly analysis of the reproductive stages and gonadosomatic index showed a single reproductive cycle beginning in March and continued with a single spawning period from August to September. The mean length at first maturity (Lm 50%) for females was 83.6 Cm. The sex ratio was M:F = 0.97:1 which was not significantly (P > 0.05) different among samples (χ2 test). Isometric growth for this species was approved

The Comparison of vaginal cream of mixing yogurt, honey and clotrimazole on symptoms of vaginal candidiasis

BACKGROUND: Vulvovaginal candidiasis is known as one of the most common fungal infection among women of reproductive age and considered as an important public health problem. In recent years, due to resistance to common antifungal medication, the use of traditional medicine of anti-fungal and herbal treatment increased. Therefore the objective of this study was to determine the effects of vaginal cream, mixture of yogurt and honey and comparing it with clotrimazole vaginal cream on symptoms of Vulvovaginal candidiasis in patients. METHODS: In this randomized, triple blind clinical trial of 70 non-pregnant women infected with Candidal vulvovaginitis were placed in two groups of Vaginal cream mixed of yogurt and honey recipients (N=35) and clotrimazole vaginal cream (N=35). Both groups were treated for 7 days. At the beginning of study, Clinical and laboratory signs and symptoms were registered 7 and 14 days after treatment by questionnaire, observation form and secretions culture results. Data by chi-square test, t test, McNemar tests were analyzed by SPSS version 21. Significance level of 0.05 was considered. RESULTS: The result of present study reveals the significant differences in symptom improvement of ' yogurt and honey, than clotrimazole group (P0.05) CONCLUSION: This study indicated that he therapeutic effects of vaginal cream, yogurt and honey is not only similar with clotrimazole vaginal cream but more effective in relieving some symptoms of vaginal candidiasis. Therefore, the use of this product can be suggested as an herbal remedy for candida infection treatment

Investigation of Qualitative Condition of Nekarud River and Tajan River by NSFWQI Index

Rivers are exposed to large amounts of impurities. The first step for keeping river water quality and purification of polluted parts is obtaining information on the qualitative changes of river water in dimensions of time and place and also, determination of major sources and various water pollutants. Analysis of measured parameters alone or in combination, give in complete information on water quality because of variety of parameters, samples and stations. WQI is a mathematical and statistical tool for conversion of quantitative values of large quantity of water quality data into single number which presents a simple and understandable tool for qualitative assessment. Samples were collected seasonally from stations at upstream, middle stream and downstream of two rivers in east of Mazandaran province (Nekarud River, Tajan River) in a 2 years interval of 2011-2012 years, and analyzed in laboratory of  Environmental Protection agency of Mazandaran according to standard methods. The values of NSFWQI (water quality index ofAmerica’s national health organization) were calculated for all stations and all of the stations were located on the level of unsuitable conditions. The condition of Tajan River was relatively better than Nekarud River due to lower residential villages and towns around the river

Investigation of Qualitative Condition of Nekarud River and Tajan River by NSFWQI Index

Rivers are exposed to large amounts of impurities. The first step for keeping river water quality and purification of polluted parts is obtaining information on the qualitative changes of river water in dimensions of time and place and also, determination of major sources and various water pollutants. Analysis of measured parameters alone or in combination, give in complete information on water quality because of variety of parameters, samples and stations. WQI is a mathematical and statistical tool for conversion of quantitative values of large quantity of water quality data into single number which presents a simple and understandable tool for qualitative assessment. Samples were collected seasonally from stations at upstream, middle stream and downstream of two rivers in east of Mazandaran province (Nekarud River, Tajan River) in a 2 years interval of 2011-2012 years, and analyzed in laboratory of  Environmental Protection agency of Mazandaran according to standard methods. The values of NSFWQI (water quality index ofAmerica’s national health organization) were calculated for all stations and all of the stations were located on the level of unsuitable conditions. The condition of Tajan River was relatively better than Nekarud River due to lower residential villages and towns around the river

A Novel Integration of CWPO Process with Fe3O4@C and Sonication for Oxidative Degradation of 4-Chlorophenol

This current work deals with oxidative destruction of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) with catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (CWPO) using Fe3O4@C and sonication (US) in aqueous solution. The Fe3O4@C catalyst was synthetized and characterized with Field Emission Electron Microscopy and X-Ray Diffraction. Effect of operational variables, including initial pH, catalyst dosage, H2O2 concentration, 4-CP concentration, and sonication were investigated. A removal efficiency of 99 % was obtained by the CWPO/US-Fe3O4@C process in selected conditions including pH 5, Fe3O4@C dosage of 0.8 g L–1, H2O2 concentration of 20 mM, sonication power of 300 W, and reaction time of 60 min. Results indicated significant 4-CP removal with CWPO/US-Fe3O4@C (99 %) compared to CWPO (67 %) and US (10 %). According to the results, Fe3O4@C nanocomposite can be considered a cost-effective catalyst since it demonstrated acceptable reusability performance in degradation of 4-CP by CWPO/US-Fe3O4@C process. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

The Serum Lead level in Patients With Retained Lead Pellets

Background: Patients, who survived from shotgun injuries, often have some retained lead pellets in their bodies. Several cases of lead toxicity have been reported regarding these patients. Objectives: This study seeks to compare the serum lead level in patients who have retained lead pellets in their bodies with the control group. Patients and Methods: In this case-control study, we gathered the serum lead levels of 25 patients with some retained lead pellets in their bodies due to shotgun and 25 volunteers without similar lead exposure and compared them in view of the age, gender, and living place. Results: While the mean serum lead level in both groups was lower than the standard level (i.e. 40 µg/dL) , the mean ± SD of serum lead level were 29 ± 12.8 µg/dL and 25.3 ± 6.4 µg/dL in the case and control groups, respectively without any significant difference (P = 0. 30) . However, a positive relationship was seen between serum lead level, and the number of retained lead pellets (r = 0.447, P = 0. 025) . Conclusions: Although extensive surgery to remove the lead pellets is not recommended in patients injured with shotguns, those with many retained lead pellets in their bodies should be considered at risk for lead poisoning and monitored carefully

Population assessment and yield per recruit of long tail tuna (Thunnus tonggol) in northern of the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Sea (Iran, Hormozgan Province)

The purpose of this study was to find some important biological aspects of Thunnus tonggol in coastal waters of Hormozgan Province (Persian Gulf and Oman Sea). A total monthly data of 4383 individuals ranging from 25 to 124 cm fork length were collected from April 2015 to March 2016. The data were analyzed with FiSAT II software using the ELEFAN1 package to estimate the population parameters. The length-weight relationship was TW=0.00002 FL^2.87 (R^2 =0.97) showing an isometric growth for T. tonggol. Growth parameters were computed as L∞=129.6 cm, K=0.39 year^-1 and t0=−0.28 with the growth performance index, φ’ of 8.7. The total mortality (Z) was estimated 1.58 year^-1 using catch curve method. The natural (M) and fishing mortality (Fcurr) were obtained 0.49 and 1.09 year^-1, respectively. The exploitation ratio was 0.69. Length at first capture (Lc) was estimated as 60.2 cm fork length. The yield per recruit (Y/R) maximized in maximum fishing mortality rate 0.85 year^-1. The biomass per recruit decreased to 17.2% of unexploited biomass (virgin biomass) at Fcurr. The current fishing mortality exceeds optimum fishing mortality (Fopt) and limit fishing mortality (F limit) as biological reference points. The results indicated that population of T. tonggol is overexploited in the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea and there no further scope for improving the exploitation of this species