Effect of Nitrogen and Two Types of Green Manure on the Changes in Percentage and Yield of Peppermint (Mentha piperita) Essential Oil

An experiment was conducted during 2015-2016 as a split factorial in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Experimental factors were nitrogen fertilizer at four levels 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg/ha as the main factor and two types of green manure. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and secale (Secale montanum) in two states (use and non-use) were considered as sub-factors. Medicago sativa and Secale montanum were cultivated as green manure in September 2015 and returned into the soil by ploughing at the fall of 2015. Thereafter, Mentha piperita was planted and the crop was taken care of in order to collect the samples. The highest increase of peppermint essential oil percentage and essential oil yield in different treatments resulted from the application of 150 kg/ha of pure nitrogen with 0.35% and 45.60 kg/ha, as well as the use of M. sativa with 0.43% and 55.80 kg/ha, the use of S. montanum with 0.44% and 49.50 kg/ha, respectively. The highest essential oil percentage and essential oil yield were recorded under the influence of the double interaction use of 150 kg/ha of pure nitrogen and use of green manure of M. sativa with average 0.62% and 80.30 kg/ha, respectively. The triple interaction of experimental factors on traits tested showed that nitrogen treatment of 150 kg/ha with M. sativa and S. montanum produced the highest percentage of essential oil and essential oil yield of average 0.73% and 91.65 kg/ha, respectively

Incidence of Snake Bites in Kashan, Iran During an Eight Year Period (2004-2011)

Background: Snake bites are one of the significant health problems in the tropical and subtropical regions. Snake bite is a common medical emergency in Iran, and the epidemiological features and management of such cases vary from region to region. Objectives: This present research study was conducted to obtain new information about the epidemiology of snake bites in the region of Kashan, located in the central part of Iran. Patients and Methods: This research was a descriptive retrospective study. Data from 2004 to 2011 of snakebite cases were collected from case reports. Information included; age and sex of the victim, district, month of incident, mortality, and time of bite. Results: The results of this study showed that the majority of snake bite patients were male (96%). The age distribution of patients indicated that the greatest rate of snake bites occurred among the 15-24 year old group. Data collected in this study revealed that the highest incidence of snake bite cases took place in summer (60%) and the lowest number occurred in winter, with no snake bite cases being recorded. The peak number of snakebite cases was seen during June-September. Conclusions: It was concluded that snake bite cases in Kashan are similar to other areas in Iran from an epidemiological point of view, including; age distribution rates, gender and site of the bites. The existence of Macrov ipera lebetina, a dangerous venomous snake, can cause a range of clinical effects among residents in central parts of Iran, such as Kashan area

A Review on Scorpionism in Iran

Background: Scorpions are one of the most important venomous animals in Iran. Their sting has more prevalence in the south and southwest areas. The aim of this study was to introduce their sting agent species in the country. Methods: Data were extracted by a mini review on scorpion stinging articles in Iran until early 2018 and then the sting agent species in each area were studied. Geographical and provincial distribution of each species also was provided. Results:  Twelve scorpion species are causative agents of sting. According to their deadly rate and clinical symptoms, some of them are considered the most dangerous venomous animals in Iran. Some death cases have been reported be­cause of the sting of 3 species of Hemiscorpius lepturus, H. acanthocercus and Androctonus crassicauda. Remaining species have not deadly sting but because of their frequency, they encounter the individuals and cause the stinging. Conclusion: The highest number of sting agents is in Khuzestan, however Gilan and Mazandaran have the lowest fre­quency. Because of the high prevalence of sting agent species in that province, the necessity of providing control and prevention programs is very important

Survey of museum beetle (Dermestes sp.) damage to the scorpion collection in the Health Faculty of Kashan University of Medical Sciences

ABSTRACT The result showed that all the drawers containing the scorpion preservation boxes were found damaged by Dermestes sp. Totally, 210 Dermestes larvae were collected. On a average 15 larvae were collected from each drawer. The length of the mature larva was 10-12 mm. The larvae were oval shaped with bodies covered hearly by strands of hair. The incurred damages to the collections were huge because of lack of supervision. Key words : Collection, Dermestes, museum beetle, pest, scorpion

Contamination status of hospitals and health care centers by rodents (Rodentia: Muridae) in Iran

Introduction: Rats are considered as an important potential reservoir for some zoonotic diseases and have an important role in the transmission and spreading them. This research was performed with the purpose of studying the contamination status of hospitals and health care centers in Kashan. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, six hospitals and 17 health care centers in Kashan were studied. Traps were placed in different parts of the hospitals and health care centers. Rats were recognized based on their morphological parameters and the related information was recorded in the questionnaires. After extracting the necessary data, tables and graphs were drawn and the results were analyzed. Results: This study showed that out of six studying hospitals, four were contaminated by rats and out of these four hospitals, one unit was contaminated by Rattuss rattusus and three units by Mus musculus. Also out of 17 health care centers, four were contaminated by house mice. Discussion and Conclusion: Contamination and damage by rats in hospitals and health care centers is significant. It is recommended that authorities take necessary measures to prevent the contamination of hospitals and health care centers by rats. They should also try to control or eradicate them. Copyright © 2018 Journal of Communicable Diseases

Essential Oil Chemical Composition, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Eucalyptus largiflorens F. Muell

In this study, we investigated the chemical composition, the antibacterial activity, and the antioxidant properties of extracts obtained from the leaves, flowers, and fruits of Eucalyptus largiflorens F. Muell. The antioxidant effects of the methanolic extract of aerial parts of the plant, obtained by Soxhlet apparatus, were estimated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-carotene/linoleic acid methods. The essential oils were chemically characterized by gas chromatography (GC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) and flame ionization detector (FID). Thirty compounds were identified, with 1,8-cineol, α-pinene, aromadendrene, globulol and α-phellandrene being the major components. The antibacterial activities of the essential oils were tested against several bacterial isolates, including Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia Coli, using the disc diffusion method. All the essential oils exhibited antibacterial activity. The maximum zone of inhibition was observed for Escherichia coli, with the fruit essential oil in the concentration (100 μL). There was no significant antioxidant activity in the essential oils, while the extracts exhibited considerable antioxidant effects in comparison to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). In this regard, the flower extract showed the highest antioxidant activity in both DPPH (IC50 = 21.5±0.2 μg/mL) and β-carotene/linoleic acid tests (Inhibition (%) = 84.3±0.7). Finally, the fruit essential oil exerts a significant antibacterial activity against several bacterial strains and exhibits a significant antioxidant effect in the β-carotene/linoleic acid tests, thus it may represent an innovative nutraceutical tool able to act on bacteria and host oxidative stress related to infections

Optimal Feature Extraction for Discriminating Raman Spectra of Different Skin Samples using Statistical Methods and Genetic Algorithm

Introduction: Raman spectroscopy, that is a spectroscopic technique based on inelastic scattering of monochromatic light, can provide valuable information about molecular vibrations, so using this technique we can study molecular changes in a sample. Material and Methods: In this research, 153 Raman spectra obtained from normal and dried skin samples. Baseline and electrical noise were eliminated in the preprocessing stage with subsequent normalization of Raman spectra. Then, using statistical analysis and Genetic algorithm, optimal features for discrimination between these two classes have been searched.  In statistical analysis for choosing optimal features, T test, Bhattacharyya distance and entropy between two classes have been calculated. Seeing that T test can better discriminate these two classes so this method used for selecting the best features. Another time Genetic algorithm used for selecting optimal features, finally using these selected features and classifiers such as LDA, KNN, SVM and neural network, these two classes have been discriminated. Results: In comparison of classifiers results, under various strategies for selecting features and classifier, the best results obtained in combination of genetic algorithm in feature selection and SVM in classification. Finally using combination of genetic algorithm and SVM, we could discriminate normal and dried skin samples with accuracy of 90%, sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 91%. Discussion and Conclusion: According to obtained results, we can conclude that genetic algorithm demonstrates better performance than statistical analysis in selection of discriminating features of Raman spectra. In addition, results of this research illustrate the potential of Raman spectroscopy in study of different material effects on skin and skin diseases related to skin dehydration

Salinity stress and PGPR effects on essential oil changes in Rosmarinus officinalis L.

Abstract Background Medicinal plant species have been used by the ancestors around the world since ancient times. Rosmarinus officinalis is one of the most used medicinal plants, which belongs to the family Lamiaceae. To investigate the effects of different levels of salinity stress along with the induction of bacterial growth stimulation on the amount of essential oil composition in R. officinalis, an experiment was conducted in a randomized complete block design with 12 treatments and five replications. Salinity treatments included 0 (control), 2.5 (T1), 5 (T2), 7.5 (T3), 10 (T4) and 12.5 (T5) NaCl g/L, and the bacterium was pseudomonas fluorescence. Results The percentage of essential oils showed a significant relationship with increasing salinity either alone or in composition with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) inoculation treatments and it increased with increasing salinity levels to treatment 4 (T4, 10 g/L NaCl) but decreased with further increases in salinity levels in treatments without using PGPR and it was constant in treatment with using PGPR. Phellandrene, one of the main compounds of essential oils, showed a trend like the whole amount of essential oils in both group of treatments. Conclusion Abiotic and biotic factors may influence the different mechanisms and limit the interactions between plant and beneficial bacteria, resulting in less-than-acceptable performance in plant growth promotion and management of diseases. In this context, the results revealed that the application of PGPRs can help improve the essential oil yield in R. officinalis even in salinity conditions

Common Raman Spectral Markers among Different Tissues for Cancer Detection

Introduction Raman spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique, based on inelastic scattering of monochromatic light. This technique can provide valuable information about biomolecular changes, associated with neoplastic transformation. The purpose of this study was to find Raman spectral markers for distinguishing normal samples from cancerous ones in different tissues. Materials and Methods Ten tissue samples from the breast, colon, pancreas, and thyroid were collected. A Raman system was used for Raman spectroscopic measurement of tissues at 532 nm laser excitation. Five to six Raman spectra were acquired from each sample (a total of 52 spectra). Raman spectra were investigated in important bands associated with Amid1, CH2 (scissoring), Amid3, d(NH), n(C-C), and das (CH3) in both normal and cancerous groups. In addition, common spectral markers, which discriminated between normal and cancerous samples in the above tissues, were investigated. Results Common spectral markers among different tissues included intensities of Amid3 and CH2 (scissoring) and intensity ratios of I(Amid1)/I(CH2), I(n(C-C))/I(CH2), and I(d(NH))/I(CH2). This study showed that Amid1-, n(C-C)-, and d(NH)-to-CH2 intensity ratios can discriminate between normal and cancerous samples, with an accuracy of 84.6%, 82.7%, and 82.7% in all studied tissues, respectively. Conclusion This study demonstrates the presence of common spectral markers, associated with neoplastic changes, among different tissues