Study bioaccumulation of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb) in Metapenaeus affinis in Bahrekan, west-north of Persian Gulf

This study was conducted in order to bioaccumulation of heavy metals Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb in shell and muscle of white shrimp native species of Khouzestan Province in summer and winter of 2013, 80 samples were collected from station of Bahrekan in coast of Hendijan, West-North of Persian Gulf. Then Biometry and preparation of shell and muscle samples, metals were extracted using acid digestion method and concentration of heavy metals was measured by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Results showed that in shell and summer total of metals were higher than muscle and winter season and was significant relationships between them (P≤0.05). The maximum concentration of Zn in shell and two season summer and winter observed (44.61± 1.67 and 16.33±1.37 mg/kg dry weigh) and the minimum concentration of Cd (0.1±0.004 and 0.001±0.0001 mg/kg dry weigh) was determinate. There was a significant relationship between water and shrimp for accumulation of heavy metals in two seasons (P≤0.05). Results showed accumulation of Cd was higher than the NHMRC and the INSO standard

Fatty acid profile and cholesterol content of Ghezel sheep milk during lactation period

The chemical composition, fatty acid profile, and cholesterol content of milk fat were analysed during the lactation period of thirty Iranian Ghezel sheep. They were fed dry hay for the first three months and then grazed on fresh grass to the end of lactation, along with barley and wheat middling during the whole period. Fatty acid profile analysis showed palmitic acid to be the dominant fatty acid (45.24±1.88%). During lactation C6:0, C8:0, C10:0, C12:0, and C14:0 contents decreased, while C18:0, C18:1, C18:2, and CLA increased significantly, which can be associated with the change of nutrition from hay to fresh grazing. The cholesterol content of the sheep milk reached 14.88 mg/100 ml milk or 283.43 mg/100 g fat as an average for the whole period of milking. Regression analysis showed a significant increase in cholesterol from 5.42 to 32.87 mg/100 g milk during the lactation period

Variable rate spraying in varied micro-meteorological conditions

This study evaluated effects of crosswind on the variable rate sprayer application treatments spray coverage and deposition on different citrus canopy sizes.  The axial-fan airblast sprayer retrofitted with variable liquid- and air-assist rates was field-tested with different crosswind conditions on small (about 2 m tall and < 1.5 m wide) and medium-sized (about 3 m tall and < 2.5 m wide) canopies.  Crosswinds of 1.3, 2.7, and 4.0 ms-1 on the canopies being sprayed were generated using the stationary conical air shaker as the air blower unit.  Water sensitive papers (WSPs) were used to collect droplet deposits and image processing software was used to analyze the WSPs scanned at 600 dpi.  Percent spray coverage on the WSPs was found to be one of the most suited parameters to evaluate the effectiveness of spray application treatments.  Overall, the variable rate spray application treatments had comparable spray coverage on respective canopies (front, middle, and across WSP locations in the canopy) during all crosswind conditions.  For both types of canopies, spray coverage was higher on the canopy front and decreased as the spray penetrated inside (i.e. canopy middle) and across.  Due to coalescing, larger droplets (Dv,0.5 [volume median diameter] = 838 to 2,624 µm) were formed on the WSPs located on canopy front, whereas coalescing reduced as the spray penetrated inside (Dv,0.5 = 391 to 1,625 µm on canopy middle) and across the canopy (Dv,0.5 = 307 to 508 µm).    Keywords: airblast sprayer, adjustable air-assistance, crosswind, spray coverage, citru

10-kA pulsed power supply for superconducting coils

A new 4-MW inductor-converter bridge (ICB) for supplying power to pulsed superconducting magnets is under construction at Argonne National Laoratory. This is a second-generation ICB built at Argonne Lab. The analytical, design, and control techniques developed for the first prototype have been used in the design of the new system. The paper presents the important considerations in the design of the new ICB. A brief description of the operation of the circuit is also given

Evidence for Retrogene Origins of the Prion Gene Family

The evolutionary origin of prion genes, only known to exist in the vertebrate lineage, had remained elusive until recently. Following a lead from interactome investigations of the murine prion protein, our previous bioinformatic analyses revealed the evolutionary descent of prion genes from an ancestral ZIP metal ion transporter. However, the molecular mechanism of evolution remained unexplored. Here we present a computational investigation of this question based on sequence, intron-exon, synteny and pseudogene analyses. Our data suggest that during the emergence of metazoa, a cysteine-flanked core domain was modularly inserted, or arose de novo, in a preexisting ZIP ancestor gene to generate a prion-like ectodomain in a subbranch of ZIP genes. Approximately a half-billion years later, a genomic insertion of a spliced transcript coding for such a prion-like ZIP ectodomain may have created the prion founder gene. We document that similar genomic insertions involving ZIP transcripts, and probably relying on retropositional elements, have indeed occurred more than once throughout evolution

Reformism, Economic Liberalisation and Popular Mobilisation in Iran

Whereas in other MENA countries the impact of neo-liberal policies has been the subject of intense debate, there are at present few voices that directly analyse or critique its social and political consequences in Iran. This article seeks to address this lacuna by analysing the dynamics of reformism, economic liberalisation and popular mobilisation in Iran. It charts the country’s move from a post-revolutionary populism to a liberalised yet increasingly exclusivist model of politics and compares this to trajectories of economic liberalisation in Egypt. Two distinct outcomes of economic reform are analysed in the first part of the article: Socio-economic exclusion; and the contraction of political rights. In the second half, I investigate the ways successive post-war governments in Iran have packaged neo-liberal reforms, and how their re-imagining of the role of the state has led to differing levels of popular resistance. Finally I argue that under the present administration, political elites increasingly are oriented toward strengthening the state and seeking to limit opposition to their policies. However, the absence of neo-liberal hegemony in Iran means that growing mobilization on socio-economic issues is challenging these policies. The Right in Iranian politics is utilizing this mobilisation to present a populist challenge to the reformists in power

Signal Transmission in the Auditory System

Contains table of contents for Section 3 and reports on nine research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 P01 NS13126)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 P01 NS23734)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS18682)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS25995)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS20269)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS20322)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 T32 NS07047)Johnson and Johnson Foundatio

Evolutionary Descent of Prion Genes from the ZIP Family of Metal Ion Transporters

In the more than twenty years since its discovery, both the phylogenetic origin and cellular function of the prion protein (PrP) have remained enigmatic. Insights into a possible function of PrP may be obtained through the characterization of its molecular neighborhood in cells. Quantitative interactome data demonstrated the spatial proximity of two metal ion transporters of the ZIP family, ZIP6 and ZIP10, to mammalian prion proteins in vivo. A subsequent bioinformatic analysis revealed the unexpected presence of a PrP-like amino acid sequence within the N-terminal, extracellular domain of a distinct sub-branch of the ZIP protein family that includes ZIP5, ZIP6 and ZIP10. Additional structural threading and orthologous sequence alignment analyses argued that the prion gene family is phylogenetically derived from a ZIP-like ancestral molecule. The level of sequence homology and the presence of prion protein genes in most chordate species place the split from the ZIP-like ancestor gene at the base of the chordate lineage. This relationship explains structural and functional features found within mammalian prion proteins as elements of an ancient involvement in the transmembrane transport of divalent cations. The phylogenetic and spatial connection to ZIP proteins is expected to open new avenues of research to elucidate the biology of the prion protein in health and disease