Determination of genetic relatedness among selected rice (Oryza sativa, L.) cultivars using microsatellite markers

For plant improvement programs, genetic variation information among different cultivars is very important. Genetic variation among 26 rice (Oryza sativa, L.) accessions, consisting of 13 Iranian and 13 Malaysian cultivars was investigated using microsatellite markers distributed across the rice genome. All the 21 selected microsatellite primers were successfully amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of which 20 (95.2%) were found to be polymorphic. A total of 75 alleles were detected at 21 microsatellite loci. The allele frequencies per locus ranged from 1 in RM338 to 5 alleles in RM307, RM161, RM334 and RM271. The mean number of alleles per locus was 3.57. Amongst these microsatellite loci, the largest polymorphism information content (PIC) value was 0.74 in RM 161, while the lowest PIC value was 0.0 in RM 338. Dendrogram was constructed based on dissimilarity values, unweighted pair group with arithmetic average (UPGMA) and it separated all the cultivars into six clusters. All these polymorphisms could be further evaluated for rice marker assisted selection and developed PCR methodology would expedite screening for large numbers of rice required for association studies.Key words: Genetic variation, genetic dissimilarity, polymorphism information content (PIC), polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Determinant criteria for designing Health benefit package in selected countries

Health benefit package described as primary health interventions that provided with government using general funds for all regardless their financial ability. This study was aimed at determine appropriate pattern for Iran using comparative survey of Health benefit package in various countries. A review exploration was done, scholars was selected population of both developed and developing countries, required information was also extracted by articles, searches and reports of reliable sources and date were analyzed by SPSS, in brief. The vast majority frequencies was respectively allocated to accessibility (40.7%), cost- effectiveness (29.6%), prioritize, efficacy and cost (22.2%). most countries located in WHO African region were selected cost-effectiveness and accessibility, WHO southeast Asia region were selected, coverage, prioritize, efficacy and quality and finally most WHO Europeans region were elected effectiveness and services costs for including services in Health benefit package. According to most Health benefit package designer emphasis on criteria including accessibility and costeffectiveness, to design Health benefit package for Iran, these criteria must be noticed

Epidemiological characteristics and determinants of mortality in acute coronary syndrome in Iran

Abstract Background and purpose: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) includes ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non–ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and unstable angina. This study was conducted to determine the characteristics of patients with ACS and determinants of their mortality in Iran. Materials and methods: This study was a hospital-based prospective cohort study in which we used the data of 20,750 patients registered in National Registry of myocardial infarction in hospitals with cardiology ward in 31 provinces in Iran. To determine the factors associated with patients’ mortality, Cox regression (relative hazards model) was used. Results: Mortality rate in followed up patients with STEMI and NSTEMI was 3698.4 and 4573.3 per 1000 person-year, respectively. The mean age of patients with STEMI was 60.5± 13.1 years and in those with NSTEMI was 62.9± 13.4 years. The prevalence of STEMI and NSTEMI was 75.8% and 24.2%, respectively. The most important determinants of mortality in patients were age over 84 years of old, female sex, illiteracy, lack of receiving thrombolytic therapy, right bundle branch block, STEMI, heart failure, and receiving angioplasty. Conclusion: The characteristics of patients with ACS, could help the health system personnel in strategy adoption and decision making as well as assessment, monitoring, and treatment of patients. Training people to refer early for emergency care in case of manifesting ACS symptoms, and providing them with treatment at golden time could be of great benefit in reducing the rate of mortality

Coherent Umklapp Scattering of Light from Disordered Photonic Crystals

A theoretical study of the coherent light scattering from disordered photonic crystal is presented. In addition to the conventional enhancement of the reflected light intensity into the backscattering direction, the so called coherent backscattering (CBS), the periodic modulation of the dielectric function in photonic crystals gives rise to a qualitatively new effect: enhancement of the reflected light intensity in directions different from the backscattering direction. These additional coherent scattering processes, dubbed here {\em umklapp scattering} (CUS), result in peaks, which are most pronounced when the incident light beam enters the sample at an angle close to the the Bragg angle. Assuming that the dielectric function modulation is weak, we study the shape of the CUS peaks for different relative lengths of the modulation-induced Bragg attenuation compared to disorder-induced mean free path. We show that when the Bragg length increases, then the CBS peak assumes its conventional shape, whereas the CUS peak rapidly diminishes in amplitude. We also study the suppression of the CUS peak upon the departure of the incident beam from Bragg resonance: we found that the diminishing of the CUS intensity is accompanied by substantial broadening. In addition, the peak becomes asymmetric.Comment: LaTeX, 8 two-column pages, 6 figures include

A suggested prototype for assessing bone health

Background- Osteoporosis is becoming a health concern worldwide. Considering the fact that prevention plays an important role in reducing the burden of this silent disease and in view of the limited resources available, many countries have adopted certain programs to fight osteoporosis through shifting their attention towards at-risk individuals. The Iranian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study (IMOS) is one of these programs. The program aims to assess bone health and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in different parts of Iran with various altitudes, latitudes and lifestyle habits in a way that the results could be generalized to the country. Method- The present article presents the protocol used in the third phase of the study. It was designed based on the experiences gathered in the previous phases to overcome the shortcomings particularly subject loss. The questionnaire applied in this study was developed based on a thorough literature review of the risk factors and secondary causes of osteoporosis and was approved by an expert panel. It should be added that while the majority of the existing studies aim to study a certain aspect of osteoporosis, the present protocol provides the information needed for policy makers and researchers to study different osteoporosis-related issues. Conclusion- The authors believe the protocol, to be implemented with small modifications, can help policymakers in different parts of the world, particularly developing countries, gather accurate information on different aspects of bone health at the national level. © 2015, Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran. All rights reserved

High prevalence of refractive errors in 7 year old children in Iran

Background: The latest WHO report indicates that refractive errors are the leading cause of visual impairment throughout the world. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism in 7 yr old children in Iran. Methods: In a cross-sectional study in 2013 with multistage cluster sampling, first graders were randomly selected from 8 cities in Iran. All children were tested by an optometrist for uncorrected and corrected vision, and non-cycloplegic and cycloplegic refraction. Refractive errors in this study were determined based on spherical equivalent (SE) cyloplegic refraction. Results: From 4614 selected children, 89.0 participated in the study, and 4072 were eligible. The prevalence rates of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism were 3.04 (95 CI: 2.30-3.78), 6.20 (95 CI: 5.27-7.14), and 17.43 (95 CI: 15.39-19.46), respectively. Prevalence of myopia (P=0.925) and astigmatism (P=0.056) were not statistically significantly different between the two genders, but the odds of hyperopia were 1.11 (95 CI: 1.01-2.05) times higher in girls (P=0.011). The prevalence of with-the-rule astigmatism was 12.59, against-the-rule was 2.07, and oblique 2.65. Overall, 22.8 (95 CI: 19.7-24.9) of the schoolchildren in this study had at least one type of refractive error. Conclusion: One out of every 5 schoolchildren had some refractive error. Conducting multicenter studies throughout the Middle East can be very helpful in understanding the current distribution patterns and etiology of refractive errors compared to the previous decade. © 2016. Iranian Journal of Public Health. All Right Reserved

Anomalous Coherent Backscattering of Light from Opal Photonic Crystals

We studied coherent backscattering (CBS) of light from opal photonic crystals in air at different incident inclination angles, wavelengths and along various [hkl] directions inside the opals. Similar to previously obtained CBS cones from various random media, we found that when Bragg condition with the incident light beam is not met then the CBS cones from opals show a triangular line shape in excellent agreement with light diffusion theory. At Bragg condition, however, we observed a dramatic broadening of the opal CBS cones that depends on the incident angle and [hkl] direction. This broadening is explained as due to the light intensity decay in course of propagation along the Bragg direction {\em before the first} and {\em after the last} scattering events. We modified the CBS theory to incorporate the attenuation that results from the photonic band structure of the medium. Using the modified theory we extract from our CBS data the light mean free path and Bragg attenuation length at different [hkl]. Our study shows that CBS measurements are a unique experimental technique to explore photonic crystals with disorder, when other spectroscopical methods become ambiguous due to disorder-induced broadening.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Association of TNF-α G308A gene polymorphism in essential hypertensive patients without type 2 diabetes mellitus

This study aims to investigate the effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) G308A gene polymorphism on essential hypertension (EHT) with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The project was conducted on buccal epithelial and blood cells for case and control patients, respectively. Epithelial cells were obtained from the inner part of the cheeks. Techniques including DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) were utilized to assess biomarkers of DNA damage. Our results demonstrated significant differences between wild and mutated genotypes among EHT patients without T2DM. We also found a significant association between wild and mutated allele frequencies in EHT patients (P < 0.05). Clinical characteristics between the groups (EHT with or without T2DM and controls) showed statistically significant association (P < 0.05). Overall, we show that G308A polymorphism of the TNF-αgene may be a significant genetic risk factor for EHT without T2DM patients in Malaysia

Supermode suppression to below-130 dBc/Hz in a 10 GHz harmonically mode-locked external sigma cavity semiconductor laser

We demonstrate supermode suppression to levels below - 125 dBc/Hz and - 132 dBc/Hz using Fabry-Perot etalons with finesse values of 180 and 650, respectively, for a 10 GHz harmonically mode-locked external sigma cavity semiconductor laser. The laser was hybridly mode-locked using direct electrical modulation in a compact package without the need for an external modulator

Intensity correlations in electronic wave propagation in a disordered medium: the influence of spin-orbit scattering

We obtain explicit expressions for the correlation functions of transmission and reflection coefficients of coherent electronic waves propagating through a disordered quasi-one-dimensional medium with purely elastic diffusive scattering in the presence of spin-orbit interactions. We find in the metallic regime both large local intensity fluctuations and long-range correlations which ultimately lead to universal conductance fluctuations. We show that the main effect of spin-orbit scattering is to suppress both local and long-range intensity fluctuations by a universal symmetry factor 4. We use a scattering approach based on random transfer matrices.Comment: 15 pages, written in plain TeX, Preprint OUTP-93-42S (University of Oxford), to appear in Phys. Rev.