Ramsar international wetlands of Alagol, Almagol and Ajigol in eastern parts of the Caspian Sea: A floristic and habitat survey

Ramsar international wetlands of Alagol, Almagol and Ajigol with a surface of 3027 ha are located in the vast Turkmen-Sahra plains (Golestan prov.) in east of Caspian Sea and in the vicinity of the Iran-Turkmenistan political border. Flora, vegetation and habitat diversity of the wetlands were surveyed during growing seasons of 2014 and 2015. A total of 159 plant taxa belonging to 123 genera and 42 families were determined in the studied wetlands. Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae (including Chenopodiaceae) and Poaceae were the most species rich families and Suaeda, Salsola, Atriplex, Plantago and Tamarix were the most species rich genera. A floristic analysis indicated that therophytes and pluriregional elements predominated life form and chorological spectra, respectively. Studied sites were physiognomically classified into aquatic, emergent, and dry upland habitats which represent 6, 68 and 26 percent of all plant taxa, respectively. Halophytic species constitute a large part of flora, among them Puccinellia poecilantha recently recorded in the area is considered as a rare plant. The results may be applied in designing conservation areas and developing conservation strategies for this unique wetland ecosystem

Developmental MRI markers cosegregate juvenile patients with myoclonic epilepsy and their healthy siblings

OBJECTIVE: MRI studies of genetic generalized epilepsies have mainly described group-level changes between patients and healthy controls. To determine the endophenotypic potential of structural MRI in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), we examined MRI-based cortical morphologic markers in patients and their healthy siblings. METHODS: In this prospective, cross-sectional study, we obtained 3T MRI in patients with JME, siblings, and controls. We mapped sulco-gyral complexity and surface area, morphologic markers of brain development, and cortical thickness. Furthermore, we calculated mean geodesic distance, a surrogate marker of cortico-cortical connectivity. RESULTS: Compared to controls, patients and siblings showed increased folding complexity and surface area in prefrontal and cingulate cortices. In these regions, they also displayed abnormally increased geodesic distance, suggesting network isolation and decreased efficiency, with strongest effects for limbic, fronto-parietal, and dorsal-attention networks. In areas of findings overlap, we observed strong patient-sibling correlations. Conversely, neocortical thinning was present in patients only and related to disease duration. Patients showed subtle impairment in mental flexibility, a frontal lobe function test, as well as deficits in naming and design learning. Siblings' performance fell between patients and controls. CONCLUSION: MRI markers of brain development and connectivity are likely heritable and may thus serve as endophenotypes. The topography of morphologic anomalies and their abnormal structural network integration likely explains cognitive impairments in patients with JME and their siblings. By contrast, cortical atrophy likely represents a marker of disease

A novel approach to call blocking probability evaluation in multiservice CDMA

We present a novel approach to model the uplink air interface access mechanism in a CDMA network as a slotted random access system, and use it to calculate the soft blocking probability in a multiservice CDMA network. Simulation results show that our method is accurate

Spatial distribution and volume of dead wood in unmanaged caspian beech (Fagus orientalis) forests from northern Iran

Unmanaged forests are remnants of natural ecosystems that provide a basis for close-to-nature silvicultural research and applications. These forests have high amounts of dead wood, and although this material is being increasingly studied, the diversity of dead wood in terms of different diameters, decay stages, and spatial distribution patterns is as important as its volume for understanding forest dynamics. Here, we study natural forests in northern Iran to investigate the spatial distribution, decay stages, and volume of dead wood in unmanaged temperate forests at different developmental stages. Three stem-mapped sampling plots (100 m × 100 m) were established in uneven-aged stands dominated by Caspian beech (Fagus orientalis Lispsky). The total dead wood ranged from 37 to 119 m2 ha-1. Our results imply a spatial distribution shift from aggregation to randomness for dead trees in Caspian beech forest succession. We detected significant spatial interactions (attraction) between living and dead trees at short to medium spatial scales (1-20 m) in the plot with the earlier successional stage, suggesting that intra-specific competition is a prevailing force causing tree mortality at the stem-exclusion phase. By contrast, as trees become dominant with the mortality of other trees, the random tree-mortality pattern prevails. The spatial distribution and volume of dead wood may serve as a management target in near-to-natural Caspian beech forest. On the basis of our results, conservation-oriented management strategies should take into account the increasing amount of dead wood, particularly of large diameter in a late stage of decay. © 2013 by the authors.The authors would like to thank the Forest, Range and Watershed Organization of Iran for the financial support of the project. Jesús Julio Camarero acknowledges the support of ARAID. David Nesbitt looked over the English of this manuscript.Peer Reviewe

1H-MRS metabolite's ratios show temporal alternation in temporal lobe seizure: Comparison between interictal and postictal phases

Purposes To determine 1H-MRSI metabolites changes in interictal and postictal phases of patients suffering from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis and lateralization of seizure foci. Materials and methods MR spectroscopic imaging was performed in 5 adult patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy interictally and immediately after the seizure and in 4 adult control subjects. All patients underwent MR imaging and VideoEEG Monitoring. Results The results showed statistically significant decreases in N-acetylaspartate/Creatine, N-acetylaspartate/Choline and N-acetylaspartate/(creatine + choline) immediately after ictus in ipsilateral hippocampus as compared with control data and contralateral hippocampus of patients while no statistically significant difference was presented in interictal phase. Conclusion The present study clearly indicates 1H-MRS abnormalities following an ictus of temporal lobe epilepsy with metabolite recovery in interictal phase. This finding suggests postictal 1H-MRS as a possible useful tool to assist in lateralizing and localizing of seizure foci in epileptic patients with structural lesions. © 2016 Elsevier B.V

Evaluating the prevalence of virulence genes of Escherichia coli in patients affected by urinary tract infection

Urinary tract infection due to Escherichia coli remains to be a major health problem worldwide. UPEC is one of the major causes of urinary tract infections among the general public. These bacteria have various virulence factors, including adhesion and toxins. Pilli P and FimA are the main members of E. coli adhesion in the pathogenesis of urinary tract infections. Due to high prevalence of urinary tract infections in the community, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of fimA, hly-A and papG virulence genes in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Iranian female adults with urinary tract infections. From March to October 2016, 200 urine samples were collected from 200 inpatient and outpatient women. The Escherichia coli bacteria was detected and isolated, using biochemical techniques and supplementary tests in the Microbiology Laboratory of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences. Then virulence factors were identified by PCR method. The prevalence of papG, fimA and hlyA were 44, 74 and 26% of in inpatients and 52%, 76% and 28%, in outpatients, respectively. There was a significant correlation between papG and pyelonephritis in inpatients. There was no relationship between the frequency of papG, fimA and hlyA genes, and cystitis. The results of this study indicated that the fimA gene was the most frequent among the general public, and the hlyA gene was the least frequent and the papG gene was associated with pyelonephriti

Whole genome sequencing and in vitro splice assays reveal genetic causes for inherited retinal diseases

Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a major cause of visual impairment. These clinically heterogeneous disorders are caused by pathogenic variants in more than 270 genes. As 30–40% of cases remain genetically unexplained following conventional genetic testing, we aimed to obtain a genetic diagnosis in an IRD cohort in which the genetic cause was not found using whole-exome sequencing or targeted capture sequencing. We performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to identify causative variants in 100 unresolved cases. After initial prioritization, we performed an in-depth interrogation of all noncoding and structural variants in genes when one candidate variant was detected. In addition, functional analysis of putative splice-altering variants was performed using in vitro splice assays. We identified the genetic cause of the disease in 24 patients. Causative coding variants were observed in genes such as ATXN7, CEP78, EYS, FAM161A, and HGSNAT. Gene disrupting structural variants were also detected in ATXN7, PRPF31, and RPGRIP1. In 14 monoallelic cases, we prioritized candidate noncanonical splice sites or deep-intronic variants that were predicted to disrupt the splicing process based on in silico analyses. Of these, seven cases were resolved as they carried pathogenic splice defects. WGS is a powerful tool to identify causative variants residing outside coding regions or heterozygous structural variants. This approach was most efficient in cases with a distinct clinical diagnosis. In addition, in vitro splice assays provide important evidence of the pathogenicity of rare variants