An improved microculture method for diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis

This study evaluated the performance of three diagnostic methods for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Patients who came to the Health Center Laboratory of Gonbad-e-Qabus in Golestan Province, Iran, were enrolled in the study. Skin scraping smear, improved microculture (IMC) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were performed. A total of 303 subjects were recruited, among whom 273 subjects fulfilled the criteria for CL. Sensitivity and specificity were 88.8 % (95 % CI = 84.2–92.2 %) and 100.0 % for smears, 98.4 % (95 % CI = 96.1–99.1 %) and 100.0 % for IMC, both of them 100.0 % for PCR. Although, PCR was relatively more sensitive than the IMC, the high correlation (agreement = 96 %, Kappa = 0.82) between IMC and PCR along with the advantages of simplicity, rapidity, adequate sensitivity and as a needle free method, offers the IMC as a valuable alternative diagnostic method for PCR in diagnosis of CL. © Indian Society for Parasitology 2013

A systematic review of the effects of Iranian pharmaceutical plant extracts on Giardia lamblia

This study aimed to provide a systematic review regarding anti-Giardia effect of different Iranian plant extracts used in vivo and in vitro on cysts and trophozoites. Many reports indicated that most of plant extracts used as anti-Giardia were obtained from Liliaceae, Apiaceae, Asteraceae, and Myrtaceae. These extracts included different fractions such as aqueous, alcoholic and chloroform extracts as well as Soxhlet extraction of juice or essence. The findings of this review showed that hydroalcoholic extract of asafoetida, Chenopodium botrys, and chloroformic extract of feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) have the maximum effect (100 efficacy) on in vitro application against Giardia. However, the highest in vivo effect of 100 therapeutic significance was recorded for the extract of Allium sativum at 80 mg/mL concentration. Given the plant species richness of Iran in terms of herbal medicines with fewer side effects, it can be a good alternative to chemical drugs used to treat giardiasis. © 2015 Asian Pacific Tropical Medicine Press

Molecular and Seroepidemiological Survey of Visceral Leishmaniasis among Humans and Domestic Dogs in Mazandaran Province, North of Iran

Background: New cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) have been reported recently in some parts of Mazandaran Province, north of Iran where the first human case of VL was reported in 1949. This study aimed to determine the present status of Leishmania infantum infection among humans and domestic dogs using serological and molecular methods in central parts of Mazandaran Province. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, blood samples were randomly collected from 402 humans and fortynine domestic dogs throughout 2009 and 2010 in the central part of Mazandaran Province including Semeskadeh and Kiakola districts where recent cases of human visceral leishmaniasis had been reported there. All the collected samples were tested by direct agglutination test (DAT) for the detection of anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies as well as convenience PCR assay on whole blood samples for detection of leishmanial infection and identification of Leishmania species. Results: None of 402 collected human (402) and dog (49) blood samples showed anti Leishmania infantum antibodies at titers 1:3200 and 1:320 as cut-off values of DAT, respectively but only 2 of domestic dogs (4.1 %) were found PCR-positive corresponding to L.infantum. Conclusion: This study confirms the circulation of L. infantum at least among domestic dogs an

Development of portable automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system on Raspberry Pi

ANPR system is used in automating access control and security such as identifying stolen cars in real time by installing it to police patrol cars, and detecting vehicles that are overspeeding on highways. However, this technology is still relatively expensive; in November 2014, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) purchased and installed 20 units of ANPR systems in their patrol vehicles costing nearly RM 30 million. In this paper a cheaper alternative of a portable ANPR system running on a Raspberry Pi with OpenCV library is presented. Once the camera captures an image, image desaturation, filtering, segmentation and character recognition is all done on the Raspberry Pi before the extracted number plate is displayed on the LCD and saved to a database. The main challenges in a portable application include crucial need of an efficient code and reduced computational complexity while offering improved flexibility. The performance time is also presented, where the whole process is run with a noticeable 3 seconds delay in getting the final output

Development of a portable community video surveillance system

In 2016, a crime rate has been evidently increasing particularly in Kuala Lumpur areas, including reports on house break-ins, car thefts, motorcycle thefts and robbery. One way of deterring such cases is by installing CCTV monitoring system in premises such as houses or shops, but this usually requires expensive equipment and installation fees. In this paper a cheaper alternative of a portable community video surveillance system running on Raspberry Pi 3 utilizing OpenCV is presented. The system will detect motion based on image subtraction algorithm and immediately inform users when intruders are detected by sending a live video feed to a Telegram group chat, as well as sound the buzzer alarm on the Raspberry Pi. Additionally, any Telegram group members can request images and recorded videos from the system at any time by sending a get request in Telegram which will be handled by Telegram Bot. This system uses the Pi NoIR camera module as the image acquisition device equipped with a 36 LED infrared illuminator for night vision capability. In addition to the Python language, OpenCV, a computer vision simulation from Intel is also used for image processing tasks. The performance analysis of the completed system is also presented computational complexity while offering improved flexibility. The performance time is also presented, where the whole process is run with a noticeable 3 seconds delay in getting the final output

Emergence of a new focus of visceral leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum in Golestan Province, north-eastern of Iran

Over the last decade, a few cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) have been reported in some districts of the province of Golestan, in north-eastern Iran. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of Leishmania infantum infection among humans and domestic dogs by using direct agglutination test (DAT) and PCR assays in the eastern zone of the province. Between 2011 and 2012, blood samples were randomly collected from 450 humans and 50 domestic dogs, in the eastern zone of Golestan Province including 7 villages from Marave-tappeh district where new cases of human VL had been recorded there. Each of these samples was tested for anti-Leishmania antibodies, in DAT, and for L. infantum kinetoplast DNA on whole blood, in PCR-based assays. A total of 450 human samples, 6 (1.33 %) were found seropositive and 13 (2.8 %) was found PCR-positive. Of the 50 dog samples, 16 (32 %) were found seropositive and 15 (30 %) were PCR-positive. All PCR-positive dogs were found seropositive except one as well as 6 (46.2 %) PCR-positive humans were also found seropositive. Moreover, the species of L. infantum was detected in all PCR-positive samples. The high prevalence of VL in the study areas offer it has emerged as an endemic focus in the province. Further investigations on the vectors, reservoirs and human population are recommended. © 2013 Indian Society for Parasitology

Conservation of the Cylindrical and Elliptic Cylindrical K-P Equations

Abstract: We study the invariance properties and exact solutions of the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation and construct its conservation laws and that of its transformed elliptic and elliptic-cylindrical versions. Then, it is shown how the conservation laws and related quantities of the transformed versions may be attained by applying the transformation variables as opposed to independent calculations which are often cumbersome for high order partial differential equations of 'many' variables