Comparison the effects of nitric oxide and spermidin pretreatment on alleviation of salt stress in chamomile plant (Matricaria recutita L.)

Salt stress is an important environmental stress that produces reactive oxygen species in plants and causes oxidative injuries. In this investigation, salt stress reduced the shoot and root length, while increased the content of malondealdehyde, Hydrogen peroxide, and the activity of Ascorbate peroxidase andguaiacol peroxidase. Pretreatment of chamomile plants under salt stress with sodium nitroprussideand Spermidin caused enhancement of growth parameters and reduction of malondealdehyde and Hydrogen peroxide content. Pretreatment of plants with sodium nitroprusside remarkably increased Ascorbate peroxidase activity, while Spermidin pre-treatment significantly increased guaiacol peroxidase activity. Application of sodium nitroprusside or Spermidin with Methylene blue which is known to block cyclic guanosine monophosphate signaling pathway, reduced the protective effects of sodium nitroprussideand Spermidin in plants under salinity condition. The result of this study indicated that Methylene blue could partially and entirely abolish the protective effect of Nitric oxide on some physiological parameter. Methylene blue also has could reduce the alleviation effect of Spermidin on some of parameters in chamomile plant under salt stress, so with comparing the results of this study it seems that Spermidin probably acts through Nitric oxide pathway, but the use of 2-4- carboxyphenyl- 4,4,5,5- tetramethyl-imidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide is better to prove

Salicylic Acid Ameliorates the Effects of Oxidative Stress Induced by Water Deficit in Hydroponic Culture of Nigella sativa

Osmotic stress associated with drought, and salinity is a serious problem that inhibits the growth of plants, mainly due to disturbance of the balance between production of ROS and antioxidant defense and causing oxidative stress. The results obtained in the last few years strongly prove that salicylic acid could be a very promising and protective compound for the reduction of biotic and abiotic stresses in sensitive of crops, because under certain conditions, it has been found to mitigate the damaging effects of various stress factors in plants. In this research, salicylic acid was used in control, and drought stressed plants, and the role of this compound in reduction of oxidative damages in Nigella plant was investigated. Data presented in this study indicated that SA application through the root medium brought on the increased levels of drought tolerance in black cumin seedlings. Plants pre-treated with SA exhibited slight injury symptoms whereas those that were not pre-treated with SA had moderate damage and lost considerable portions of their foliage. SA very profoundly inducing the activity of CAT, APX and GPX in plants, which led to reduction in H2O2 content, lipid peroxidation (MDA) and LOX activity so it seems that the application of SA greatly improves the dehydration tolerance through elevated activities of antioxidant systems or may be the expression of genes encoding some ROS-scavenging enzymes under drought stress, which would maintain the redox homeostasis and integrity of cellular components

Optimization of the fermentation media, mathematical modeling, and enhancement of paclitaxel production by Alternaria alternata after elicitation with pectin

Alternaria alternata fungus is a potent paclitaxel producer isolated from Corylus avellana. Themajor challenge is the lack of optimized media for endophytic fungi productivity. In the effort tomaximize the production of taxoids by A. alternata, several fermentation conditions, including pH(pH 4.0–7.0), different types and concentrations of carbon (fructose, glucose, sucrose, mannitol,sorbitol, and malt extract), and nitrogen (urea, ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, ammoniumphosphate, and ammonium sulfate) were applied step by step. Based on the results, A. alternata in amedium containing sucrose 5% (w/v) and ammonium phosphate 2.5 mM at pH 6.0 showed a rapid andsustainable growth rate, the highest paclitaxel yield (94.8 μg gFW−1 vs 2.8 μg gFW− 1 in controls), andthe maximum content of amino acids. Additionally, the effect of pectin was evaluated on fungus, andmycelia harvested. Pectin significantly enhanced the growth and taxoid yield on day 21 (respectively171% and 116% of their corresponding on day 7). The results were checked out by mathematicalmodeling as well. Accordingly, these findings suggest a low-cost, eco-friendly, and easy-to-produceapproach with excellent biotechnological potential for the industrial manufacture of taxoids.</p

Effects of carrageenan as elicitor to stimulate defense responses of basil against Cuscuta campestris Yunck

Cuscuta campestris is a holostemparasitic plant that obtains its resources from its hosts. Sweet basil is an important commercial plant, widely cultivated in many countries. It is a common host for C. campestris. Generally, C. campestris has negative effect on the growth of infected plants and its infestation is difficult to control. Therefore, environmental friendly control of C. campestris seems to be useful. In this work, the relationship between C. campestris and its host, sweet basil, and effects of κ-carrageenan on protection against C. campestris and suppression of its invasion were studied. Basil was sprayed with a solution of carrageenan at a final concentration of 1 g L–1, once a week, 3 times in total. Infection of basil with C. campestris was performed 2 days after the last carrageenan treatment and the plants were collected two weeks after C. campestris attachment. In this study, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase activity (PAL), phenolic, flavonoids and antioxidant content increased remarkably in the basil plants parasitized with C. campestris, and therefore it seems that the parasitic plant induced a defense response in the host plants. Treatment with carrageenan significantly increased shoot length and leaf area of basil and decreased C. campestris infestation by about 26%. Carrageenan treatment caused a significant increase in PAL activity, phenols, antioxidant and lignin content in basil. Thus, the present observation suggested the phenylpropanoid pathway was activated and defense responses were stimulated. Our results showed that carrageenan spraying induced beneficial effects in plants, corresponding to growth stimulation and defense compound synthesis. Thus carrageenan treatment is recommended as a natural biostimulator for the protection of plants against C. campestris

Evaluation of X-ray Equivalent Dose at Radiology Centers in Zahedan in 2017

Introduction: While ionizing radiation benefits the general population, its stochastic and non-stochastic effects necessitate the protection of patients against possible injuries. This study evaluated X-ray equivalent dose at radiology centers in Zahedan in 2017.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in radiology and dentistry departments and waiting rooms. The census method was used for sampling. Six radiology centers, four public hospitals, and thirteen dental offices were chosen for this study. X-ray equivalent dose was measured in μSv/h using MKS-05 ―TERRA dosimeter radiometer. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS version 22.Results: The highest and lowest mean equivalent doses were, respectively, related to machine operators in public hospitals (0.36 ± 0.06 µsv/hr) and dental department staff (0.06 ± 0.01 µsv/hr), which were lower than the permissible level. On the other hand, exposure rate of the radiology staff of some departments was found to be 0.55 μSv/h, which is above the permissible level. Also, the operators' highest amount of radiation exposure was related to dental, chest, and lumbosacral radiographies.Conclusion: Given that the radiology staff is indirectly but constantly subjected to ionizing radiation above the standard dose, it is recommended to take preventive measures such as observing an appropriate distance from the radiology room, reinspection of shields, applying protective devices, and monitoring the exposure dose for this group

A Systematic Review of Factorial Structure of the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS)

Background: The attitude towards lactation is one of the best predictors of breastfeeding. Iowa Infant Feeding Attitudes Scale (IIFAS) is used to measure the attitude toward lactation. IIFAS is a valid and reliable tool but factorial structure of this tool was reported various in different studies. The aim of this study is to assess factorial structure of IIFAS. Materials and Methods: An extensive search was done in databases of databases of Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL until May 2018. Two independent researchers screened articles and in the next step, full texts of probably relevant articles were read and summarized. The quality of studies was performed by COSMIN checklist. The following keywords were used: (Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale OR IIFAS) AND (Factor Analysis OR exploratory factor analysis OR confirmatory factor analysis OR Validity OR psychometric). Results: Six studies were assessed in systematic review. In Spanish version, single- factor solutions with 9 items in sample of 1,294 pregnancy women was tested and showed a satisfactory fit to the data. In Japanese version, authors provided single-factor- model with 16 items.  Factors loading were ranged from -0.06 to 0.68. Arabic version, EFA identified 6 factors with eigenvalues more than 1 explained 61% of total variance.  However, scree plot suggested unidimensional structure. In Chinese version, EFA extracted four factors and labeled "Favorable to breastfeeding", "Favorable to formula-feeding", "Convenience" and "Sociological influences". In Canadian and Singapore version, the most sense model based on EFA was a three –factors model and labeled "Favorable to breast feeding", "Convenience" and "Favorable to formula feeding". Conclusion: Four-factor model and three- factor model can be used in clinical practices and research.  There is a need to further test single-factor model

Investigating the Effect of Static Magnetic Field and Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle on Enzymatic Antioxidant Defense in Dracocephalum polychaetum Cell Suspension Culture

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNP) and static magnetic field (SMF) on the activity of antioxidant enzymes in the cell suspension culture of Dracocephalum polychaetum (Lamiaceae family). The treatment procedure was done by cultivating the cells either with 100 ppm MNP, SMFs, or simultaneous exposure to both MNP and SMFs. The SMF at 30 mT was uniformly applied to the cells either for 3 or 4 days with 3 hours per day or 5 hours per day intervals, respectively. The highest activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and electrical conductivity (EC) were observed under the elicitation of the cells with simultaneous exposure to both MNP and SMFs, but the highest amount of FRAP value was observed under the elicitation of the sample with the MNP treatment. Also, the results of this study showed that the greatest activity of peroxidase (POX) was observed under SMF and MNP treatments. In general, SMF and MNP treatments caused various changes in cell structure and metabolism by inducing oxidative stress and having a direct effect on the membrane. The cell activated its enzymatic antioxidant defense system in response to these treatments, which caused changes in its activity and amount compared to the control cell

Investigation of the growth rate and secondary metabolites content of Lepidium sativum under exogenous melatonin treatment

Medicinal plants are rich sources of secondary metabolites. Lepidium sativum possess active compounds and secondary metabolites, including polyphenol, anthocyanin, flavonoid compounds, which are of special pharmaceutical and economic importance. Melatonin as bio-stimulator compound has a regulatory role on the amount of secondary metabolites and plant tolerance to environmental stresses. In this study, the effect of exogenous melatonin on secondary metabolites production on Lepidium sativum plants was carried out in a completely randomized design with 5 melatonin treatments (0, 5, 10, 50 and 100 μM) and 3 replications. After applying the treatment, the growth rate and content of the photosynthetic pigments, the leaf water content, as well as the content of flavonoids, anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds were investigated. Seed treatment with melatonin, especially at concentrations of 50 and 100 μM, improved the growth parameters and content of photosynthetic pigments. High levels of melatonin also increased the plant's secondary metabolites, including anthocyanins, carotenoids, and plant phenolic compounds. These effects can confirm the role of melatonin as a growth regulator and its impact on plant growth and resistance

Effects of salinity stress on some growth, physiological, biochemical parameters and nutrients in two pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) rootstocks

In the present study, effects of salinity stress were evaluated in the leaves and roots of two pistachio cultivars (Badami-Rize-Zarand (BZ) and Badami-e-Sefid (BS)). In overall, salinity negatively affects growth of both cultivars with more pronounced effects on BS. The physiological reason of the reduction could be attributed to some extent to more depletion of photosynthetic pigment in BS. In both cultivars, salinity increased proline content. Moderate and high salinities increased the soluble sugar contents in BZ. In both cultivars, Na+ content increased in plant organs with increasing Na+ in the media. Salinity treatment decreased the Fe and Pi contents in BS cultivar, while they remained unchanged in BZ. These results show that BZ cultivar exhibits more tolerance to salinity stress than BS cultivar possibly by better growth performance, accumulating more osmolytes, lesser accumulation of toxic sodium ion and lower Na+/K+ in the shoots as well as maintaining nutrient contents