Antibiotic prophylaxis during extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in the prevention of urinary tract infections in patients with sterile urine before the procedure

Introduction: There are controversies in the literature regarding the need and the duration of antibiotic prophylaxis in patients with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), who had a negative urine culture before the operation. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of the antibiotic prophylaxis in patients with proven sterile urine before they underwent ESWL. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, 150 patients with renal or urethral stones and sterile urine were examined for bacteriuria (positive urine culture) following ESWL. These patients were classified into 3 groups which received either a single dose of oral co-trimoxazole (Tab, 400/80 mg)- group A, a single dose of nitrofurantoin (Tab:100mg) -group B and no treatment- group C. Patients were followed with urine analysis and urine culture after two weeks. Results: The occurrence of post-ESWL urinary infections (positive urine culture) was 14% in group A, 10% in group B and 14% in group C. The complications among the groups were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The incidence of urinary tract infections after ESWL is extremely low, provided that in patients who had sterile urine before ESWL, prophylaxis antibiotics do not seem to be necessary

Evaluating the effect of crop residue on water relations of rainfed chickpeain maragheh, Iran, using simulation

In no-till management, the crop residue is left on the soil surface. The effect of residue on water relations of soil, and subsequently that of plant are highly dependent on weather conditions. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of maize residue (3.85 mg ha-1) on water relations of rainfed chickpea, using model CYRUS. Firstly, this model was recoded in Qbasic programming; then a simple sub-routine was added to include the effect of crop residue; finally, it was run for long-term daily weather data (1961-2004) of Maragheh (winter-dominant rainfall), Iran. It was revealed that, as compared to control, the residue treatment results in that the value of fraction transpiration soil water in rooting depth [FTSW: ranges from 0 (wilting point) to 1 (field capacity)] to be 2.72% higher during emergence (E) to flowering (R1), 10.02% higher across R1 to pod initiation (R3), 7.59% higher for R3 to pod filling (R5), 1.82% higher during R5 to pod yellowing (R7) and 1.32% more over R7 to maturity (R8). Across the S-E, E-R1, and R1- R3 periods, the value of evapotranspiration (ET) was higher for non-mulching conditions, as compared to mulching conditions. On the other hand, across the R5-R7 and R7-R8 period, that of ET appeared to be higher for mulching than non-mulching conditions. The difference between named conditions for transpiration appeared to be negligible across R3-R5 period; while it was considerable over other periods. Across the E-R1 period, the transpired water from covered-soil was 56.89 mm, which is about 3.34 mm higher than that from bared-soil. This increasing effect of residue was 6.8% across R3-R5 period, 23.0% across R5-R7, and 35.1% across R7-R8. Considering the ratio of transpiration to evaporation, the mentioned beneficial impact of residue was more considerable across reproductive stages (R1-R8), than across vegetative stage (E-R1). The difference between bared- and covered-soil for named ratio was 0.14 over E-R1 period, 2.00 over R1-R3 period, 3.49 over R3-R5 period, 4.87 over R5-R7 period, and 2.98 over R7-R8 period

Inter-populations genetic and morphological diversity in three Silene (Caryophyllaceae) species

The inter-populations morphological and genetic variations were studied in three species of Silene (Silene indeprensa, Silene gynodioica and Silene crispans) of the section Auriculatae, which grow and form several populations in different regions of Iran. Morphological analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of molecular (AMOVA) analyses showed the species distinctness. Unweighted paired group with arithmetic average (UPGMA) clustering of morphological characters and neighbor-joining (NJ) tree of molecular features almost separated the species from each other. In S. gynodioica, Soltaneiyes and Gheydar populations differed from the other populations in both morphological and molecular features, and in case of S. indeprensa, Ghorkhood and Hezarmasjed populations differed significantly from the other populations in both morphological and molecular features. Therefore, these populations are considered as a new subspecies in these two species. Some of the populations showed the presence of specific inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) band/locus, indicting genetic divergence of the populations possibly either due to local adaptations or genetic drift. Mantel test performed did not show significant correlation between morphological/molecular distance and geographical distance of the populations studied.Keywords: Diversity, ISSR, morphometry, Silen

Simulation study of past climate change effect on chickpea phenology at different sowing dates in Gorgan, Iran

The evaluation of past climate change is needed for selecting appropriate adapting strategy for future. This simulation study was mainly aimed to find the probable difference between sowing dates for response of four chickpea cultivars to past climate change. Firstly, the model CYRUS was recoded in QBASIC programming. Then phenology of cultivars Jam, Hashem, Arman and Beauvanij, seeded at day of year 50, 70 and 90, was evaluated during years 1961 to 2003 in Gorgan, Iran. The changes in some climatic variables were also studied. Results revealed that the solar radiation has been decreased for month December. Although the value of maximum temperature appeared to be the same across years 1961 to 2003 for all months, that of minimum temperature tended to show increasing trend for May and August. The increase in number of days with temperature higher than 35 oC was considerable for April and October, but negligible for other months. The warming of night temperature was significant only for May and August. It found about 34 mm per 43 years decrease in monthly rainfall for March. The rate of increase in number of days with rainfall was 0.0737 day year-1 for December. Nearly similar situation was found for number of days with rainfall lower than and/or equal to 10 mm. The change in number of days with rainfall higher than 10 mm and lower and/or equal to 30 mm was in decreasing manner (March, October and December). The length of time from sowing to emergence appeared to be constant across past years. The advance in flowering (R1) was true only for cultivar Jam seeded at day of year 70. The length of period from R1 to pod initiation (R3) has been diminished for sowing at day of year 70 (Jam and Arman). Only cultivar Hashem seeded at day of year 90 tended to have decreasing trend for length of period between R3 and pod filling. It found one day (per 43 years) decreases from pod yellowing to maturity for cultivar Beauvanij seeded at day of year 70. Based on these findings, and on the fact that future climate change is predicted using past changes, it seems that the adaptation strategies for future, including agronomy and/or breeding programs, may be not the same for different sowing dates of chickpea

Effects of fish meal replacement by silkworm pupae on growth, survival and body chemical composition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Silkworm pupae meal is a non-conventional animal protein feedstuff. It is the by-product after the silk thread has been wound off from the cocoon. To investigate the effects of animal protein on growth and survival of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a sixty-day feeding experiment was conducted. Four replacement levels (0, 5, 10 and 15 percent) of silkworm pupae meal were compared using a completely random design. We used 360 juvenile rainbow trout (average weight 55±3.42g) divided into 4 groups and 3 replications, each containing 30 trout for 60 days. Sampling for nutritional effects was carried out every 10 days and at the end of the experiment, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, specific growth rate, protein and efficiency ratio were compared which showed no significant differences (P>0.05) among the treatments. Total length and survival rate were not significantly affected in the treatment groups. The highest percentage of carcass protein and the lowest percentage of carcass fat belonged to the control treatment. Our findings showed that silkworm pupae meal could replace 15% of fish meal diet in rainbow trout culture

Investigation of Post Harvesting Time and Size Effects on Tomato Mechanical Strength under Quais-Static Loading

ABSTRACT Reduce waste maintain quality of agricultural products and the optimal design of machines and processing equipment, knowing the mechanical properties are essential. In this study, using a Texture analyzer on the fruit of tomato, Early kind of CH, mechanical stress testing within a factorial experiment in completely randomized design factors independent of fruit size (S), at three levels, time after harvest (T), as well as three levels, on the mechanical properties, force and required energy to Relaxation percent of fruit, were studied. Analysis of variance showed that with increasing size of tomatoes, compressive power and energy increases with increasing time after harvest, but energy and relaxation force at the time (t 2 ) increased, but at the time (t 3 ) decreased. The interaction results show that the more fruit size is great, the compressive force and power of fruit were also increased and this effect for investigate relaxation feature (R %) till 24 hours after harvest for the average size would be increased but with time after harvest was reduced to 72 hours

Experimental Investigation of Recast Layer, Heat Affected Zone and Corrosion Resistance in WEDM of Inconel 617

701-704In this investigation, the effects of input parameters of wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) process such as pulse current and pulse duration on recast layer thickness (RLT) and heat affected zone depth (HAZ) in machining of Inconel 617 was investigated. Also the corrosion behavior of the machined workpiece was studied. The results showed that RLT increased by increasing pulse current, while HAZ decreased after an increase up to 10 A. Recast layer thickness and HAZ increased by increasing pulse duration. Also, results suggest that WEDM increased the corrosion resistance of workpiece