The prevalence of transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV) infection in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C in southwest of Iran

Transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV) is an unenveloped circular single-stranded DNA virus with a diameter of 30 to 32 nm that was first described in 1997 in Japan. TTV was detected in various populations without proven pathology, including blood donors and in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of TTV DNA in patients with chronic hepatitis B and C in southwest Iran. Viral TTV-DNA was studied in 442 samples (202 with HBV, 138 with HCV and 102 controls) collected from southwest of Iran. All the extracted serum DNA was amplified by TTV ORF1 gene specific primers using the semi nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. TTV DNA was detected in the serum of 8.9 and 10.8% patients with chronic hepatitis B and C, respectively. The prevalence of TTV-DNA in the serum of the 102 controls was 2.9%. The results showed significant relationship of TTV with HBV and HCV in patients from T test examination (P < 0.01). The prevalence of TTV-DNA in Iranian hepatitis B and C patients was rather high when compared with those of other countries. To control and prevent  the distribution of TT-virus, examination of the blood and blood products seems necessary.Key words: Transfusion-transmitted virus (TTV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), ORF1 gene, semi nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Iran

Determination of histamine in Iranian cheese using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method

Histamine is a simple chemical substance created during processing of the amine acid histidine. Histamine is also an agent in inflammation and the increased presence of histamine causes allergic reaction. Histamine may play a role in the increased prevalence of food intolerances. The objective of this study was to determine histamine contents. Forty four (44) samples of traditional and commercial cheese were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method in Iran. In the two cheese samples of the 44 samples (4.5%), the presence of histamine was 26 and 46.7 mg/100 g. Histamine in any of the cheese samples was not higher than the tolerance limit of histamine contents (50 mg histamine/100 g) accepted by European countries. The values were comparable and in the range of the literature values. The results of this study indicate that the produced cheese and marketed cheese in Iran have concentrations below 50 mg histamine/100 g. Further studies should be done to investigate the presence of this toxin in different foodstuffs.Keywords: Histamine, cheese, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), IranAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(3), pp. 308-31

Intrusion detection for cloud computing using neural networks and artificial bee colony optimization algorithm

This paper proposes a new intrusion detection system (IDS) based on a combination of a multilayer perceptron (MLP) network, and artificial bee colony (ABC) and fuzzy clustering algorithms. Normal and abnormal network traffic packets are identified by the MLP, while the MLP training is done by the ABC algorithm through optimizing the values of linkage weights and biases. The CloudSim simulator and NSL-KDD dataset are used to verify the proposed method. Mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and the kappa statistic are considered as evaluation criteria. The obtained results have indicated the superiority of the proposed method in comparison with state-of-the-art methods. Keywords: Intrusion detection system, Cloud computing, Neural network, Artificial bee colony, Fuzzy clusterin

Evaluation of ‘white-spotted kidneys’ associated with leptospirosis by polymerase chain reaction based <i>LipL32</i> gene in slaughtered cows

The presence of white spots in the kidneys of cattle at slaughter (so-called white-spotted kidneys) can be an indication of infection with Leptospira, a spirochaete of public health concern because it causes zoonotic disease. In this study, 24 kidneys of 180 slaughtered cows (13.3%) showed focal to multifocal white spots at inspection. These kidneys, together with matching urine (n = 18) and blood (n = 24) samples, were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the LipL32 gene. Leptospiral deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was detected in 19 (79.2%) out of 24 kidneys, as well as 7 (29.2%) blood and 10 (55.5%) urine samples of cows with white spots in their kidneys. Histopathological findings revealed multifocal infiltration of mononuclear cells, including lymphocytes and a few plasma cells in the renal interstitial tissues. In addition, 14 apparently normal kidneys and associated urine and blood samples were similarly examined by PCR but did not provide any positive results. In this study, high detection of leptospirosis in kidneys with interstitial nephritis suggests that Leptospira spp. are associated with white spotted kidneys. The present findings indicate that white spotted kidneys can be due to leptospirosis in this region in southwestern Iran, which indicates an increased risk of zoonotic disease. The data show that LipL32-based primers are useful for PCR-based diagnosis of leptospirosis

Chronic constipation and acute small bowel obstruction due to small bowel encapsulation: A case report

Key Clinical Message Peritoneal encapsulation is most of the time asymptomatic and is found incidentally, but when symptomatic it usually presents with bowel obstruction. CT scan is a gold standard for the diagnosis of bowel encapsulation. Abstract Congenital peritoneal encapsulation (CPE), abdominal cocoon syndrome (ACS), and sclerosing encapsulating peritonitis (SEP) are syndromes in which the small bowel is encapsulated. Small bowel encapsulation is usually asymptomatic and rarely presents with small bowel obstruction. In this article, we report a 65‐year‐old man who presented to our hospital with signs and symptoms of small bowel obstruction. He underwent an urgent operation, and small bowel encapsulation was diagnosed. One year after the surgery, all symptoms improved