Identification of the Midgut Microbiota of An. stephensi and An. maculipennis for Their Application as a Paratransgenic Tool against Malaria

The midgut microbiota associated with Anopheles stephensi and Anopheles maculipennis (Diptera: Culicidae) was investigated for development of a paratransgenesis-based approach to control malaria transmission in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). Here, we present the results of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and biochemical-based approaches to identify the female adult and larvae mosquitoe microbiota of these two major malaria vectors, originated from South Eastern and North of Iran. Plating the mosquito midgut contents from lab-reared and field-collected Anopheles spp. was used for microbiota isolation. The Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial colonies were identified by Gram staining and specific mediums. Selected colonies were identified by differential biochemical tests and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. A number of 10 An. stephensi and 32 An. maculipennis adult mosquitoes and 15 An. stephensi and 7 An. maculipennis larvae were analyzed and 13 sequences of 16S rRNA gene bacterial species were retrieved, that were categorized in 3 classes and 8 families. The majority of the identified bacteria were belonged to the γ-proteobacteria class, including Pseudomonas sp. and Aeromonas sp. and the others were some closely related to those found in other vector mosquitoes, including Pantoea, Acinetobacter, Brevundimonas, Bacillus, Sphingomonas, Lysinibacillus and Rahnella. The 16S rRNA sequences in the current study aligned with the reference strains available in GenBank were used for construction of the phylogenetic tree that revealed the relatedness among the bacteria identified. The presented data strongly encourage further investigations, to verify the potential role of the detected bacteria for the malaria control in Iran and neighboring countries

Social network analysis of green space management actors in Tehran

Social network analysis is able to relate the status of the social system and the structures of relationships between stakeholders and social well-being, with reference to specific criteria and measurement of quantitative and mathematical indicators. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of achieving a correct management plan based on social monitoring in the form of relationships between greenspace actors in Tehran. In this research, the status of the social network of greenspace activists in Tehran was investigated based on the links between information exchange and participation. The results showed that the level of cohesion and social capital in the social network of local stakeholders in this area is weak to moderate and the stability of the network was estimated as moderate. Also, based on the QAP index, it can be said that the degree of correlation between the two networks of information exchange and participation among actors in the region has a high coefficient. The findings of this study can be used in line with principled policies in sustainable management of greenspaces in Tehran and for planning, decision-making and, ultimately, success in this field of inquiry. In this regard, the need to strengthen the links of information exchange and participation among stakeholders seems necessary to strengthen social capital to achieve a successful management in terms of sustainable management of urban greenspaces in this area

Epidemiology of livestock-related injuries in a major trauma center in Kashan, Iran

【Abstract】Objective: Livestock-related injuries are one of the important factors causing morbidity and mor-tality in patients admitted to hospital. Treatment of these patients is still a major problem in health care system. The aim of current study was to assess the epidemiology of livestock-related injuries in a major trauma center in Iran from 2006 to 2011. Methods: In a prospective study, patients with live-stock-related injuries who were consecutively admitted to the trauma center in Kashan, Iran between 2006 and 2011 were evaluated. The data collected included patient’s demographics, place and nature of accident, damaged organ, educational level, transport and outcome. Data were ex-pressed as mean±standard deviation. Results: A total of 129 patients were included in this study, accounting for 0.3% of all trauma admission (40 273 cases). The mean age was (55.27±14.45) years. Men were affected four times more than women. Falling down from livestock is the main mechanism of trauma in all groups. Upper and lower extremities were most frequently injured (n=72), followed by the head, neck and spine (n=33 for each). There was one death resulting from livestock-related injury in this study. Conclusion: Despite the low incidence, livestock-re-lated injuries can damage major organs of human body and therefore appropriate training program to increase the safety awareness in home and outdoor is very important. Key words: Epidemiology; Livestock; Iran; Wounds and injurie

Evaluation of the improvement of the clinical symptoms and spirometric indices in asthmatic patients having different treatments

Abstract: since most of the asthmatic patients do not use the proper medicine to control their persistent symptoms, we decided to accomplish a study to find out the relation between the treatment, clinical symptoms and spirometric indices in asthmatic patients. this study is a cross-sectional study on 150 patients suffering from persistent moderate asthma admitted to naghavi and beheshti hospital. They have less than three attacks weekly. After recording of their clinical symptoms (dyspenea, cough, wheezing and nocturnal) and spirometric indices (FEV1, FEV1/FVC, FVC) twice with intervals of 3-6 months, they were divided into three groups. The first group was treated with salbutamol inhaler, the second with salbutamol and floxitide and the third one withsalmeterol and floxitide. Then all the data was evaluated through SPSS program. the group treated with salmeterol and floxitide inhaler showed the greatest remission in coughing (%80.4), Dyspnea (%77.8), Wheezing (%77.8) and nocturnal symptoms (80%). In comparison to the other groups, the variance was statistically significant. In the study, most variances in FEV1and FEV1/FVC were observed in the receiver group of salbutamol, and most FVC variances were in receiver group of salbutamol-floxitid. Statistically there was no significant variance among the groups. This study showes the most clinical remission in the receiver group of salmeterol and floxitide, and spirometric indices are not sufficient to control the level of patients' treatment so that clinical symptoms are more valuable

Details of molecular identification of bacteria species in <i>An. stephensi, An. maculipennis</i> specimens and breeding places.

<p>Ast (Adult sample of <i>An. stephensi</i>), Lst (Larvae of <i>An. stephensi</i>), Lma (Larvae of <i>An. maculipennis</i>), RW (Rasht Breeding Sites), TW: (Talesh Breeding Sites). L and F are lab-reared and field-caught specimens, respectively.</p

Molecular identification of bacteria species based on common bacterial species in each source.

•<p>1(Pantoea agglomerans), 2(Pantoea stewartii), 3(Bacillus pumilus), 4 (Sphingomonas paucimobilis), 5(Brevundimonas aurantiaca), 6(Lysinibacillus sphaericus), 7(Rahnella aquatilis), 8(Aeromonas bivalvium), 9(Pseudomonas mendocina), 10(Aeromonas punctata), 11(Pseudomonas otitidis), 12(Acinetobacter calcoaceticus), 13(Aeromonas hydrophila).</p

Phylogenetic dendrogram constructed in Mega4 based on 16S rRNA gene sequences.

<p>Bacteria species released in GenBank are appeared with accession number and species of bacteria. Those bacteria detected in current study are Ast (Adult sample of <i>An. stephensi</i>), Lst (Larvae of <i>An. stephensi</i>), Lma (Larvae of <i>An. maculipennis</i>), RW (Rasht breeding sites), TW (Talesh breeding sites).</p

Map of study area, including Guilan (G), Sistan and Baluchestan (S&B) provinces.

<p>Map of study area, including Guilan (G), Sistan and Baluchestan (S&B) provinces.</p