MIDDLE JURASSIC FLORA FROM THE HOJEDK FORMATION OF TABAS, CENTRAL EAST IRAN: BIOSTRATIGRAPHY AND PALAEOCLIMATE IMPLICATIONS

The Middle Jurassic deposits of the Shemshak Group and Hojedk Formation are widespread in North, Central, and Central East Iran. In this paper, the Hojedk Formation in South Kouchekali, southwestern Tabas city, east-central Iran was studied for palaeobotany and stratigraphy. This formation contains well preserved plant macrofossils belonging to 43 species assigned to 24 genera of various orders such as Equisetales, Filicales, Bennettitales, Cycadales, Caytoniales, Ginkgoales and Pinales. One biozone and four subzones are recognized. The lower and the upper boundaries of this assemblage biozone are identified by the first and the last observed occurrences of Coniopteris hymenophylloides (Brongniart) Seward 1900 and Klukia exilis (Phillips) Raciborski 1890, respectively. According to the occurrences of these index species and Ptilophyllum harrisianum Kilpper 1968 and Nilssonia macrophylla Jacob & Shukla 1955, an early Middle Jurassic (Aalenian-Bajocian) age is considered for this assemblage biozone. Moreover, a comparative biostratigraphy for the Middle Jurassic of Iran is suggested. As a result, the Coniopteris hymenophylloides-Klukia exilis Assemblage biozone is proposed as a biozone widespread through the whole Iranian Plate. On the basis of the relative abundance of Filicales, Pinales, Cycadales, and Equisetales and of the high diversity and abundance of macrophyllous cycadophytes (eight species), a humid sub-tropical climate is suggested for this locality. In addition, floral gradient, correspondence analysis and similarity index were considered. Therefore, it is confirmed that a uniform palaeoclimate and vegetation cover occurred in Iran during the Middle Jurassic and that Iran was located within Vakhrameev's Euro-Sinian Region

Bioinformatics designing of 10-23 deoxyribozyme against noncoding region before start codon of beta-galactosidase gene (lacZ) in pGEM-T vector

Background and aims: Deoxyribozymes are oligoribodeoxynucleotides that catalyze reactions such as cutting RNA and have diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Deoxyribozyme 10-23 includes a catalytic domain dependent on a fixed 15-nucleotic (mer) cation and two variable binding arms that cause the specificity of enzymes. Lactose operon is used in the white-blue screening process. This operon includes three polycistronic genes. In this study, a deoxyribozyme against α-peptide beta-galactosidase gene in the lactose operon was designed. Methods: pGEM-T map was obtained from addgene server and α-peptide gene sequence was determined. Then, using expasy website proper protein frame in comparison with various reading frames was determined. In this step, whole sequence was reversed and mRNA sequence was achieved. Secondary structure with the lowest free energy was gained using mfold server. Considering the fact that 10-23 deoxyribozyme has cutting capability between a unpaired purine and pairs pyrimidine; an AC was selected in ribosome binding site in the untranslated region and then 9 open bases on either side of it was used as a binding arms. Investigation of the absence of similar sequences in host bacteria was performed by NCBI server. Finally, activity and binding of deoxyribozyme was predicted by the mfold server. Results: The results of this study showed that the designed deoxyribozyme had a relatively high Tm with two 9-nucleotide arms, which increased its effectiveness. Conclusion: The results of this study can be used to control the expression of lacZ gene as a biomarker

Drug-drug interactions and potentially inappropriate medications among elderly outpatients

The high prevalence of concomitant chronic illnesses and the resulting higher number of medications in the elderly population increase the risk of adverse drug reactions due to drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with DDIs and PIMs in outpatient geriatrics. In this cross-sectional study, 1512 prescriptions belonging to patients aged ≥65 years from five public pharmacies in Tehran were evaluated. Clinically relevant (C, D, and X) and significant DDIs (D and X) were documented according to the Lexicomp®. Additionally, Zhan criteria were used to detect PIMs. At least one clinically relevant DDI was detected in 61.7% of the prescriptions containing ≥2 medications. The largest percentage of prescriptions with DDIs was prescribed by cardiologists (74.3%). The number of medications in prescriptions and the specialty of the prescriber significantly affected both clinically relevant and significant DDIs in a logistic regression model. At least one PIM was identified in 16.3% of the prescriptions. General practitioners (GPs) were the largest prescribers of PIMs. The mean number of medications was significantly higher in prescriptions with PIMs. In conclusion, clinically relevant DDIs are frequent in the elderly. In terms of PIMs, more attention should be paid to the education of GPs

Thickness Profile of Donated Corneas Preserved in Optisol-GS versus Sinasol: An Ex-vivo Study

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the thickness profile and the endothelial cell density (ECD) of donated corneas maintained in Optisol-GS with those preserved in Sinasol over seven days. Methods: Twenty paired donor corneas were received from the Central Eye Bank of Iran. After recording the osmolarity of each medium, one of each of the cornea pairs was preserved in either Optisol-GS or Sinasol media. Then, slit-lamp biomicroscopy and specular microscopic examinations were performed at the baseline and on day seven. Visante optical coherence tomography (V-OCT) was also performed at 1 hour (h), 24h, 72h, and one week post-preservation. The specular microscopic and V-OCT values were then compared between the two groups. Results: The mean osmolarity of the Sinasol group was significantly less than the Optisol- GS group (296 vs. 366 mOsm/L, p = 0.0008). The mean central corneal thickness at the measurement points was comparable between the two groups. However, the increase of thickness one week post-preservation in the Sinasol group was remarkably lower than those in the Optisol-GS group (p = 0.019). Conclusion: Corneal storage in Sinasol over seven days provides better and superior maintenance and preservation of corneal tissue deturgescence and a lower rate of ECD loss over Optisol-GS

Evaluation of fatty acid content and nutritional properties of selected native and imported hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) varieties grown in Iran

Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) is one of the most important nuts rich in valuable nutrients. In this study chemical composition of Two Iranian native varieties namely ‘Pashmineh’ and ‘Garche’ and four imported varieties, ‘Ghafghaze’, ‘Zakatala’, ‘Ronde dupimont’ and ‘Fertile decotard’ were taken under investigation. The main fatty acid in hazelnut varieties were oleic (71.02%) and linoleic acid (14.45%). The hazelnut varieties showed oil content in a range from 53.36% to 63.5%; protein, 16.03-23.26%; energy, 653.4-707.65%; ash, 2.46-3.5%; carbohydrate, 13.16-20.14%; total phenolic content, 6.4-16.42 mg GAE /g; antioxidant capacity, 57.17-72.38%; oleic acid, 64.17 - 81.34%; Linoleic acid, 10 –21.07%; Linolenic acid, 0 – 2%; myristic acid, 0 – 0.5 %; stearic acid, 0 – 7.8%; eicosenoic acid, 0 – 1.69%; palmitic acid, 0.49 – 9.61%; palmitoleic acid, 0 – 1.6 % and behenic acid, 0 – 0.25%

Comparing troponin I level between women with preeclampsia and gestational hypertension and pregnant women with normal blood pressure

Background and purpose: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are still one of the major issues in obstetrics. So far, few studies are conducted on the troponin I level of pregnant women and preeclampsia but their results are not conclusive. In this study the troponin levels were compared between patients with severe preeclampsia, mild preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and normal blood pressure. Materials and methods: A case control study was conducted in four groups of pregnant women (n=35 per group) with severe preeclampsia, mild preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and normal blood pressure attending Kosar Center, Qazvin, Iran 2014-2015. The troponin I level in the groups were studied. Data was analyzed in SPSS V.19 applying ANOVA, Chi-square, and T-test. Results: The mean age of patients was 29.1±6.6. The level of troponin was lower than 0.01 ng/ml in patients with severe preeclampsia, mild preeclampsia, gestational hypertension and normal blood pressure. But in one case with severe preeclampsia this level was 0.15. The findings indicated no significant difference between the groups (P=0.4) Conclusion: The level of troponin was not different in patients with severe preeclampsia, mild preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, and normal blood pressure. Keywords: troponin I, severe preeclampsia, mild preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, normal blood pressur

Activity of meropenem-vaborbactam against different beta-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli isolates in Iran

We evaluated the activity of meropenem-vaborbactam against different beta-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli isolates. In our study antibiotic susceptibility testing, double disk synergy test, modified Hodge test were applied. Detection of ESBL, AmpC, and carbapenemase genes was performed by PCR. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis was done on OXA-48 producing K. pneumoniae strains. Our results showed that among E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates, 41.1% and 40% of strains produced ESBL, respectively. Additionally, the prevalence of AmpC producing K. pneumoniae and E. coli was 4% and 45.5%, respectively. Altogether 64.2% of K. pneumoniae strains and one E. coli isolate produced carbapenemase. Among OXA-48 producing K. pneumoniae strains ST3500 and ST2528 were detected by MLST. Based on the phenotypic results of this study, vaborbactam was an effective inhibitor on the thirdgeneration cephalosporin-resistant isolates (P < 0.0001). Meropenem-vaborbactam combination had the highest efficacy on KPC producing strains, and it had limited activity on isolates producing OXA-48 type beta-lactamases, whereas no effect was observed on NDM-1 producing isolates. Our study provided valuable information regarding the vaborbactam inhibitory effect on β-lactamaseproducing strains