Juxtaposition of Women, Culture, and Nature in Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy

The present paper focuses on the tradition of women's circumsicion in the African tribe of Olinkan in Alice Walker's Possesing the Secret of Joy. The Olinkans are asked by the white settlers to stop women's mutilation, but Olinkan men continue this custom stealthily to ensure their patriarchial dominance. This novel is a complicated juxtaposition of two different types of oppression: one by White male colonizers over an African native land, and the other one by the native Olinkan men over native women. In this juxtaposition women and land are both victims exploited and manipulated by men, no matter Black or White. This novel is also seen as a fertile ground to analyze the dual domination of both nature and women by the Olinkan men and White colonizers who are both trying to impose their androcentric rules that are created to dominate women and land, respectively

Histopathological effects and toxicity of atrazine herbicide in Caspian kutum, Rutilus frisii kutum, fry

This study aimed to investigate the toxic effects of atrazine herbicide on the fry of Caspian kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum, Kamensky, 1901). First the 96-h LC50 of the fry were exposed to atrazine at the concentration of 24.95 ppm was determined. Then the toxicity of this herbicide on Caspian kutum fry exposed to the concentration of 12.47ppm (1/2 LC50), for four days was measured and compared with a control group. Comparison of the length, weight and condition factor showed no significant differences between atrazine exposed and control group. The concentration of Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and Cl- in the whole body of fry in control and atrazine exposure groups were as the following order: Ca2+>K+>Na+>Cl->Mg2+ and Ca2+>Na+>K+>Mg2+>Cl-, respectively. Results showed that the concentration of all these ions were higher in atrazine exposure group than control group, except for Cl-, and the only significant differences was found in Na+ concentration. Major histopathological effects of atrazine on the gills were hyperplasia and thickening of the filaments, separation of the pavement cells of the lamellae epithelium from the pillar cells and swelling of the epithelial cells. Results of the present study showed that atrazine could affect the ion composition of the body, and caused major damages in gill epithelium even at sublethal concentration and acute exposure, but had no effects on the growth parameters

Survey of prenatal screening policies in Europe for structural malformations and chromosome anomalies, and their impact on detection and termination rates for neural tube defects and Down's syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To 'map' the current (2004) state of prenatal screening in Europe. DESIGN: (i) Survey of country policies and (ii) analysis of data from EUROCAT (European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies) population-based congenital anomaly registers. SETTING: Europe. POPULATION: Survey of prenatal screening policies in 18 countries and 1.13 million births in 12 countries in 2002-04. METHODS: (i) Questionnaire on national screening policies and termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly (TOPFA) laws in 2004. (ii) Analysis of data on prenatal detection and termination for Down's syndrome and neural tube defects (NTDs) using the EUROCAT database. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Existence of national prenatal screening policies, legal gestation limit for TOPFA, prenatal detection and termination rates for Down's syndrome and NTD. RESULTS: Ten of the 18 countries had a national country-wide policy for Down's syndrome screening and 14/18 for structural anomaly scanning. Sixty-eight percent of Down's syndrome cases (range 0-95%) were detected prenatally, of which 88% resulted in termination of pregnancy. Eighty-eight percent (range 25-94%) of cases of NTD were prenatally detected, of which 88% resulted in termination. Countries with a first-trimester screening policy had the highest proportion of prenatally diagnosed Down's syndrome cases. Countries with no official national Down's syndrome screening or structural anomaly scan policy had the lowest proportion of prenatally diagnosed Down's syndrome and NTD cases. Six of the 18 countries had a legal gestational age limit for TOPFA, and in two countries, termination of pregnancy was illegal at any gestation. CONCLUSIONS: There are large differences in screening policies between countries in Europe. These, as well as organisational and cultural factors, are associated with wide country variation in prenatal detection rates for Down's syndrome and NTD

Plasma metabolomics of presymptomatic PSEN1-H163Y mutation carriers: a pilot study

Background and Objective: PSEN1-H163Y carriers, at the presymptomatic stage, have reduced 18FDG-PET binding in the cerebrum of the brain (Scholl et al., Neurobiol Aging 32:1388–1399, 2011). This could imply dysfunctional energy metabolism in the brain. In this study, plasma of presymptomatic PSEN1 mutation carriers was analyzed to understand associated metabolic changes. Methods: We analyzed plasma from noncarriers (NC, n = 8) and presymptomatic PSEN1-H163Y mutation carriers (MC, n = 6) via untargeted metabolomics using gas and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, which identified 1199 metabolites. All the metabolites were compared between MC and NC using univariate analysis, as well as correlated with the ratio of Ab1–42/Ab1–40, using Spearman’s correlation. Altered metabolites were subjected to Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA). Results: Based on principal component analysis the plasma metabolite profiles were divided into dataset A and dataset B. In dataset A, when comparing between presymptomatic MC and NC, the levels of 79 different metabolites were altered. Out of 79, only 14 were annotated metabolites. In dataset B, 37 metabolites were significantly altered between presymptomatic MC and NC and nine metabolites were annotated. In both datasets, annotated metabolites represent amino acids, fatty acyls, bile acids, hexoses, purine nucleosides, carboxylic acids, and glycerophosphatidylcholine species. 1-docosapentaenoyl-GPC was positively correlated, uric acid and glucose were negatively correlated with the ratio of plasma Ab1–42/Ab1–40 (P < 0.05). Interpretation: This study finds dysregulated metabolite classes, which are changed before the disease symptom onset. Also, it provides an opportunity to compare with sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease. Observed findings in this study need to be validated in a larger and independent Familial Alzheimer’s Disease (FAD) cohort

Molecular characterization of the pilS2 gene and its association with the frequency of pseudomonas aeruginosa plasmid pKLC102 and PAPI-1 pathogenicity island

Introduction: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common opportunistic pathogen associated with a broad range of infections, including cystic fibrosis, ocular, otitis media, and burn infections. The aim of this study was to show the frequency of the pilS2 gene, and its association with P. aeruginosa plasmid pKLC102 and PAPI-1 pathogenicity island among P. aeruginosa strains. Methods: The samples were collected from patients with cystic fibrosis, ocular, otitis media, and burn infections between January 2016 and November 2017. DNA was extracted using the DNA extraction kit and was used for PCR assay. PCR with 4 primer-pairs including 976 F/PAPI-1R, 4542 F/intF, SojR/4541 F, and intF/sojR was performed to identify PAPI-1. pKLC102 was detected using three other primer-pairs including cp10F/ cp10R, cp44F/cp44R, and cp97F/cp97R. Results: A total of 112 P. aeruginosa isolates were collected from patients with cystic fibrosis (36), burn (20), otitis media (26), and ocular (30) infections. The results of PCR showed that pilS2 gene was identified in 96 (85) strains. PAPI-1�attB integration was detected among 38 (33.9) isolates and the circular form of PAPI-1 detected among 17 (14) isolates. In addition, 79 (70.5) strains were found to be positive for pKLC102. Conclusion: We found that the majority of the isolates may be susceptible to transfer this significant island and the related element pKLC102 into recipient isolates lacking the island owing to high association of the PilS2 pilus with the islands in the studied strains. It is anticipated that strains isolated from burn and eye with the highest rate of PilS2, PAPI-1, and pKLC102 association have a high level of antibiotic resistance. © 2019 Bahramian et al

Novel nano molten salt tetra-2,3-pyridiniumporphyrazinato-oxo-vanadium tricyanomethanide as a vanadium surface-free phthalocyanine catalyst: Application to Strecker synthesis of α-aminonitrile derivatives

Efficient and recyclable novel nano tetra-2,3-pyridiniumporphyrazinato-oxo-vanadium tricyanomethanide, {[VO(TPPA)][C(CN)3]4}, as a vanadium surface-free phthalocyanine-based molten salt catalyst was successfully designed, produced and used for the Strecker synthesis of α-aminonitrile derivatives through a one-pot three-component reaction between aromatic aldehydes, trimethylsilyl cyanide and aniline derivatives under neat conditions at 50 °C. This catalyst was well characterized using Fourier transform infrared, UV–visible, X-ray photoelectron and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopies, X-ray diffraction, scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscopies, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and thermogravimetric analysis. The catalyst can be simply recovered and reused several times without significant loss of catalytic activity.We thank Bu‐Ali Sina University, Nahavand University, the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF, grant no. 95820271), the National Elites Foundation, the University of Alicante (VIGROB‐173) and the Spanish Ministerio de Economíay Competitividad (CTQ2015‐66624‐P) for financial support to our research groups

1H-imidazol-3-ium tricyanomethanide {[HIM]C(CN)3} as a nanostructured molten salt catalyst: application to the synthesis of pyrano[4,3‐b]pyrans

In this work, we have synthesized a novel nanostructured molten salt, 1H-imidazol-3-ium tricyanomethanide {[HIMI]C(CN)3} (1), as an efficient and green protocol-compatible catalyst. This new molten salt has been fully characterized by different analytical techniques, such as FT-IR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, thermal gravimetric analysis, derivative thermal gravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Additionally, the catalytic activity of {[HIMI]C(CN)3} (1, 2 mol%) has been tested in a three-component domino Knoevenagel condensation reaction. A range of structurally diverse aromatic aldehydes (2a–p), malononitrile (3), and 4‐hydroxy‐6‐methyl‐2H‐pyran‐2‐one (4) are tolerated for the synthesis of 2-amino-7-methyl-5-oxo-4-aryl-4,5-dihydropyrano[4,3-b]pyran-3-carbonitrile derivatives (5a–p) under neat conditions at 50 °C. The obtained results have demonstrated that catalyst 1 shows interesting catalytic properties, such as clean reaction profile, cost-effectiveness, and green conditions. Importantly, the aforementioned catalyst is thermally stable with a 171 °C melting point not showing any significant loss in catalytic activity after 7 reaction cycles.We thank Bu-Ali Sina University, Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) (Grant of Allameh Tabataba’i’s Award, Grant Number BN093), National Elites Foundation, University of Alicante (VIGROB-173), and the Spanish Ministerio de Economíay Competitividad (CTQ2015-66624-P) for financial support to our research groups

Genetic diversity and population structure of Ascochyta rabiei from the western Iranian Ilam and Kermanshah provinces using MAT and SSR markers

Knowledge of genetic diversity in A. rabiei provides different levels of information that are important in the management of crop germplasm resources. Gene flow on a regional level indicates a significant potential risk for the regional spread of novel alleles that might contribute to fungicide resistance or the breakdown of resistance genes. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) and mating type (MAT) markers were used to determine the genetic structure, and estimate genetic diversity and the prevalence of mating types in 103 Ascochyta rabiei isolates from seven counties in the Ilam and Kermanshah provinces of western Iran (Ilam, Aseman abad, Holaylan, Chardavol, Dareh shahr, Gilangharb, and Sarpul). A set of 3 microsatellite primer pairs revealed a total of 75 alleles; the number of alleles varied from 15 to 34 for each marker. A high level of genetic variability was observed among A. rabiei isolates in the region. Genetic diversity was high (He = 0.788) within populations with corresponding high average gene flow and low genetic distances between populations. The smallest genetic distance was observed between isolates from Ilam and Chardavol. Both mating types were present in all populations, with the majority of the isolates belonging to Mat1-1 (64%), but within populations the proportions of each mating type were not significantly different from 50%. Results from this study will be useful in breeding for Ascochyta blight-resistant cultivars and developing necessary control measures

Synthesis and application of chitosan supported vanadium oxo in the synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyridines and 2,4,6-triarylpyridines via anomeric based oxidation

Chitosan, as a biopolymer, exhibits a strong affinity for complexation with suitable metal ions. Thus, it has received increased attention for the preparation of stable bioorganic–inorganic hybrid heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, a novel chitosan based vanadium oxo (ChVO) catalyst was prepared and fully characterized by several techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), derivative thermal gravimetric (DTG), differential thermal analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The synthesized catalyst has been successfully used as a reusable catalyst in the synthesis of dihydropyridines and triarylpyridines.We thank Bu-Ali Sina University, Nahavand University, the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) (Grant No: 95831207) and the National Elites Foundation for financial support of our research group

Novel magnetic nanoparticles with ionic liquid tags as a reusable catalyst in the synthesis of polyhydroquinolines

In this study, we have introduced {Fe3O4@SiO2@(CH2)3Im}C(NO2)3 as a novel and heterogeneous reusable catalyst for the four component preparation of polyhydroquinoline derivatives under mild and eco-friendly reaction conditions. The structural confirmation of the novel heterogeneous reusable promoter was fully made using FT-IR, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) elemental mapping analysis, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), thermogravimetry (TG), derivative thermal gravimetric (DTG), differential thermal (DTA) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analyses. The nanomagnetic heterogeneous catalyst was successfully applied for the synthesis of polyhydroquinoline derivatives via a four component condensation of a good range of aryl aldehydes, dimedone, ethyl acetoacetate or methyl acetoacetate as a β-ketoester, and ammonium acetate as a nitrogen source under solvent free conditions. Moreover, experimental evidence has demonstrated that {Fe3O4@SiO2@(CH2)3Im}C(NO2)3 could act as a recoverable nanomagnetic and reusable catalyst without any considerable drop in the yield and the reaction time for at least eight times.We thank the Bu-Ali Sina University, the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) (Allameh Tabataba'i's Award, Grant Number BN093), the University of Alicante (VIGROB-173), and the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CTQ2015-66624-P) for financial support to our research groups