Feeding behavior of brown trout, Salmo trutta fario, during spawning season in four rivers of Lar National Park, Iran

Brown trout, Salmo trutta fario, has a wide range of distribution in the north of Iran and in Karaj, Lighvanchai and Karun Rivers, but there is no report about its feeding behavior in some water resources including the Lar Natural Park. In order to study feeding behavior of this fish during spawning season, a survey was carried out in the rivers of Elarm, Aab-Sefid, Kamardasht and Delichayi in fall 2008. A total of 140 individuals of brown trout were caught by cast net and electro fishing. Mean weight and length of the samples were 130±79.5 g and 216.9±39 mm, respectively. The age of fish was 2 to 6 years and mean age was 3.02±1.3. The mean relative gut length (RLG) of samples was 0.86±1. It was found that brown trout fed on various preys (32 animal groups), that Chironomidae (88.6%), Simulidae (60%), Baetidae (51.4%) and Tipulidae (50%) have had the most frequency in the gut of brown trout. The proportion of food consumed by trout was Diptera 91.5% (Chironomidae pupa and larvae 85.8%), Coleoptera 6.4% and others 2.1%. Cannibalism was seen scarcely. In conclusion, brown trout consumes a wide range of food items in its spawning season. Therefore, it can be classified as euryphagous and carnivaorou

Treatment type of 212 cases of community acquired and nosocomial bacterial meningitis

Bacterial meningitis requires early treatment with aggressive use of potent antimicrobials,otherwise the outcome almost ends fatally

Effects of moderate- vs. high-intensity interval training on physical fitness, enjoyment, and affective valence in overweight/obese female adolescents: a pre-/post-test study

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 12-week moderate-intensity interval training (MIIT) vs. high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on body composition, physical fitness, and psychological valence in overweight/obese (OW/OB) female adolescents. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-eight OW/OB female students were randomized into HIIT (n=13), MIIT (n=13) or control (n=12) groups. The participants underwent a 12-week interval-training program at 100% to 110% and 60% to 75% of maximal aerobic speed for HIIT and MIIT, respectively. The control group kept their usual physical activity without completing the training program. Pre- and post-training measurements were performed to assess body composition, aerobic capacity, and anaerobic performance (using selected tests evaluating speed, jumping ability, and strength). Ratings of perceived exertion and the feeling scale were evaluated every three weeks. Enjoyment was measured at the end of the program. A two-way analysis of variance with repeated measurements was applied to test for "group×time" interactions for body composition, physical fitness, and affective variables. RESULTS Significant "group×time" interactions were detected for aerobic and anaerobic performance, body composition indices, and the feeling scale. HIIT resulted in more noticeable improvements in body composition and physical performance than MIIT, while no significant changes were found in the control group. Throughout the program, the feeling score has progressively increased in the MIIT group but decreased in the HIIT group. Ratings of the perceived exertion have increased in both groups, more noticeably in the HIIT group. At the end of the program, the MIIT group showed a higher enjoyment score. CONCLUSIONS Despite offering better body composition improvement and physical fitness enhancement, HIIT offered lesser enjoyment and affective valence than MIIT in OW/OB female adolescents. MIIT might be an alternative time-efficient protocol for improving health in this population

TeV Particle Astrophysics II: Summary comments

A unifying theme of this conference was the use of different approaches to understand astrophysical sources of energetic particles in the TeV range and above. In this summary I review how gamma-ray astronomy, neutrino astronomy and (to some extent) gravitational wave astronomy provide complementary avenues to understanding the origin and role of high-energy particles in energetic astrophysical sources.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; Conference summary talk for "TeV Particle Astrophysics II" at University of Wisconsin, Madison, 28-31 August 200

Retrospective survey for sialidase activity in Mycoplasma pneumoniae isolates from cases of community-acquired pneumonia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sialidase is a well-known virulence factor of other respiratory pathogens, but was only recently documented to occur in some species of <it>Mycoplasma</it>. The sialidase activity expressed can vary quantitatively among strains within a species of mycoplasma, from undetectable to amounts that correlate positively with strain virulence. Very few isolates of <it>Mycoplasma pneumoniae </it>had ever been examined for sialidase activity, so it was unknown whether sialidase may contribute to diseases involving this species.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>No sialidase activity was detected by spectrofluorometric assay of 15 laboratory strains and 91 clinical isolates of <it>M. pneumoniae </it>banked over many years from patients having radiologically-confirmed, uncomplicated community-acquired pneumonia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The annotated genome of strain M129 (GenBank <ext-link ext-link-id="NC_000912" ext-link-type="gen">NC_000912</ext-link>, <ext-link ext-link-id="ATCC29342" ext-link-type="gen">ATCC 29342</ext-link>), also isolated from a patient with pneumonia, accurately represents the absence of sialidase genes from strains of <it>M. pneumoniae </it>typically associated with uncomplicated community-acquired pneumonia. A possible involvement of sialidase in neurologic or other extra-respiratory manifestations of <it>M. pneumoniae </it>mycoplasmosis remains to be investigated.</p

Data on cytotoxic and antibacterial activity of synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles using Malva sylvestris

The biosynthesis of materials using medicinal plants can be a low-cost and eco-friendly approach due to their extraordinary properties. Herein, we reported a facile synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles using Malva sylvestris. The surface morphology, functional groups, and elemental analysis were done to characterize the synthesized nanoparticles. The cytotoxicity performance of the synthesized nanoparticles was analyzed by exposing nanoparticles to MCF-7 and Hep-G2 cancer cell lines through MTT colorimetric assay and the IC50 value was defined as 100 μg/mL and 200 μg/mL, respectively. The antibacterial performance of synthesized nanoparticles against four different bacterial strains including Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Klebsiella pneumoniae were assessed through microdilution broth method. The synthesized Fe3O4 nanoparticles using Malva sylvestris demonstrated higher antibacterial effects against Gram-positive strains with MIC values of 62.5 μg/mL and 125 μg/mL which increase the inhibitory percentage to more than 90%

Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray production in the polar cap regions of black hole magnetospheres

We develop a model of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) production via acceleration in a rotation-induced electric field in vacuum gaps in the magnetospheres of supermassive black holes (BH). We show that if the poloidal magnetic field near the BH horizon is misaligned with the BH rotation axis, charged particles, which initially spiral into the BH hole along the equatorial plane, penetrate into the regions above the BH "polar caps" and are ejected with high energies to infinity. We show that in such a model acceleration of protons near a BH of typical mass 3e8 solar masses is possible only if the magnetic field is almost aligned with the BH rotation axis. We find that the power of anisotropic electromagnetic emission from an UHECR source near a supermassive BH should be at least 10-100 times larger then UHECR power of the source. This implies that if the number of UHECR sources within the 100 Mpc sphere is ~100, the power of electromagnetic emission which accompanies proton acceleration in each source, $10^{42-43}$ erg/s, is comparable to the typical luminosities of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the local Universe. We also explore the acceleration of heavy nuclei, for which the constraints on the electromagnetic luminosity and on the alignment of magnetic field in the gap are relaxed