Estimating the Carrying Capacity for Habitat of Urial Wild Sheep (\u3cem\u3eOvis orientalis)\u3c/em\u3e in Tandoureh National Park, Iran

In an attempt to estimate forage production and carrying capacity of wild ungulates in Tandoureh National Park of Iran, the Babanestan grassland was selected, as the typical habitat of about 200 Urial wild sheep. In order to estimate the carrying capacity of this habitat for foraging of Urial wild sheep, this habitat with an area of 132 hectares was classified as low flat (LF), high flat (HF), north aspect (NA), and south aspect (SA). Then, to estimate forage production, clipping method of comparative yield was used. In each land form, standing crop yield of five reference plots of 1-m2 were searched, digitally photographed, and ranked from 1 to 5. Finally, three replications of each ranked plots were clipped and weighed. The dependent clipped plots were regressed on the independent reference plots. In each land form, based on the reference plots, 20 additional sample plots were only ranked. The 20 ranked data were corrected for green and dry weights, by using regression analysis. The average dry matter of LF, HF, NA and, SA were 2511 11821, 816, and 555 Kg/ha, respectively. The estimated total dry matter for the study area was 135211 Kg. Thus, the Babanestan may support a population size of 285 Urial wild sheep which only 70 percent of study is under grazing by Urial wild sheep. As a conclusion, management (arrangement and supplying) of the water resources in the Babanestan habitat, as one of the most habitat elements that affecting the distribution and population dynamics, may enhance the population of Urial wild sheep in Tandoureh National Park

The role of rainfall and light interception by litter on maintenance of surface soil water content in an arid rangeland (Khabr National Park, southeast of Iran)

Abstract The impact of rainfall and light interception by litter on maintenance of surface soil water content is determined in an arid rangeland in Khabr National Park in south-east of Iran. Litter weight sampling is done by 90 square plots, each 1 m2, that are randomly placed within site. After determining the intensity of a typical storm of the region (20 mm/h), the rainfall duration required to saturate the litter from dry-weight to constant-weight is determined from the litter wetting curve. To plot the wetting curve, an outdoor rainfall simulator is used to wet the litter. Then drying curve of litter moisture content is determined from obtained field data with four replications. For measuring soil water content, three treatments are tested i.e. bare soil, soil with wetted litter and soil with dry litter. Average of the measured interception loss of four samples was 0.64% of this specific simulated rainfall (5.2 mm). This study clearly showed that rangeland litter decrease evaporation of the soil water content and light interception by litter have more important role in decreasing evaporation from the soil water content than the rainfall interception by litter

Evaluation of lymphocyte transformation test results in patients with delayed hypersensitivity reactions following the use of anticonvulsant drugs

Background/Aim: Administration of the anticonvulsant drugs phenobarbital, phenytoin, carbamazepine and lamotrigine can be associated with severe hypersensitivity reactions. The lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) is a method to determine which drug has caused the hypersensitivity reaction. This study was done to evaluate the results of LTT in patients with delayed hypersensitivity reactions following the administration of anticonvulsants. Methods: Twenty-four patients with hypersensitivity reactions, e.g. drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome/drug rash and eosinophilia with systemic symptoms (DIHS/DRESS), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrosis (TEN), following the administration of anticonvulsant drugs, and 24 patients who had used anticonvulsant drugs but did not have hypersensitivity reactions (the control group) were included in this study. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated. The cells were stimulated with the drugs, phytohemagglutinin as a mitogen and Candida as an antigen (positive controls). Lymphocyte proliferation was measured using the BrdU proliferation assay kit (Roche, Germany). The stimulation index was calculated as the mean ratio of the OD of stimulated cells divided by the OD of unstimulated cells. The results in the case and control groups were compared. Results: Of 24 patients in the test group, 14 (58.3) had positive LTT results and 10 (41.7) had negative results. Among patients in the control group, 1 (4.2) had a positive LTT result and 23 (95.8) had negative results. Among the patients who had received carbamazepine and phenytoin, there was a significant difference between the results of LTT in the case and control groups (p = 0.002 and p = 0.028, respectively). Although patients receiving lamotrigine and phenobarbital had more positive LTT results in the case group than in the control group, these differences were not statistically significant. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of LTT were 58.4, 95.8, 93.3 and 69.9, respectively. Conclusions: Considering the significant difference in LTT results between the case and control groups in patients receiving carbamazepine and phenytoin, and not observing such a difference in patients receiving phenobarbital and lamotrigine, LTT results are more valuable for the diagnosis of hypersensitivity reactions following the administration of carbamazepine and phenytoin. The LTT has good specificity but low sensitivity for the diagnosis of drug hypersensitivity reactions. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel

Consensus Middle East and North Africa Registry on Inborn Errors of Immunity

Background: Inborn errors of immunity (IEIs) are a heterogeneous group of genetic defects of immunity, which cause high rates of morbidity and mortality mainly among children due to infectious and non-infectious complications. The IEI burden has been critically underestimated in countries from middle- and low-income regions and the majority of patients with IEI in these regions lack a molecular diagnosis. Methods: We analyzed the clinical, immunologic, and genetic data of IEI patients from 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The data was collected from national registries and diverse databases such as the Asian Pacific Society for Immunodeficiencies (APSID) registry, African Society for Immunodeficiencies (ASID) registry, Jeffrey Modell Foundation (JMF) registry, J Project centers, and International Consortium on Immune Deficiency (ICID) centers. Results: We identified 17,120 patients with IEI, among which females represented 39.4%. Parental consanguinity was present in 60.5% of cases and 27.3% of the patients were from families with a confirmed previous family history of IEI. The median age of patients at the onset of disease was 36 months and the median delay in diagnosis was 41 months. The rate of registered IEI patients ranges between 0.02 and 7.58 per 100,000 population, and the lowest rates were in countries with the highest rates of disability-adjusted life years (DALY) and death rates for children. Predominantly antibody deficiencies were the most frequent IEI entities diagnosed in 41.2% of the cohort. Among 5871 patients genetically evaluated, the diagnostic yield was 83% with the majority (65.2%) having autosomal recessive defects. The mortality rate was the highest in patients with non-syndromic combined immunodeficiency (51.7%, median age: 3.5 years) and particularly in patients with mutations in specific genes associated with this phenotype (RFXANK, RAG1, and IL2RG). Conclusions: This comprehensive registry highlights the importance of a detailed investigation of IEI patients in the MENA region. The high yield of genetic diagnosis of IEI in this region has important implications for prevention, prognosis, treatment, and resource allocation