The effects of antioxidant, butyl hydroxy anisole and polyphosphate on shelf-life of frozen (-180°C) crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus) of the Caspian Sea

Possible effects of antioxidant Butyl Hydroxy Anisole (BHA) and sodium polyphosphate on the shelf-life of frozen Astacus leptodactylus of the Caspian Sea was studied. Samples of the crayfish were dipped in 0.02 and 0.2% BHA and 0.04 and 0.4% sodium polyphosphate for 30 and 60 minutes. The control samples were packed without immersion in the mixture of BHA and sodium polyphosphate. The Peroxide Value (PV), Total Volatile Nitrogen (TVN), total bacteria count and organoleptic tests were carried out on the samples using a time schedule. The results showed that the minimum increase in PV for the samples which were soaked in a mixture of 0.2% BHA and 0.4% sodium polyphosphate for 1 hour were from 0.59 to 0.88 meq/1000g, as compared to the control samples with an increase in the range 0.59 to 3.53meq/1000 g after four months. The PV Value after four month started to be decrease and reached 1.4 meq/1000 grams after sixth months. The results showed that the minimum increase of TVN for the samples which were soaked in a mixture of 0.2% BHA and 0.4% sodium polyphosphate for I hour were from 12.88 to 17.8 mg/100 grams and for the control samples, the increase was from 12.88 to 19.8 mg/100 grams after sixth month. The results also demonstrated that the minimum increase in Total Bacteria Count of for the samples soaked in a mixture of 0.2% BHA and 0.4% sodium polyphosphate for 1 hour were from 9 x 103 to 2 x 101 per gram and for the control samples, the count was from 9 x 103 to 7 x 102 per gram after sixth months. Kruskal—Wallis, chi-square and Duncan tests were conducted on five samples for each specific shelf-life time. Using the results, we conclude that immersing the samples into a mixture of 0.2% BHA and 0.4% sodium polyphosphate for one hour gives the best results in terms of shelf-life and organoleptic tests

Correlation between the concentration of air pollutants (CO, SO2 and NO2) and pulmonary function

زمینه و هدف: آلاینده های استنشاقی نقش مهمی در بیماری های ریوی دارند. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی سطح آلاینده های استنشاقی دی اکسید نیتروژن، دی اکسید گوگرد، منواکسید کربن در اراک (شهر صنعتی و آلوده) و خمین (غیر صنعتی و غیر آلوده) و تعیین چگونگی اثر آن بر عملکرد ریه در مقطع زمان اسپیرومتری انجام شد. روش بررسی: دو شهر اراک و خمین به ترتیب به ده و پنج منطقه تقسیم و آلاینده های استنشاقی دی اکسید نیتروژن، دی اکسید گوگرد و منواکسید کربن اندازه گیری شدند. همزمان به طور تصادفی در فصول مختلف سال 522 نفر از بالغ غیر سیگاری خمین و 547 نفر از اراک انتخاب و از آنان اسپیرومتری به عمل آمد و از شاخص کیفیت هوا (PSI=Poliution standard index) برای ارزیـــابی کیفیت هوا استفاده شد. میـانگین غلظت آلاینده ها و شاخص پراکندگی ظرفیت های ریوی با آزمون های آماری آنالیز رگرسیون مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفتند. یافته ها: میانگینPSI اراک 54/14±83/101 و خمین 58/18±17/89 بود (05/0>P). حداکثر جریان بازدمی (PEF) و ظرفیت حیاتی فعال (FVC) در اراک به طور معنی داری کمتر از خمین بود (05/0

An investigation on relationship of chemical indices of kilka (Clupeonella engrauliformis) with weight loss during cold storage at -18C

We studied the relationship between physical and chemical properties of frozen kilka with weight loss for packed and unpacked products during storage at amal 8 ' C. Statistical analysis of the results including variance, Duncan test and ANOVA showed relationships existed between changes in Total Volatile Nitrogen (TVN), Peroxide Value (PV), pH, moisture, organoleptic properties of frozen packed and unpacked kilka with product weight losses during cold storage at -18°C. The statistical treatment of the results showed that weight losses for packed samples in comparison to unpacked one at the level of P<0.0I was significant. The weight losses, changes of TVN, PV, pH and moisture losses for unpacked samples were 1.5, 1.35, and 4.5, 132 and 1.32 times more in comparison to the packed one, respectively. Also, the statistical analysis of the results showed a correlation between weight losses in unpacked samples of frozen kilka and the measured factors. The results of chemical and physical properties measured for packed samples of frozen kilka during cold storage and their statistical analysis showed a significant correlation P<0.01 between weight losses and the changes in TVN from 7 to 28mg/100gr, PV from 2.28 to 6.01meq/kg, pH from 6.08 to 6.37 and 1.72% loss in the moisture of the samples. According to these results and the organoleptic tests, the shelf life for packed and unpacked frozen kilka in cold storage at 48°C, is recommended 60 and 30 days, respectively

Comparative study on lipid quality of anchovy kilka (Clupeonella engrauliformis) under temporary chilled transport and storage methods

The Anchovy kilka, (Clupeonella engrauliformis) is the most commercially important of the caspian kilka. The poor quality of many processed products is due to poor quality of raw material in which the quality of fat is a contributing factor of great importance. In this study, samples from fishing vessels were transported and stored under two metods of Chilled Sea Water (CSW) and Boxed with ice powder. In Chilled Sea Water method, containers were filled with ratio of 60, 25 and 15 percent of fish and ice and sea water, respectively. Then their qualitative characteristics such as moisture content, total lipid, phospholipid and neutral lipids, peroixids value, free fatty acids, heme iron and tiobarbituric acid content, organic phase fluorescense. Statistical analysis of results showed that CSW was a better method for maintaining the quality

Determination of nutrient values of the bivalve Anodonta cygnea in Selkeh area of the Anzali Lagoon during autumn and spring

Anzali Lagoon is one of the most important aquatic ecosystems of Iran which was registered as a Ramsar Convention site in 1999. This valuable ecosystem is located in the south west shores of the Caspian Sea, in Guilan Province. We randomly collected 30 and 20 samples of the bivalve Anodonta cygnea in autumn 2004 and spring 2005 respectively. The Selkeh area was chosen for the sampling because of its availability during autumn. The area receives water from the southern part of the lagoon basin. Nutrient content of the soft tissue of the bivalve was measured. Live sampled bivalves were transferred to laboratory and their length, width, height; total body weight and wet weight of the internal soft part were measured. Moisture, ash, protein, T.V.N, lipid and amino acid contents in soft tissue were also determined. Moisture content in spring and autumn samples were 84.84% and 83.6%, respectively. Ash content in autumn samples was higher than spring samples, being 4% and 2.32%, respectively. Assessment showed protein content in the autumn samples to be 12% while in spring samples this was 10.5%. T.V.N content in autumn and spring samples were 0.031 and 0.003% respectively. Measurements showed that autumn bivalves had 4% lipid content whereas this value in spring samples was 3%. We found Sixtheen amino acids, including seven essential ones in the samples

Widespread occurrence of Tomato ring spot virus in deciduous fruit trees in Iran

Despite a long tradition of fruit-tree growing in all provinces of Iran, information on tree viruses in this country is scant. In the present study, presence of Tomato ring spot virus (ToRSV) was surveyed in various woody plants in this country by mechanical inoculation to herbaceous hosts, ELISA using a commercial antiserum, and PCR with specific primers. ToRSV was identified in the following plant-symptom combinations: Walnut with mottling, deformation, necrosis, and yellowing of main veins from Tehran Province; plum with yellowing of main veins, peach with yellowing of major veins and marginal necrosis, and hazelnut with interveinal chlorosis and marginal necrosis from Ardabil Province; apple with yellowing of main veins, mosaic and necrotic lesions, quince with large necrotic spots, and almond with leaf deformation and rosetting from Khorasan Province; and raspberry with marginal necrosis of leaf and necrotic lesions from Mazandaran Province. Mechanical inoculation from walnut, plum, peach, hazelnut, apple, quince, almond, and raspberry to Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun resulted in systemic infection. The virus isolates induced local lesions, leaf deformation, and necrosis in N. rustica, chlorotic local lesions on Chenopodium quinoa, and large local lesions on Gomphrena globosa. All samples were ELISA positive. PCR with specific primers resulted in the amplification of the expected fragment (490 bp). This study shows extensive occurrence of ToRSV in Iran.Keywords: Tomato ringspot virus, fruit tree viruses, Ira

Additive Manufacturing and Performance of Architectured Cement-Based Materials

There is an increasing interest in hierarchical design and Additive Manufacturing (AM)of cement-based materials. However, the brittle behavior of these materials and the presence of interfaces from the additive manufacturing process represent the current major challenges. Our work focuses on harnessing the heterogeneous interfaces by employing clever designs from bio-inspired Bouligand architectured materials. In this paper, we aim to demonstrate some key mechanisms that can allow brittle hardened cement-based materials to gain flaw-tolerant properties. Mechanisms such as cracktwisting at the interfaces have been previously observed in naturally-occurring orsynthetic composite Bouligand architectures. In this paper, a heterogeneous interface with porous characteristics in 3D-printed solid hardened cement paste (hcp)architectures were characterized. We hypothesize that the presence of heterogeneous interface in 3D-printed hardened cement paste (hcp) elements, in conjunction with clever architectures, promote key damage mechanisms such as interfacial cracking and crack twisting that lead to damage delocalization. This delocalization can be energetically favorable and allow energy dissipation and promote toughening and flaw-tolerant properties. We found that these architectures can enhance the properties from the typical strength-porosity relationship, classically known for brittle hcp materials

Assisted reproductive outcomes in women with different polycystic ovary syndrome phenotypes: The predictive value of anti-Müllerian hormone

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcomes in different polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) phenotypes (A, B, C and D) compared with a control group and the predictive values of serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in PCOS phenotypes for main outcomes. This study evaluated 386 PCOS women and 350 patients with male factor infertility. Women with phenotypes A and C had significantly higher concentrations of AMH than those with phenotype B (P < 0.001). Clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) in the phenotype D group (53.3) was higher than other groups (32.5, 26.4 and 36.8, respectively, in phenotypes A, B and C), but not to a significant level. Multivariable regression analysis, after adjusting for women's age and body mass index, revealed that PCOS phenotypes A and B were associated with a decreased CPR compared with the control group (odds ratio OR: 0.46, confidence interval CI: 0.26-0.8, P = 0.007 and OR: 0.34, CI: 0.18-0.62, P = 0.001, respectively). It seems a combination of hyperandrogenism and chronic anovulation is associated with a negative impact on the CPR in these patients. These results demonstrated that AMH concentration is related to PCO morphology but not predictive for CPR and live birth rate. © 2016 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Active Methamphetamine Use is Associated with Transmitted Drug Resis-tance to Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors in Individuals with HIV Infection of Unknown Duration

BackgroundFrequent methamphetamine use among recently HIV infected individuals is associated with transmitted drug resistance (TDR) to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI); however, the reversion time of TDR to drug susceptible HIV may exceed 3 years. We assessed whether recreational substance use is associated with detectable TDR among individuals newly diagnosed with HIV infection of unknown duration.DesignCross-sectional analysis.MethodsSubjects were enrolled at the University California, San Diego Early Intervention Program. Demographic, clinical and substance use data were collected using structured interviews. Genotypic resistance testing was performed using GeneSeq, Monogram Biosciences. We analyzed the association between substance use and TDR using bivariate analyses and the corresponding transmission networks using phylogenetic models.ResultsBetween April 2004 and July 2006, 115 individuals with genotype data were enrolled. The prevalence of alcohol, marijuana and methamphetamine use were 98%, 71% and 64% respectively. Only active methamphetamine use in the 30 days prior to HIV diagnosis was independently associated with TDR to NNRTI (OR: 6.6; p=0.002).ConclusionDespite not knowing the duration of their HIV infection, individuals reporting active methamphetamine use in the 30 days prior to HIV diagnosis are at an increased risk of having HIV strains that are resistant to NNRTI