« The electromagnetic interference of mobile phones on the function of a gamma camera »

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to evaluate whether or not the electromagnetic field generated by mobile phones interferes with the function of a single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) gamma camera during data acquisition. Methods and materials: We tested the effects of seven models of mobile phones on one SPECT gamma camera. The mobile phones were tested when making a call, in ringing mode, and in standby mode. The gamma camera function was assessed during data acquisition from a planar source and a point source of technetium-99m with activities of 10 mCi and 3 mCi, respectively. A significant decrease in count number was considered to be electromagnetic interference (EMI). Results: The percentage of induced EMI with the gamma camera per mobile phone was in the range of 0–100%. The incidence of EMI was mainly observed in the first seconds of ringing and then mitigated in the following frames. Conclusion: Mobile phones are portable sources of electromagnetic radiation, and there is interference potential with the function of SPECT gamma cameras leading to adverse effects on the quality of the acquired images. Keywords: Electromagnetic interference (EMI), mobile phones, gamma camera, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT

Ethnobotany of Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb. (Cupressaceae) in Iran

Ethnobotanical data of Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb. in Iran is documented from various historical, religious, literary, linguistic and pharmacological viewpoints. Field trips were conducted to different habitats of J. excelsa in Iran during 2006-2010 to collect ethnobotanical information about the plant. The present study reveals that J. excelsa is considered as a multi-purpose tree by indigenous people of Iran, and has been used as medicine, incense, material for constructing buildings, fencing, different household articles and decoration. It is respected as a “holy” tree by some Turkmen and Kurdish tribes in Iran

Data from: Plant community responses to environmentally-friendly piste management in northeast Iran

files description: Functional_matrice: Provides the trait data for plant species in this study. piste_offpiste_sp: Plant species matrix of this study. Scenario2: Phylogenetic tree of plant species in this study. contact information: Mohammad Bagher Erfanian [email protected]

Data from: Plant community responses to environmentally-friendly piste management in northeast Iran

It is well-known that pistes have adverse effects on alpine ecosystems. Previous studies urged that pistes should be installed and managed in the ways to minimize negative impacts on natural habitats. However, the impacts of this type of management on the plant communities are not widely studied. The aim of this study was to examine species composition and biodiversity changes in an environmentally-friendly managed piste in northeast Iran. This piste has been established in a previously degraded alpine landscape. For the vegetation survey, we sampled 44 within and 28 off-piste plots. Except for the piste management, other environmental factors were similar between the piste and off-piste plots. Dominant species were determined, and variation in community composition of the two areas was visualized. Also, Native species, phylogenetic, and functional Hill diversity of the two areas were compared. The results showed that there was a moderate differentiation in the species composition of the piste and off-piste. Two palatable species (i.e., Bupleurum falcatum and Melica persica) were dominant in the piste and were not recorded in the off-piste. The species diversity calculations results showed that the species diversity of the piste was higher than that of the off-piste. Phylogenetic Hill diversity at the level of frequent and dominant plants showed a similar result. The piste had a higher functional diversity in terms of functional richness, and functional diversity of frequent and dominant plants. Our findings imply, after 10 years, species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of the piste is significantly improved. Environmentally-friendly piste management (EFPM) induced species composition change that led to emerging species that were absent in the off-piste. We can conclude that EFPM led to restoration of a degraded landscape. Long-term impacts of EFPM are still unknown, therefore, caution should be undertaken regarding the installation of new environmentally-friendly pistes in other areas

Rhammatophyllum gaudanense Al-Shehbaz & O. Appel, Novon 2002

Rhammatophyllum gaudanense (Litv.) Al-Shehbaz & O. Appel, Novon 12: 3. 2002 [2 Apr. 2002] Basionym: Erysimum gaudanense Litvinov, Trudy Bot. Muz. Imp. Akad. Nauk 1: 33. 1902. Synonyms: Prionotrichon gaudanense (Litv.) Botschantzev, Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 3: 125. (1966). Rhammatophyllum gaudanense (Litv.) Kamelin, Bot. Zhurn. 87, 12: 109. 2002 [24 Dec. 2002], comb. superfl. TYPE: TURKMENISTAN. Turcomania. In declivibus herbosis montium pr. Gaudan, 28 IV 1898, D. I. Litwinow 518 (lectotype, LE!, designated by Botschantzev (1966: 125, “type”); isolectotypes, B!, BRNM!, JE!, LE!, WU!). Figs. 1D, 2. Distribution: Iran and Turkmenistan (endemic to Kopet-Dagh). Plants subshrubs. Trichomes on stems, leaves, pedicels, sepals, and fruits softly malpighiaceous or submalpighiaceous, with two (rarely three) equal or unequal, unbranched or rarely branched principal rays, usually crisped and predominantly bearing a few lateral minute branches; simple on petals. Stems erect to ascending, (20) 30–45 cm tall, usually several at base, branched below (annual shoots unbranched) and slightly swollen at nodes. Basal leaves fasciculate, spatulate, 5–15 × 1–2(3) mm, round at apex, attenuate at base. Cauline leaves sessile or shortly petiolate, linear to oblanceolate, entire, often longitudinally plicate, 10–35 × 1–2 mm. Racemes 6–16-flowered, ebracteate, corymbose, considerably elongated in fruit. Fruiting pedicels straight, slender, divaricate-ascending to suberect, (4)5– 8(10) mm. Sepals oblong, membranous at margin, 3–4 mm long. Petals creamy white, becoming yellow when drying, 5–8 × 2–3 mm, pubescent outside. Stamens 6, tetradynamous; filaments not dilated or slightly flattened at base; anthers oblong, apiculate at apex. Fruits dehiscent siliques 25–50 × 1.5–2 mm, linear, latiseptate, sessile or shortly stipitate, suberect, straight or slightly flexuous, shallowly constricted between seeds; valves torulose, with a narrow midvein; style obsolete or distinct, up to 2 mm long; stigma capitate, 2-lobed. Seeds winged at top, oblong, strongly flattened; seed coat not mucilaginous when wetted; cotyledons accumbent. Specimen examined: IRAN. Khorasan, S Kalat-e Naderi, between Baghkand and Ortekand. 1900 m, 10 July 2002, Joharchi 34207 (FUMH!)Published as part of Moazzeni, Hamid, Zarre, Shahin, Assadi, Mostafa, Joharchi, Mohammad Reza & German, Dmitry A., 2014, Erysimum hezarense, a new species and Rhammatophyllum gaudanense, a new record of Brassicaceae from Iran, pp. 241-248 in Phytotaxa 175 (5) on page 244, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.175.5.1, http://zenodo.org/record/514394

Phylogeny of Acanthophyllum s.l. revisited:An update on generic concept and sectional classification

The generic boundary of the broadly defined Acanthophyllum s.l., the third‐largest genus of the tribe Caryophylleae (Caryophyllaceae), has been a subject of taxonomic confusion. Acanthophyllum s.l. now includes five minor genera previously recognized as independent. Among these small genera, the inclusion of Allochrusa, Ochotonophila, and Scleranthopsis within Acanthophyllum s.l. was confirmed by previous molecular studies, while the positions of Diaphanoptera and Kuhitangia remained uncertain. We have performed an updated molecular study of Acanthophyllum s.l. including an increased sampling of the genera and sections assigned to this group, using intron sequences of the chloroplast gene rps16 and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Cyathophylla, Heterochroa, and Saponaria were chosen as outgroups for performing phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. The present results suggest that, in addition to the genera mentioned above, both Diaphanoptera and Kuhitangia should also be synonymized within Acanthophyllum. Sections Diaphanoptera, Kuhitangia and Pseudomacrostegia are introduced as new infrageneric taxa within Acanthophyllum. Our results also indicate that some annual species of Saponaria are closely related to Acanthophyllum.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156179/2/tax12241.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156179/1/tax12241_am.pd

The new locally endemic genus Yazdana (Caryophyllaceae) and patterns of endemism highlight the high conservation priority of the poorly studied Shirkuh Mountains (central Iran)

Although mountain ranges are often recognized as global biodiversity hotspots with a high level of endemism, diversity and biogeographic connections of isolated and weakly explored mountains remain poorly understood. This is also the case for Shirkuh Mts. in central Iran. Here, Yazdana shirkuhensis gen. & spec. nov. (Caryophylleae, Caryophyllaceae) is described and illustrated from the high alpine zone of this mountain. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of nuclear and plastid DNA sequence data show that Y. shirkuhensis is related to Cyathophylla and Heterochroa (tribe Caryophylleae). The newly described genus and species accentuate Shirkuh Mts. as a center of endemism, which harbors a high number of narrowly distributed species, mostly in high elevations reaching alpine habitats. As this area is currently not protected, a conservation priority is highlighted for high elevations of Shirkuh Mts

Genome-wide nucleotide diversity and associations with geography, ploidy level and glucosinolate profiles in Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae)

The genus Aethionema is sister to the core Brassicaceae (including Arabidopsis thaliana) and thus has an important evolutionary position for comparative analyses. Aethionema arabicum (Brassicaceae) is emerging as a model to understand the evolution of various traits. We generated transcriptome data for seven Ae. arabicum genotypes across the species range including Cyprus, Iran and Turkey. Combined flow cytometry and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses identified distinct tetraploid (Iranian) and diploid populations (Turkish/Cypriot). The Turkish and Cypriot lines had a higher genome-wide genetic diversity than the Iranian lines. However, one genomic region contained genes with a higher diversity in the Iranian than the Turkish/Cypriot lines. Sixteen percent of the genes in this region were chaperonins involved in protein folding.Additionally, an analysis of glucosinolate profiles, chemical defence compounds of the Brassicaceae, showed a difference in diversity of indolic glucosinolates between the Iranian and Turkish/Cypriot lines. We showed that different Ae. arabicumindividuals have different ploidy levels depending on their location (Iranian versus Turkish/Cypriot). Moreover, these differences between the populations are also shown in their defence compounds