Investigation of heavy metals accumulation in the sediment and body of carp fish in Aras River

Heavy metals are considered as the most dangerous water contaminants because of their possibility of bioaccumulation and toxic effects. This study tried to investigate the bio-availability of heavy metals in terms of Ni, Zn, Cu, Fe, Hg, Cd, and Pb in the sediment during dry seasons in Aras River basin located in Ardabil Province, north-west of Iran. Also the metal concentration in the skin and flesh carp was measured during all four seasons in 2010 in Aras River. Sediments were collected from five stations during summer but fish sampling was carried out seasonally in five fixed stations. The results of this study indicated that there was a meaningful and positive correlation between the existence of high levels of bioavailable metals and their concentration in fish body. Among the measured metals, Fe is highly bioavailable and the highest level of Fe in the sediment was in the ST4 (93.4mg/l). This could be due to high accumulation of this element in fish body. Also, maximum concentration of Fe in fish body was in summer (1.87mg/l) as well

Frequency of Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1 in Patients with Rare Bleeding Disorders

Background and Objective: Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is a virus that is endemic in some parts of the world, and as a pathogen, it can lead to severe infections in humans. Since no antiviral treatment is currently available and the only way of confrontation is prevention and identification of infected blood, this study was performed to determine the frequency of antibodies against HTLV-1 in patients with rare bleeding disorders receiving blood in Zahedan. Methods: The study population included 180 patients with rare bleeding disorders referred to Ali Asghar Hospital in Zahedan selected by census method and 90 healthy individuals who referred to hospital lab selected by convenience sampling method in 2020. Age range was 1 to 39 years. Blood samples were collected from all participants and antibody test against HTLV-1 was confirmed using ELISA kit and positive ELISA test was confirmed using Real-time PCR. Findings: In the case group, there were 86 men (47.8%) and 94 women (52.2%) and in the control group there were 43 men (47.8%) and 47 women (52.2%). Antibodies against HTLV-1 were found in 2 patients (1.1%) with rare bleeding disorders and none in healthy individuals. The first was a 29-year-old man with Glanzmann's disease who had severe Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. The second case was a 23-year-old woman with severe forms of factor V and factor VIII deficiency whose family history of Rare Bleeding Disorders (RBD) was positive. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the risk of HTLV-1 transmission through plasma-induced blood products and new types of coagulation factors seems negligible

Dry Bacterial Cellulose and Carboxymethyl Cellulose formulations with interfacial-active performance: processing conditions and redispersion

Dry or powdered formulations of food additives facilitate transportation, storage, preservation and handling. In this work, dry formulations of bacterial cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose (BC:CMC), easily redispersible and preserving the functionality of the never-dried dispersions are reported. Different processing parameters and their effect on the materials properties were evaluated, namely: (i) wet-grinding of BC (Hand-blender, Microcut Head Impeller, High-pressure Homogenizer), (ii) drying of BC:CMC mixtures (fast drying at130 °C and slow drying at 80 °C) and subsequent (iii) comminution to different particle sizes. The dispersibility of the obtained BC:CMC powders was evaluated, and their functionality after redispersion was assessed by measuring the dynamic viscosity, the effect in oil/water interfacial tension (liquidliquid system) and the stabilization of cocoa in milk (solidliquid system). The size of BC fibre bundles was of paramount relevance to its stabilizing ability in multiphasic systems. A more extensive wet-grinding of the BC fibres was accompanied by a loss in the BC:CMC functionality, related to the increasingly smaller size of the BC bundles. Indeed, as the Dv (50) of the wet BC bundles was reduced from 1228 to 55 µm, the BC:CMC viscosity profile dropped and the effect on interfacial tension decreased. This effect was observed both on the never-dried and dry BC:CMC formulations. On the other hand, the drying method did not play a major effect in the materials properties. In a benchmarking study, the BC:CMC formulations, at a low concentration (0.15%), had better stabilizing ability of the cocoa particles than several commercial cellulose products.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-020-03211-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.This study was supported by FCT under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2019 unit and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Daniela Martins also gratefully acknowledges FCT for the PhD scholarship, reference SFRH/BD/115917/2016.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Population genetic molecular study of Penaeus semisulcatus from Persian Gulf and Oman Sea by using of Cytochrome oxidized COI and RFLP method

Goals: Determine of barcode of DNA in green tiger prawn, Penaeus semisulcatus, in the Gen bank of the species. Material and methods: In these study 30 specimens of Penaeus semisulcatus from each region in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman were sampled and preserved in ethanol 96%. The total DNA was extracted, COI gene was first amplified and then sequenced for each species. Finally the collected data were analyzed with the specific phylogenetic software. Result and discussion: Molecular analysis revealed some degree of interpopulation differences within two areas. Also for population study molecular data of species Penaeus semisulcatus were analysed base on COI RFLP and 16SrRNA sequences respectively. The results indicated that COI gen is a good marker for shrimp species differentiation that would be helpful to protect shrimp species

Determining of DNA-barcoding of 6 – 8 species by partial sequencing of mtDNA (CO1) using molecular method (PCR-Sequencing)

Barcodes are short segments of DNA that can be used to uniquely identify an unknown specimen to species, particularly when diagnostic morphological features are absent. These sequences could offer a new forensic tool in plant and animal Conservation-especially for endangered species. It was proved that a small fragment of mitochondrial DNA from the 5′-end of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene as a reliable, quick and costeffective identification system for most Crustacea like shrimp. Take a look in DNA barcoding website show that there is a little data about Iranian shrimps which live in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. In this Study six species of shrimp: Fenoro penaeus indicus, Fenoro penaeus merguensis, penaeus semisulcatus, Metapenaeus affinis, Marsupenaeus japonicas, Fenoro penaeus penicillatus were collected from different stations in Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. All materials were preserved in 70% ethanol and were shipped to the laboratory for taxonomic studies. After identification, the total DNA was extracted; COI gene was first amplified and then sequenced for each species. Finally the collected data were analyzed with the specific phylogenetic software. The results were amazing and the interesting part was that analytical methods for showing species relationship suggested that Fenoro penaeus penicillatus is closer to Marsupenaeus gnus than penaeus gnus. This finding needs more investigation to be proved. We suggest a workflow for DNA barcoding, including database generation and management, which will ultimately be necessary if we are to succeed to join universal DNA barcode for Crustacea

Origin and History of Mitochondrial DNA Lineages in Domestic Horses

Domestic horses represent a genetic paradox: although they have the greatest number of maternal lineages (mtDNA) of all domestic species, their paternal lineages are extremely homogeneous on the Y-chromosome. In order to address their huge mtDNA variation and the origin and history of maternal lineages in domestic horses, we analyzed 1961 partial d-loop sequences from 207 ancient remains and 1754 modern horses. The sample set ranged from Alaska and North East Siberia to the Iberian Peninsula and from the Late Pleistocene to modern times. We found a panmictic Late Pleistocene horse population ranging from Alaska to the Pyrenees. Later, during the Early Holocene and the Copper Age, more or less separated sub-populations are indicated for the Eurasian steppe region and Iberia. Our data suggest multiple domestications and introgressions of females especially during the Iron Age. Although all Eurasian regions contributed to the genetic pedigree of modern breeds, most haplotypes had their roots in Eastern Europe and Siberia. We found 87 ancient haplotypes (Pleistocene to Mediaeval Times); 56 of these haplotypes were also observed in domestic horses, although thus far only 39 haplotypes have been confirmed to survive in modern breeds. Thus, at least seventeen haplotypes of early domestic horses have become extinct during the last 5,500 years. It is concluded that the large diversity of mtDNA lineages is not a product of animal breeding but, in fact, represents ancestral variability

Survey of diversity, distribution, abundance and biomass of macrobenthic fauna in the southern Caspian Sea

The Sampling of macrobenthic communities in southeastern Caspian Sea, Iranian coast, were investigated seasonally from April to March 2012. Sampling was carried out at 8 transect as named Astara, Badar Anzali, Sefied rood, Tonekaboon, Nooshahr, Babolsar, Amirabad, Gomishan.In each transect were choice 8 stations at 5m, 10m, 20m, 50m, 100m depths respectively. Samples were taken in triplet with a 0.1m^² van Veen grab.Totally 28 macrofaunal species belonging to 10 families were identified as gamaridae (9species), corophidae (3species),psudocumidae(8 species), amphartidae (2species), balanidae, chironomidae, cardidae scorbicolaridae, nereidae, sponoidae, each one species. Polychaetes were dominated, representing 72.5% of the whole fauna while while (equal 62.4% of total abundance and 5/1%biomass) were belong to Streblospio spp. from Spionidae family. Cerastoderma lamarcki belong to bivavia consist of 2/3% total macobethos abundance and 73% biomass. Total abundance of macrobenthos of middle area were higher than east and west area in southern Caspian Sea. Average benthic population density (no/m^2) with (SE) was 4581(444 ). The benthic biomass (mg/m^2) with an overall mean of 12. 125(02). Spatial and temporal variations of benthos. In the present study showed, maximum abundance Macrobenthos 17855(5543) no/m^2) were recorded in 20 meter depths at Nooshahr trancect , while minimum 841(109 )in 10 meter depths at Amirabad trancect p<0.05. Maximum biomass 135.10(126) g/m^2 were obtained at 10m depths in Astara minimum 0.51(0.4) ) g/m^2 at 5m depths in Nooshahr transect . maximum were obtained in winter and minimum in summer Number of species varied 3 to 18 , Generally, minimum species diversity were obtained at 20 m depth in Tonekabon transects and the maximum value was observed at 100 m depth of sefeidrood variations physicochemical factors were between salinity 12.5to12.9ppt ,temperature 8-19˚c and PH 8.1 dissolve oxygen 69-101mg/li. Total secondary production calculated, according ,104/996g AFDW/m^2/yr.Maximum were recorded in 10meter depth (30/381AFDW/m^2/yr) and minimum at 50 meter depth(11/007g AFDW/m^2/yr) respectively. Average total organic matter were 3/18 percent in sample periods. Percent of total organic matter (TOM) were low in 5 and 10 m depths and increased toward offshore depths. TOM percent was 1/67(0.11 ) at 5 m depth and increased to 4/38(0.13 )in 100 m depth. Average total silt &clay were 68/63(2.97) percent in sample periods. Positive significant relation was between silt &clay and total organic matter. Macrobenthos community reduce in high silt clay and high sandy contents. Due to increase of streptolosbio.spp, monitoring program for understanding effect of this organism on ecosystem and on fish feeding is necessary

Constructing a biodiversity terminological inventory.

The increasing growth of literature in biodiversity presents challenges to users who need to discover pertinent information in an efficient and timely manner. In response, text mining techniques offer solutions by facilitating the automated discovery of knowledge from large textual data. An important step in text mining is the recognition of concepts via their linguistic realisation, i.e., terms. However, a given concept may be referred to in text using various synonyms or term variants, making search systems likely to overlook documents mentioning less known variants, which are albeit relevant to a query term. Domain-specific terminological resources, which include term variants, synonyms and related terms, are thus important in supporting semantic search over large textual archives. This article describes the use of text mining methods for the automatic construction of a large-scale biodiversity term inventory. The inventory consists of names of species, amongst which naming variations are prevalent. We apply a number of distributional semantic techniques on all of the titles in the Biodiversity Heritage Library, to compute semantic similarity between species names and support the automated construction of the resource. With the construction of our biodiversity term inventory, we demonstrate that distributional semantic models are able to identify semantically similar names that are not yet recorded in existing taxonomies. Such methods can thus be used to update existing taxonomies semi-automatically by deriving semantically related taxonomic names from a text corpus and allowing expert curators to validate them. We also evaluate our inventory as a means to improve search by facilitating automatic query expansion. Specifically, we developed a visual search interface that suggests semantically related species names, which are available in our inventory but not always in other repositories, to incorporate into the search query. An assessment of the interface by domain experts reveals that our query expansion based on related names is useful for increasing the number of relevant documents retrieved. Its exploitation can benefit both users and developers of search engines and text mining applications

An initial comparative map of copy number variations in the goat (Capra hircus) genome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The goat (<it>Capra hircus</it>) represents one of the most important farm animal species. It is reared in all continents with an estimated world population of about 800 million of animals. Despite its importance, studies on the goat genome are still in their infancy compared to those in other farm animal species. Comparative mapping between cattle and goat showed only a few rearrangements in agreement with the similarity of chromosome banding. We carried out a cross species cattle-goat array comparative genome hybridization (aCGH) experiment in order to identify copy number variations (CNVs) in the goat genome analysing animals of different breeds (Saanen, Camosciata delle Alpi, Girgentana, and Murciano-Granadina) using a tiling oligonucleotide array with ~385,000 probes designed on the bovine genome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified a total of 161 CNVs (an average of 17.9 CNVs per goat), with the largest number in the Saanen breed and the lowest in the Camosciata delle Alpi goat. By aggregating overlapping CNVs identified in different animals we determined CNV regions (CNVRs): on the whole, we identified 127 CNVRs covering about 11.47 Mb of the virtual goat genome referred to the bovine genome (0.435% of the latter genome). These 127 CNVRs included 86 loss and 41 gain and ranged from about 24 kb to about 1.07 Mb with a mean and median equal to 90,292 bp and 49,530 bp, respectively. To evaluate whether the identified goat CNVRs overlap with those reported in the cattle genome, we compared our results with those obtained in four independent cattle experiments. Overlapping between goat and cattle CNVRs was highly significant (P < 0.0001) suggesting that several chromosome regions might contain recurrent interspecies CNVRs. Genes with environmental functions were over-represented in goat CNVRs as reported in other mammals.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We describe a first map of goat CNVRs. This provides information on a comparative basis with the cattle genome by identifying putative recurrent interspecies CNVs between these two ruminant species. Several goat CNVs affect genes with important biological functions. Further studies are needed to evaluate the functional relevance of these CNVs and their effects on behavior, production, and disease resistance traits in goats.</p

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality: methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

BACKGROUND: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. METHODS: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. RESULTS: GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future