Morphological variation of shad fish Alosa brashnicowi (Teleostei, Clupeidae) populations along the southern Caspian Sea coasts, using a truss system

A 15-landmark morphometric truss network system was used to investigate the hypothesis of population fragmentation of Shad fish Alosa braschnicowi Borodin, 1904 along the southern Caspian Sea. A total of 181 A. braschnicowi specimens were caught from six localities, respectively from the west to the east including; Astara, Rezvanshahr, Anzali, Tonekabon, Sari and Miankale. Principal component analysis, canonical variates analysis and clustering analysis were used to examine morphological differences. Univariate analysis of variance showed significant differences between the means of the six groups for 72 standardized morphometric measurements out of 105 characters studied. In canonical variates analysis, the overall assignment of individuals into their original groups was 71.46% and scatter plot of individual component scores between CV1 and CV2 showed fish specimens grouped into six areas. Clustering analysis based on Euclidean square distances among groups of centroids using UPGMA resulted into six main clusters indicating morphologically distinction populations of A. braschnicowi in the region. These populations of A. braschnicowi are distinguished especially by head shape, eye diameter, and pre-dorsal, pre-pelvic and pre-anal distances. Therefore, it is suggested considering these morphologically different populations as distinct stock in the southern Caspian Sea coasts

The effects of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) polymorphisms on recurrent abortion in Azari women

Objectives: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a heterogeneous condition consisting of three or more consecutive abor­tions before the 20 weeks of gestation. The tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) gene plays a crucial role in immunology and inflammation responses. Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RN) is an important anti-inflammatory molecule which plays important roles in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of TNF-α and IL-1Ra polymorphisms on RPL in Azari women. Material and methods: The study participants consisted of 100 women with RPL from Iranian Azeri Turkish origin. The control group comprised 100 age and ethnically matched healthy women in the reproductive age. Genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood and genotype determinations were performed using PCR amplification followed by restric­tion fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Results: No significant association was indicated between IL-1Ra and RPL among Iranian Azeri Turkish women. Unlike the homozygous state, significantly higher frequency of -857 C/T variant was seen in RPL patients than control subjects. Sig­nificantly lower frequency of wild type genotype was observed in RPL patients than of controls. Any association was found between the other TNF-α polymorphisms and RPL. Conclusions: TNF-α -857 C/C variant might represent protective effect against RPL and the -857 C/T variant might be a ge­netic risk factor for the occurrence of RPL. Invariant differences in the prevalence of -511 C/T and -31 C/T polymorphisms and IL-1RN VNTR between RPL patients

Comparative Evaluation of Various Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Combination with Β-Tricalcium Phosphate

Introduction: The present study was aimed to evaluate and compare adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation of stem cells originated from dental pulp, Buccal fat pad tissue, umbilical cord blood and bone marrow on the β- TCP scaffold. Materials and Methods: Human mesenchymal stem cells originated from dental pulp, Buccal fat pad tissue, umbilical cord blood and bone marrow were assessed in this study. The characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells evaluated by flow-cytometry. Biological properties such as cell number, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, alizarin red and MTT assay scrutized during cell culture. The morphology of cells culture was also examined using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The MTT assay results represented that the proliferation was time-dependent and the rate of proliferation and viability of any four mesenchymal stem cells were the same. Results: The SEM of hBFPSCs, hBMSCs, hDPSCs, hUCSCs at 5 days indicated that hBFPSCs have higher attachment. ALP enzyme activities revealed the highest at day 21 when the cells were cultured in differentiation media. The alizarin red staining results indicated a clear mineralization of hBMSCs is dramatically higher from three mesenchymal stem cells. Our findings showed that the origins of MSCs impel their proliferative and osteogenic sufficiency and thus influence their application as a cell sources for bone tissue engineering. Conclusion: Despite BMSCs are the best nominee for cell based bone regeneration according to the existing evidences, in clinical and in vivo conditions there are many circumstances may be encountered bone healing

Development of a Well Intervention Toolkit to Analyze Initial Wellbore Conditions and Evaluate Injection Pressures, Flow Path, Well Kill, and Plugging Procedures

Every year, many wells are subject to well intervention operations for a variety of different reasons, such as Plug and Abandon (P&A) operations or well control situations. Wells that are not properly plugged, in addition becoming an inherent blowout threat, can act as a preferential pathway for surface contaminants to reach and impair ground water quality, and could cause injury to livestock, wildlife, or humans. Hence, federal code (or state code if in state waters) states that the wells must be plugged according to regulations. If attempts with a surface intervention operation fail, a relief type subsurface intervention project is deemed appropriate. A relief well type of intersection into each target wellbore will create a hydraulic flow path suitable for plugging operations. The plugging operation will require the placement of permanent plugging fluids into the Target Well (TW) to meet Mineral Management Services (MMS), or other regulatory agency, approved plugging criteria. Evidently, there is a need to design a method to insure that the scenarios are accurately defined, analyzed and the results can be effectively implemented to complete the plug and abandonment operations. A software package, coupled with the skill of a hydraulic modeling specialist, could provide final resolution to and better understanding of the problem. However, considering uncertainties in some input information, there is a need to develop a multi-purpose package which enables the user to manipulate dynamically a wide range of input data in order to obtain the best fit. Therefore, the decision was made to develop a software package specifically built and designed to address the common problems encountered during well intervention projects. The well intervention toolkit will be used to investigate the plugging and abandonment scenarios. The well intervention toolkit not only provides the critical input parameters to other commercial software but would also be a means to analyze and simulate the well intervention hydraulic

Biomass production, water use efficiency and nutritional value parameters of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) genotypes as affected by seed hydro-priming and transplanting

To investigate hydropriming and transplanting effect on biomass and nutritional content of forage sorghum, a two-year field experiment was conducted in the semiarid condition of Iran. Experimental factor consisted of planting dates (July-1st, July-11th, July-23rd, August-1st) in the main plot and the factorial combination of planting methods (direct planting, hydropriming, transplanting) with cultivars (Speedfeed and Pegah) in the subplot. Planting date postponement from 1st of July to 10th of July, 23rd of July, and 1st of August, respectively, caused 16.1, 32.5 and 47.2% reduction in dry matter yield (DMY) and 7.4, 20.2, and 35.1% reduction in water use efficiency of DMY production (WUEDMY). Hydropriming and transplanting produced 23.6 and 22.4% more DMY, 24.5 and 21.8% more WUEDMY, 24 and 16.3% more crude protein yield, 22.7 and 20.9% more digestible dry matter (DDM) yield, and 22.2 and 20.1% more metabolic energy (ME) yield, compared to the direct planting. Hydropriming compared to direct planting caused 29% increase in plant growth rate and utilized growing season more productively than transplanting for DMY production. Conclusively, hydropriming and transplanting compensated for delay in planting through enhancing and accelerating germination and plant development but, applying hydropriming on Speedfeed and planting in July-1st caused the highest DMY, WUEDMY and the yield of nutritive parameters

The effects of dietary lysozyme on growth performance and haematological indices of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fingerling

The present study investigates the effects of dietary lysozyme on growth performance and haematological indices of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fingerlings. One hundred and twenty Juvenile rainbow trout fish (initial average weight 5.46±0.05 g) were fed on varying levels of dietary lysozyme (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 g kg-1) for 8 weeks. Thereafter, growth performance as well as haematological indices including WBC, RBC and Hct were measured. Evaluation of growth performance showed no significant increase in fishes fed on different levels of dietary lysozyme (P>0.05). Also, feeding on dietary lysozyme significantly increased WBC compared control (P<0.05); the highest level was detected in 1.5 g kg-1 treatment. Furthermore, RBC of fish fed 1 or 1.5 g kg-1 lysozyme were significantly higher than other treatments. The same results were noticed in case of Hct which was higher in fish fed treated diet. These results indicated that dietary lysozyme affect haematological parameters rather than growth performance

Antimicrobial properties of Thymus vulgaris, Origanum majorana and Ziziphora clinopodioides combined essential oils and their effects on growth behavior of Aeromonas hydrophila

This study aimed to determine the chemical composition of Thymus vulgaris, Origanum majorana and Ziziphora clinopodioides and evaluate the antimicrobial properties of their combined essential oils i.e. T.o.z 50% T.v, 25% O.m and 25% Z.c; t.O.z = 25% T.v, 50% O.m and 25% Z.c and t.o.Z = 25% T.v, 25% O.m and 50% Z.c, against Aeromonas Hydrophila (in vitro). The compositions of the herbal essential oils were determined using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the antimicrobial effects was conducted using agar-disc diffusion method, determination of MIC and MBC, and bacterial growth curves determination based on OD at 600 nm. The main compounds were Thymol (40.60%) and Limonene (15.98%) for T. vulgaris, Carvacrol (57.86%) and Thymol (13.54%) as the major compounds in O. magorana. Regarding Z. clinopodiodes, α-pinene (22.6%) and Carvacrol (21.1%) represented the major constituents. Base on the disc-diffusion results, t.O.z showed the best inhibition zone (26 mm). The inhibitory activity and bactericidal effect of t.O.z, unveiled by the MIC and MBC values, was clearly the highest between all combined herbal oils. Regarding the bacterial growth curves, the combined essential oils exhibited significant differences in all tested concentrations. The t.O.z was the most effective between the three tested combined oils at different temperature that cannot affect herbal oil performance. As conclusion, we suggested that the mixing of herbal oils with growth media was delaying exponential phase starting in the bacterial growth curves

An In Vitro Comparison of Antimicrobial Effects of Curcumin-Based Photodynamic Therapy and Chlorhexidine, on Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans

Introduction: Considering the importance of prevention in periodontal diseases and the important role of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in induction and progression of these diseases, the aim of the present in vitro study was to compare the antimicrobial effects of chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX), curcumin and light-emitting diode (LED) laser, on this bacterium.Methods: Antimicrobial activity of curcumin (5 mg/ml), CHX (2%), LED (120 J/cm2) and LED + curcumin (120 J/cm2 + 2.5 mg/ml) against A. actinomycetemcomitans were tested in vitro, using micro-broth dilution test. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s HSD tests served for statistical analysis.Results: Regarding the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), CHX had a significantly lower MIC than curcumin (P &lt; 0.05). Sorted out by bacterial growth from lowest to highest, were CHX, LED + curcumin, curcumin, and LED groups. All the differences were found to be statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05) except for the LED group.Conclusion: We conclude that curcumin is an effective substance in preventing the growth of A. actinomycetemcomitans, whose impact is reinforced when used simultaneously with photodynamic therapy (PDT)

Myelinating glia differentiation is regulated by extracellular matrix elasticity

The mechanical properties of living tissues have a significant impact on cell differentiation, but remain unexplored in the context of myelin formation and repair. In the PNS, the extracellular matrix (ECM) incorporates a basal lamina significantly denser than the loosely organized CNS matrix. Inhibition of non-muscle myosin II (NMII) enhances central but impairs peripheral myelination and NMII has been implicated in cellular responses to changes in the elasticity of the ECM. To directly evaluate whether mechanotransduction plays a role in glial cell differentiation, we cultured Schwann cells (SC) and oligodendrocytes (OL) on matrices of variable elastic modulus, mimicking either their native environment or conditions found in injured tissue. We found that a rigid, lesion-like matrix inhibited branching and differentiation of OL in NMII-dependent manner. By contrast, SC developed normally in both soft and stiffer matrices. Although SC differentiation was not significantly affected by changes in matrix stiffness alone, we found that expression of Krox-20 was potentiated on rigid matrices at high laminin concentration. These findings are relevant to the design of biomaterials to promote healing and regeneration in both CNS and PNS, via transplantation of glial progenitors or the implantation of tissue scaffolds