New Insights into Chloramphenicol Biosynthesis in Streptomyces venezuelae ATCC 10712

Comparative genome analysis revealed seven uncharacterized genes, sven0909 to sven0915, adjacent to the previously identified chloramphenicol biosynthetic gene cluster (sven0916–sven0928) of Streptomyces venezuelae strain ATCC 10712 that was absent in a closely related Streptomyces strain that does not produce chloramphenicol. Transcriptional analysis suggested that three of these genes might be involved in chloramphenicol production, a prediction confirmed by the construction of deletion mutants. These three genes encode a cluster-associated transcriptional activator (Sven0913), a phosphopantetheinyl transferase (Sven0914), and a Na(+)/H(+) antiporter (Sven0915). Bioinformatic analysis also revealed the presence of a previously undetected gene, sven0925, embedded within the chloramphenicol biosynthetic gene cluster that appears to encode an acyl carrier protein, bringing the number of new genes likely to be involved in chloramphenicol production to four. Microarray experiments and synteny comparisons also suggest that sven0929 is part of the biosynthetic gene cluster. This has allowed us to propose an updated and revised version of the chloramphenicol biosynthetic pathway

The Survey of Poverty Status in the Rural and Urban Areas in Fars Province

Fars province, with the population almost equal to the 6.5 percent of the total country population and noticeable geographic-wide and remarkable facilities and suitable economic-social capabilities, always has been encounter to defects and shortages. Thus, understanding of poverty status in urban and rural areas of the Province can make a suitable predisposition for the short and long run policy makings in order to province development. With regarding to it, the poverty status in rural and urban regions is being considered during the years 1995-2007. For that purpose of presentations of poverty definitions and its kinds and reviews on literatures, absolute poverty line is determined on the basis of fifty percent of median household expenditures, and then the poverty indices like headquant ratio, poverty income gap ratio, severity of poverty, Sen index and Kakwani index are calculated for the urban and rural areas of the province. The results of poverty indices show that the annual absolute poverty line in urban areas is more than rural areas and poverty indices trend in urban and rural areas show the decreasing poverty trend in these areas during the period of this study

ASSESSING SUBSIDIES AND INDIRECT TAXES IN IRAN: A SOCIAL WELFARE PERSPECTIVE

Government fiscal policy can be said to be pro-poor if it benefits the poor more than the nonpoor. This research, by using the concept of social welfare, identifies which goods and services should be subsidized or taxed to maximize social welfare. For this purpose, the concept of the elasticity of the Atkinson social welfare with respect to prices is used to derive a price reform index to assess indirect taxes and subsidies. The results of this research, conducted in Iran's urban and rural areas during 2003–2007, indicate that increasing the price of food items hurts the poor more than the rich. Subsidizing food items (excluding beverages and tobacco) has been pro-poor while an increase in the price of items like healthcare, transportation, communication and education hurt the rich more than the poor wherein the rich benefit more from subsidies to these items than the poor. In light of these results, a review of subsidies and taxes on the above-mentioned items is warranted to reduce inequality and improve welfare.Indirect tax, subsidy, social welfare, pro-poor policy, price reform index

Estimation of Quality Elasticity for Different Types of Meat in Food Basket of Iranian Households

In consumption demand studies, we can consider that choice of quality is affected by consumption decisions (whether to consume or not). The term “quality” refers to any subjective factor that motivates consumers to pay for a good more than its substitutes. Any change in a consumption explanatory variable has two effects: 1) the probability of consuming the good and 2) considerations of quality. The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of factors such as demographics and socio-economic factors on choice of quality in meat consumption including livestock and aggregated meat (livestock, poultry and aquatic). Furthermore, we estimate quality elasticities using cross-sectional survey data for year 2014 among Iranian rural and urban households. The paper applies Heckman two-step method to estimate unknown parameters of participation and consumption equation. Our findings show that the most important variable affecting the choice of meat quality for consumption is household income. In this study, the quality elasticity of income in meat consumption is positive in all samples and there are other variables (gender, age and education of household breadwinner) which have significant effect on quality choice in meat consumption

Estimation of Confidence Intervals for the Threshold Level of Income Inequality in Iran

  The overall aim of this study is to construct confidence interval for the optimal size of income inequality, i.e., that size of income inequality which is embodying optimal economic growth in Iran concerning 1353-1391. This size is called to the threshold limit. i.e., the size of income inequality more this limit, has a negative effect on economic growth. Using Hansen two - regime threshold regression model, a relationship was obtained between the effects of income inequality threshold level and economic growth. Then, bootstrap test was done to test linear hypothesis at problems of existence of threshold method. Finally, likelihood ratio was used to obtain the confidence interval for threshold. The results show that income inequality in Iran follow up threshold two regime methods that was 0.417. Also, likelihood ratio test result indicates that the threshold level of income inequality is within the confidence interval

Quality selection in the consumption basket of urban and rural households: the comparison of the Hackman’s two-step method and the approach of Shankowiler and Yen

It is argued that application of the inverse of mill's ratio as a correction factor regression in Heckman’s two-step method leads to inconsistent estimates and the resulted elasticities are not reliable. To avoid inconsistency of sample selection bias, Shonkwiler & Yen (1999) introduce an alternative method. In this paper results of the two-stage Heckman method (1979) are compared with the estimated elasticities by Shonkwiler and Yen.  We use Iranian households' survey data to estimate demand elasticities for meat. Interestingly, the results of both methods are similar and there are no inconsistencies in the two-stage Heckman method. Both of the approaches show that, economic factors have greater impact on the quality of demand for meat than demographic factors. Also, estimated coefficient for all variables have the similar sign by the methods, but the magnitude of the resulted effects are larger for Shonkwiler and Yen estimators

Epidemiological features and consequences of COVID‐19 in patients with and without gastrointestinal symptoms in southwestern Iran. A retrospective observational study

Abstract Background and Aims Some studies have shown that in addition to respiratory symptoms, gastrointestinal (GI) manifestations reported in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). The aim of this study was to compare the epidemiological features and consequences of COVID‐19 in patients with and without GI symptoms. Methods This retrospective observational study concluded on 15,323 COVID‐19 patients with GI symptoms and 95,724 patients without symptoms. All symptoms and comorbidities of the patients collected. To investigate the differences between qualitative variables in the two groups, χ2 test was used. Logistic regression analysis also used to identify determinants of mortality in patients with COVID‐19. Results During the course of the study, 111,047 cases of COVID‐19 occurred. Of these, 13.8% of patients had GI symptoms, and 9.9% of deaths due to COVID‐19 occurred in these patients. The most common reported GI symptoms among COVID‐19 patients were nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. In addition, comorbidities, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and thyroid disease were significantly higher in patients with GI symptoms. The result of multiple logistic regression showed that the chance of mortality is higher in a patient with COVID‐19 who have dyspnea, fever, cough, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, immunodeficiency, chronic kidney disease, thyroid disease, chronic pulmonary disease, and male gender. The chance of death was lower in people with GI symptoms. Conclusion According to the findings of this study, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea were the most common GI symptoms. Also, the chance of death is higher in people with co‐morbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Therefore, it is necessary to follow these people closely

Effects of Yerba maté, a Plant Extract Formulation (“YGD”) and Resveratrol in 3T3-L1 Adipogenesis

We aimed to evaluate the in vitro effects of yerba maté, YGD (a herbal preparation containing yerba maté, guarana and damiana), and resveratrol on adipogenesis. The anti-adipogenic effects of yerba mate, YGD, resveratrol and YGD + resveratrol and yerba mate + resveratrol combinations were evaluated in 3T3-L1 cells by Oil Red staining, cellular triglyceride content, and PCR quantitative array. The results demonstrated that all of the tested compounds inhibited adipogenesis. Yerba maté extract significantly down-regulated the expression of genes that play an important role in regulating adipogenesis, such as Adig, Axin, Cebpa, Fgf10, Lep, Lpl, and Pparγ2. In addition, these genes, YGD also repressed Bmp2, Ccnd1, Fasn, and Srebf1. Resveratrol also modulated the expression of Adig, Bmp2, Ccnd1, C/EBPα, Fasn, Fgf10, Lep, Lpl, and Pparγ2. Moreover, resveratrol repressed Cebpb, Cdk4, Fgf2, and Klf15. The yerba maté extract and YGD up-regulated the expression of genes involved in inhibiting adipogenesis, such as Dlk-1, Klf2, and Ucp1. Resveratrol also induced the expression of Klf2 and Ucp1. In addition resveratrol modulated the Ddit3, Foxo1, Sirt1, and Sirt2. The combined effects of these compounds on gene expression showed similar results observed from individual treatments. Our data indicates that the synergy between the compounds favors the inhibition of adipogenesis

Epidemiological characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in asymptomatic versus symptomatic patients

Background. The clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are different, which can be attributed to asymptomatic carriers, acute respiratory disease and pneumonia with different severities. The aim of this study was to compare the epidemiological characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in patients with clinical symptoms versus asymptomatic patients. Methods. In this retrospective cohort study, the epidemiological characteristics of two groups of patients, with clinical symptoms (n = 38,630) and without clinical symptoms who were definitive cases of COVID-19 (n = 2,327) were investigated in the southwestern of Iran. Chi-square test was used to evaluate the differences between qualitative variables in the two study groups. Results. Of 40,957 patients with COVID-19, 2,327 (5.68) were asymptomatic, of whom 1391 (59.77) were males, 1841 patients (79.11) had a history of contact with definite or suspected cases of COVID-19. Asymptomatic patients were older than symptomatic cases. Patients with clinical symptoms had higher mortality rate than asymptomatic patients (2.68 in symptomatic patients vs 0 in asymptomatic patients). Conclusion. According to the results of our study, the detected viral load in asymptomatic individuals was similar to that of symptomatic patients, indicating that asymptomatic infections can potentially transmit the disease. Therefore, screening and detection of asymptomatic cases is an important and key measure in prevention and early control of COVID-19 worldwide. © 2021 Pacini Editore S.p.A.. All rights reserved