Effect of short term starvation and re-feeding on some growth, feeding factors and body composition Blue Streak Hap (Labidochromis caeruleus)

In this study, the effects of starvation and re-feeding on growth performance and body biochemical composition of Blue Streak Hap (Labidochromis caeruleus) were conducted at autumn 2014. A total of 450 fish were assigned to 5 treatments with 3 replicates. 15 tanks were prepared with a volume of approximately 120 liters and trial period was considered 48 days in experimental conditions. Treatments included 0, 2, 4, 8 and 16 days of starvation. Fish after two weeks of acclimatization to the laboratory conditions, were examined based on the pattern of starvation and re-feeding. The results of the growth performance and biochemical composition showed that, treatments 2 and 4 days of starvation, compared to the control group were able to compensatory growth in the period of re-feeding and did not show a significant difference in any of the treatments (P> 0/05). But treatments 8 and 16 days of starvation not be able to compensate growth and expenditure of excess metabolic energy due to starvation period, and had significant differences in the growth and nutritional factors as well as significant differences in the lipid and protein level compared to the control group

Predictive models for evaluation of mesophilic and psychrophilic bacterial loads in muscles of fresh ice-stored silver pomfret by impediometric technique

Current microbial methodologies to determine fish quality are laborious and have long time required to obtain results. The impediometric technique as a rapid sensitive method was used to determine the correlation between impedance detection times (IDTs) and conventional reference psychrophilic and mesophilic plate counts of fish in order to develop models for predicting the microbial quality and determining fish shelf-life. The changes in sensorial factors, psychrophilic and mesophilic bacterial loads of ice stored fresh silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) were measured by two different methods including conventional reference plating techniques and also impediometric monitoring method at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24 and 27 days of storage. The primary psychrophilic (3.44 ± 0.69 logCFU/g) and mesophilic (3.64 ± 1.08 logCFU/g) bacterial loads increased to more than acceptable limit (6 logCFU/g) on days 12 and 21, respectively. The calibration curves for the two methods and their equations were designed with linear regression models. IDTs were highly correlated with psychrophilic (r=-0.9614) and mesophilic (r=-0.9547) bacterial loads. This study suggests that impediometric technique can be used as a rapid and reliable method to accurate estimation of silver pomfret bacterial loads and determine its shelf-life as seafood. According to results, the sensorial data were correlated with psychrophic bacterial load. The shelf-life of ice stored silver pomfret determined 9-12 days based on sensorial data and psychrophic bacterial load

Reliability and validity of an iPhone® application for the measurement of lumbar spine flexion and extension range of motion

Background: Measurement of lumbar spine range of motion (ROM) is often considered to be an essential component of lumbar spine physiotherapy and orthopedic assessment. The measurement can be carried out through various instruments such as inclinometers, goniometers, and etc. Recent smartphones have been equipped with accelerometers and magnetometers, which, through specific software applications (apps) can be used for inclinometric functions. Purpose: The main purpose was to investigate the reliability and validity of an iPhone® app (TiltMeter© -advanced level and inclinometer) for measuring standing lumbar spine flexion-extension ROM in asymptomatic subjects. Design: A cross-sectional study was carried out. Setting: This study was conducted in a physiotherapy clinic located at School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Science and Health Services, Tehran, Iran. Subjects: A convenience sample of 30 asymptomatic adults (15 males; 15 females; age range = 18-55 years) was recruited between August 2015 and December 2015. Methods: Following a 2-minute warm-up, the subjects were asked to stand in a relaxed position and their skin was marked at the T12-L1 and S1-S2 spinal levels. From this position, they were asked to perform maximum lumbar flexion followed by maximum lumbar extension with their knees straight. Two blinded raters each used an inclinometer and the iPhone® app to measure lumbar spine flexion-extension ROM. A third rater read the measured angles. To calculate total lumbar spine flexion-extension ROM, the measurement from S1-S2 was subtracted from T12-L1. The second (2 hours later) and third (48 hours later) sessions were carried out in the same manner as the first session. All of the measurements were conducted 3 times and the mean value of 3 repetitions for each measurement was used for analysis. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) models (3, k) and (2, k) were used to determine the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficients were used to establish concurrent validity of the iPhone® app. Furthermore, minimum detectable change at the 95 confidence level (MDC95) was computed as 1.96 � standard error of measurement � �2. Results: Good to excellent intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were demonstrated for both the gravity-based inclinometer with ICC values of �0.84 and �0.77 and the iPhone® app with ICC values of �0.85 and �0.85, respectively. The MDC95 ranged from 5.82°to 8.18°for the intra-rater analysis and from 7.38°to 8.66° for the inter-rater analysis. The concurrent validity for flexion and extension between the 2 instruments was 0.85 and 0.91, respectively. Conclusions: The iPhone®app possesses good to excellent intra-rater and inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity. It seems that the iPhone® app can be used for the measurement of lumbar spine flexion-extension ROM. © 2016 Pourahmadi et al

Prognostic factors for esophageal squamous cell Carcinoma-A Population-Based study in Golestan province, Iran, a high incidence area

Golestan Province in northern Iran is an area with a high incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We aimed to investigate prognostic factors for ESCC and survival of cases in Golestan, on which little data were available. We followed-up 426 ESCC cases participating in a population-based case-control study. Data were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazard models. Median survival was 7 months. Age at diagnosis was inversely associated with survival, but the association was disappeared with adjustment for treatment. Residing in urban areas (hazard ratio, HR = 0.70; 95 CI 0.54-0.90) and being of non-Turkmen ethnic groups (HR = 0.76; 95 CI 0.61-0.96) were associated with better prognosis. In contrast to other types of tobacco use, nass (a smokeless tobacco product) chewing was associated with a slightly poorer prognosis even in models adjusted for other factors including stage of disease and treatment (HR = 1.38; 95 CI 0.99-1.92). Opium use was associated with poorer prognosis in crude analyses but not in adjusted models. Almost all of potentially curative treatments were associated with longer survival. Prognosis of ESCC in Golestan is very poor. Easier access to treatment facilities may improve the prognosis of ESCC in Golestan. The observed association between nass chewing and poorer prognosis needs further investigations; this association may suggest a possible role for ingestion of nass constituents in prognosis of ESCC. © 2011 Aghcheli et al

Isolation, identification and cloning of growth hormone gene from Epinephlus coioides in E. coli

According to the role of the growth hormone gene in the aquaculture, in this research cloning growth hormone coioides (Epinephlus coioides) was evaluated in vector pTZ57R/T. After PCR product purification by kit QIA quick Gel Extraction, growth hormone gene was integrated into pTZ57R/T vector. Constructed vector was transferred in E. coli strain DH5α competent cells. The white colonies was recombinant bacteria, from that that plasmid extraction was performed. Cloning obtained conformed using with direct PCR and sequencing methods. Growth hormone cDNA from E. coioide has an open reading frame of 615 nucleotides and 204 amino acids respectively. The calculated molecular weight and predicted of isoelectric point of the growth hormone protein were 014/23 kDa and 9.6 respectively. The results of this study showed that growth hormone gene in pTZ57R/T vector successfully had been cloned and can be used to growth hormone gene expression and protein production. The operation of gene sequencing with growth hormone gene from E. coioides in the Gen Bank was showed similarity between them

Genetic diversity of Crassostrea genus using 16S rRNA from coastal of Emam Khomayni Port

Nucleotide sequence polymorphism associated with 16S rRNA gene of mitochondrial genome of the Persian Gulf Oyster (Crassostrea sp.), examined in 30 samples collected from Bandar-e Emam Khomeini. Polymerase chain reaction was performed by a pair of primer for all samples and PCR products were sequenced using dideoxy chain termination method . Then the obtained data were analyzed usig MEGA Ver 5.0, BioEdit Ver 7.0 and DnaSP Ver 5.0 programs and software. The results showed 2 mutation and Nucleotide diversity (Pi) 0.00061 observed in studied genes. Among the 30 samples, 3 haplotypes were detected and average haplotype diversity (Hd) 0.195 were calculated. The haplotypes obtained in this study were submitted in the Gene Bank for the first time. Phylogeny trees derived from 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed no significant separation of the samples in the Imam Khomeini port. The results of this study also showed that there is low sequence differentiation in the study population in Imam Khomeini port

Effects of varying dietary energy levels on growth performance and wholebody composition in Gattan

Study was conducted to investigate the effects of various energy levels on growth performance, food conversion ratio (FCR) and whole body composition in Gattan, Barbus xanthopterus fingerlings (12.12±0.28 g) for 8 week. Feeding trial was conducted using 3 semipurfied diets containing 3 levels of digestible energy (DE 2.5, 3 and 3.5 kcal/g) and same protein level 35%, in a flow-through system (1L/min) at 26.2 ± 0.460C. Triplicate groups of 15 fish (12.12±0.22 g) each were stocked in 300-L circular polyethylene tanks and fish were fed to satiety thrice daily throughout the feeding trial. The best of total weight gain (146.67 g), FCR (2.21), protein efficiency ratio (1.31), apparent net protein utilization (ANPU %) (34.69) and condition factor (CF) (1.26) were observed in diet containing 3 kcal/g DE. The viscerosomatic index (VSI) and hepatosomatic index (HSI) did not show any significant difference between treatments (P>0.05). The final whole body moisture content decreased significantly with increasing energy levels in diets (P0.05), but the highest lipid and protein deposition were observed in diets containing 3.5 and 3kcal/g DE, respectively. Comparison between varying levels of dietary energy on the growth, feed utilization and whole body composition of Gattan indicated that 3 kcal/g DE could be the preferential dietary energy levels in fingerlings of this species

Strong dispersive coupling between a mechanical resonator and a fluxonium superconducting qubit

We demonstrate strong dispersive coupling between a fluxonium superconducting qubit and a 690 megahertz mechanical oscillator, extending the reach of circuit quantum acousto-dynamics (cQAD) experiments into a new range of frequencies. We have engineered a qubit-phonon coupling rate of $g\approx2\pi\times14~\text{MHz}$, and achieved a dispersive interaction that exceeds the decoherence rates of both systems while the qubit and mechanics are highly nonresonant ($\Delta/g\gtrsim10$). Leveraging this strong coupling, we perform phonon number-resolved measurements of the mechanical resonator and investigate its dissipation and dephasing properties. Our results demonstrate the potential for fluxonium-based hybrid quantum systems, and a path for developing new quantum sensing and information processing schemes with phonons at frequencies below 700 MHz to significantly expand the toolbox of cQAD.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure

Polymorphism of the FABP2 gene: a population frequency analysis and an association study with cardiovascular risk markers in Argentina

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The FABP2 gene encodes for the intestinal FABP (IFABP) protein, which is expressed only in intestinal enterocytes. A polymorphism at codon 54 in exon 2 of the FABP2 gene exchanges an Alanine (Ala), in the small helical region of the protein, for Threonine (Thr). Given the potential physiological role of the Ala54Thr FABP2 polymorphism, we assess in this study the local population frequency and analyze possible associations with five selected markers, i.e. glycemia, total cholesterol, body mass index (BMI), hypertension, and high Cardiovascular Risk Index (CVR index).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied 86 men and 116 women. DNA was extracted from a blood drop for genotype analysis. Allele frequencies were calculated by direct counting. Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium was evaluated using a Chi-square goodness of fit test.</p> <p>For the polymorphism association analysis, five markers were selected, i.e. blood pressure, Framingham Risk Index, total cholesterol, BMI, and glycemia.</p> <p>For each marker, the Odds Ratio (OR) was calculated by an online statistic tool.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results reveal a similar population polymorphism frequency as in previous European studies, with <b>q = 0.277 </b>(95% confidence limits 0.234–0.323). No significant association was found with any of the tested markers in the context of our Argentine nutritional and cultural habits. We did, however, observe a tendency for increased Cholesterol and high BMI in Thr54 carriers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This is the first study to look at the population frequency of the Thr54 allele in Argentina. The obtained result does not differ from previously reported frequencies in European populations. Moreover, we found no association between the Thr54 allele and any of the five selected markers. The observed tendency to increased total cholesterol and elevated BMI in Thr54 carriers, even though not significant for p < 0.1 could be worth of further investigation to establish whether the Thr54 variant should be taken into consideration in cardiovascular prevention strategies.</p

Structural and electronic properties of XY-doped (AlN, AlP, GaN, GaP) C58 fullerenes: a DFT study

Structural and electronic properties of C60 fullerene nano-cages doped with GaP, GaN, AlP, and AlN were performed by density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP method and 6-31G** basis set. The results exhibit that AlP-doped fullerene has the most gap energy (2.383 eV), and the lowest one refers to GaN (2.283 eV), and there is not considerable difference in the range of gap energies. Therefore, it is clear that GaN has the most potential to translate electron. Hence, the use of GaN-doped fullerene in electronical devices could be more acceptable than those of AlN, AlP, and GaP. To examine the effect of the corresponding doping on the thermodynamic parameters of these systems, we have investigated parameters such as chemical potential, chemical hardness, electrophilicity, and the highest electronic charge transferred in the related structures. © 2017, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd