Application of rice ( Oryza sativa L.) suspension culture in studying senescence in vitro (II). Changes in DNA integrity

Changes in the DNA content and organisation of senescing rice cell cultures (Taipei 309) were studied, using PCR and Southern blot analyses. A mitochondrial gene (coxII), a plastid gene (psaA) and a nuclear DNA maker (RG64) were analysed. The amplification of mitochondrial (mt), plastid and nuclear DNA produced the expected fragments, indicating that there were still some intact organelles and nuclei in the senescing rice cells. However, in plastid and nuclear DNA, changes in the number and size of the PCR products were observed. Southern blot analysis revealed that mt and nuclear DNA contents declined, but plastid DNA content remained relatively the same throughout the senescence

Under- and overreporting of energy in a group of candidates for CABG surgery and its association with some anthropometric and sociodemographic factors, Tehran, Iran

Bahareh Amirkalali1, Mehdi Najafi2, Asal Ataie-Jafari1, Saeed Hosseini1, Ramin Heshmat11Nutrition Department, The Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Centre (EMRC) of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran; 2Tehran Heart Center, Tehran, IranIntroduction: Numerous studies have documented a high prevalence of misreporting energy intakes. This paper examines the prevalence of under- and overreporting of energy intake in a group of candidates for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and its association with body mass index (BMI) and some sociodemographic factors.Subjects and methods: Dietary assessment (using a food frequency questionnaire) and demographic evaluation of 449 CABG surgery candidates was performed. Weight and height was also measured. McCrory equation was used to identify inaccurate records of energy intake. With this equation, reporting energy intake less than 78% and more than 122% of predicted energy expenditure was considered as under- and overreporting, respectively.Results: Less than half of the participants reported energy intakes within the plausible limits. There were more overreporters than underreporters in this sample. The only significant association between misreporting and related factors was seen in BMI groups. As BMI increased, the number of underreporters increased significantly. Expressed as a percentage of total energy, mean carbohydrate intake was significantly lower and mean fat and protein intake was significantly higher in underreporters compared to overreporters.Conclusion: The high prevalence of misreporting suggests more research to examine the characteristics of misreporters. Calibrating data with these characteristics can help to improve intake estimates.Keywords: underreporting, overreporting, energy intake, CABG candidate

Considerable Azadirachtin Production in Neem Cell Culture under Abiotic Elicitor Induction

In this study the effect of different concentrations of some abiotic elicitors (salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, cadmium chloride and sodium chloride) with different incubation times (3, 6, 9 and 12) on azadiractin production and cell growth in the cell culture of the Iranian native Neem were investigated. Cell growth rate was measured by changes in dry cell weight and it was used as a basis for the treatment of elicitor effect. Azadirachtin was extracted with methanol and measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that the AZ content of cells increased significantly in the cells elicited with different types and concentrations of all used elicitors compared to the control. The cell suspension which treated with 0.75 mM salicylic acid showed the highest Azadirachtin content (0.1268 g/g DCW) 6 days after incubation. The highest dry cell weight, with a significant increase, was observed in the suspension cultures treated with 0.1 mM cadmium chloride 12 days after incubation. However, this study highlighted the new valuable Iranian native Neem genotype and salicylic acid as a powerful elicitor for azadirachtin production. In addition, it was approved the effect of exposure time, individual intrinsic and more presumably combined condition of elicitors and their concentration on plant secondary metabolites production

Assessment of Phenolic Contents and Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Extracts from Four Varieties of Iranian Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Seeds

  Background and objective: Every year, large quantities of date palm seeds are produced as byproducts in date processing and packaging industries, which is discarded or used as low-value materials for animal feeds and composts. However, these bioresources may include potentials to produce high-value added products in food industries. The major aim of the current study was to assess phenolic profiles and contents and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of four Iranian date palm seed extracts, namely Zahedi, Kabkab, Mazafati and Rabbi.Material and methods: Total phenolic contents, phenolic compounds profile and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of extracts from four Iranian date palm seeds were assessed using Folin-Ciocalteu, reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, 2, 2-diphenyl-1picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging, agar disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods, respectively.Results and conclusion: Total phenolic contents varied 1480-3380 mg GAE 100 g-1 dw. cinnamic, chlorogenic, caffeic and 3, 5-dihydroxybenzoic acid included the primary phenolic compounds, respectively. Of the varieties, Kabkab and Mazafati seed extracts with IC50 values of 16.56 and 22.6 µg ml-1 demonstrated the highest and lowest radical scavenging activity, respectively. Results obtained from disc diffusion method revealed that all extracts included inhibitory effects against Staphylococcus aureus, but not against Escherichia coli. Minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of the extracts ranged 1.563.125 and 3.125-12.5 mg ml-1 for Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. Based on the findings, Iranian date seeds are good sources of extractable phenolic compounds with notable antioxidant activities, which can be used as natural additives in formulations of various products such as functional foods and dietary supplements. Furthermore, these seeds can be converted to value added products through biotechnological processes.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.   

Collapsibility Prediction of Stabilized Soil with Styrene-Butadiene Rubber Polymer Using ANFIS

Collapsible soils are among the problematic soils in nature that, due to moisture content increasing and under the same stress, show a high rate of decrease in volume. This volume reduction leads to loss of soil structure and ultimately to significant subsidence. Such soils in many parts of the world, including the Kerman province of Iran, necessitate researches regarding the collapsible soils\u27 behavior and characteristics. This study aims to investigate the effect of butadiene rubber on the stabilization of collapsible soils. The tested fine-grained soils that have been sampled from two different sites were stabilized through injecting different percentages of butadiene (the number of experiments was 84). The ASTM D5333 Double-Consolidation Method was applied to examine the stabilized soils on intact soil samples. The results show that the penetrations of butadiene rubber and the formation of butadiene rubber columns have led to a reduction in soil collapse. Considering the development of intelligent systems using the prediction behavior of stabilized collapsible soils, the adaptive neural-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model was used to predict the degree of collapsibility of soil samples stabilized by injection of Styrene Butadiene Rubber

(E,E)-N′-{4-[(2-Benzoyl­hydrazin-1-yl­idene)meth­yl]benzyl­idene}benzo­hydrazide

In the title compound, C22H18N4O2, the mol­ecules lie across an inversion centre. The dihedral angle between the mean planes of the central and terminal benzene rings is 66.03 (2)°. The mol­ecule displays trans and anti conformations about the C=N and N—N bonds, respectively. In the crystal, N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, with the O atoms of C=O groups acting as acceptors, link the mol­ecules into a chain along [101]

Finding assessment regimes in an instructional system

In order to be able to solve the problems faced by modern societies both educators and students must be proactive in seeking new methods in education which leads them to productive lives. In our system, the system used by Ariaian Young Innovative Minds Institute which is a student-centered learning environment, our students take responsibility for their own learning and they identify what they need to learn to have a better understanding of the problem by getting the necessary information from books, teachers, their team members, internet and several references. Educators and teachers also consider how to help them become independent learners while applying their knowledge to solve problems. So instead of memorizing formula without conceptual understanding, deep understanding by research projects helps develop their building capacities. Science Motivation by Discussion and Controversy (SMDC) model engages our students in classrooms to extend their abilities. Collaboration, discussion and constructive challenges are considered as a useful instructional strategy for obtaining the necessary intellectual commitment from students to generate a conceptual conflict and to require them to resolve it. Rather than using assessments which rely on pre-test and post-test with the main measure being Hake gain, our model uses interesting tournaments or conferences for students with a large spread of fields, with complexity of tasks and solutions which led to a complex scoring system to give a guide for real assessment. Our main contribution is a method, which results in more and more emphasis of independent study and research by students. For more accurate descriptions of its generalization and applicability, which is more complex and less common but nonetheless an important case, some interesting and rather different types of the selected tasks in our country and international tournaments, PYPT/ IYPT/ PYNT/ IYNT/ ICYS…, are published in our international journal as a full paper, Young Scientist Research Journal (http://journal.ayimi.org ). Since it is impossible to cover everything related to these papers, the focus here lies on some of the abstracts in our recent articles. The objective of this section is to explain some structure of possible scenarios to compare theory and experiments. To achieve this, various regimes have been identified and are discussed in this presentation, which provides an overview by the main academic author and includes examples from four high school students and one student from 3rd semester in medical science. Various numerical models and simulations also Tracker, MATLAB , or 3D are used to capture phenomena and solving problems which are discussed during tournaments such as: Finding frequency of the sound in a drum and the difference between the stretched and normal mode in its membrane; Terminal velocity of a washer with its spinning on a vertical steel rod and its maximum tilt; Physical and geometrical characteristics of a cylindrical dice and the best ratios in its structure; Unsinkable metal disk with a hole which may float on the surface of water in a container when a vertical water jet hits its centre; or a Looping pendulum in steady state and motion phase to find the coefficient of friction as an important parameter in the whole function of the system. REFERENCES Izadi, D. & Bultin, M. M., (2014). Active Learning by Innovation in Teaching (AlIT). Frontiers of Fundamental Physics and Physics Education Research, 529–536. http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-00297-2 Izadi, D., Mora Ley, C. E., & Ramírez Díaz, M. H. (2017). Science motivation by discussion and controversy (SMDC) model. IOP Publishing Ltd, Physics Education, 52(3). https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/aa617d Izadi, D. & Mora Ley, C. E. (2013). Active Learning by Innovation in Teaching (ALIT), Scientific Fight and Reviewing Model. Latin-American Journal of Physics Education, 7(2), 161-166