Analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences of Turcinoemacheilus genus (Nemacheilidae Cypriniformes) in Iran

Members of Nemacheilidae Family, Turcinoemacheilus genus were subjected to molecular phylogenetic analysis in this study. This genus was reported in 2009 to inhabit in Karoon River drainage, in contrary to previous assumption that it was the endemic species in the Basin of Tigris River. It was sampled from three stations placed in different tributaries in Karoon drainage and evaluated to understand the molecular phylogenetic relationships of Turcinoemacheilus in Iran. The mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (cyt b) and control region were used to infer phylogenetic relationships. PCR amplification of control region was not carried out successfully, possibly due to the high divergence of this sequence in the studied genus. The amplified fragments of cyt b were sequenced then analyzed by the use of phylogenetic software. Only one divergent position was seen in all three samples stations located in amino acid position 365. GTR and p-distances of cytochrome b gene for T. kosswigi computed from different stations of running water in Karoon drainage showed these samples belong to different populations and fall in intraspecific differences. In this study, examination of the molecular phylogeny using Bayesian analysis, maximum parsimony or neighbor-joining define the phylogentics of Turcinoemacheilus genus as a monophyletic clade which is sister-clade of Nemacheilus and Schistura genera. This report is the first report of Turcinoemacheilus molecular data and could describe molecular phylogeny of this genus in loaches

Effect of human chorionic gonadotropin on sexual maturation, sex steroids and thyroid hormone levels in Caspian lamprey (Caspiomyzon wagneri Kessler, 1870)

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) on sexual maturation, plasma sex steroids [17β-estradiol, (E2) and 17α-hydroxy progesterone (17α_OHP)] and thyroid hormones (triiodothyronine, T3 and thyroxin, T4) levels in upstream - migrating Caspian lamprey. During the experiment, 36 fish (24 females and 12 males) in spring 2013 and 36 fish (24 females and 12 males) in fall 2013 were collected from the Shirud River estuary in Mazandaran Province, the Southern Caspian Sea during their upstream migration to the freshwater. All fish were injected with hCG at the doses of 1000, 1500 and 2000 IU.kg BW-1. The injection was a two - step process (50% of hormone in each step) by 12 h interval. After the first injection, fish were retained in the cages in the river beds and 24 hours after the second injection, fish were checked for egg and sperm release after mild abdomen pressure. Blood samples were taken for determining sex steroid levels. Results showed that hCG hormone injections caused increase in migration of germinal vesicle in the oocyte of female and sperm release in males. Significant differences were found in the serum E2 and 17α-OHP levels in hCG - injected fish compared to the control. However, no significant differences were found in serum T3 and T4 levels in the hCG -injected fish. According to the results, the appropriate hCG dosage to induce the reproduction acceleration in Caspian lamprey is 1500-2000 IU.kg BW-1

Identification and differentiation of Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica using a simple PCR-restriction enzyme method

Accurate morphological differentiation between the liver fluke species Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica is difficult. We evaluated PCR-restriction enzyme profiles of internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) that could aid in their identification. Fifty F. hepatica and 30 F. gigantica specimens were collected from different hosts in three provinces of Iran. For DNA extraction, we crushed fragments of the worms between two glass slides as a new method to break down the cells. DNA from the crushed materials was then extracted with a conventional phenol-chloroform method and with the newly developed technique, commercial FTA cards. A primer pair was selected to amplify a 463-bp region of the ITS1 sequence. After sequencing 14 samples and in silico analysis, cutting sites of all known enzymes were predicted and TasI was selected as the enzyme that yielded the most informative profile. Crushing produced enough DNA for PCR amplification with both the phenol-chloroform and commercial FTA card method. The DNA extracted from all samples was successfully amplified and yielded a single sharp band of the expected size. Digestion of PCR products with TasI allowed us to distinguish the two species. In all samples, molecular identification was consistent with morphological identification. Our PCR-restriction enzyme profile is a simple, rapid and reliable method for differentiating F. hepatica and F. gigantica, and can be used for diagnostic and epidemiological purposes. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Clients as mediators of interprofessional collaboration in mental health services in Iran

Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) has long been identified as a way of providing optimal mental health services (MHS). It is important, therefore, to identify and facilitate factors driving IPC. This paper presents health professionals' experiences and perceptions regarding the clients' role as a driving factor for IPC in MHS in an Iranian context. Health professionals included nurses, physicians (general physicians and medical specialists), psychologists and consultants. Qualitative methods were employed in the form of in-depth individual interviews and focus groups to collect data from 24 professionals and 4 clients. Data analysis generated four key themes: "Clients as axis of IPC", "Seamless services as a common incentive for IPC", "Clients as a common interprofessional linkage" and "Clients as a driving force to achieve IPC". From the professionals' perspective, it was found that clients had a mediating role in their collaborative relationships and practices. These findings are discussed in relation to the interprofessional literature. This paper goes on to argue that professionals need to be aware of and be trained about how to manage, as well as benefit from, the clients' fundamental role in IPC. © 2012 Informa UK, Ltd

Growth and reproductive characteristics of Squalius Lepidus Heckel 1843 in the Dimeh spring of Zayandeh-Rud River

Population structure, growth, and reproductive characteristics of Kavar, Squalius lepidus, a native species of Cyprinidae family in Zayandeh-Rud River were investigated by monthly sampling from October 2006 to August 2007. A total of 415 individuals were collected. Age groups of males and females ranged between 1+ and 4+ . The male:female sex ratio was 1:3. The largest female was 163.0mm in fork length and 63.71g in weight; whereas the largest male was 156.0mm in fork length and 50.45g in weight. The minimum, maximum, and mean absolute fecundity was 1161, 12953, and 4279±2169, respectively, and relative fecundity was 148.4±49.3 eggs/g of body weight. Gonadostomatic Index (GSI) values suggested that spawning of Squalius lepidus occurs from May to June. Thus, Squalius lepidus is considered an intermittent spawner species. Growth parameters for both sexes were stated by the vonBertalanffy growth function as k = 0.162, L = 232mm, to = -0.427 years for females and k = 0.136, L =217mm, to =- 0.847 years for males. The weight-length relationship was described as W = 0.00005L 2.827 (r2= 0.860) for males and W = 0.00005 L2.855 (r2 = 0.859) for females. The slope of the regression line (b) fitted through the weight-length data suggested a negative allometric growth for both females and male (P<0.05)

Reduction of artefacts caused by hip implants in CT-based attenuation-corrected PET images using 2-D interpolation of a virtual sinogram on an irregular grid

Metallic prosthetic replacements, such as hip or knee implants, are known to cause strong streaking artefacts in CT images. These artefacts likely induce over- or underestimation of the activity concentration near the metallic implants when applying CT-based attenuation correction of positron emission tomography (PET) images. Since this degrades the diagnostic quality of the images, metal artefact reduction (MAR) prior to attenuation correction is required

Developing a Novel Image Marker to Predict the Responses of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NACT) for Ovarian Cancer Patients

Objective: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is one kind of treatment for advanced stage ovarian cancer patients. However, due to the nature of tumor heterogeneity, the patients' responses to NACT varies significantly among different subgroups. To address this clinical challenge, the purpose of this study is to develop a novel image marker to achieve high accuracy response prediction of the NACT at an early stage. Methods: For this purpose, we first computed a total of 1373 radiomics features to quantify the tumor characteristics, which can be grouped into three categories: geometric, intensity, and texture features. Second, all these features were optimized by principal component analysis algorithm to generate a compact and informative feature cluster. Using this cluster as the input, an SVM based classifier was developed and optimized to create a final marker, indicating the likelihood of the patient being responsive to the NACT treatment. To validate this scheme, a total of 42 ovarian cancer patients were retrospectively collected. A nested leave-one-out cross-validation was adopted for model performance assessment. Results: The results demonstrate that the new method yielded an AUC (area under the ROC [receiver characteristic operation] curve) of 0.745. Meanwhile, the model achieved overall accuracy of 76.2%, positive predictive value of 70%, and negative predictive value of 78.1%. Conclusion: This study provides meaningful information for the development of radiomics based image markers in NACT response prediction

Association between proximal femoral geometry and incidence of proximal femoral fractures

Introduction: Recently, proximal femur geometry has been identified as a risk factor for hip fracture, and studies about the association of proximal femoral geometric indices with these fractures worldwide have reported inconsistent results. In this study, this association was studied in an Iranian population. Materials and Methods: In this case control study that was performed in Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in 1395 in Shahrekord, 81 patients with proximal femur fracture were trained with low energy and 83 healthy subjects over 50 years old. After recording the demographic data, the pelvic radiograph was taken and femoral neck width (FNW), femoral Shaft Diameter (FSD), femoral neck axis length (FNAL), hip axis length (HAL) and neck shaft angle (NSA) parameters were measured in both groups using orthopedic ruler. Data analysis was performed using stata software. Results: The mean age of case group (70.81±13.86 years) was significantly higher than control group (61.35±9.89 years) (P=0.00). Intrestingly, the mean height and weight of case group were lower than control group (P0.05). Conclusion: In this study older age, female sex, shorter heights, and less weight were associated with the incidence of proximal femoral fractures. Conclusively, FNAL, HAL, FSD, and NSA could not predict proximal femoral fractures in our samples. However, FNW reduction significantly increased the risk of femoral neck fractures in both male and female patient