Fungal diversity in wounded stems of Aquilaria malaccensis.

Aquilaria malaccensis is a tropical tree which produces agarwood in its trunk often after being wounded and attacked by pathogens or insects. Fungi are generally viewed as the main microbial component responsible for agarwood formation. In this study, isolation of fungi from agarwood in damaged trees was carried out. Culture morphology and microscopic characteristics plus PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region from the fungal isolates as well as wood samples, were used to identify the fungal community composition of wounded A. malaccensis trees from a natural forest in West Malaysia. Conventional culture methodology revealed Cunninghamella, Curvularia, Fusarium and Trichoderma species as members of the agarwood community. Analysis of genomic DNA confirmed the identifications. When wood samples were used directly in PCR, an additional Lasiodiplodia species was identified. Neighbor-joining trees were constructed to examine the relationships between the isolates sequence data and reference sequences in GenBank. Five distinct clades resulted, supported with high bootstrap values, indicating the presence of five distinct taxa. The wounded trunks of A. malaccensis in the natural environment harbor multiple fungal taxa that exist in a complex system as a whole or in succession leading to agarwood production in the tree trunk

Penbactam for Helicobacter pylori eradication: A randomised comparison of quadruple and triple treatment schedules in an Iranian population

Background & study aims: Selection of the best drug regimens for eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection especially in patients at risk of peptic ulcer relapses and the development of complications is challenging. This study assessed and compared the efficacy of the two common PPI based triple therapies to a quadruple therapy including PPI, metronidazole, amoxicillin and a bismuth compound in Iranian population. Patients & Methods: Three hundred and thirty patients with peptic ulcer and H. pylori infection were included in the study. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment protocols all given twice daily: (a) A 14-day quadruple therapy (OMAB group) comprising omeprazole 20. mg, metronicazole 500. mg, amoxicillin 1. g, and bismuth subcitrate 240. mg; (b) A 14-day triple regimen (OCP group) comprising omeprazole 20. mg plus clarithromycine 500. mg and penbactam 750. mg and (c) A 14-day triple regimen (OCA group) comprising omeprazole 20. mg plus clarithromycine 500. mg and amoxicillin 1. g. Cure was defined as a negative urea breath test at least six weeks after treatment. Results: The per-protocol eradication rates achieved with both OCP regimen (87.0%) and OCA treatment (90.8%) were significantly higher than the OMAB treatment protocol (56.0%); however, no significant difference emerged in eradication rates between the two triple treatment schedules. No significant differences between the groups were found in most side-effects. Conclusion: Two-week quadruple therapy showed a lower eradication rate compared to common triple treatment schedules when used as first-line eradication treatment for H. pylori infection in Iranian population. © 2012 Arab Journal of Gastroenterology

Evaluation of earth fault location algorithm in medium voltage distribution network with correction technique

This paper focused on studying an algorithm of earth fault location in the medium voltage distribution network. In power system network, most of the earth fault occurs is a single line to ground fault. A medium voltage distribution network with resistance earthing at the main substation and an earth fault attached along the distribution network is modeled in ATP Draw. The generated earth fault is simulated, and the voltage and current signal produced is recorded. The earth fault location algorithm is simulated and tested in MATLAB. The accuracy of the earth fault location algorithm is tested at several locations and fault resistances. A possible correction technique is explained to minimize the error. The results show an improvement fault location distance estimation with minimum error

Nitazoxanide and doxycycline sensitivity among metronidazole resistant helicobacter pylori isolates from patients with gastritis

Background: Antibiotic therapy should be done based on resistance characteristics of Helicobacter pylori strains to commonly prescribed antibiotics in areas with higher resistance rates. Objectives: This study examined antibacterial activity of nitazoxanide and doxycycline against clinical H. pylori isolates showing different metronidazole resistance levels. Methods: A total of 122 patients, who underwent endoscopy were enrolled in this study from 3 hospitals of Tehran, during November 2014 to July 2015. Helicobacter pylori isolates were obtained from gastric biopsies of the patients after culture in specific culture medium and characterization by both biochemical and molecular methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility to metronidazole was detected using the agar dilution method and minimum inhibitory concentrations of nitazoxanide and doxycycline were determined for metronidazole resistant strains. Results: From a total of 122 gastric biopsy specimens, 55 H. pylori strains were recovered (45). Thirty-three of these strains (60.0) were resistance to metronidazole. MIC50 and MIC90 values for metronidazole were 32 and 64 µg/mL, respectively. MIC50 and MIC90 values for doxycycline and nitazoxanide were measured as 4 and �8 µg/mL, and 8 and �32 µg/mL, respectively. Conclusions: Dominance of high level metronidazole resistance H. pylori strains among the studied patients questioned its usefulness for first-line therapy in Iran. Nitazoxanide and doxycycline showed superior activity against H. pylori strains in comparison to metronidazole, which should be considered for alternative therapies. © 2018, Kowsar Medical Publishing Company. All rights reserved

A panel data approach towards the effectiveness of energy policies in fostering the implementation of solar photovoltaic technology: Empirical evidence for Asia-Pacific

Today, the growing Asia-Pacific population causes a dramatic growth in energy supply to meet energy demand. The rapid rise in energy demand is causing concern in the region. Thus, the present study scrutinizes the effect of energy policy involvement in steering-up renewable energy development by empirically assessing the role of policy instruments in encouraging residen-tial-scale and commercial-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems. The analysis is performed using a fixed effects estimator on a selected range of policy approaches (market-pull policies and tax incentives) and a technology-push policy (capital grants) in selected Asia-Pacific countries between 1998 and 2015. The return on investment is estimated to measure the incentives of feed-in tariff (FIT) tariff policies for both residential-scale and commercial-scale PV systems. This study has shown the im-portance of a strategic combination between technology-push and market-pull policies as comple-mentary to adopting technology and increasing renewable energy utilization for solar PV systems on a residential scale. Investigations into the effectiveness of regulatory support policies for solar PV systems indicate that energy policies are necessary to facilitate solar PV growth on a residential scale in the Asia-Pacific.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dengue-induced autophagy, virus replication and protection from cell death require ER stress (PERK) pathway activation

Avirus that reproduces in a host without killing cells can easily establish a successful infection. Previously, we showed that dengue-2, a virus that threatens 40% of the world, induces autophagy, enabling dengue to reproduce in cells without triggering cell death. Autophagy further protects the virus-laden cells from further insults. In this study, we evaluate how it does so; we show that dengue upregulates host pathways that increase autophagy, namely endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and ataxia telangiectasiamutated (ATM) signaling followed by production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Inhibition of ER stress or ATM signaling abrogates the dengueconferred protection against other cell stressors. Direct inhibition of ER stress response in infected cells decreases autophagosome turnover, reduces ROS production and limits reproduction of dengue virus. Blocking ATM activation, which is an early response to infection, decreases transcription of ER stress response proteins, but ATM has limited impact on production of ROS and virus titers. Production of ROS determines only late-onset autophagy in infected cells and is not necessary for dengue-induced protection from stressors. Collectively, these results demonstrate that among the multiple autophagy-inducing pathways during infection, ER stress signaling is more important to viral replication and protection of cells than either ATM or ROS-mediated signaling. To limit virus production and survival of dengue-infected cells, one must address the earliest phase of autophagy, induced by ER stress

Immunomodulation and Generation of Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells by Probiotic Bacteria in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

In inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), the therapeutic benefit and mucosal healing from specific probiotics may relate to the modulation of dendritic cells (DCs). Herein, we assessed the immunomodulatory effects of four probiotic strains including Lactobacillus salivarius, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bacillus coagulans and Bacillus subtilis natto on the expression of co-stimulatory molecules, cytokine production and gene expression of signal-transducing receptors in DCs from IBD patients. Human monocyte-derived DCs from IBD patients and healthy controls were exposed to four probiotic strains. The expression of co-stimulatory molecules was assessed and supernatants were analyzed for anti-inflammatory cytokines. The gene expression of toll-like receptors (TLRs), IL-12p40 and integrin \u3b1v\u3b28 were also analyzed. CD80 and CD86 were induced by most probiotic strains in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients whereas only B. bifidum induced CD80 and CD86 expression in Crohn's disease (CD) patients. IL-10 and TGF-\u3b2 production was increased in a dose-independent manner while TLR expression was decreased by all probiotic bacteria except B. bifidum in DCs from UC patients. TLR-4 and TLR-9 expression was significantly downregulated while integrin f8 was significantly increased in the DCs from CD patients. IL-12p40 expression was only significantly downregulated in DCs from CD patients. Our findings point to the general beneficial effects of probiotics in DC immunomodulation and indicate that probiotic bacteria favorably modulate the expression of co-stimulatory molecules, proinflammatory cytokines and TLRs in DCs from IBD patients

Air injection into the stereotactic biopsy site in cerebral lesions; A feasibility study

We assessed the utility and safety of injecting a small amount of air into the stereotactic biopsy site. Specifically, we wanted to know whether it helps in visualizing the target on a post-op brain CT scan. In this clinical series, we chose our subjects by consecutive sampling, among candidates for frame-based stereotactic biopsy of a supratentorial cerebral lesion. By applying certain inclusion and exclusion criteria, twenty cases were biopsied by two surgeons in a four-month period. After obtaining the tissue sample, we injected 0.5-1 ml of filtered room air through the biopsy cannula. The immediate post-op CT scan was evaluated by two researchers for the presence and location of the air bubble. The subjects consisted of 12 male and 8 female patients, 10-76 years old. The histologic diagnosis rate was 100; 60 high - grade glioma, 20 low-grade glioma, 10 metastasis and one case of meningioma and brain abscess. The air bubble could be visualized in all cases within the lesion territory. In two cases (10) bubbles were also found in other locations. There was no neurologic or radiologic complications. Our findings substantiates the limited available literature in regard with safety and diagnostic usefulness of air bubbles. Further research is needed to verify and quantify the diagnostic impact and any complications attributable to this measure

Molecular Epidemiology of Cryptosporidiosis in Iranian Children, Tehran, Iran

Background: Cryptosporidium is a worldwide protozoan parasite and one of the most common causes of infection and diarrhea in humans and cattle. The aim of the present study was determina­tion of subtypes of Cryptosporidium among children with diarrhea in Tehran by se­quence analysis of the highly polymorphic 60-kDa glycoprotein (GP60) gene.Methods: Fecal samples were collected from 794 diarrheic children. Initial identification of Crypto­spo­ridium was carried out on stool samples by Ziehl-Neelsen acid-fast staining method. DNA was extracted from positive microscopically samples and Cryptosporidium genotypes and subtypes were determined, accordingly."nResults: Out of 794 collected samples, 19 (2.40 %) were positive for Cryptosporidium oocysts. Sequences analysis of GP60 gene showed that 17 (89.47 %) of the positive isolates were Crypto­spori­dium parvum and 2 (10.52 %) were C. hominis. All subtypes of C. parvum isolates belonged to allele families IIa (6/17) and IId (11/17). The most common allele in all 17 isolates belonged to IId A20G1a (41.18%). A22G1 (IF) subtype was detected in two C. hominis isolates of the chil­dren."nConclusion: The predominancy of C. parvum species (specially, IId A20G1a sub­type) in current study underlines the importance of zoonotic Cryptosporidium transmission in Iran