Karyological study of the medicinal plant Papaver rhoeas from northwest of Iran

Karyotype and morphology of mitotic chromosomes in six populations of the medicinal plant Papaver rhoeas collected from various geographical locations of the northwest of Iran were studied. Chromosome characteristics were measured from 10 complete metaphase cells using micromeasure software. The results showed that P. rhoeas is a diploid species with 2n=2x=14 chromosomes. The karyotype consisted of seven pairs of submetacentric chromosomes with one pairs of SAT chromosome (chromosome 2) having a secondary constriction at the end of its short arm. Karyological characteristics of all the materials studied were similar to each other; however, there were some variations on chromosome arm ratios and relative lengths among the different populations. All of the populations are placed on 4A class of Stebbin’s asymmetry categories.Key words: Biodiversity, chromosome analysis, medicinal plants, Papaveraceae

A comparative assessment of the effects of fresh and saltwater on soluble proteins and surimi made from Hypophthalmichthys molitrix

Due to the special taste of the Silver carp, the fish is not used for production of Surimi. Researchers have shown that water soluble proteins in water and brine have significant effects on the taste, flavor and odor of the Surimi produced from the fish. In this study, the effects of washing minced meat of Silver carp with fresh water and brine with 1.5 and 2.5 percent salt for 5, 10 and 15 minutes on the taste of Surimi and its shelf life cold stored for 120 days were investigated. We prepared three lots of minced meat from silver carp and each lot was washed with fresh water and brine with 1.5 and 2.5 percent salt, for 5, 10 and 15 minutes. The extracted water soluble proteins from fresh water washing were 1.3, 2.7, and 4.01 and for brine were 2, 4.2, 6.3 and 2.96 5.92 and 9 percent of the total protein of the fish for 1.5% and 2.5% salt respectively. A taste panel ranked the Surimi made from minced meat after washing with 1.5% brine for 10 minutes as the best in terms of taste, flavor and odor. We recorded a change in protein content of the Surimi made from minced meat washed with fresh water and be and stored for 120 days at -18°C, from 17.02 to 16.46, 14.73 to 13.5 and 12.03 to 11.5%, respectively. TVN for the same samples were increased from 9.76 to 13.2, 8.43 to 12.10 and 7.03 to 1 Img/100g. Changes in peroxide value were zero to 1.9, zero to 1, and zero to 0.8 Milli-equivalents/1000g. The total count of the bacteria for these Surimi samples were between 15 to zero colonies after 120 days storage at 48 C. Data from the different chemical, microbial, and sensory quality measurement were subjected to one way Anova and Ducan's multiple range test and the results showed a significant difference between the treatments at P<0.05. For production of Surimi from washing minced meat of silver carp is better to wash minced meat with 1.5% brine for 10 minutes. The Surimi's nutrition rate including: Protein 16.83%; fat 2.2%; moisture 82.65% and ash 1.5%

Association of RS4784227-casc16 (Loc643714 locus) and RS4782447-ACSF3 polymorphisms and their association with breast cancer risk among iranian population

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The role of arbuscular mycorrhizas in reducing soil nutrient loss

Abstract not availableTimothy R. Cavagnaro, S. Franz Bender, Hamid R. Asghari, and Marcel G.A. van der Heijde

Comparison of clinical, para-clinical and laboratory findings in survived and deceased patients with COVID-19: diagnostic role of inflammatory indications in determining the severity of illness

Background: Since December 2019, when a cluster of pneumonia cases due to SARS-CoV-2 initially emerged in Wuhan city and then rapidly spread throughout the world, the necessity for data concerning the clinical and para-clinical features of Iranian patients with COVID-19 was highlighted. Therefore, we aimed to compare the clinical, para-clinical and laboratory evidences of deceased patients with survival group. Methods: We extracted data regarding 233 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from Buali Hospital in Iran; clinical/para-clinical and inflammatory indexes data were collected and analyzed. The data of laboratory examinations and chest CT findings were compared between deceased and survived patients. Results: The mean age of the patients was 49.8 years and 64 of our patients were male. The acute respiratory distress syndrome occurred in 64 patients, 52 who were admitted to the ICU, which all of them underwent invasive mechanical ventilation, and 28 who died. Lymphopenia (79), neutrophilia (79), and thrombocytopenia (21) were the most frequently observed laboratory findings of the deceased group on admission. Most patients (68) had a high systematic immune-inflammation (SII) index of > 500 and increased C-reactive protein level (88). Levels of inflammatory indexes such as neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and SII were documented to be significantly elevated in the deceased group when compared with the patients who survived (P < 0.0001, P < 0.001, P < 0.0001, respectively). The most commonly presented symptoms were fever (70) and cough (63) on admission. Headache was uncommon (11). Ground-glass opacity with consolidation (mixed) was the most common radiologic finding on chest CT (51). No radiographic or CT abnormality was found in 15 of 204 patients (7). Conclusion: Small fraction of patients with COVID-19 may present without fever and abnormal radiologic findings. Elevated NLR, PLR and SII can be considered as prognostic and risk stratifying factor of severe form of disease. © 2020, The Author(s)

Domestic violence and suicide attempt among married women: A case‐control study

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of domestic violence‐related factors on suicide attempt in married women. Suicide is a global public health concern that poses significant burden on individuals, families and communities. There is limited research on factors predicting suicide attempt in women. A retrospective case‐control design was adopted. Using a convenience sampling method, 610 participants, admitted to a teaching referral hospital in Northwest of XXX, were recruited to the study and assigned to case or control groups based on whether or not they had attempted suicide. The participants in two groups were matched in the terms of important demographic characteristics. Domestic violence‐related factors were considered as independent variables and suicide attempt as dependent variable. Descriptive statistics, simple and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Odd ratios (OR) of domestic violence related factors were compared between the groups. We used STROBE checklist as an EQUATOR in this study. The mean age of participants in the case and control groups was 28.4 years and 29.45 years, respectively. The infidelity was the strongest predictor of suicide attempt in women (OR 44.57, 95%CI 6.08‐326. 63, p<0.001), followed by being threatened to physical assault by husband (OR 37.01, 95%CI 11.54‐118.67, p<0.001), jealousy of husband (OR 23.46, 95%CI 11.63‐47.30, p<0.001), and previous attempts to divorce (OR 16.55, 95%CI 5.91‐46.31, p<0.001). Suicide attempt was significantly lower in women who reported a sense of peace in life or lived with their mother or father‐in‐law (p<0.001). To reduce the risk of suicide in women, violence against women should be condemned and appropriate prevention measures be taken by health professionals. Recognizing risk, assessment and referral of victims of domestic violence should be an integral part of health care systems.N/

Chronic subclinical inflammation after phakic intraocular lenses implantation: Comparison between Artisan and Artiflex models

Purpose To compare chronic subclinical inflammation induced after implantation of Artisan vs. Artiflex phakic intraocular lenses (pIOLs). Methods This prospective, comparative, non-randomized study included consecutive patients with moderate to high myopia who underwent Artisan or Artiflex pIOL implantation with standard surgery and postoperative care. Anterior chamber flare was assessed quantitatively using laser flare photometry (LFP) at baseline, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 2 years after surgery. Results PIOLs were implanted in 72 eyes (40 patients); Artisan pIOLs in 16 eyes (Artisan group) and Artiflex pIOLs in 56 eyes (Artiflex group). The mean preoperative anterior chamber flare was 6.5 ± 2.3 (range, 4.2�9.5) photons per millisecond (ph/ms) and 4.2 ± 0.9 (range, 2.5�11.7) ph/ms in Artisan and Artiflex groups, respectively (P = 0.400). In spite of early postoperative rise, the flare value returned to preoperative levels 6 months after pIOL implantation and remained stable up to 2 years. The amount of flare was not statistically different between Artisan and Artiflex groups in any postoperative follow-up (all P > 0.05). The trend in flare changes was not different between the studied groups (ANCOVA, P = 0.815). Conclusion The inflammatory response induced by implantation of either type of Artisan and Artiflex pIOLs is short-lived without statistically significant difference between the two models. © 2017 Iranian Society of Ophthalmolog

Integrated analysis of gene expression profiles reveals deregulation of the immune response genes during different phases of chronic hepatitis B infection

© 2017, Kowsar Corp.Background: The natural history of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection is divided into different phases including immune tolerance (IT), immune clearance (or immune active [IA]), inactive carrier (IC), and reactivation. Despite utilizing high-throughput data, the distinct immunological mechanisms of these phases have been insufficiently investigated. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to determine candidate disease-associated genes and significantly altered biological processes for each phase of CHB infection. Methods: The gene expression profiles of 83 CHB patients (22 IT, 50 IA, and 11 IC phases) were obtained from gene expression omnibus (GEO dataset: GSE65359) and analyzed by bioinformatics tools. Several plugins of Cytoscape software were used to construct protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and measure their topological properties. Subsequently, functional annotation and signaling pathway enrichment were carried out using the database for annotation, visualization and integrated discovery (DAVID) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG). Results: 449 and 452 deregulated genes were identified in IT-IA and IA-IC patients, respectively. Gene ontology and KEGG pathway analyses showed that several immune response-associated genes and signaling pathways (i.e. cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, chemokine signaling pathway and T cell receptor signalling pathway) were upregulated in the IA phase, but downregulated in the IC phase. The LCK (encoding a tyrosine kinase) was determined as the most important hub gene of both constructed PPI networks. Furthermore, other immune response-associated genes such as CXCR3, VCAN, MYC, and STAT1 were found to be the important hub genes in clinical phases of CHB. Conclusions: The immune response-related pathways were found to be up and downregulated in the immune clearance phase and inactive carrier phase of CHB, respectively. The LCK hub gene might help the pathogenesis of different phases of CHB and serve as a therapeutic target for the treatment of hepatitis B virus