an association between diversity and exoticism

Focusing on contemporary Iranian artists and intellectuals, I examine the creation of collective identifications from an internal perspective. Drawing on research on migrant associations and ethnic and racial boundaries in Germany, the ethnographic account alternates between internal relations, member's participation in the transnational field of Iranian artists, and representative activities in the German public sphere. It explains how the members' unequal resources and varying politics of value caused a shift in the association's system of value. From a critique of assimilationism and the promotion of the value of diversity, the group came to largely comply with the system of value prevailing in the German public sphere, sustained by its intersection with the one that shapes the transnational social field of Iranian artists

Phylogenetic analysis of anemone fishes of the Persian Gulf using mtDNA sequences

Anemone fishes are a group of 28 species of coral reef fishes belonging to the family, Pomacentridae; subfamily, Amphiprioninae and all have an obligate symbiotic relationship with sea anemones. Twospecies of these small ornamental fishes have been identified in the Persian Gulf including Amphiprion clarkii and Amphiprion sebae. The phylogenetic relationship between Amphiprion species of thePersian Gulf was studied by collecting 15 samples from three Iranian islands, Larak, Farur and Kish. DNA was extracted from each sample and a part of mtDNA was amplified. Two pairs of primers weredesigned to amplify a final target of 400 bp by nested-PCR. Each amplican was sequenced, aligned and genetic diversity among samples was investigated by phylogenetic analysis. Results show that there isno significant genetic variation among A. clarkii individuals; however, A. sebae individuals from Larak were different from other fishes of the same species. Most probably this is due to the ability of A. clarkiito be symbiotant with all 10 species of host sea anemones which enables it to spread its own population in the 3 islands. However, A. sebae is observed to be symbiotant only with one host in thesea, therefore, has one option that reduces its distribution

Identification of Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen (HBsAg) Genotypes and Variations in Chronic Carriers from Isfahan Province, Iran

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) gene and protein variations are frequently been seen in chronic patients. The aims of study were to determine the genotypes as well as the patterns of variations distribution in chronically-infected patients from the central part of Iran.Methods: The surface gene was amplified, sequenced and subsequently aligned using international and national Iranian database. Results: All strains belonged to genotype D, subgenotype D1 and subtype ayw2. Of all 62 mutations occurred at 39 nucleotide positions, 31 (50%) were missense (amino acid altering) and 31 (50%) were silent (no amino acid changing). At the amino acid level, 30 substitutions occurred, however, 3 were in positions 122 and 127, corresponded to subtypic determination. 22 (73%) out of 30 amino acid mutations occurred in different immune epitopes within surface protein, of which 12 (54.54%) in B cell epitopes in 10 residues; 5 (45.45%) in T helper epitopes in positions; 5 (22.73%) in inside CTL epitopes in 4 residues. Conclusion: The distribution of amino acid mutations as well as the ratio between silent and missense nucleotide mutations showed a narrowly focused immune pressure had already been on the surface protein in these patients, led to the emergence of escape mutants in these patients

High-Resolution Melting approaches towards plant fungal molecular diagnostics

Reliable and early molecular detection of phytopathogenic fungi is crucial in an era where the expansion of global trade in plant material is undoubtedly increasing the risk of invasive outbreaks, with devastating effects in crop production. Genetic variation within and between fungal species or strains is also important for screening isolates regarding various resistance attributes. Until today many approaches have been employed in fungal diagnostics which are either labor- and time-consuming or costly and of reduced sensitivity. Here, we demonstrate and review recent advances on high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis as a rapid, accurate and powerful tool, capable of differentiating even closely related fungal isolates. HRM technique is based on monitoring the melting of PCR amplicons, using saturating concentrations of a fluorescent intercalating dye that binds to double-stranded DNA. Additionally, we discuss the four case studies inferring applications of HRM analysis towards either genotyping of closely related fungal species or screening for fungicide resistance. We focus on the promising results of these studies, giving some technical considerations and describing the advantages of the application of this approach. Finally, we discuss current prospects and applications for research and development related to this innovative HRM technique in plant fungal diagnostics