New data on the wolf spiders of Iran (Arachnida: Aranei: Lycosidae), with a description of two new species

New taxonomic and faunistic data on 25 species in 13 genera of Lycosidae from Iran are provided. Two new species Alopecosa pekari sp.n. (male) and Trochosa marusiki sp.n. (male) are diagnosed and described from West Azerbaijan Province. The genus Draposa Kronestedt, 2010 and the species Draposa oakleyi (Gravely, 1924), Evippa eltonica Dunin, 1994, Karakumosa turanica Logunov et Ponomarev, 2020 and K. zyuzint Logunov et Ponomarev, 2020 are recorded from Iran for the first time. Thirteen new provincial records are also provided. The known lycosid fauna of Iran contains now 81 species

Influence of surface geometry on the culture of human cell lines: a comparative study using flat, round-bottom and v-shaped 96 well plates

© 2017 Shafaie et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.In vitro cell based models have been invaluable tools for studying cell behaviour and for investigating drug disposition, toxicity and potential adverse effects of administered drugs. Within this drug discovery pipeline, the ability to assess and prioritise candidate compounds as soon as possible offers a distinct advantage. However, the ability to apply this approach to a cell culture study is limited by the need to provide an accurate, in vitro-like, microenvironment in conjunction with a low cost and high-throughput screening (HTS) methodology. Although the geometry and/or alignment of cells has been reported to have a profound influence on cell growth and differentiation, only a handful of studies have directly compared the growth of a single cell line on different shaped multiwell plates the most commonly used substrate for HTS, in vitro, studies. Herein, the impact of various surface geometries (flat, round and v-shaped 96 well plates), as well as fixed volume growth media and fixed growth surface area have been investigated on the characteristics of three commonly used human cell lines in biopharmaceutical research and development, namely ARPE-19 (retinal epithelial), A549 (alveolar epithelial) and Malme-3M (dermal fibroblastic) cells. The effect of the surface curvature on cells was characterised using a combination of a metabolic activity assay (CellTiter AQ/MTS), LDH release profiles (CytoTox ONE) and absolute cell counts (Guava ViaCount), respectively. In addition, cell differentiation and expression of specific marker proteins were determined using flow cytometry. These in vitro results confirmed that surface topography had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on cell activity and morphology. However, although specific marker proteins were expressed on day 1 and 5 of the experiment, no significant differences were seen between the different plate geometries (p < 0.05) at the later time point. Accordingly, these results highlight the impact of substrate geometry on the culture of a cell line and the influence it has on the cells' correct growth and differentiation characteristics. As such, these results provide important implications in many aspects of cell biology the development of a HTS, in vitro, cell based systems to further investigate different aspects of toxicity testing and drug delivery.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

XVII th World Congress of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR) SOIL FAILURE MODE IN FRONT OF A MULTIPLE-TIP HORIZONTALLY- OPERATED PENETROMETER AFFECTED BY DEPTH/WIDTH RATIO OF ITS TIP AND SHANK CSBE100536 -Presen

ABSTRACT Mechanical resistance of a soil to failure has been widely used to estimate the degree of soil compaction. Our previous study showed that the magnitude of force which was measured by the horizontally-operated penetrometer depends on the soil failure mode in front of the sensor. This research investigated whether the critical depth (d c ) where soil failure transitions from brittle to compressive was dictated by depth/width ratio (DWR) of the prismatic tip, or of the shank of the sensor. Two horizontally-operated soil penetrometers were developed. In the first sensor, the width of the shank was the same as the prismatic tip, which was 18 mm. In the second sensor, the width of the shank (36 mm) was twice as much as the tip. The sensors were tested in a field with a soil texture of silty clay loam and with gravimetric water content (WC) of 4 to 18% at forward speed of 0.5 m s -1 . The results showed that the d c for 36 mm wide shank sensor was approximately 210 mm (a DWR of about 6), whereas for the 18 mm wide shank sensor, the d c was at depth of 110 mm (a DWR of about 6). The d c increased with an increase in the width of the shank and decreased with an increase in soil WC. There was no interaction between the adjacent 100 mm distance tips as long as they operated below the d c . In both sensors, the d c was dictated by DWR of the shank. Visual observations showed that, in some cases, when the prismatic tip was located slightly above the d c , a trace of prismatic tip in undisturbed soil could be vividly seen. This revealed that the prismatic tip was moving ahead of the soil rupture planes which radiated from the shank shin to the surface. It can be concluded that for the tip which is located just above the d c , the length of its rod can be selected so it can operate in undisturbed soil (inducing compressive failure) ahead of soil disturbance (i.e. brittle failure) imposed by the shank

Differential biological behavior of fibroblasts and endothelial cells under aloe vera gel culturing

Aloe vera is used for its large variety of biological activities such as wound healing, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic. immunomodulatory, gastroprotective, and anti-cancer. Although the beneficial effects of Aloe vera on wound healing have been proven. little is known about its effects at the cellular level. In this study, we evaluated the angiogenic and migrative effects of Aloe vera gel on fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Fibroblasts and endothelial cells were cultured in monolayer conditions with low glucose DMEM with 10% serum and 1% penicillin-streptomycin. Fresh and mature leaves of Aloe vera were used for gel preparation. Cell proliferation and morphology were studied by an inverted microscope. The migration of fibroblasts was assessed by scratch assay. MTT assay was performed for cell viability assessment, and real-time RT-PCR was used for evaluation of PECAM-1, integrin alpha 1 and beta 1 transcription. After two days, the protein level of PECAM-1 was detected by flow cytometty. Our results showed that Aloe vera has a higher proliferative effect on fibroblasts in comparison with endothelial cells. Aloe vera also induced the migration of fibroblasts. The viability of both types of cells was similar to control ones. Integrin alpha(1), beta(1) and PECAM-1 gene expression increased significantly (P &lt;0.005) in Aloe vera treated fibroblasts and endothelial cells in comparison with the control groups. However, the expression of these genes was significantly higher in fibroblasts in comparison with endothelial cells. Protein levels of PECAM-1 showed no change in both cell types upon Aloe vera treatment. Aloe vera gel induced angiogenic and cell adhesion properties in fibroblasts more than endothelial cells. Further investigations are needed to show the main role of fibroblasts rather than endothelial cells in wound healing by Aloe vera administration

Evaluating endometrial thickness and vascular ultrasound pattern and pregnancy outcomes in intrauterine insemination cycle

The current study aims to investigate whether endometrial thickness and pattern, and blood flow in color Doppler of sonography on the day of administration is a predictor of intrauterine insemination (IUI) success. The study was designed as a cross-sectional prospective clinical study with one-hundred women undergoing an IUI cycle. Interventions of the study include endometrial thickness and pattern and color Doppler flow on the day of administration and cycle parameters were compared between pregnant and non-pregnant patients. Main outcome measures are endometrial thickness and patterns and blood flow in color Doppler. The results showed that the overall pregnancy rate was 38, which mean that endometrial blood flow on the day of administration was significantly greater in cycles, pregnancy achieved, but endometrial thickness and pattern of sonography were found to have no predictive value on endometrial receptivity. In multi-variant analysis, the following variable affected the pregnancy rate: the women�s age, duration of infertility, type, number of IUI cycle, the number of ampules to stimulate dominant follicle, sperm count. In our study, this variability was found to have no predictive value on the outcome of IUI but endometrial flow in color Doppler was positively associated pregnancy outcome. © 2016 Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Health Care. All rights reserved

Relationship between Tea drinking and Bone Mineral Density in Iranian population

Background: Tea is the most commonly consumed beverage by Iranian adults after water, and while previous studies have examined the negative effects of coffee-based caffeine on Bone Mineral Density (BMD), the relationship between the consumption of tea and BMD has not been clearly explored. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between habitual tea drinking and BMD in the adult Iranian population. Methods: BMD was measured at the lumbar spine and hip, in 830 men and women living in Tehran, all aged between 20 and 76 yr old. The degree of tea consumption was assessed by questionnaire, and subjects were categorized as either tea drinkers (more than 5 cups of tea per day) or non–tea drinkers (equal or less than 5 cups of tea per day). Results: After adjusting for age and body mass index, it was found that female tea drinkers had a small (4.2%), but significantly higher BMD in the hip (P= 0.01). Conclusions: This may suggest a potentially positive effect for habitual tea drinking on the BMD of those women with an inadequate consumption of calcium and vitamin D

PRINTO/PRES international website for families of children with rheumatic diseases: www.pediatric-rheumatology.printo.it

Methods: Firstly, paediatric rheumatology centres and family self help associations were surveyed to characterise current clinical practice of physicians providing care for children with PRD, research activities, and training facilities of each centre. Secondly, international consensus was reached on the content of the website. Finally, the website was developed and the texts translated. Results: The web page contains three main sections: (a) description for families of the characteristics of 15 PRD; (b) list of paediatric rheumatology centres; (c) contact information for family self help associations. A version for 45 countries in 52 languages (with another three in progress) is now available on the web. 291 surveys from 171 centres and 102 family associations were received from 42 countries. The median proportion of time spent in paediatric practice in the centres examined was 100%, with 70% of this time dedicated to paediatric rheumatology. 90% of the centres were willing to perform clinical trials in the future. Conclusions: The PRINTO/PRES website provides a well defined and competent set of information about PRD, with appropriate multiple translated versions and easy web navigational direction