Spatial and phylodynamic survey on Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus strains in northeast of Iran

Background: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is asymptomatic in infected animals, yet the virus poses a serious threat to humans causing a symptomatic, hemorrhagic disease with a high case-fatality rate. Numerous genera of ticks serve as both vectors and reservoirs of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). Objectives: The aim of the present study is to determine the CCHFV prevalence in ticks from northeast Iran to establish a phylogenetic relationship of the tick-derived CCHFV strains circulating in Iran. Methods: During April to June 2015, a total of 93 hard ticks were collected from different animals in the Damghan district. The Ssegment of positive samples was fully sequenced using the Sanger technique. A total of 142 CCHFV sequences comprised full-length of CCHFV sequences obtained in this study were aligned using the MAFFT algorithm, then phylogenetic tree was constructed using Geneious v 7.1.8. Results: The identified tick species included Hyalomma marginatum (6.5), Hy. dromedarii (21.5), Hy. anatolicum (15.1), Hy. asiaticum (3.2) and Hy. schulzei (2.2), as well as Rhipicephalus sanguineus (47.3). The CCHFV RNA was detected in 4 samples of 93 tick samples (4.3) by RT-PCR. A total of 4 CCHFV sequences were obtained in this study clustered within clade IV (Asia-1 and Asia-2). Conclusions:We demonstrated that 4 species of hard ticks could be a vector forCCHFV in Iran. In addition, our findings indicate the circulation of CCHFV clade IV strain in the northeast of Iran and provide a solid base for more targeted surveillance and prevention programs in Iran. © 2018, Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology

Molecular assay on Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus in ticks (Ixodidae) collected from Kermanshah Province, Western Iran

Background: Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) is a feverous and hemorrhagic disease endemic in some parts of Iran and caused by an arbovirus related to Bunyaviridae family and Nairovirusgenus. The main virus reservoir in the nature is ticks, however small vertebrates and a wide range of domestic and wild animals are regarded as reservoir hosts. This study was conducted to determine the infection rate of CCHF virus in hard ticks of Sarpole- Zahab County, Kermanshah province, west of Iran. Methods: From total number of 851 collected ticks from 8 villages, 131 ticks were selected randomlyand investigated for detection of CCHF virus using RT-PCR. Results: The virus was found in 3.8 of the tested ticks. Hyalommaanatolicum, H.asiaticum and Rhipicephalus sanguineus species were found to have viral infection, with the highest infection rate (11.11) in Rh. sanguineus. Conclusion: These findings provide epidemiological evidence for planning control strategies of the disease in the study area

Spatial and phylodynamic survey on Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus strains in northeast of Iran

Background: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is asymptomatic in infected animals, yet the virus poses a serious threat to humans causing a symptomatic, hemorrhagic disease with a high case-fatality rate. Numerous genera of ticks serve as both vectors and reservoirs of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). Objectives: The aim of the present study is to determine the CCHFV prevalence in ticks from northeast Iran to establish a phylogenetic relationship of the tick-derived CCHFV strains circulating in Iran. Methods: During April to June 2015, a total of 93 hard ticks were collected from different animals in the Damghan district. The Ssegment of positive samples was fully sequenced using the Sanger technique. A total of 142 CCHFV sequences comprised full-length of CCHFV sequences obtained in this study were aligned using the MAFFT algorithm, then phylogenetic tree was constructed using Geneious v 7.1.8. Results: The identified tick species included Hyalomma marginatum (6.5), Hy. dromedarii (21.5), Hy. anatolicum (15.1), Hy. asiaticum (3.2) and Hy. schulzei (2.2), as well as Rhipicephalus sanguineus (47.3). The CCHFV RNA was detected in 4 samples of 93 tick samples (4.3) by RT-PCR. A total of 4 CCHFV sequences were obtained in this study clustered within clade IV (Asia-1 and Asia-2). Conclusions:We demonstrated that 4 species of hard ticks could be a vector forCCHFV in Iran. In addition, our findings indicate the circulation of CCHFV clade IV strain in the northeast of Iran and provide a solid base for more targeted surveillance and prevention programs in Iran. © 2018, Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology

A Bispecific Antibody Based Assay Shows Potential for Detecting Tuberculosis in Resource Constrained Laboratory Settings

The re-emergence of tuberculosis (TB) as a global public health threat highlights the necessity of rapid, simple and inexpensive point-of-care detection of the disease. Early diagnosis of TB is vital not only for preventing the spread of the disease but also for timely initiation of treatment. The later in turn will reduce the possible emergence of multi-drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is an important non-protein antigen of the bacterial cell wall, which is found to be present in different body fluids of infected patients including blood, urine and sputum. We have developed a bispecific monoclonal antibody with predetermined specificities towards the LAM antigen and a reporter molecule horseradish peroxidase (HRPO). The developed antibody was subsequently used to design a simple low cost immunoswab based assay to detect LAM antigen. The limit of detection for spiked synthetic LAM was found to be 5.0 ng/ml (bovine urine), 0.5 ng/ml (rabbit serum) and 0.005 ng/ml (saline) and that for bacterial LAM from M. tuberculosis H37Rv was found to be 0.5 ng/ml (rabbit serum). The assay was evaluated with 21 stored clinical serum samples (14 were positive and 7 were negative in terms of anti-LAM titer). In addition, all 14 positive samples were culture positive. The assay showed 100% specificity and 64% sensitivity (95% confidence interval). In addition to good specificity, the end point could be read visually within two hours of sample collection. The reported assay might be used as a rapid tool for detecting TB in resource constrained laboratory settings

Production of Coturnix quail immunoglobulins Y (IgYs) against Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus

This research article published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG., 2011Production of chicken immunoglobulins Y (IgYs) and their applications in prophylactic, therapeutic, detection of microbial contaminants and as a diagnostic tool has been widely studied with limited information from other avians. This study produced Coturnix quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) egg yolk IgYs against Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus. Formalin inactivated (FIVP, FIVV, mixed FI-VP/VV) and heat inactivated (HIVP, HIVV, mixed HI-VP/VV) Vibrio immunogens (109 CFU/mL) were intramuscularly immunized into quail through thigh muscles. Egg yolk IgY was purified by water dilution-ammonium sulfate precipitation method and the activity was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Formalin inactivated immunogens induced high humoral immune response for both V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus over heat inactivated immunogens. However, IgYs resulted from HIVP and FIVV immunogens, showed high specificity to V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus respectively. Detection limits of the indirect ELISA using the produced IgYs were 105 CFU/mL for V. parahaemolyticus and 106 CFU/mL for V. vulnificus. The developed antibodies showed high binding affinity to their corresponding immunogens, very little cross reactivity to Staphylococcus aureus and not other bacteria strains (p<0.05), a phenomenon which was also observed in Western blot

Expert system for assessing the failure of concrete slabs In the Persian Gulf region

As we can see in many bridges in the country, due to the lack of implementation of the bridge maintenance management system, the range of failures is gradually It has expanded and led to declining resistance and increasing the vulnerability of bridges. Due to the hot and humid weather conditions and the presence of salts in it The Persian Gulf region has seen signs of failure, including numerous cracks and local damage, in many of the concrete slabs in the area's structures and bridges. It is possible. Therefore, the assessment of the condition of concrete slabs prevents the progress of failure, removal from service and repair of structures.In this paper, the Expert-Slab Bridge expert system is presented to assess the failure of concrete slabs. Expert system, computer program   It is intelligence that uses the knowledge and methods of inference and inference to solve problems. This system includes an interpreter, an inference method Knowledge-based and database. Bridge deck failures due to environmental conditions and cracked concrete structures, failures Surface and instrumental failures have been evaluatedSeveral case studies and comparisons between technical inspection results and the expert system In order to gain reliability and accuracy, the results of the system have been done. System outcomes include a concrete bridge slab identification, inference Expert system with failures and their causes, status index, status description, suggested solution for repair and diagram of useful life of concrete slab Is

A dynamic model with on-line identification for rotary sugar drying processes

A dynamic modelling methodology, which combines on-line variable estimation and parameter identification with physical laws to form an adaptive model for rotary sugar drying processes, is developed in this paper. In contrast to the conventional rate-based models using empirical transfer coefficients, the heat and mass transfer rates are estimated by using on-line measurements in the new model. Furthermore, a set of improved sectional solid transport equations with localized parameters is developed in this work to reidentified on-line using measurement data, the model is able to closely track the dynamic behaviour of rotary drying processes within a broad range of operational conditions. This adaptive model is validated against experimental data obtained from a pilot-scale rotary sugar dryer. The proposed modelling methodology can be easily incorporated into nonlinear model based control schemes to form a unified modelling and control framework.place the global correlation for the computation of solid retention time. Since a number of key model variables and parameters are identified on-line using measurement data, the model is able to closely track the dynamic behaviour of rotary drying processes within a broad range of operational conditions. This adaptive model is validated against experimental data obtained from a pilot-scale rotary sugar dryer. The proposed modelling methodology can be easily incorporated into nonlinear model based control schemes to form a unified modelling and control framework

Comparison of conventional and spherical reactor for the industrial auto-thermal reforming of methane to maximize synthesis gas and minimize CO2

Auto-thermal reforming (ATR), a combination of exothermic partial oxidation and endothermic steam reforming of methane, is an important process to produce syngas for petrochemical industries. In a commercial ATR unit, tubular fixed bed reactors are typically used. Pressure drop across the tube, high manufacturing costs, and low production capacity are some disadvantages of these reactors. The main propose of this study is to offer an optimized radial flow, spherical packed bed reactor as a promising alternative for overcoming the drawbacks of conventional tubular reactors. In the current research, a one dimensional pseudo-homogeneous model based on mass, energy, and momentum balances is applied to simulate the performance of packed-bed reactors for the production of syngas in both tubular and spherical reactors. In the optimization section, the proposed work explores optimal values of various decision variables that simultaneously maximize outlet molar flow rate of H2, CO and minimize molar flow rate of CO2 from novel spherical reactor. The multi-objective model is transformed to a single objective optimization problem by weighted sum method and the single optimum point is found by using genetic algorithm. The optimization results show that the pressure drop in the spherical reactor is negligible in comparison to that of the conventional tubular reactor. Therefore, it is inferred that the spherical reactor can operate with much higher feed flow rate, more catalyst loading, and smaller catalyst particles

Comparison of conventional and spherical reactor for the industrial auto-thermal reforming of methane to maximize synthesis gas and minimize CO2

Auto-thermal reforming (ATR), a combination of exothermic partial oxidation and endothermic steam reforming of methane, is an important process to produce syngas for petrochemical industries. In a commercial ATR unit, tubular fixed bed reactors are typically used. Pressure drop across the tube, high manufacturing costs, and low production capacity are some disadvantages of these reactors. The main propose of this study is to offer an optimized radial flow, spherical packed bed reactor as a promising alternative for overcoming the drawbacks of conventional tubular reactors. In the current research, a one dimensional pseudo-homogeneous model based on mass, energy, and momentum balances is applied to simulate the performance of packed-bed reactors for the production of syngas in both tubular and spherical reactors. In the optimization section, the proposed work explores optimal values of various decision variables that simultaneously maximize outlet molar flow rate of H2, CO and minimize molar flow rate of CO2 from novel spherical reactor. The multi-objective model is transformed to a single objective optimization problem by weighted sum method and the single optimum point is found by using genetic algorithm. The optimization results show that the pressure drop in the spherical reactor is negligible in comparison to that of the conventional tubular reactor. Therefore, it is inferred that the spherical reactor can operate with much higher feed flow rate, more catalyst loading, and smaller catalyst particles