Pericardial Calcification Associated with Leprosy: A Rare Combination

Majority of pericardial calcifications in the tropics are claimed to be of tuberculous origin. Other known causes include among other things uraemia, asbestosis, and post traumatic/post operative. We report a case of pericardial calcification not associated with constrictive pericarditis seen in a patient with established leprosy. Although a direct causal relationship cannot be established between leprosy and pericardial calcification, the well known condition of cardiac amyloid, a complication of leprosy might have contributed in the pathophysiology of the development of pericardial calcification in our patient. The inclusion of leprosy in the differential diagnosis of the aetiology of pericardial calcification in the tropics is suggested

Distribution of zooplankton in the southern Caspian Sea

The zooplanktons were studied in spring, autumn and winter in the southern Caspian Sea in 1996. Sampling carried out in four season. In each season, 180 specimens were identified and their frequency calculated per m^3. 55 species of zooplanktons were identified including 55% Cladocera, 15% Copepoda and 11 % Rotatoria, 9% other groups such as meroplanktons. The maximum species diversity was observed for Cladocera and the maximum frequency were observed for Copepoda. The Copepoda affected on abundance of zooplanktons as this frequency included in spring, summer, autumn and winter that were 38% to 97%, 22% to 92%, 71 % to 99% and 31 % to 92%, respectively. In summer, the Copepoda and lamellibranchiata larvae had main role in formation of zooplankton population in western region of the southern Caspian Sea, but in autumn, 70% of zooplankton population were copepods. The frequency of zooplanktons in spring, summer, autumn and winter were calculated 4081 to 20143; 7812 to 65741; 10850 to 34406 and 4510 to 20576 inch/m^3, respectively. The maximum biomass was observed during summer with 200 mg/m^3

Hydrology and hydrobiology of Chaloos River

The Chaloos River originates from Alborz Mountain and enters into the Caspian Sea in Chaloos city. Five stations were chosen in different areas for the study during 1371 to 1372 (1992-93). Total variation range of hardness decreased 1 to 5 station, but measure NH4 and NO3 increased. 45 genera belongs to 4 phyla of phytoplankton as follows: Chrysophyta, Chlorophyta, Euglenophyta and Cyanophyta. Zooplankton existing in this river belong to animal classes, which had more abundance in Sarcodina and Monogononta. The benthos river establish Insecta larvae of Ephemeroptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Plecoptera and Odonata (Orders). Chaloos fishes included to 4 families, 10 genera and 12 species. Cyprinidac consisted 66.7% of total fish and had maximum diversity at the various stations

Broad Ligament Pregnancy: A Report of Two Cases

Broad ligament pregnancy is a rare event and diagnosis is often late in our setting. Two multiparous women in early thirties presented for routine antenatal care. Routine ultrasonography revealed midtrimester abdominal pregnancies. Broad ligament pregnancy was diagnosed in both cases at laparotomy and both had excision of pregnancy and salpingo-ophorectomy with satisfactory recovery. Ultrasonography is a useful tool in the early diagnosis of abdominal pregnancy in our environment. Routine ultrasonography in pregnancy is advocated in our setting.La grossesse de large ligament est rare, et parfois le diagnostique est tard. Deux femmes d\u2019environ trente ans font des soins ante natals de routine. D\u2019apr\ue8s une ultrasonographie de routine, elle a eu une grossesse abdominale de mi-trimestre. On a diagnostique une grossesse de large ligament dans les deux cas de laparotomie, et on a excis\ue9 la grossesse et elle a regagn\ue9 la sant\ue9 apr\ue8s m\ueame le salpingho-ophorectomie. L\u2019ultrasonographie est un moyen utile de diagnostiquer la grossesse abdominale. Nous proposons donc une ultrasonographie de routine pour les femmes enceintes

Study of the kinetics and mechanism of rapid self-assembly in block copolymer thin films during solvo-microwave annealing

Microwave annealing is an emerging technique for achieving ordered patterns of block copolymer films on substrates. Little is understood about the mechanisms of microphase separation during the microwave annealing process and how it promotes the microphase separation of the blocks. Here, we use controlled power microwave irradiation in the presence of tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent, to achieve lateral microphase separation in high- lamellar-forming poly(styrene-b-lactic acid) PS-b-PLA. A highly ordered line pattern was formed within seconds on silicon, germanium and silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates. In-situ temperature measurement of the silicon substrate coupled to condition changes during "solvo-microwave" annealing allowed understanding of the processes to be attained. Our results suggest that the substrate has little effect on the ordering process and is essentially microwave transparent but rather, it is direct heating of the polar THF molecules that causes microphase separation. It is postulated that the rapid interaction of THF with microwaves and the resultant temperature increase to 55 degrees C within seconds causes an increase of the vapor pressure of the solvent from 19.8 to 70 kPa. This enriched vapor environment increases the plasticity of both PS and PLA chains and leads to the fast self-assembly kinetics. Comparing the patterns formed on silicon, germanium and silicon on insulator (SOI) and also an in situ temperature measurement of silicon in the oven confirms the significance of the solvent over the role of substrate heating during "solvo-microwave" annealing. Besides the short annealing time which has technological importance, the coherence length is on a micron scale and dewetting is not observed after annealing. The etched pattern (PLA was removed by an Ar/O-2 reactive ion etch) was transferred to the underlying silicon substrate fabricating sub-20 nm silicon nanowires over large areas demonstrating that the morphology is consistent both across and through the film

In Vitro and in Vivo Effectiveness of Carvacrol, Thymol and Linalool against Leishmania infantum

Background: One of the most important causative agents of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is Leishmania infantum, which is mainly spread by Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia sandflies in the Old and New World, respectively. Novel and effective drugs to manage this neglected vector-borne disease are urgently required. In this study, we evaluated the toxicity of carvacrol, thymol and linalool, three common essential oil constituents, on amastigotes and promastigotes of L. infantum. Methods: in vitro experiments were performed by 24 h MTT assay. Carvacrol, thymol and linalool at concentrations ranging from 1.3 to 10 µg/mL were tested on promastigotes of L. infantum. For in vivo test, two groups of hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) received 100 mg/kg of body weight/day of carvacrol and thymol as intraperitoneal injection on day 7 post-infection, followed by a 48 h later injection. The third group was treated with the glucantime as standard drug (500 mg/kg) and the last group (control) just received normal saline. On the 16th day, the number of parasites and histopathological changes in liver and spleen were investigated. Results: 24 h MTT assay showed promising antileishmanial activity of thymol and carvacrol, with IC50 values of 7.2 (48 µM) and 9.8 µg/mL (65 µM), respectively. Linalool at all concentrations did not affect L. infantum promastigote viability. In vivo toxicity data of carvacrol and thymol showed that the former at 100 mg/kg was the safest and most effective treatment with little side effects on the liver. Conclusions: Overall, thymol and carvacrol are highly promising candidates for the development of effective and safe drugs in the fight against VL

Evaluation of onlay island flap technique in shallow urethral plate hypospadiasis

Background: Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital genital anomalies in males that necessitates to be operated early in infancy (when 6 to 9 months old). On the other hand, hypospadias is a challenging field of pediatric urology with multiple reconstruction techniques. A perfect hypospadias repair is supposed to return urethral continuity with sufficient caliber, eradicate phallus curvature, and supply an acceptable appearance with low complications. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the outcomes of using onlay island flap technique in the repair of hypospadias with shallow urethral plate. Patients and Methods: In this prospective study within June 2012 to December 2013, we performed onlay island flap procedure to repair hypospadias with shallow urethral plate measuring less than 6 millimeter. This technique was selected for all types of hypospadiasis except subcoronal type. Nesbit�s dorsal plication procedure was established for chordee. In cases with very small glans, urethroplasty was performed without glansplasty. Results: Twenty three patients with mean age of 30 (range 10 -60) months underwent onlay island flap repair; all had a shallow urethral plate < 6 mm, 3 had a very small glans, and 18 had chordee. Meatus was located in distal shaft in 5 cases, mid shaft in 8, proximal in 6 and penoscrotal type in 4 patients. Chordee was corrected with Nesbit�s dorsal plication in 16 cases. Complications were: meatal stenosis in 2 cases and urethrocutaneous fistula in 2 patients, all of which were repaired surgically. Mean follow up time was 13 (3 -20) months. All cases that had glansplasty have excellent esthetic appearance. Conclusions: This technique offers acceptable results regarding meatal stenosis, urethrocutaneous fistula and esthetic outcome. © 2016, Growth & Development Research Center

Mass screening of different rice genotypes to rice striped stem borer, Chilo suppressalis Walker (Lep.: Pyralidae), under the field condition

In this study, a total of 98 Iranian and exotic rice genotypes were tested for their resistance to the Striped Stem Borer, Chilo suppressalis, under field conditions in Rice Research Institute of Iran, Mazandaran branch, Amol. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete blocks design and three replications. At the reproductive stage, five whole plants per plot were randomly selected and cut off at the base, and percent of white head, number of larvae per hill, plant height, stem diameter, and tiller number per hill were measured. The rice genotypes Novator, G2-Gan74, Estrella, Rashtline-1, and IR72860, had the lowest amount of percent of white head, with means of 1.6%, 2.7%, 2.3%, 2.8%, and 3.2%, respectively, and the genotypes IR72-B, Iranian-New-Hybrid, Fars promising line, IR64-MutantW, IR50 had the highest amount of percent of white head with means of 43.5%, 43.4%, 37.6%, 35.8 %, and 34.8%, respectively. Moreover, genotypes Novator, Estrella and G2-Gan74 had the lowest mean larvae per a whole plant (0.1, 0.1 and 0.2, respectively), while genotypes Chinese-Hybrid1, IR72-B, and Binam had the highest mean larvae per a whole plant, with means of 10.3, 9.7, and 8.9, respectively. Rasht-Line-1 had the lowest mean plant height (74.4 cm), Fars promising line had the lowest mean number of tillers per hill (9.13), and Iranian New-Hybrid had the lowest mean stem diameter (4.44 mm). On the other hand, the Tarom-ARG2 genotypes had the highest mean plant height (138.26 cm), Sahel had the highest mean number of tillers per hill (17.6), and Dorfak had the highest mean stem diameter (12.72 mm).There were significant correlations between percent white head and the number of larvae per a whole plant, and between percent white head and number of tillers per hill, but there no significant correlations was found with plant height and stem diameter. The rice genotypes were grouped on Ward’s clustering procedure into two main clusters, totally four sub-cluster. The rice genotypes such as Novator, Estrella, Rashtline-1 were found to be less sensitive to Chilo suppressalis. Also, in this study, 19 rice genotypes including Novator, Estrella, G2-Gan74, Rashtline-1, Shirodi, Nemat, IR64-Mutant-F3076, MashhadDomsiah/Neda, {(A78.1/LocalAbiji)/(khazar/Tarom)} were recognized as resistant genotypes at field condition. Some of them can be tested in further experiments

The survey of feeding and reproduction of cetenophora Mnemiopsis leidyi in the southern of Caspian Sea

Menmiopsis leidyi was entered into Caspian Sea from Black Sea and mass population constitutes in the southern Caspian Sea. In this surveys, the relationship between length and wet weight measured and length and weight followed by this equation: n=384, R^2=0.87 w=0.003L^9005 . The relationship of dry and wet weight calculated, in this surveys, the ratio of dry weight to wet weight was equal to 1.615% in 12 salinity. In vitro, the clearance rate at 12 and 27 C were 52.48 and 107.33 ml/h, respectively, daily ration at above temperatures were 1.98 and 16.65 respectively. Mnemiopsis leidyi can feed Acartia in accordance to 16.5 mg/1gbw (body weight) at 27 C in one day. The average digestive time in 12 C and 27 C were 77.50 min and 36 min respectively. The digestive value in 27 C was 2.5 fold than 12 C. The result indicated that clearance rate, daily ration and digest were increased in high temperature. Stomach content of Mnemiopsis leidyi was shown that this organism utilized from Acartia and Balanus, in addition, stomach content of kilka including two species of zooplankton from the southern Caspian Sea. Stomach contents of clupeonella cultiventris contain more than 54 percent of Acartia and its nauplii. This frequency observed in cluponella engrauliformis and clupeonella grimmi. On basis of zooplankton sampling in the sea, over 90 percentage of zooplankton populations contain Acartia

Hydrology, hydrobiology and environmental pollution in the southern Caspian Sea

The project investigates the relationship between the biological parameters (phytoplankton, zooplankton, Macrobenthic and ctenophore- Mnemiopsis leidyi) and environmental parameters, nutrients and environmental pollutants (oil, pesticides, heavy metals, and detergents) in water and sediment, at the southern Caspian Sea in 2010-2011. Sampling was carried out in four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) and in eight transects perpendicular to the coast (Astara, Anzali, Sefidroud, Tonekabon, Noshahr, Babolsar, Amir Abad and Bandar Turkmen). Samples were collected from the different layers at depths of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 meters. The relationship between biological and environmental parameters surveyed through parametric and multivariate statistical methods. Result showed that the annual mean of environmental parameters and nutrients concentration such as water temperature, pH, transparency, DO, ammonium, nitrate, inorganic nitrogen (DIN), organic nitrogen (DON), inorganic phosphorus (DIP), organic phosphorus (DOP) and soluble silicon (DSi) at euphotic layer were 16.70±0.43 (ºC), 8.38±0.01 (m), 5.48±0.05 (ml/l), 1.52±0.06 (µM), 1.80±0.08 (µM), 3.41±0.10 (µM), 43.3±0.9 (µM), 0.32±0.01 (µM), 0.52±0.02 (µM), 8.88±0.22 (µM), respectively. Meanwhile, annual mean of environmental pollutant such as PAHs and OCPs in sediment were recorded 0.88±0.16 (µg/g.dw) and 9.78±2.20 (µg/g.dw), respectively. In addition, annual mean of heavy metals such as Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb and Hg in sediment were obtained 247±46 (µg/g.dw), 29.5±1.5 (µg/g.dw), 49.9±4.9 (µg/g.dw) and 0.179±0.800 (µg/g.dw), respectively. Annual mean abundance of biological parameters namely phytoplankton, zooplankton and M. leidyi (0-20m) at photic layer were 238±17 (million cells/m^3), 4808±362 (individuals/m^3) and 26±3 (individuals /m^3) respectively, and for biomass were 747±60 (mg/m3), 44.3±5.0 (mg/m^3), 2.15±0.31 (g/m^3). Annual mean abundance of those biological parameters at below of photic layer (50-100m) were 104±35 (million cells/m^3), 843±92 (individuals/m^3) and 2±1 (individuals /m^3) respectively, and for biomass were 412±93 (mg/m3), 9.1±1.0 (mg/m^3), 0.15±0.05 (g/m^3). Annual mean abundance and biomass of macrobenthic were 5073±1225 (individuals /m^2) and 144±73 (g/m^2), respectively. Annual mean annual percentage of TOM, Gravel, Sand and Silt-clay were recorded 3.74±0.26, 0.92±0.32 , 22.51±4.97 and 76.67±5.01, respectively. The stratification of water column was strongly based on gradient of water temperature and the phenomenon (difference of temperature between water layers) was more clear in this study compared to previous years. Temperature and biological factors (phytoplankton) were effected on changes of dissolved oxygen at warm and cold seasons summer and winter), but coefficient factor of temperature was higher than biological factors in winter. The nutrients concentration (with the exception of inorganic phosphorus) in different years 2008-2009, 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 increased compared to 1995-1996 (the year of stability of ecosystem). One of the reason attribute to the presence of the ctenophore (M. leidyi) in Caspian Sea after 1999. The annual correlation of phytoplankton abundance and temperature was reversed but seasonal pattern was varied at each season (within a year). In this study, the Caspian Sea contained the conditions of nitrogen limitation (55%) and nitrogenphosphorus limitation (6-43%) as well as phosphate limitation (2-39%) (DIN/DIP>20) . Inspite of no silica limitation (sufficient concentration of silica) in the Caspian ecosystem, Bacillariophyta was not dominance phylum at whole seasons.It seems that other factors such as the temperature changes of seasons, the effects of predation and feeding of the next chains of the food chain, the difference of the ability in the growth and reproduction, competition (uptake of nutrients) in dfferent groups of phytoplankton and stoichiometry of the nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) were caused of non-diatoms dominance at most seasons. As, Pyrrophyta and Bacillariophyta were dominant at spring and winter, respectively and Cyanophyta was pre-dominant at summer and autumn. Multivariate analysis showed the significant correlation between Coppepoda and oxygen and water temperature only. The other gropus of zooplankton did not show any significant correlation with environmental parameters. It might be due to stronger effects of other parameters such as food and predators on different groups of zooplankton at each season and abundance of zooplankton groups indirectly affected by environmental parameters. In this study, Shannon diversity indices of zooplankton and phytoplankton were closer to 1995-96 values and showed diferent trend compared to 2009-2010. However it is not enough reason for recovery of ecosystem in to the stability of Caspian Sea. It is because of other negative evidiance such as strong increasing trend of phytoplankton to zooplankton biomass ratio in all seasons and regions particularly the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 years compared to 1995-96 (the year of stable ecosystem). In the other word, the balance between the biomass of the first and second of the food chain has been disturbed and the value was much much higher than the year of stable ecosystem in 1995-96. Based on multivariate analyses, there was not significant correlation between zooplankton groups and some edible phytoplankton species, vise versa zooplankton groups consumed some unsuitable species of phytoplankton (based on size, nutritional value, difficulty of digestion and absorption, the potential of toxicity and harmfulness). The lack of expected relationship and routine rules of nutritional between zooplankton and phytoplankton are the more resons of instability in the ecosystem. In current study, dominant group of macrobenthos (polychaeta) observed in depths less than 20 meters which the percentage of silt-clay and sand were 74 and 26, respectively. It seems that this ratio of silt-caly and sand was suitable for their living and accumulation. PCA analysis showed that increasing the percentage of TOM and siltclay accompanied to the decreasing of macrobenthos abundance while increasing the temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH had a positive effect on macrobenthos abundance in most seasons. Increasing the abundance of macrobenthos at all seasons (except spring) would not be a strong indication of improvement of Caspian ecosystem after the ctenophore introduction stress and unfavorable evidence such as low Shannon diversity index observe in the results. Meanwhile, in the present study, Streblospio and oligochaeta (invasive growth and advantage to the food uptake and habitat and sediment seeding) similar to the years of 2008-2009, 2009-2010 still were dominant groups insteade of Gammaridae family (feeding on suspended solids). This means that sediment has a noteworthy amount of organic matter which indicate to the trophic level of ecosystem tend to eutrophy level. The comparison of results on this study to previous studies on biological parameters (phytoplankton, zooplankton and macrobenthos) indicating to the persistence of stress (such as biological and anthropogenic) on their changing population patterns (quantitative relationships between species) and structural patterns (species composition and seasonal succession of dominant species). In other words, many species (both macroscopic and microscopic) of the Caspian Sea are still vulnerable to complications of stressor factors. In order to protection and sustainable exploitation of this worth ecosystem it is necessary to look more serious studies and practical techniques from the relevant organizations in this area