Study of the antibacterial activity of total extract and Petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions of aerial parts of heliotropium bacciferum against staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E.coli, Salmonella enteritidis

Heliotropium bacciferum is One of the plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae , which is Restricted distribution in the south of Iran. It is used for Hypotension, fever, stomach ulcers in traditional medicine. In this study, the antibacterial effects of extracts and fractions of chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous, aerial parts of Heliotropium bacciferum Forssk was evaluated against five bacterial strains. The methanol extract were prepared using the percolation method. Fractions of chloroform, Petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, methanol and aqueous respectively by Liquid - Liquid fractionation of the total extract were prepared. The antibacterial activity against two Gram positive bacteria, three Gram negative bacterial using Minimum inhibitory concentration in microplate and well plate method. Results showed that H. bacciferum extracts exhibited a significant activity against strains Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus,Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E.coli, Salmonella enteritidis. MIC and well plate is between 7.6-125 μg/ml. The results of this study indicate that extracts of the plant H.bacciferum has a antimicrobial effect against strains are listed And among the extracts, aqueous part is that most antibacterial effect of the other fraction and then methanolic extract has the greatest effect

Correlation between expression levels of mRNA IL-6 and H. pylori-infected patients with cagA

خلاصه سابقه و هدف: عفونت هلیکوباکترپیلوری با جذب سلول‌های التهابی مانند نوتروفیل، ماکروفاژ و سلول‌های T و B اختصاصی هلیکوباکتری به ناحیه درگیر عفونت همراه می‌باشد. مسیرهای مولکولی کنترل پاسخ ایمنی بر علیه این باکتری خیلی پیچیده می باشد، اما معمولاً سایتوکاین‌های که در ناحیه درگیر عفونت تولید می‌شوند در حفظ و گسترش عفونت نقش دارند. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی بیان ژن IL-6 در سطح مخاط بیماران آلوده به هلیکوباکترپیلوری و غیرآلوده و همچنین ارتباط آن با فاکتور ویرولانس cagA در میان افراد آلوده به هلیکوباکترپیلوی می‌باشد مواد و روش ها: این مطالعه از نوع موردی- شاهدی می‌باشد. از 58 نفر از مبتلایان به هلیکوباکترپیلوری و 44 نفر از افرادی که آلوده به این باکتری نبودند توسط آندوسکوپی بیوپسی تهیه شد. و بعد از استخراجmRNA ، توسط real-time PCR، میزان بیانmRNA IL-6 اندازه گیری شد. فاکتور بیماری زای cagA توسط PCR ارزیابی شد. بیان سایتوکاین ها در دو گروه آلوده و غیرآلوده با استفاده از تست T-Test مورد آنالیز قرار گرفتند. یافته ها: سطح بیان IL-6 mRNA در بیماران دارای هلیکوباکترپیلوری نسبت به افراد غیرآلوده به بطور معنی داری بالاتر می‌باشد. ارتباط معنی‌داری بین فاکتور بیماری‌زای cagA و سطح بیان IL-6 mRNA مشاهده نشد. نتیجه گیری: افزایش بیان IL-6 mRNA ممکن است مستقل از فاکتور ویرولانس cagA و در ایجاد التهاب معده همراه با هلیکوباکترپیلوری نقش مهمی داشته باشد

Effects of hyperbilirubinemia on auditory brainstem response of neonates treated with phototherapy

Introduction: One of the most common pathologies in neonates is hyperbilirubinemia, which is a good marker for damage to the central nervous system. The sensitivity of the auditory system to bilirubin has been previously documented, with much discrepancy in its effects on Auditory Brainstem Response results. Thus the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of hyperbilirubinemia on Auditory Brainstem Response of neonates treated with phototherapy. Materials and Methods: Forty-two term neonates with hyperbilirubinemia, who underwent phototherapy participated in this cross sectional study. The recording of Auditory Brainstem Response was made shortly after confirming that the total serum bilirubin level was greater than 15 μg/dl. Latency of waves I, III, V and inter-peak latencies of the waves were measured. To test the hypothesis about the difference of means between the two groups, continuous variables were compared using either the t-test (normal distribution) or the Mann-Whitney test (non-normal distribution). Results: There was a significant increase in the absolute latencies of waves III and V, and I-III and I-V inter-peak latencies of the sample group compared to the control group in both ears (P0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study underline the importance of the Auditory Brainstem Response Test as an efficient tool for monitoring the auditory brainstem pathway in neonates who are at risk of neurotoxicity and for diagnosing the earliest stages of auditory damage caused by high levels of bilirubin

Agar alternatives for micropropagation of African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha)

Agar is one of the most popular solidifying agents in plant tissue culture. High price of pure grade agar and fear of over exploitation of its resources caused searching for low cost alternatives. In this study,liquid medium with cotton substratum and different combinations of starch, semolina, potato powder and agar in two steps of micropropagation (shoot induction and proliferation) were investigated. The highest frequency of regeneration was found in media containing agar (0.8%), combination of starch: semolina: potato powder (2:1:1) in 9 and 12% and combination of starch (6%) plus agar (0.4%), butmaximum shoot numbers were produced in media containing agar (0.8%), combination of starch (6%) plus agar (0.4%) and liquid medium with cotton substratum. The best shoot proliferation take place in liquid medium with cotton substratum. The results show that the combination of starch: semolina: potato powder (2:1:1) in 9% and starch (6%) plus agar (0.4 %) can be suitable alternatives for agar in regeneration stage but the shoot number is lower than agar alone. These options are very cheaper than agar. The best shoot proliferation can be done in bioreactors or liquid medium with suitable substratum like cotton.Keywords: Gelling agent, low cost, micropropagation, liquid cultur

Sensitivity of levofloxacin in combination with ampicillin-sulbactam and tigecycline against multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii

Background and Objectives: The selection of alternative treatment options with antibiotic combinations may be used for successful managing of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. The aim of this study was to determine the synergistic effects of ampicillin-sulbactam combined with either levofloxacin or tigecycline against MDR A. baumannii. Materials and Methods: A total 124 of A.baumannii isolates collected from clinical samples of hospitalized patients which assessed for antibiotic susceptibility using disk diffusion method. E-test was used on 10 MDR A. baumannii isolates to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of ampicillin-sulbactam, levofloxacin and tigecycline. Any synergistic effects were evaluated at their own MIC using E-test assay at 37°C for 24 hours. Synergy was defined as a fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) of ≤0.5. Results: Levofloxacin plus ampicillin-sulbactam combination was found to have synergistic effects (FIC index: ≤0.5) in 90% of the isolates, but there was no synergistic effect for ampicillin-sulbactam/tigecycline and tigecycline/ levofloxacin combination. The antagonist effect in 50% of isolates (FIC index: >2) showed in combination of levofloxacin/tigecycline. Conclusion: The emergence of multidrug A. baumannii isolates requires evaluating by combination therapy. The combination of levofloxacin plus a bactericidal antibiotic such as ampicillin-sulbactam is recommended. Results should be confirmed by clinical studies. Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii, Etest Methods, Microbial Drug Resistance, Synergistic effec

Effect of genotypes and culture medium on shoot regeneration and proliferation of Gerbera jamesonii

Gerbera jamesonii is one of the most popular cut flowers in the world and micropropagation is the commercial way for its propagation. This method allows for obtaining large amounts of healthy homogenous plants. Thus, it is necessary to establish efficient micropropagation protocols. The objective of this study was to evaluate the organogenic response of G. jamesonii, orange and pink cultivars, under in vitro culture. Different levels of N6-benzyladenine (BA) (2, 4 and 6 mg/l) and thidiazuron (TDZ) (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mg/l) in combination with Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) (0 and 0.1 mg/l) in MS medium were evaluated for shoot induction. For proliferation, regenerated shoots in TDZ were subcultured in medium supplemented with 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mg/l TDZ, 2 mg/l BA or 2 mg/l Kin and regenerated shoots in BA were subcultured on the induction medium. In the second phase, mediums of MS, 1/2 MS, MS with 1/2 NH4NO3 and KNO3 concentration (MS-1/2N), MS with 1/2 micro and iron elements (MS-1/2MI), B5 and 1/2 B5 on shoot induction and proliferation of pink cultivar were evaluated. In order to induce rooting in the regenerated shoots, different levels of IAA (1, 2 and 3 mg/l) and 1-Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (1, 2 and 3 mg/l) in combination with sucrose (30 and 40 g/l) were evaluated Maximum shoot induction, (88.8 % and 44.4 % for orange and pink cultivars, respectively) and multiplication rate (7.6 shoots/explant for orange cultivar and 1.33 shoots/explant for pink cultivar) were obtained in medium with 4 mg/l BA and 0.1 mg/l IAA. The most effective media for shoot induction and proliferation were MS-1/2N and MS, respectively. The best rate of shoot rooting in orange cultivar (4.6 roots/explants with 4.8 cm length) and pink cultivar (5.2 roots/explants with 6.2 cm length) was  obtained by using 3 mg/l IAA and 30 mg/l sucrose. The establishment of plantlets was done successfully with 92% of survival in the greenhouse.Key words: Micropropagation, organogenesis, in vitro culture, Gerbera, cut flower

Antibiotic resistance pattern and distribution of Vietnamese extended-spectrum- β lactamase (VEB-1) gene in Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from hospitalized patients in Kashan Shahid Beheshti hospital during 2013-2014

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii are widely distributed pathogens in hospitals. They have the ability to have various mechanisms of resistance. Multiple drug resistant (MDR) strains of A. baumannii have created therapeutic problems worldwide. The aim of the present study was to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility and detection of blaOXA51 and VEB-1 genes of A. baumannii isolated from clinical specimens in teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 124 A. baumannii strains isolated from patients in Beheshti hospital, Kashan, Iran, during 2013-2014. At the species level, the isolates were identified by conventional biochemical tests and then confirmed by the Microgen kit (GNA). An antibiotic susceptibility test was performed for 17 antimicrobial agents according to the CLSI guidelines. Multiple drug resistant was defined as presence of resistance to three or more classes of antibiotics. The presence of blaOXA51 and VEB-1 genes was investigated using the polymerase chain reation. Results: Acinetobacter baumannii isolates demonstrated the highest resistance to ceftriaxone, ceftazidime and cefotaxime. All isolates were sensitive to colistin and polymyxin. All isolates were positive for blaOXA51. Thirty-two isolates (25.8) were positive for the VEB-1 gene. Conclusion: This study highlights the high frequency of MDR isolates. The VEB-1 gene, which produces extended spectrum beta lactamase enzymes and inactivates third generation cephalosporins, was positive in more than 25 of the samples

Modular Multilevel Converter with Sensorless Diode-Clamped Balancing through Level-Adjusted Phase-Shifted Modulation

Cascaded H-bridge and modular multilevel converters (MMC) are on the rise with emerging applications in renewable energy generation, energy storage, and electric motor drives. However, their well-known advantages come at the price of complicated balancing, high-bandwidth isolated monitoring, and numerous sensors that can prevent MMCs from expanding into highly cost driven markets. Therefore, an obvious trend in research is developing control and topologies that depend less on measurements and benefit from simpler control. Diode-clamped topologies are considered among the more applicable solutions. The main problem with a diode-clamped topology is that it can only balance the module voltages of a string in one direction; therefore, it cannot provide a completely balanced operation. This paper proposes an effective balancing technique for the diode-clamped topology. The proposed solution exploits the dc component of the arm current by introducing a symmetrically level-adjusted phase-shifted modulation scheme, and ensures the balancing current flow is always in the correct direction. The main advantages of this method are sensorless operation, no added computation and control effort, and low overall cost. Analysis and detailed simulations provide insight into the operation of the system as well as the new balancing technique and the experimental results confirm the provided discussions

Creep analysis of an earth embankment on soft soil deposit with and without PVD improvement

In this paper, an anisotropic creep constitutive model, namely Creep-SCLAY1S is employed 10 to study the installation effects of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) on the behavior of a full 11 scale test embankment, namely Haarajoki embankment in Finland. The embankment was 12 constructed on a natural soft soil with PVD installed to improve the drainage under one half of 13 it. The Creep constitutive model used in this study, incorporates the effects of fabric 14 anisotropy, structure and time within a critical state based framework. For comparison, the 15 isotropic modified Cam clay (MCC) model and the rate-independent anisotropic S-CLAY1S 16 model are also used for the analyses. The numerical predictions are compared with field 17 measurements and the results indicate that the creep model provides an improved 18 approximation of field settlements, and excess pore pressure build-up and dissipations. In 19 addition, the application of two commonly used permeability matching techniques for two 20 dimensional (2D) plane-strain analysis of the PVD problem is studied and the results are 21 discussed highlighting their limitations and advantages