First report on natural Leishmania infection of Phlebotomus sergenti due Leishmania tropica by high resolution melting curve method in Southeastern Iran

Objective: To identify the Leishmania species in infected sand flies by Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis. Methods: Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis targeting the first iidnetenrtnifayl atrnadn sdcirsitbinegdu sispha cLeeri s(hITmSa1n) ioaf snpueccleieasr irnib soasnodm aflli eDsN sAp eacsi mtheen sg.e Rneetsiuc ltms:a rTkherre we aosu tu soef d1 1to5 females of Phlebotomus sergenti (P. sergenti) (2.6%) were positive to Leishmania tropica (L. tropica). Conclusions: This is the first report on P. sergenti as the main and proven vector of anthroponitic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Dehbakri County using Real-time PCR coupled with HRM analysis. Tidheias l mfoert hlaordg eis s craapleid g,e sneontsyiptiivneg apnrodj escptesc.ifi

Molecular Characterisation of Small Molecule Agonists Effect on the Human Glucagon Like Peptide-1 Receptor Internalisation

The glucagon-like peptide receptor (GLP-1R), which is a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), signals through both Gαs and Gαq coupled pathways and ERK phosphorylation to stimulate insulin secretion. The aim of this study was to determine molecular details of the effect of small molecule agonists, compounds 2 and B, on GLP-1R mediated cAMP production, intracellular Ca2+ accumulation, ERK phosphorylation and its internalisation. In human GLP-1R (hGLP-1R) expressing cells, compounds 2 and B induced cAMP production but caused no intracellular Ca2+ accumulation, ERK phosphorylation or hGLP-1R internalisation. GLP-1 antagonists Ex(9-39) and JANT-4 and the orthosteric binding site mutation (V36A) in hGLP-1R failed to inhibit compounds 2 and B induced cAMP production, confirming that their binding site distinct from the GLP-1 binding site on GLP-1R. However, K334A mutation of hGLP-1R, which affects Gαs coupling, inhibited GLP-1 as well as compounds 2 and B induced cAMP production, indicating that GLP-1, compounds 2 and B binding induce similar conformational changes in the GLP-1R for Gαs coupling. Additionally, compound 2 or B binding to the hGLP-1R had significantly reduced GLP-1 induced intracellular Ca2+ accumulation, ERK phosphorylation and hGLP-1R internalisation. This study illustrates pharmacology of differential activation of GLP-1R by GLP-1 and compounds 2 and B

Determination of Reservoir(s) and Vector(s) of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis by Nested-PCR in Marvdasht District, Fars Province, Southern Iran

Abstract: Introduction: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an increasing public health problem in several parts of Iran. In southern parts, the incidence of CL has been doubled over the last decade. This epidemiological study was done for determination of reservoir(s) and vector(s) of cutaneous leishmaniasis in rural regions of Marvdasht, Fars province, southern Iran during 2003 and 2004. Methods: A total of 126 rodents were collected from three villages using live traps and their Giemsa-stained smears were studied for leishmania infection. After DNA extraction from positive smears, Nested-PCR was used for the identification of parasite species. In another procedure, 200 sand flies were collected by aspirator and after species identification DNA extraction and PCR was done. Results: The collected samples included Meriones libycus (75.4%), Cricetulus migratorius (14.3%) and Microtus arualis (10.3%). Eight out of 95 Meriones libycus (8.4%) were found to be infected with Leishmania major. None of the other species were positive. Among the collected female sandflies 75% were identified to be Phlebotomus papatasi and 2.7% of them were found with L.major infection. Conclusion: Only 2.7% of Phlebotomus papatasi were found naturally infected with Leishmania major. This is the first report of detection of L.major by Nested-PCR in P.papatasi as a proven principal vector of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Fars province, south of Iran. Keywords: Reservoir, Vector, Cutaneous leishmaniasis, Nested-PCR, Fars, Ira

Simulation of Harmonic Waves Generated by the Piston-type Wave-maker in the Wave Flume via the Exponential Basis Functions Mesh-free Method and MEL Formulation

In this article, a meshless method based on exponential basis functions (EBFs) is presented to simulate the harmonic waves with moving free-surfaces generated by the piston-type wave maker. Accordingly, velocity potential is adopted in a Mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian (MEL) approach. Boundary conditions are met through a point-wise collocation approach. In order to update the geometry in the simulation time, the free surface points are only moved vertically. To reduce the reflection in the wave flume, a damping zone is added at the far end opposite to the wave maker, where  the velocity is modified by adding an artificial damping term. The results indicated the ability of this numerical method in simulating free surface flow problems like non-linear waves with a good accuracy, as well as suitable performances and the least run time calculation

An integrated Shannon Entropy and reference ideal method for the selection of enhanced oil recovery pilot areas based on an unsupervised machine learning algorithm

Pilot-scale enhanced oil recovery in hydrocarbon field development is often implemented to reduce investment risk due to geological uncertainties. Selection of the pilot area is important, since the result will be extended to the full field. The main challenge in choosing a pilot region is the absence of a systematic and quantitative method. In this paper, we present a novel quantitative and systematic method composed of reservoir-geology and operational-economic criteria where a cluster analysis is utilized as an unsupervised machine learning method. A field of study will be subdivided into pilot candidate areas, and the optimized pilot size is calculated using the economic objective function. Subsequently, the corresponding Covariance (COV) matrix is computed for the simulated 3-D reservoir quality maps in the areas. The areas are optimally clustered to select the dominant cluster. The operational-economic criteria could be applied for decision making as well as the proximity of each area to the center of dominant cluster as a geological-reservoir criterion. Ultimately, the Shannon entropy weighting and the reference ideal method are applied to compute the pilot opportunity index in each area. The proposed method was employed for a pilot study on an oil field in south west Iran

In Vitro Effect of Acidic Solutions and Sodium Fluoride on Surface Roughness of Two Types of CAD-CAM Dental Ceramics

Objectives. This study assessed the effect of immersion in acidic solutions and sodium fluoride on surface roughness of dental ceramics. Materials and Methods. 40 blocks of Vitablocs Mark II and IPS e.max CAD (5 × 5 × 3) were prepared. The samples were divided into five groups (n = 8) for immersion in artificial saliva (control), artificially prepared gastric acid, acetic acid, 0.02% sodium fluoride + gastric acid, and 0.02% sodium fluoride + acetic acid. The samples were immersed for 168 hours in the respective solutions except for sodium fluoride, in which the samples were immersed for 69 hours. The surface roughness of samples was measured before and after immersion using a profilometer. The surface roughness changes of three specimens of each group were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Data were analyzed using one-way and two-way ANOVA, Tukey's test, and independent t-test. Results. Significant changes were noted in Ra (P=0.002) and Rq (P<0.0001) in both types of ceramics. The lowest changes in Ra and Rq parameters were seen in artificial saliva and gastric acid and highest changes occurred following immersion in 0.02% sodium fluoride + acetic acid and 0.02% sodium fluoride + gastric acid, respectively. Changes in Rz were also significant following immersion in Vitablocs Mark II (P<0.05). Immersion in 0.02% sodium fluoride + gastric acid and 0.02% sodium fluoride + acetic acid produced a rougher surface on both types of ceramics (SEM). Conclusion. Exposure of Vitablocs Mark II CAD and IPS e.max CAD to 0.02% sodium fluoride + gastric acid and 0.02% sodium fluoride + acetic acid significantly increased their surface roughness, while for Vitablocs Mark II, lager defects were seen on its surface