Transovarial Transmission of Babesia ovis by Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Hyalomma marginatum

Background: Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Hyalomma marginatum are the most common spe­cies in sheep herds in Northeast of Iran. There is preliminary evidence that these species may be the vectors of Babesia ovis in Iran. We carried out two experiments in Mashhad area, Khorasan Razavi Province to determine whether B. ovis could be transovarially transmitted by R. san­guineus and H. marginatum.Methods: In experiment 1, adults of laboratory reared H. marginatum and R.sanguineus were infected with B. ovis isolated from naturally infected sheep in Mashhad area by feeding the ticks on the sheep inoculated intravenously by infected blood samples. The inoculated sheep showed clinical signs with parasitaemia while the adult ticks were engorging on them. The engorged fe­males were collected and kept at 28°C and 85% relative humidity in incubator. Then, larval, nym­phal and adult stages derived from engorged females were used to infest the clean sheep. In experiment 2, two splenectomized sheep were infested only with the same adult ticks of two spe­cies.Results: Examination of smears and PCR of blood samples to detect of B. ovis in infested sheep in two experiments were negative.Conclusion: It seems that R. sanguineus and H. marginatum can not transovarially transmit B. ovis in sheep

Endoscopic screening for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal cancer (EC) is the eighth common cancer and the sixth most common cause of death from cancer worldwide. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains the most common type of EC in the developing world and an important health problem in high-risk areas. Most of ESCC cases present in late stages, resulting in delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis. Prevention is the most effective strategy to control ESCC. Primary and secondary preventive methods may be considered for ESCC. In primary prevention, we try to avoid known risk factors. The aim of the secondary preventive method (ESCC screening programs) is to detect and eliminate premalignant precursor lesion of ESCC, preventing its progression into advanced stages. Similar to all population-based screening programs, any screening for early detection of ESCC must be cost-effective; otherwise, screening may not be indicated in that population. Endoscopy with iodine staining has been accepted as a population-level ESCC screening program in some high-risk areas including parts of China. This method may be too expensive and invasive in other high-risk communities. Nonendoscopic methods may be more applicable in these populations for population-based screenings. The limitations (questionable validity and costs) of new endoscopic imaging modalities, including narrow-band imaging (NBI), made them inappropriate to be used in population-level ESCC screening programs. Low-cost, less-invasive endoscopic imaging methods with acceptable diagnostic performance may make screening of ESCC in high-risk areas cost-effective

Prime costs of hospital services in Ghaem hospital in Firouzabad, Fars

Activity-Based Costing puts a price on service systems and recognizes the opportunities for saving the costs. It foresees the main financial lines of organizations and can be a suitable guide for resource allocation. Using Activity-Based Costing model, the present study calculated the Prime costs of all services provided by Firouzabad Ghaem Hospital in Fars province. This is a cross-sectional study carried out in 2010 in a descriptive-analytical method. The research population included all diagnostic and therapeutic sections of a hospital in Fars province. The required data was collected through information forms, and the price was calculated by using Activity-Based Costing model. In the present study, the highest costs were for human resources (60.93%) and the lowest ones for consumable items and materials (1.85%). According to the obtained results, the radiology department had the most profitability (34.91%) while CCU and ICU were the most loss-making units (-0.03%). According to prime cost calculations, the hospital is profitable and the loss-making units can reach economic efficiency through the better management of human resources

Prime costs of hospital services in Ghaem hospital in Firouzabad, Fars

Activity-Based Costing puts a price on service systems and recognizes the opportunities for saving the costs. It foresees the main financial lines of organizations and can be a suitable guide for resource allocation. Using Activity-Based Costing model, the present study calculated the Prime costs of all services provided by Firouzabad Ghaem Hospital in Fars province. This is a cross-sectional study carried out in 2010 in a descriptive-analytical method. The research population included all diagnostic and therapeutic sections of a hospital in Fars province. The required data was collected through information forms, and the price was calculated by using Activity-Based Costing model. In the present study, the highest costs were for human resources (60.93%) and the lowest ones for consumable items and materials (1.85%). According to the obtained results, the radiology department had the most profitability (34.91%) while CCU and ICU were the most loss-making units (-0.03%). According to prime cost calculations, the hospital is profitable and the loss-making units can reach economic efficiency through the better management of human resources

Flow injection spectrofluorimetric determination of cystine and cysteine

A relatively simple and sensitive procedure with spectrofluorimetric detection was developed for the determination of cystine and cysteine by flow injection system with sequential determination. This method is based on the reduction of Tl(III) with cysteine in acidic media, producing a fluorescence reagent, TlCl3(2-) (λex = 227 nm, λem = 419 nm). Before injection, the sample solution was divided into two streams. The first stream was treated with Cd reduction column and then joined with the carrier to react with Tl(III) at pH 5.0 and then passed through a 100 cm reaction coil to the flow cell of the spectrofluorimeter, where the fluorescence intensity was measured (λex = 227 nm, λem = 419 nm). This signal is related to cystine and cysteine concentrations. The second stream of sample solution was injected directly into the carrier stream to react with the reagents and then passed through the reaction coil and detector for measuring the fluorescence intensity. The signal in this step is related only to cysteine. Thus, the cystine content was determined directly from difference of the two signals. Cystine and cysteine can be determined in the range of 0.10 to 5.50 µmol L-1 and 0.20 to 8.0 µmol L-1, respectively, at a rate of 20 samples per hour. The limit of detection (3s/k) was 0.10 µmol L-1 for both analytes. The relative standard deviations for ten replicates determination of 4.0 and 3.5 µmol L-1 cystine or cysteine were 1.1% and 1.8%, respectively. The influence of potential interfering substances was studied. The proposed method was successfully applied to the sequential determination of both analytes in pharmaceutical samples

Simulation of Partial and Supercavitating Flows around Axisymmetric and Quasi-3D Bodies by Boundary Element Method Using Simple and Reentrant Jet Models at the Closure Zone of Cavity

A fixed-length Boundary Element Method (BEM) is used to investigate the super- and partial cavitating flows around various axisymmetric bodies using simple and reentrant jet models at the closure zone of cavity. Also, a simple algorithm is proposed to model the quasi-3D cavitating flows over elliptical-head bodies using the axisymmetric method. Cavity and reentrant jet lengths are the inputs of the problem and the cavity shape and cavitation number are some of the outputs of this simulation. A numerical modeling based on Navier-Stokes equations using commercial CFD code (Fluent) is performed to evaluate the BEM results (in 2D and 3D cases). The cavitation properties approximated by the present research study (especially with the reentrant jet model) are very close to the results of other experimental and numerical solutions. The need for a very short time (only a few minutes) to reach the desirable convergence and relatively good accuracy are the main advantages of this method