Search

Introduction Oil contamination affects the biological, physical, and chemical properties of soil. The abundance and diversity of soil microbial communities can significantly be influenced by petroleum hydrocarbons. Soil biological indicators including microbial population and enzyme activity, are highly sensitive to environmental stresses and respond to them quickly. Measuring the microbial population is one of the most common biological indicators which is used to study the quality and health of the soil. Also, measuring the activity of enzymes such as urease is one of the most sensitive indicators of oil-contaminated soils. There are some studies on the effects of oil contamination on microbial population and soil enzyme activity. Most of the studies have tested non-natural and short-term oil pollution and reported the adverse effects of oil hydrocarbons on microbial activities in soil. While the soil sample used in this research had natural and long-term contamination and the microorganisms are compatible with polluted conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the microbial population and urease activity in the presence of different levels of oil contamination, and how petroleum hydrocarbons can affect them. Petroleum hydrocarbons are toxic and persistent in soil, so it is necessary to study the pattern of changes in soil biological characteristics in effective soil management. Material and Methods In this study, 120 samples of oil-contaminated soils were collected from the oil-rich area of Naft-Shahr (located in the west of Kermanshah province) which had natural and long-term oil pollution. A nested design was used to analysis data in this research. The test factors included locations (4 locations) and 3 different levels of oil pollution: low (L), moderate (M), and high (H). Also, 10 replications were considered in the three levels of oil contamination. The collected soils were analyzed for physico-chemical (pH, EC, 0m, CCE, OC, soil texhure) and biological properties (including urease activity, BR and SIR) using standard methods, and the concentration of oil pollutants was determined by the Soxhlet extractor. To determine the abundance of the culturable microbial population, bacterial counting was performed using nutrient agar (NA) and carbon-free minimal medium (CFMM) supplemented with crude oil as the media. Urease activity was measured by the indophenol blue method and finally, the results of measuring chemical, physical and biological properties were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). Results and Discussion The average percentage of oil measured by Soxhlet method was 4.03%, 9.95% and 22.50% respectively for L, M and H levels. The results showed that the microbial population increased with the increase of contamination intensity. The highest microbial population counted in NA clhrre medium was 9.54 x105 CFU/g in H soils and the lowest population was 3.25 x 105 CFU/g in L soils. In the CFMM culture medium, the highest population in H soils was 11.3 x 105 CFU/g and the lowest population in L soils was 11.8 x 104 CFU/g. For both NA and CFMM mediums, location 1 had the highest population and location 4 had the lowest microbial population. Oil contamination of soil samples led to a decrease in urease activity in such a way that the highest enzyme activity in soils was obtained with low contamination (594.90 jrgNHgh) and the lowest activity in heavily contaminated soils (176.11 gNHgh). Also, the lowest urease activity was observed in location 1 and the highest in location 4. Principal components analysis (PCA) was also performed and 71% of the variance of the samples could be explained by the first two components (biochemical component and physical component). The results of this research indicated an increase in the microbial population with an increasing of the intensity of oil pollution. It seems that the results obtained from the studies conducted on man-made pollution and natural pollution have differences in terms of the type of biological responses. Aged, long-term and natural oil pollution has caused the selection of oil-resistant microbial community, and therefore we see their positive response to the presence of oil compounds. Conversely, urease enzyme activity was found to be higher in soils with low pollution. This suggests that microbial activity, while influential, is not the sole determinant of urease activity, and various factors contribute to Soil Enzyme Activity (SEA). The type of petroleum pollutant, the direct effect of petroleum compounds on urease-producing microorganisms, as well as the non-microbial origin of urease in soil can be possible reasons for reducing urease activity in contaminated soils. Conclusion In areas where petroleum pollutants are naturally and long-term present in the soil, some oil-decomposing microbial groups use petroleum hydrocarbons as a source of carbon for their nutrition, so the abundance of oildecomposing communities increases. The results showed an increase in the microbial population with an increase in the intensity of oil pollution. On the other hand, the activity of urease enzyme measured in soils with low pollution was higher because non-microbial factors may affect the activity of this enzyme and the increase in the microbial population is not related to the increase in the population of urease-producing microbes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: McGill pain questionnaire is the most useful standard tools for assessing pain. McGill pain questionnaire contains 78-word descriptive of the 20 subclasses form-ing in three main sensory, affective and evaluative domains. Due to cultural differences, the questionnaire has been translated into several languages. This study aimed to transl-ate MPQ into Persian language and assess its reliability, validity and acceptability in patients with cancer.Methods: The study performed in Medical Oncology Department of Cancer Institute in Imam Khomeini Hospital in the Spring 2012. After translation of MPQ by two experts fluent in English, Persian version was returned to English. Then that backward transla-tion was compared with the original questionnaire and words that did not match were reviewed. Patients with different types of cancer who suffering from chronic pain were admitted in our study. They did not receive any kind of pain killer drugs during the pre-vious 24 hours. There was no restriction of age, sex, education, type of cancer or treat-ment modality. The reliability and validity of Persian-McGill pain questionnaire after interviewing patients was assessed by test–retest reliability and internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha).Results: In total, 84 patients were interviewed and 30 patients who were available after 24 hour with the same condition recomplete the questionnaire. Cronbach’alpha of each domain was in 0.622-0.743 and total Crobach’s alpha (n=84) was 0.85. Evaluative aspect has only one subgroup and because of this, it is not have Crobach’s alpha. The stability coefficient (n=30) in all areas (sensory, emotional, and other domains) were 0.812-0.964. Stability coefficient among the 20 Persian McGill Pain Questionnaire (PMPQ) subclasses showed significant and reliable relationships over time for all groups.Conclusion: This study is the first study that assessed psychometric properties and use-fulness of the MPQ in Iranian patients with cancer, showed that it is a potentially useful measure with a high validity and reliability standards.

Reduced Beam Section (RBS) is a new type of connection in steel moment resistant frames that was introduced after the Northridge earthquake of 1994. The application of RBS connections associated with reduced beam flange width can aid in accelerating web, flange, and lateral-torsional bucklings in the beam. To fix this problem, a new type of stiffener called the boxstiffener was presented in this study, which exactly encases the reduced portion of the beam. First, 4 laboratory tests were performed on RBS connections made of IPE140 and IPE270 sections in the two conditions of 'with' and 'without' a boxstiffener. Laboratory results showed that the stiffener considerably enhanced the connection ductility without a significant increase in the connection's resistance. To examine other sizes of IPE sections, a verified Finite Element model was utilized. The results of the numerical models also confirmed the suitable performance of the box-stiffener. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urinary tract infection, as a risk factor for adverse maternal and prenatal outcomes, is one of the most common bacterial infections during pregnancy. The objective of this study was to determine prevalence of urinary tract infection and its associated risk factors in pregnant women. Material and Methods: In a cross-sectional analytical study a total 2496 pregnant women who were underwent prenatal care through July 2011 in three rural and six urban health centers of Ardabil city, were selected by multistage sampling. Data collection was performed using a self designed questionnaire from women's prenatal care records, 240 pregnant women with positive urine culture were considered as a case group and the remaining as a control group. Data were analyzed through Kruskal -- Wallis, Chi-square and Stepwise Logistic Regression statistical tests using SPSS version 16. Results: The incidence of urinary tract infection was 9.7%. Low socioeconomic status ( p=0.021, OR= 2/338, CI= 1/138-4/766),distance between pregnancies less than 3 years( p=0.026, OR= 2/137, CI= 1/093-4/141),and hyperemesis gravidarum( p=0.039, OR=2/06, CI= 1/038-4/098)were determined as risk factors that significantly contribute to urinary tract infection in pregnant women. Conclusion: We conclude that appropriate distance between pregnancies, intensive care of pregnant women with low socioeconomic status and hyperemesis gravidarum may significantly prevent urinary tract infection and its related adverse health effects among pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of pH on the synthesis of nanocrystallines cobalt ferrite by combination of sol-gel auto combustion and ultrasonic irradiation methods. Two different fuels, urea and thiourea, along with metal nitrates (oxidant) were used to prepare CoFe2O4 powders. The morphology of the resulting powders was investigated. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Phase pure spinel cobalt ferrite powder was obtained at pH values 6 and 7 after the calcinations at 750°C when urea was used as the fuel; however, the samples obtained using thiourea fuel contained impurities. The average crystalline size was 21 and 37 nm, respectively, for the samples containing urea and thiourea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Immaturity of the ovarian follicles results in an infertility citation called POF or Premature Ovarian Failure. Women with this disorder lack graffian follicles so they don't have any oocytes for ovulation and therefore go through menopause before the age of 40 and have high levels of gonadotropin hormones (FSH & LH). On the other hand, Follicle stimulating hormone has a critical role in the maturation of the ovarian follicles from the antral to the graffian stage. Materials and Methods: FSH will start a signaling cascade in the granulosa cells after sitting on its receptor, FSH receptor, which its activation will lead to follicle To investigate whether mutations on FSH receptor are involved in POF disorder, two main inactivating mutations were The presence of two mutations 566C>T and 1555C>A were analyzed in a case control study comprised of 40 POF patients and 40 control samples which all were Iranian women who had referred to Royan Institute. Firstly their karyotype and FMR1 gene were checked to be normal. At the second stage, the DNA of peripheral blood samples was amplified by two pair of primers. For determining allelic variant status, RFLP, SSCP and Sequencing were done on the amplified PCR products. Results: All the control and case samples had the normal GCA and CCC genotype; hence no inactivating mutations (GTA & ACC respectively) were seen in Iranian POF patients. The FSH mean in the blood test of these patients were 52.5 IU/ml. Conclusion: Although these mutations, especially 566C>T were seen in other populations, this study showed that FSHR gene inactivating mutations are not frequent in Iranian POF patients. We suggest studying other inactivating mutations and polymorphisms of FSHR gene in Iranian POF patients maturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Mouse embryonic stem cells are pluripotent cells which are derived from the blastocysts of the preimplantation embryos. The success rate in generating embryonic stem cells in some mouse stains like BALB/c, C57BL/6, DBA/2 has been very low and altered by the genetic variations. Nowadays the researchers have succeeded in producing embryonic stems cells from these resistant strains by identifying the cell signaling pathways involved in pluripotency maintenance and using differentiation inhibitory small molecules. In this study the chromosomal integrity of mouse embryonic stem cells after exposure to two different mediums containing ERK1,2 and GSK3 pathways inhibitors (2i) and ERK1,2 and TGFβpathways inhibitors (R2i) were investigated. Materials and Methods: 9 cell lines were derivate from BALB/c, C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mouse strains (3 cell lines from each strain). These lines were cultured in R2i medium and after 10 passages, were studied for chromosome stability by G-band karyotype analysis. The normal karyotype lines were selected and divided to two groups, each were cultured in 2i and R2i medium for 20 passages. Then these two groups were karyotyped to evaluate their chromosome integrity. Results: The rate of numerical and structural abnormalities in the proliferated cells in 2i medium were significantly higher than that of the cells on the R2i medium (in comparison with the primary10 passages in R2i medium). The mean of chromosomal abnormalities of all proliferated cells in 2i medium were significantly higher than the cells in R2i medium (39.33 and 22.66% respectively). It should be mentioned that the BALB/c strain showed the least chromosomal abnormality percentage, while the DBA/2 strain had the most abnormality. Conclusion: Inhibiting GSK3 pahtway during cell divisions in mouse embryonic stem cells may have more destructive effect on chromosomal integrity than inhibiting TGFβ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Objectives: Rodents belonging to Gerbillinae subfamily are the main reservoir hosts of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) in Iran. Regarding the important role of these rodents in the maintenance of Leishmania major in the nature, their identification with morphometric, cytogenetic and molecular methods seems to be essential. The karyotype study of these species, captured from a new focus of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis located in the south of Isfahan Province was carried out in 2007., Methods: Twenty specimens containing seventeen Meriones persicus and three Nesokia indica were captured from Mobarakeh rural district south of Isfahan. Giemsa-stained karyotypes of these two species were prepared from bone marrow chromosome preparations. Systematic important characters of the body and cranium (incisors, molars, occipitonasal, condylobasal, zygomatic, tympanic bullae, etc.) of these rodents were studied. Cranium size was measured using a Vernier calipers., Results: Specimens of M. persicus and N. indica had 2n = 42. The karyotype study of these species included metacentric, sub-metacentric and acrocentric chromosomes. Morphological studies were completely matched with the reported characters of these species and further confirmed the diagnoses., Interpretation & Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, M. persicus and N. indica are two completely differentiated rodents species that were collected from a new focus and they can also be differentiated morphologically.