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Background: Several markers have been described to characterise the population structure and genetic diversity of Fasciola species (Fasciola hepatica(F. hepatica) and Fasciola gigantica (F. gigantica). However, sequence analysis of a single genomic locus cannot provide sufficient resolution for the genetic diversity of the Fasciola parasite whose genomes are ∼1.3 GB in size. Objectives: To gain a better understanding of the gene diversity of Fasciola isolates from western Iran and to identify the most informative markers as candidates for epidemiological studies, five housekeeping genes were evaluated using a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) approach. Methods: MLST analysis was developed based on five genes (ND1, Pepck, Pold, Cyt b and HSP70) after genomic DNA extraction, amplification and sequencing. Nucleotide diversity and phylogeny analysis were conducted on both concatenated MLST loci and each individual locus. A median joining haplotype network was created to examine the haplotypes relationship among Fasciola isolates. Results: Thirty‐three Fasciola isolates (19 F. hepatica and 14 F. gigantica) were included in the study. A total of 2971 bp was analysed for each isolate and 31 sequence types (STs) were identified among the 33 isolates (19 for F. hepatica and 14 for F. gigantica isolates). The STs produced 44 and 42 polymorphic sites and 17 and 14 haplotypes for F. hepatica and F. gigantica, respectively. Haplotype diversity was 0.982 ± 0.026 and 1.000 ± 0.027 and nucleotide diversity was 0.00200 and 0.00353 ± 0.00088 for F. hepatica and F. gigantica, respectively. There was a high degree of genetic diversity with a Simpson's index of diversity of 0.98 and 1 for F. hepatica and F. gigantica, respectively. While HSP70 and Pold haplotypes from Fasciola species were separated by one to three mutational steps, the haplotype networks of ND1 and Cyt b were more complex and numerous mutational steps were found, likely due to recombination. Conclusions: Although HSP70 and Pold genes from F. gigantica were invariant over the entire region of sequence coverage, MLST was useful for investigating the phylogenetic relationship of Fasciola species. The present study also provided insight into markers more suitable for phylogenetic studies and the genetic structure of Fasciola parasites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress is one of the most destructive environmental stresses which affect the performance of soybean photosynthetic apparatus and can reduce plant productivity. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs), Piriformospora indica and drought effects on gas exchange, sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) and acid phosphatase (ASP) activities. Treatments included inoculation and non-inoculation of P. indica, NPs (0, 0.5 and 0.75 gL-1) and three irrigation regimes (control, irrigation after 50% and 75% depleting of soil water content). This study showed that drought stress reduced SPAD values and increased membrane electrolyte leakage. It also had negative effect on photosynthetic functional parameters. Nevertheless, inoculation of soybean with P. indica can provide drought-tolerance by improving the net photosynthesis, carboxylation efficiency, P, SPS and ASP parameters, keeping membrane stability and raising chlorophyll content. In addition, similar to P. indica, NPs treatment alleviated the negative effects of drought stress on gas exchange by altering physical biochemical responses, which caused a low internal CO2 concentration, sucrose and leaf damage. The above findings show that, P. indica and NPs can mitigate the photosynthetic limitations through promoting photosynthetic capacity under drought stress in soybean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress is one of the most important environmental stresses that affects the quantity and quality of soybean production. This study was conducted to explore the role of iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) application and Piriformospora indica inoculation in alleviating the adversities of drought stress on fatty acid composition and oil production in soybean. The results showed that seed oil synthesis was considerably reduced by drought stress, whereas the membrane lipid peroxidation was accelerated under drought stress condition. The applied NPs (especially 0.75g L-1) and P. indica enhanced the activities of enzymatic antioxidants (SOD, CAT, PPO and APX) with simultaneous decrease in malondialdehyde. Under drought stress, an inverse relationship between protein and seed oil was observed, as by increasing protein content, seed oil decreased linearly. In addition, the main oil constituents, oleic and stearic acids increased, while linoleic, linolenic and palmitic acids reached to the lowest level in severe drought stress (FC 20%). Interestingly, the beneficial effects of NPs and P. indica led to improvement in grain weight, fatty acid composition and oil content under drought stress. During drought stress, oleic, linoleic, linolenic and palmitic acids increased and stearic acid decreased considerably in P. indica and NPs treatments. However, combined NPs and P. indica was generally more effective in alleviation of drought stress deleterious effects than individual treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim This study aimed to investigate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of hydatid cyst disease in patients admitted to Imam Reza, Imam Hossein, and Bisotoon hospitals in Kermanshah City, Iran, from 2014 to 2018. Methods & Materials In this descriptive study, we studied and analyzed the medical records of 350 patients with hydatid cysts who were hospitalized and underwent surgical treatment in Kermanshah hospitals from 2014 to 2018. Also, the demographic characteristics of patients, including gender, age, occupation, place of residence, and affected organs, were extracted and recorded. Ethical Considerations The Ethics Committee of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences approved this study (Code: IR.KUMS.REC.1398.366). Results In total, 350 patients with a Mean±SD age of 43.2±19.7 in women and 43.3±20.7 in men were admitted with a diagnosis of hydatid cyst. The highest and lowest prevalence of hydatid cysts were in the age groups of 41-50 (16.5%) years and 1-10 (4.8%) years, respectively. The prevalence was 181 (51.7%) in women and 169 (48.2%) in men. The organs mostly infected with hydatid cysts were the liver, lung, and brain, with 241 cases (68.8%), 55 (15.7%), and 24 (6.8%), respectively. Conclusion This study shows that hydatid cyst disease is an important disease, especially in rural areas of Kermanshah Province, Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria is the most severe protozoan disease in the world. As a result of strict malaria control programs, malaria's epidemiological model has changed. Knowing this epidemiological model and its effects will help us predict and prevent a new epidemic. This research was conducted to review the epidemiological trend of malaria in the Kermanshah province of Iran and some of its effective factors. Data were extracted from the registers in the disease control unit of the province, national population census, and annual rainfall report. The data was processed by SPSS16. There has been an evident decrease in malaria cases over the last 30 years in Kermanshah. This decreasing trend began especially after 1994, and since then, just 6% of all cases have happened. Between 1990 to 1997, an epidemic occurred, and more than 80% of positive cases were registered in these years. P. vivax malaria was the most common type (99.32%), and P. falciparum malaria was the second, with a very egregious difference (0.68%). The average age was 23.1 years, and men were infected twice more than women. There was a positive relation between annual rainfall level and positive malaria cases in these cities. After the major changes in malaria control programs in Kermanshah province, the number of positive cases fell noticeably, and now it is in the elimination stage. All cases of malaria were imported in the last years, and no resistance type was ever seen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the research which examined the effects of sulfur and manure levels on yield and yield components of canola on a calcareous soil.

Purpose: Rodents live in proximity to humans and domestic animals. These creatures can serve as reservoir hosts for many zoonotic parasites; therefore, they increase the risk of human infections. The aim of this study was to investigate Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in rodents caught in Meshgin-Shahr District, Iran., Patients and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, brain samples were collected from 70 rodents caught in Meshgin-Shahr District during March and December 2015. The specimens were examined for exposure to T. gondii and N. caninum with molecular methods., Results: Seventy rodents were caught, including 50 Meriones persicus , 11 Mus musculus and 9 Cricetulus migratorius . Thirty rodents were female and 40 were males. Using PCR (B1 gene), T. gondii was detected in 7.1% (5/70) of the rodents while N. caninum was not detected. The prevalence of Toxoplasma infection was higher in female rodents (4.28%) compared to male rodents (2.86%), but the difference was not significant., Conclusion: The results showed a low risk of T. gondii and N. caninum among rodents. Finally, further research is needed to understand the role of these rodent species in the transmission of the above protozoan pathogens to humans and livestock in this area., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2019 Nazari et al.)

Background: We aimed to determine the prevalence of fasciolosis in the definitive hosts (human and livestock) and intermediate ( Lymnaea snails) hosts in Kermanshah Province, western Iran from 2014-2016., Methods: The study on animals was descriptive and retrospective one. All daily records of animals slaughtered in the abattoirs were analyzed. For the study of human fascioliasis, 975 serum samples were collected from different parts of Kermanshah Province and analyzed using ELISA based on excretory-secretory antigens. Moreover, 4400 Lymnaea snails were collected from 25 habitats. The snails were identified and examined for presence of cercariae by shedding method., Results: Fasciolosis was diagnosed in 1.7% of slaughtered animals, which was significantly greater than the other species ( P <0.005). There was significant difference ( P <0.001) between the prevalence of fasciolosis and seasonal pattern. As for human cases, five cases (0.5%) were positive for fascioliasis. Regarding the seropositivity to fasciolosis, no significant differences were found for age groups, sex, level of education and occupation. No Fasciola infection was seen in snails of the family Lymnaeidae., Conclusion: The prevalence of Fasciola parasite was lower compared to other provinces. This is probably due to sequential decline in rainfall and hot climate that makes conditions difficult for the snail intermediate host snails and the larval stages of fasciolid trematodes. The habitual food of people is another important point., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

Background: We evaluated the genetic diversity of samples identified morphologically as Fasciola spp. from sheep, cattle and goat from Kermanshah Province, western Iran using PCR-RFLP method., Methods: We used PCR-RFLP analysis of ribosomal ITS1 fragment using RsaI restriction enzyme to investigate the genetic characteristics of Fasciola species obtained from different hosts (16 sheep, 28 cattle, 4 goats). The species of Fasciola were confirmed by sequencing the 700 bp region of ribosomal ITS1 gene., Results: In Kermanshah, F. hepatica was present in 96% of the samples, F. gigantica was found only in two cattle sample. No hybrid forms were detected in the present study., Conclusion: Our results contribute to clarify the dark spots of Fasciola genotyping in different parts of Iran.