Phoma negriana, a new invasive pathogen for Moghan's vineyards in Iran

During disease diagnosing studies in Moghan area, northern west of Iran, symptoms of black rot and necrosis were observed for the first time on Vitis venifera. Incidence was first noticed on leaves and stems. Symptoms occurred as small brown spots on leaves and stems, and developed as blackishbrown necrosis/canker so that the black pycnidia extended at the central parts of them. On the fruit, symptoms appeared as mummification of berries that were visible in the infested vineyards until winter time. The loss due to the disease along with downy mildew was remarkable during the studied years and can lead to substantial yield losses in Moghan climate condition. In order to identify the causal agent, the pathogen was isolated from infected leaves and stems. Also pathogenesity test was carried out by inoculating the causal agent to grapevine cuttings. According to culture, pycnidia and conidia characteristics described by Boerema et al. (2004), the results pointed toward Phoma negriana Thum asthe causative organism

The Incremental Cooperative Design of Preventive Healthcare Networks

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Soheil Davari, 'The incremental cooperative design of preventive healthcare networks', Annals of Operations Research, first published online 27 June 2017. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 27 June 2018. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10479-017-2569-1.In the Preventive Healthcare Network Design Problem (PHNDP), one seeks to locate facilities in a way that the uptake of services is maximised given certain constraints such as congestion considerations. We introduce the incremental and cooperative version of the problem, IC-PHNDP for short, in which facilities are added incrementally to the network (one at a time), contributing to the service levels. We first develop a general non-linear model of this problem and then present a method to make it linear. As the problem is of a combinatorial nature, an efficient Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) algorithm is proposed to solve it. In order to gain insight into the problem, the computational studies were performed with randomly generated instances of different settings. Results clearly show that VNS performs well in solving IC-PHNDP with errors not more than 1.54%.Peer reviewe

Isolation of fungi from housefly (Musca domestica L.) at Slaughter House and Hospital in Sanandaj, Iran

Objective. Houseflies have long been regarded as potential carriers of microorganisms especially fungi. Since pathogenic microorganisms are widespread in the hospital environment, there is abundant opportunity for flies to become contaminated and in turn to contaminate the patient environment and residen- tial regions. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify fungi from the slaughter house and the hospital environments. Material and method. The flies were captured with a sterile nylon net and transferred to the Entomology Laboratory for iden- tification by standard keys. The flies were captured and rinsed in a solution of 1% sodium hypochlorite for three minutes and twice in sterile distilled water for 1min then flies was transferred to a 0.85% saline solution. 0.1ml of this solution was transferred to Sabouraud?s dextrose agar (SDA). Isolation of fungi was identi- fied by standard mycological methods. Results. In this study totally 908 Musca domestica (418 flies from the hospital environments and 490 flies from the slaughter house) were collected in Sanandaj, Iran. The main fungi isolated were Aspergillus spp (66%). and another isolated were belong to Pene- cillium spp. (14%), Fusarium spp. (11.3%), Alternaria spp. (6%) and among the filamentous fungi, 8.6% of the isolates as Micro- sporum gypseum of dermatophytes was identified. Conclusion. The present study supports belief that the house fly is a carrier for fungal spores. Therefore they have to be control- led and density of their population should be reduced undertaken different vector control approaches

Observational constraints on FLRW, Bianchi type I and V brane models

This study explores the compatibility of Covariant Extrinsic Gravity (CEG) with current cosmological observations. We employ the chi-square statistic and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to fit the FLRW and Bianchi type-I and V brane models to the latest datasets, including Hubble, Pantheon+ Supernova samples, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and the structure growth rate, $f\sigma_8(z)$. Parameters for FLRW universe consist $\left(\Omega^{\text{(b)}}_0, \Omega^{\text{(cd)}}_0, \Omega^{\text{(k)}}_0, H_0, \gamma, \sigma_8\right)$, while for the Bianchi model are $\left(\Omega^{\text{(b)}}_0, \Omega^{\text{(cd)}}_0, \Omega^{{(\beta)}}_0, H_0, \gamma, \Omega^{(\theta)}_0, \sigma_8\right)$. We determine the best values for cosmological parameters. For the FLRW model, these values depend on the sign of $\gamma$: $\gamma > 0$ yields $\gamma =0.00008^{+0.00015}_{-0.00011}$, and $\Omega^{\text{(k)}}_0=0.014^{+0.024}_{-0.022}$ and $\gamma < 0$ leads to $\gamma =-0.0226^{+0.0054}_{-0.0062}$, and $\Omega^{\text{(k)}}_0=0.023^{+0.039}_{-0.041}$. In both cases $\Omega^{\text{(k)}}_0>0$ represents a closed universe. Similarly, for the Bianchi type-V brane model, the parameter values vary with the sign of $\gamma$, resulting in $\gamma = 0.00084^{+0.00019}_{-0.00021}$, $\Omega^{(\beta)}_0 =0.0258^{+0.0052}_{-0.0063}$, and $\Omega^{\theta}_0(\times 10^{-5} ) = 4.19^{+0.67}_{-0.75}$ (as with the density parameter of stiff matter) for $\gamma > 0$, and $\gamma = -0.00107^{+0.00019}_{-0.00020}$, $\Omega^{(\beta)}_0 = 0.0259^{+0.0050}_{-0.0062}$, and $\Omega^{\theta}_0(\times 10^{-5} ) = 4.17^{+0.91}_{-0.98}$ for $\gamma 0$, which represents the Bianchi type-V, because in the Bianchi type-I, $\beta=0$. Utilizing these obtained best values, we analyze the behavior of key cosmological parameters.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Physics of the Dark Univers

Evaluation of bacterial and fungal contamination in the health care workers? hands and rings in the intensive care unit

Introduction. Nosocomial infections remain a major challenge to the health care system and result in significant mortality, morbidity, and economic burden. Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at great risk of acquiring nosocomial infections. The objective of this study was to determine the contamination rate (bacterial and fungal) of the health care workers? (HCWs?) hands and ring in ICU. Methods. All health care workers were screened during the day shift in Emam hospital ICU. After obtaining informed consent, convenience samples of HCWs? hands and rings were cultured on specific media during their routine work hours, always after a patient care episode. The fungal and bacterial isolates were identified using standard microbiological procedures. Results. A total of 40 subjects were selected in this study (28females, 12males). The rate of contamination of hands and rings was observed in 73.1%. Most of isolates are known to cause nosocomial infections which included: 23% staphylococci, 7.9% Klebsiella spp., 4.7% Enterobacter spp., 3.9% Escherichia coli, 3.1% Acinetobacter spp., 2.3% Pseudomonas spp., and 27.7% were colonized with fungi. The fungal isolates were 16.6% Candida spp., 3.9% Rhodotorula spp., 3.1% Aspergillus niger, and 3.9% Aspergillus flavus. Conclusion. According to these results HCWs? hands and their rings were contaminated with various types of microorganisms. Medical and hospital personals must follow careful hand-washing techniques to minimize transmission of disease and should remove rings, watches, and bracelets before washing their hands and entering the ICU

Lipase-Mediated Conversion of Protecting Group Silyl Ethers: An Unspecific Side Reaction

Silyl ether protecting groups are important tools in organic synthesis, ensuring selective reactions of hydroxyl functional groups. Enantiospecific formation or cleavage could simultaneously enable the resolution of racemic mixtures and thus significantly increase the efficiency of complex synthetic pathways. Based on reports that lipases, which today are already particularly important tools in chemical synthesis, can catalyze the enantiospecific turnover of trimethylsilanol (TMS)-protected alcohols, the goal of this study was to determine the conditions under which such a catalysis occurs. Through detailed experimental and mechanistic investigation, we demonstrated that although lipases mediate the turnover of TMS-protected alcohols, this occurs independently of the known catalytic triad, as this is unable to stabilize a tetrahedral intermediate. The reaction is essentially non-specific and therefore most likely completely independent of the active site. This rules out lipases as catalysts for the resolution of racemic mixtures of alcohols through protection or deprotection with silyl groups

Histopathological alterations in the gill of zebrafish (Danio rerio) exposed to Cr and Ba doped TiO2 nanoparticles

In order to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of titanium dioxide, doping it with metals has been suggested; however, toxicity studies of metal-doped nanoparticles on aquatic organisms are not completely known. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the short term effect of exposure to Cr and Ba doped TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) using gill histopathology of zebrafish (Danio rerio) under laboratory condition. In this study, four concentration levels, 1, 10, 32, and 100 mg L-1 of each Cr and Ba doped TiO2 NPs as well as a control group were used. After 4 days of exposure, from each experimental group, three samples of fish gill prepared to study the classic histology (haematoxylin - eosin). The results of this study showed that the Cr and Ba doped TiO2 NPs can cause gill alterations including aneurism, dilated and clubbed tips, hyperplasia, oedema, curvature, fusion of lamellae, increase of mucous secretion, and proliferation in the erythrocytes of cartilaginous core. The extent of tissue damages increased by concentration levels of NPs; however, the severity of injouries caused by Cr was more notable than that of observed by Ba. © 2016 BIOFLUX SRL. All rights reserved

The trend of changes in depression, anxiety and stress in men with lower limb trauma: A prospective study

Introduction: Activity restrictions can have potential impacts on the prevalence of mental disorders. However, in patients with lower limb traumas the problems and the physical disabilities are usually taken more into consideration than mental status, while they refer for further examinations. Therefore, this study is aimed to investigate the changes in the process of depression, anxiety and stress in men with lower limb traumas. Materials and Methods: In a prospective study the patients with lower limb traumas, who have been hospitalized in Amir Al-Mo�menin and Kowsar hospitals in Semnan since June 2012 to August 2015, were selected randomly and studied. The data was collected by demographic and incident questionnaire and depression, anxiety and stress questionnaire. At first the patients were asked to complete the questionnaires based on their psychological experience of one month prior to the trauma. Then same questionnaires were completed by the patients one and three months after the trauma. The data was analyzed using Friedman and Wilcoxon tests. Results: The data of 157 patients was analyzed. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the severity of depression disorders, anxiety and stress in three stages of the study (P0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress is increased in people with lower limb traumas. Therefore it is recommended that the patients with lower limb traumas to be supported mentally, socially and economically. © 2016, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved