Department of Microbiology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

ΔΕΝ ΥΠΑΡΧΕΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗIn ostriches, mycoplasmas are generally associated with respiratory diseases and causes rhino-tracheitis, airsacculitis and inflammation of the upper respiratory tract. The aim of current study was the isolation and identification of pathogenic mycoplasmas in ostrich farms of Iran by the use of PCR and culture methods. In this study, mycoplasmas were isolated from ostrich slaughterhouse; 114 samples were collected from ostriches with respiratory signs and were cultured and PCR methods along with alignment were used to detect the mycoplasmas. For this purpose lung, trachea and air sacs were evaluated. The results indicated that 21.05% of samples were positive in PCR assayand from them 7.89% and 14% was M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae, respectively. The highest rate of M. gallisepticum and M. synoviae was detected in lung, airsacs and trachea. Alignment analysis demonstrated that the M. gallisepticum strains detected in our study have 97% homology to 06/14, 05/14 and 16S strains. In addition, M. synoviae strains have 99% and 98% homology to MSR-812, MSR-795 and MSR-1019 strains. One of the M. synoviae strains has 82% homology to ABSfsdMS2011 strain. The results of our study showed that ostriches in Iran were infected with chicken mycoplasmas but the pathogenesis of them in ostrich respiratory should be further evaluated

An Overview of the Reliability Analysis Methods of Tunneling Equipment

The absolute prevention of damage occurrence is not possible, thus reducing the probability of failure in a system and its impact is very important regarding the operation of a whole system. A failure in a system or in its subsystems makes negative results such as the stop in the production process, rising labor costs, and increasing the cost of maintenance. Reliability, in recent years, is mentioned as one of the most significant aspects of the quality of goods and services. In the past, reliability concerned sensitive and complex industries such as military, nuclear, and aerospace where the lack of their reliability could cause irreparable damage to the entire system. However, today it has become a universal concern. Tunneling equipment has grown in size and complexity and therefore, lack of reliability may cause massive costs to this equipment. Therefore, reliability determination in order to identify the components and subsystems with low reliability is essential. The aim of this study is to review the methods of tunneling equipment reliability analysis including statistical analysis, failure mode and effects analysis, Markov and fault tree methods. In addition, previous available research on the reliability analysis of tunneling equipment is presented.</jats:p

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Unrelated Stem Cell Donations in 2020 - Report from World Marrow Donor Association

Abstract Introduction: World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) promotes global collaboration for the benefit of stem cell donors and transplant patients. WMDA activities include recording the number of unrelated hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donations globally. Because the COVID-19 pandemic also has an impact on the treatment of patients with other diseases, we hypothesise that it also impacted the practice of unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We used the 2020 WMDA data to examine the trends in unrelated HSC donations during the COVID-19 pandemic globally, per continent and per country/region. Methods: Donor registries (DRs) and cord blood banks (CBBs) from 61 countries participated in the 2020 survey, compared to 59 countries in the 2019. Slight differences in participation between the data sets of 2019 and 2020 do not explain the trends we observe in HSC donations. Country/region-specific COVID-19 data on cases and deaths were obtained from the data repository operated by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering(https://github.com/CSSEGISandData/COVID-19, accessed July 12, 2021); and population data were retrieved from the Worldometer website(https://www.worldometers.info/, accessed July 12, 2021). Results: HSC donations from unrelated donors (peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) and bone marrow (BM)) decreased from 20,330 in 2019 to 19,623 in 2020 (-3.5%), compared to an average annual growth rate of 3.9% from 2015 to 2019 (figure 1). The 3.5% decrease is composed of a 29.0% decrease for BM and a 2.6% increase for PBSC, resulting in a drop in the BM share of unrelated HSC donations from 19.3% in 2019 to 14.2% in 2020. The number of cord blood unit (CBU) shipments globally decreased with 3.5% from 2,851 to 2,750. The percentage of national use of HSC products (PBSC and BM) increased from 51.2% to 53.5%. When considering the continent on which the patient is transplanted (table 1), the change rate of use of HSC donated products in 2020 vs. 2019 ranged from -28.0% in South America to +18.2% in Africa. In absolute numbers, the largest decrease of HSC donations occurred for patients in Asia (n=-485) followed by Europe (n=-205), and the largest increase occurred in North America (n=+88) followed by Oceania (n=+25). The share of HSC donations requiring intercontinental transport decreased from 24.6% in 2019 to 21.9% in 2020. In terms of the country/region of transplant (table 2), the largest percentage decrease occurred in Colombia (-90,5%) followed by Russia (-55,5%). In absolute numbers, the largest decrease occurred in Turkey (-147), with Japan following (-128, although Japan saw an increase of CBU use of +106). The highest growth rate was observed in Iran (+28,7%), followed by South Africa (+28,2%). In absolute figures, the greatest increase occurred in Italy (+67). The two countries receiving the largest HSC donation numbers showed no major changes versus the previous year: USA: +0.6% (although a decrease for CBU of -21,0% was observed) and Germany: -2.4%. We did not find any significant correlation between the numbers of COVID-19 cases or COVID-19-related deaths per 1 million inhabitants with the HSC donation numbers (Spearman's r=0.05 for cases and =0.08 for deaths). Discussion: The decline in the number of unrelated HSC donations in 2020 suggests an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HSC donation and unrelated HSCT. The significant decrease in BM collections and intercontinental/cross-border shipments can be explained by logistically complex processes, as well the increased risk to the donor of being exposed to an operative procedure. CBU as a stem cell source potentially circumvents these logistical complications. However, on a global scale our data does not show increased use of CBU suggesting that decisions to use CBU as a stem cell source did not change in the pandemic . We were unable to demonstrate a correlation between country/region-specific severity of the pandemic and HSC donation numbers. We suspect this is due to the data quality of reported number of COVID-19 cases and COVID-19-related deaths. Also, we did not gather monthly data and therefore could not specify pandemic waves. In conclusion, we would like to point out the fact that global exchanges of HSC products continued and only decreased slightly is an extraordinary achievement of DRs, CBBs and their donors and is a testament to the importance of international collaborations in the WMDA. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Devine: Orca Bio: Consultancy, Research Funding; Johnsonand Johnson: Consultancy, Research Funding; Sanofi: Consultancy, Research Funding; Magenta Therapeutics: Current Employment, Research Funding; Tmunity: Current Employment, Research Funding; Vor Bio: Research Funding; Kiadis: Consultancy, Research Funding; Be the Match: Current Employment. Shaw: Orca bio: Consultancy; mallinkrodt: Other: payments. Forman: Mustang Bio: Consultancy, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Lixte Biotechnology: Consultancy, Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company; Allogene: Consultancy. </jats:sec