Development and fecundity of Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on different soybean cultivars

The life history of Spodoptera exigua was studied under laboratory conditions at temperature of 25°C ± 1°C, relative humidity (RH) of 60% ± 5% and a photoperiod of 16:8 h (Light:Dark) on nine soybean (Glycine max L.) cultivars: 032, 033, Hill, M4, M7, M9, M11, TMS and Zan. Larval and pupal development times were longest on M7 cultivar (14.09 ± 0.078 and 7.78 ± 0.090 days) and shortest on 033 cultivar (11.98 ± 0.054 and 7.033 ± 0.090 days). The longest and shortest female and male longevities were observed on Hill and Zan cultivars, respectively. The results showed that the whole life span varied from 32.80 ± 0.89 to 37 ± 0.98 days for females and from 33.3 ± 0.66 to 38.74 ± 0.95 days for males. The highest daily fecundity was obtained on M9 (102. 38 eggs), and the lowest on Hill (75.87 eggs). Mean total fecundity per female during adult life was highest on 033 (1156.20 eggs) and lowest on M7 cultivars (841.68 eggs). Clustering analysis of the biological parameters of S. exigua confirmed that 033 and Hill cultivars were the susceptible and the resistant cultivars, respectively.     

Effect of Topical Tranexamic Acid on Bleeding and Quality of Surgical Field during Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis: A Triple Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Background

The effect of tranexamic acid (TXA) on bleeding and improvement of surgical field during functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) is not clear yet. This study was conducted to answer this question.

Methods

This trial was conducted on 60 patients with chronic sinusitis at Beasat Hospital, Hamadan, Iran, from April to November 2013. Thirty patients in the intervention group received three pledgets soaked with TXA 5% and phenylephrine 0.5% for 10 minutes in each nasal cavity before surgery. Thirty patients in the control group received phenylephrine 0.5% with the same way. The amount of bleeding and the quality of surgical field were evaluated at 15, 30, and 45 minutes after the start of surgery using Boezaart grading.

Results

The quality of the surgical field in the intervention group compared to the control group was significantly better in the first quarter (P = 0.002) and the second quarter (P = 0.003) but not in the third quarter (P = 0.163). Furthermore, the amount of bleeding was much less during all periods in the intervention group than in the control group (P = 0.001).

Conclusion

Topical TXA can efficiently reduce bleeding and improve the surgical field in FESS in patients with rhinosinusitis. Based on these findings, topical TXA may be a useful method for providing a suitable surgical field during the first 30 minutes after use.

Trial Registration

Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT201212139014N15     

The effect of bacterial glutathione S-transferase on morpholine degradation

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) constitute a large family of enzymes that catalyze the addition of glutathione to endogenous, or xenobiotic, often toxic electrophilic compounds. The effect of this enzyme in facilitating polychlorinated biphenyls degradation has been studied previously. Here the effects of induced cell-free extracts of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (grown on hexadecane), and E. coli BL21 (induced with pGEX-2T plasmid on isothiopropylgalactoside) were recruited to facilitate morpholine degradation by Mycobacterium and were compared with non-induced strains. The results showed that all induced strains had significantly more GST activity compared to non-induced ones, and the strain with most GST activity, A. calcoaceticus BS, removed morpholine faster. Eukaryotic GST gene expressed in E. coli BL21 also could facilitate morpholine degradation by Mycobacterium, The same experiments performed with cell-free extracts of non-induced cells did not show any significant effects on morpholine removal. These results showed that there is a correlation between GST activity and acceleration of morpholine degradation.     

High prevalence of mouse mammary tumor virus-like gene sequences in breast cancer samples of Iranian women

Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is considered to be responsible for breast tumor development in mice. In several instances sequences homologous to the genome of this virus have been reported in human breast cancer samples.

Here we aimed to evaluate MMTV involvement in human breast cancer development. DNA was extracted from 118 formalin fixed and paraffin embedded malignant (n = 59) and benign (n = 59) breast lesions. Using two sets of outer and inner MMTV-like envelope specific primers, in a nested PCR setup, MMTV genome was detected in 19 samples out of 59 (%32.2) cases of breast carcinomas, while in non-malignant breast tissue samples, only 3 samples out of 59 (%5) were positive. The difference was statistically highly significant (p < 0.001). Alignment of PCR amplified sequences with BR6, GR and C3H mouse mammary tumor virus strains emerged to be around 99% identical which is indicative of tumor tissue infection by an exogenous mouse MMTV genome.     

5-Fluorouracil-Loaded BSA Nanoparticles: Formulation Optimization and In Vitro Release Study

Over the past few decades, there has been considerable interest in developing protein nanoparticles as drug delivery devices. The underlying rationale is their exceptional characteristics, namely biodegradability and nonantigenicity. Herein, phase separation method was used to prepare 5-fluorouracil-loaded bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles. Drug release was tracked by continuous flow dialysis technique. Effect of process variables on loading efficiency of 5-fluorouracil was investigated and optimized through Taguchi’s M16 design with the amount of entrapped drug as response. Optimum condition was found to be 2 mg/mL of 5-fluorouracil, 3.7 mL of added ethanol, 176 μL of glutaraldehyde, drug–protein incubation time of 30 min, and pH of 8.4 for 200 mg of BSA in 2 mL drug solution. pH had the most noticeable effect on the amount of entrapped drug, but glutaraldehyde had the least. Mean diameter and zeta potential of fabricated nanoparticles under these conditions were 210 nm and −31.7 mV, respectively. Drug-loaded BSA nanoparticles suspension maintained constant release of drug for 20 h under experimental conditions, so this colloidal drug carrier is capable of releasing drug in a sustained manner.     

Determination of the in vivo pharmacokinetics of palladium-bacteriopheophorbide (WST09) in EMT6 tumour-bearing Balb/c mice using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy.

Palladium-bacteriopheophorbide (WST09), a novel bacteriochlorophyll derivative, is currently being investigated for use as a photodynamic therapy (PDT) drug due to its strong absorption in the near-infrared region and its ability to efficiently generate singlet oxygen when irradiated. In this study, we determined the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of WST09 in female EMT6 tumour-bearing Balb/c mice in order to determine if selective accumulation of this drug occurs in tumour tissue. A total of 41 mice were administered WST09 by bolus injection into the tail vein at a dose level of 5.0 +/- 0.8 mg kg(-1). Three to six mice were sacrificed at each of 0.08, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h post injection, and an additional three control mice were sacrificed without having been administered WST09. Terminal blood samples as well as liver, skin, muscle, kidney and tumour samples were obtained from each mouse and analyzed for palladium content (from WST09) using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAAS). The representative concentration of WST09 in the plasma and tissues was then calculated. Biphasic kinetics were observed in the plasma, kidney, and liver with clearance from each of these tissues being relatively rapid. Skin, muscle and tumour did not show any significant accumulation at all time points investigated. No selective drug accumulation was seen in the tumour and normal tissues, relative to plasma. Thus the results of this study indicate that vascular targeting resulting from WST09 in the circulation, as opposed to selective WST09 accumulation in tumour tissues, may be responsible for PDT effects in tumours that have been observed in other WST09 studies.     

Two-stage glycerol feeding for enhancement of recombinant hG-CSF production in a fed-batch culture of Pichia pastoris

Recombinant hG-CSF was expressed in Pichia pastoris under the control of the AOX1 promoter. In this study, the glycerol feeding rate was adjusted to achieve the maximum attainable specific growth rate before induction. Using a two-stage glycerol feeding method, the specific growth rate was changed from a maximum value of 0.21 h⁻¹ (at the beginning of feeding) to 0.15 h⁻¹ prior to induction. With this approach, the final dry cell wt and rhG-CSF yield achieved was close to 120 g l⁻¹ and 320 mg l⁻¹, respectively. Our study found that the two-stage feeding method allowed the overall productivity of rhG-CSF to increase 2.9 times that of the conventional fed-batch method.