Effect of PGF2α and GnRH on the reproductive performance of postpartum dairy cows subjected to synchronization of ovulation and timed artificial insemination during the warm or cold periods of the year

This study was designed to evaluate the reproductive performance of lactating dairy cows (Holstein Friesian) after the injection of PGF_2α analogue on Day 15 postpartum, and GnRH analogue on Day 23 after artificial insemination (AI) with Presynch (two injections of PGF_2α, administered 14 days apart starting at 30–35 days postpartum) + Ovsynch-based (GnRH–7 days–PGF_2α–2 days–GnRH–16–20 hours–timed artificial insemination) treatments, during the warm and cold periods of the year. All the cows (n = 313) were assigned to one of the four groups including: M₁ (n = 72) in which the cows were treated with PGF_2α on Day 15 postpartum + Presynch-Ovsynch + GnRH on Day 23 post-AI; M₂ (n = 41) in which the cows received PGF_2α on Day 15 postpartum + Presynch-Ovsynch; M₃ (n = 100) including the cows that got Presynch-Ovsynch; and control group (n = 100) including the cows that were not treated and were inseminated at natural estrus. Pregnancy diagnosis was performed 28 to 35 days post-insemination by means of ultrasound. The results showed that treatment with PGF_2α on Day 15 postpartum significantly decreased the days to conception and the number of services per conception (P < 0.01) and it also improved the first service conception rate (P < 0.1) only in cows that were treated with M₂ protocol. Whereas, the days to first service was not influenced by the treatment of PGF_2α on Day 15 postpartum (P > 0.05). In contrast, administration of GnRH on Day 23 post-AI increased the days to conception and the number of service per conception (P < 0.01) and tended to decrease the first service conception rate (P < 0.1) in cows that were treated with M₁ compared with M₂ protocol. Therefore, it was concluded that Presynch-Ovsynch protocol could be more reproductive and beneficial when a single treatment with PGF_2α was administered at 15 days postpartum (15 days after the PGF_2α, Presynch-Ovsynch protocol was initiated). Interestingly, the administration of a GnRH agonist on Day 23 post-AI not only did not improve the reproductive performance of the cows receiving first postpartum timed artificial insemination after Presynch-Ovsynch protocol but also reduced that.     

Host plant effects on the functional response of Stethorus gilvifrons to strawberry spider mites

The functional response of adult females of the coccinellid beetle Stethorus gilvifrons Mulsant to juveniles of strawberry spider mite, Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov & Nikolski was determined on cowpea, castor bean and cucumber leaves in the laboratory at 25°C and a 14 h L: 10 h D photoperiod. Beetles were isolated singly for 24 h in 9-cm Petri dishes with either 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128 nymphal stages of T. turkestani. Results showed a typical type II response on all plants tested, with up to 110.7, 100.8, and 53.0 prey attacked when 128 nymphal stages were provided on cowpea, castor bean, and cucumber leaves, respectively. Based on the Rogers random attack equation, the highest estimated attack rate and the lowest handling time were obtained on cowpea. It was therefore concluded that the host plant species can affect the predation rate and functional response components of S. gilvifrons, a specific and effective predator of spider mites.     

Effects of crocin in reducing DNA damage,inflammation, and oxidative stress in multiple sclerosis patients: A double‐blind,randomized, and placebo‐controlled trial

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the nerve cells, resulting in neurological disorders. Oxidative stress, free radicals, and neuritis have important roles in MS pathogenesis. Here, we aim to evaluate the effect of crocin on inflammatory markers, oxidative damage, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage in the blood of patients with MS. A total of 40 patients were divided into two groups, drug and placebo‐treated groups, using random assignment. Participants of the intervention and control groups received two crocin capsules or placebo per day for 28 days, respectively. Findings revealed a significant decrease in the level of important pathogenic factors in MS, including lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, tumor necrosis factor‐alpha, and interleukin 17 as well as a significant increase in the total antioxidant capacity in the serum of patients treated with crocin compared with the placebo group. Our results suggest the beneficial and therapeutic effects of crocin in MS.     

Analysis of SNPs and Haplotypes in Vitamin D Pathway Genes and Renal Cancer Risk

In the kidney vitamin D is converted to its active form. Since vitamin D exerts its activity through binding to the nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR), most genetic studies have primarily focused on variation within this gene. Therefore, analysis of genetic variation in VDR and other vitamin D pathway genes may provide insight into the role of vitamin D in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) etiology. RCC cases (N = 777) and controls (N = 1,035) were genotyped to investigate the relationship between RCC risk and variation in eight target genes. Minimum-p-value permutation (Min-P) tests were used to identify genes associated with risk. A three single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sliding window was used to identify chromosomal regions with a False Discovery Rate of <10%, where subsequently, haplotype relative risks were computed in Haplostats. Min-P values showed that VDR (p-value = 0.02) and retinoid-X-receptor-alpha (RXRA) (p-value = 0.10) were associated with RCC risk. Within VDR, three haplotypes across two chromosomal regions of interest were identified. The first region, located within intron 2, contained two haplotypes that increased RCC risk by approximately 25%. The second region included a haplotype (rs2239179, rs12717991) across intron 4 that increased risk among participants with the TC (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.09–1.57) haplotype compared to participants with the common haplotype, TT. Across RXRA, one haplotype located 3′ of the coding sequence (rs748964, rs3118523), increased RCC risk 35% among individuals with the variant haplotype compared to those with the most common haplotype. This study comprehensively evaluated genetic variation across eight vitamin D pathway genes in relation to RCC risk. We found increased risk associated with VDR and RXRA. Replication studies are warranted to confirm these findings.     

Life-history variations of killifish (Aphanius sophiae) populations in two environmentally different habitats in central Iran

Two populations of Aphanius sophiae from two different habitats (one in a spring with stable environmental conditions and the other in a river with variable conditions) were examined to determine whether these conditions elicit differences in life history traits. Age composition revealed that females from the spring live longer. Von Bertalanffy growth parameters showed that L(∞) in the river population was higher than in the spring population. GSI showed a shorter reproduction period in A. sophiae from the river system. Egg diameter was significantly larger in the spring population. These results confirm the hypothesis of the response of killifish to local selective pressures in different habitats through adaptations via changes in the duration of the reproductive period, egg diameter, size changes, age composition and growth rate.     

Synthesis of a highly fluorescent N,N‐dimethyl benzylamine–palladium(II) curcuminate complex and its application for determination of trace amounts of water in organic solvents

In this work a new highly fluorescent N,N‐dimethyl benzylamine–palladium(II) yu complex was synthesized by the reaction of [Pd₂{(C,N–C₆H₄CH₂N(CH₃)₂}₂(μ‐OAc)]₂] with curcumin. The structure of the synthesized complex was characterized using Fourier transform infra‐red (FT‐IR) spectroscopy, ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Fluorescence quantum yield (Φ_F) values of the synthesized complex in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), acetonitrile, ethanol, and methanol were 0.160, 0.104, 0.068, and 0.061, respectively. The fluorescence signal of the complex in the organic solvents was very sensitive to the water content of the organic solvent. The quenching effect of water was used to determine trace amounts of water in the heteroatom‐containing organic solvents (ethanol, methanol, acetonitrile) and redox‐active solvents (DMSO). The linear ranges for determination of water (v/v %) in ethanol, DMSO and acetonitrile were found to be 0.03–14.5, 0.08–13.8, and 0.07–18.8, respectively. Two linear ranges were found for determination of water (v/v %) in methanol (0.1–1.2 and 4.7–25.0). Detection limit (DL) values were calculated to be 0.001, 0.05, 0.004, and 0.01 (v/v %) in ethanol, methanol, acetonitrile, and DMSO, respectively. The proposed method overcomes the problems of the standard Karl Fischer method for determination of water in DMSO. In addition, it gave the best DL value for determination of water in ethanol compared with all published papers to date.     

Seed Polyphenolic Profile,Antioxidative Activity,and Fatty Acids Composition of Wild and Cultivated Carthamus Species

Total flavonoid content (TFC) and cyanidin‐3‐glucoside (Cyd‐3‐glu) of seed and seed coat extract of 16 genotypes from five species of Carthamus were studied, and their major polyphenolic compounds and antioxidant activity of the seed coat extracts were determined using HPLC analysis and DPPH assay, respectively. Additionally, fatty acids composition of the seed oil was analyzed by GC. In general, TFC and Cyd‐3‐glu content of seed coat extracts were higher than those of seed extracts. A novel breeding line with black seed coat (named A82) depicted lower TFC (3.79 mg QUE/g DW) but higher Cyd‐3‐glu (24.64 mg/g DW) compared to the white and other seed‐pigmented genotypes. DPPH radical scavenging activity showed a strong association with Cyd‐3‐glu content (r = 0.84), but no correlation with TFC (r = ?0.32). HPLC analysis of seed coat extracts revealed that four compounds were dominant constituents including rutin (7.23 – 117.95 mg/100 g DW), apigenin (4.37 – 64.88 mg/100 g DW), quercetin (3.09 – 14.10 mg/100 g DW), and ferulic acid (4.49 – 30.41 mg/100 g DW). Interestingly, the genotype A82 with an appropriate polyunsaturated/saturated fatty acids index (5.46%) and a moderate linoleic fatty acid content (64.70%) had higher nutritional and pharmaceutical value than all the other genotypes.     

Prediction of membrane protein types by means of wavelet analysis and cascaded neural networks

In this study, membrane proteins were classified using the information hidden in their sequences. It was achieved by applying the wavelet analysis to the sequences and consequently extracting several features, each of them revealing a proportion of the information content present in the sequence. The resultant features were made normalized and subsequently fed into a cascaded model developed in order to reduce the effect of the existing bias in the dataset, rising from the difference in size of the membrane protein classes. The results indicate an improvement in prediction accuracy of the model in comparison with similar works. The application of the presented model can be extended to other fields of structural biology due to its efficiency, simplicity and flexibility.