Detection and Phylogenetic Study of Peste des Petits Ruminants in Iran, 2019: Updated Data

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is caused by a morbillivirus from the Paramyxoviridae family and the infected animals, especially goats, that show clinical signs of necrotic stomatitis, enteritis, and pneumonia. The PPR virus has four lineages closely related to the geographical regions. Sufficient awareness of the lineage of the virus helps monitor the disease in different regions of a country. Phylogenetic studies have led to implementing strategies against new lineages that may enter a given country from the neighboring countries. The present research aimed to study the PPR virus (PPRV) detected phylogenetically by PCR in a small ruminant flock with PPR clinical signs. The goats in a flock in Alborz province showed clinical signs of PPR, and 10% died. Oral swabs and blood samples were taken from two affected goat flocks. The RT-PCR was conducted to detect PPRV RNA, and the sequence of the obtained RNA was analyzed phylogenetically. Moreover, all the samples were positive for the presence of PPRV and belonged to lineage IV. The isolates had high homology with each other and with the isolates from different countries. To inhibit the entrance of new isolates to Iran and reduce the incidence of outbreaks in Iran, it is essential to control the animals’ movement across the borders and increase the vaccination coverage throughout the country. To eradicate PPR, an extensive vaccination program should cover small ruminant populations throughout the country.

Isolation of Chlamydia spp. from Ewes and Does in Iran

Enzootic ovine abortion is caused by Chlamydia abortus and may result in abortion among small ruminants during the last 2-3 weeks of pregnancy. Enzootic abortion is diagnosed by isolation of the agent or detection of its nucleic acid in the products of abortion or vaginal excretions of freshly aborted females. Isolation of chlamydial agents in cell culture is the gold standard, so in the present study this method was employed. Twenty-eight vaginal and conjunctival swab samples were selected from ewes and does that had recently aborted. The samples were inoculated to McCoy cells. The inoculated cells were fixed, stained by Giemsa staining, and mounted on slides. Finally, the slides were observed by an optical microscope for the presence chlamydial inclusion bodies. Chlamydia was isolated from four conjunctival and three vaginal samples. All the negative cultures were passaged a further two times. Cell culture was identified as the most convenient method for the isolation of Chlamydia and remains essential to document the viability of the organism. Isolation of Chlamydia in the present study, highlights the importance of paying more attention to the bacterium as one of the main abortifacient pathogens along with other infectious causes of abortion.

Robust classification of motor imagery EEG signals using statistical time-domain features

The tradeoff between computational complexity and speed, in addition to growing demands for real-time BMI (brain-machine interface) systems, expose the necessity of applying methods with least possible complexity. Willison amplitude (WAMP) and slope sign change (SSC) are two promising time-domain features only if the right threshold value is defined for them. To overcome the drawback of going through trial and error for the determination of a suitable threshold value, modified WAMP and modified SSC are proposed in this paper. Besides, a comprehensive assessment of statistical time-domain features in which their effectiveness is evaluated with a support vector machine (SVM) is presented. To ensure the accuracy of the results obtained by the SVM, the performance of each feature is reassessed with supervised fuzzy C-means. The general assessment shows that every subject had at least one of his performances near or greater than 80%. The obtained results prove that for BMI applications, in which a few errors can be tolerated, these combinations of feature-classifier are suitable. Moreover, features that could perform satisfactorily were selected for feature combination. Combinations of the selected features are evaluated with the SVM, and they could significantly improve the results, in some cases, up to full accuracy.

Effects of sulfur water extraction on anthocyanins properties of tepals in flower of saffron (Crocus sativus L)

A sulfur solution with different metabisulfite concentrations (100, 400, 700, 1,000 and 2,000 ppm) was used to extract anthocyanins from saffron tepals. The extraction process was compared with acidified ethanol solution at similar extraction times of 20, 40, 60, 120, and 180 min at 40 °C. The recovery of anthocyanins with sulfur solution was higher than ethanol extraction and reached to 700 mg anthocyanins/100 g, when the sulfur concentration and extraction time were 700 ppm and 60 min, respectively. HPLC analysis showed that anthocyanins extracted with sulfur solution followed by partial desulfurization and reducing sulfur content (to less than 250 ppm) had around 100 % more cyanidin 3 glucosides and 100 % less pelargonidin 3,5 glucosides in comparison with ethanol extraction. Additionally, the color of low-sulfured anthocyanins had more saturation (chroma), less lightness, and more stability than the one extracted with ethanol solution. While monomeric and polymeric anthocyanins extracted with sulfur solution had less than 1 % changes after 3 h extraction time, they had more than 12 % changes when they extracted with alcoholic solution at similar conditions. Overall, the sulfur method had a potential to extract stable anthocyanins from waste and discarded saffron tepals in aqueous solvent, and with higher quantity and quality (more attractive color) than conventional ethanol extraction method.

Human facial neural activities and gesture recognition for machine-interfacing applications

The authors present a new method of recognizing different human facial gestures through their neural activities and muscle movements, which can be used in machine-interfacing applications. Human-machine interface (HMI) technology utilizes human neural activities as input controllers for the machine. Recently, much work has been done on the specific application of facial electromyography (EMG)-based HMI, which have used limited and fixed numbers of facial gestures. In this work, a multipurpose interface is suggested that can support 2-11 control commands that can be applied to various HMI systems. The significance of this work is finding the most accurate facial gestures for any application with a maximum of eleven control commands. Eleven facial gesture EMGs are recorded from ten volunteers. Detected EMGs are passed through a band-pass filter and root mean square features are extracted. Various combinations of gestures with a different number of gestures in each group are made from the existing facial gestures. Finally, all combinations are trained and classified by a Fuzzy c-means classifier. In conclusion, combinations with the highest recognition accuracy in each group are chosen. An average accuracy >90% of chosen combinations proved their ability to be used as command controllers.

Combination pharmacotherapy: a mixture of small doses of naltrexone, fluoxetine, and a thyrotropin-releasing hormone analogue reduces alcohol intake in three strains of alcohol-preferring rats

It is common to treat some diseases with more than one medication simultaneously. Since more than one neurotransmitter system is involved in alcohol-seeking behaviour, then a therapeutic approach that targets more than one system should be more effective in reducing alcohol intake than one addressing a single system. To test this hypothesis, we compared the efficacy of low doses of individual drugs reported to reduce voluntary alcohol drinking to the efficacy of a mixture of these agents at the same low doses in reducing alcohol intake in three strains of alcohol-preferring rats (P, HAD, and Fawn-Hooded). After establishment of a stable baseline for alcohol intake in a continuous access paradigm, each rat received separate single i.p. injections of relatively low doses of either naltrexone (2.0 mg/kg), fluoxetine (1.0 mg/kg), the thyrotropin-releasing hormone analogue TA-0910 (0.2 mg/kg), a mixture of all three drugs, or the vehicle at 09:30. Each rat received all treatments, with an inter-injection washout period of at least 3 days. Alcohol and water intakes were measured at 6 and 24 h, and food intake was measured at 24 h, after the injection. Our results show that individual drugs did not significantly affect food, water, or alcohol intake. However, the mixture significantly reduced alcohol intake in all three strains, but had no effect on food intake. Similar results were obtained when the HAD rats received an oral dose of the individual drugs or the mixture. When P rats were given an i.p. injection of the mixture for 10 consecutive days, there was a continued suppressing effect. These findings show that a combination treatment designed to target simultaneously serotonergic, dopaminergic, and opioidergic systems can reduce alcohol intake, even though the doses of the individual drugs in the mixture are relatively low and ineffective when given singly.

Involvement of dopamine D2 receptors in the suppressive effect of the thyrotropin-releasing hormone analog TA-0910 on alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats

Pharmacological experiments were conducted to determine the neuronal mechanisms involved in the suppressive effects of the thyrotropin-releasing hormone analog TA-0910 on alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring (P) rats. We previously reported that single intraperitoneal injections of TA-0910 dose-dependently reduced alcohol intake in P rats without altering fluid or total calorie intake; however, after several consecutive, once-daily injections, P rats developed tolerance to the suppressive effects of TA-0910 on alcohol intake and cross-tolerance to like effects of the dopamine D2 agonist bromocriptine, but not to like effects of the serotonin uptake inhibitor fluoxetine. In the present study, rats were injected with vehicle or different doses of the D2 antagonist s(-)-eticlopride (0.01 to 0.05 mg/kg) or the D1 antagonist R(+)-SCH23390 (0.1 to 0.5 mg/kg) and 20 min later with TA-0910 (0.75 mg/kg). Alcohol and water intakes were measured at 2, 4, 6, and 24 hr, and food was measured every 24 hr. Both s(-)-eticlopride and R(+)-SCH23390 produced modest reductions in alcohol intake alone; however, only s(-)-eticlopride antagonized the suppressive effect of TA-0910 on alcohol intake. In related experiments, it was confirmed that the dopamine D3 agonist 7-hydroxy-N,N-di-n-propyl-2-aminotetralin reduced alcohol intake in P rats, and it was found that tolerance to this effect did not develop during or after seven consecutive once-daily injections. Furthermore, this effect of 7-hydroxy-N,N-di-n-propyl-2-aminotetralin was not diminished in rats made tolerant to the effect of TA-0910 on alcohol intake. These data, those of previous studies, and recent preliminary findings support involvement of dopamine D2, but not D1 or D3 receptors in mediating the suppressive effect of TA-0910 on alcohol intake of P rats.

Adjuvanticity of pGPL-Mc and LRS in the immune responses of monkeys to oral immunization with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids

Experiments were carried out to examine the adjuvanticity of polar glycopeptidolipids of Mycobacterium chelonae (pGPL-Mc) or the London rocket seed (LRS) when combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids in an oral immunization of the African green monkey. The results showed that none of the monkeys receiving diphtheria and tetanus toxoids combined with 25 mg/kg of pGPL-Mc showed an increase in the the level of diphtheria antitoxin (DA) on the third and sixth weeks following the first and the second immunizations. One monkey from this group responded with increased seroneutralizing antibodies 3 weeks after the third feeding. On the other hand, one monkey, 3 weeks after the first immunization, and three monkeys, 3 weeks after the second and third oral vaccinations, showed an increase in specific anti-diphtheria antibody responses when the toxoids were combined with 25 mg/kg of LRS. The anti-diphtheria antitoxin responses of monkeys receiving diphtheria and tetanus toxoids combined with 50 mg/kg of pGPL-Mc or 50 mg/kg of LRS were significantly enhanced compared to the groups administered 25 mg/kg of the two adjuvants. The increase was observed in four out of five pGPL-Mc administered and in three out of five LRS-receiving monkeys. The results show that pGPL-Mc induced the highest titres of anti-diphtheria antitoxin compared to LRS, whereas the level of anti-diphtheria antitoxin titre of the two monkeys receiving the toxoids alone was less than 0.1 i.u./ml of serum throughout the experiment. According to the statistical analyses, no significant differences were recorded between the diphtheria antitoxin responses of monkeys following the first, second or third administration of LRS-adjuvated diphtheria and tetanus toxoids. However, a significant difference (P < or = 0.05) was observed in the diphtheria antitoxin response between the first and the second immunization of monkeys administered with toxoids adjuvated with 50 mg/kg of pGPL-Mc. The tetanus antitoxin responses of all monkeys were less than 0.1 i.u. of antitoxin per millilitre of serum throughout the study, which is considered not to be protective. However, we have recorded an anti-tetanus antitoxin titre of more than 0.2 i.u./ml of serum in one monkey that received diphtheria and tetanus toxoids combined with 50 mg/kg of pGPL-Mc.

Stimulating role of toxoids-laden liposomes in oral immunization against diphtheria and tetanus infections

Liposomes have been produced by injecting an ether solution of a mixture of lecithin and cholesterol into a diluted solution of prewarmed diphtheria and tetanus toxoids followed by elimination of the stream of ether vapour by vacuum. In a preliminary study, adjuvant effects of liposomes on the systemic and mucosal immune response have been studied. When a mixture of diphtheria toxoid (DT) and tetanus toxoid (TT) entrapped in liposomes were administered parenterally or orally in rabbit, a significant rise of specific antibodies against both toxoids was noticed. In monkeys receiving a mixture of DT and TT entrapped in liposomes orally, the antibody response after two and three ingestions of this product was mild but when liposomes containing toxoids were adsorbed with aluminium hydroxide in a similar experiment, a significant rise in the specific antibody response in monkey against both toxoids was recorded. Adult volunteers, similarly receiving a mixture of DT and TT, entrapped in liposomes and adsorbed with aluminium hydroxide have shown a significant rise in specific circulating antitoxins. In order to compare the efficacy of this technique of human oral immunization with the previous method, whereby a plant medicinal seed (LRS) was used as adjuvant in oral immunization of man, a second group of volunteers were simultaneously and similarly treated as suggested previously. The comparative results are discussed in the present report.

Oral immunization against diphtheria and tetanus infections by fluid diphtheria and tetanus toxoids

Purified diphtheria toxoid incorporated in egg yolk and mixed with a medicinal plant seed was used to orally immunize rabbits against diphtheria infection. Animals were partially immunized against a lethal diphtheria toxin challenge. The immunity was complete when gastric enzyme juices were inhibited before oral vaccination by aprotinin, a natural protease inhibitor. Rabbits and monkeys were orally immunized against both diphtheria and tetanus in the same way by pre-treatment with aprotinin. Adult volunteers receiving protease inhibitor before administration of oral toxoids have shown a significant rise in specific circulating antitoxins.