Survey of Salmonella in commercial broiler farms in Shiraz, southern Iran

Great medieval scientist-polymath Abu Rayhan Al-Beruni (973–1050) wrote in his book “Pharmacognosy” about some kind of “worms” inhabiting willows in Azerbaijan and Southern Iran and used by native people for producing of a red dye. It was unclear during one thousand years which organisms Al-Beruni noted as those dye-producing “worms”. Some modern authors even suggested that the relevant medieval text was partly erroneous. To the contrary, in the present paper we, for the first time, consider some species of the felt scale insects (Coccinea: Eriococcidae) as the organisms, which have probably been used for the production of the red dye in the medieval countries of Western and Central Asia. These insects are several species from two closely related genera Acanthococcus Signoret, 1875 and Gossyparia Signoret, 1875. The review of biological characters, identification key, new figures and colour photographs are provided for the species of Acanthococcus and Gossyparia associated with Salix spp. in the Asiatic Region. Acanthococcus turanicus Matesova, 1967, syn. nov. is placed in synonymy with A. salicis (Borchsenius, 1938), and A. altaicus Matesova, 1967, syn. nov. is placed in synonymy with A. spiraeae Borchsenius, 1949. Earlier discovered synonymy of A. melnikensis (Hodgson et Trencheva, 2008) with A. aceris Signoret, 1875 is discussed. Some other dye-producing scale insects and their pigments are also briefly considered.

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Comparative Analysis of Essential Oils from Myrtus communis Berry Color Morphs from Southern Iran

The Natural Products Journal ◽

10.2174/2210315508666180416151739 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 317-322 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Donya Shahbazian ◽

Akbar Karami ◽

Saeid Eshghi

Keyword(s):

Comparative Analysis ◽

Essential Oils ◽

Myrtus Communis ◽

Southern Iran ◽

Color Morphs

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The Prevalence of Familial Multiple Sclerosis in Shiraz, Southern Iran

Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.msard.2019.11.005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 37 ◽

pp. 101530

Author(s):

Maryam Sharifian Dorche ◽

Alireza Nikseresht

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Southern Iran

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The Interplay between Campylobacter and the Caecal Microbial Community of Commercial Broiler Chickens over Time

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9020221 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 221

Author(s):

Ilaria Patuzzi ◽

Massimiliano Orsini ◽

Veronica Cibin ◽

Sara Petrin ◽

Eleonora Mastrorilli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Campylobacter Jejuni ◽

Broiler Chickens ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Chicken Meat ◽

Control Measures ◽

Microbial Network ◽

Gut Colonization ◽

Commercial Broiler ◽

Zoonotic Bacteria ◽

Human Infections

Campylobacter is the most frequent foodborne zoonotic bacteria worldwide, with chicken meat being overwhelmingly the most important reservoir for human infections. Control measures implemented at the farm level (i.e., biosecurity or vaccination), which have been successfully applied to limit other pathogens, such as Salmonella, have not been effective in reducing Campylobacter occurrence. Thus, new approaches are needed to fully understand the ecological interactions of Campylobacter with host animals to effectively comprehend its epidemiology. The objective of this study was to analyse longitudinally the gut microbiota composition of Campylobacter-infected and non-infected farms to identify any difference that could potentially be indicative of gut colonization by Campylobacter spp. Differences in the colonization rate and timing were observed at the farms that became positive for Campylobacter jejuni over the investigated time points, even though in positive tests, the occurrence of Campylobacter jejuni gut colonization was not observed before the second week of the life of the birds. Significant differences were observed in the abundances of specific bacterial taxa between the microbiota of individuals belonging to farms that became Campylobacter positive during the study and those who remained negative with particular reference to Bacteroidales and Clostridiales, respectively. Moreover, Campylobacter colonization dramatically influenced the microbiota richness, although to a different extent depending on the infection timing. Finally, a key role of Faecalibacterium and Lactobacillus genera on the Campylobacter microbial network was observed. Understanding the ecology of the Campylobacter interaction with host microbiota during infection could support novel approaches for broiler microbial barrier restoration. Therefore, evidence obtained through this study can be used to identify options to reduce the incidence of infection at a primary production level based on the targeted influence of the intestinal microbiota, thus helping develop new control strategies in order to mitigate the risk of human exposure to Campylobacter by chicken meat consumption.

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The prevalence of risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases in Afghan refugees in southern Iran: a cross-sectional study

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-10482-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Erfan Taherifard ◽

Mohammad Javad Moradian ◽

Ehsan Taherifard ◽

Abdolrasool Hemmati ◽

Behnaz Rastegarfar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Tobacco Smoking ◽

Physical Inactivity ◽

Vegetable Intake ◽

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Communicable Diseases ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Non Communicable Diseases ◽

Afghan Refugees ◽

Southern Iran

Abstract Background Refugees are highly vulnerable to many health-related risks. Monitoring non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is of overriding importance in these populations. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of risk factors for NCDs amongst Afghan refugees in a refugee camp located in southern Iran. Methods This cross-sectional sturdy was conducted in 2018. Risk factors such as inadequate nutrition, physical inactivity, tobacco smoking, obesity and overweight, hypertension (HTN), elevated fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and dyslipidaemia were assessed. Data were gathered with a modified WHO STEPS procedure. Prevalence and age-standardized prevalence and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Results The estimated prevalence were 94% for inadequate fruit/vegetable consumption, 18% for physical inactivity, 9% for tobacco smoking, 3% for FPG, 20% for HTN, 51% for central obesity, 24% for overweight, 19% for obesity, and 69% for dyslipidaemia. Conclusions Except for inadequate fruit and vegetable intake and dyslipidaemia, the prevalence of other NCD risk factors was low among Afghan refugees in Iran. Raising awareness about healthy diet and its importance and the provision of more affordable fruit and vegetables are two effective measures toward improving the health of refugees in Iran.

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Investigation of allele specific expression in various tissues of broiler chickens using the detection tool VADT

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-83459-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

M. Joseph Tomlinson ◽

Shawn W. Polson ◽

Jing Qiu ◽

Juniper A. Lake ◽

William Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Broiler Chickens ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Specific Expression ◽

Single Nucleotide ◽

Allele Specific Expression ◽

Detection Tool ◽

Commercial Broiler ◽

Significant Phenomenon ◽

Allele Specific

AbstractDifferential abundance of allelic transcripts in a diploid organism, commonly referred to as allele specific expression (ASE), is a biologically significant phenomenon and can be examined using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from RNA-seq. Quantifying ASE aids in our ability to identify and understand cis-regulatory mechanisms that influence gene expression, and thereby assist in identifying causal mutations. This study examines ASE in breast muscle, abdominal fat, and liver of commercial broiler chickens using variants called from a large sub-set of the samples (n = 68). ASE analysis was performed using a custom software called VCF ASE Detection Tool (VADT), which detects ASE of biallelic SNPs using a binomial test. On average ~ 174,000 SNPs in each tissue passed our filtering criteria and were considered informative, of which ~ 24,000 (~ 14%) showed ASE. Of all ASE SNPs, only 3.7% exhibited ASE in all three tissues, with ~ 83% showing ASE specific to a single tissue. When ASE genes (genes containing ASE SNPs) were compared between tissues, the overlap among all three tissues increased to 20.1%. Our results indicate that ASE genes show tissue-specific enrichment patterns, but all three tissues showed enrichment for pathways involved in translation.

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