Dopamine-induced hypophagia is mediated by D1 and 5HT-2c receptors in chicken

The present study was designed to examine the effects of intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of Dopamine (10, 20 and 40 nmol), L-DOPA (dopamine precursor; 62.5, 125 and 250 nmol), 6-OHDA (dopamine inhibitor; 75, 150 and 300 nmol), SCH 23390 (D₁ antagonist; 2.5, 5 and 10 nmol), AMI-193 (D₂ antagonist; 2.5, 5 and 10 nmol), NGB2904 (D₃ antagonist; 3.2, 6.4 and 12.8 nmol), L-741 T742 (D₄ antagonist; 1.5, 3 and 6 nmol) on food intake in FD₃ chickens. At following, birds were ICV injected using 8-OH-DPAT (5-HT_1A agonist; 15.25 nmol) and SB242084 (5-HT_2C antagonist; 1.5 μg) prior dopamine (40 nmol) injection. Cumulative food intake was determined until 3 h post-injection. According to the results, dopamine significantly decreased food intake in chickens (p?<?0.05). The inhibitory effect of dopamine on food intake was decreased by SCH 23390 pretreatment (P?<?0.05), but AMI-193, NGB2904 and L-741, 742 had no effect on food intake induced by dopamine. In addition, hypophagic effect of dopamine was attenuated by SB242084 (P?<?0.05), but 8-OH-DPAT had no effect. These results suggest that dopamine decrease food intake via D₁ receptor and there is an interaction between dopaminergic and serotonergic systems via 5-HT_2C receptor in chickens.     

Maternal age influence on diapause induction in sexual and asexual Trichogramma brassicae

In this study, the effect of maternal age on prepupae diapause of progeny in sexual (Wolbachia free) and asexual (Wolbachia infected) Trichogramma brassicae was studied at two temperatures. Maternal generation (G₁) of both populations was reared at 10L:14D photoperiod, 14 and 20 °C, separately. Mated females from G₁ were supplied with eggs of Ephestia kuehniella, each 48 h from one day after emergence to death. The tendency to diapause in progeny (G₂) was determined by rearing at 10 °C. According to the results, reproductive modes, maternal temperature and age have significant effect on the mean number of eggs laid by G₁ and the diapause percentage of G₂. Offspring whose maternal generation was reared at 20 °C had higher diapause percentage than those reared at 14 °C. Diapause percentage in sexual population was higher than the asexual, which demonstrates a negative effect of Wolbachia on this process. Wolbachia infection modifies the effect of maternal age on the diapause percentage in the offspring at 20 °C but not at 14 °C. The result can be due to lower Wolbachia density at 14 °C and greater Wolbachia density at 20 °C.     

Effect of foliar and soil application of urea on leaf nutrients concentrations,yield and fruit quality of pomegranate

The influence of foliar application of 1% urea and four rates of urea (100, 200, 300 and 400 g tree^?1) as soil application (deep fertilizer placement) were studied on leaf nutrients concentrations, yield and fruit quality of ‘Malas e Torsh e Saveh’ pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) during 2010 and 2011 growing seasons. Trees that received 300 and 400 g urea as soil application showed positive significant response on fruit yield, average fruit weight, aril weight percent of fruit, 100 arils weight, fruit diameter and TSS. Foliar application of urea had also significant effects on average fruit weight, aril weight percent of fruit and 100 arils weight. Nitrogen concentration increased linearly in leaves with the increase in rate of urea-applied. According to results, deep soil application of urea under the conditions of this study was more effective on pomegranate fruit yield and quality characters than foliar application of urea.     

Modeling the functional compression properties of hand-knotted carpets using factorial design and response surface methodology

The most performance quality of cut-pile carpets is related to mechanical behavior of surface piles under compression loading in use. In this study, main purpose was to achieve the predictive models of the functional compression properties of carpet including work of compression (WC), compressional resilience (RC), linearity of compression-thickness curve (LC), and thickness loss (TL) after recovery on hand-knotted carpets with symmetric (Turkish) knot. Eighteen hand-knotted carpet samples with different structural specifications were produced. Meanwhile, compression properties were investigated in new and worn out carpet samples by a Hexapod tumbler tester in 4000 and 12000 revolutions. Factorial experimental design and response surface method were applied for modeling of each compression properties. To optimize the initial models the Box-Cox transformation was used. In the final models, contribution of different variables was also determined. The models showed a desirable fit and high adjusted R² values were observed. The ANOVA test showed that the obtained models are valid at 5 % level significant.     

Numerical simulating the tensile behavior of 1×1 rib knitted fabrics using a novel geometrical model

A geometrical model to predict the tensile properties of conventionally knitted 1×1 rib fabric was created to be used for technical applications. Tensile stress-strain curve was numerically simulated in course and wale directions, using FEM method. The accuracy of the used geometrical model has been estimated comparing the simulated tensile stress-strain curve of the model to the measured one. The results showed that the stress-strain curve obtained from simulating method is very close to the experimental one.     

A 40-bp Insertion/Deletion Polymorphism of Murine Double Minute2 (MDM2) Increased the Risk of Breast Cancer in Zahedan,Southeast Iran

Background: MDM2 (Murine Double Minute2) is an oncoprotein that inhibits the P53 activity. Overexpression of MDM2 gene has been reported in several human tumors. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of 40-bp insertion/deletion (ins/del) polymorphism on the promoter of MDM2 and susceptibility to breast cancer in a sample of Iranian population. Methods: This case-control study was carried out on 236 patients with breast cancer and 203 healthy individuals. Genomic DNA was extracted from the whole blood by the salting-out method. The 40-bp ins/del polymorphism was determined by using polymerase chain reaction. Results: The findings indicated that MDM2 ins/del variant increased the risk of breast cancer in co-dominant- (odds ratio [OR] = 2.09, 95% CI = 1.14-3.85, P = 0.018, del/del vs. ins/ins), dominant- (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.02-2.18, P = 0.038, ins/del + del/del vs. ins/ins), and recessive- (OR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.03-3.34, P = 0.038, del/del vs. ins/ins + ins/del) tested inheritance models. The del allele increased the risk of breast cancer (OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.11-1.98, P = 0.008) compared with ins allele. Conclusions: Our result revealed that 40-bp ins/del polymorphism in the promoter of MDM2 increased the risk of breast cancer in an Iranian population. Further investigations with larger sample sizes and diverse ethnicities are needed to verify our findings. Key Words: Breast cancer, Murine Double Minute2 (MDM2), Polymorphism     

The role of glutamatergic and GABAergic systems on serotonin- induced feeding behavior in chicken

It has been reported that serotonin can modulate glutamate and GABA release in central nervous system (CNS). The present study was designed to examine the role of glutamatergic and GABAergic systems on serotonin- induced feeding behavior in chickens. In Experiment 1 intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of MK- 801(NMDA receptor antagonist, 15 nmol) performed followed by serotonin (10 μg). In experiments 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 prior to serotonin injection, chickens received CNQX (AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist, 390 nmol), AIDA (mGluR1 antagonist, 2 nmol), LY341495 (mGluR2 antagonist, 150 nmol), UBP1112 (mGluR3 antagonist, 2 nmol), picrotoxin (GABA A receptor antagonist, 0.5 μg), CGP54626 (GABAB receptor antagonist, 20 ng) respectively. Cumulative food intake was determined at 3 h post injection. The results of this study showed that the hypophagic effect of serotonin was significantly attenuated by pretreatment with MK- 801 and CNQX (p?<?0.05) but AIDA, LY341495 and UBP1112 had no effect (p?>?0.05). Also, the inhibitory effect of serotonin on food intake was amplified by picrotoxin (p?<?0.05) while CGP54626 had no effect (p?>?0.05). These results suggest that serotonin as a modulator probably interacts with glutamatergic (via NMDA and AMPA/Kainate receptors) and GABAergic (via GABAA receptor) systems on feeding behavior in chicken.     

A mathematical model to compare the handle of PLA and PET knitted fabrics after different finishing steps

We have studied a mathematical model to compare the handle of polylactic acid (PLA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics throughout finishing steps. Mechanical and surface properties at low stress of PLA and PET fabrics and the effects of different finishing treatments on these properties are investigated. The KES-FB (Kawabata Evaluation System for Fabrics) is used for the measurements of low stress tensile, shear, bending, compression and surface properties. There is no standard method to determine the total handle value for summer knitted fabrics. Therefore a mathematical method i.e. the Weighted Euclidean Distance method was used to indirect determination of total handle value from the KES-system parameters. The results reveal that the mechanical and surface properties as well as handle of PLA and PET fabrics change significantly after different finishing stages. The difference between handle of PLA and PET fabrics has been significantly reduced after dyeing, drying, heat setting and softening processes.     

Synchronizing Cell Cycle of Goat Fibroblasts by Serum Starvation Causes Apoptosis

Cell cycle stage and synchronization of donor cells are important factors influencing the success of somatic cell nuclear transfer. This study examined whether serum starvation has any effect on specific cell death. We also studied the effects of serum starvation, culture to confluence, and full confluency (confluent + 72 h) on cell cycle characteristics and apoptosis of goat dermal fibroblast cells. The cells were obtained from the ear of a 1.5‐year‐old female goat. The following experimental groups were analysed for fibroblast cells: (i) normally growing, (ii) confluent, (iii) full confluency, (iv) cells starved for 48 h and (v) cells starved for 72 h. Analysis of cell cycle distribution by flow cytometry showed that 4.56 and 51.88% of normal cycling cells were at the G0 and G1 phases respectively. In the confluent group, 80% of the cells were arrested in the G0/G1 phase. Serum starvation for 48 and 72 h arrested 84.78% and 90.1% cells at the G0/G1 phase respectively which showed a significant difference when compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Double staining by PI and FITC distinguishes G0 phase from G1 phase. In the full confluency group, 91.53% of cells were at G0/G1 stage, but in contrast to the serum starved group, this high percentage of G0/G1 cells was mainly associated with G1 cells. Under normal culture conditions, 6.39% of cells underwent early apoptosis. In the confluent group 8.93% of cells showed early apoptosis. Serum starvation for 48 and 72 h caused early apoptosis in 8.91 and 39.83% of the cells respectively. Full confluency treatment did not increase the number of apoptotic cells significantly (8.67%). After 72 h, serum starvation significantly increased early apoptosis (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the use of full confluency is suitable for cell cycle synchronization because it arrests cells at the G0/G1 phase and also induces less apoptosis in comparison with the serum starvation group.