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In recent years, information and communication technology in the field of e-commerce has reduced many of the challenges of business development. E-commerce can be used to develop the agricultural sector and to market agricultural products. This research is a survey aimed at evaluating the adoption of greenhouse owners to Affecting the use information and communication technology in managing greenhouse units in Isfahan Township. The type of research is descriptive-analytic. The statistical community is about 460 and 197 number of sample units are accidentally chosen using Cochran formula with possible precision. The research method was library and field based. After determining the indices and variables of the research, a researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect the required statistical data in the study area. The main tool of the research is questionnaire and its processing is done in the software Spss21. The reliability of questionnaire has been gained through using cronbach alpha also the validity of the research was also calculated using the KMO coefficient higher than 0.7. Results of this research showed that 10 percent greenhouse owners have started accepting the use information and communication technology in managing greenhouse units. The results of the research show that the there was a correlation between the level of education, job satisfaction and income level with the components of adopting, decision, persuasion, and knowledge of meaningful and positive. The results of regression analysis also show that variables such as age, job, experience and communication channels, psychological factors and decision describe 46 percent of the dependent variable of accepting the use of the internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of life on earth, mankind has always used animals and plants for its nutrition and has continuously trained and developed them for their benefits and social, cultural, and economic needs. In the past, livestock and crop breeding were done by traditional farmers and ranchers. It improves the performance of livestock and crops, they performed the selection, which is one of the principles of plant breeding and livestock breeding. They made this choice with the help of information that was passed down to them from successive generations. It is a participatory plant breeding and production of crops with the help of researchers alongside farmers. Farmers work with researchers, scientists, and other stakeholders -even consumers-to improve crops and develop resilient plant varieties. Farmers are aware of their needs and have a conscious understanding of their agricultural land in terms of soil type, seed type, weather conditions, surface water, underground water conditions, etc. Therefore, they can play an important role in making decisions about the implementation of plant breeding and the type of planting pattern in the cultivated microclimates. In other words, farmers determine their cultivation goals based on their environments, conditions, tastes, and local cultures. The seed that is obtained in this way by the breed researchers with the help of the leading farmers, actually contributes significantly to the food governance of the people of that region and that country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In severe COVID-19 cases, a hypercoagulable state may occur. Antiphospholipid syndrome-related auto-antibodies (APSRAs) contribute to coagulopathy, but their role in COVID-19 remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of positive APSRAs and their effect on clinical outcomes in confirmed COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, severe hospitalized COVID-19 cases were enrolled. Demographic and clinical data were obtained from the day of admission. APSRAs including IgG and/or IgM anticardiolipin (aCL) and anti-ß2-glycoprotein1 (anti-ß2GP1) as well as lupus anticoagulant (LAC) were measured. Results: In this study, 54 severe COVID-19 cases with positive RT-PCR and chest CT scans were recruited. Positive APSRAs were found in 7 (12.9%) patients. Positive LAC was a more prevalent marker as compared to other tests (11.1%). The prevalence of positive aCL (IgM or IgG) and anti-ß2 GPI (IgM or IgG) w as 1.8% (in an elderly woman). Lower oxygen saturation was found in the positive APSRAs group as opposed to the negative APSRAs group (70.3±9 vs. 84.8±9.7%). The mortality rate in the positive APSRAs group was significantly higher relative to the negative APSRAs group (83.3% vs. 27.1%; Pvalue: 0.01). Likewise, the mechanical ventilation requirement in the positive group was also higher (50% vs. 27.1%, P-value: 0.28). Conclusion: This study indicated that LAC might be associated with critical cases and high mortality of COVID-19. Nonetheless, the mortality was not related to macrothrombotic incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease that mostly affects different joints of the body. Macrophages are the predominant cells that mediate disease progression by secreting several pro-inflammatory mediators. Different receptors are involved in macrophages' function including the adenosine receptors (AR). Our main objective in this study was to assess the effect of applying A2A adenosine receptor agonist (CGS-21,680) on the gene expression of inflammatory mediators including bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP)-2, 4 and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP)-3, 8, 9, and 13 on the macrophages from AS patients compared to healthy macrophages.Methods: Monocytes were isolated from the whole blood of 28 individuals (AS patients and healthy controls in a 1:1 ratio). Macrophages were differentiated using macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), and flow cytometry was performed to confirm surface markers. CGS-21,680 was used to treat cells that had been differentiated. Using SYBR green real-time PCR, relative gene expression was determined.Results: Activating A2AAR diminished MMP8 expression in healthy macrophages while it cannot reduce MMP8 expression in patients' macrophages. The effect of A2AAR activation on the expression of BMP2 and MMP9 reached statistical significance neither in healthy macrophages nor in the patients' group. We also discovered a significant positive connection between MMP8 expression and patient scores on the Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index (BASFI).Conclusion: Due to the disability of A2AAR activation in the reduction of MMP8 expression in patients' macrophages and the correlation of MMP8 expression with BASFI index in patients, these results represent defects and dysregulations in the related signaling pathway in patients' macrophages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Probiotics are added into the food or feed systems and provide beneficial effects to the human or animal health. This study aimed to isolate the gastrointestinal native Lactobacillus strains with high probiotic, cholesterol-assimilation and aflatoxin-degradation capabilities from native chickens. Materials and Methods: About 70 Lactobacillus isolates were isolated from ileum of the Fars province native chickens and were investigated for their probiotic properties. Results: Of 70 Lactobacillus isolates, 10 showed high probiotic capabilities, including survival at acidic conditions (pH up to 2.5), tolerance of 0.5% bile and 6-10% NaCl salts, growth in a wide range of temperature from 15 to 45°C, antagonistic effects against different important bacterial pathogens (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus mutans, Clostridium defficile, Enterococcus hirae, Salmonella enterica and Staphylococcus aureus) and sensitivity to some important antibiotics. The selected strains had an aggregation time less than 120 min. The 16S-rDNA sequencing showed that the selected strains were highly related to Lactobacillus reuteri and L. casei. Finally, the selected strains in this study along with 10 other probiotic strains isolated and characterized in our pervious study were used to evaluate their cholesterol assimilation and aflatoxin B1 degradation capabilities. The potentials of cholesterol assimilation of the selected strains were significantly different (P<0.05) and ranged from 2.3% to 99%. The highest content of cholesterol assimilation was obtained in isolates M20 and M4 with more than 98% absorption. Moreover, four strains 43, OR7, M21 and OR9 were able to absorb AFB1 with 58.6%, 52.33%, 47% and 31.6% efficiency respectively. Conclusion: It could be concluded that the strains 43, M21 and OR7 showed high probiotic potentials for application in the poultry industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing subunit vaccines is one of the strategies to address influenza infection. Recent innovations have focused on high doses of vaccine antigens and immune enhancers or adjuvant to induce more robust and long-lasting immune responses. Here, an effect of the B cell-activating factor receptor (BAFF-R) to increase the magnitude and durability of immune responses of the recombinant HA1 (rHA1) protein against the H1N1 influenza virus was studied. The HA1 protein and the effector domain of BAFF-R were expressed in the pET-28a (+) vector. Eight-week-old BALB/c mice were equally grouped into five groups (n=20). The 15 and 25 μg/μL of rHA1 were mixed with 2 μg/μL of rBAFF-R and injected three times for vaccinated groups. Three control groups were received normal saline and two concentrations of rHA1. The ability of rBAFF-R in eliciting HA-specific antibody response and stimulating T lymphocyte proliferation to induce the cell-mediated immunity was assayed. Induction of protection was evaluated following the challenge with PR8 strain. Analysis of immune responses showed that the co-administration of rBAFF-R with rHA1 boosted HI responses to the antigen in mice, whilst it was not able to promote the T cell proliferation responses against influenza. Compared to rHA1alone, the rBAFF-R/rHA1 generated efficient protection for the animals. There were no significant differences in eliciting the immune responses in mice immunized with the lower dose of rHA1 than that with the higher dose. The data indicate the rBAFF-R can enhance the primary and memory immune responses to protect against influenza infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the use of nuclear density gauges, due to the ability to work in harsh industrial environments, is very common. In this study, to reduce error related to the ρ of continuous measuring density, the combination of backscatter and transmission are used simultaneously. For this reason, a 137Cs source for Compton scattering dominance and two detectors are simulated by MCNP4C code for measuring the density of 3 materials. Important advantages of this combined radiometric gauge are diminished influence of μ and therefore improving linear regression.