Effect of temperature on development time and life table parameters of Nephus hiekei Fürsch, the important predator of Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley

Ramezani Leila,Torfi Ebrahim Tamoli,Zarghami Sara,Rezai Nastaran 한국응용곤충학회 2021 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.24 No.2

The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) has become a serious threat to agricultural and ornamental plants in Southwest Iran. Pest-control studies have found Nephus hiekei Fürsch (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), in large numbers on Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, as a potential predator. How ever, there has been no investigation on this predator. In this research, the biology and age-stage, two-sex life table parameters of N. hiekei feeding on Ph. solenopsis were investigated at three constant temperatures (27, 32 and 37 ± 1 ◦ C, 65 ± 5% RH and a photoperiod of 16: 8 (L: D) h. The duration of total pre-adult stage was found to decrease raising temperature from 26.98 ± 0.36 days at 27 ◦ C to 14.24 ± 0.27 days at 37 ◦ C. The oviposition period lasted 63.95 ± 3.14, 66.42 ± 3.34 and 25.20 ± 1.59 days at 27, 32, and 37 ◦ C, respectively. Females laid an average of 365.68 ± 22.36, 543.79 ± 27.27 and 106.25 ± 6.38 eggs, at these three temperatures, respectively. The intrinsic rate of increase (r m = 0.1333 ± 0.0050 d –1 ), finite rate of increase (λ = 1.1423 ± 0.0057 d –1 ) and net reproductive rate (R 0 = 188.89 ± 28.34 offspring) as well as gross reproductive rate (GRR = 308.31 ± 39.54 offspring) were greatest at 32 ◦ C. The shortest mean generation time (T = 26.74 ± 0.65 days) was recorded at 37 ◦ C and the longest at 27 ◦ C (T = 56.48 ± 1.0 days). These results indicate that N. hiekei can successfully survive and reproduce at temperatures of around 32 ◦ C, and has good potential to be an effective biological control agent of Ph. solenopsis.

Charge reduction: an efficient strategy to reduce toxicity and increase the transfection efficiency of high molecular weight polyethylenimine

Mohammad Ramezani,Reza Kazemi Oskuee,Mehdi Rezaee,Leila Gholami,Mojtaba Seddighi Gildeh 한국약제학회 2019 Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation Vol.49 No.1

With high potency in treatment of various diseases, gene therapy is mainly hindered by lack of safe and efficient gene delivery vectors. The current study was aimed to develop an efficient non-viral vector with adequate cytotoxicity. To this end, alkylcarboxylate chains (6C, 10C, 16C) were exploited to ameliorate the characteristics of PEI 750 kDa. Briefly, alkylcarboxylate chains with three different lengths (6C, 10C, 16C) were chemically grafted to the primary amine groups of PEI 750 kDa in three percentages (10, 50, and 100%). After evaluating the physicochemical properties of prepared vectors including surface charge, size, buffering capacity, and DNA condensing, their transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity were investigated in Neuro2A cells. The polyplexes size were 158.9–264.5 nm and their zeta potentials were 14–30 mV, while their buffering capacity and DNA condensing were not significantly decreased. The highest transfection efficiency in term of C/P ratio was observed in PEI750-10C-68%, PEI750-10C-7%, and PEI750-6C-7% at C/P ratios of 2, 4, and 6, respectively. Altogether, the decanoylcarboxylate-modified PEI with medium grafting percentages showed promising results as gene delivery vector. To sum up, the modification of high molecular weight PEIs by alkylcarboxylate chains is an efficient approach for development of more efficient non-viral vectors.

Effect of field-of-view size on gray values derived from cone-beam computed tomography compared with the Hounsfield unit values from multidetector computed tomography scans

Abbas Shokri,Leila Ramezani,Mohsen Bidgoli,Mahdi Akbarzadeh,Karim Ghazikhanlu-Sani,Hamed Fallahi-Sichani 대한영상치의학회 2018 Imaging Science in Dentistry Vol.48 No.1

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of field-of-view (FOV) size on the gray values derived from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) compared with the Hounsfield unit values from multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans as the gold standard. Materials and Methods: A radiographic phantom was designed with 4 acrylic cylinders. One cylinder was filled with distilled water, and the other 3 were filled with 3 types of bone substitute: namely, Nanobone, Cenobone, and Cerabone. The phantom was scanned with 2 CBCT systems using 2 different FOV sizes, and 1 MDCT system was used as the gold standard. The mean gray values (MGVs) of each cylinder were calculated in each imaging protocol. Results: In both CBCT systems, significant differences were noted in the MGVs of all materials between the 2 FOV sizes (P<.05) except for Cerabone in the Cranex3D system. Significant differences were found in the MGVs of each material compared with the others in both FOV sizes for each CBCT system. No significant difference was seen between the Cranex3D CBCT system and the MDCT system in the MGVs of bone substitutes on images obtained with a small FOV. Conclusion: The size of the FOV significantly changed the MGVs of all bone substitutes, except for Cerabone in the Cranex3D system. Both CBCT systems had the ability to distinguish the 3 types of bone substitutes based on a comparison of their MGVs. The Cranex3D CBCT system used with a small FOV had a significant correlation with MDCT results.

Effect of field-of-view size on gray values derived from cone-beam computed tomography compared with the Hounsfield unit values from multidetector computed tomography scans

Shokri, Abbas,Ramezani, Leila,Bidgoli, Mohsen,Akbarzadeh, Mahdi,Ghazikhanlu-Sani, Karim,Fallahi-Sichani, Hamed Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology 2018 Imaging Science in Dentistry Vol.48 No.1

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of field-of-view (FOV) size on the gray values derived from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) compared with the Hounsfield unit values from multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans as the gold standard. Materials and Methods: A radiographic phantom was designed with 4 acrylic cylinders. One cylinder was filled with distilled water, and the other 3 were filled with 3 types of bone substitute: namely, Nanobone, Cenobone, and Cerabone. The phantom was scanned with 2 CBCT systems using 2 different FOV sizes, and 1 MDCT system was used as the gold standard. The mean gray values(MGVs) of each cylinder were calculated in each imaging protocol. Results: In both CBCT systems, significant differences were noted in the MGVs of all materials between the 2 FOV sizes(P<.05) except for Cerabone in the Cranex3D system. Significant differences were found in the MGVs of each material compared with the others in both FOV sizes for each CBCT system. No significant difference was seen between the Cranex3D CBCT system and the MDCT system in the MGVs of bone substitutes on images obtained with a small FOV. Conclusion: The size of the FOV significantly changed the MGVs of all bone substitutes, except for Cerabone in the Cranex3D system. Both CBCT systems had the ability to distinguish the 3 types of bone substitutes based on a comparison of their MGVs. The Cranex3D CBCT system used with a small FOV had a significant correlation with MDCT results.

Effect of temperature on biological characteristics and life table parameters of Dicrodiplosis manihoti Harris on cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley

Zilaei Mojtaba,Ramezani Leila,Zarghami Sara 한국응용곤충학회 2022 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.25 No.2

The cotton mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) is one of the polyphagous and destructive pests in the world. It has caused a lot of damage in cotton fields and settles on other host plants, especially Chinese hibiscus shrubs Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. and causes irrecoverable damages to these ornamental plants and urban landscape. Midge fly Dicrodiplosis manihoti Harris (Dip.: Cecidomiidae) is one of the most common fly species which was collected in mealybugs colonies. In this study, the biology and age-stage, two-sex life table parameters of Dicrodiplosis manihoti, was evaluated at four constant temperatures (22, 27, 32 and 37 ± 1 ◦ C, 65 ± 5 % RH and a photoperiod of 16: 8 (L: D) h) in the laboratory conditions. The developmental pre-adult period was found as 36.12 ± 0.38, 24.09 ± 0.41, 14.96 ± 0.34 and 12.68 ± 0.26 days and the average egg produced by females was 23.65 ± 2.86, 11.14 ± 2.09, 12.32 ± 3.94 and 8.57 ± 0.67 at those temperatures, respectively which decreased as the temperature increased from 22 to 37 ◦ C, respectively. The population intrinsic rate of increase (r m ) was 0.0247 ± 0.0051, 0.0291 ± 0.0099, 0.0374 ± 0.0206 and 0.0103 ± 0.0129 (d -1 ), and the population finite rate of increase (λ) for the above mentioned temperatures was 1.0249 ± 0.0052, 1.0295 ± 0.0101, 1.0384 ± 0.0212 and 1.0104 ± 0.0130 (d -1 ), respectively. Also, the net reproductive rate (R 0 ) at the above mentioned temperatures was 2.62 ± 0.5, 2.19 ± 0.53, 2.05 ± 0.73 and 1.18 ± 0.22 offspring respectively. The shortest (T = 14.88 ± 0.45 days) and the longest (T = 38.28 ± 0.65 days) mean generation time was recorded at 37 and 22 ◦ C, respectively. According to the results of this study D. manihoti has a good potential to control of Ph. solenopsis and the temperature of around 32 ◦ C is the best for mass rearing this predator.