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Although many batoid species, known as final hosts of lecanicephalidean cestodes, exist in the Persian Gulf, no knowledge regarding this cestode order is available for this region. Cytarabin This study is the first one focusing on this order in the Persian Gulf.

A total of 11 cowtail stingrays, Pastinachus sephen (Forsskål), were collected from the north eastern Persian Gulf. Isolated cestodes were fixed in 10% seawater-buffered formalin and stored in 70% ethanol. For morphological examinations, worms were stained using acetic carmine; a subset was prepared for SEM.

A new species of Polypocephalus Braun, 1878 was described. Polypocephalus barsami sp. nov. is the only species within its genus reported outside the waters of Japan, India, Sri Lanka, and Egypt in the Indian Ocean. Since the microtriches were not described in the generic diagnosis of Polypocephalus, the description of the microtriches is added based on the standardised terminology. Furthermore, the characteristics of this new specieswere discussedandcomparedwithin Polypocephalus, many species of which have poor descriptions.

Polypocephalus barsami sp. nov. is the first report of the genus Polypocephalus in the Persian Gulf and the 15th valid species of its genus.

Polypocephalus barsami sp. nov. is the first report of the genus Polypocephalus in the Persian Gulf and the 15th valid species of its genus.The aim of this mixed-methods study was to evaluate how providers in a busy urban practice with universal depression screening and co-located behavioral health services responded to positive screens and to explore patient expectations and attitudes towards positive screens. Semi-structured interviews of 20 pregnant women were conducted within 10 days of a positive depression screen or endorsement of suicidal ideation on the Edinburgh Perinatal Depression Scale and health record documentation was reviewed. Qualitative data were entered into a meta-matrix and cross-case analysis was used to reduce the data and determine prominent patterns and themes. Most participants reported discussing their mood with their provider, appreciated the discussion and were satisfied with the plan. Most had documentation of a discussion by their provider. Only 4 of 9 participants who endorsed thoughts of self-harm had documentation of a discussion regarding their response. While nearly all women were recommended for psychotherapy, most did not receive it. Participants expected follow-up but few had discussion of mood documented at the second prenatal visit, independent of seeing the same provider. Co-located behavioral health did not guarantee that services were utilized. There is a need to incorporate tested integrated care approaches to improve assessments and linkage to effective depression treatment.Studies on whip spider navigation have focused on their ability to locate goal locations in the horizontal plane (e.g., when moving along the ground). However, many species of tropical whip spiders reside and move along surfaces in the vertical plane (e.g., trees). Under controlled laboratory conditions, the current study investigated the ability of the tropical whip spider, Paraphrynus laevifrons, to return to a home shelter on a vertical surface in the presence of numerous, similar and competing refuge sites, as well as the distribution of navigational errors in the vertical, horizontal and diagonal plane. We also assessed the relative importance of sensory cues originating from a previously occupied home shelter compared to the position of a previously occupied shelter in guiding shelter choice. It was found that P. laevifrons displays robust fidelity in re-locating a home shelter on a vertical surface. When navigational errors did occur, they were not significantly different in all three directions. Additionally, cue-conflict test trials revealed that cues associated with an original home shelter, likely self-deposited chemical signals, were more important than sources of positional information in guiding the shelter choice of P. laevifrons.Microbial infections have become a global threat to drug-tolerant phenomena due to their biofilm formatting capacity. In many cases, conventional antimicrobial drugs fail to combat the infection, thus necessitating the discovery of some alternative medicine. Over several decades, plant metabolites have played a critical role in treating a broad spectrum of microbial infections due to its low cytotoxicity. Andrograpanin, a secondary metabolite, is a diterpenoid present in the leaf of Andrographis paniculata. In this study, andrograpanin (0.15 mM) exhibited significant inhibition on biofilm production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the presence of gentamicin (0.0084 mM). The impaired production of extracellular polymeric substances and several virulence factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were investigated to understand the mechanism of action mediated by andrograpanin. The structural alteration of biofilm was evaluated by using fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The in silico molecular simulation studies predicted interaction of andrograpanin with quorum sensing proteins such as RhlI, LasI, LasR, and swarming motility protein BswR of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Overall the studies indicate that andrograpanin could be used as a therapeutic molecule against biofilm development by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Repurposing of cationic amphiphilic drugs (CADs) emerges as an attractive therapeutic solution against various cancers, including leukemia. CADs target lysosomal lipid metabolism and preferentially kill cancer cells via induction of lysosomal membrane permeabilization, but the exact effects of CADs on the lysosomal lipid metabolism remain poorly illuminated.

We aimed to systematically monitor CAD-induced alterations in the quantitative lipid profiles of leukemia cell lines in order to chart effects of CADs on the metabolism of various lipid classes present in these cells.

We conducted this study on eight cultured cell lines representing two leukemia types, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia. Mass spectrometry-based quantitative shotgun lipidomics was employed to quantify the levels of around 400 lipid species of 26 lipid classes in the leukemia cell lines treated or untreated with a CAD, siramesine.

The two leukemia types displayed high, but variable sensitivities to CADs and distinct profiles of cellular lipids.