m. darbemamieh

The nut scale, Eulecanium tiliae (L.) is a potential pest, infesting deciduous trees in Iran, where it is common in urban horticultural areas and usually present in high population on some stone fruit trees, such as Prunus spp., including Prunus cerasus. It has higher occurrence and population in sustainable orchards. This pest has one generation per year and second nymphs overwinter on one or two-years old branches. High populations of this pest can cause death of branches, twigs and degeneration of leaves chloroplasts. In this research, the spatial distribution pattern and population fluctuation for all stages of E. tiliae were investigated in a cherry orchard of Kermanshah region during two studied seasons from 2016 to 2018. Four different methods were used to calculate distribution pattern including index of dispersion, Morisita’s index and regression methods (Taylor’s and Iwao’s). Sample size was determined for the first time, according to a primary sampling date and corrected for other sampling dates according to the data of the previous sampling date. Data analysis was performed using Minitab16 and Office Excel 2016 statistical softwares. Most used methods revealed aggregated distribution pattern of the pest in both years. The results obtained from the Morisita’s index during activity showed the random distribution of the second nymphs (in 16 April 2016, Z= -1.218, Iб= 0.440) (in 16 April 2017, Z= -0.179, Iб= 0.942) (-1.96< Z< 1.96). These changes showed that the spatial distribution could change during the season. Knowledge of the pest spatial distribution pattern can be used to arrange sampling program in pest management.

Cancer is one of the challenges of the medical world. Recently, in the search for new compounds with anti-cancer properties, attention to natural compounds has increased. The aim of this experimental study was to investigate the anti-cancer properties of various concentrations of aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of Zophobas morio (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) larvae, as a mass-rearing and available insect, on breast cancer cells.

In this experimental study, the insect was reared at a temperature of 25 °C and a relative humidity of 60% on wheat bran. At the final larval stage, the insects were dried and pulverized. Breast cancer cells (MCF-7) and normal cells (HUVEC) purchased from Pasteur Institute, were treated for 24 and 72 hours by different concentrations of aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts (zero, 25, 100, 400 and 1200 μg/ml). Water was used as a control. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. In five treatment groups, 10,000 cells of each extract were cultured in three replicates.

Adding high concentration of hydroalcoholic extract (39.42±4.48 in 24 hours, 23.52±1.82 in 72 hours) compared to aqueous extract (56.02±9.43 in 24 hours, 36.52±4.07 at 72 hours) had a better effect on inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells (p<0.05). The effect of these extracts on normal cells was observed only in high concentrations and its amount was lower than cancer cells (aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts [61.77±3.44 and 57.21±1.10 in 24 hours] and [39.25±6.53 and 27.14±1.38 in 72 hours], respectively) (p<0.05).

The results showed that the high concentration of hydroalcoholic extract of Z. morio larvae played an effective role in inhibiting breast cancer cells, without having a significant effect on normal cells.

The aim of this study was to compare the anti-proliferative,apoptotic effects of hydroalcoholic extracts of different herbal medicines (Achillea wilhelmsii,Silybum marianumseed,Echinacea purpurea,Adiantum capillus-venerisand apricot kernel) against breast cancer cells (Mcf-7).Material,

For this purpose,the plants were dried,milled,then,soaked in 70% ethanol for 72 hours,their extracts were extracted using a rotary evaporator.Different concentrations of herbal extracts (12.5,25,50,100 μg,ml) were added to the cancer cell culture medium,their cytotoxicity,apoptotic effects were investigated after 24h by MTT assay,acridine orange - ethidium bromide staining,respectively.Data was analyzed by SPSS software at the significant level of 5%.

Addition of the highestconcentration of all extracts to the culture mediumshowed the most significant anti-proliferative,apoptotic effects (P<0.05) compared to other concentrations of the same extracts.Also,among the high concentrations (100μg,ml),the highest cell cytotoxicity effects were related to the extracts of Echinacea purpureaand Adiantum capillus-veneris (P<0.05).

The results of this study indicated that the addition of Echinacea purpurea,Adiantum capillus-venerisextractsto the cell culturesin high concentrationshad the most significant anti proliferative,apoptotic effects on breast cancer cells in comparison with other plant extractsand concentrations.

Background and Objectives Quercus spp. is the most important and most abundant tree species in west of Iran, especially the Zagros region. The Zagros Mountains have been the original habitat for various Quercus species in Iran. Important pests attack Quercus spp. trees and often cause serious damage. Mites are active arthropod species in oak forests and act as pest, decomposer and predator. Mateials and Methods The bisotunnatural preserved area in Kermanshah province is located in height of 1320 meters above sea level. To investigate the fauna of Prostigmatic mites associated with Quercus spp. in bisotunnatural preserved area, samples were taken from different parts of location in 2018 -2019 from the soil and aerial parts of the Quercus spp. forest trees. Specimens were transferred to the laboratory, separated using berlese funnel, clarified in lactic acid and mounted in Hoyer’s liquid. Results In this study in total 12 species and 16 genera belonging to 12 families were identified. The most abundant species was Molothrognathus mehrnejadi (Liang and Zhang, 1997), from Caligonellidae. Identified species are as follows: Anystidae: Anystis baccarum Linnaeus, 1758; Bdellidae: Cyta coerulipes (Duges, 1834); Cunaxidae: Pulaeus glebulentus Den Heyer, 1980; Tydeidae: Lorryia woolleyi (Baker, 1968), Tydeus caudatus (Duges, 1834) sensu Baker, 1970; Ereynetidae: Ereynetoides amplectorus Hunter, 1964; Iolinidae: Pronematus ubiquitus (McGregor, 1932), Pronematus rykei Meyer & Rodrigues, 1966; Erythraeidae: Parerythraeus sp., Abrolophus sp.; Smarididae: Smaris sp., Fessonia sp.; Raphignathidae: Raphignathus sp.; Tetranychidae: Tetranychus urticae Koch, 1836; Tetranychus turkestani (Ugarov and Nikolski), 1937, Eotetranychus frosti (McGregor, 1952); Trombididae:Allothrombium sp.; Cheyletidae: Acaropsellina sollers Kuzin, 1940. Discussion In this study, the collected species Anystis baccarum Linnaeus, 1758, was previously reported by Yazdanpanah and Ostovan (2014) in the oak forests of the Fars Province. The collected species Cyta coerulipes, Smaris sp. and Fessonia sp. were previously reported by Farahmandi (2015) from the oak forests of Yasuj. In addition, Tetranychus urticae, collected in this study, was previously reported by Niyazi (2017) on oak trees in Ilam province and Amini et al. (2016) from oak in Marivan city. In this study nine species and four genera were collected and reported, which have not been reported previously from oak which include:   Pulaeus glebulentus Den Heyer, 1980, Lorryia woolleyi (Baker, 1968), Tydeus caudatus (Duges, 1834), Ereynetoides amplectorus Hunter, 1964, Pronematus ubiquitus (McGregor, 1932, Pronematus rykei Meyer & Rodrigues, 1966, Tetranychus turkestani (Ugarov and Nikolski), 1937, Eotetranychus frosti (McGregor, 1952), Acaropsellina sollers  Kuzin, 194,Parerythraeus sp, Abrolophus sp, Raphignatus sp. and Allothrombium sp. A Checklist of reported prostigmatic mites from oak forests of Iran is provided as well. This list included 74 species belonging to 10 genera and 17 families.