No abstract

No abstract

IntroductionSepticemia is an emergency in medicine due to various dangers and lethality. In patients with septicemia, blood culture and other cultures should be done before antibiotic therapy. Determination of each isolated bacterium from blood culture and pattern of antibiotic sensitivity have an important role epidemiologically in a region and can assist physicians in the determination of primary antimicrobial agents. In this study, the researchers evaluated the schema of resistance of antibiotics in blood culture during the years 2014–2015 at eight educational hospitals in Rasht, North of Iran.Materials and methodsThis was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The researchers evaluated all blood cultures performed at four educational hospitals in Rasht. Demographic data were completed by a checklist, and antibiotic sensitivity antibiogram for all blood culture samples was done by diffusion agar (Kirby–Bauer method). Data were entered and analyzed in the SPSS software version 16, and the pattern of resistance, sensitivity, and intermediate antibiogram results was classified.ResultsFrom 3,283 cases, 225 subjects were positive (6.85%). Sixty-two percent of patients were male and others were female. The most common agent in the samples were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (66, 29.3%), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (including Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus; 50, 22.2%), coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus (29, 12.9%), and Escherichia coli (28, 12.4%). The most resistant antibiotic was ceftriaxone (44%), and the most sensitive antibiotic was ciprofloxacin (54%).ConclusionAccording to significant changes of microorganisms that cause sepsis and meaningful alterations of antibiogram findings, the current findings showed that choosing the best choice for empiric therapy should be corrected. The rate of positive samples in the current study was higher than the normal range. Consulting with a pharmacist for antibiotic prescription in hospitals and participation of physicians in antibiotic administration workshops could help decrease resistance.

Ponticola hircaniaensis sp. nov. is described as a new gobiid species from the Kaboudval Stream, southern Caspian Sea basin. The new species is diagnosed among Caspian Sea basin Ponticola species by the following combination of characters: second dorsal-fin branched rays 14–16, anal-fin branched rays 10–12, scales in lateral series 52–59; lower jaw slightly, if at all, prognathous; head and body yellowish brown showing a reticulate brown pattern on a yellow background, first dorsal fin with a marginal bright orangish-yellow band and a dark anterior spot, upper part of pectoral-fin base with a distinct dark brown stripe; length of third spine in first dorsal fin 13.4–18.3 % of standard length (SL), second dorsal-fin spine length 11.1–13.8 % SL, caudal peduncle length and depth 16.4–20.1 % and 11.1–12.8 % SL, respectively, head depth at nape 70.9–81.0 % of head length (HL), and at eye 52.5–66.0 % HL; sagittal otolith dorsal rim with a broad concavity in the middle, dorsal depression absent or indistinct, sulcus length/sulcus height and sulcus height/otolith height ratios 1.47–1.82 and 0.34–0.40, respectively. It is also characterised by a K2P nearest neighbour distance of 5% to P. kessleri in the mtDNA COI barcode region. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analyses suggested extensive hybridization between P. hircaniaensis sp. nov. and P. gorlap at Kaboudval, providing evidence for the first record of hybridization in the Ponto-Caspian gobiids. Based on narrow geographic range isolated above the Zarrin Gol Dam (< 2 km2), extensive hybridization with P. gorlap, and other threats, the new species should be considered Critically Endangered.

A morphometric truss network system and meristic counts were used to investigate the hypothesis of population fragmentation of pikeperch Sander lucioperca among four major fishing areas in the Caspian Sea drainage. Univariate analysis of variance showed significant differences between the means of the four groups for 20 out of 32 standardized morphometric measurements (27 truss, five traditional characters) and six out of nine meristic counts. The first two canonical discriminant functions accounted for 93 and 92.3% of the total variability in morphometric and meristic characteristics, respectively. A dendogram derived from cluster analysis of Mahalanobis distances and a discriminant analysis among the groups confirmed three distinct populations in these regions, while there was a relatively high degree of overlap between all locations when using meristic characters. The most relevant morphometric characteristics were the measured distances on body heights and the caudal peduncle area. This study indicated that the morphometric truss network system was more adequate than meristic characters for separation among the populations.

Freshwater habitats of the Caucasus biodiversity hotspot represent a center of endemism for the gobiid genus Ponticola Iljin, 1927. Hitherto, large‐scale molecular studies, owing to restricted taxon and geographical sampling, have failed to give an elaborate picture of diversity and evolutionary history of these species. Here, to contribute to filling this gap, we assessed taxonomic diversity, phylogeography and evolutionary history for the south Caspian populations of Ponticola presently classified as P. iranicus and P. patimari, using an integrative taxonomic approach comprising an entire geographic range sampling, and analyses of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, the head lateral line system, otolith shape, and meristic and morphometric variation. All freshwater samples of the P. syrman group belong to a monophyletic clade with two main subclades: a small subclade confined to the upper Sefidroud sub‐basin including the type locality of P. iranicus and a large subclade with three geographically constrained haplogroups (Hg1, Hg2, and Hg3), comprising the rest of the distribution. Hg1 showed an eastern distribution including the type locality of P. patimari, while Hg2 and Hg3 are sister groups with central and western‐central distributions, respectively. The freshwater clade diverged from P. syrman during the Tyurkyanian low stand (~150 m b.s.l. lasting ~0.1 Myr), while the divergence of P. iranicus and P. patimari and radiations within P. patimari took place during the Bakunian high stand (up to 50 m a.s.l. lasting ~378–480 kya). Species delimitation analyses indicated two distinct species, corresponding to each main subclade. Although the otolith shape and lateral line analyses did not reflect with phylogeographic pattern, PCA and DFA plots of meristic and morphometric data showed a clear separation of the two major subclades corresponding to P. iranicus and P. patimari, suggesting the presence of significant morphological variation meriting formal taxonomic recognition. Overall, our findings (i) reveal the presence of two freshwater endemic species in the P. syrman group, and pending further investigation, hypothesize the presence of a third cryptic species; (ii) revise and document a narrow distributional range and low diversity for P. iranicus, in contrast to a wider distributional range and high diversity for P. patimari; (iii) suggest that the climatic oscillations of the Pleistocene were associated with the cladogenesis within the P. syrman group; and (iv) allowed for the recognition of conservation units and proposition of management measures.

Small and silvery cyprinid species from eastern Iran which are usually known as Crossocheilus latius are reviewed based on morphological and molecular characters of the mtDNA COI barcode region. We demonstrate that fishes which had been identified as Crossocheilus Kuhl & van Hasselt, 1823 in Iran actually belong to the genus Gonorhynchus McClelland, 1838 with two species: G. adiscus (Annandale, 1919) and G. diplochilus (Heckel, 1838), which are rediagnosed here. Both species are well distinguished by gill raker counts, number of scales between anus and anal fin, barbel size and minimum body depth. G. adiscus and G. diplochilus are also distinguished by molecular characters of the mtDNA COI barcode region. Both species are phylogenetically close to Gonorhynchus latius (Hamilton, 1822) which is restricted to India, Nepal and Bangladesh and to G. burmanicus (Hora, 1936), restricted to India and Myanmar. All of these four related taxa are phylogenetically closer to the genus Garra than the genus Crossocheilus (restricted to south-east Asia).

No abstract