Background: Infection due to Acinetobacter baumannii has become a significant challenge to modern healthcare systems. The rapid emergence and global dissemination of A. baumannii as a major nosocomial pathogen is remarkable and it demonstrates its successful adaptation to the 21st century hospital environment. Recent studies have discussed about essential oil of Origanum vulgare against a range of bacteria, including various species of Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Escherichia coli.Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects O. vulgare essence against multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of A. baumannii from selected hospitals in Tehran, Iran.Materials and Methods: This oil was obtained using the hydrodistillation method and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrography (GC/MS). The antimicrobial activity against MDR isolates was achieved using disc diffusion method and macro-broth dilution assay.Results: Analysis of the essential oil revealed the presence of pulegone (68.59%) piperitone (7.8%), piperitenone (7.8%), 1, 8-cineole (1.3%), and carvacrol (1.6%) as the major components. The results showed a significant activity against MDR A. baumannii with inhibition zones and minimal inhibitory concentration values in the ranges of 7-15 mm and 20-35 mL/mL respectively.Conclusions: This investigation showed that the essence oil of O. vulgare had a potent antimicrobial activity against MDR A. baumannii. Further research is required to evaluate the practical values of therapeutic applications.

Background and Aim: Medicinal plant extracts are still commonly used in folk medicine in developing countries. The seed of African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) is a very expensive food legume in Nigeria. Previous studies on S. stenocarpa plant have proven it to be of an outstanding medical significance. Hence, this study investigated the reproductive-enhancing potentials of methanol extracts of Sphenostylis stenocarpa seeds in male Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: A total of 144 adult rats were used for the experiment. They were divided into 4 groups (A – D) and replicated trice. Group A served as the normal control, while groups B, C and D received three graded doses (800, 1200 and 1600 mg/kg) of the extracts respectively by oral intubation. The rats' gonad characteristics, sperm parameters and hormonal analyses were determined weekly using standard procedures starting from week 0 (day 1) to week 12. The data were analyzed statistically using ANOVA. Results: The mean weekly gonad characteristics of the male rats in the treatment groups showed overall dose and duration-dependent significant differences compared with the control. The body weights of the male rats significantly reduced (p<0. 05), whereas the testes weights, gonad somatic index, sperm count and sperm motility of the rats significantly increased (p<0. 05). Testosterone responded to the plant extracts. The testosterone levels of all the treated rats significantly increased. Conclusion: The methanol seed extracts of S. stenocarpa demonstrated an overall potency to enhance the reproduction in the Wistar rats

To determine yield stability and to evaluate genotype interaction with environment interaction, 18 genotype of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and a control group were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications in 3 successive years (1997-2000) at 10 research stations. Simple and combined analysis of variance revealed significant genetic differences between yield genotypes for grain yield. The results of combined analysis of variance indicated that genotypic and genotype were significant through interaction with environment. Therefore, different stability parameters including, environmental variance (S2 i), environmental coefficient of variation (C. Vi), mean of variance of interaction (θi ), interaction variance (θi), equivalence (W2i), stability variance «(σ2i ), linear regression coefficient (bi, βi), mean of squares of deviation from regression (S2 di) and years within location MS for a genotype, averaging over all locations (MSy/l)were determined. Based on all the stability parameters, genotype 18 was known-as the most stable one and genotypes 17 and 11 ranked lower. Genotype 5 with the highest yield -was known to be the most adaptable one at fertile environments and is recommended for these locations. In addition, genotype 9 with good yield and low yield variance (1.58) and regression coefficient of less than 1 is suggested for unfertile locations.