The aim of study was Mnemiopsis leidyi’s feeding on zooplankton in the southern Caspian Sea. For this purpose, collecting of ctenophores from surface waters of Khazarabad area were done with a plankton net (500 microns) in 2009 Experiments had done under<18, 18-22 and 22-25oC for 70 days trial in 14 aquaria based on diversity of zooplankton (4 zooplankton groups) with salinity condition of Caspian Sea.4 species of Caspian Sea zooplankton included: Copepod (Acartia tonsa), Rotifer (Branchionus sp.), Cladocera (Podon polyphemoides) and invertebrate benthic larvae (Hypania sp. and Nereis sp.) were collected. Feeding carried out by each 8 hours interval with 7000-9000 individuals. Zooplankton diets of the comb jelly were analyzed on quantity and quality of each feeding rate in all levels of treatments. Laboratory experiments of M. leidyi feeding showed that among different diet exposed to these animals, maximum tendency and digestion were occurred in 22-25oC from Balanide (Balanus sp., 98.1%), Rotifer (95%) and Copepods (90%), respectively. Balanus supposed to be the favorite food item with 98% digestion and Rotifers were the second group after Balanide in M. leidyi diet. Copepods included juvenile, adults and nauplii consisted 34-38% of food item in M. leidyi diet in which benthic larvae was only 27%. Electivity of M. leidyi to Balanide and Copepods adults and Nauplii (A. tonsa) being considered positively while to Nereis sp. was negative.

This study carried out to investigate the live food selectivity of Persian sturgeon (A. persicus) fry in six treatments in four earthen ponds during spring 2013 for 40 days. For this purpose, sampling was performed from zooplankton and benthos of earthen ponds and stomach content of 240 fry. In order to determine the electivity index for each prey item, the abundance of prey in the stomach and earthen ponds was investigated. The range of electivity was from-1 to 1, where 1 indicates positive selection for prey items and-1 indicates avoidance of prey items and zero shows random selection. The frequency of rotifer and daphnia were 172. 6 and 123. 8, respectively, and they were dominant among the six aquatic animals at treatment 6. The chironomid larvae (Chironomus sp. ) had the highest frequency of 40. 25 in the third sampling. Although the content of the stomach was daphnia, diaptomus, chironomid larvae (Chironomus sp. ), daphnia, and chironomid larvae were the dominant organisms. The highest positive electivity of daphnia (0. 83) was observed in treatment 3, while, the highest frequency of chironomid (0. 59) was detected in treatment 6. After 30 days, a strong positive selection for chironomid and weak positive selection was observed for daphnia.

Introduction: Zayandehroud River is one of the most important permanent freshwater rivers in the central part of Iran. Studying aquatic organisms, especially endogenous fishes, could be useful for understanding biological and ecological processes. Among the fishes in the Zayandehroud River, Dori bleak, Alburnus doriae and Brond Snout, Chondrostoma regium, belong to the Cyprinidae family. They exist in this river in the middle and upper parts with sand and gravel habitat. They usually feed on insects and other aquatic invertebrates. The gut content analysis is one of the most widely used methods for identifying fish's food and feeding habits. Studying the diet contents is the main key to understanding many aspects of biology, ecology, physiology, and behavior of fishes. In addition, the nutritional position in the ecosystem, feeding habits, and relationship with other species could be influenced by dietary regimes in the aquatic resources. The purpose of this study was to determine the type of diet and feeding habits by analyzing the gut contents of A. doriae and C. regium and measuring some nutritional indicators. The findings of this study could be used to protect biodiversity and provide a better understanding of the structure of food web in Zayandehroud River. Materials and methods: Fish sampling and some physicochemical water parameters were carried out seasonally during the spring, summer, autumn, and winter of 2012 from two sampling areas of Cheshme Dimeh and Khersonek of ​​Zayandehroud River. After separation, the eaten food items were identified and classified, counted, and weighed at the lowest possible systematic level using identification keys of aquatic invertebrates. The indicators of the vacuity index, relative length of gut, and Ivlev's electivity index were used to check the nutritional conditions and determine the importance of different food groups. The obtained data was analyzed using SAS 9.3 and Excel 2013 statistical software. In addition, the changes in the vacuity index were determined using the chi-square test. The One-Way ANOVA was used to determine data statistically significant differences. Results and Discussion: The vacuity index was 11.5% for A. doriae and 24% for C. regium. The highest value of this index for both species was in autumn, while the lowest in winter. This index significantly differed throughout the year for both species (P<0.05). The average relative length of gut was 0.73 ± 0.08 and 1.36 ± 0.24 for A. doriae and C. regium, respectively. There was no significant difference between the relative length of the gut in different age groups throughout the year in both fish species (P<0.05). The Ivlev's electivity index showed that A. doriae had a greater tendency to feed on the Odonata, Plecoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Arachnida, and Hirudinea, while C. regium had a higher feed tendency for Plecoptera, Odonata, Ephemeroptera, and Hirudinea. The seasonal changes in the nutritional indexes could be related to food availability in the environment. In addition, high values ​​of the vacuity index in fish can be changed by daily feeding of fish, reproductive activity, and prey availability. The relative length of the gut varies according to the type of food consumed by the fish, the amount of plant material in the diet, the species, and different life stages of the fish. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that A. doriae and C. regium are carnivorous and omnivorous, respectively. A. doriae prefers insects, but C. regium consumes mostly insects and filamentous algae as the preferred food. The seasonal differences in these two species' diets occur due to differences in food selection in Zayandehroud River.

Himalayan musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster), commonly known as Kasturi mriga is listed as an endangered species by IUCN and protected by the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 of Nepal. The study was carried out in two village development committees within the Annapurna conservation area region-Ghandruk and Shikha. Plots were laid using random sampling, and the corresponding GPS coordinates were recorded. The habitat of musk deer was analyzed through land cover analysis and vegetation analysis. Ivelv’ s electivity index (+1 to-1) was calculated to determine the preference or avoidance of habitat by musk deer, in which positive values showed preference and negative values showed avoidance. The vegetation analysis was performed by applying the importance value index. The habitat map based on preference and avoidance was prepared using GIS. M. chrysogaster showed higher preference to the slope ranging from 25º to 35º (IV-0. 29), followed by the slope 15º to 25º (IV-0. 16). North-west aspect and North aspect had the IV values of 0. 51 and 0. 42 respectively that showed the greater predilection of musk deer to these aspects. Musk deer was widely distributed in the altitudinal range of 3400m to 3600m (IV-0. 27) that was followed by the altitude of 3300m to 3400m (IV-0. 26). Musk deer preferred the shrub land and grassland in maximum extent. The study sites were dominated by Birch-Rhododendron forest, which were widely used by the musk deer. The preferred plants were Rosa spp., Betula spp., Abies spp. whereas the herb species mostly consisted of Lichen/Moss and Khar/grass. The habitat map showed a notably smaller extent of preferred area, indicating an obligation towards conservation of the species in its present habitat. Regular patrolling and investigation of musk deer habitat and effective conservation strategies regarding habitat management is recommended.

Background and objectives: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is the most common mononeuropathy encountered in clinical practice. Conventional electro diagnosis studies have been useful in the diagnosis of this condition. The Terminal Latency Index (TLI) is a derived neurophysiological value that adjusts the Distal motor Latency (DL) for the terminal distance and motor nerve Conduction Velocity (CV).Several studies have suggested utility of the median TLI for diagnosis of CTS.The goal of this study is to evaluate prospectively the sensitivity of the median TLI in the diagnosis of CTS and compare it with other electrodiagnosis techniques.Material and Methods: This study was done on 111 patients as CTS group & 62 healthy subject as control group. In all groups five selected tests of electrodiagnosis were done and all of them were compared with TLI sensitivity.Results: The mean TLI was 0.3±0.05 in the CTS group and 0.42±0.03 in the control group. The sensitivity of TLI was 73% The TLI wasn't statistically better than the other tests, but in three cases from the CTS group, the TLI was the only abnormal test.The 7 and 14 cm method had meaningful sensitivity in contrary to other tests.Conclusion: The sensitivity of TLI has no meaningful difference with other routine electro diagnostic tests in diagnosis of CTS.The median TLI is a useful but not more sensitive electrodiagnostic test for CTS.

Introduction: Three methods of OCRA Index, Strain Index (SI), and ACGIH HAL have been proposed for the assessment of risk factors of upper limb musculoskeletal disorders. Investigating the correlation and consistency of these three methods are of prominence importance in the workplaces. Thus, this study aimed to determine the correlations of the results of the above mentioned methods. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 150 tasks were studied in four industries. For each task, a video taping of a full working cycle was prepared and evaluated according to the instructions of each method. The level of risk exposure to musculoskeletal disorders was analyzed with correlation and Kappa agreement coefficient tests using SPSS (version 16) and R software packages.Results: The correlation between the results of risk assessments of OCRA and SI methods for right and left hands were acceptable and equal to 0.751 and 0.726, respectively (p<0.001). Meanwhile, the coefficients of agreement between OCRA and HAL methods for left and right hands were 0.526 and 0.595, respectively.Conclusion: These findings partly confirmed the agreement between the methods of risk assessment. The origin of this partial agreement can be the number and type of variables and their impacts on the final score of the methods.

Introduction: J.E.Hirsch introduced H Index to scientometric domain, representing actual scientific profitability quality of a researcher’s publications; and is equal to effective index for researchers. Literature review: Studies showed that documents database have provided different H scores for each researcher and for different scientific fields. Despite the utmost advantages of H-index it also have some flaws such as need to use complementary indices such as m, r, g index. Conclusions: The strength point of H index, is its ability to use in limited levels which is an complementary for other bibliomeetric exist indexes. This Index, with others, could be a suit index to improvement scientific levels for researchers, scientist, and scientific board members.