Objective: this study designed to test the antibacterial potency of enrofloxacin (ENR) and essential oils from Zataria multiflora Boiss (ZEO) and Trachyspermum copticum (TEO) on Aeromonas hydrophila.Material and METHODs: The antibacterial potency of test compounds was determined by several METHODs including the inhibition zone diameter determination, MICROBROTH DILUTION METHOD and colorimetric METHOD of MTT. The cytotoxicity of test substances was assessed on Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) embryo (CHSE-214) cells.Results: Results showed that ENR and tested essential oils exert antibacterial effect against A. hydrophila. Moreover, ENR exerted the most potent antibacterial effect with MIC values of 62.5 ng/ml. The natural compounds of ZEO and TEO also showed antibacterial effects with rather high MIC values of 0.315 mg/ml, and 1.25 mg/ml, respectively. None of the tested substances showed toxicity on CHSE-24 cells.Conclusion: It is concluded that ZEO and TEO could be applied to prevent from A. hydrophila infection. Moreover, data also suggest that MTT METHOD could be both cost- and time-effective and accurate METHOD of MIC determination.

An increase in the global energy demand and also the shortage of conventional crude oil resources have led to an increase in the attention to unconventional crude oil resources. However, unconventional crude oils need additional processes which make their production and refining costly. Therefore, some techniques including heating, DILUTION, or creating oil in water emulsions have been proposed to solve this problem. In the present study, the DILUTION METHOD has been investigated to reduce the viscosity of heavy Iranian crude oil produced in the Nowrouz field which has a viscosity of 608 mPa. s and API of 19. 5 at 25° C. After a preliminary diluent selection, the examined diluents were kerosene, diesel, and toluene in the range of 5-30% v/v in 25° C. It was found that using toluene at 30% v/v reduces the viscosity of crude oil/diluent blend up to 97% in comparison with initial crude oil. To predict the viscosity of crude oil/diluent blend, simple mixing rules and mixing rules based on the viscosity blending index have been examined. It was found that the prediction accuracy for the crude oil/toluene blends was not satisfactory. Koval, Maxwell, and Almaamari mixing rules showed the best results for predicting the viscosity of blends using kerosene and diesel diluents.

Introduction and objective: Patients with candidiasis could be treated with antifungal drugs. Due to side effects and drug resistance, many studies have been conducted to investigate essential oils’ antifungal effects. The aim of the present study was to determine anticandidal activity of some essential oils.Materials and METHODs: In this study, the effect of thyme, pennyroyal and lemon essential oils on Candida isolated from vulvovaginal infection were investigated experimentally by using micro DILUTION METHOD. Serial DILUTION of thyme (0.002-4%), pennyroyal (0.004-8%) and lemon (0.15-32%) essential oils accompanying to controls and also amphotericin B (0.008-16μg/ml) and fluconazole (1-2048μg/ml) were used.Results: Thyme’s essential oils had the most anti-candidal activity followed by pennyroyal. Candida albicans was the most sensitive species (0.008-0.062%). Thyme and lemon essential oils had the most (0.008-0.271%) and least (1-32%) anticandidal activities, respectively. The candidal growth was inhibited by amphotericin B at 1μg/ml; whereas the anticandidal activity of fluconazole was 29.647-978.824μg/ml. the effect of thyme essentia l oil was similar to amphotericin B.Conclusion: Because of the strong anti-candidal effects of thyme which was proved through in vitro tests in our study, it is proposed to do further research in the treatment of candidiasis with thyme experimentally.

The present study was conducted in order to determine the proper extender for poultry semen among Beltsville, Ringer and milk and the comparison of various proportions of different extenders applied for DILUTION (semen-over-extender ratios 1:1 and 1:2) and its impact on fertility and semen storage period (non-storage or 24-hour storage). This study was carried out in the Isfahan Center for Breeding and Production of Native Hens. The study consisted of eleven treatments and each treatment included three roosters as replicate and 24 hens. Collected semen was diluted in 1:1 and 1:2 ratios by various extenders and insemination was conducted immediately or after a 24-hour storage period at 5 degrees of centigrade. The results indicated that following a 24-hour storage period, fertility declined and that the effect of various insemination periods on fertility proved to be significant (P<0.01). There was no significant difference between the 1:1 and 1:2 ratios for the extenders (P<0.05). Among the extenders, when using non-stored semen, employment of the1:1 Ringer extenders produced the highest fertility and there was no significant difference between the Beltsville and control extender. However, using milk as extender lowered the fertility. In conclusion, none of the applied extenders are proper for semen storage and application of Ringer as extender resulted in the highest fertility.