Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an immune disorder commonly presents as isolated thrombocytopenia. Generally corticosteroids are the main treatment of ITP. This study was designed to evaluate effectiveness of high dose dexamethasone comparing conventional corticosteroid therapy in the treatment of ITP.mg/kg/day/PO with rapid tapering of prednisolone (10 mg/week). From the other hand, in group B, thirty patients (mean age of 27.2 years) were treated with Prednisolone 1 mg/kg/day/PO for four weeks, then the drug tapered weekly.In a randomized prospective study, sixty adult patients with newly diagnosed primary symptomatic ITP  were evaluated. Patients divided into two groups. In group A, thirty patients (mean age of 24.9 years) received Dexamethasone 40 mg/IV/daily for four days (10 mg/q6h); and then Prednisolone 1 All the patients in group A showed favorable response within the first seven days, 27 cases presented complete response (CR) and three cases revealed response (R). In group B, 11 cases had CR, 13 cases showed R and six cases had No response (NR). After three months, rates of CR were 80% and 23.3% in group A and B; respectively. Responses were 16.7% and 33.3%, NRs were 6.6% and 43.3% in group A and B; respectively (P < 0.0001). After 6 months, CR was 73.3% vs.16.7%, and R was 16.7% vs.36.7% and NR was 10% vs. 46.7% in group A and B; respectively (P < 0.0001). After 12 months, there was no change in response rate in group A, but in group B 53% were non responsive, 40% showed R (chronic ITP) and complete response was observed only in 6.7% (P < 0.0001). Three cases in group A and 12 cases in group B had needed splenectomy (P < 0.00002).We showed that high dose dexamethasone is more effective than conventional steroid therapy in newly diagnosed ITP as initial treatment with less relapses and toxicities. Terminan 25% -11). The. Themg/k and all of the patients provided informed consent. Patients with previously treated ITP, diabetes, liver and kidney dysfunction, infections including HIV, HCV, and HBV, pregnancy and SLE or any acute illness were excluded. ITP was diagnosed according to clinical features, CBC, and bone marrow aspiration  , response (R)  and no response (NR)  [8]. Patients were followed for at least 12 months (ranged 12-48 months) .).12]). Tration ,14). Aft. Aft. Independent Sixty patients completed the study and came for weekly follow up visits and laboratory evaluations. These consecutive patients randomly assigned to group A and B. There was no significant difference between mean age (P = 0.49), sex (P = 0.75) and platelet count (P = 0.56) of the two groups Table.Seven days after initiation of treatment protocol, in group A, CR and R were observed in 27 and three patients, respectively. In group B, we showed CR in 11 cases, R in 13 cases and NR in six cases. After three months, in group A, two patients were NR, five cases showed R and 23 cases revealed CR and loss of CR and R occurred in this period. In group B, NR, R and CR were observed in 13, 10 and seven patients, respectively (P < 0.0001). After 6 months, in group A versus group B, the number of patients with NR, R and CR were three versus 14, five versus 11 and 22 versus five (P < 0.0001). One year after the initial treatment, there were no further changes in group A; however, in group B, number of NR cases increased to 16, two cases showed CR and the remaining cases were in R group (P < 0.0001). Splenectomy as a second line treatment was performed for three cases in A group and for 12 cases in group B (P < 0.00002) (Table) and grade one hypertension in one case. In group B, the most common toxicities were weight gain in 13 cases (43.3%) with grade one toxicity, hypertension in three cases (10%), (one case in grade 2 and two cases in grade 1 toxicity), abnormal glucose level needed transient treatment in five cases (16.5%) (three in grade 2 and two in grade one of toxicity), and gastrointestinal toxicity in seven (23.3%) patients, (five in grade 2 and two in grade 3 of toxicity).Overall, treatment related toxicities Table were minmg/kg for four weeks and then tapering .Our .Our mg/kCheng and colleagues demonstrated that 85% of all cases received high dose dexamethasone had initial response, while half of them had sustained response. Other cases experienced relapse disease . However, 50% of these cases only needed 10 mg/day prednisolone to continue response after second course of high dose dexamethasone and other cases needed more than 10 mg/day plus further treatment including splenectomy, IVIG, Anti D, danazol, vina alkaloid, and Cyclosporine. In our study initial response was similar to Cheng study, but we showed higher sustained and durable response and lower relapse rate (16.6% vs. 50%). This difference may be due to younger age of our patients and continuation of prednisolone for at least four weeks. The later probable reason may be supported by this fact that in cheng study 50% of relapses responded to 10 mg prednisolone .In another study Borst and coworkers treated 36 cases with high dose dexamethasone; 50% as first line therapy and 50% as second line. In first line group 59% had durable response (CR + PR) for 2-31 months, 28% had transient response with immediate relapse after cessation of high dose dexamethasone and 11% had no response . In secPR 20%; MR 1.1% and NR14.4%). With administration of every other course of high dose dexamethasone therapy, response rate increased . The quality of response in younger patients was more favorable than older patients (P = 0.039) and relapse rate was lower (P = 0.01). Age was the most important factor for response and relapse in Mazzucconi study. After 6.5 months of treatment, relapse rate was 13% among responders. Durable response without any treatment after 8 months follow up was 74.4% . In this study, relapse rate and durable response were 24.2% and 75%, respectively. Sustained response was similar to our study (67.6% vs. 75%). Thirty three cases showed a favorable response to dexamethasone therapy and relapse occurred in eight cases which were higher than our ones. In the Multicenter study response rate was 85.6% . Durable response was similar in both studies; however CR was lower in multicenter study (64.5% vs. 80%) and relapse rate was higher (22% vs. 16.6%).The younger mean age of our patients and continuation of glucocorticoid after cessation of dexamethasone, may explain more favorable response especially higher durable response in our study.The favorable and better outcome of current study comparing Mazzucconi and Cheng studies were: young age of our patients and continuation of corticosteroid administration after cessation of high dose dexamehasone. Continuation of prednisolone may be effective in sustained blockade of clearance system and inhibition of antibody synthesis and deposition -22)..22]).The strengths of our study were: the first randomized prospective study about comparison between high dose dexamethasone and conventional prednisolone therapy, being all cases in severe disease according to PLT count and doing close follow up visits. Our limitations were: Age distribution (excluding childhood and older cases), and single-blind study (instead of double-blind), and limited number of patients (only 30 cases in every groups).Comparing conventional treatment, our study showed more effectiveness of single course of high dose dexamethasone with continuation and rapid tapering of prednisolone as an initial treatment for primary newly diagnosed immune thrombocytopenia with minimal and acceptable side effects. We recommend further head to head studies to evaluate effectiveness of this regimen comparing repeated cycles of dexamethasone as sole treatment.The authors declare that they have no competing interest.All of the authors had the same contribution in article.


Analysis of the clinical response of extramedullary lesions in leukemic patients treated with radiation therapy (RT) and defining the optimal dose of radiation.Forty-two extramedullary lesions found in 24 leukemic patients treated with RT were reviewed. The radiation was delivered usually 2 Gy/day, up to a median of 20 Gy (range: 18.0-40.8). The clinical response and symptom palliation effect were analyzed. The factors affecting the response were also included in the analysis.2 (p = 0.010) or who were treated with more than 25 Gy (p = 0.031). The overall CR rate was also higher in those who had smaller tumors  (p = 0.015), or when the tumor was located in soft tissue (p = 0.029).After a median time of 7.9 weeks, the overall response rate was 76.2%. A complete response (CR) was achieved in 35.7%, a partial response in 40.5%. The symptom was relieved in 85.7% sites. The overall response rate was better in patients whose initial tumor size was smaller than 10 cmExtramedullary lesions in leukemic patients can be successfully treated with RT. The tumor response rate was excellent and symptom relief was achieved in almost all patients. There was a better response to treatment when the tumor was small or it was located in soft tissue. Although, there was no definite correlation between volume reduction and total dose, it seems that higher total dose more of than 25 Gy is needed for better response. Cure of leukemia is possible for significant numbers of patients after intensive treatment. However, clinical extramedullary lesions (EML) in leukemic patient negatively affect the prognosis . EML in The relatively rare incidence of EML has resulted in limited treatment experience, and there are no publications on randomized trials. Therefore, therapeutic decisions are usually based on retrospective studies and case reports. Chemotherapy is the most important treatment method ,13,14. HRT is effective and can be used for localized lesions that cause symptoms -17. HoweWe retrospectively reviewed the database at the St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, the Catholic University of Korea from between January 2003 and December 2008. There were 37 patients and 88 sites treated with RT. The median follow-up time was 12.8 months (range: 1.9-80.2). To obtain objective clinical response results, we analyzed 24 patients and 42 sites whose follow up imaging study exists. There were 11 males and 13 female patients with a median age of 30 years old (range: 5-69). Most of the patients had acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as a primary disease (75.0%) and the others were acute lymphcytic leukemia (ALL) (20.8%) or CML (chronic myeloid leukemia) (4.2%) patients.In seven (29.2%) patients, they developed before achieving the first complete remission. Of these patients, two patients had EML initially at the time of the leukemia diagnosis. In eleven (45.8%) patients, EML developed as a first sign of the first leukemia relapse. Of the rest of patients, EML developed during or after the treatment for leukemia relapse. There were 14 patients with a history of bone marrow transplantation and 9 patients receiving a total body irradiation for the conditioning.2 (range: 0.9-54.0). The initial median tumor volume was 43.3 cm3 (range: 1.5-247.5). The patients and tumor characteristics are summarized in Table The diagnostic workup study included history taking, physical examination and imaging studies. Computed tomography (CT) was acquired in 13 sites and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed for 29 sites. Of the 42 sites, 14 (33.3%) sites were pathologically confirmed to granulocytic sarcoma. In the other sites, EML was diagnosed based on clinical evidences. Nineteen (45.2%) tumors were located in bone, which was the most commonly affected site. Of the remaining 16 (38.1%) tumors were located in soft tissue, 5 (11.9%) in lymph nodes and 2 (4.8%) in solid organs . The initial median tumor size was 4.8 cm (range: 1.1-15.0) or 10.1 cmRadiation was delivered usually once daily at 2 Gy, up to a median of 20 Gy (range: 18-40.8) with 6 or 10 MV photon beams. The daily dose was lower than 2 Gy (1.7 or 1.8 Gy) for 10 sites, 2 Gy for 31 sites and 2.5 Gy in only one site. The overall median treatment time was 2.1 weeks (range: 0.9-6.0). Concurrent chemotherapy was delivered during the RT in 9 sites. Four patients received AML-like intensive chemotherapy, 3 patients received intra-thecal chemotherapy and 2 patients received imatinib.The size of tumors was measured on initial diagnostic CT or MRI images. The largest tumor dimension (LD), as well as the dimension perpendicular to it, was measured on transaxial CT or MRI images. The bidimensional tumor product (BP) was calculated as a product of the largest dimension and the dimension perpendicular to it. However, there were some limitations, such as some tumors were large in the cranio-caudal axis. To compensate for this problem, the tumor was contoured with a modern radiation treatment planning system  to calculate the tumor volume.Post-therapy CT or MRI images were checked in the same way. Although the follow up period was not consistent in all tumors, the tumor response evaluation was performed according to RECIST criteria. The volume reduction rate was also calculated. The clinical or therapeutic factors that could have influenced the response were analyzed.p < 0.05 in a two-tailed test. SPSS ver. 12.0 for windows  was used for statistical analysis.The treatment response was analyzed using the following factors: primary disease, tumor site, the use of chemotherapy, initial tumor size, follow up time and the total dose. Chi-square or Fischer's exact test were performed to determine if these factors influenced the response. Student's t-test was used for average comparison, and the Kaplan and Meier method was used for survival analysis. Linear logistic regression methods were used to analyze the relationship between the tumor dose and volume reduction rate. All results were considered statistically significant at the level of The first response evaluation was performed at a median of 1.9 weeks (range: 0-29.7) after the RT. There were 11 sites which the response evaluation was done directly after the RT. There were 12 (28.6%) sites with a complete response (CR) and 17 (40.5%) sites with a partial response (PR). The response rate (CR+PR) was 69.1%. The second response evaluation was able to be acquired in only 20 sites. The median time was 11.7 weeks (range: 2.9-28.4) after RT. In comparison to first response evaluation, there were 6 sites that had a better response , and 12 sites showed the same results. However, two sites progressed. The one was a tumor on the anterior rib, which showed a PR the day after the RT (20.4 Gy in 12 fracions), but progressed in the second evaluation which was done 18.9 weeks after the RT. The other was a tumor on the distal femur which showed SD in the first evaluation , but progressed in second evaluation (15.9 weeks after RT).The overall response evaluation results are shown in Table The symptom score was retrospectively evaluated in four scales determined by reading the chart notes. The pain or symptom was scored 0 to 3 from no pain or symptom, to mild, moderate or severe pain or symptom. The pain was relieved at 36 (85.7%) sites and disappeared at 16 (38.1%) sites. A decrease in the pain score of more than 2 points was observed in 17 patients and a decrease in 1 point in 19 patients. There were no significant differences in symptom palliation among the tumor sites  was smaller than 10 cm2 or in those patients treated with more than 25 Gy or BED10 30 Gy. Tumors received more than 25 Gy showed a 94.1% (16/17) response rate. In contrast, the overall response rate was only 64.0% (16/25) with less than 25 Gy.There was no specific correlation between the initial tumor size and total radiation dose. The Pearson R2 in BP, the CR rate was lower. Of the 13 tumors larger than 6 cm only one tumor showed a CR. However, a CR was achieved in half (14/29) of the small tumors less than 6 cm. The tumor location was also important in the overall CR rate. When the tumor was located in soft tissue, a CR was better achieved than at other sites. The factors affecting the tumor response are listed in Table The overall CR rate was not affected by the total dose, but it was lower for those who had larger tumors. When the tumor was larger than 6 cm in LD or larger than 30 cmin half 1/29 of th3. The median volume decreased to 11.4 cm3 and 3.3 cm3 in the first and second response evaluations. The median volume reduction rate was 71.9% and 76.8%, respectively. The overall median volume reduction rate was 74.7%. The volume increased 13.0% and 83.1% in two sites, which were counted as a PD in response evaluation. There were no statistically significant factors affecting the volume reduction rate  after the diagnosis of EML. The 1 and 2-year overall survival rate was 50.0% and 41.3%, respectively  or in those with an initial tumor size smaller than 10 cm2.RT is preferred to surgery in many cases because it is non-invasive and leukemic cells are known as extremely radiosensitive. However, the optimal irradiation dose has not been established because of the limited clinical experience. There are some reports treated the EML successfully with RT with or without chemotherapy ,14,16-222), it seems that a higher RT dose is needed. Some authors have also suggested a relationship between the size of the tumors and the total irradiation dose [A CR was achieved in one third (35.8%) of the sites treated, and there is a higher chance of a CR when the tumor is located in the soft tissue. However, when the tumor is large (more than 6 cm or 30 cmion dose .The limitation of this study was its retrospective study design without controls, small case numbers and insufficient medical record of symptom change. However, this is an early study that focuses on the role of radiation for the treatment of EML in leukemic patients.10 30 Gy is needed for a better response. We also suggest that a higher total radiation dose may be needed when the EML is large or located in non-soft tissue sites. In addition, we suggest that at least 20 Gy may be enough for symptom palliation in leukemic patients with EML. Further studies are needed for detailed RT dose schedule depending upon the tumor size.In conclusion, from this retrospective study, we conclude that EML can be managed successfully with RT. The tumor response rate was excellent and symptom relief was achieved in almost all patients, at least in the short term. Although, there was no definite correlation between volume reduction and total dose, it seems that a higher total dose of more than 25 Gy or BEDThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.JHS carried out the study and drafted the manuscript. BOC designed the study and gave final approval for publication. SHS and SMC participated in the design of the study and helped to perform the statistical analyses. JHL and HSJ participated in the analysis and the data interpretation. SHS, JHL participated in the data acquisition and analysis. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/11/428/prepub


AbstractChromis viridis (RA=54.4%),followed bySea goldie, Pseudanthias squamipinnis (RA= 34.7), Whitetail dascyllus, Dascyllus aruanus (RA= 2.6%), Marginate dascyllus, Dascyllus marginatus (RA= 2.0),Red Sea eightline flasher Paracheilinus octotaenia (RA=1.0),andKlunzinger’s wrasse, Thalassoma rueppellii (0.7%). The highest number of species (S) per 500 m² transect was found on reefs at the latitude 20° in Saudi Arabia (S=21.8), and the lowest number of species was found at the latitude 15° in Djibouti (S=11.11). The highest mean abundance (8565.8) was found on reefs at latitude 20° in Saudi Arabia and the lowest mean abundance (230) was found on reefs at latitude 22°, also in Saudi Arabia. Whereas, the highest Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index was found in reefs at the latitude 22° (H`=2.4) and the lowest was found in reefs at the latitude 20° (H`=0.6). This study revealed marked differences in the structure of ornamental fish assemblages with latitudinal distribution. The data support the presence of two major biogeographic groups of fishes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden: the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden group and the group in the northern and central Red Sea. Strong correlations were found between live coral cover and the number of fish species, abundance and Shannon-Wiener Diversity indices, and the strength of these correlations varied among the reefs. A conclusion was done that environmental differences among the reefs and the habitats investigated were important components of abundance variations and species diversity of ornamental fish along latitudinal gradients in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.The spatial distribution of 50 ornamental fish species from shallow water habitats on coral reefs were investigated using visual census techniques, between latitudes 11−29°N in the Red Sea, in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, and in the adjacent Gulf of Aden in Djibouti. One hundred eighteen transects (each 100×5 m) were examined in 29 sites (3−8 sites per country). A total of 522,523 fish individuals were counted during this survey, with mean abundance of 4428.2 ± 87.26 individual per 500 m² transect. In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant species were Blue green damselfish, PageBreak Coral reefs are valuable and important ecosystems. They are among the most productive and diverse of all-natural ecosystems, and they are often called «the tropical rain forests of the sea» (Bourilere and Harmelin 1989). Coral reefs have many functions, amongst which is the provision of a variety of habitats for a wealth of organisms. Fishes are a dominant group of coral reef fauna, in terms of both their biomass and diversity. They are the most visible and important mobile component in the coral reefs . Reef ecWhile the Red Sea fish fauna is taxonomically quite well known  comparedThe study was conducted at coral reef sites at latitudes between 11–29°N along the coasts of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen in the Red Sea and just outside the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aden, for Djibouti .PageBreakPageBreakPageBreakwater currents occurred during the period of study, We selected 50 ornamental reef fish species that occur in shallow water habitats on coral reefs only. Based on the information collected from fishermen and Government authorities in member countries of (PERSGA), most of the sites and depths in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen were selected in sites used by collectors of the ornamental fishes. Whereas, the sites in Jordan and Djibouti were collection of ornamental fishes did not take place was carried out in coral reef sites. The abundance of each species was surveyed along the coasts of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Djibouti using a visual census technique by SCUBA divers, as described in Surveys of the benthic habitat were carried out by assistants from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The line-point intercept method was used with the tape stretched taut 200 points recorded per 100-m transect. From this point-intercept data, the percentage cover was calculated of live hard coral, live soft coral, dead coral, coral rock, sand, rubble, macro algae, algal turf, sponge, and others as described by i at each depth and site / pooled average abundance of all species at each depth and site) × 100. FA was determined as:  X 100. Species richness (number of species), and Shannon-Weiner species diversity were calculated using PRIMER-E . Multivariate analysis of the data such as cluster analysis was performed using the same software. Analysis of a linear regression test used to examine the relationship between hard coral (HC) and soft coral (SC) vs. species richness (S), fish abundance (N), Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index (H´) as described by Abundance of fishes was described by relative abundance (RA) and frequency of appearance (FA) following JordanLatitude 29°Along the Jordanian Gulf of Aqaba coast, the highest hard live coral cover was 47%, occurring at the Visitor Center at 10 m depth. The average live hard coral cover across all sites in Jordan was 27%. The highest soft coral cover was at the Visitor Center at 5 m depth, and the average among all Jordanian sites was 6%.PageBreakEgyptLatitude 27°Along the Egyptian coast, the highest hard coral cover was 41.2%, found at both Noksh (5 m depth) and at Mahmoudat (5 m depth). The average of hard coral cover at all Egyptian sites was 27.6%. The highest soft coral cover was 47.8% at Fanar Dolphin and Ras Mohammed respectively, both at 10 m depth. The average soft coral cover at all sites in Egypt was 20.6%.Saudi ArabiaLatitude 22°At latitude 22°, the highest hard coral cover was 14%, occurring at Thowal-Awjam at 4 m depth. The average hard live coral at all sites at this latitude was 8.8%. The highest soft coral cover was 5.5% in Thoal-Bostek, at 10 m deep, and the average soft coral cover at all sites at this latitude was 7.7%.Latitude 21°The highest hard live coral cover was 35.5% at Bayada, in the deep transect. The average hard live coral cover at all sites was 12.4%. The highest soft coral cover was 81.5% at Alkabeera at 4m deep, and the average soft coral cover at all sites was 19.2%.PageBreakLatitude 20°The highest hard coral cover was 52.5% at Alleeth in shallow transects. The average hard live hard coral in all transects was 44.4%. The highest soft coral cover was 32.0%, and the average of all transects was 17.5%.YemenLatitude 15°The highest hard coral cover along the Yemeni Red Sea Coast was 40.5% at Tekfash. The average live hard coral cover at all sites was 26.2%. The highest soft coral was 0.3% at Tekfash. The average soft coral cover at all sites was 0.1%.DjiboutiThe below sites were in the Gulf of Aden.Latitude 12°The highest hard coral cover was 32.5% recorded at Gehere in shallow transects. The average hard live coral cover at all sites was 23.8%. The highest soft coral cover was 17.5% recorded at Gehere in shallow transects. The average of soft coral cover at all sites was 15.8%.Latitude 11°The highest live hard coral cover was 71.0% at Tadjoura in shallow transects. The lowest hard live coral cover was 14.0% at Maskali in shallow transects. The highest soft coral cover was 2.5% at Musha. The average soft coral cover at all transects was 3.4%.The overall mean percentage cover for both hard and soft coral (HC and SC combined) from highest to lowest was as follows: The highest was 61.9% total coral cover at latitude 20° along the Saudi Arabia coast, then 48.2% at latitude 27° along the Egyptian coast, 44.1 and 39.7 at latitude 11 and 12 ° respectively, 33.3% at latitude 29° along the Jordanian coast, 31.6 at Latitude 21 at Saudi Arabia coast, 26.3% at latitude 15° at the Yemeni coast, and the lowest combined total coral cover was 16.4% at latitude 22° along the Saudi Arabia coast.JordanLatitude 29°PageBreaksites. The number of species observed ranged from 23 at 10m depth at the Tourist Camp, to 30 at 5m depth at the Marine Science Station, with an average of 19.6 species per transect  (RA= 40.7%), followed by Blue green damselfish, Chromis viridis (RA= 27.5%), Whitetail dascyllus, Dascyllus aruanus  (RA= 7.7%), Red Sea eightline flasher, Paracheilinus octotaenia Fourmanoir, 1955 in Dascyllus marginatus  (RA= 6.8%). Together, these five species made up 90% of the abundance of the 50 fish species examined , Chromis viridis, Fourline wrasse, Larabicus quadrilineatus , Green birdmouth wrasse, Gomphosus caeruleus Lacepède, 1801, and Yellowbreasted wrasse, Anampses twistii Bleeker, 1856 (94.4% each)  .EgyptLatitude 27°A total of 196,379 fish individuals were counted along 32 transects which were examined at the latitude 27°. The mean abundance ranged from 310 individuals at Mahmoudat at 10 m depth, to 13,358 individuals per transect at Fanar Al-Dolphin at 5m depth. The mean fish abundance of all transects was 6,334 individuals per transect. Of the 50 fish species considered, only 43 were reported from Egyptian sites. The number of species observed ranged from 26 at Mahmoudat (10 m depth) to 34 at Al-Noksh (9 m depth), with a mean of 20.6 species per transect .Pseudanthias squamipinnis (RA= 84.6%), followed by Chromis viridis (RA= 10.4%); these two species made up 95% of all the fishes recorded in Egypt (In terms of relative abundance (RA) on Egyptian reefs, the most abundant species was in Egypt .Labroides dimidiatus  ; other common species were Gomphosus caeruleus, Threadfin butterflyfish, Chaetodon auriga Forsskål, 1775 , Blackside hawkfish, Paracirrhites forsteri  (In terms of frequency of appearance (FA), the most common species was, Bluestreak cleaner wrasse us (81%) .Saudi ArabiaLatitude 22°PageBreakspecies considered, only 35 were reported from this latitude, with a mean of 20.7 species per transect , followed bySohal surgeonfish Acanthurus sohal  (RA= 12.4%), Larabicus quadrilineatus (RA= 12.3), Gomphosus caeruleus (RA= 6.9), and Sunrise dottybackPageBreakPageBreakPseudochromis flavivertex Rüppell, 1835 (RA=6.7),these five species accounted for 54.93 % of all fish species recorded from this latitude (In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant fish species was latitude .Zebrasoma veliferum , Hooded butterflyfish Chaetodon larvatus Cuvier, 1831, Heniochus intermedius Steindachner, 1893, Labroides dimidiatus, Larabicus quadrilineatus and Gomphosus caeruleus  (In terms of frequency of appearance (FA), the most common species were Sailfin tang %, each) .Latitude 21°A total of 60,096 fishes were counted along the 21 transects performed in Saudi Arabia at latitude 21°. Fish abundance ranged from 116 individuals per transect in Alkabeera site at 4 m deep to 9,480 individuals per transect in South Batch Bayada at 10 m deep. The mean fish abundance in all transects was 2861.7 individuals per transect. Of the 50 species considered, only 40 were reported from this latitude, with a mean of 20.5 species per transect .Chromis viridis (RA=73.9%), followed by Dascyllus aruanus (RA=17.3%),and Pseudanthias sqamipinnis (RA= 3.9%). These three species accounted 95.04 % of all fish species recorded from this latitude (In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant fish species was latitude .Gomphosus caeruleus and Labroides dimidiatus, followed by Chaetodon austriacus (FA=95.5%), Diagonal butterflyfish Chaetodon fasciatus Forsskål, 1775 and Paracirrhites forsteri  (In terms of frequency of appearance (FA), the most common species were %, each) .Latitude 20°PageBreakPageBreak10 m deep, to 20,038 individuals per transect in Alleeth at 5 m deep. The meanfish abundance of all transects was 8565.8 individuals per transect. Out of the 50 species considered, only 40 were reported from this latitude, with a mean of 21.8 species per transect , followed by Paracheilinus octotaenia (RA=3.86%), and Pseudanthias squamipinnis (RA= 1.53%). These three species accounted for 97.71 % of all fish species recorded from this latitude (In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant fish species was latitude .Acanthurus sohal, Chaetodon larvatus, Heniochus intermedius, Gomphosus caeruleus, Labroides dimidiatus, Larabicus quadrilineatus, Regal angelfish Pygoplites diacanthus  and Chromis viridis  (In terms of frequency of appearance (FA), the most common species were %, each) .YemenLatitude 15°A total of 129,932 fishes were counted during the 18 transects that were performed at latitude 15°. The mean fish abundance ranged from 95 individuals per transect at Al-Murk at 5 m deep, to 24,906 individuals per transect at Quish at 4m depth. The average fish abundance calculated from all transects was 7,218 individuals per transect. Of the 50 ornamental fish species considered, only 28 were reported from the Yemeni sites. The number of species observed ranged from 11 at Al-Murk (4 m depth) to 18 at both Quish and Al-Badi Island , with a mean of 11.1 species per transect .Chromis viridis. This species accounted for 88.5% of the fish abundance recorded at Kamaran, 79.1% at Tekfash, 93.3% at Quish and 85.3% at Al-Badi.In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant species was Chromis viridis in all transects was 88.8%. The second most abundant fish species was Dascyllus marginatus accounting for 4.1%, 14.1%, 3.1% and 8.7% of fish abundance from Kamaran, Tekfash, Quish and Al-Badi respectively. The mean relative fish abundance for Dascyllus marginatus in all transects was 5.8%. This was followedPageBreak by Larabicus quadrilineatus (average 1.6%) and Chaetodon larvatus (average 0.8%). These four species made up 99% of the 28 fish species which were counted , Moon Wrasse Thalassoma lunare , Larabicus quadrilineatus, and Chaetodon larvatus , followed by Pomacanthus asfur  (94.0%) and Heniochus intermedius (83.3%) (In terms of frequency of appearance (FA), the most common fish species were Yellowbar angelfish  (83.3%) .DjiboutiLatitude 12°A total of 5,368 fishes were counted in the 3 transects that were examined at latitude 12°. Fish abundance ranged from 1164 fishes in Gehere at 4 m depth, to 2408 in Gehere at 4 m depth. The mean fish abundance of all transects was 1789.3 individuals per transect. Of the 50 species considered, only 18 were reported from this latitude, with a mean of 13.3 species per transect .Chromis viridis (RA=83.8%), followed by Thalassoma lunare (RA= 7.6%), and Larabicus quadrilineatus (RA= 4.1%). These three species accounted 95.51 % of all fish species recorded from this latitude (In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant fish species was latitude .Chaetodon larvatus, Arabian butterflyfish Chaetodon melapterus Guichenot, 1863, Vagaband butterflyfish Chaetodon vagabundus Linnaeus, 1758, Heniochus intermedius, Gomphosus caeruleus, Labroides dimidiatus, Larabicus quadrilineatus, Thalassoma lunare, Pomacanthus maculosus, and Chromis viridis  (In terms of frequency of appearance (FA), the most common species were %, each) .Latitude 11°A total of 48,488 fishes were counted along the 15 transects that were examined in Djibouti at latitude 11°. Fish abundance ranged from 181 fishes in Khor Ambado at 7 m depth, to 16,609 in Maskali at 5 m depth. The mean fish abundance of all transects was 3232.5 individuals per transect. Of the 50 species considered, only 33 were reported from this latitude, with a mean of 18.8 species per transect .Chromis viridis (RA= 90.81%), followed by Larabicus quadrilineatus (RA= 1.70%),and Thalassoma lunare (RA= 1.47%) (In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant fish species was = 1.47%) . These tZebrasoma xanthurum , Chaetodon larvatus, Larabicus quadrilineatus and Thalassoma lunare , followed by Chaetodon melapterus, Heniochus intermedius, Gomphosus caeruleus and Chromis viridis , see In terms of frequency of appearance (FA), the most common species were Yellowtail tang A total of 522,523 fish individuals were counted in the 118 transects that were examined at all latitudes . The mean fish abundance in all transects was 4428.2 ±87.26 individuals per transect.PageBreakChromis viridis (RA=54.4%), followed by Pseudanthias squamipinnis (RA= 34.7), Dascyllus aruanus (RA= 2.6%), Dascyllus marginatus (RA= 2.0), Paracheilinus octotaenia (RA=1.0)and Thalassoma rueppellii (0.7%). These six species accounted for 95.47% of all fish species recorded during this study (In terms of relative abundance (RA), the most abundant fish species was is study . Number is study . Table 4Acanthuridae (4 species), II. Balistidae (3 species), III. Chaetodontidae (14 species), IV. Pomacanthidae (4 species); and Fig. 6. X. Scorpaenidae (2 species), XI. Ostraciidae (one species), XII. Tetraodontidae [(one species)] that are utilized by the aquarium trade in the region.Acanthuridae (Surgeonfishes)Acanthurus sohal, Orangespine unicornfish Naso lituratus Balistapus undulatus , Titan triggerfish Balistoides viridescens , and Picasso triggerfish Rhinecanthus assasi  were counted due to their importance in the aquarium trade. Geographical trends indicated that Balistoides undulates and Balistoides viridescens were more abundant along the Saudi Arabian reefs at Latiudes 22, 21 and 20° but Rhinecanthus assasi did not show any clear geographical trend Chaetodon austiacus and Chaetodon paucifasciatus were most abundant along the reefs at latitudes 29 and 27°. These two species were not recorded in latitudes 15, 12 and 11°. On the other hand, Chaetodon auriga, Chaetodon fasciatus and Chaetodon lineolatus Cuvier, 1831 in Cuvier and Valenciennes were most abundant along the Egyptian and Saudi Arabia at latitudes 27, 22, and 21°. Chaetodon larvatus was most abundant along the Saudi Arabia and Yemen reefs at latitudes 20 and 15°. There were 3 butterflyfish species Chaetodon melapterus, Chaetodon vagabundus, and Pennant coralfish Heniochus acuminatus  exist only at the Djiboutian reefs at latitudes 12 and 11°. The distributional pattern for all butterflyfish species is shown in Out of the 17 butterflyfishes known from the Red Sea, this study indicates the presence of 14 species. Geographical trends were observed in almost all butterflyfish species . ChaetodPomacanthidae (Angelfishes)Pomacanthus asfur, Emperor angelfish, Pomacanthus imperator , Pomacanthus maculosus, and Pygoplites diacanthus) that are used in the aquarium fish trade in the Red Sea were found. Latitude 15° exhibited the highest number of individuals for angelfish species, particularly for Pomacanthus asfur and Pomacanthus maculosus. Whereas, the reefs at the latitude 29° had the lowest number of individuals. Geographical trends were clear for some species like Pomacanthus asfur which is the most abundant angelfish at the latitudes 15° but did not reach the northern Red Sea at the reefs between latitudes 29 and 27°.The distributional pattern for angelfish species is shown in This family had the second lowest number of individuals of the fish families examined here. Out of the 7 species of angelfish recorded from the Red Sea, only 4 species (Psudochromidae (Dottybacks)Pseudochromis springeri Lubbock, 1975 preferred the north, and it was found only along the Jordanian and Egyptian reefs at latitudes 29 and 27°. Whereas, Orchid dottyback Pseudochromis fridmani Klausewitz, 1968 extended to reach reefs at latitude 15°. The distributional pattern for Dottybacks is shown in Out of the 12 dottybacks fishes known from the Red Sea, only 3 species of importance in ornamental fish trade were counted. The 3 of them were not reported along the Djiboutian reefs. Bluestriped dottyback Pomacentridae (Damselfishes)Chromis viridis was the most dominant species of the damselfish family on Red Sea reefs. Geographical distribution of the clownfish Amphiprion bicinctus revealed that it prefers the Jordanian and Egyptian reefs at latitude 29° and 27°. The distributional pattern for damselfishes is shown in Damselfishes had the highest number of individuals at all studied sites. Out of 35 damselfishes known from the Red Sea, only 5 species that are mostly used in the aquarium trade in the region were counted. PageBreakPageBreakLabridae (Wrasses)Thalassoma rueppellii, Bodianus anthioides , Coris aygula Lacepède, 1801 and Anampses twistii were most abundant along the reefs in latitudes 29 and 27°; they were rare or not recorded along the Yemeni and Djiboutian reefs at latitudes 15, 12 and 11°. However, Thalassoma rueppellii and Bodianus anthioides were restricted to the northern and central Red Sea. On the other hand, Thalassoma lunare was most abundant in the south at latitudes 15, 12 and 11°.The cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus wasmost abundant along the reefs in latitudes 27, 22° and Larabicus qudrilineatus on the other side was most abundant along the reefs at latitudes 15, 12 and 11°. The distributional pattern for wrasses is presented in Out of the 64 wrasses reported from the Red Sea, only 11 species that are used mostly in the aquarium fish trade were counted. Serranidae (Groupers)Pseudanthias squampinnis belonging to the subfamily Anthininae was counted during this study. The counts indicated that this species was most abundant along the reefs at latitudes 27 and 29° respectively and it was not reported from the Yemeni and Djiboutian reefs at latitudes 15, 12 and 11° (Only  and 11° .Cirrhitidae (Hawkfishes)Paracirrhites forsteri did not show a geographical trend in its distribution, except that it was not recorded in reefs at latitudes 29°, 15, 12 and 11° ( and 11° .Ostracidae (Boxfishes)OstraciOstracion cubicus Linnaeus, 1758, are shown in The distributional patterns for the boxfish, PageBreakTetraodontidae (Pufferfishes)Arothron diadematus  is of importance in the fish aquarium trade in the region, and the number of individuals were very low. This species was not reported in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden ( of Aden .Scorpaenidae (Scorpionfishes)Pterois miles  and Pterois radiata Cuvier, 1829 in Pterois miles was reported only on Jordanian and Egyptian reefs. Whereas, Pterois radiata reached to Djiboutian waters, but both species were present in very low numbers. The distributional pattern for both species is shown in Two species PageBreakdiversity (r=0.7582), followed by latitude 15° , and Shannon-Wiener Index (H`) to benthic habitat . The maxtude 15° . Howevertude 15° . WhereasPageBreakOne of the groups characterizes the northern and central Red Sea, whilst the other is in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.Cluster analysis revealed that two primary groups of sites can be distinguished from the data : Group AA new and updated checklist of fishes of the Red Sea has recorded a total of 1078 species belonging to 154 families . From thPageBreaknorth-south variation in fish community structure. There are marked changes in the structure of coral reef fish communities moving from north to the south within the Red Sea. This study revealed marked differences in the structure of ornamental fish assemblages with latitude. The presence-absence data for the fifty ornamental fish species used in the aquarium trade in the region support the presence of two main biogeographic gradients in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden: a south Red Sea and Gulf of Aden latitudinal gradient, and a gradient along the north and central Red Sea. Latitudinal gradients in water quality  may cause in part this Balistidae), surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae), butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae), angelfishes (Pomacanthidae), damselfishes (Pomacentridae), Wrasses (Labridae), dottybacks (Pseudochromidae) and Pseudanthias squamipinnis in the family grouperfishes (Serranidae). Similar results were obtained by . This study identified major differences in the faunal composition and relative abundance in almost all of the fish families investigated. They included the studied species of triggerfishes . A biogeographic analysis of the Indian Ocean coral fauna based on presence/absence of species revealed a clear pattern of faunal relationships between the Red Sea, Southern Arabia and the Indian Ocean . HabitatPageBreakreef fish diversity in the Caribbean , at Djiboutian reefs (Barrat and Medley 1990), at Sanganeb atoll (Chromis viridis usually forms large aggregations and is found associated with large heads of Acropora corals that provide shelter from predators and a nocturnal retreat. Thus, these distributional patterns for this fish may indicate a higher abundance of large Acropora corals on southern than northern reefs in this region. The second most abundant species was Pseudanthias squamipinnis, which dominates the reefs at latitudes 29, 27 and 22°. Similar findings were recorded at the Japanese Garden reef site at Eilat (During this survey, eb atoll , and in eb atoll . Chromisat Eilat , at Nuweat Eilat , at Sangat Eilat , and on at Eilat . This spat Eilat . These p


Recently, the epidemiology of MRSA has changed. Community-acquired MRSA is increasing. The objective of this study was to investigate the determinants of MRSA carriage/infections in The Netherlands.All newly identified patients with MRSA in seventeen hospitals dispersed over the Netherlands were included from January 2009 until December 2010. MRSA determinant analysis was done based on the patient’s history combined with molecular typing results and then classified in risk groups described in the national infection prevention guidelines.In two years 1021 patients (369 inpatients and 652 outpatients) were found to be MRSA positive for the first time. Analysis of risk factors revealed that 59.2% (n=604) had been exposed to pigs/veal calves, 7.3% (n=75) had been admitted to a foreign hospital, 4.3% (n=44) were considered to be caused by nosocomial transmission, 0.5% (n=5) were colonised due to transmission in a nursing home, 1.8% (n=18) were adoption children , 0.2% (n=2) were dialysis patients from a foreign country and 26.5% (n=271) could not be classified in a known risk group. The patient’s history was not available in 0.2% (n=2).p<0.001). Remarkably, 21.7% of the strains in the group with unknown determinants belonged to the clonal complex ST-398 (59/271).Panton-Valentine Leucocidin toxic gene expression was mainly seen in the group with unknown risk factor  and only sporadically in other groups  of newly identified MRSA carriers were related to exposure to live-stock. From all other cases (n=415), the majority (n=271) reported no known source. Strains with spa-types indicative for Livestock Associated MRSA were found in 16.5% of individuals who did not report contact to livestock. This indicates that LA-MRSA is spreading in the community.None declared.


Frequent blood transfusion is often associated with iron overload. Proper use of iron chelators to treat iron overload requires an accurate measurement of iron levels. Magnetic resonance T2-star (T2* MRI) can measure iron level in the heart and liver. Our goal was to see whether an association exists between serum ferritin level and T2* MRI in patients with major beta thalassemia.Sixty patients with a diagnosis of major beta thalassemia were enrolled in the study. They were older than five years old and needed regular transfusion. Cardiac and hepatic T2*MRI and mean serum ferritin levels were measured within 3 months.No significant correlation was observed between serum ferritin level and cardiac T2*MRI .However, a significant correlation was observed between serum ferritin and liver T2*MRI .Our results showed an association between hepatic T2*MRI and serum ferritin level.  Thalassemia is the most common genetic disorder in the world . FrequenThis was a cross- sectional descriptive study during 2011 to 2012. A total of 60 patients with a diagnosis of major beta thalassemia admitted to Amir Kabir Hospital, Arak, Iran, were enrolled in the investigation. They were older than five years old and required regular transfusion. Demographic data, mean level of serum ferritin during last 3 months and T2*MRI results were recorded in a questionnaire. The sampling was performed on the basis of simple random method. The exclusion criteria were as follows: Patients younger than 5 years old, advanced hepatic and cardiac disease and patients with hepatitis B or C. The ethical board of the university approved the study and informed consent letter was taken from participants.T2*MRI MRI was performed by Magneto Symphony Graniand 32, 1.5 Tesla  in Noor Clinic . Each scan lasted about 30 minutes and included the measurement of hepatic and cardiac T2*. Cut off points in this MRI instrument are as follows: Liver: normal > 6.3ms, mild: 2.8-6.3ms, moderate: 1.4-2.7ms, severe <1.4ms. Cardiac: normal >20ms, mild: 14-20ms, moderate: 10-14ms, severe <10ms. Measurement of serum levels of ferritinSerum ferritin level was measured by ELISA .The findings of MRI and serum ferritin were assessed contemporarily. Then mean of serum ferritin level was recorded during last 3 months. It was measured in patients who showed no evidence of bacterial or viral infection.Statistical analysisData are presented as mean±SD. Then mean of serum ferritin level was recorded during last 3 months. Linear regression and other descriptive statistic tests were used. Statistical significance was considered as p<0.05. All of analyses were performed using SPSS software version 16.The study was performed on 60 patients with major beta thalassemia . The mean of age of patients was 17.65 ± 9.28 years and its range was 5 to 50. Hemogolbin values ranged from 6.7 to 11.5 (mg/dl) before transfusion. Mean level of hemoglobin was 9.1 (mg/dl) before transfusion. Mean age of transfusion was 1.1 ± 0.8. The mean of serum ferritin level was 1927.1 ng /dl (103.2-11300 ng /dl). The mean of cardiac T2* was 26.46 ± 9.19ms (8.36-45.8) and the mean of hepatic T2* was 5.30± 4.29 ms (0.95-19.72). . Four patients underwent splenectomy. Hepatic T2*MRI is presented in There are several methods to measure iron levels in different organs. Liver disease and inflammatory responses can increase amount of serum ferritin, so its measurement is not very reliable. Liver biopsy is the gold standard method to measure iron level but it is invasive and cannot predict iron level of the heart. Echocardiography is another method, which is only reliable in advanced iron overloading. In the present study, T2*MRI was used for to measurement of iron levels in the heart and liver. It’s found that cardiac T2*MRI is associated with the mean of age. Moreover, the result showed that younger patients had higher levels of hepatic T2*MRI. Shamsian’s study showed that there was a direct association between cardiac T2*MRI and mean of age. However, two similar studies proved a reverse association between T2*MRI and mean of age . SurekhaZamani`s study revealed no reasonable correlation between histological grade of siderosis (HGS) and serum ferritin. A moderate correlation was seen between serum ferritin levels and hepatic T2* levels. Iron concentration of the liver showed significant correlation with hepatic T2*. These results indicated that T2* MRI measurement is of more value than HGS in patients with thalassemia .Our results showed an association between hepatic T2*MRI and serum ferritin. It is suggested to use this method in order to have an accurate measurement of iron level in patients with thalassemia. We can recommend hepatic and cardiac T2*MRI in addition to measurement of serum ferritin for better evaluation of patients with major thalassemia.The authors have no conflict of interest.


In the presence of 1 wt% EPO, TGA results revealed significant increase in the thermal stability by 27%. Among the three EPOs used, EPO(3) showed the best mechanical and thermal properties compared to the other EPO’s, with an optimum loading of 1 wt%. Conclusively, EPO showed a promising outcome to overcome the brittleness and improve the overall properties of neat PLA, thus can be considered as a potential plasticizer.In this work, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) a fully biodegradable thermoplastic polymer matrix was melt blended with three different epoxidized palm oil (EPO). The aim of this research was to enhance the flexibility, mechanical and thermal properties of PLA. The blends were prepared at various EPO contents of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 wt% and characterized. The SEM analysis evidenced successful modification on the neat PLA brittle morphology. Tensile tests indicate that the addition of 1 wt% EPO is sufficient to improve the strength and flexibility compared to neat PLA. Additionally, the flexural and impact properties were also enhanced. Further, DSC analysis showed that the addition of EPO results in a decrease in T Over the past few decades, most composites used are petrochemically derived products such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) that are non-biodegradable. With the growing concern about environmental pollution, the accumulation of plastic waste in landfills needs immediate resolution. In addition, increasing global environmental problems such as greenhouse gas emission and diminishing fossil resources have also focused attention on the development of degradable plastics . BiodegrThe widely used biodegradable polymers are aliphatic polyesters and proteins, such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL), and starch ,5. Commeg), tensile strength, and Young’s modulus as to those of PET [PLA, a linear aliphatic polyester, is considered as the most innovative alternatives for conventional petroleum-based polymers because it has similar mechanical properties such as density, glass transition temperature  melt blending of polymer with additive. Each method has its advantages and limitations. Preparation of blends by using wet-based technique involves the dispersion of additive and polymer in water or organic solvents, in order to isolate the particles [Besides that, if the films are intended to be applied for food packaging, the method used in the preparation has to meet the regulations governing the use of chemicals in food-contact applications. Blending is an economic technique for producing new polymer materials at low cost and desirable properties combination for specific end use. Several approaches have been proposed in the blend preparation. These approaches can be classified into two groups: (i) wet-based blending, articles . The advarticles .In preparing blends via a melt-blending (or dry-mixing) approach, the polymer and additives are first dry-mixed and then melt-blended by using conventional plastic processing equipment. The absence of solvent in this technique means this approach is more environmental friendly. Furthermore, the melt-blending technique is compatible with the existing processing equipment, such as extruders, injection molders, and mixing chambers , and thus is more effective in the mass production of blends . MoreoveThe present work is focused on plasticizing PLA with three different epoxidized palm oil (EPO) via melt blending technique. EPO is an epoxide derivative of glycerol ester mixture with various saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. In addition, EPO is a renewable, biodegradable, environmentally friendly and cheap raw material . Thus, tThe tensile strength, elongation at break and tensile modulus were determined at room temperature 25 °C) to ascertain the films quality in a packaging use for instance. Results of the tensile measurements, including tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation-at-break, are displayed graphically in 5 °C to aHowever, a decrease by 2.6% in the tensile strength of PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) was observed. The tensile strength of blends decreased with the addition of EPO above 1 wt% in all the three types of EPO blends, indicating that there was no improvement in interaction between PLA and EPO. The drops in the tensile strength may be contributed by the plasticizer-plasticizer interaction which dominates at higher EPO content . In addiet al. [Neat PLA exhibited a tensile modulus value of 1054 MPa, and attained the highest modulus with 1 wt% EPO for PLA/EPO(1) 1119 MPa), PLA/EPO(2) 1175 MPa) and PLA/EPO(3) (1214 MPa). According to Ibrahim 5 MPa and MPa, PLAMoreover, the elongation of PLA/EPO blends increases with the addition of plasticizer. The elongation at break of PLA/1 wt% EPO blends of EPO(1), EPO(2) and EPO(3) were 8.6%, 6.6% and 11.1% respectively, while neat PLA exhibited 6.3%. It has been observed that elongation at break of blends increases significantly with increasing EPO loading. As expected, PLA blends with 5 wt% EPO loading bear maximum elongation. With 5 wt% EPO loadings, PLA/EPO(1), PLA/EPO(2) and PLA/EPO(3) displayed elongation of 114%, 42% and 130% respectively. In general, plasticizer is introduced to a polymer matrix to overcome the film brittleness caused by extensive intermolecular interactions. Thus, the presence of plasticizer, EPO, reduces these intermolecular forces and increases the mobility of PLA chains, thereby enhancing the flexibility and extensibility of the PLA/EPO films. Consequently, higher EPO loading produces film with lower tensile strength but higher elongation .Generally, incorporation of plasticizer results in lower tensile strength and modulus, but a contrary result was observed. The slightly higher tensile strength and modulus is contributed by the strength of interaction between polymer-plasticizer, PLA-EPO, which can be explained by the epoxy content also known as oxirane oxygen content (OOC) of the epoxidized oil. The OOC value indicates the epoxy groups present in the plasticizer, while the iodine value indicates the degree of unsaturation. An effective plasticizer must contain two types of structural components, which is polar and non-polar. The OOC represents the polar portion apart from carbonyl group of carboxylic ester functionality. Higher OOC of EPO(3) (3.58%) compared to EPO(1) (3.23%) and EPO(2) (1.75%) resembles stronger interaction (hydrogen bonds) between PLA and 1 wt% EPO(3) compared to another two blends. According to Wypych , polar gFlexural strength reflects the ability of material to resist compression and tension stress simultaneously. The effect of EPO on the flexural strength and modulus of PLA/EPO blends are presented in Conversely, the trend of flexural modulus for PLA/EPO(3) exhibited a maximum with 1 wt% and eventually a decrease. The high flexural strength was contributed by the improved adhesion between the PLA matrix and EPO, which provides an increase in stress transfer from the matrix to the plasticizer. Thus, this increases the stress at failure and contributes to the higher values for flexural strength . HoweverImpact test reflects the ability of material absorbing energy at fracture, when exposed to sudden impact . The impScanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the surface morphology of the fractured tensile specimens and qualitatively visualize the state of dispersion of the EPO in the polymer matrix. Comparatively, SEM analysis of fracture surfaces of PLA/5 wt% EPO blends for EPO(1), EPO(2) and EPO(3) displayed similar micrographs as DMA is one of the most commonly used methods to obtain information related to the miscibility and phase behavior of polymer blends. DMA analysis investigates the thermomechanical properties of a given material and the setup allows us to obtain measurements of the storage and loss modulus (E′ and E″) and the loss factor (tan δ). The E′ values of neat PLA were slightly higher suggesting the high brittleness of the PLA than the blends. The lower storage modulus of the PLA/1 wt% EPO blends compared to neat PLA can be seen in The peak intensity of loss modulus represents the melt viscosity of a polymer. As observed, the PLA/1 wt% EPO(3) blend showed enhancement in loss modulus compared to neat PLA. This suggests an increase in the melt viscosity of the corresponding blend. However, a decrease in the loss modulus is observed for PLA/1 wt% EPO(1) and PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) blends signifies that the incorporation of EPO into PLA matrix decreases the melt viscosity of the corresponding blends. This is attributable to the addition of 1 wt% EPO(2) which decreases the flowability due to poor interaction and compatibility, leading to a less rigid polymeric material ,29. Besiet al. [g) of PLA. The height of the tan δ peak point out to the degree of crystallinity. Furthermore, the height of the tan δ peak is associated with the mobility of the amorphous region in the polymer blend. As presented, PLA/1 wt% EPO(1) and PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) blends display a reduction in the sharpness and height of tan δ peak, as the dispersed crystalline regions hinder the chain mobility in the amorphous regions. In addition, the restriction force increases directly with an increase in the crystallinity of the polymer. With the presence of 1 wt% EPO(1) and EPO(2), the molecular mobility of the materials decreases and the mechanical loss to reduce the intermolecular chain friction [According to Liu et al. , the tanfriction . Comparafriction .g were obtained from the peak values of the tan δ curves. The Tg of PLA/1 wt% EPO blends of EPO(1), EPO(2), EPO(3) and neat PLA are 67.3, 65.8, 68.1 and 67.9 °C respectively. The slight shift in the Tg is a result of the plasticization effect. Furthermore, the molecular mobility of the PLA/EPO blend material is affected slightly with the addition of 1 wt% EPO.The TThermogravimetric analysis (TGA) gives information on the structure of the intercalating molecules by the weight loss steps. Thermal degradation of neat PLA and PLA/1 wt% EPO blends takes place in a single weight loss step, which can be evidence from the DTG curves. The incorporation of EPO in PLA matrix has significantly affected the thermal degradation temperature by improving the thermal stability of the blends. From the characteristic temperatures in TGA curves, it can be seen that the PLA/1 wt% EPO blends appear to be thermally stable at temperatures lower than 270 °C. These materials lose about 10% of their weight at temperature between 270 and 330 °C, followed by an abrupt weight loss after 330 °C. Greater than 98% weight loss is observed for the three PLA/EPO blends, which were due to the thermal decomposition of the PLA polymer chains.max) also increased by compounding the PLA matrix with EPO. The Tmax of the blends is higher, that is 358.6, 361.5, and 361.3 °C, for PLA containing 1 wt% of EPO(1), EPO(2) and EPO(3) respectively, compared to the PLA blend (324.8 °C).Neat PLA exhibits an onset temperature of 211.9 °C, which increased to 272.3, 270.4 and 279.3 °C when 1 wt% of EPO(1), EPO(2) and EPO(3) respectively incorporated into the blend. For PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) and PLA/1 wt% EPO(3), the difference in the curves can be hardly distinguished. However, a delay of the degradation is observed for PLA/1 wt% EPO(3) from the onset temperature. The blends showed a higher degradation temperature by approximately 27%, than neat PLA. The maximum degradation temperature , crystallization (Tc), and melting (Tm) temperatures. Addition of EPO into PLA matrix decreased the Tg of neat PLA from 63.6 °C to 59.9 °C, 62.9 °C and 60.4 °C by adding 1 wt% of EPO(1), EPO(2) and EPO(3), respectively. The Tg of all three PLA/1 wt% EPO blends was lower than neat PLA due to the plasticization effect of EPO. In addition, the downward shift of Tg suggests some mixing of the EPO soft segments into the hard segment phase. This decrease in Tg can be explained on the basis of increased mobility of the soft segments because of the penetration of EPO units into the PLA hard segments [The DSC heating thermograms of neat PLA and plasticized PLA blends are illustrated in segments .g of PLA blends decreased slightly (not shown here) to 56.8 °C, 60.2 °C and 60.2 °C for PLA blends with 5 wt% of EPO(1), EPO(2) and EPO(3) respectively. As expected, increasing the EPO soft segment content has leaded to a slight decrease in the Tg of the blends due to the hard segments motion imposed by the EPO soft segments [g with 5 wt% EPO was not considered, as the compatibility of blends became poor due to phase separation which can be evident from the SEM micrographs. Thus, the Tg at 1 wt% EPO was considered as the minimum Tg as the PLA blends have greatly enhanced properties in terms of tensile strength and impact strength.With increasing EPO content to 5 wt%, Tsegments . This alg obtained from DSC and DMA does not correlate. The Tg of PLA/1 wt% EPO blend of EPO(1), EPO(2) and EPO(3) obtained from DMA analysis are 67.3 °C, 65.8 °C and 68.1 °C, respectively. While Tg of neat PLA from DMA measurements were 67.9 °C. The difference in the Tg values based on DSC and DMA can be explained by the different measuring principles and heating rates selected [et al. [m peak appeared at 150.1 °C resembling to the crystalline phase of soft segments. The downward shift in Tm of this blended film indicates the increased miscibility of the components in the blends [However the Tselected . The nea [et al. , the low [et al. . Converse blends .c was detected for neat PLA and PLA/1 wt% EPO blends of EPO(1), EPO(2) and EPO(3) at 117.9 °C, 110.8 °C, 105.9 °C and 111.1 °C. The incorporation of EPO dispersed in PLA leads to a significant shift of the crystallization peak towards lower temperatures. The Tc decreased because PLA chains possessed higher mobility after the addition of EPO, which made it easier for them to fold into a crystalline lattice [Furthermore, T lattice .c%) of EPO segments in PLA was calculated from the enthalpy obtained from the DSC curves. The percentage of crystallinity, Xc were calculated using the following equation:When we discuss the mechanical properties of PLA blends in connection with the degree of incorporation, the influence of degree of crystallinity should also be considered because it may change with the addition of EPO. The relative percent crystallinity , Delta;Hm is the heat of fusion (J/g), and Delta;Hm (100%) is the enthalpy of melting of 100% crystalline PLA, equals to 93 J/g [c of 69.0%, which means that PLA is semi-crystalline. The Xc of PLA/1 wt% EPO(1) and PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) increased to 72.3% and 71.8% respectively. These results clearly indicate that PLA/1 wt% EPO(1) and PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) are identical in terms of crystallinity, suggesting that these two polymers were previously subjected to the identical processing conditions . PLA/1 wt% EPO(3), on the other hand, has a sharper melt and lower crystallinity of 58.3% indicating different processing conditions and different end-use properties [here, Delta;Ho 93 J/g . In thisoperties . BesidesXRD patterns of neat PLA and PLA/1 wt% EPO blends are shown in The XRD pattern of PLA/1 wt% EPO(1) and PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) blends has a very strong crystalline peak at 2θ of 17.09° and 16.85°, which correspond to the basal spacing 5.18 Å and 5.26 Å, respectively. The shift to a higher angle indicates a decrease in the corresponding interlayer spacing, which is contributed to by the fact that the blend components have an ordered structure. As the PLA chain was the main component of the blend, the position of crystalline peak was almost similar to that of the PLA.d-spacing increased from 5.49 Å (neat PLA) to 5.79 Å at diffraction peak centered at 15.28°. The increment in the interlayer spacing of PLA evidences that this blend has more amorphous region and the addition of 1 wt% EPO(3) creates a less-ordered structure, thus crystallization becomes more difficult [Unlike PLA/1 wt% EPO(1) and PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) blends, PLA/1 wt% EPO(3) blend shows absence of crystalline peak, indicating an amorphous structure. This blend reported an increment of interlayer spacing, where the ifficult . InteresTM LLC (United States) with 1.24 g/cm3 as density. The polymer was dried for at least 3 h at 50 °C before being used in the blend preparation. Three different samples of epoxidized palm oil (EPO) were supplied by Advanced Oleochemical Technology Division (AOTD), Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The characteristics of these EPO obtained are listed in Poly(lactic acid) pellets, commercial grade 4042D, were purchased from NatureWorks3 at 160 °C for 10 min, and then, cooled to room temperature to produce 1.00 mm and 3.00 mm uniform thickness sheets. The same procedure were repeated for the preparation of PLA/EPO(2) and PLA/EPO(3) blends. Subsequently, the blend sheets were characterized for mechanical, thermal and morphological properties.The PLA/EPO blends were produced by melt blending technique using a twin counter-rotating mixer  at 170 °C for 15 min and rotor speed of 50 rpm. The weight ratios of PLA/EPO(1) were 100/0, 99/1, 98/2, 97/3, 96/4, and 95/5. After melt blending, the sheets were prepared using a hydraulic hot-press  with a pressure of 110 kg/cmTensile test was carried out using Instron Universal Testing Machine (Model 4302 Series IX) based on ASTM D638. Seven dumbbell shape specimens were prepared from each composition. The average thickness and average width of the gauge section of each specimen were calculated. The test was conducted at a constant crosshead speed of 5 mm/min, load cell of 1 kN and a gauge length of 10 mm. Tensile strength, tensile modulus and elongation at break were obtained using Instron Series IX software. An average of five results was taken as the resultant value.Flexural test was conducted in accordance with ASTM D790, using Instron Universal Testing Machine (Model 4302 Series IX) equipped with a 1 kN load cell. Seven specimens in rectangular shape with the dimension 127.00 mm × 12.70 mm × 3.00 mm of size were tested for each composition. Flexural strength and flexural modulus were obtained at constant crosshead speed of 3 mm/min. An average of five results was taken as the resultant value.Impact test was conducted using Izod Impact Tester  with a 453 g (1.0 lb) pendulum according to ASTM D256. Five specimens with length 63.50 mm, 12.70 mm width and thickness approximately 3.00 mm, were tested for each composition. The impact strength (J/m) was calculated by dividing the energy obtained (J) with the thickness of specimen (m). An average of three results was taken as the resultant impact strength.Morphology analysis of tensile fractures surface of blends was observed by Scanning Electron Microscope (Model Philips XL 30), with an acceleration voltage of 20 kV. In order to avoid electrostatic charging during electron irradiation, the specimens were sputter coated with gold a few nanometres in thickness, in vacuum conditions prior to each examination.Thermal dynamic analysis (DMA) was performed according to ASTM D5023 on a dynamic mechanical analyzer (Perkin-Elmer PYRIS Diamond DMA), using bending mode. The temperature scan was from ambient temperature (25 °C) to 100 °C at a constant heating rate of 2 °C/min and the frequency of dynamic force of 1 Hz, under nitrogen atmosphere. The storage modulus (E′), loss modulus (E″), and loss factor (tan δ) of each specimen were obtained as a function of temperature.The thermal stability of the samples was studied by using the Perkin Elmer TGA7 Thermogravimetric Analyzer. The weight of the samples used was approximately 10.0 mg and were heated from 25 °C to 500 °C at the heating rate of 10 °C/min. The analysis was carried out in nitrogen atmosphere with nitrogen flow rate of 20 mL/min. The weight loss of samples were recorded and plotted as a function of temperature.The melting and crystallization behavior testing of the blends was performed using a DSC analyzer machine, Mettler Toledo. The scan was carried out at the rate of 10 °C/min from 0 °C to 200 °C with a flow rate of nitrogen gas of 50 mL/min. The method utilizes differential heat flow and temperature, normally associated with transition in materials.d001 reflection) in the XRD diffractogram according to the Bragg equation (λ = 2d sinθ).X-ray diffraction measurement was carried out by using a Shimadzu XRD 600 X-ray diffractometer with CuKα radiation (λ = 1.542 Å) operated at 30 kV and 30 mA. Data were collected within the range of scattering angles (2θ) of 10° to 40° at the rate of 2°/min. The basal spacing was derived from the peak position  blend showed excellent properties compared to PLA/1 wt% EPO(1), PLA/1 wt% EPO(2) and neat PLA. The tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and elongation at break of PLA/1 wt% EPO(3) were improved by 13%, 25%, 23% and 77% respectively compared to neat PLA. This reveals good stress transfer of the material. Addition of 1 wt% EPO(3) also significantly decreased the storage modulus while increased the loss modulus and loss factor. From XRD patterns, it can be inferred that the amorphous phase of the PLA/1 wt% EPO(3) blend was increased, whereas the crystalline phase increased for PLA/1 wt% EPO(1) and PLA/1 wt% EPO(2), compared to neat PLA. From the TGA results, there is a significant improvement about 27% on the thermal stability of blends with the addition of EPO. Furthermore, the DSC results illustrate a decrease in the glass transition temperature due to the plasticizing effect of EPO. The tensile fractured surface morphology of the PLA/1 wt% EPO(3) shows a smooth surface without entanglement and aggregation, indicating good interaction between PLA and EPO(3). This is in agreement with the significant improvement of mechanical properties. Thus, this blend can be considered as an alternative to the conventional plastics used. Additionally, EPO can be seen as a potential useful plasticizer.


Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus which were previously treated at different irradiation doses.A capillary electrophoresis method using UV detection was developed to analyse protein composition of the lysates of two foodborne pathogens, Listeria monocytogenes, two proteins (MW of 70.2 and 85.4 kDa) were significantly changed (P≤0.05) at different doses of irradiation. In Staphyloccocus aureus, one protein  with the MW of 16.3 kDa was significantly decreased at a low dose of irradiation treatment and the other protein  with the MW of 17.7 kDa was increased significantly (P≤0.05) at all doses of irradiation treatment compared to control.Bacterial samples were γ-irradiated at different doses to produce damage cells, to kill cells and to provoke viable but non culturable cells (VBNC) in order to evaluate the respective expression of stress proteins. In Listeria monocytogenes was statistically changed during irradiation treatment (P≤0.05). In Staphylococcus aureus, expression of the 50 S ribosomal protein decreased and the transcriptional regulator CtsR espression increased significantly (P≤0.05) following irradiation treatment. These expressed proteins do not belong to the well-known heat shock proteins family of Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. The research further confirmed that capillary electrophoresis is a useful method to separate and analyse proteins expression which may be related to the resistance or sensitivity of food pathogens to γ-irradiation.Expression of two proteins from the acyltransferase family in  Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus are two predominant foodborne pathogens. L. monocytogenes is the causative agent of listeriosis, a severe disease with high hospitalization and case fatality rates. L. monocytogenes can survive and grow in a wide range of environmental conditions such as refrigeration temperatures, low pH and high salt concentrations. This allows the pathogen to overcome food preservation and safety barriers, and pose a potential risk to human health S. aureus is a major agent of gastroenteritis caused by staphyloccal food poisoning following consumption of contaminated food and accumulation of staphylococcal enterotoxins According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food-borne illness is one of the most important health issues in the United States In order to prevent foodborne illness caused by harmful microorganisms, food irradiation is one of the most effective processes to eliminate foodborne pathogens. Often referred as a cold pasteurization treatment, food irradiation does not cause significant loss of nutrients and sensory qualities in food. Food irradiation utilizes a source of ionizing radiation that passes through food which causes death of harmful bacteria without increasing food temperature Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 and Listeria monocytogenes HPB 2812 1/2a at different doses and analysis of expressed Heat shock proteins (Hsps) GroEL by western blot, Caillet et al., demonstrated that radiation treatment significantly increased (P≤0.05) the expression in both bacteria S. aureus, GroEL concentration was 4.15 µg/mg of total proteins in the control, whereas GroEL level in samples irradiated at 1.2, 2.9 and 3.5 kGy reached 7.98, 10.82 and 8.95 µg/mg of total proteins, representing 1.92-, 2.60- and 2.15-fold increase in the protein expression, respectively. In L. monocytogenes, GroEL concentration was 0.83 µg/mg of total proteins in the control and reached 2.56 and 4.79 µg/mg of total proteins in 1.2- and 3.5-kGy samples, respectively. These concentrations were 3.07 and 5.77 times higher compared to control, respectively In a previous study, irradiation treatment of pathogenic bacteria Protein and peptide analyses are routinely performed using reversed-phase liquid chromatography. The proteins separation is based on hydrophobicity differences between peptides or proteins. Recently, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has increasingly been used for protein and peptide analysis S. aureus and L. monocytogenes after irradiation treatment at different doses may led us to speculate about their functions in bacterial survival. Thus, analysis of protein expression profiles in irradiated cells of S. aureus and L. monocytogenes is necessary. Consequently. the aim of this study was to separate and analyze the protein expression profile in L. monocytogenes and S. aureus at different doses of γ-irradiation treatment using capillary electrophoresis (CE).It should be emphasized here that beside the changes in the expression levels of Hsps in irradiated cells, it is still not known if there are any changes in the expression levels of other proteins following irradiation treatment. It is expected that the changes in expressed levels (decreases or increases) of other proteins in L. monocytogenes and S. aureus at 220 nm to avoid the interferences caused by alcohol or ethers.Due to the exceptional capabilities of CE, the observed electropherogram depends on the wavelength (WL) chosen for detection of analysed proteins. Although the WL of 280 nm is a characteristic wavelength absorbance for proteins, the minor amount of components in the capillary requires lower WLs of UV detection. Much higher sensitivity can be obtained at the WLs of 200–230 nm, but at any other WLs of UV, the absorbing components might also appear in the electropherogram Moreover, to determine the MW of different peaks expressed in an electropherogram, a calibration curve of electrophoretic mobility against the MW was used (data not shown). This calibration curve had a coefficient of determination of 0.998.L. monocytogenes treated at different doses of γ-irradiation are presented in L. monocytogenes at different doses of γ-irradiation treatment are presented in The CE electropherograms of expressed proteins in a culture of Irradiation at the sensitive dose (1.2 kGy) has caused a significant increase (P≤0.05) in the peak area (%) of different peaks that represented different proteins with the MW of 20.3 kDa (from 0.43% to 0.91%), 25.0 kDa (from 2.66% to 3.27%), 28.5 kDa (from 4.13% to 5.51%), 33.6 kDa (from 14.82% to 15.92%), 45.3 kDa (from 2.75% to 7.16%) and 85.4 kDa (from 3.91% to 4.78%). This treatment only caused a single peak area decrease for a protein with the MW of 53.0 kDa (from 2.52% to 1.90%) .More changes in protein expression were found following irradiation treatment at lethal dose (3.5 kGy) of, mainly decrease of the peak area (%), as compared to the sensitive dose. A decrease of expression levels can be found for proteins with the MW of 28.5 kDa, 29.6 kDa, 33.6 kDa, 42.1 kDa, 45.3 kDa, 45.8 kDa, 56.0 kDa and 70.2 kDa. Furthermore, there were also an increase in expression levels of proteins with the MW of 18.8 kDa, 20.3 kDa and 25.0 kDa .Listeria monocytogenes 08 – 557 complete genome L. monocytogenes which were treated at different doses of γ-irradiation can be determined based on the molecular weight. Indeed, it is obvious that the whole proteome of L. monocytogenes is not expressed at all times. Also, during the extraction, cytosolic proteins were expected to be extracted in larger quantities than membrane proteins. In L. monocytogenesL. monocytogenes during γ-irradiation treatment.Although there are 3010 putative proteins encoded in Listeria monocytogenes 08-5578 The protein with a MW of 57.6 kDa is a hypothetical protein LM5578_2803 which was identified in the clinical strain The protein with a MW of 67.9 kDa is a DNA mismatch repair protein (DMR). DMR is a highly conserved biological system that plays a key role in maintaining genomic stability by recognizing and repairing erroneous insertion, deletion and mis-incorporation of bases that can arise during DNA replication and recombination as well as repairing of DNA damages Listeria monocytogenes 08-5578 L. monocytogenes strains and corresponds to formate acetyltransferase. Because there is an increase of this protein at the sensitive dose of irradiation treatment, it can be hypothesised that the treated L. monocytogenes cells required more energy production to recover from DNA damages. Finally, the area of peak number 80  and member of the acyltransferase family proteins  in S. aureus treated at different doses of γ-irradiation are presented in S. aureus at different doses of γ-irradiation treatment are presented in The electropherograms of CE of expressed proteins in Irradiation at the sensitive dose (1.2 kGy) has significantly caused an increase (P≤0.05) in the area (%) of the peak representing a protein with a MW of 17.7 kDa (from 0.61% to 1.2%). This treatment also caused decreases in different peak areas (%) that represented proteins with a MW of 16.3 kDa (from 6.2% to 5.3%) and 23.4 kDa (from 4.0% to 2.30%) .S. aureus cells irradiation at 2.9 kGy is not establish. We speculate that some outer membrane proteins increase their expression levels while others proteins impicated in nutrient transport and in ATP synthase decreased their expression levels in VBNC state.Irradiation at the VBNC dose (2.9 kGy) affected more the protein expression as compared to irradiation at the sensitive dose (1.2 kGy). It caused increases of peak areas (%) of proteins with an equivalent MWs of 17.7 kDa (from 0.61% to 3.43), 18.7 kDa (from 1.04% to 4.30%), 19.5 kDa (from 0.71% to 2.30%), and 21.1 kDa (from 1.20% to 3.8%). Moreover, this treatment (2.9 kGy) also significantly decreased (P≤0.05) the peak areas (%) of different proteins with the MWs of 30.7 kDa (from 8.6% to 5.15%), 36.3 kDa (from 3.1% to 2.7%) and 40.5 kDa (from 11.3% to 8.5%) . ExplanaS. aureus. Furthermore, there were also decreases in protein expression with a MW of 30.7, 36.3 and 75.1 kDa at this dose of treatment (3.5 kGy) suggesting that these proteins are seriously affected at high dose of γ-irradiation treatment , protein expression with a MW of 17.7 kDa, 18.7 kDa and 19.5 kDa were less increased as compared to the VBNC dose (2.9 kGy) and these protein might be very important in the survival of reatment .Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus USA300_FPR3757 S. aureus when treated at different doses of irradiation. It can be observed that at different doses of irradiation treatment, there are four unique proteins  which expression levels were not significantly changed  and the transcriptional regulator CtsR  in Listeria monocytogenes sample at different doses of irradiation treatment were studied. There are three unique proteins  which expression levels were not significant changed. These proteins could be essentials for the survival of L. monocytogenes during γ-irradiation treatment. Moreover, it is also found that expressions of two proteins (MW of 85.4 and 70.2 kDa) of L. monocytogenes were statistically changed at different doses of irradiation treatment. The protein with a MW of 85.4 kDa is the enzyme formate acetyltransferase and its expression level was increased at the sensitive dose and the protein with a MW of 70.2 kDa (part of the acyltransferase family proteins) was decreased at the lethal dose.In conclusion, expression protein profiles of Staphyloccocus aureus, there were four unique proteins  which expression levels were not significantly changed at different doses of irradiation treatment. These four proteins could be essentials for the survival of S. aureus during γ-irradiation treatment. Moreover, the 50 S ribosomal protein expression corresponding to the MW of 16.3 kDa was significantly decreased at the low dose of irradiation treatment and the transcriptional regulator corresponding to a MW of 17.7 kDa was significantly increased at all irradiated treatments compared to the control.For The research further confirmed that capillary electrophoresis is a useful method to separate and analyse the expressed proteins which may be related to the resistance or the sensitivity of food pathogen to γ-irradiation and therefore, based on the profile of expressed proteins, an advanced approach could be discovered to control food pathogens efficiently.Listeria monocytogenes HPB2812  and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC29213  were individually sub cultured in tryptic soy broth  at 37°C for 24 h from the stock cultures maintained at −80°C in TBS containing 20% glycerol. One millilitre of each culture was incubated through two successive incubations of 24 h at 37°C in TSB to obtain approximately 109 CFU ml−1. The cultures were centrifuged at 1300× g for 15 min., washed with sterilized NaCl 0.85% (w/v) and then resuspended in TSB (500 ml) and incubated at 37°C for 24 h. After the last incubation of 24 h, bacterial cultures were irradiated at suitable doses. In order to obtain a viable but non culturable (VBNC) cells state after irradiation, cell cultures of S. aureus were then incubated at 37°C for 5 days to permit the restoration of metabolic activity. Since no VBNC were found for L. monocytogenes, this treatment was not applied on this bacterium.S. aureus were irradiated at different doses of 1.16–1.24 kGy  to create damaged cells (the death ratio was 40% as compared to the control), 2.86–2.94 kGy  to obtain cells under VBNC state (the growth rate was 0 during 5 days of VBNC state) and 3.46–3.54 kGy  to kill cells (the dead ratio was 100% as compared to the control) L. monocytogenes were irradiated at different doses of 1.17–1.23 kGy  to create damaged cells (the dead ratio was 30%) and 3.46–3.54 kGy  to kill cells (the dead ratio was 100% as compared to the control) 60cobalt source was used to deliver radiation at a dose rate of 18.27 kGy/h. This irradiator was certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology , and the dose rate was established using a correction for decay of source. An Amber Perspex dosimeter 3042D  was used to validate the dose distribution. The radiation treatment was carried out at the Canadian Irradiation Centre  at room temperature (20±1°C).Bacterial cultures of g at 4°C and the resulting pellet was washed with 10 ml of sterilized NaCl 0.85% (w/v). Bacterial pellets were then resuspended in 5 ml of lysis buffer  and cell walls were then broken using a cell disrupter  containing glass beads (0.2 mm) and operated at the speed of 6 m/second for 60 s. Then, the suspension was centrifuged at 2000× g for 10 min to remove the glass beads and unbroken cells. Samples were desalted by filtration using Amicon Ultra-4 Centrifugal Units  as per instructions of the manufacturer.Immediately after the irradiation treatment or after the restoration of metabolic activity in the VBNC state, five hundreds ml of each bacterial culture were quickly chilled in an ice/ethanol bath until the temperature dropped below 10°C. Cells were harvested by centrifugation  for 15 min at 8670× Concentration of proteins extracted from the bacterial cells was quantified using Bicinchoninic acid (BCA) protein assay kit  and procedure was followed by the manufacturer's specifications. The absorbance was read at 562 nm using a DMS 100 S spectrophotometer . Protein concentration of samples was calculated based on standard curve of bovine serum albumin (BSA).−1. Electrokinetic injection  was used for each sample, the applied voltage was 15 kV  and the temperature of the system was stabilized at 25°C. UV absorption was monitored with a diode array detector at 220 nm and a reference channel at 350 nm, both with a bandwidth of 5 nm. A scan from 190 nm to 400 nm was alsorecorded. An internal standard of 10 kDa was used in each experiment. For estimation of molecular weights of proteins the SDS-Gel Molecular Weight (MW) Analysis Kit  was used. The use of the electrophoretic mobility (μ) instead of the relative migration time is more precise in capillary electrophoresis app) minus the contribution of electroosmotic flow (μeof). Once the mobility of a reference analyte has been determined, the mobility of related analytes can be calculated using this equation:V is the average applied voltage up to the migration time of the peak of interest, dL is the capillary length to detector, tL is the total capillary length, reft is the migration time of reference peak in the current run, μref is the defined mobility for the reference peak, refV is the average applied voltage up to migration time of the reference peak and t is the migration time of the peak of interest.Protein expression was analyzed using a ProteomeLab SDS-Gel MW Analysis Kit and performed on the capillary electrophoresis (CE) system of ProteomeLab™ PA 800 . CE was used due to its many advantages: high speed, automation, low sample consumption. This “dynamic sieving” electrophoresis provides separation of macromolecules according to the molecular weight. A bare-fused silica  capillary was used in this study. A commercially available sieving polymer, sodium lauryl sulfate (SDS) was applied for separation of proteins on the basis of their molecular weights. The run buffer of the SDS-Gel Molecular Weight Analysis kit  contains a hydrophilic polymer providing a sieving range from 10, 000 to 225, 000 Da. This polymer was rinsed from the capillary by pressure (5 minutes with 50 psi) between each run using 0.1 M NaOH solution (1 min) and deionized water (2 min). Proteins pellets were resuspended in SDS sample buffer  to obtain a final concentration of 1 mg mlListeria monocytogenes HPB2812 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC29213, have their genomes sequenced and available at  PubMed, in silico studies were done to determine the expressed proteins in L. monocytogenes and S. aureus based on the MW of detected peak in the electropherograms recorded by CE.The strains used in this study, t test was utilized and differences between means were considered significant at P≤0.05. A Stat-Packets Statistical Analysis software  was used for the analysis. Each sample was prepared in duplicate and injected three times.Student's