Mineral lick use by a community of large herbivores in northern Iran.

Natural mineral licks are ecologically valuable resources to meet the physiological needs of herbivores, particularly in temperate forests. Importantly, licking sites can harbor high anthropogenic risk for conservation-dependent herbivores through higher chance of pathogen spillover from livestock and increased levels of poaching risks. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no information on the mineral lick use in temperate forests of west Asia and the Caucasus where a few threatened deer species exist. We monitored four naturally occurring mineral licks in Central Alborz Protected Area, northern Iran during May-July 2019 using camera traps and analyzed the mineral content of the licking sites. A total of 53 independent mineral lick visits were obtained from only three species of herbivores, i.e., Caspian red deer (Cervus elaphus maral; n = 21), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus; n = 26), and wild pig (Sus scrofa; n = 6). The sex ratio of visiting Caspian red deer was highly skewed toward females (3M:18F), whereas it was more balanced in visiting roe deer (11M:15F). The species-level distribution of visits corresponded to diurnal and cathemeral for Caspian red deer and for roe deer, respectively, without any evidence of different activity curves. There was a negative nonlinear relationship between the ambient temperature and the visitation rate. Our findings showed that mineral licks are important habitat features for these large herbivores and need to be included in spatial mapping and habitat protection measures.

Efficacy of Pistacia khinjuk Fruits on Viability of Hydatid Cyst Protoscoleces and Its Acute Toxicity in Mice Model.

BACKGROUND: This investigation aimed to evaluate the in vitro scolicidal effects of Pistacia khinjuk methanolic extract against protoscoleces of hydatid cysts and its acute toxicity in mice NMRI model. METHODS: Protoscoleces were aseptically extracted from sheep livers having hydatid cysts. Various concentrations of the essential oil (12.5-100 mg/mL) were used for 10 to 60 min. Viability of protoscoleces was confirmed using eosin exclusion test (0.1% eosin staining). Twenty-four male NMRI mice were used to assess the acute toxicity of P. khinjuk. RESULTS: P. khinjuk extract at the concentrations of 100 mg/mL after 10 min of exposure killed 100% of protoscoleces. Similarly, the mean of mortality rate of protoscoleces after 20 min of exposure to the concentration of 50 mg/mL was 100%. The LD50 of the intraperitoneal injection of the P. khinjuk methanolic extract was 2.8 g/kg and the maximum non-fatal dose was 1.7 g/kg. CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrated effective scolicidal effects of P. khinjuk extract with no considerable toxicity that might be a natural source for the producing of new scolicidal agent.

Chemical composition, protoscolicidal effects and acute toxicity of Pistacia atlantica Desf. fruit extract.

The present study was designed to evaluate the chemical composition and scolicidal effects of Pistacia atlantica Desf. extract against protoscoleces of hydatid cysts and its acute toxicity in mice model. Various concentrations of the methanolic extract (5-50 mg/mL) were used for 10-60 min. Viability of protoscoleces was confirmed using eosin exclusion test (0.1%). Acute toxicity was also determined in mice model. The main components were ß-myrcene (41.4%), α-pinene (32.48%) and limonene (4.66%). Findings demonstrated that P. atlantica extract at the concentrations of 25 and 50 mg/mL after 20 and 10 min of exposure killed 100% protoscoleces. The LD50 of the intraperitoneal injection of the P. atlantica methanolic extract was 2.43 g/kg and the maximum non-fatal dose was 1.66 g/kg. Obtained results showed the potential of P. atlantica extract as a natural source with no significant toxicity for the production of new scolicidal agent to use in hydatid cyst surgery.

1,1'-(Ethane-1,2-di-yl)dipyridinium dichromate(VI).

In the cation of the title salt, (C(12)H(14)N(2))[Cr(2)O(7)], the two pyridinium moieties are in an anti orientation with respect to one another. The dihedral angle between the pyridine rings is 6.3 (2)°. The N-C-C-N torsion angle is 177.5 (2)°. In the dianion, the Cr(VI) ions are in a slightly distorted tetra-hedral coordination environment and the bond angles at the independent Cr(VI) ions are in the ranges 105.93 (10)-110.60 (11) and 107.35 (11)-111.07 (12)°. The Cr-O-Cr angle is 127.96 (12)°. The crystal used was an inversion twin with refined components of 0.510 (19) and 0.490 (19).

1,1'-(Ethane-1,2-di-yl)dipyridinium bis-(iodate).

The title salt, C(12)H(14)N(2) (2+)·2IO(3) (-), exhibits two crystallographically independent iodate anions, the I atoms of which are each in a trigonal-pyramidal environment. In the dication, the two pyridine rings adopt an anti conformation with respect to each other; the angle between these two rings is 3.84 (19)°. In the crystal structure, C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the cations and anions lead to the formation of layers arranged parallel to the ab plane. I⋯O halogen bonds [R(2) (2)(4) graph-set motif] range between 2.873 (2) and 3.036 (3) Šand connect neighbouring IO(3) (-) anions with each other along [100], so as to create a three-dimensional network.