The Enzymatic Activity and Molecular Characterization of a Secreted Subtilisin-Like Protease in Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton vanbreuseghemii

Background: Subtilisin -like proteases are the group of proteases including keratinases found in dermatophytes which de­graded keratin. Determination of the proteases activity of Trichophyton vanbreuseghemii isolates which were obtained from soil and clinical and soil isolates of Microsporum gypseum in Iran and characterization of their genome were aim of present study.Methods: Ezymatic activity was determined by use of chromogenic substrates. The genes, which coded subtilisin-like pro­teases in above-mentioned dermatophytes, was identified and amplified by using specific primers in PCR. Results: The highest yield of enzyme production was observed in only one isolate of T. vanbreuseghemii Ir-84 whereas low enzyme activity was observed in M. gypseum isolates. Homology study of obtained nucleotide as well as amino acid sequences indicated different rates of homology with other subtilisin-like proteases genes in other pathogenic dermato­phytes. Conclusion: Intra-strain differences were observed in production of serine proteinases and molecular characterization of genes encoding such enzymes could be of great interest for studies on pathogenicity and other purposes

The Effect of Social Media on Iranian Citizens’ Electoral Participation and Political Action

The present age is called the age of communication. Undoubtedly, in all matters of the world, the most incredible information is on the shoulders of the mass media. Today, the media have influenced the identity of contemporary man by expanding geographical, cultural and political boundaries so that the identity of modern man can be called media identity. The increasing role of new means of mass communication in various parts of human life has led to multiple fields. One area that social media have influenced in the present age is political participation. The present paper sought to test the effect of social media on the Iranian citizens’ willingness to electoral participation political actions using the World Values Survey (WVS) wave 7 data release (49 countries/territories). The results show that social media indirectly, through the mediator variable of political trust, reduces the willingness of individuals to participate in elections. Moreover, the results show that social media, both directly and indirectly, increases citizens’ willingness to engage in political protests

Genomic catastrophes frequently arise in esophageal adenocarcinoma and drive tumorigenesis

Oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) incidence is rapidly increasing in Western countries. A better understanding of EAC underpins efforts to improve early detection and treatment outcomes. While large EAC exome sequencing efforts to date have found recurrent loss-offunction mutations, oncogenic driving events have been underrepresented. Here we use a combination of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and single-nucleotide polymorphism-array profiling to show that genomic catastrophes are frequent in EAC, with almost a third (32%, n¼40/123) undergoing chromothriptic events. WGS of 22 EAC cases show that catastrophes may lead to oncogene amplification through chromothripsis-derived double-minute chromosome formation (MYC and MDM2) or breakage-fusion-bridge (KRAS, MDM2 and RFC3). Telomere shortening is more prominent in EACs bearing localized complex rearrangements. Mutational signature analysis also confirms that extreme genomic instability in EAC can be driven by somatic BRCA2 mutations. These findings suggest that genomic catastrophes have a significant role in the malignant transformation of EAC

The effectiveness of integrating educational robotic activities into higher education Computer Science curricula: a case study in a developing country

In this paper, we present a case study to investigate the effects of educational robotics on a formal undergraduate Computer Science education in a developing country. The key contributions of this paper include a longitudinal study design, spanning the whole duration of one taught course, and its focus on continually assessing the effectiveness and the impact of robotic-based exercises. The study assessed the students' motivation, engagement and level of understanding in learning general computer programming. The survey results indicate that there are benefits which can be gained from such activities and educational robotics is a promising tool in developing engaging study curricula. We hope that our experience from this study together with the free materials and data available for download will be beneficial to other practitioners working with educational robotics in different parts of the world

Study of chemical and physical behavior cotton fabrics treated by corona discharge after several laundering

Cotton fabric because of finishing process has shrinkage behavior after laundering and for improving this problem, chemical agents utilize for anti-shrinkage. This temporary finishing can reduce shrinkagebut has many environmental problems. Corona discharge treatment has been used for cotton fabric, other fibers and polymers. This treatment can reduce costs and environmental impacts. In this study, cotton fabric was treated by corona discharge instrument at 2 - 40 passages and fabrics were washed with laundering method. After four times laundering, shrinkage behavior of corona discharge treated fabric as compared with un-treated fabric decrease. After 10 passages of corona discharge treatment,water, dye absorption and shrinkage are modified but after 14 passages, despite of shrinkage improvement, dyeing properties decrease

The Lateral Migration of a Drop under Gravity between Two Parallel Plates at Finite Reynolds Numbers

A finite difference / front tracking method is used to examine the lateral migration of a three-dimensional deformable drop in plane Poiseuille flow at a finite-Reynolds-number. The computations are based on an improved implementation of the front tracking method at finite Reynolds numbers that include convective terms. The elliptic pressure equation is solved by a multigrid method. Both neutrally buoyant and non-neutrally buoyant drop are studied. The computation is performed within a unit cell which is periodic in the direction along the channel. A neutrally buoyant drop lags the fluid slightly, and the wall effect balances the effect of the curvature of the velocity profile, giving rise to an equilibrium lateral position about halfway between the wall and the centerline (the Segre- Silberberg effect). Results are presented over a range of density ratios. In the non-neutrally buoyant case, the gravity force is imposed along the flow direction. Non-neutrally buoyant drops have more complicated patterns of migration, depending upon the magnitude of the buoyancy force. When the density difference is small, the equilibrium position is either near the wall or near the centerline, depending on whether the drop leads or lags the local fluid. When the density difference is large enough, the equilibrium position shifts towards the centerline, irrespective of whether the drop is lighter or heavier than the fluid. The effect of Reynolds number and capillary number on the non-neutrally buoyant drops is investigated. The accuracy of the method is assessed by comparison with the other simulations and experiments

The CMS ECAL Barrel HV system

The CMS electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) comprises 75848 scintillating lead tungstate crystals. 61200 crystals are contained in the ECAL Barrel section and are read out by avalanche photodiode (APD) with internal gain of about 50. This gain is achieved with a high voltage (HV) of about 400 Volts. The gain stability requirement implies a supply voltage stable to within 0.01%. We describe our experience with the installed Barrel HV power supply system, which has been used for data taking since 2008