Distinct Role of IL-27 in Immature and LPS-Induced Mature Dendritic Cell-Mediated Development of CD4

Interleukin-27 (IL-27) plays an important role in regulation of anti-inflammatory responses and autoimmunity; however, the molecular mechanisms of IL-27 in modulation of immune tolerance and autoimmunity have not been fully elucidated. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a central role in regulating immune responses mediated by innate and adaptive immune systems, but regulatory mechanisms of DCs in CD4+ T cell-mediated immune responses have not yet been elucidated. Here we show that IL-27 treated mature DCs induced by LPS inhibit immune tolerance mediated by LPS-stimulated DCs. IL-27 treatment facilitates development of the CD4+ CD127+3G11+ regulatory T cell subset in vitro and in vivo. By contrast, IL-27 treated immature DCs fail to modulate development of the CD4+CD127+3G11+ regulatory T cell sub-population in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggest that IL-27 may break immune tolerance induced by LPS-stimulated mature DCs through modulating development of a specific CD4+ regulatory T cell subset mediated by 3G11 and CD127. Our data reveal a new cellular regulatory mechanism of IL-27 that targets DC-mediated immune responses in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). © 2018 Zhou, Zhang and Rostami

Intersection SPaT Estimation by means of Single-Source Connected Vehicle Data

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.Current traffic management systems in urban networks require real-time estimation of the traffic states. With the development of in-vehicle and communication technologies, connected vehicle data has emerged as a new data source for traffic measurement and estimation. In this work, a machine learning-based methodology for signal phase and timing information (SPaT) which is highly valuable for many applications such as green light optimal advisory systems and real-time vehicle navigation is proposed. The proposed methodology utilizes data from connected vehicles travelling within urban signalized links to estimate the queue tail location, vehicle accumulation, and subsequently, link outflow. Based on the produced high-resolution outflow estimates and data from crossing connected vehicles, SPaT information is estimated via correlation analysis and a machine learning approach. The main contribution is that the single-source proposed approach relies merely on connected vehicle data and requires neither prior information such as intersection cycle time nor data from other sources such as conventional traffic measuring tools. A sample four-leg intersection where each link comprises different number of lanes and experiences different traffic condition is considered as a testbed. The validation of the developed approach has been undertaken by comparing the produced estimates with realistic micro-simulation results as ground truth, and the achieved simulation results are promising even at low penetration rates of connected vehicles

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water, sediment and tissues of five sturgeon species in the southern Caspian Sea coastal regions

Concentration levels of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) consisting of naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorine, phenantherene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene, dibenzo(a,h)anthracene, indeno(1,2,3-cd) pyrene and benzo(g,h,i)perylene were measured in water and sediment samples collected from the southern Caspian Sea coasts at four stations of Noshahr, Freydoonkenar, Sari and Amirabad during autumn, winter and spring of 2005-2006. Also, tissue samples from five sturgeon species including stellate sturgeon, Persian sturgeon, beluga, Russian sturgeon and ship sturgeon were obtained. Samples were analyzed by gas chromatography after the extraction process and the obtained data were statistically analyzed using One-Way ANOVA analysis at confidence level 95%. The mean concentrations of PAHs in water and sediment samples were 0.004-2.946 mgl-1 and 0.024- 2.336 µg g-1, respectively. No significant difference was found in the mean concentrations of PAHs among stations and seasons of the examined samples. Also, mean concentration of PAHs in the liver, muscles,gills, kidney and gonads of five sturgeon species was 0.81-1.34 µgg-1. The results of this study show that the levels of PAHs in water, sediment and sturgeon organs were below the acceptable levels of PAHs proposed by USEPA and WHO

N,N’-Dibromo-N,N’ 1,2-ethanediylbis(benzenesulphonamide) (BNBBS): a Safe, Neutral and Efficient Reagent for the Oxidation of Primary and Secondary Alcohols to Corresponding Carbonyl Compounds under Mild Conditions

Efficient oxidation of various types of structurally diverse alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds can be carried out with N,N’-dibromo-N,N’-1,2-ethanediylbis(benzenesulphonamide) in good to high yield of products in CH2Cl2 at room temperature. Primary (aliphatic, benzylic and allylic) alcohols are oxidized with no over-oxidation to carboxylic acids.Keywords: Oxidation, alcohols, carbonyl compounds, N,N’-dibromo-N,N’–1,2-ethanediylbis(benzenesulphonamide)

Multiple-trait genetic evaluation using genomic matrix

Accuracy of the multiple-trait genetic evaluation based on genomic matrix obtained from allelic relationships was estimated through computer simulation and was compared with the accuracy of traditional Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP). Firstly, a base population (Ne = 100) was simulated and for each animal in the base population, three chromosomes were created. On each chromosome, 200 markers and 50 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were randomly located. After 110 generations of random mating, linkage disequilibrium was created between the marker and QTL. Multiple-trait evaluation was done for two traits with high (h2 = 0.46) and low heritability (h2 = 0.1). In the first trial, in order to study the changes of evaluation accuracy along generations, after creating linkage disequilibrium, the population size of the last generation was expanded 3 times and random mating was done for the next three generations. Then, phenotypic and genotypic records of females for the last three generations were simulated. The results showed that the accuracy of evaluation  increased with an increase in the number of generations that make up the phenotypic and genotypic information. In the second trial, the studied methods were compared in an evaluation of progeny without phenotypic. For this purpose, animals of the last three generations (training set) were considered as parents, while with phenotypic and genotypic information, animals of generation 4 (validation set) were considered as progeny. These progenies were found in the genotypic information that was used to determine the allelic relationships, but were not found in the phenotypic information. Therefore, the use of their parents’ phenotypic information was evaluated. Using genomic matrices, the accuracy of evaluation increased. Average accuracy of evaluation for each trial was estimated based on 10 iterations, while statistical comparison was performed using student-t test. A significant difference was observed between the evaluation accuracy of the two studied methods.Key words: Allelic relationships, multiple-trait evaluation, training set, validation set

Some hematological and biochemical changes in blood serum of Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) vaccinated with Aeromonas hydrophila following exposure to sublethal concentration of diazinon

.Diazinon is commonly used for pest control in the agricultural fields in north of Iran. This study was conducted to determine the chronic toxicity of organophosphorous pesticide (Diazinon) in vaccinated fish and its effects on some hematological parameters and biochemical blood plasma profiles of Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella).This experiment was carried out in three groups. The first group was vaccinated and exposed to diazinon (group A) while the second group was vaccinated and bathed with PBS bath (group B). The remaining fish were used as unvaccinated fish and were kept in clean water separately (group C). Diazinon was applied at concentrations of 2 mg/L for 12 hours since the experiments were initiated. The experimental groups(A and B) showed significantly lower values (p < 0.05) of erythrocyte count, haemoglobin content, haematocrit, leucocytes, Lymphocyte, myelocyte and monocyte, as well as in alkaline phosphatases, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and, lactate dehydrogenase compared to the control group(C). Values of MCV, MCH and MCHC of experimental species (A and B) were compared to the control group(C). The results of examinations of the biochemical blood plasma profile indicate a marked neurotoxic effect of diazinon in fishes. Changes in values of both erythrocyte and leukocyte profile after exposure to diazinon-based preparation may be referred to disruption of haematopoiesis as well as to a decrease on non-specific immunity of the fis