Aging, immune system, and physical activity: A review of recent studies

The immune system is one of the main defenders of human health. The immune system can fight off viruses in the body and kill them. Therefore, keeping the components of the immune system healthy is very important. With age, the immune system ages, and its function decreases. This decline in immune function can easily lead to viral infections in the elderly. Evidence is accumulated that the best solution to maintain and enhance the immune system in the elderly is physical activity. Regular physical activity can lead to healthy aging of the immune system. Therefore, in this review study, we have discussed the changes in the immune system during aging and physical activity suggestions for healthy aging of the immune system. Finally, future research needs are reported

The effect of different types of mulch and different cultivation methods on the quantitative and qualitative traits of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in Ahvaz climate

To investigate the effect of mulch and different cultivation methods on the quantitative and qualitative yield of oil sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) in Ahvaz climate, a factorial experiment in randomized complete blocks with three replications in the 2017-2018 crop year was in the research farm of Agricultural Sciences and Natural ResourcesUniversity of Khuzestan. The first factor includes different types of mulch in five levels (non-application, wheat straw, white plastic, live mulch (mung bean cultivation), and black plastic) and the second factor includes three-level cultivation method (on a flat surface, ridge cultivation, and inside the furrow cultivation). The results showed that in the flat surface and on the ridge, black plastic produced the highest amount of chlorophyll a, b, and In the inside the furrow, the highest chlorophyll a was obtained in the application of living mulch. The highest grain yield and oil yield were obtained from the interaction of wheat straw mulch × in the furrow and wheat straw mulch on the ridge. In addition, the highest harvest index was obtained in the treatment of white plastic mulch on a flat surface with an average of 51.85%. In general, it can be said that the treatment of wheat straw and straw × in the inside the furrow and wheat straw × on the ridge were superior in terms of quantitative and qualitative performance

A magnetorheological fluid damper for robust vibration control of flexible rotor-bearing systems: A comparison between sliding mode and fuzzy approaches

Squeeze Film Dampers (SFD) are commonly used for passive vibration control of rotor-bearing systems. The Magnetorheological (MR) and Electrorheological (ER) fluids in SFDs give a varying damping characteristic to the bearing that can provide active control schemes for the rotor-bearing system. A common way to model an MR bearing is implementing the Bingham plastic model. Adding this model to the finite element (F.E.) model of the rotor enables analyzing the rotor bearing behavior. In this work, considering uncertainties, three types of controllers are designed for a rotor-bearing system and the efficiency of using these controllers in attenuating the vibration amplitude of the system is studied. As a result, employing these controllers reveals a remarkable improvement in reducing the vibration amplitude of the shaft midpoint near the critical velocity

Adaptive response of slow and fast skeletal muscle following mechanical hindlimb suspension in Wistar male rats

Mechanical hindlimb suspension of lower extremities leads to prompt atrophy in rats' skeletal muscles. The present research was designed to study cross-section area (CSA) and the expression level of the genes ATF4, P53, MST1, and atrogin-1 in slow and fast skeletal muscles following mechanical hindlimb suspension. 20 male Wistar rats were assigned randomly in to two groups: control (Con) and hind-limb suspension (HU) (10 rats per each group). In HU group, tail suspension was designed for 14 constitutive days; however, animals in the control group passed a normal life.  The findings indicated that hind-limb suspension could relatively diminish CSA, myonuclei number per fiber and the weight of both soleus and EDL muscles. However, these reductions were not significant for EDL muscle. Furthermore, the expression level of the MST1, atrogin-1, ATF4, and p53 in soleus muscles elevated significantly. Moreover, the expression level of all four genes increased significantly in EDL muscle. Comparison of genes expression level between two soleus and EDL muscles showed that expression of MST1, ATF4, and p53 genes were higher in soleus than EDL, but it was not the case for atrogin-1 as its expression level was more in EDL compared to soleus. Our study provides novel evidence that immobilization of hind-limbs can induce a more powerful atrophic response in slow muscles in comparison to fast ones

Comparison between High Cell-Density Culture Systems for Chondrogenic Differentiation and Articular Cartilage Reconstruction of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells: A Literature Review

High-cell density culture is based on the chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), and because the high density ofcell and reduced oxygen tension are effective in chondrogenic differentiation. In the present paper, there will be a review about the methods ofchondrogenic differentiation of hMSCs that utilized in in vitro and in vivo chondrogenic differentiation of stem cells for treatment of osteoarthritis.There are three High-cell density culture systems; micromass, pellet culture, and alginate culture have been used to induce chondrogenicdifferentiation of hMSCs. Transplanted naive MSCs can cause problems such as heterogeneous populations. To overcome this problem, newstrategies for inducing differentiation of MSCs are needed. One possibility is a cell culture system. Collagen II and aggrecan are critical protein inchondrogenic differentiation. In all different methods, real time RT-PCR analysis demonstrates that collagen II and aggrecan mRNA are upregulated while collagen X and collagen I mRNA are down regulated. So these three high-density cell culture systems have been approved forchondrogenic differentiation. On the other hand, In micromass method, the induced-cartilage tissues are larger, more homogenous and rich incartilage specific collagen II, but collagen I, collagen X and hypertrophic chondrocyte features are markedly decreased compared to other culturesystem. Thus, the micromass culture system is the best tool for in vitro chondrogenic differentiation studies

Inhibition of microRNA-21 via locked nucleic acid-anti-miR suppressed metastatic features of colorectal cancer cells through modulation of programmed cell death 4.

Colorectal cancer is among the most lethal of malignancies, due to its propensity to metastatic spread and multifactorial-chemoresistance. The latter property supports the need to identify novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of colorectal cancer. MicroRNAs are endogenous non-coding small RNA molecules that function as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. Recently, programmed cell death 4 has been identified as a protein that increases during apoptosis. This gene is among the potential targets of miR-21 (OncomiR). Locked nucleic acid-modified oligonucleotides have recently emerged as a potential therapeutic option for targeting microRNAs. The aim of this study was to explore the functional role of locked nucleic acid-anti-miR-21 in the LS174T cell line in vitro and in vivo models. LS174T cells were treated with locked nucleic acid-anti-miR-21 for 24, 48, and 72 h in vitro. The expression of miR-21 and PDCD4 at messenger RNA (mRNA) level was evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, while the protein level of PDCD4 was determined by Western blotting. Cell migratory behavior and the cluster-forming ability of cells were assessed before and after therapy. The disseminated tumor cells were assessed in the chick chorioallantoic membrane model by Alu quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Locked nucleic acid-anti-miR-21 was transfected successfully into the LS174T cells and inhibited the expression of miR-21. Locked nucleic acid-anti-miR-21 inhibited the migration and the number of cells forming clusters. Moreover, we found that locked nucleic acid-anti-miR-21 transfection was associated with a significant reduction in metastatic properties as assessed by the in ovo model. Our findings demonstrated the novel therapeutic potential of locked nucleic acid-anti-miR-21 in colon adenocarcinoma with high miR-21 expression

Does Endurance Training Compensate for Neurotrophin Deficiency Following Diabetic Neuropathy?

Background: A lack of neurotrophic support is believed to contribute to the development of diabetic neuropathy. On the other hand, neurotrophins have consistently been shown to increase in the central and peripheral nervous system following exercise, but the effects of exercise intervention on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in diabetic neuropathy are not understood. Objectives: This experimental studywas designed and carried out at the Tarbiat Modares university(TMU) in Tehran, Iran, to investigate the hypothesis that increased activity as endurance training can help to increase the endogenous expression of neurotrophins in diabetic rats. Methods: This was an experimental study with 2× 2 factorial plans performed at TMU in Iran. Sampling was accidental and 28 adult male Wistar rats in the body mass range of 326.3 ± 8.4 g comprised the sample, with each rat randomly assigned to four groups: diabetic control (DC), diabetic training (DT), healthy control (HC), and healthy training (HT). To induce diabetic neuropathy, after 12 hours of food deprivation, an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) solution (45 mg/Kg) method was used. Two weeks after STZ injection, the endurance training protocol was performed for 6 weeks; 24 hours after the last training session, the rats were sacrificed. Real-time PCR was used for BDNF and NGF expression. Results: The data indicate that diabetes decreasesBDNF andNGF expression in sensory(92%, P=0.01; 90%, P=0.038, respectively) and motor (93%, P = 0.05; 60%, P = 0.029, respectively) roots. However, NGF mRNA levels in the DT group were significantly higher than in the HC group ((7.1-fold), P = 0.01; (2.2-fold), P = 0.001, respectively, for sensory and motor roots), but this was not shown for BDNF. In addition, endurance training can increase NGF expression in healthy rats ((7.4-fold), P = 0.01; (3.8-fold), P = 0.001, respectively, for sensory and motor roots). Conclusions: This study shows that BDNF and NGF expression decreases in diabetic neuropathy. However, this decrease can be reversed through endurance training. These results alsoindicate that endurance trainingmayhave apotential rolein compensating for neurotrophin deficiency following diabetic neuropath

Effects of 8 Weeks of Aerobic Training on Serum Levels of Chemerin, Omentin-1, and Insulin Resistance in Overweight Women

Background and Objectives: Omentin and chemerin are adipokines that are predominantly secreted from adipose tissue. In the present study, the effect of 8 weeks of aerobic training, was investigated on serum levels of chemerin, omentin-1, and insulin resistance in overweight women. &nbsp; Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 21 overweight women were selected from volunteers (according to research facilities) and purposefully divided into two groups of training (N=11) and control (N=10). Training program consisted of 8 weeks (three sessions/week) of aerobic training, 30 min running at 50-70% maximum heart rate. In the first two weeks, training was performed with 50%, second 2 weeks with 60%, third 2 weeks with 65%, and the last 2 weeks with 70% of maximum heart rate. Forty-eight hours before the start and 48 hours after the last training session, blood samples were collected and serum levels of omentin and chemerin and insulin resistance, were measured. Analysis of covariance was used to assess between-group differences. &nbsp; Results: Changes in serum levels of chemerin showed no significant reduction in the experimental group compared to the control group (p=0.146), while, serum levels of omentin had a significant increase in the experimental group compared to the control group (p<0.001). In addition, insulin resistance improved in the training group compared to the control group (p<0.001). &nbsp; Conclusion: It seems that these trainings in overweight women, has more effect on the increase in omentin compared to the decrease in chemerin. Therefore, these trainings can be an appropriate method for reduction of obesity-related diseases. &nbsp; &nbsp