Evaluation of epinephrine and vasopressin toxicity in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs)

Purpose: Epinephrine is an effective vasoconstrictor, and it is commonly administered intra-articular during arthroscopy to control the bleeding as a local hemostatic agent. However, no study so far has investigated possible toxicities of either epinephrine or an alternative like vasopressin on human mesenchymal stem cells. Methods: Triple-layer culture flasks have been used to seed the hMSCs; we have seeded the cells at a density of 10,000 cells/cm2. The hMSCs were plated into 96-well plates for evaluation of mitochondrial activity or 6-well plates for evaluation of apoptosis, and all the plates contained culture medium. Cells were treated with either epinephrine or vasopressin, and the control group was untreated. Epinephrine and vasopressin were removed after forty minutes, and freshly prepared growth medium has been provided to the cells. We evaluated two apoptosis markers (CASP3 and PARP-1) and the activity of the mitochondria at one hour, twenty-four hours, and seven days. Results: Mitochondrial activity did not significantly decrease after exposure to either epinephrine or vasopressin. In the cells exposed to epinephrine, we noted a significant increase in PARP-1 level at seven days; we noted the same increase after exposure to vasopressin at twenty-four hours and seven days. The amount of CASP3 has significantly increased only at twenty-four hours in those cells which were exposed to epinephrine. Conclusions: These data suggest that neither epinephrine nor vasopressin influence mitochondrial activity in hMSCs in vitro. We observed an increase in apoptosis markers without a corresponding decrease in mitochondrial activity, which could indicate that both medications are toxic to hMSCs. The absence of a response of CASP3 after exposure to the vasopressin, suggest that vasopressin may be less toxic for hMSCs. However, while epinephrine and vasopressin are effective as hemostatic agents, they may have toxic effects on hMSCs, warranting caution in their use during arthroscopy, especially if performing the kind of procedure to induce the tissue repair and regeneration (for example, meniscal-repair, microfracture, tendon-repair, OATS, ACI, etc.)

Size effects and deformation mechanisms in nanoscale metallic multilayered composites

In this work, size effects and deformation mechanisms in nanoscale metallic multilayered (NMM) composites were studied. Existing models for the prediction of the dependence of strength of NMM composites on the individual layer thickness do not capture the experimentally observed dependence. Dislocation interactions have been suggested as a significant contributor to this discrepancy. Due to the complexity and multiplicity of dislocation interaction in real systems, the study started by examining the hardening effect and implications on the dislocation structure of two known-to-be significant dislocation interactions in NMM composites. The first is the interaction between a threading dislocation and orthogonally intersection interfacial dislocations. Dislocation dynamics (DD) analysis was employed and it was found that the strongest interaction occurs when the interacting dislocations are collinear and involves annihilation reactions and the formation of 90o dislocation bends at the interfaces, as commonly observed in experiments. The strength predictions indicate a strengthen increase of about 50%; however, they do not follow the experimentally observed trend. The second interaction to study was that between a threading dislocation and parallel interfacial dislocations. A semi-analytical energetic approach was employed and it was found that parallel interactions can lead to softening effect, as well as hardening effect depending on the relative sign of the Burgers vector of the threading and the parallel dislocations. It was also found that when the Burgers vectors are collinear, the interaction is stronger. A comparison with the measured strength of real multilayered system shows that accounting for parallel interactions improves the strength predictions for an isolated glide dislocation, however that does not offer answers regarding the observed strength saturation when the individual layer thickness in the few nanometer range. Finally, largescale DD simulations of NMM composites were performed. Such simulations naturally accounts for all the possible and complex interactions in a real system. The strength predictions of such simulations are in better qualitative agreement with experimental trends than any of the unit process. Nevertheless, more work is needed to validate the results by investigating different relaxation models to accomplish the initial dislocations structure used in subsequent loading. The simulations were also valuable in identifying dislocation mechanisms which can take place during the deformation

Hydrological Characterization of a Riparian Vegetation Zone Using High Resolution Multi-Spectral Airborne Imagery

The Middle Rio Grande River (MRGR) is the main source of fresh water for the state of New Mexico. Located in an arid area with scarce local water resources, this has led to extensive diversions of river water to supply the high demand from municipalities and irrigated agricultural activities. The extensive water diversions over the last few decades have affected the composition of the native riparian vegetation by decreasing the area of cottonwood and coyote willow and increasing the spread of invasive species such as Tamarisk and Russian Olives, harmful to the river system, due to their high transpiration rates, which affect the river aquatic system. The need to study the river hydrological processes and their relation with its health is important to preserve the river ecosystem. To be able to do that a detailed vegetation map was produced using a Utah State University airborne remote sensing system for 286 km of river reach. Also a groundwater model was built in ArcGIS environment which has the ability to estimate soil water potential in the root zone and above the modeled water table. The Modified Penman- Monteith empirical equation was used in the ArcGIS environment to estimate riparian vegetation ET, taking advantage of the detailed vegetation map and spatial soil water potential layers. Vegetation water use per linear river reach was estimated to help decision makers to better manage and release the amount of water that keeps a sound river ecosystem and to support agricultural activities

Peligro sísmico y parámetros de sismicidad en el suroeste de Alborz

La provincia de Alborz se encuentra al oeste de la provincia de Teherán en el cinturón sísmico del sur de Alborz. Los análisis geológicos y sismológicos dentro de un radio de 200 km desde el centro de Karaj identificaron cinco zonas sísmicas y siete fuentes sísmicas lineales. La magnitud máxima se calculó para las zonas sísmicas utilizando las correlaciones disponibles. Se utilizó el método de Kijko y Sellevoll (1992) para calcular los parámetros de sismicidad, y se trazaron las gráficas del período de retorno y la frecuencia de probabilidad de recurrencia de la magnitud del terremoto en cada zona para el período de retorno de 475 años. Según los cálculos, las magnitudes de terremoto más alta y más baja de 7,6 y 6,2 se obtuvieron respectivamente en las Zonas 1 y

Evaluación del grado de resiliencia física de Babol contra los terremotos

The management of natural disasters requires understanding their essence, making accurate assessments, planning, and providing appropriate solutions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the physical resilience of the 22 neighborhoods of Babol located in the north of Iran against earthquakes. The methodology of this applied research study is descriptive-analytical. In this regard, by initially studying similar national and international studies, using the expert opinion of seismology and urban planning specialists and interviewing experienced urban managers in the field of crisis management, 30 effective indices on physical resilience against earthquake risk were extracted. Then, using analytic functions of GIS software and multi-criteria models including AHP, TOPSIS, VIKOR and COPRAS, the physical resilience of Babol against earthquakes was evaluated. Then, in order to obtain accurate results, using the integration models including the Statistic, BORDA and COPELAND, the physical resilience of Babol's 22 neighborhoods was evaluated. The analysis of the final GIS maps shows that neighborhoods 2, 3, 4, 5, and 11 have very high physical resilience and neighborhoods 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 have very low physical resilience against earthquakes.La gestión de desastres naturales requiere comprender su esencia, realizar evaluaciones precisas, planificar y brindar soluciones adecuadas. El propósito de este estudio es evaluar la resiliencia física de los 22 barrios de Babol ubicados en el norte de Irán frente a terremotos. La metodología de este estudio de investigación aplicada es descriptiva-analítica. En este sentido, mediante el estudio inicial de estudios similares nacionales e internacionales, utilizando la opinión experta de especialistas en sismología y planificación urbana y entrevistando a gestores urbanos experimentados en el campo de la gestión de crisis, se extrajeron 30 índices efectivos de resiliencia física frente al riesgo sísmico. Luego, utilizando funciones analíticas de software GIS y modelos multicriterio incluyendo AHP, TOPSIS, VIKOR y COPRAS, se evaluó la resiliencia física de Babol frente a terremotos. Luego, con el fin de obtener resultados precisos, utilizando los modelos de integración incluyendo la Estadística, BORDA y COPELAND, se evaluó la resiliencia física de los 22 barrios de Babol. El análisis de los mapas GIS finales muestra que los barrios 2, 3, 4, 5 y 11 tienen una resistencia física muy alta y los barrios 6, 8, 10, 12 y 14 tienen una resistencia física muy baja frente a los terremotos

Effect of melatonin in reducing second-generation antipsychotic metabolic effects: A double blind controlled clinical trial

Introduction The use of second-generation atypical antipsychotics has an increasing role in the development of metabolic syndrome. However, these medications due to metabolic disorders can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and subsequently mortality as well as reduced adherence to treatment. The main objective of current study was to determine the ability of melatonin to reduce the metabolic effects of second-generation antipsychotics. Methods This double blind controlled clinical trial was conducted on 100 patients aged 18–64 years old were treated with the second-generation antipsychotics for the first time. The patients were divided randomly into two groups of 50. The case group received slow-release melatonin at a dose of 3 mg and the control group was given oral placebo at 8 p.m. Results The findings in melatonin group indicated significantly increase of HDL and decreased fasting blood sugar and systolic blood pressure, as well as had statistically significant increase in waist circumference, weight and BMI compared with placebo group. Conclusion According to the findings, it can be claimed that the addition of melatonin to atypical antipsychotics has led to a reduction in some of the metabolic effects of these drugs. In this study, HDL level was increased, and the mean systolic blood pressure and FBS were decreased in the melatonin group. Considering that these factors are contributing to cardiovascular disease as a leading cause of mortality in psychiatric patients, so the use of melatonin can reduce some of the medical effects of long-term treatment of atypical antipsychotics. © 2017 Diabetes Indi