Lateral rectus muscle disinsertion and reattachment to the lateral orbital wall in exotropic Duane syndrome: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The surgical correction of anomalous movement such as upshoot in Duane syndrome is challenging. Lateral rectus muscle disinsertion and reattachment to the lateral orbital wall is a new approach used to minimize or eliminate the effects of co-contraction including globe retraction, palpebral fissure narrowing and anomalous vertical movement.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a case of a 7-year-old boy who underwent this procedure for severe upshoot, globe retraction and exotropia in the left eye due to Duane syndrome. The patient achieved satisfactory ocular alignment following surgery. Upshoot and globe retraction were substantially improved.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Lateral rectus muscle disinsertion and reattachment to the lateral orbital wall is a safe and effective procedure for weakening of the anomalous lateral rectus muscle in Exotropic Duane Syndrome.</p

A New Sparse Representation Algorithm for 3D Human Pose Estimation

This paper addresses the problem of recovering 3D human pose from single 2D images using Sparse Representation. While recent Sparse Representation (SR) based 3D human pose estimation methods have attained promising results estimating human poses from single images, their performance depends on the availability of large labeled datasets. However, in many real world applications, accessing to sufficient labeled data may be expensive and/or time consuming, but it is relatively easy to acquire a large amount of unlabeled data. Moreover, all SR based 3D pose estimation methods only consider the information of the input feature space and they cannot utilize the information of the pose space. In this paper, we propose a new framework based on sparse representation for 3D human pose estimation which uses both the labeled and unlabeled data. Furthermore, the proposed method can exploit the information of the pose space to improve the pose estimation accuracy. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed method is significantly better than the state of the art 3D human pose estimation methods

Neuroprotective, antimicrobial, antioxidant, chemotherapeutic, and antidiabetic properties of Salvia Reuterana: A mini review

Objectives: Herbal medicine is known as a valid alternative treatment. Salvia Reuterana, which has been used in the Iranian traditional medicine, is mostly distributed in the central highlands of Iran. Salvia Reuterana is a medicinal herb with various therapeutic usages. The aim of the present review is to take account of pharmacological properties of Salvia Reuterana. Materials and Methods: The present review summarizes the literature with respect to various pharmacological properties of Salvia Reuterana. Results: Salvia Reuterana possesses neurological, antimicrobial, antioxidant, chemotherapeutic, and antidiabetic properties. Conclusions: Salvia Reuterana can be used as an alternative for treatment of several disorders

Induced overexpression of MARCH-1 in human macrophages altered to M2 phenotype for suppressing inflammation process

Objective(s): The M1 macrophage is characterized by enhanced pro-inflammatory cytokines production, whereas macrophage (M2) has anti-inflammatory features. Macrophage polarization as a therapeutic target for controlling immune responses could be performed by gene transduction to control the regulation of exaggerated innate/adaptive immune responses. Materials and Methods: Macrophages were prepared from THP-1 cell line and human monocytes that were transduced with (Membrane-Associated RING-CH-type finger) MARCH-1 viral lentivector produced in HEK-293T cells. RT-PCR and Western blotting confirmed MARCH-1 gene transduction. Cytokine production, CD markers assay, macrophage phagocytosis potential activity and mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR) with CFSE were performed for M1/M2 plasticity. Results: The mean fluorescent intensity of HLA-DR and CD64 expression reduced in MARCH-1+ transduced macrophage population. However, CD206 and CD163 expression increased in these macrophages. The concentrations of IL-6, TNF-α and iNOS were decreased in MARCH-1 transduced cells, and TGF-β production showed an augmentation in concentration. Western blotting and real-time PCR measurement confirmed that the expression levels of MARCH-1 protein and arginase-1 enzyme were increased in transduced macrophages. Conclusion: The anti-inflammatory features of MARCH-1 revealed the reduced levels of pro-inflammatory factors and maintained M2 phenotype characterized by high levels of scavenger receptors. Therefore, targeting MARCH-1 in monocytes/macrophages could represent a new autologous cell-based therapies strategy for inflammatory conditions

A comparative study pertaining to deleterious effects of diclofenac sodium and meloxicam on kidney tissue in rats

NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are a class of drugs with analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic effects. Diclofenac sodium is one of the world's most widely-prescribed NSAIDs. Meloxicam is another NSAID that was approved in the last several years. Treatment with NSAIDs may result in renal damage. Relatively, little is known about com-parative nephrotoxicity of NSAIDs. Therefore, the present study was designed to compare the adverse effects of diclofenac sodium and meloxicam on renal tissue in rats. Forty eight Wistar male rats were randomly assigned into 3 groups of 16 animals each. Group C served as normal control and received normal saline. Group D and M received diclofenac sodium (2.3 mg/kg/day) and meloxicam (2.3 mg/kg/day), respectively. After 17 days, all rats were scarified. Their kidneys were then harvested and processed for histological examination. In addition to cellular details, renal tubular count and diameter were assessed with the light microscope. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. We found that the mean number of renal tubules was significantly lower in group D, than in group C. Moreover, the mean renal tubular diameter was significantly higher in group D than in group C. The present study showed that a considerable degree of nephrotoxicity resulted from diclofenac sodium, compared to meloxicam. We suggest that diclofenac sodium can be replaced with meloxicam

Application of hypoxia-mesenchymal stem cells in treatment of anaerobic bacterial wound infection: wound healing and infection recovery

Mesenchymal stromal cells, commonly referred to as MSCs, are a type of multipotent stem cells that are typically extracted from adipose tissue and bone marrow. In the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, MSCs and their exosomes have emerged as revolutionary tools. Researchers are now devoting greater attention to MSCs because of their ability to generate skin cells like fibroblasts and keratinocytes, as well as their distinctive potential to decrease inflammation and emit pro-angiogenic molecules at the site of wounds. More recent investigations revealed that MSCs can exert numerous direct and indirect antimicrobial effects that are immunologically mediated. Collectively, these antimicrobial properties can remove bacterial infections when the MSCs are delivered in a therapeutic setting. Regardless of the positive therapeutic potential of MSCs for a multitude of conditions, transplanted MSC cell retention continues to be a major challenge. Since MSCs are typically administered into naturally hypoxic tissues, understanding the impact of hypoxia on the functioning of MSCs is crucial. Hypoxia has been postulated to be among the factors determining the differentiation of MSCs, resulting in the production of inflammatory cytokines throughout the process of tissue regeneration and wound repair. This has opened new horizons in developing MSC-based systems as a potent therapeutic tool in oxygen-deprived regions, including anaerobic wound infection sites. This review sheds light on the role of hypoxia-MSCs in the treatment of anaerobic bacterial wound infection in terms of both their regenerative and antimicrobial activities

Immune Responses to Corona Family Viruses and Vaccine Strategies

Corona respiratory viruses are native animal pathogens that infect upper respiratory tract in humans. Severe pulmonary inflammation caused by disruption of the regulation of cytokines in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), such as elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), IPLO protein, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and IL-8 in the blood, with undesirable consequences. Specific executive T lymphocytes against viruses produce essential cytokines including IL-2, TNF-α, interferon-gamma (IFNγ), and the chemokines such CXCL-9, 10, and 11, and cytotoxic molecules such as perforin and granzyme B. Acute respiratory phase causing by corona virus disease is associated with severe lymphopenia in peripheral blood accompanied with decreased TCD4 and TCD8 in 80% to 90% of patients. Acute inflammatory cytokines including IL-2, IL-7, IL-10, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), interferon-γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha (MIP-1A), and TNFα have been reported to be elevated in acute hospitalized patients with lymphopenia and sepsis viral. In addition, inflammation, lung injury, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, loss of respiratory function and other organs, and eventually death are the consequences of the pathogenesis of the virus responsiveness by immune system. How pathogens are harmed in humans has provided a clear picture for interrupt in processing steps by immunologists. While most people infected with the virus have only moderate or asymptomatic symptoms, but a minority have experienced acute complications. Investigating the correlation between safety protection and long-term safety protection in hospitalized patients with corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) has opened a way to design effective vaccines or effective therapies to counter the prevalence of coronavirus and disease

An all optical majority gate using nonlinear photonic crystal based ring resonators

Optical logics will play a crucial role in the next generation all optical data processing networks. Therefore an all optical majority gate will be designed by using nonlinear photonic crystal ring resonators. For realizing the proposed structure we need three nonlinear resonant rings. In order to make nonlinear resonant rings, we used chalcogenide glass as the dielectric material for the dielectric rods. The output port of the proposed structure will be active only when two or three logic input ports are active. The rise and fall time values of the proposed structure are about 2 and 1 ps, respectively. The total footprint of the proposed structure is about 1287 μm2

All optical binary ASK demodulator using photonic crystal based nonlinear ring resonator

In this paper we will propose and design an all optical amplitude shift keying demodulator using a photonic crystal based nonlinear ring resonator. The proposed structure will be designed such that it can generate digital 0 and 1 based on the amplitude of the input signal. The working mechanism is based on controlling the optical behavior of the resonant ring using optical intensity. The proposed structure was simulated using plane wave expansion and finite difference time domain methods. The simulation results show that the rise and fall times for the proposed structure are 0.5 and 0.1 ps, respectively

Comparative Study of Post-disaster Reconstruction Paradigm and Iranian Experts’ Perspective of Reconstruction

Numerous natural disasters happen in the world annually and damages resulting from disasters and their consequences on development achievements are increasing in human communities. Hence, Post-disaster reconstruction has been developed in all aspects during the last years. The present article classifies the views of experts on post-disaster reconstruction and compares this reconstruction paradigm with the reconstruction process in Iran. This research has been conducted in the theoretical principles section of post-disaster reconstruction and is done in four steps: studying the views in post-disaster reconstruction field within a thirty-years period since 1982 to 2012; analyzing the views of the post-disaster reconstruction experts; deriving post-disaster reconstruction paradigm’s components using Grounded Theory method; and comparative study of post-disaster reconstruction paradigm and Iranian expert’s perspective of reconstruction by in-depth interviews with 10 Iranian expert who were involved in reconstruction in Iran during that period. The first part results include paradigms: Encouraging people for participation, individuals and groups participation, Procedural planning and Proactive management. Comparing these with Iranian’s experiences, shows that a systematic reconstruction plan should be based on recognition of local characteristics of region and the needs of the affected population besides the other results