Reduced Phagocytic Capacity of Blood Monocyte/Macrophages in Tuberculosis Patients Is Further Reduced by Smoking.

Tuberculosis (TB) and tobacco use are two major alarming global health issues posing immense threats to human populations. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) by activation of macrophages could induce the sequences of cells activation and releases of inflammatory cytokines such as CXCL-8, Il-12 and TNF-α which in turn induces the immune system network. However no information is available on other activity of cells by MTB and smoking. In the current study we aimed to investigate the serum levels TNF-a, CXCL-8 and phagocytosis capacity in tuberculosis patients with and without smoking. 103 subjects entered the study including 61 new diagnosed pulmonary TB patients (23 smokers and 38 nonsmokers) and 42 control healthy subjects. The phagocytosis of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-dextran) in blood monocytes/macrophages through flowcytometry was assessed. Serum levels of TNF-a and CXCL-8 were analyzed by ELISA methods. A lower percentage of cells from TB patients who smoked [50.29% (43.4-57.2), p<0.01] took up FITC-dextran after 2h compared to non-smoking TB subjects [71.62% (69.2-74.1)] and healthy cases [97.45% (95.9-99.1). Phagocytic capacity was inversely correlated with cigarette smoking as measured by pack years (r=-0.73, p<0.001). The serum levels of TNF-a and CXCL-8 were significantly higher in the TB patients who smoked compared to the TB non-smoker group (p<0.001, p<0.01 respectively). Blood monocytes/macrophages from TB patients have reduced phagocytic capacity which is further reduced in TB patients who smoke. Smoking enhanced serum levels of TNF-a and CXCL-8 suggesting a greater imbalance between the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory factors in these patients

American Arms Sales to Iran and Power Politics in the Middle East

This thesis examines and evaluates the questions involved in American arms sales to Iran and Egypt. The first two chapters outline the historical background and present detailed analyses of Iran's political situations prior to 1968 and United States policy toward it in that period of time. Chapter Three considers the American policies towards Egypt and the United States arms sales to that country. The main argument of the thesis appears in chapter Four which explains the objectives of Iran's government in buying American arms and the United States government's objectives in selling arms to Iran. Conclusions on the study comprise the fifth chapter

Effect of Active and Passive Exposure to Cigarette Smoke on Lipid Profile of Children and Adolescents; A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The present systematic review and meta-analysis is designed in order to assess the association between passive and active smoking and lipid profile of children and adolescents. Materials and Methods:  An extensive search was done in databases of Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus and CINAHL until October 2017. Two independent researchers screened articles and in the next step, full texts of probably relevant articles were read and summarized. At the end, results of mentioned studies were pooled and a standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was reported. Results: Data from 17 studies (containing 41619 children and adolescents; age group between 4 and 18 years old; 51.72% boys) were entered. Comparing serum level of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in two groups of exposed and non-exposed to cigarette smoking showed that active exposure (SMD= -0.40, 95% CI: -0.59 to -0.21) and passive exposure to cigarette smoke (SMD= -0.18, 95% CI: -0.30 to -0.06) decreases the serum level of mentioned lipoprotein. Additionally, active exposure to cigarette smoke (SMD=0.16, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.27) causes a modest increase in serum level of triglyceride. However, cigarette smoke exposure does not have any effect on the level of total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL). Conclusion: The present meta-analysis showed that exposure to cigarette smoke leads to a significant decrease in the level of HDL and triglyceride but, it does not have any effect of the level of total cholesterol and LDL in children and adolescents

Effect of passive exposure to cigarette smoke on blood pressure in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies

Background: Hypertension is an emerging disease in children and adolescents resulting in future morbidities. Cigarette smoking is one of the most studied contributing factors in this regard; however, there are contradictory results among different studies. Therefore, the present meta-analysis tends to assess the relationship between passive exposure to cigarette smoke and blood pressure in children and adolescents. Method: Medline, Embase, Scopus, EBSCO, and Web of Sciences were systematically reviewed for observational studies up to May, 2017, in which the relationship between cigarette smoking and hypertension were assessed in children and adolescents. The meta-analysis was performed with a fixed effect or random effects model according to the heterogeneity. Results: Twenty-nine studies were included in present meta-analysis incorporating 192,067 children and adolescents. Active smoking (pooled OR = 0.92; 95 CI: 0.79 to 1.05) or passive exposure to cigarette smoke (pooled OR = 1.01; 95 CI: 0.93 to 1.10) were not associated with developing hypertension in the study population. Despite the fact that active cigarette smoking did not significantly affect absolute level of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, it was shown that passive exposure to cigarette smoke leads to a significant increase in absolute level of systolic blood pressure (pooled coefficient = 0.26; 95 CI: 0.12 to 0.39). Conclusion: Both active and passive cigarette smoking were not associated with developing hypertension in children and adolescents. However, passive cigarette smoke was associated with higher level of systolic blood pressure in children and adolescents. © 2019 The Author(s)

Оцінка оновлення основних засобів за рахунок позикових коштів

Оновлення основних засобів є актуальною проблемою сьогодення. Для багатьох підприємств кредити банків є чи не єдиним джерелом коштів на модернізацію виробничих потужностей. В даній статті нами були розглянуті можливості і перспективи приватних фірм для використання з цією метою позикових засобів, оцінений ступінь прозорості банківських установ, річні ставки за інвестиційними кредитами та інші умови їхнього надання.Modernizing of the basic assets is a topical problem of the present. For many business firms bank loans are may be the only source of funds for renewal of production facilities. In the article we have considered the opportunities and prospects for use of borrowed funds by private firms for this purpose, rated the degree of transparency of banking institutions, the annual rates of investment credits and other conditions of their granting

A novel techno-economic multi-level optimization in home-microgrids with coalition formation capability

In recent years, microgrids (MG's) have operated in the power systems for various reasons such as reduction of energy losses, improvement of voltage stability and grid reliability. The implementation of Home Microgrid (H-MG) has proven successful in tackling these issues. This paper proposes a novel techno-economic multi-level optimization method and modern time varying price model aimed at encouraging participation in a coalition system, minimizing energy cost of a Home Microgrid (H-MG) and investigate the impact it has on voltage stability and reliability of the grid. The intended H-MG includes an apartment with several units which consist of electrical and thermal energy generators, energy storage devices and can trade energy within the H-MG's and the upstream network. The proposed method develops an algorithm for smart charging/discharging of energy storage and electric vehicles (EV) to improve energy efficiency. The performance of the proposed algorithm is tested on several electrical and thermal loads configurations, the IEEE 15 and 33-bus networks are used to prove the efficiency of the coalition system between the H-MG on a large scale. The simulations are implemented on MATLAB software and results indicate an improvement in voltage profiles and grid reliability

Regulation of Ded1 Activity in Translation Initiation

DEAD-box RNA helicases are critical regulators of gene expression. The S. cerevisiae DEAD-box helicase Ded1 has long been used as a model to study the biochemical and biological functions of these enzymes. Here I present two paradigms of regulation for Ded1 activity: by the protein interaction with Gle1, and by the TORC1 signaling pathway. In the first study I help elucidate the mechanism of Gle1 regulation of Ded1 in translation initiation. We show that GLE1 expression suppresses the repressive effects of DED1 in vivo and Gle1 counteracts Ded1 in translation assays in vitro. Furthermore, both Ded1 and Gle1 affect the assembly of preinitiation complexes. Through mutation analysis and binding assays, we show that Gle1 inhibits Ded1 by reducing its affinity for RNA. Our results are consistent with a model wherein active Ded1 promotes translation but inactive or excess Ded1 leads to translation repression. In the second study I examine the role of Ded1 in the translational response to TORC1 inhibition and identify a novel function of Ded1 as a translation repressor. I show that C-terminal mutants of DED1 are defective in downregulating translation following TORC1 inhibition with rapamycin. Furthermore, following TORC1 inhibition, eIF4G1 normally dissociates from translation complexes and is degraded, and this process is attenuated in mutant cells. Mapping the functional requirements for Ded1 in this translational response indicates that Ded1 enzymatic activity and interaction with eIF4G1 are required, while homo-oligomerization may be dispensable. Our results are consistent with a model wherein, Ded1 stalls translation and specifically removes eIF4G1 from translation pre-initiation complexes, thus removing eIF4G1 from the translating mRNA pool and leading to the co-degradation of both proteins. Shared features among DED1 orthologs suggest that this role is conserved and may be implicated in pathologies such as oncogenesis