Production of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies and Emergence of the Clinical Symptoms of COVID-19

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide public health problem that has attracted much attention due to its clinical findings. Measurement of IgG and IgM antibodies is of great importance for researchers and it will help to develop a new diagnostic and therapeutic method in clinical care. In this cross-sectional study, we aim to measure the IgG and IgM antibody levels in 401 suspected COVID-19 volunteers. We also measure the time duration for the appearance of IgG and IgM antibodies from the onset of symptoms to sampling time. Of 401 participants enrolled in the study, 255 (63.59) were healthy, 79 (19.70) were a carrier, 59 (14.71) were cured and 8 (1.99) were borderline. Of 142 subjects diagnosed with COVID-19, 41 (28.87) presented with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, 83 (58.45) had no GI symptoms, and 18 (12.68) were asymptomatic. According to our findings, the measurement of IgG and IgM antibodies will provide the tool for the diagnosis of COVID-19 and significantly boost research into novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches

Seismogenesis and earthquake triggering during the 2010–2011 Rigan (Iran) earthquake sequence

This study assesses the aftershock activity of two earthquakes that occurred on December 20, 2010 with magnitude of MN 6.5 (Global CMT Mw 6.5) and January 27, 2011 with magnitude of MN 6.0 (Global CMT Mw 6.2) in the Rigan region of southeastern Iran. This study has been done by assessing the statistical properties of the aftershock sequences associated with each of these earthquakes, namely b-value of Gutenberg–Richter relation, partitioning of radiated seismic energy, p -value of modified Omori law and the DC-value associated with the fractal dimension. The b-values of b = 0.89 ± 0.08 and b = 0.88 ± 0.08 were calculated for first main shock and second main shock sequence respectively. This suggests that this region is characterized by large differential stress; the genesis of large aftershock activity in a short time interval gives power this. Further, 2.2% of the whole energy is related with the aftershocks activity for first main shock sequence while 97.8% is associated with main shock; for second sequence, 20% of the total energy is associated with the aftershocks activity while 80% is associated with main shock. The p -values of 1.1 ± 0.12 and 1.1 ± 0.1 were calculated for first and second main shocks sequence respectively, which imply fast decay rate of aftershocks and high surface heat flux. A value of the spatial fractal dimension (Dc) equal to 2.34 ± 0.03 and 2.54 ± 0.02 for first and second main shocks sequence respectively, which reveals random spatial distribution and source in a two-dimensional plane that is being filled-up by fractures. Moreover, we then use the models to calculate the Coulomb stress change to appraise coming seismic hazard by inspecting the static Coulomb stress field due to these two main shocks for the recognition of the conceivable regions of aftershocks activity. The first main shock increased stress by more than 0.866 bars at the hypocenter of the second main shock, thus promoting the failure. In addition, the cumulative coseismic Coulomb stress changes due to the reveals that most of the aftershocks happened in the region of increased Coulomb stress

Patterns and mechanisms of coseismic and postseismic slips of the 2011 M W 7.1 Van (Turkey) earthquake revealed by multi-platform synthetic aperture radar interferometry

On 23rd October 2011, a MW 7.1 reverse slip earthquake occurred in the Bardakçı-Saray thrust fault zone in the Van region, Eastern Turkey. Earlier geodetic studies have found different slip distributions in terms of both magnitude and pattern. In this paper, we present several COSMO-SkyMED (CSK), Envisat ASAR and RADARSAT-2 interferograms spanning different time intervals, showing that significant postseismic signals can be observed in the first three days after the mainshock. Using observations that combine coseismic and postseismic signals is shown to significantly underestimate coseismic slip. We hence employed the CSK pair with the minimum postseismic signals to generate one conventional interferogram and one along-track interferogram for further coseismic modelling. Our best-fit coseismic slip model suggests that: (1) this event is associated with a buried NNW dipping fault with a preferable dip angle of 49° and a maximum slip of 6.5 m at a depth of 12 km; and (2) two unequal asperities can be observed, consistent with previous seismic solutions. Significant oblique aseismic slip with predominant left-lateral slip components above the coseismic rupture zone within the first 3 days after the mainshock is also revealed by a postseismic CSK interferogram, indicating that the greatest principal stress axis might have rotated due to a significant stress drop during the coseismic rupture

Integer and Fractional Order Entropy Analysis of Earthquake Data-series

This paper studies the statistical distributions of worldwide earthquakes from year 1963 up to year 2012. A Cartesian grid, dividing Earth into geographic regions, is considered. Entropy and the Jensen–Shannon divergence are used to analyze and compare real-world data. Hierarchical clustering and multi-dimensional scaling techniques are adopted for data visualization. Entropy-based indices have the advantage of leading to a single parameter expressing the relationships between the seismic data. Classical and generalized (fractional) entropy and Jensen–Shannon divergence are tested. The generalized measures lead to a clear identification of patterns embedded in the data and contribute to better understand earthquake distributions

PC12 cells proliferation and morphological aspects: Inquiry into raffinose-grafted graphene oxide in silk fibroin-based scaffold

Peripheral nerves injuries (PNIs) still associated with both clinical and social problems. Accordingly, tissue engineers� and surgeons� attentions have been drawn for finding efficient solutions. Herein, scaffolds based on silk fibroin (SF)/raffinose-grafted-GO (S.RafGO) nanocomposite were fabricated. Subsequently, PC12 cells growth in term of number and morphology were investigated on neat SF polymer, SF/GO (S.GO), and S.RafGO scaffolds. Characterization via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) exhibited more fibrous structures with few lamellar nanosheets for S.GO; although, S.RafGO showed extended lamellar with lower fibrous structure. Due to the incorporation of GO and raffinose-GO nanosheets into SF structure, electrical conductivity increased ~30 and 40, respectively. Water contact angle data revealed that S.RafGO is more wettable than SF and S.GO. Real-time PCR technique detected higher expressions of the β-tubulin, MAP2 genes on S.RafGO scaffolds in comparison with S.GO and the control group. Immunocytochemistry staining studies confirmed the overexpression of neural-specific proteins including nestin, β-tubulin of S.GO, and S.RafGO nanocomposites in comparison with pure SF scaffolds. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

Efficient simulation of resonance Raman spectra with tight-binding approximations to density functional theory

Resonance Raman spectroscopy has long been established as one of the most sensitive techniques for detection, structure characterization, and probing the excited-state dynamics of biochemical systems. However, the analysis of resonance Raman spectra is much facilitated when measurements are accompanied by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations that are expensive for large biomolecules. In this work, resonance Raman spectra are therefore computed with the Density Functional Tight-Binding (DFTB) method in the time-dependent excited-state gradient approximation. To test the accuracy of the tight-binding approximations, this method is first applied to typical resonance Raman benchmark molecules, such as β-carotene, and compared to results obtained with pure and range-separated exchange-correlation functionals. We then demonstrate the efficiency of the approach by considering a computationally challenging heme variation. Overall, we find that the vibrational frequencies and excited-state properties (energies and gradients) that are needed to simulate the spectra are reasonably accurate and suitable for interpretation of experiments. We can therefore recommend DFTB as a fast computational method to interpret resonance Raman spectra

Fabrication of a microfluidic device for probiotic drug's dosage screening: Precision Medicine for Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women; it has been affecting the lives of millions each year globally and microfluidic devices seem to be a promising method for the future advancements in this field. This research uses a dynamic cell culture condition in a microfluidic concentration gradient device, helping us to assess breast anticancer activities of probiotic strains against MCF-7 cells. It has been shown that MCF-7 cells could grow and proliferate for at least 24 h; however, a specific concentration of probiotic supernatant could induce more cell death signaling population after 48 h. One of our key findings was that our evaluated optimum dose (7.8 mg/L) was less than the conventional static cell culture treatment dose (12 mg/L). To determine the most effective dose over time and the percentage of apoptosis versus necrosis, flowcytometric assessment was performed. Exposing the MCF-7 cells to probiotic supernatant after 6, 24 and 48 h, confirmed that the apoptotic and necrotic cell death signaling were concentration and time dependent. We have shown a case that these types of microfluidics platforms performing dynamic cell culture could be beneficial in personalized medicine and cancer therapy