The Association of the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) with the Pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori

H. pylori pathogenesis is related to various virulence factor which some of them involved to adhesions. Urease as a main pathogenecity factor to attach to HLA-II is expressed on the surface of Gastric Epithelial Cells (GECs). Apoptosis induced by caspase3 activation as a result of urease effects on Spermine-Spermidine cycle. There is a contribution of HLA-DQA1 gene to the host's response against H. pylon. HLA allele type as an immune-genetic factors are related to host susceptibility to H. pylori. HLA-DQA1 might be contributed to the susceptibility or resistance to H. pylori infection. Based on the existed evidences the current review aimed to evaluate the results obtained by different studies carried out so far on correlation of human HLA and the pathogenesis of the H. pylori in gastric epithelial cells

The role of T regulatory lymphocytes in lymphoma

T regulatory cells play a crucial role in immunological unresponsiveness to selfantigens and in suppressing excessive immune responses deleterious to the host. T regulatory cells are produced in the thymus as a functionally mature subpopulation of T cells. They can be induced from naive T cells in the periphery and express their marker as a forkhead/winged helix transcription factor called FoxP3. In patients with lymphomas where T regulatory cells serve as suppressor anti-tumor cytotoxicity, decreased numbers of T regulatory cells are associated with a favorable prognosis. In contrast, in patients with lymphomas where T regulatory cells function as anti-tumor cytotoxic agents, enhanced numbers of T regulatory cells are associated with a favorable prognosis. Tumors actively promote the accumulation of these cells through several mechanisms that involve activation of naturally occurring T regulatory cells as well as conversion of non-T regulatory cells into T regulatory cells. Tumor-derived prostaglandin E2 can increase T regulatory cell activity and induce a regulatory phenotype in CD4+CD25+T cells. On the other hand, a balance between T regulatory and Th17 cells is essential for maintaining homeostasis of anti-tumor immunity. Accelerating processes such as increasing the amounts of IL-6 or IL-17 can enhance FoxP3 T regulatory cell expression and result in a lymphoma or inactivation of T cell CD4+. This effect is the reason for malignancy and a reduction in anti-tumor immune response. In this systematic review we intend to analyze this relationship. We have collected and analyzed the majority of recently published articles on the role of T regulatory cells as a review article

Contribution of Blastocystishominis subtypes and associated inflammatory factors in development of irritable bowel syndrome

Blastocystis hominis with worldwide distribution is a human intestinal protozoa found in all countries. There have been differences in the severity of the pathogenesis of various Blastocystis spp. and a concomitant variation in the plasma concentration of the cytokines in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate the contribution of B. hominis subtypes in the development of irritable bowel syndrome. Stool samples were collected from patients with gastrointestinal disorders. All samples were evaluated through native-lugol method. Total DNA was extracted. A PCR protocol was developed to amplify a specific region of the SSU ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene. Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were determined by immunoassay methods. The ClustalW algorithm was applied to align and blast the nucleotide sequences of the amplified region of the SSU rDNA gene. To evaluate the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary of the nucleotide sequences, we used the MEGA software. In this study, we found 26 haplotypes of B. hominis in the studied samples which were collectively belong to five subtypes (ST1, ST2 in patients without irritable bowel syndrome vs. ST3 and two unknown subtypes in patients with irritable bowel syndrome). Result of ELISA showed a high level of IL-6 and TNF-alpha in the serum of patients with irritable bowel syndrome. The genetic heterogeneity of B. hominis and the existence of different subtypes of the protozoan in patients with IBS may shed light to the fact that some subtypes of parasites may involve in the pathogenesis of IBS

Contribution of Blastocystishominis subtypes and associated inflammatory factors in development of irritable bowel syndrome

Blastocystis hominis with worldwide distribution is a human intestinal protozoa found in all countries. There have been differences in the severity of the pathogenesis of various Blastocystis spp. and a concomitant variation in the plasma concentration of the cytokines in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate the contribution of B. hominis subtypes in the development of irritable bowel syndrome. Stool samples were collected from patients with gastrointestinal disorders. All samples were evaluated through native-lugol method. Total DNA was extracted. A PCR protocol was developed to amplify a specific region of the SSU ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene. Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were determined by immunoassay methods. The ClustalW algorithm was applied to align and blast the nucleotide sequences of the amplified region of the SSU rDNA gene. To evaluate the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary of the nucleotide sequences, we used the MEGA software. In this study, we found 26 haplotypes of B. hominis in the studied samples which were collectively belong to five subtypes (ST1, ST2 in patients without irritable bowel syndrome vs. ST3 and two unknown subtypes in patients with irritable bowel syndrome). Result of ELISA showed a high level of IL-6 and TNF-alpha in the serum of patients with irritable bowel syndrome. The genetic heterogeneity of B. hominis and the existence of different subtypes of the protozoan in patients with IBS may shed light to the fact that some subtypes of parasites may involve in the pathogenesis of IBS

Experimental Evaluation of Geocell and EPS Geofoam as Means of Protecting Pipes at the Bottom of Repeatedly Loaded Trenches

© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers. With growing populations and continuing urban development, embedding pipes in the ground that are then overrun by traffic is inevitable. This paper describes full-scale prototype tests on high-density polyethylene (HDPE) flexible pipes (of 250 mm diameter), buried at shallow depth, under simulated traffic loading. The paper studies the effect of surface load diameter (0.6×, 0.8×, and 1× pipe diameter) and the amplitude of repeated load (400 or 800 kPa) on pipe behavior. The effects of expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam blocks of various densities and also of geocells as a three-dimensional (3D) reinforcement in reducing the pressure transferred to the pipe, the deformation of the pipe, and the surface settlement of the backfill were investigated. The results show that, with an increase in loading surface diameter, the pipe's vertical diametral strain, the pressure transferred to the pipe, and the surface settlement grow significantly, irrespective of applied pressure. Using an EPS block over the pipe increases the soil settlement but reduces transferred pressure onto the pipe and, consequentially, results in lower pipe deformations. The increase in density of an EPS block helps improve response but was still found to be insufficient to prevent increase in surface deflections. The use of geocell reinforcement beneath the loading surface not only reduces the pressure transferred to the pipe and decreases its deformation but also significantly negates the tendency of the EPS block to increase the soil surface settlement. Thus, a geocell reinforcement layer placed over two EPS geofoam blocks (with total thickness 0.3× and width 1.5× the pipe diameter) all above a pipe buried at a depth of twice the pipe diameter, was found to deliver an acceptable, stable response. By these means, the vertical pipe strain, transferred pressure over the pipe, and soil surface settlement were reduced, respectively, by 0.45, 0.37, and 0.53× those obtained for the comparable unmodified buried pipe installation and are within allowable limits

A Novel Algorithm for Rotor Speed Estimation of DFIGs Using Machine Active Power based MRAS Observer

This paper presents a new algorithm based on Model Reference Adaptive System (MRAS) and its stability analysis for sensorless control of Doubly-Fed Induction Generators (DFIGs). The reference and adjustable models of the suggested observer are based on the active power of the machine. A hysteresis block is used in the structure of the adaptation mechanism, and the stability analysis is performed based on sliding mode conditions. Simulation and practical results show appropriate operation and speed tracking of the observer with regard to obtained stability conditions

Serum 25-hydroxy Vitamin D levels in patients with acne vulgaris and its association with disease severity

Background. Since Vitamin D is a recent known immunoregulatory factor in some diseases which are addressed in immune system disorders such as SLE, psoriasis and others. Objective. To determine the serum levels of 25-hydroxy Vitamin D3 25(OH)D in patients with acne vulgaris and its association with clinical features. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted over months. This study included 39 patients with acne vulgaris and 40 healthy controls. Subjects who did not use alcohol, Vitamin D supplements, oral steroids or PUVA and/or NBUVB for more than three months were included. Serum 25(OH)D levels were measured. Baseline demographics, family history and comorbidities like PCO were recorded. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 16.0.0. Results. The median concentration of 25(OH)D was 8.4 ng/mL (range: 1.4-99) in patients and 10.4 ng/mL (range: 3.1-56.7) in controls, with no statistical significant difference. PCOS was a significant predictor of the occurrence of acne vulgaris (OR=6.25; 95% CI: 1.52-25.66; p=0.01). There were no significant associations between severity of disease and serum 25(OH)D levels (rs=-0.12, p=0.45), age (rs=-0.28, p=0.09), BMI (rs=-0.12, p=0.46), age at onset of disease (rs=-0.08, p=0.63) and duration of disease (rs=-0.10, p=0.54). Conclusion. Based on the previous studies this is highly suspected that Vitamin D would be a prominent factor in acne patients and more performances with bigger sample size could be useful to get positive results

Human plasma and serum extracellular small RNA reference profiles and their clinical utility

Circulating extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) have the potential to serve as biomarkers for a wide range of medical conditions. However, limitations in existing exRNA isolation methods and a lack of knowledge on parameters affecting exRNA variability in human samples may hinder their successful discovery and clinical implementation. Using combinations of denaturants, reducing agents, proteolysis, and revised organic extraction, we developed an automated, high-throughput approach for recovery of exRNAs and exDNA from the same biofluid sample. We applied this method to characterize exRNAs from 312 plasma and serum samples collected from 13 healthy volunteers at 12 time points over a 2-month period. Small RNA cDNA library sequencing identified nearly twofold increased epithelial-, muscle-, and neuroendocrine-cell–specific miRNAs in females, while fasting and hormonal cycle showed little effect. External standardization helped to detect quantitative differences in erythrocyte and platelet-specific miRNA contributions and in miRNA concentrations between biofluids. It also helped to identify a study participant with a unique exRNA phenotype featuring a miRNA signature of up to 20-fold elevated endocrine-cell–specific miRNAs and twofold elevated total miRNA concentrations stable for over 1 year. Collectively, these results demonstrate an efficient and quantitative method to discern exRNA phenotypes and suggest that plasma and serum RNA profiles are stable over months and can be routinely monitored in long-term clinical studies

2018 Robotic Scene Segmentation Challenge

In 2015 we began a sub-challenge at the EndoVis workshop at MICCAI in Munich using endoscope images of ex-vivo tissue with automatically generated annotations from robot forward kinematics and instrument CAD models. However, the limited background variation and simple motion rendered the dataset uninformative in learning about which techniques would be suitable for segmentation in real surgery. In 2017, at the same workshop in Quebec we introduced the robotic instrument segmentation dataset with 10 teams participating in the challenge to perform binary, articulating parts and type segmentation of da Vinci instruments. This challenge included realistic instrument motion and more complex porcine tissue as background and was widely addressed with modifications on U-Nets and other popular CNN architectures. In 2018 we added to the complexity by introducing a set of anatomical objects and medical devices to the segmented classes. To avoid over-complicating the challenge, we continued with porcine data which is dramatically simpler than human tissue due to the lack of fatty tissue occluding many organs