Determination of contamination of Lead and Cadmium in Canola and safflower in around of Isfahan Still Company (ESCO) and Compare this pollution with oil extracted from them

Background and aims: Contaminants are a disturbing factor for ecosystems, among which “heavy metals” are considered as significant due to their physiological effects at low concentrations on organisms. This contamination is concentrated several times more in the products that are available in markets as oil than in natural plant, and in each consumption time, a considerable amount, higher than authorized amount of heavy metals may enter into consumer’s body. This study was designed and conducted for this aim to investigate the contamination rate with lead and cadmium in canola (Brassica napus) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) in the farms around Isfahan Steel factory and to compare this contamination with oil extracted from them. Methods: The present study was conducted in 2012. The samples were randomly selected from oil seeds of B. napus and C. tinctorius L. in the farms within a 20 to 50 km distance from Isfahan Steel factory. Samples were assigned to two groups and only group 1 underwent washing operation with deionized water. The amount of lead and cadmium in seeds and their oil was measured by atomic absorption. Data were analyzed by SPSS. Results: The results indicated that the lowest lead concentration was 0.00 µg.g in washed B. napus samples and the highest lead concentration was 24.74 µg.g in C. tinctorius L. oil extracted by traditional method. The amount of lead was less in washed seeds than unwashed seeds, with a significant difference for B. napus seeds (P<0.05). No cadmium contamination was observed in B. napus and C. tinctorius L. plants and the oils extracted from them. Conclusion: A rate of contamination with lead was seen in the plants cultivated near Isfahan Steel factory, but no contamination with cadmium was seen. In view of the lead amount being less in the group washed with deionized water than the unwashed group, it is recommended to do washing steps of oil seeds in the factory at low volume, with clean water, and carefully prior to oil tapping

Retraction Note: Therapeutic effect of nanoliposomal PCSK9 vaccine in a mouse model of atherosclerosis

This article has been retracted. Please see the Retraction Notice for more detail: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-019-1457-8

Household financial burden associated with out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in Iran: insights from a cross-sectional survey

Background: One of the key functions and ultimate goals of health systems is to provide financial protection for individuals when using health services. This study sought to evaluate the level of financial protection and its inequality among individuals covered by the Social Security Organization (SSO) health insurance between September and December 2023 in Iran. Methods: We collected data on 1691 households in five provinces using multistage sampling to examine the prevalence of catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE) at four different thresholds (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%) of the household's capacity to pay (CTP). Additionally, we explored the prevalence of impoverishment due to health costs and assessed socioeconomic-related inequality in OOP payments for healthcare using the concentration index and concentration curve. To measure equity in out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for healthcare, we utilized the Kakwani progressivity index (KPI). Furthermore, we employed multiple logistic regression to identify the main factors contributing to households experiencing CHE. Findings: The study revealed that households in our sample allocated approximately 11% of their budgets to healthcare services. The prevalence of CHE at the thresholds of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% was found to be 47.1%, 30.1%, 20.1%, and 15.7%, respectively. Additionally, we observed that about 7.9% of the households experienced impoverishment due to health costs. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the age of the head of the household, place of residence, socioeconomic status, utilization of dental services, utilization of medicine, and province of residence were the main factors influencing CHE. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that while wealthy households spend more money on healthcare, poorer households spend a larger proportion of their total income to healthcare costs. The KPI showed that households with lower total expenditures had higher OOP payments relative to their CTP. Conclusion: The study findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to improve financial protection in healthcare and mitigate inequalities among individuals covered by SSO. It is recommended that these interventions prioritize the expansion of coverage for dental services and medication expenses, particularly for lower socioeconomic status household

Preparation of nanoliposomes containing HER2/neu (P5+435) peptide and evaluation of their immune responses and anti-tumoral effects as a prophylactic vaccine against breast cancer.

HER2/neu is an immunogenic protein inducing both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. The antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are the main effector immune cells in the anti-tumor immunity. To induce an effective CTL specific response against P5+435 single peptide derived from rat HER2/neu oncogene, we used a liposome delivery vehicle. In vivo enhancement of liposome stability and intracytoplasmic delivery of peptides are the main strategies which elevate the liposome-mediated drug delivery. Liposomes containing high transition temperature phospholipids, such as DSPC, are stable with prolonged in vivo circulation and more accessibility to the immune system. Incorporation of DOPE phospholipid results in the effective delivery of peptide into the cytoplasm via the endocytotic pathway. To this end, the P5+435 peptide was linked to Maleimide-PEG2000-DSPE and coupled on the surface of nanoliposomes containing DSPC: DSPG: Cholesterol with/without DOPE. We observed that mice vaccinated with Lip-DOPE-P5+435 formulation had the highest number of IFN-γ- producing CTLs with the highest cytotoxic activity that consequently led to significantly smallest tumor size and prolonged survival rate in the TUBO mice model. In conclusion, our study indicated that the liposomal form of P5+435 peptide containing DOPE can be regarded as a promising prophylactic anti-cancer vaccine to generate potent antigen-specific immunity

Design and Implementation of a 3D National Digital Cadastral Database based on Land Administration Domain Model: Lessons Learned from a 3D Cadaster Project in Malaysia

With the growing dominance of urban infrastructures in Malaysia, 2D-based cadastral systems in this country are facing new challenges in recording, managing and visualizing the spatial extent of urban land parcels. In Malaysia, surveying and cadastral measurements are currently stored in the National Digital Cadastral Data Base (NDCDB), which is a 2D-based database in the form of planimetric coordinates (X, Y). However, cadastral parcels exist in three dimensional (3D), and 2D coordinates are not adequate to communicate these 3D objects. Therefore, the existing methods of data collection, calculation and adjustment of survey and processing data needs to be upgraded for the purposes of implementing 3D cadastral database and producing digitally certified 3D plans. The upgrade from 2D to 3D environments should be in line with a standardized approach. In this context, the international Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) standard provides a formal conceptual model for recording and managing cadastral data. It provides an extensible basis for the development and refinement of efficient and effective land administration systems, based on a Model Driven Architecture (MDA), and enables involved parties, both within one jurisdiction and across different countries, to communicate based on a shared vocabulary or ontology implied by the model. A good ontology underpins an interoperable sharing and exchange of cadastral data. The aim of this paper is to propose a new LADM-driven approach to develop and implement a 3D cadastral prototype system for Malaysia. The proposed approach comprises new changes in the current cadastral surveying practices and workflows, a new architecture to support 3D land parcels, and a new database for creating an LADM-based 3D cadastral system which is aligned with jurisdictional settings of Malaysia. In a simple term, moving from 2D-NDCDB to 3D-NDCDB consists of capturing, processing and management of height of survey points that define parcel boundaries. However, this will bring many changes to existing surveying practices in order to capture height components in land parcels, data modelling to be compliant with the LADM standard, application stack to utilize open source technologies and workflow to minimize the overall changes to 2D-NDCBD. This study demonstrated and confirmed that Malaysian cadastral infrastructure is ready for an upgrade to support 3D digital data. The integration of vertical data with existing horizontal data will require a careful consideration due to different degrees of uncertainty that would result from the various methods of data collection. Based on the outcomes of the pilot study, it is recommended that the Government of Malaysia lay the groundwork for a 3D cadastral system by: • Investigating legislative requirements for the introduction of 3D data collection into the current workflows • Investigating the legal significance of the cornerstone as opposed to the land parcel in the context of the current cadastral system • Trialing the current prototype system in selected land development and infrastructure projects • Conducting a pilot project to investigate the integration of strata development subdivisions into the current prototype system • Developing a roadmap for a fully operational 3D cadastre system in Malaysia considering developments in Spatially Enabled Government (SEG) including artificial intelligence for visual communications and analysis as well as integrating building information modelling (BIM) into land administration systems

An LADM-based Approach for Developing and Implementing a National 3D Cadastre – A Case Study of Malaysia

With the growing dominance of multi-storey buildings and other infrastructures, 2D-based cadastral systems are facing new challenges in recording, managing and visualising the spatial extent of vertically stratified cadastral spaces. In Malaysia, surveying and cadastral measurements are currently stored in the National Digital Cadastral Data Base (NDCDB), which is a 2D-based database in the form of planimetric coordinates (X, Y). However, in reality, cadastral objects are three dimensional and 2D-based approaches provide a fragmented view of these 3D spatial objects. Another challenge is that multiple pages of 2D drawings, which are used to show all the spaces of multi-storey buildings and surroundings, imposes a significant amount of cognitive effort for inexpert stakeholders who cannot easily understand the accurate location of cadastral boundaries obscured within physical structures. Therefore, the methods of data collection, calculation and adjustment of existing survey and processing data needs to be upgraded for the purposes of implementing 3D cadastral database and producing 3D digital certified plans. The international land administration domain model (LADM) standard provides a formal conceptual model for recording and managing land administration data. It provides an extensible basis for the development and refinement of efficient and effective land administration systems, based on a Model Driven Architecture (MDA), and enables involved parties, both within one country and between different countries, to communicate, based on the shared vocabulary (that is, an ontology), implied by the model. The latter is required for the sharing and exchange of data. There have been several research and development activities in the past to model 3D cadastre in Malaysia. However, these investigations mainly remain at the theoretical level and yet to be implemented in the real context of Malaysian jurisdiction. Therefore, the motivation for this paper is to discuss the current initiative of Malaysian government to discuss the practical pathway towards realising an LADM-based 3D cadastral system in alignment with jurisdictional settings of Malaysia. It focuses on data migration from existing database to open source data base and the application modules for implementation of 3D cadastral system and 3D cadastral database by using open source platform. In developing the prototype system, the project investigates how the current 2D NDCDB should be upgraded to 3D and how the current workflows and associated data to be modified to support the realization of the 3D cadastral system. In doing so, this paper aims to document the requirements of – Malaysian mapping agency –The Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (JUPEM) and its stakeholders for the process of upgrade. The methodology for the documentation includes reviewing JUPEM documents and workflow, review of online resources, visit to JUPEM and interview with experts in JUPEM. The paper proposes strategies for the implementation of 3D-NCDB, which includes the processes for upgrading the existing dataset and data collection methods to support the 3D digital data and the creation of 3D spatial database based on the elicited user requirements. The adopted approach will support the integration of complementary modules, especially for 3D spatial data input, 3D adjustment and validation of 3D spatial data. The implementation of 3D-NDCBD is an initial step to develop 3D Kadaster System that includes the upgrade of the hardware, software and application modules to support 3D data. The major motivation of this upgrade is to introduce an open-source 3D database, which is LADM compliant, to address issues with regards to the existing eKadastre project in Malaysia