A Review Study of Developing an Advertising Strategy for Westerner’s Companies among Middle East Countries: the Islamic Perspective

The burst in the number of commercial advertisement has been growing over the last few years. The western companies, obviously, have the most shares of market among the Middle Eastern. Hence, it is critical for the companies to adopt an applicable advertisement strategy for their market. The marketers must be aware of both cultural and religious values of the target customers in their advertisement strategy. In the other word, there are many ambiguities and challenges exist to discover such values among Middle East countries. This study aims to provide a guideline for the companies to plan appropriate advertisement strategy in Middle East countries. In-line with the research objective, the study explores standardization and localization advertisement strategy aligns with the Muslim countries' advertisement strategy. The study also presents the importance of both regional culture and religion in advertising strategy in Muslim countries. As the paper’s outcome, an Advertising Multi-Views Model has introduced to assist multi-national companies to develop their business among Middle East countries. The model advocates the higher ads effectiveness by supporting humor, fairness, morality and incentives in companies’ advertisement strategy

Morphological Identification of Sandflies and Their Species’ Diversity

LIntrodaction:Leishmaniasis is a zoonosis disease, presented in three forms including cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral (kala-azar). The parasite, Leishmania spp, is transferred by the causative agent of the disease, namely the sand-fly. Accurate identification of sand-flies helps to prevent and treat the disease. Materials and Methods:This study was conducted to identify sand-fly species distributed in Birjand, east of Iran. Sand-flies were collected from different parts of Birjand city, Iran through using sticky traps in summer 2015. Captured female specimens were mounted and identified by specific keys. Result:In this study, a total of 1480 samples of sand-flies were collected, out of which 945 sand-flies in areas were related to animal and 535 sand-flies in areas related to human. The most prevalent species, among 654 collected female specimens were Phlebotomus sergenti (22.17%) and Sergentomyia dentata (49.54%). Conclusion:According to the current results, the dominant species among disease vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis is the urban type. Because of the presence of Leishmania tropica, the city's health system must take necessary care to control cutaneous leishmaniasis

The Correlation between Ultrasonographic Gastric Antral Area and Vomiting in Patients undergoing Procedural Sedation and Analgesia

Introduction: Aspiration of gastric contents is one of the most important complications during procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA). It seems that gastric ultrasonography could be a suitable tool for qualitative and quantitative measurement of gastric contents before PSA. Objective: In the present study, efforts were made to assess the correlation between ultrasonographic gastric antral area and incidence of vomiting in patients underwent PSA. Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, using a convex 4MHz probe in supine position, ultrasonographic evaluation of gastric antral area was done for 100 participants in need of PSA. The evaluations were done from the outer layer of the gastric wall and 3 images were recorded between peristaltic contractions. Finally, the rate of vomiting incidence in patients were recorded and compared with the results of patients’ ultrasonography. Results: The findings showed that anteroposterior diameter (AP), craniocaudal diameter (CC), and cross-sectional area (CSA) had a statistically significant correlation with incidence of vomiting in patients (p ≤ 0.0001). The odds ratio of these variables show that increase in antral diameter leads to increase incidence of vomiting. Based on these findings, 1 unit rise in AP increases the odds of vomiting by 7.45 times, 1 unit increase in CC increases the odds by 7.20 times, and finally, 1 unit increase in CSA increases the odds of vomiting by 1.32 times. Conclusion: Gastric antrum ultrasonography can be used as a proper diagnostic tool for assessing the risk of vomiting in patients undergoing PSA

DNA damage and repair proteins in cellular response to sulfur mustard in Iranian veterans more than two decades after exposure

Delayed effects of sulfur mustard (SM) exposure on the levels of five important damage/repair proteins were investigated in 40 SM-exposed veterans of Iran-Iraq war and 35 unexposed controls. A major DNA damage biomarker protein – phosphorylated H2AX – along with four DNA repair proteins in cell response to the genome damage MRE11, NBS1, RAD51, and XPA were evaluated in blood lymphocytes from the veterans and controls using western blotting. Mean levels of XPA, MRE11, RAD51 and NBS1 were lower in SM-exposed patients and the decrease in NBS1 was significant. Even though the raised level of phosphor-H2AX in SM-poisoned group compared to the controls was not significant it was consistent with DNA damage findings confirming the severity of damage to the DNA after exposure to SM. There were correlations between the values of RAD51 and NBS1 proteins as well as XPA and MRE11 proteins. More than two decades after exposure to SM, there is still evidences of DNA damage as well as impaired repair mechanisms in cells of exposed individuals. Such disorders in cellular level may contribute to long term health problems of the SM veterans

Deoxyribonucleic acid damage in Iranian veterans 25 years after wartime exposure to sulfur mustard

• Background: More than 100,000 Iranian veterans and civilians still suffer from various long-term complications due to their exposure to sulfur mustard (SM) during the Iran–Iraq war in 1983–88. The aim of the study was to investigate DNA damage of SM in veterans who were exposed to SM, 23–27 years prior to this study. • Materials and Methods: Blood samples were obtained from the veterans and healthy volunteers as negative controls. Lymphocytes were isolated from blood samples and DNA breaks were measured using single-cell microgel electrophoresis technique under alkaline conditions (comet assay). Single cells were analyzed with “Tri Tek Comet Score version 1.5” software and DNA break was measured based on the percentage of tail DNA alone, or in the presence of H2O2 (25 μM) as a positive control. • Results: A total of 25 SM exposed male veterans and 25 male healthy volunteers with similar ages (44.66 ± 6.2 and 42.12 ± 5.75 years, respectively) were studied. Percentage of the lymphocyte DNA damage was significantly (p < 0.01) higher in the SM-exposed individuals than in the controls (6.47 ± 0.52 and 1.31 ± 0.35, respectively). Percentages of DNA damage in the different age groups of 35–39, 40–44, 45–49, and 50–54 years in SM-exposed veterans (5.48 ± 0.17, 6.7 3 ± 1.58, 6.42 ± 0.22, and 7.27 ± 0.38, respectively) were all significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the controls (1.18 ± 0.25, 1.53 ± 0.22, 1.27 ± 0.20, and 1.42 ± 0.10, respectively). The lymphocytes incubated with H2O2 had much higher DNA damage as expected. The average of tail DNA is 42.12 ± 2.75% for control cells + H2O2 and 18.48 ± 2.14% for patients cells + H2O2; P < 0.001. • Conclusion: SM exposure of the veterans revealed DNA damage as judged by the comet assay

Phorbol ester TPA modulates chemoresistance in the drug sensitive breast cancer cell line MCF-7 by inducing expression of drug efflux transporter ABCG2

Recent studies have indicated a link between levels of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and development of the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype. The ATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 2 (ABCG2) is a major MDR-related transporter protein that is frequently overexpressed in cancer patients. In this study, we aimed to evaluate any positive correlation between COX-2 and ABCG2 gene expression using the COX-2 inducer 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in human breast cancer cell lines. ABCG2 mRNA and protein expression was studied using real-time RT-PCR and flow cytometry, respectively. A significant increase of COX-2 mRNA expression (up to 11-fold by 4 h) was induced by TPA in MDA-MB-231 cells, this induction effect being lower in MCF-7 cells. TPA caused a considerable increase up to 9-fold in ABCG2 mRNA expression in parental MCF-7 cells, while it caused a small enhancement in ABCG2 expression up to 67 % by 4 h followed by a time-dependent decrease in ABCG2 mRNA expression in MDA-MB-231 cells. TPA treatment resulted in a slight increase of ABCG2 protein expression in MCF-7 cells, while a time-dependent decrease in ABCG2 protein expression was occurred in MDA-MB-231 cells. In conclusion, based on the observed effects of TPA in MDA-Mb-231 cells, it is proposed that TPA up-regulates ABCG2 expression in the drug sensitive MCF-7 breast cancer cell line through COX-2 unrelated pathway

Telomere shortening associated with increased levels of oxidative stress in sulfur mustard-exposed Iranian veterans

Sulfur Mustard (SM) is the most widely used chemical weapon. It was used in World War 1 and in the more recent Iran-Iraq conflict. Genetic toxicity and DNA alkylation effects of SM in molecular and animal experiments are well documented. In this study, lymphocytic telomere lengths and serum levels of isoprostane F2α were measured using q-PCR and enzyme immunoassay-based methods in 40 Iranian veterans who had been exposed to SM between 1983-88 and 40 non-exposed healthy volunteers. The relative telomere length in SM-exposed individuals was found to be significantly shorter than the non-exposed individuals. In addition, the level of 8-isoprostane F2α was significantly higher in the SM-exposed group compared to controls. Oxidative stress can be caused by defective antioxidant responses following gene mutations or altered activities of antioxidant enzymes. Chronic respiratory diseases and infections may also increaseoxidative stress. The novel finding of this study was a the identification of ‘premature ageing phenotype’. More specifically, telomere shortening which occurs naturally with aging is accelerated in SM-exposed individuals. Oxidative stress, mutations in DNA repair genes and epimutaions may be among the major mechanisms of telomere attrition. These findings may help for a novel therapeutic strategy by telomere elongation or for validation of an exposure biomarker for SM toxicity

Investigation of ion diffusion in cementitious materials with x-ray imaging techniques

Concrete is susceptible to the migration of highly deleterious ions. The external penetration of ions into cementitious materials is the primary factor influencing the longterm durability of concrete structures. There are several test methods to study ion transport in cement-based materials. Most of the applied test methods are time-consuming, destructive, labor-intensive, and sensitive to factors like temperature or chemistry of the system. Furthermore, most of the established test methods cannot represent the exact multi-mechanistic transport of fluids into the concrete. Also, in most of the current test methods, chemical reactions between the diffused ions and binders are not considered. It has been shown that the application of micro X-ray fluorescence (µXRF) and Transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) helps to get a more fundamental observation of ion transport in acementitious system. The present study uses the direct and non-destructive TXM technique to observe ion penetration into alternative cementitious materials (ACMs) paste sample scured for different durations. It is important because the performance of ACMs must be well understood before their widespread use. This work applies µXRF to compare the performance of ACMs in both laboratory and field applications. This is important because the long-term performance of ACMs is not well understood. This study aims to develop asystematic approach to use a medical x-ray source to check the ion penetration into a cementitious system called checking ion penetration (CHIP), which is a rapid non-destructive x-ray technique able to provide useful fundamental observations of ion movement in cement-based materials. This work shows the CHIP is a reliable technique to measure the mass transport properties of a system and can measure the impact of curing time on the ion diffusivity of blended cement pastes partially replaced with seven types offly ash. The results from this study help to expand our understanding of ion transport incement-based materials and to greatly improve the current models of mass transport and service life predictions of the concrete. This can help a large amount of money to be saved in repair, maintenance, and management of concrete structures

Celecoxib up regulates the expression of drug efflux transporter ABCG2 in breast cancer cell lines

Elevated expression of the drug efflux transporter ABCG2 seems to correlate with multidrug resistance of cancer cells. Specific COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib has been shown to enhance the sensitivity of cancer cells to anticancer drugs. To clarify whether ABCG2 inhibition is involved in the sensitizing effect of celecoxib, we investigated whether the expression of ABCG2 in breast cancer cell lines, could be modulated by celecoxib. The expression of the multidrug resistant gene (ABCG2) at mRNA and protein level was detected by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and flow cytometry analysis, respectively. Among three human breast cancer cell lines ABCG2 and COX-2 were highly expressed in MCF7-MX and MDA-MB-231 cells, respectively. The COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib up-regulated the expression of ABCG2 mRNA in MCF-7 and MCF7-MX cells, which was accompanied by increased ABCG2 protein expression. While celecoxib was able to block the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-mediated increase in COX-2 expression in MDA-MB-231 cells, it increased the expression of ABCG2 up to 4.27 times to the control level at mRNA level and with less intensity at protein level. Our findings provide evidence that celecoxib up-regulates ABCG2 expression in human breast cancer cells and proposed that ABCG2 is not involved in chemosensitizing effects of celecoxib