Sulfur Tolerance of CaxMn1–yMyO3−δ (M = Mg, Ti) Perovskite-Type Oxygen Carriers in Chemical-Looping with Oxygen Uncoupling (CLOU)

Perovskite-structured oxygen carriers of the type CaxMn1–yMyO3−δ (M = Mg, Ti) have been investigated for the CLOU process. The oxygen carrier particles were produced by spray-drying and were calcined at 1300 °C for 4 h. A batch fluidized-bed reactor was used to investigate the chemical-looping characteristics of the materials. The effect of calcium content, dopants (Mg and Ti), and operating temperature (900, 950, 1000, and 1050 °C) on the oxygen uncoupling property and the reactivity with CH4 in the presence and absence of SO2 was evaluated. In addition, the attrition resistance and mechanical integrity of the oxygen carriers were examined in a jet-cup attrition rig. All of the investigated perovskite-type materials were able to release gas phase oxygen in inert atmosphere. Their reactivity with methane was high and increased with temperature and calcium content, approaching complete gas yield at 1000 °C. The reactivity decreased in the presence of SO2 for all of the investigated oxygen carriers. Decreasing the calcium content resulted in a less severe decrease in reactivity in the presence of SO2, with the exception of materials doped with both Mg and Ti, for which a higher resistance to sulfur deactivation could be maintained even at higher calcium contents. The drop in reactivity in the presence of SO2 also decreased at higher temperatures, and at 1050 °C, the decrease in the reactivity of the Mg- and Ti-doped material was minimal. Sulfur balance over the reactor system indicated that the fraction of the introduced SO2 that passed through the reactor increased with temperature. It was shown that it is possible to regenerate the oxygen carriers during reduction in the absence of SO2. Most of the materials also showed relatively low attrition rates. The results indicate that it is possible to modify the operating conditions and properties of perovskite-type oxygen carriers to decrease or avoid their deactivation by sulfur

A study on the antitumoral and differentiation effects of peganum harmala derivatives in combination with ATRA on leukaemic cells

Plant derived agents may exert a new approach to the treatment of leukaemia. The present study was an evaluation of proliferation, cytotoxicity and differentiation of harmine and harmaline on HL60 cells, alone or in combination with ATRA and G-CSF. Counting of cells, viability, MTT assay, morphology, NBT reduction and flow cytometry analysis were performed using CD11b and CD 14 monoclonal antibodies. The data showed that harmine and harmaline reduced proliferation in dose and time dependent manner. Optimal antiproliferative concentration of these agents was chosen. However, both agents in higher doses were cytotoxic. Combination of ATRA, G-CSF and each agent alone, particularly harmaline in optimal dose, resulted in partially additive decrease in cell proliferation. Cells treated with both harmaline and ATRA demonstrated some morphological changes and NBT positivity, but the extent of changes observed following treatment with harmaline was less than ATRA. Flow cytometric analysis showed that ATRA induced a neutrophilic differentiation, while harmaline led to a predominantly monocytic differentiation. Combination of harmine and harmaline with ATRA and G-CSF did not change the extent of differentiation, and the cells differentiated into the neutrophilic lineage. This shows that the direction of differentiation is dominantly determined by ATRA. These preliminary data implies a new approach in treatment of leukemia

Effects of sex, age, body height and body weight on spinal loads: sensitivity analyses in a subject-specific trunk musculoskeletal model.

Subject-specific parameters influence spinal loads and the risk of back disorders but their relative effects are not well understood. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of changes in age (35-60 years), sex (male, female), body height (BH: 150-190 cm) and body weight (BW: 50-120 kg) on spinal loads in a full factorial simulation using a personalized (spine kinematics, geometry, musculature and passive properties) kinematics driven musculoskeletal trunk finite element model. Segmental weight distribution (magnitude and location along the trunk) was estimated by a novel technique to accurately represent obesity. Five symmetric sagittal loading conditions were considered, and main effect plots and analyses of variance were employed to identify influential parameters. In all 5 tasks simulated, BW (98.9% in compression and 96.1% in shear) had the greatest effect on spinal loads at the L4-L5 and L5-S1 levels followed by sex (0.7% in compression and 2.1% in shear), BH (0.4% in compression and 1.5% in shear) and finally age (<5.4%). At identical BH and BW, spinal loads in females were slightly greater than those in males by ~4.7% in compression and ~8.7% in shear. In tasks with no loads in hands, BW-normalized spinal loads further increased with BW highlighting the exponential increase in spinal loads with BW that indicates the greater risk of back disorders especially in obese individuals. Uneven distribution of weight in obese subjects, with more BW placed at the lower trunk, further (though slightly <7.5%) increased spinal loads.This work was supported by the institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail 294 (IRSST-2014-0009) and the fonds de recherche du Québec en nature et technologies (FRQNT)

Stem cell-based approach for the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative brain disorder which is around 1.5 times more common in men than in women. Currently, drug medications, surgery, and lifestyle changes are common approaches to PD, while all of them focused on reducing the symptoms. Therefore, regenerative medicine based on stem cell (SC) therapies has raised a promising hope. Various types of SCs have been used in basic and experimental studies relevant to PD, including embryonic pluripotential stem cells, mesenchymal (MSCs) and induced pluripotent SCs (iPSCs). MSCs have several advantages over other counterparts. They are easily accessible which can be obtained from various tissues such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, peripheral blood, etc. with avoiding ethical problems. Therefore, MSCs is attractive clinically because there are no related ethical and immunological concerns . Further studies are needed to answer some crucial questions about the different issues in SC therapy. Accordingly, SC-based therapy for PD also needed more complementary evaluation in both basic and clinical study areas

Clinical Grade Human Adipose Tissue-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Banking

In this study, our aim was to produce a generation of GMP-grade adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells for clinical applications. According to our results, we fulfill to establish consistent and also reproducible current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) compliant adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells from five female donors. The isolated cells were cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10 fetal bovine serum and characterized by standard methods. Moreover, karyotyping was performed to evaluate chromosomal stability. Mean of donors' age was 47.6 ± 8.29 year, mean of cell viability was 95.6 ± 1.51, and cell count was between 9�106 and 14�106 per microliter with the mean of 12.2�106 ± 2863564.21 per microliter. The main aim of this project was demonstrating the feasibility of cGMP-compliant and clinical grade adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells preparation and banking for clinical cell transplantation trials

Clinical grade human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell banking

In this study, our aim was to produce a generation of GMP-grade adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells for clinical applications. According to our results, we fulfill to establish consistent and also reproducible current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) compliant adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells from five female donors. The isolated cells were cultured in DMEM supplemented with 10 fetal bovine serum and characterized by standard methods. Moreover, karyotyping was performed to evaluate chromosomal stability. Mean of donors� age was 47.6 ± 8.29 year, mean of cell viability was 95.6 ± 1.51, and cell count was between 9�106 and 14�106 per microliter with the mean of 12.2�106 ± 2863564.21 per microliter. The main aim of this project was demonstrating the feasibility of cGMP-compliant and clinical grade adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells preparation and banking for clinical cell transplantation trials. © 2015 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Overview of hydatid disease in Iranian children

Background: Hydatid disease (HD) is still an important health hazard in the world. This disease is a parasitic infestation endemic in many sheep- and cattle-raising areas such as Iran. Objectives: This study aimed to review the clinical manifestations, laboratory aspects, imaging findings, and management of HD. Patients and Methods: Data were collected from the medical records of patients diagnosed with HD in eight referral hospitals in different provinces of Iran from 2001 to 2014. Results: Overall, 161 children at a mean age of 9.25 ± 3.37 years (age range = 1 - 15 years old) hospitalized with a definite diagnosis of the hydatid cyst between 2001 and 2014 were studied. The male-to-female ratio was 1.6:1. The most commonly involved organ was the lung (67.1), followed by the liver (44.1) and a combined liver and lung involvement was found in 15.5 of the patients. The cysts were found more frequently in the right lobe of the liver and lung than in the left lobe. The most frequent complaints were fever (35.4) and abdominal pain (31.7), and the most frequent sign was an abdominal mass in the liver involvement and cough in the lung involvement. There was a high eosinophil count (> 500/micL) in 41 of our cases. A high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (> 30) or positive C-reactive protein (based on the qualitative method) was found in 18.6 of the patients and leukocytosis > 15000/micL in 29.2 of the children. Ultrasonography was the main imaging test, with an accuracy rate of 96, and chest X-ray was helpful in 88.6 of the cases. Surgery was performed in 89 of the patients, and selective patients underwent percutaneous aspiration-injection-reaspiration drainage or medical treatment. Conclusions: The lung was the most commonly involved organ in the children recruited in the present study. Given the high probability of multiple organ involvement, we recommend that patients with HD be assessed via ultrasonography and chest X-ray. In endemic regions, unexplained eosinophilia should be considered as a parasitic disease like HD and its complications. © 2015 Pediartric Infections Research Center

Analysis of the active fraction of Iranian Naja naja oxiana snake venom on the metabolite profiles of the malaria parasite by 1HNMR in vitro

Objective(s): Malaria is an important parasitic disease with high morbidity and mortality in tropical areas. Resistance to most antimalarial drugs has encouraged the development of new drugs including natural products. Venom is a complex mixture of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antimalarial activity of purified fractions of Naja naja oxiana. Materials and Methods: Lyophilized venom was purified with a Sephacryl S-200 HR column and the fractions lyophilized and inhibitory concentration 50 against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 in vitro obtained. The 4th fraction was run on a Mono Q column, and activity against P. falciparum was detected by lactate dehydrogenase assay and purity by SDS PAGE. Large scale culture of the parasite was carried out with and without the active fraction on the ring stage for 48 hr. The parasites were collected and lyophilized and analyzed by 1HNMR. Chemometrics studies were performed using MATLAB, differentiating metabolites were identified by Human Metabolic Database, and metabolic pathways by the Metaboanalyst online package. Results: The active fraction from the ion exchange column had a 50 inhibitory concentration of 0.026 μg/ml on P. falciparum in vitro (P<0.001) with molecular weight of 63 kDa by SDS-PAGE and no hemolytic activity. Metabolomics studies on the two groups with and without the fraction identified 5 differentiating metabolites and a number of related pathways. Conclusion: The metabolites were succinic acid, l-glutamic acid, pyruvic acid, cholesterol, and NAD. The changes in the Krebs cycle and metabolism pathways of nicotinamide and pyruvate were noticeable. © 2020 Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

VectorDisk: a microfluidic platform integrating diagnostic markers for evidence-based mosquito control

Effective mosquito monitoring relies on the accurate identification and characterization of the target population. Since this process requires specialist knowledge and equipment that is not widely available, automated field-deployable systems are highly desirable. We present a centrifugal microfluidic cartridge, the VectorDisk, which integrates TaqMan PCR assays in two feasibility studies, aiming to assess multiplexing capability, specificity, and reproducibility in detecting disk-integrated vector-related assays. In the first study, pools of 10 mosquitoes were used as samples. We tested 18 disks with 27 DNA and RNA assays each, using a combination of multiple microfluidic chambers and detection wavelengths (geometric and color multiplexing) to identify mosquito and malaria parasite species as well as insecticide resistance mechanisms. In the second study, purified nucleic acids served as samples to test arboviral and malaria infective mosquito assays. Nine disks were tested with 14 assays each. No false positive results were detected on any of the disks. The coe cient of variation in reproducibility tests was <10%. The modular nature of the platform, the easy adaptation of the primer/probe panels, the cold chain independence, the rapid (2-3 h) analysis, and the assay multiplexing capacity are key features, rendering the VectorDisk a potential candidate for automated vector analysis

Development of Photonic Crystal Fiber Based Gas/ Chemical Sensors

The development of highly-sensitive and miniaturized sensors that capable of real-time analytes detection is highly desirable. Nowadays, toxic or colorless gas detection, air pollution monitoring, harmful chemical, pressure, strain, humidity, and temperature sensors based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) are increasing rapidly due to its compact structure, fast response and efficient light controlling capabilities. The propagating light through the PCF can be controlled by varying the structural parameters and core-cladding materials, as a result, evanescent field can be enhanced significantly which is the main component of the PCF based gas/chemical sensors. The aim of this chapter is to (1) describe the principle operation of PCF based gas/ chemical sensors, (2) discuss the important PCF properties for optical sensors, (3) extensively discuss the different types of microstructured optical fiber based gas/ chemical sensors, (4) study the effects of different core-cladding shapes, and fiber background materials on sensing performance, and (5) highlight the main challenges of PCF based gas/ chemical sensors and possible solutions