A Report of Two Cases of TGM1 Mutations in Iranian Patients with Lamelar Ichthyosis

ObjectiveAutosomal Recessive Congenital Ichthyosis (ARCI) is a rare, heterogenous keratinization disorder of the skin, classically divided into two clinical subtypes, Lamellar Ichthyosis (LI) and Nonbullous Congenital Ichthyosi-formis Erythroderma (NCIE). Lamellar Ichtyosis is caused by mutations in the TGM1 gene that encodes transglutaminase 1 enzyme, which is critical for the assembly of the cornified cell envelope in terminally differentiating keratinocytes. TGM1 is a complex enzyme existing as both cytosolic and membrane-bound forms.Moreover, TGM1 is proteolytically processed, and the major functionally active form consists of a membrane-bound 67/33/10-kDa complex with a myristoylated and palmitoylated amino-terminal 10-kDa membrane anchorage fragment. In this study, all 14 coding exons of TGM1 gene were investigated using PCRsequencing method in three Iranian patients with different phenotypes which are often caused by homozygote or compound heterozygote mutations and a homozygote mutation (G218S) in exon 4 and  three heterozygote mutations (R37K, D58N, D86N) in exon 2 were observed. The mutation (D86N) was seen in two patients simultaneously.Key words: TGM1gene, mutation, ARCI, lamellar, ichthyosis, sequencing

Spotted hyena optimizer algorithm for capacitor allocation in radial distribution system with distributed generation and microgrid operation considering different load types

In this paper, the optimal allocation of constant and switchable capacitors is presented simultaneously in two operation modes, grid-connected and islanded, for a microgrid. Different load levels are considered by employing non-dispatchable distributed generations. The objective function includes minimising the energy losses cost, the cost of peak power losses, and the cost of the capacitor. The optimization problem is solved using the spotted hyena optimizer (SHO) algorithm to determine the optimal size and location of capacitors, considering different loading levels and the two operation modes. In this study, a three-level load and various types of loads, including constant power, constant current, and constant impedance are considered. The proposed method is implemented on a 24-bus radial distribution network. To evaluate the performance of the SHO, the results are compared with GWO and the genetic algorithm (GA). The simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of the SHO in reducing the cost of losses and improving the voltage profile during injection and non-injection of reactive power by distributed generations in two operation modes. The total cost and net saving values for DGs only with the capability of active power injection is achieved 105,780 $and 100,560.54$, respectively and for DGs with the capability of active and reactive power injection is obtained 89,568 $and 76,850.46$, respectively using the SHO. The proposed method has achieved more annual net savings due to the lower cost of losses than other optimization methods

Factors Determining Perceived Stress among Medical Students during the Covid-19 Pandemic: fear of COVID-19 and perceived stress in Medical sciences students

AbstractIntroduction: All viral epidemics are a global health problem and a threat to mental health. Medical sciences students are especially prone to mental health disorders and hence could be more vulnerable to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to evaluation of perceived stress and its related factors in medical students.Methods: A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted in December 2020 at Islamic Azad University Tabriz Medical sciences. 434 students participated in the study willingly. Socio-demographic characteristics, the level of fear of COVID-19, and perceived stress were collected and analyzed.Results: The results showed that the mean (SD) of fear of COVID-19 and perceived stress were 20.45 (5.52) and 24.70 (7.90), respectively. There was a significant and positive relationship between fear of COVID-19 and perceived stress in students and this effect was moderate (r = 0.465, P < 0.001, medium). According to the findings, fear of COVID-19 solely has the capacity to explain 24.6% of the changes related to perceived stress in students (β = 0.496, SE = 0.003, P < 0.001). Additionally, multivariate regression analysis revealed that fear of COVID-19, employment state, and academic year capable to explain 25.3% of stress changes in students.Conclusions: In this study, there was a positive relationship between fear of COVID-19 disease and perceived stress. It is essential to care and plan in order to reduce the negative influence of COVID-19 on mental health and there is a requirement for proper interventions by specialists in order to maintain mental health, particularly for the medical students who are exposed to the disease

Deterministic and probabilistic multi-objective placement and sizing of wind renewable energy sources using improved spotted hyena optimizer

In this paper, deterministic and probabilistic optimal placement and sizing of wind turbines (WTs) in distribution networks are investigated with two objectives: reducing loss and improving voltage profile and stability index. A new improved meta-heuristic method, named ß-chaotic sequence spotted hyena optimizer, is proposed to determine the optimal size and location of wind turbines. The proposed method is implemented on IEEE 33-bus and 69-bus radial distribution networks. The performance of the method is verified with finding the optimal location and size of WTs, which exhibited lower power loss and better minimum voltage and voltage stability index with more convergence speed in comparison with the conventional spotted hyena optimizer and particle swarm optimization, and previous studies. Additionally, the probabilistic placement and sizing of WTs are implemented considering the uncertainty of wind generation and the network demand based on Monte Carlo simulation. The results showed that losses increased, the voltage profile weakened, and the voltage stability index was reduced, compared with the deterministic method. For 33 bus network, the loss, minimum voltage, and voltage stability index in two WTs application are recorded as 28.79 kW, 0.9811, and 31.12 p. u, respectively, using the deterministic method, while the values of 34.56 kW, 0.9789, and 30.72 p. u are recorded using the probabilistic method. On the other hand, for 69 bus network, these values are recorded as 18.60 kW, 0.9833, and 67.13 p. u using the deterministic method, and 29.36 kW, 0.9794, and 65.62 p. u using the probabilistic method. Therefore, the resultsclearly show that the probabilistic method is more realistic and accurate than the deterministic method due to consideration of load and wind generation intrinsic changes with all possible probabilities, based on which the network operators can have a more accurate view of the impact of renewable resources on the network characteristics, hence making better decisions to improve them

Carrier wave optimization for multi-level photovoltaic system to improvement of power quality in industrial environments based on Salp swarm algorithm

The use of multi-level inverters is increasing in different structures, high power and medium power applications due to advantages such as low switching losses, harmonic distortion and electromagnetic interference at the output which could be used in microgrid systems. A microgrid can be defined as groups of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic and wind turbine i.e. The switching technique for inverter control plays a significant role in reducing or eliminating the harmonics of inverter output voltage and reducing the switching losses. To minimize the distortion of the output voltage of the cascaded H bridge multi-level inverter due to low-order harmonics, an optimization method used for frequency selection, i.e. the carrier wave amplitude in the SPWM strategy within this study. The proposed method is called OSPWM, which employs a new optimization method based on the Salp swarm algorithm. The proposed method applied to a cascade H bridge five-level inverter. The simulation results show the reduction of the low-frequency harmonics amplitude and THD output voltage by optimizing the OSPWM carrier wave parameters with the optimization algorithm. The proposed method also compared with the classical SPWM method

Identification and genotyping of Acanthamoeba spp. in the water resources of western Iran

Background: Acanthamoeba spp. is opportunistic amoeba that resides in water, soil, and air. Some pathogenic genotypes of the genus of Acanthamoeba can cause granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE) in people with a defective immune system. The parasite can also cause Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) among contact lens users. This study was conducted to isolate and identify the Acanthamoeba genotypes in water resources in Lorestan province, western Iran. Methods: Collected 72 water samples from surface and groundwater (springs and aqueducts) in Lorestan province. Samples were filtered and cultured in non-nutrient 1.5% agar medium covered with Escherichia coli (E. coli) at 25 °C. DNA extraction was done and the PCR reaction was performed to detect the Acanthamoeba spp. The positive PCR products were sequenced to determine the genotypes of Acanthamoeba. Results: Out of 72 examined water samples, 23.61% were positive for Acanthamoeba sp. by PCR. From PCR-positive samples, 8 (47.05%) samples were T4 genotypes and others were other Acanthamoeba genotypes (T1-T23). Therefore, approximately half of the genotypes belong to the pathogenic T4 genotype. Conclusions: The water examined samples in western provinces of Iran have the potential risk factor for public health. Therefore, the efforts of healthcare providers are needed to identify, train, and prevention from human infections

Prescription trends of disease-modifying treatments for multiple sclerosis in Iran over the past 30 years

Background: Iran, as a middle income country, is one of the places with high and rising prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS). Regarding the substantial economic burden, reviewing the trend in prescribed disease modifying treatments (DMTs) could be of help. Here we studied the DMT information of nearly 14000 MS cases and its trends change for 30 years to improve health services to patients.Methods: The population base of this descriptive-analytical (cross-sectional) study consisted of all MS patients in the nationwide MS registry of Iran (NMSRI), up to August 1, 2021. Registrars from 15 provinces, 24 cities, 13 hospitals,8 MS associations, 16 private offices, and 7 clinics had entered the data.Results: Overall, 14316 cases were enrolled. The majority (76.1%) were female. The youngest and eldest patients were 5 and 78 years old, respectively. Diagnosis delay was under one year in most cases (median: 0, IQR: 0 - 1). Most (61.4%) had RRMS. Generally, platform injectables (IFN beta, glatiramer acetate) were the most used DMTs until 2010. It seems that introduction of newer agents (antiCD20s and oral DMTs) resulted in a decrease in the use of former drugs since around 2015. Some unusual practices are prominent such as using not approved DMTs for PPMS over the years, or administering high efficacy drugs like natalizumab for CIS. The results indicate the remaining popularity of first line injectable DMTs in female and pediatric patients.Discussion: Mean age (SD) at onset in our study (29 +/- 8.8) is near the statistics in Asia and Oceania (28 +/- 0.7). Concerns about COVID-19 had a noticeable impact on administering high efficacy drugs like rituximab an