Intracellular and Extracellular Effects of S100B in the Cardiovascular Response to Disease

S100B, a calcium-binding protein of the EF-hand type, exerts both intracellular and extracellular functions. S100B is induced in the myocardium of human subjects and an experimental rat model following myocardial infarction. Forced expression of S100B in neonatal rat myocyte cultures and high level expression of S100B in transgenic mice hearts inhibit cardiac hypertrophy and the associated phenotype but augments myocyte apoptosis following myocardial infarction. By contrast, knocking out S100B, augments hypertrophy, decreases apoptosis and preserves cardiac function following myocardial infarction. Expression of S100B in aortic smooth muscle cells inhibits cell proliferation and the vascular response to adrenergic stimulation. S100B induces apoptosis by an extracellular mechanism via interaction with the receptor for advanced glycation end products and activating ERK1/2 and p53 signaling. The intracellular and extracellular roles of S100B are attractive therapeutic targets for the treatment of both cardiac and vascular diseases

Epidemiological profile of extremity fractures and dislocations in road traffic accidents in Kashan, Iran: A glance at the related disabilities

Background: Apart from the mortality, road traffic injuries are associated with significant morbidities. This study has aimed to examine the pattern of traffic accident-related extremity fractures/dislocations and their related disabilities. Methods: A retrospective hospital-based study was conducted to assess the characteristics of limb fractures/dislocations among road traffic accident victims registered in Trauma Research Center registry of Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran, during 2012-2013. Age and sex distribution, cause of injury, and site of fractures/dislocations were recorded. Years lived with disability (YLD) was calculated as a scale to measure the disability. One-way ANOVA and chi-square tests were used for data analysis. Results: From a total of 962 subjects, 812 (84.4%) were males (the male/female sex ratio: 5.4:1). The mean age of victims was 32.7±17.9. Leg (37%) and forearm (19%) fractures were the most frequent fractures. Shoulder dislocations were among the most affected joints accounting for 36.6% of the cases. The total calculated YLD was 135.6 (34.4 for temporal and 101.2 for lifelong disabilities, and totally 117.3 and 18.3 for males and females, respectively). The highest YLD was for motorcyclists (104) and while the most YLD was for 15-29 years (68.2). Conclusion: Young men motorcyclist accidents are a major problem in Kashan region. Generally, they have been accounted for the highest YLD due to fractures/dislocations, especially in lower extremity. Although the calculated YLD will be decreased with increasing age, the elder people also had the high rate of traffic-related limb injuries

Effects of different heat processing methods of rapeseed on ruminal and post-ruminal nutrient disappearance

Due to improving the nutritive value of oilseeds and changing their digestion site in ruminants, processing, including heat treatment, seems necessary. The present research was conducted to evaluate the effect of applying heat processing such as roasting, microwaving and autoclaving on nutritive values; the amount and rate of degradability in rumen, and the disappearance of rapeseed nutrients in rumen, post-rumen and total tract. This evaluation was performed using mobile nylon bags techniques; three-step method of digestion and protein CNCPS fraction. A completely randomized design was used to investigate the effect of applying heat processing, and SAS software was used to analyze the data. The field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope was used to monitored the effect of heat treatment on surface of rapeseed. The application of heat processing in this research (roasting, microwaving and autoclaving) had no significant effect on the chemical composition of rapeseed. The results obtained from mobile nylon bags method and three-step digestion method showed that raw rapeseed has the highest disappearance of DM and CP in rumen and therefore has a significant difference with processed seeds (P<0.05). Also, the disappearance of DM and CP of processed rapeseed in intestines was significantly higher than raw seed (P<0.05), and this was higher than other processing for autoclaved rapeseed. According to the results obtained from CNCPS protein fractionation, applying heat processing altering protein fractionation (P<0.05). Applying microwave processing has created cracks in the surface of the rapeseed wall, and this condition was not observed in the wall surface of other heated seeds. In general, it can be said that in addition to increasing the digestibility of rapeseed in the entire gastrointestinal tract, applying heat processing reduces its degradability in the rumen and has increased the disappearance of nutrients in the intestine, that it can be stated the digestion site is altered from rumen to intestine, which can prevent the loss of protein sources in ruminant feed

Targeting Listeria monocytogenes consensus sequence of internalin genes using an antisense molecule

As an intracellular pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes can enter host cells where it can replicate and escape detection and eradication by the host immune response making the clearance of infection very challenging. Furthermore, with the advent of antimicrobial resistance, the need for alternative targets is inevitable. Internalin proteins are crucial to this bacterium as they contribute to bacterial entry to the systemic circulation. In this study, we targeted a highly conserved region of these proteins by an antisense sequence that was covalently conjugated to the cell penetrating peptides (CPP) to overcome the challenging delivery barriers. Then, we evaluated the efficiency of this construct in vitro. We also assessed the antigenicity, cytotoxicity, and probability of apoptosis induction by this construct. The studied CPP-PNA inhibited bacterial growth and suppressed the mRNA expression of internalins in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, at all studied concentrations, CPP-PNA significantly reduced the invasion rate of L. monocytogenes in the examined cell lines. Moreover, different concentrations of CPP-PNA did not have a significant antigenic, cytotoxic, and apoptotic properties compared to the control. These results suggest the effectiveness of CPP-antisense in targeting the mRNAs of internalins for various research, therapeutic and preventive purposes. However, additional research is required to evaluate the potency, safety, and pharmacokinetics of this compound for the prevention and treatment of listeriosis

The Role of mathematical thought in the improvement of architecture students’ abilities on logical aspects of design

Background and Objectives: Architectural education as a challengeable subject is dependent on multiple variables. Since formation of an architect character and learning design abilities are related to this subject, it is so sensitive.  Historically, the role of mathematics and application of its different aspects in architectural design is indisputable. While recent decades have witnessed a high level of interaction between mathematics and architecture in the world, mathematics in architectural education in Iran is still being taught as a basic course through the lecture method. A great concern in learning architectural design is how to apply the basic courses in design process. Methods: According to the necessity of revising the role of mathematics in education of architectural design, and developing new approaches to apply mathematical thought in logical process of design, the present study aims to test an educational model in an environment consisting of test and control groups in the Basic Design 1 & 2 courses, using the proposed model of Lawson as well as quasi-experimental research method. The research subjects are selected among BA students of Islamic Azad University of Urmia (n=52). They provided logical solutions for design problems, using algebraic, arithmetic, geometric and symbolic aspects of mathematics. The subjects’ design abilities were evaluated by the performance measurement method based on verdict criteria. The researchers determined two groups of mathematical and architectural design measurement criteria. For design, the criteria included design conceptual quality, spatial and functional arrangement, form combination, presentation quality, creativity and final grade.  Findings: The final grades of four research projects executed in two studios were respectively for design 62.57,66.29, 71.30, 75.31 and for mathematics 64.99, 69.27, 71.72 and 74.9. The correlation between design and mathematics evaluation scores for project 1 of the studio 1 (ƿ=0.594) and project 2 of the studio 2 (ƿ=0.604) is independently obvious which indicates the strong combination between mathematics and design aspects in these projects. For the project 2 of the studio 1, the correlation was low (ƿ= 0.166). The possible explanation could be based on the lack of real materials application and the experiment of altering theory analysis to practical analysis. The correlation between design evaluation scores and mathematics application (ƿ=0.384) reveals a positive role for mathematical thought in developing logical solutions and general quality of design. Conclusion: Findings of this study directly refers to the correspondence between research assumptions and the verdict criteria. The findings indicate that students’ performance in test group is better than the students in control group in all criteria except the presentation. The best performance by subjects of the test group means that their ability in creating solution concept has much improved compared with the control group as a result of manipulating the independent variable which is the education method in this study. This improvement couldn’t be related to other unrelated independent variables, because these variables have been either controlled or their effect has been studied through the pre-test. Stated on the findings in analyzing the general quality of design, students provided complicated geometric patterns in their design as logical, creative and efficient solutions through realizing their mathematical principles. Acquiring and developing the design schema based on design problems in the Basic design studios results the improvement of the students’ ability in logical aspects of design.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2020 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Diagnostic accuracy of dual-source computerized tomography coronary angiography in symptomatic patients presenting to a referral cardiovascular center during daily clinical practice

Background: There are numerous studies that address the diagnostic value of dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) as an alternative to conventional coronary angiography (CCA). However, the benefit of application of DSCT in a real world clinical setting should be evaluated. Objectives: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of DSCT technique compared with CCA as the gold standard method in detection of coronary artery stenosis among symptomatic patients who are presented to a referral cardiovascular center during daily clinical practice. Patients and Methods: Evaluating the medical records of a tertiary care referral cardiovascular center, 47 patients who had undergone DSCT and CCA, and also met the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study were selected. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and likelihood ratios (LRs) of the DSCT imaging technique were calculated. Results: In total, 97.8 of the segments (628/642) could be visualized with diagnostic image quality via DSCT coronary angiography. The mean heart rate during DSCT was 69.2±12.2 bpm (range: 39 - 83 bpm), and the mean Agatston score was 507.7±590.5 (range: 0 - 2328). Per segment analysis of the findings revealed that the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, positive LR (PLR) and negative LR (NLR) of DSCT technique for evaluation of patients with coronary artery disease were 93.7, 96.8, 92.7, 97.2, 29.4, and 0.066, respectively. Also per vessel, analysis of the findings showed a sensitivity of 97.1, a specificity of 94.0, PPV of 95.3, NPV of 96.3, PLR of 16.1, and NLR of 0.030. Conclusion: Our results indicate that DSCT coronary angiography provides high diagnostic accuracy for the evaluation of CAD patients during daily routine practice of a referral cardiovascular setting. © 2016, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Iranian Society of Radiology

Gender similarity in low agreement between written and video ISAAC asthma questionnaires

Background and Aim. The prevalence of childhood asthma varies among different nations and appears to have increased in recent years. It has been difficult to determine this prevalence precisely and compare the communities due to the lack of a standardized method. The International Studies of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) has developed a written and video questionnaire to measure asthma prevalence and overcome these difficulties. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of childhood asthma in Kashan, the central area of Iran, and to assess the agreement between the ISAAC written and video questionnaires and its gender relationship. Methods. Between December 2002 and June 2003, 2533 school children, aged 13-14 years, in Kashan secondary schools completed sequentially the ISAAC written and video questionnaires. The agreement between responses to the two questionnaires for reported “ever wheeze”, “exercise wheeze”, “night wheeze” and “night cough” was determined, using kappa coefficient and concordance. Results. The prevalence of asthma symptoms were significantly lower in the responses to the video questionnaire compared with the written questionnaire. Kappa coefficient showed only poor to fair agreement (κ = 0.13- 0.24) between video and written questionnaires, although the concordance between them always exceeded 60%. Conclusions. This study showed that reported asthma symptoms based on video questionnaires were significantly lower than the written questionnaire, and that there is low agreement between the two questionnaires which requires further investigation to explain the findings. In addition, this investigation revealed no significant difference between the genders for this low agreement

National Spinal Cord Injury Registry of Iran (NSCIR-IR) � a critical appraisal of its strengths and weaknesses

The National Spinal Cord Injury Registry of Iran (NSCIR-IR) is a not-for-profit, hospital-based, and prospective observational registry that appraises the quality of care, long-term outcomes and the personal and psychological burden of traumatic spinal cord injury in Iran. Benchmarking validity in every registry includes rigorous attention to data quality. Data quality assurance is essential for any registry to make sure that correct patients are being enrolled and that the data being collected are valid. We reviewed strengths and weaknesses of the NSCIR-IR while considering the methodological guidelines and recommendations for efficient and rational governance of patient registries. In summary, the steering committee, funded and maintained by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran, the international collaborations, continued staff training, suitable data quality, and the ethical approval are considered to be the strengths of the registry, while limited human and financial resources, poor interoperability with other health systems, and time-consuming processes are among its main weaknesses. © 2019 Chinese Medical Associatio