The Inhibitory Effect of Epigallocatechin Gallate on the Viability of T Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells is Associated with Increase of Caspase-3 Level and Fas Expression

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the most prevalent cancer in children. Novel components to help struggle aggressive malignancies and overcome some side effects of conventional treatments could be a promising strategy. Epigallocatechingallate (EGCG), have attracted the attention of scientists for prevention or treatment of some cancers. Jurkat cells were incubated with the different concentrations of EGCG (30–100 µm) for 24, 48, and 72 h and cell viability was investigated using MTS test. Apoptosis and the level of caspase 3 alterations were evaluated using flowcytometry and expression of Fas by Real Time PCR. EGCG decreased viability of cells with an inhibition concentration (IC50) of 82.8 ± 3.1, 68.8 ± 4 and 59.7 ± 4.8 μM in 24,48 and 72 h. 50, 70 and 100 µM concentrations of EGCG induced apoptosis in about 31, 40 and 71% of the cells, respectively. The mean value of caspase 3 positive cells in the presence of 50, 70 and 100 µm concentrations of EGCG was 19.3 ± 2.9, 29.5 ± 3.1 and 61.2 ± 3.4 respectively compared to 7.8 ± 1.1 in control with a significant difference at 100 µm concentration. Treatment with EGCG for 48 h enhanced the expression of Fas reaching to a significant level at 100 µM concentration. EGCG is effective in decrease cell viability, apoptosis induction and enhancement of caspase 3 and Fas expression level in jurkat cells. A comprehensive understanding of molecular events and pharmacokinetics of the component and experiments in animal models are required for dose determination and its interaction with other components of combination chemotherapy

The effect of Myo-inositol on sperm parameters and pregnancy rate in oligoasthenospermic men treated with IUI: A randomized clinical trial

Background: In about 40% of the couples, the cause of infertility problems is attributed to men because of low sperm production and disturbed motility of sperm. Pieces of evidence show that Myo-inositol has a potential role for the treatment of sperm morphology and male fertility. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the effect of Myo-inositol on the sperm parameters and fertility rate in patients with oligoasthenospermia treated by intrauterine insemination (IUI). Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial conducted on 37 patients with oligoasthenospermia treated by IUI during 2016-2017. In this study, the patients were randomly divided into two groups of oligoasthenospermia treated with (Case group) and without Myo-inositol (Control group). The case group received 0.5 ml of Myo-inositol with a concentration of 2 mg/ml and incubated at 37°C incubator for 2 hr, but the control group had no interventions. Results: The results of this study showed that although there was no significant difference in sperm parameters including sperm motility and concentration before processing with Myo-inositol in the case group, but there was a significant increase in sperm motility during the treatment with Myo-inositol. The therapeutic effect of this method was confirmed on induction of pregnancy in 18% of the treated patients, in such a way that was about twice greater than those who did not receive the drug. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the use of Myo-inositol is efficient enough to change sperm parameters to increase the chance of fertility. Key words: Myo-inositol, Pregnancy, Sperm, Motility, Oligoasthenospermic

Molecular identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa recovered from cystic fibrosis patients

Objective. Precise identification of various morphotypes of Pseduomonas aeruginosa which developed during cystic fibrosis (CF) is of prime importance. We aimed to identify the isolates of P. aeruginosa recovered from CF patients at the genus and species level through primers targeting oprI and oprL genes via PCR. Methods. Sputum samples or throat swabs were taken from 100 CF patients and plated on cetrimide agar. All suspected colonies were primarily screened for P. aeruginosa by a combination of phenotypic tests. Molecular identification of colonies was per- formed using specific primers for oprI and oprL genes.Results. Based on phenotypic tests, P. aeruginosa isolates were recovered from 40% of CF patients. Forty isolates yielded ampli- con of oprI gene using genus-specific primers confirming the identity of fluorescent pseudomonads. However, 37 of 40 isolates yielded amplicon of oprL gene using species-specific primers, verifying the identity of P. aeruginosa. Conclusion. This study showed that the species-specific PCR tar- geting oprL gene can be used as accurate test for identification of highly adaptable P. aeruginosa in CF patients. This procedure may provide a simple and reliable method for identification of various morphotypes

Effect of Group-based Fallproof Program on Balance and Psychological Health of the Elderly With Different Ages

Background and Aims Balance control is needed to walk and function independently. Decreased balance accompanied by fear of falling can have a negative effect on the mental and physical health of older adults. In this study, we aim to assess the effect of group-based Fallproof program on balance and psychological aspects of health in the elderly with different ages.Methods In this quasi-experimental study, the study population consists of all healthy community-dwelling older people in Tehran, Iran. Based to the inclusion criteria, 60 people aged 65-85 years were selected using a convenience sampling method from public recreational centers. They were divided into three age groups: 65-71, 72-78, and 79-85 years. All groups received a group-based Fallproof program for eight weeks, three times a week. The Symptoms Checklist-90-Revised was used to measure psychological problems, and the Fullerton Advanced Balance scale was used to identify balance problems in the pre-test and post-test phases. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to evaluate the normality of data distribution, and analysis of covariance was used to measure the mean differences between groups The significance level was set at 0.05.Results The results showed a significant improvement in balance and psychological health of all three groups after the intervention (P<0.001). The oldest group showed more significant improvement in all dependent variables when compared to other two groups. Therefore, older adults not only can benefit from exercise-based interventions, but also can achieve better physical and psychological results in short period by participating in group-based Fallproof program.Conclusion Eight weeks of group-based Fallproof program can be effective in improving balance and psychological health of the elderly and can be used along with other training protocols for improving balance problems of older adults

A study on Carbon Nanotube-Gene Interaction in Induction of Glial Cells to Neuron Cell

Introduction: Reprogramming different cell to neuron have yet remained attractive field in regenerative medicine, so discovery new methodsor improve existing methods could be helpful. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Carbon Nanotube-Gene Interaction in Induction ofGlial Cells to Neuron Cell.Materials and Methods: Accordingly, we analyzed the transcriptome data of glial and neuron cells to determine thedifferent gene expression in both groups. Then, based on this transcriptome data, the gene chemical interaction was determined to find the mostimportant chemical structure which induces glial cell to neurons. Data extract from transcriptome database related rat cerebral cortex cellsgenerated by RNA sequencing transcriptomic (RNAseq) technique. By comparison neuron against glial cells (astrocyte, oligodenderocyte andmicroglia) determined different gene expression. In Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD) determined the most important chemicalto interact with this gene set. Then by using genetrail2 database determined mechanism of gene set associated to chemicals and miRNA enriched.Results: Result determined different chemical with the risk factor and protective factor properties related to 500 genes that enriched in a neuronin comparison with glial cells. The carbon nanotube is the first important chemicals that interact with 75 genes of 500. Gene ontology analysisdetermined the carbon nanotube effect on genes that induce neurogenesis, neurodevelopment, and differentiation. Genetrail2 release the 29significant miRNAs enriched in gene interacts with carbon nanotube in which miR-34a and miR-449a are the most significant molecules.Network analysis of these genes represents KIT (tyrosine-protein kinase, CD117), Gria1, Syt1, Rab3c, and Tubb3 have central roles inneurogenesis by the carbon nanotube.Conclusion: In sum up, the carbon nanotube is an electrical stimulator that has biocompatibility toinduce glial cell to the neuron which applies as devise lonely or combination with a cell in damage part of the neural tissue

Encapsulation of orange peel oil in biopolymeric nanocomposites to control its release under different conditions

Orange peel oil (OPO) is one of the most common flavorings used in the food industry, but it is volatile under environmental conditions (the presence of light, oxygen, humidity, and high temperatures). Encapsulation by biopolymer nanocomposites is a suitable and novel strategy to improve the bioavailability and stability of OPO and its controlled release. In this study, we investigated the release profile of OPO from freeze-dried optimized nanocomposite powders as a function of pH (3, 7, 11) and temperature (30, 60, and 90 °C), and within a simulated salivary system. Finally, its release kinetics modelling was performed using experimental models. The encapsulation efficiency of OPO within the powders, along with the morphology and size of the particles, were also evaluated by an atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. The results showed that the encapsulation efficiency was in the range of 70–88%, and the nanoscale size of the particles was confirmed by AFM. The release profile showed that the lowest and the highest release rates were observed at the temperatures of 30 and 90 °C and in the pH values of 3 and 11, respectively, for all three samples. The Higuchi model provided the best model fitting of the experimental data for the OPO release of all the samples. In general, the OPO encapsulates prepared in this study showed promising characteristics for food flavoring applications. These results suggest that the encapsulation of OPO may be useful for controlling its flavor release under different conditions and during cooking

In-situ electro-generation and activation of hydrogen peroxide using a CuFeNLDH-CNTs modified graphite cathode for degradation of cefazolin

The modified multifunctional electrodes for electro-Fenton (EF) process are suggested to be promising cathodes for in situ electro-generation and activation of H2O2 to produce hydroxyl radicals ((OH)-O-center dot). However, heterogeneous EF process still faces the challenges of limited catalytic activity and releasing of massive amounts of transition metals to the solution after removal of organic pollutants. The main aim of the present investigation was to prepare a cathode containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and CuFe nano-layered double hydroxide (NLDH) for degradation and mineralization of cefazolin antibiotic through electro-Fenton process. Structural and electrochemical analyses demonstrated that CuFeNLDH-CNTs nanocomposite was successfully incorporated on the surface of graphite cathode. Due to the increased formation of (OH)-O-center dot in the reactor, the incorporation of CNTs into NLDH matrix with a catalyst loading of 0.1 g substantially improved the degradation efficiency of cefazolin (89.9%) in comparison with CNTs-coated (28.7%) and bare graphite cathode (22.8%) within 100 mM. In the presence of 15 mM of ethanol, the degradation efficiency of cefazolin was remarkably decreased to 43.7% by the process, indicating the major role of (OH)-O-center dot in the destruction of target molecules. Acidic conditions favored the degradation efficiency of cefazolin by the modified EF process. Mineralization efficiency of the bio-refractory compound was obtained to be 70.1% in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) analysis after 300 min. The gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis was also implemented to identify the intermediate byproducts generated during the degradation of cefazolin in the CuFeNLDH-CNTs/EF reactor.Peer reviewe

Impact of microplastics on organic fouling of hollow fiber membranes

Given the potential hazards of microplastics (MPs), it is desirable to efficiently remove them during wastewater treatment processes. To this end, ultrafiltration (UF) membranes can significantly increase the removal of MPs, however the fouling of such membrane modules can also be impacted by the presence of MPs. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was used here to non-invasively quantify the effect of polyethylene (PE) MPs accumulation in a 3D UF hollow fiber (HF) membrane module containing 400 fibers, via direct non-invasive velocity imaging of the flow distribution between individual fibers during module operation. The co-effect of MPs and alginate (a common organic model foulant mimicking extracellular polymeric substances (EPS)) on fouling of the HF module was then explored. Flow was initially equally distributed with fouling causing flow in particular fibers to be significantly reduced. Fouling with MPs resulted in minimal flow distribution disruption and was easily remediated hydraulically, in contrast alginate fouling required chemical cleaning in order to fully restore homogeneous flow distribution between the fibers. The presence of both MPs and alginate resulted in a more heterogeneous disruption of the fibre flow distribution due to fouling and resulted in much more effective hydraulic cleaning of the module

Predictor Factors of Breastfeeding Attitude in Iranian Breastfeeding Mothers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Breastfeeding is an ideal nutritional method that has many benefits for mothers, infants and the health system.Negative attitude toward breastfeeding is accompanied with unpleasant consequences. We aimed to determine the predictors of breastfeeding attitude in Iranian breastfeeding mothers. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted on 346 mothers in the first 24-48 hours after delivery in selected hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran. Convenience and continuous sampling method was used in this study. The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS), Breastfeeding self-efficacy scale-shortform (BSES-SF(, and researcher made questioner for socio-demographic, obstetric and breastfeeding characteristics were used for data collection. Results: The mean score of attitude was 45.90 ± 4.68 out of 11-55, which indicates a positive attitude toward breastfeeding. The results showed a significant relationship between mother age, breastfeeding self-efficacy score, mother’s employment status, planned pregnancy, selected feeding method for infant, and the breastfeeding duration of the previous child with breastfeeding attitude score (

Antimicrobial Effect of Nano-Calcium Hydroxide on the Four- and Six-Week-Old Intra-Canal Enterococcus Faecalis Biofilm

Statement of the Problem: Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is one of the most important microorganisms in the evaluation of the antibacterial effects of intra-canal medications due to its ability to penetrate dentinal tubules and form biofilms. Calcium hydroxide, as the most common intra-canal medication, has little effect on this bacterial species. In contrast, it is hypothesized that nano scale hydroxide particles are more effective due to their smaller size and higher surface-to-volume ratio.Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial effect of nano-calcium hydroxide on the four- and six-week-old intra-canal E. faecalis biofilms.Materials and Method: In this in vitro study, seventy maxillary single-canal premolar teeth were used. After cleaning and preparing the root canals, the samples were placed in vials containing E. faecalis solution in which the culture medium was changed daily. Each group was divided into three subgroups (n=20) in terms of the antimicrobial material used as the intra-canal medication including subgroup 1: nano-calcium hydroxide, subgroup 2: calcium hydroxide, and subgroup 3: phosphate-buffered saline solution (control group). The antimicrobial property was measured by counting colony-forming units (CFU). The data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Statistical significance was set at p< 0.05.Results: The mean CFU in the six-week-old biofilm group was significantly higher than that in the four-week-old biofilm (p= 0.003). A comparison between the subgroups showed a significant decrease in CFU in the six-week-old biofilm in the nano-calcium hydroxide subgroup compared to that in the calcium hydroxide subgroup (p= 0.002). However, the decrease was not significant in the four-week-old biofilm group (p= 0.06).Conclusion: Under the limitations of the present study, the antimicrobial properties of nano-calcium hydroxide were higher than conventional calcium hydroxide on mature biofilm, whereas the antimicrobial properties were not clinically and significantly different on immature biofilm