Carbohydrate Detection and Lectin Isolation from Tegumental Tissue of Fasciola hepatica

"nBackground: Fascioliasis is a chronic hepatic disease and may be resulted from mechani­cal/molecular parasite adhesion to host liver tissue. The aim of this study was to detect surface car­bohydrate and lectin, carbohydrate-binding protein isolation that might be responsible of this molecular binding."nMethods: The present experimental work was conducted in the Department of Medical Parasitol­ogy and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Te­hran, Iran.  Fasciola hepatica parasites were collected from abattoir (Saman, Tehran, Iran) and surface mannose-carbohydrate was detected by fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) conju­gated lectin (Lentil). Lectin of tegumental tissue from F. hepatica was isolated by affinity chroma­tography and detected by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)."nResults: Mannose carbohydrate was observed on the surface of tegumental tissue from para­site under fluorescence microscope. Carbohydrate-binding protein or lectin with MW of 50 kDa also was isolated from homogenized tegument of helminth."nConclusion: These results are important for understanding of molecular pathogenesis of F. hepat­ica at the chronic phase of fascioliasi

Association of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) Gene Polymorphism and Diabetic Nephropathy

Angiotensin I-converting Enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism; genotype DD or D allele may be involved with an increased susceptibility to type 2 diabetes and diabetic nephropathy (DN). We examined the frequency of ACE gene polymorphism in 170 patients (85 type 2 diabetes with nephropathy and 85 without it) in Tehran, Iran. DNA was extracted from the white blood cells and the I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene was detected by PCR. The frequency of DD, ID and II genotypes in type 2 diabetic patients were 20%, 61.2% and 18.8%, and in patients with nephropathy 30.6%, 55.3%, 14.1%, respectively. The DD genotype of the DN group was higher than that of the type 2 diabetes patients (30.6% vs 20%, P=0.157, RR=1.3) and the control group (30.6% vs 14.3%, P=0.006, RR=2.9). The frequency of D allele in nephropathic patients was 58.2% as compared to the type 2 diabetic patients without nephropathy (50.5%) P=0.19, RR=1.16. The D allele frequency in the DN group was found slightly higher than of the type 2 diabetes (X2=0.684, OR=0.709, 95%CI: 0.313-1.606, P=0.408) which indicated the D allele was not associated with DN. It is suggested that DD genotype and D allele are not associated with diabetic nephropathy

Recent progress and future trends on damage identification methods for bridge structures

Damage identification forms a key objective in structural health monitoring. Several state-of-the-art review papers regarding progress in this field up to 2011 have been published. This paper summarizes the recent progress between 2011 and 2017 in the area of damage identification methods for bridge structures. This paper is organized based on the classification of bridge infrastructure in terms of fundamental structural systems, namely, beam bridges, truss bridges, arch bridges, cable-stayed bridges, and suspension bridges. The overview includes theoretical developments, enhanced simulation attempts, laboratory-scale implementations, full-scale validation, and the summary for each type of bridges. Based on the offered review, some challenges, suggestions, and future trends in damage identification are proposed. The work can be served as a basis for both academics and practitioners, who seek to implement damage identification methods in next-generation structural health monitoring systems