Hematoporphyrin encapsulated polymeric nanomicelles

Nowadays, developements in nanotechnology have leeds an increased application of this newborn technology in cancer treatment. In this study, a stabilized micelle was developed to load HpD in order to be used in photodynamic treatment of cancer in an animal model. To construct micelles, Pluronic P-105 was used and stabilized to encapsulate HpD. This process includes a 24 h polymerization in which the first 3.5 h was in the presence of N2 purge and was continued at 65°C. In this reaction, NNDEA and benzoil peroxide (BP) were used for stabilization of micelles and initiation of reaction, respectively. DLS analysis of micelles revealed that the size of them before and after drug encapsulation was 14 nm and 23.5 nm, respectively. To assess drug loading, drug standard curve was obtained and its loading was obtained as 2 mg/ml. To extract free drug from complex, it was dialyzed against water and its stability profile was measured up to one month which was more than 80%. According to obtained results, this complex could be used to reduce side effects in photodynamic therapy. Besides, according to tumor characteristics and physical properties of micelles, it is possible to enhance drug release and uptake at tumor site

The Effect of Leadership Style on Organizational Optimism by Mediating Role of Psychological Climate

Although the impact of a leadership style has recognized over the years, there is a need for better understanding of its relationship with organizational optimism. This paper examines the impact of leadership style on organizational optimism with respect to the mediating role of psychological climate. Research method was applied based on aim and was quantitative based on data collecting with the approach of correlation. Based on a convenience method, 145 staff and professors working at Farhangian University were determined. To collect data, leadership style questionnaire (Lathans), psychological climate questionnaire (Koys & Decotiis) and organizational optimism questionnaire (Smith, Caputi & Crittenden) have used. For data analysis was used the Structural equation modeling. The results indicate that leadership style is not significantly related to organizational optimism, though psychological climate related positively to organizational optimism. The major hypothesis of this study also supported and results indicated (0.53) of the total effect of relationship-oriented leadership style indirectly explained by the psychological climate. According to the results, organizational optimism in University staff and professors can be improvement by using relationship-oriented leadership style

Effect of combined balance exercises and kinesio taping on balance, postural stability, and severity of ankle instability in female athletes with functional ankle instability

Ankle sprain is a common musculoskeletal injury, and recurrent ankle sprains often lead to ankle instability. This study aimed to examine whether a 6-week balance training on a wobble board (WB) combined with kinesio taping (KT) is effective in improving balance, postural stability, and ankle stability among female athletes with functional ankle instability (FAI). Twenty-four female athletes with FAI were randomly assigned to study (SG) or control groups (CG). SG attended a 6-week training protocol of combined balance training on the wobble board with KT applied to ankles during exercise. CG only went through a 6-week balance training procedure that was the same as the SG. Before and after the training program, balance and postural stability and the severity of ankle instability were assessed by single-leg Biodex Balance system and Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT), respectively. The analysis revealed that the scores of balance and postural stability decreased after the 6-week training for CG (p = 0.002) and SG (p = 0.001), which indicates an improvement for these variables, and the score of CAIT increased, which means the severity of instability reduced (p = 0.001 for both groups). Significant between-group differences were found for balance and postural stability (t = 2.79, p = 0.011, g = −1.99) and the severity of instability (t = 2.082, p = 0.049, g = 1.36), favoring SG compared with CG. This study showed that the addition of KT to balance training is more effective than balance training alone in improving balance, postural stability, and severity of ankle instability in female athletes with FAI. Our findings could provide a preliminary reference for designing combined balance and KT programs for delivering health benefits to females with FAI.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Expression Level of CCDC26 and FOXCUT Genes in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Background and Aim: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant disease of lymphoid progenitor cells affecting both children and adults. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are one kind of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), reported modulating the initiation or progression of diverse cancers. However, the role of CCDC26 and FOXCUT long non-coding RNAs in ALL has been unknown. In this study, we explored the expression of FOXCUT and CCDC26 lncRNAs in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines. Methods: Acute T lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines, RPMI 8402, Jurkat, B lymphoblastic leukemia, Daudi, and Ramos cell lines were used. After culturing the cells, RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were performed. The real-time PCR technique was then used to study the expression of CCDC26, FOXCUT, C-kit, and FOXC1 genes. Result: We found a significant increase of CCDC26 expression in RPMI 8402 (p <0.0001) and Ramos (p <0.05) cell lines compared to the control, while decreased expression of these genes was observed in Jurkat and Daudi cell lines. Furthermore, FOXCUT gene had a significant increase in expression in all cell lines compared to the control (p <0.01 in Daudi and RPMI 8402 cell lines) (p <0.001 in Jurkat and Ramos cell lines). Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that CCDC26 and FOXCUT genes can play a regulatory role in acute lymphoblastic leukemia and may serve as a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. *Corresponding Author: Seyed Hadi Mousavi, Email: [email protected]; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4686-5232 Please cite this article as: Barati S, Mousavi SH, Motallebzadeh-Khanmiri J, Khani-Eshratabdi M. The Expression Level of CCDC26 and FOXCUT Genes in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Arch Med Lab Sci. 2021;7:1-9 (e16). https://doi.org/10.22037/amls.v7.3329

The Role of Service Revival in the Influence of Ethical Marketing on Attitudinal Loyalty

The present study analyzed the circular role of service revival in the influence of ethical marketing on customers' attitudinal loyalty. The results have been obtained by examining the opinions of customers of LC Man clothing stores in Tehran. The research method is descriptive, which was implemented by the survey method. The sample size of the research was 384 people, which was obtained based on Cochran's formula based on an unknown statistical population. Non-probability sampling method was available. Data collection was done based on ethical marketing questionnaires by Safari et al. (2016), service revival by Sengupta et al. (2014), and attitudinal loyalty by Ivanchitzky et al. (2006). The validity of the questionnaires was examined and confirmed based on content validity using the opinions of experts, face validity based on the views of a number of statistical societies, and construct validity using the factor analysis method. Attitudinal loyalty was estimated at 0.84 and service recovery at 0.77. Data analysis was done at two levels, descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, including structural equation modeling by Smart-PLS statistical software. The results showed that ethical marketing and service revival has an effect on attitudinal loyalty with effect coefficients of 0.336 and 0.355, respectively, and ethical marketing has an effect on service restoration with an effective coefficient of 0.413. Finally, it can be said that ethical marketing has, directly and indirectly, affected the attitudinal loyalty of customers; In other words, service revival has played a mediating role in influencing ethical marketing on customers' attitudinal loyalty

Iranian EFL Learners’ Motivational Fluctuation in Task Performance over Different Timescales

Motivation for learning a new language does not have an all-or-none impact. It is gradually formed and fluctuated over time and on each timescale has varying levels of influence on a person’s endeavor to learn a language. At the present time, scholars claim that throughout the Second Language Development (SLD) different timescales interact with each other and this interaction is nonlinear, complex and dynamic in nature (de Bot, 2015). The present study attempted to investigate the motivational dynamics of a group of language learners in longer timescales composed of a number of tasks performed on shorter timescales. Ten participants were interviewed at the onset, while performing tasks and at the end of the course to better picture the interplay of different motivational themes over time. The findings confirmed temporal variation in participants’ motivation. Moreover, the data revealed the fact that motivational themes were not equally effective over the course and during task performance. In addition, participants’ motivation was composed of a web of interrelated and dynamic factors which varied over different timescales. Finally, some implications were driven from the findings of the study

Detection of Sea, Seb, Sec, Seq genes in staphylococcus aureus isolated from nasal carriers in Tehran province, Iran; by multiplex PCR

Staphylococcus(S.) aureus  produces different extra-cellular protein toxins and virulence factors. One of the most important extra-cellular proteins is an enterotoxin which causes staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) due to their enterotoxins. Different methods have been used to detect this toxin, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. DNA amplification methods, however, can show the presence of enterotoxigenic strains of S. aureus before the expression of enterotoxins on the basis of specific gene sequences. In this study, 150 S. aureus strains isolated from nasal carriers were confirmed by biochemical testing. PCR was used to amplify the staphylococcal enterotoxin A, B, C and Q genes, as well as the staphylococcal nuclease gene.  Among the 150 healthy human isolates from the nasal carrier, 95 were confirmed as S. aureus.  Only 58.9% of the isolates were diagnosed as sea, b, c, q positive. There were 24 (25.3%) isolates associated with the sea gene, 15.8% isolates associated with the seb gene, 9.5% of the isolates were associated with the sec gene, and 8.4% of the isolates associated with the seq gene. Of these isolates, 41% might be possessing additional se genes but they were not see (178 bp) and sed (319 bp) genes.  The nuc gene, which encodes thermo nuclease, was used as a target DNA to identify S. aureus. Additionally, one of these enterotoxigenic isolates carried more than one toxin gene

Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Estimates of demographic metrics are crucial to assess levels and trends of population health outcomes. The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations worldwide has underscored the need for timely estimates to understand this unprecedented event within the context of long-term population health trends. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 provides new demographic estimates for 204 countries and territories and 811 additional subnational locations from 1950 to 2021, with a particular emphasis on changes in mortality and life expectancy that occurred during the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: 22 223 data sources from vital registration, sample registration, surveys, censuses, and other sources were used to estimate mortality, with a subset of these sources used exclusively to estimate excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2026 data sources were used for population estimation. Additional sources were used to estimate migration; the effects of the HIV epidemic; and demographic discontinuities due to conflicts, famines, natural disasters, and pandemics, which are used as inputs for estimating mortality and population. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate under-5 mortality rates, which synthesised 30 763 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 1365 surveys and censuses, and 80 other sources. ST-GPR was also used to estimate adult mortality (between ages 15 and 59 years) based on information from 31 642 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 355 surveys and censuses, and 24 other sources. Estimates of child and adult mortality rates were then used to generate life tables with a relational model life table system. For countries with large HIV epidemics, life tables were adjusted using independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated via an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys, antenatal clinic serosurveillance, and other data sources. Excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 was determined by subtracting observed all-cause mortality (adjusted for late registration and mortality anomalies) from the mortality expected in the absence of the pandemic. Expected mortality was calculated based on historical trends using an ensemble of models. In location-years where all-cause mortality data were unavailable, we estimated excess mortality rates using a regression model with covariates pertaining to the pandemic. Population size was computed using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model. Life expectancy was calculated using age-specific mortality rates and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were calculated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered values from a 1000-draw posterior distribution. Findings: Global all-cause mortality followed two distinct patterns over the study period: age-standardised mortality rates declined between 1950 and 2019 (a 62·8% [95% UI 60·5–65·1] decline), and increased during the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020–21; 5·1% [0·9–9·6] increase). In contrast with the overall reverse in mortality trends during the pandemic period, child mortality continued to decline, with 4·66 million (3·98–5·50) global deaths in children younger than 5 years in 2021 compared with 5·21 million (4·50–6·01) in 2019. An estimated 131 million (126–137) people died globally from all causes in 2020 and 2021 combined, of which 15·9 million (14·7–17·2) were due to the COVID-19 pandemic (measured by excess mortality, which includes deaths directly due to SARS-CoV-2 infection and those indirectly due to other social, economic, or behavioural changes associated with the pandemic). Excess mortality rates exceeded 150 deaths per 100 000 population during at least one year of the pandemic in 80 countries and territories, whereas 20 nations had a negative excess mortality rate in 2020 or 2021, indicating that all-cause mortality in these countries was lower during the pandemic than expected based on historical trends. Between 1950 and 2021, global life expectancy at birth increased by 22·7 years (20·8–24·8), from 49·0 years (46·7–51·3) to 71·7 years (70·9–72·5). Global life expectancy at birth declined by 1·6 years (1·0–2·2) between 2019 and 2021, reversing historical trends. An increase in life expectancy was only observed in 32 (15·7%) of 204 countries and territories between 2019 and 2021. The global population reached 7·89 billion (7·67–8·13) people in 2021, by which time 56 of 204 countries and territories had peaked and subsequently populations have declined. The largest proportion of population growth between 2020 and 2021 was in sub-Saharan Africa (39·5% [28·4–52·7]) and south Asia (26·3% [9·0–44·7]). From 2000 to 2021, the ratio of the population aged 65 years and older to the population aged younger than 15 years increased in 188 (92·2%) of 204 nations. Interpretation: Global adult mortality rates markedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, reversing past decreasing trends, while child mortality rates continued to decline, albeit more slowly than in earlier years. Although COVID-19 had a substantial impact on many demographic indicators during the first 2 years of the pandemic, overall global health progress over the 72 years evaluated has been profound, with considerable improvements in mortality and life expectancy. Additionally, we observed a deceleration of global population growth since 2017, despite steady or increasing growth in lower-income countries, combined with a continued global shift of population age structures towards older ages. These demographic changes will likely present future challenges to health systems, economies, and societies. The comprehensive demographic estimates reported here will enable researchers, policy makers, health practitioners, and other key stakeholders to better understand and address the profound changes that have occurred in the global health landscape following the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and longer-term trends beyond the pandemic

The Role of Tourism in Creating Employment in Khorasan Razavi Province

Investment is a highly important economic variable that its increase or decrease can be a main cause of boom or recession in different economic sectors. It is also considered one of the most fundamental push factors in developing economic sectors. Tourism industry has a big share in Khorasan Razavi Province’s revenues. This papers aims to evaluate the impacts of tourism invesment on employment levels. In doing so, the study made use of an updated input – output (IO) table of Khorasan Razavi Province, and RAS method to develop and update the IO table. Results demonstrate that a one percent increase in the tourism investment (in Hotels and Restaurants), generates as many as 15,316 employment opportunites in the overal economy of the province, out of which 534 jobs are directly in tourism sector (equivalent to 3.5 % of total employment). The employment resulted from a one percent increase in the value-added of tourism, reflects a 58 percent share of employment in tourism sector and 42 percent in other activities