Investigation of the Mechanism of the Gene Regulation of OPG (Osteoprotegerin) by Cx43

poster abstractThe main objective is to determine whether the gene regulation of OPG, osteoprotegerin, by Cx43, is at the promoter level. In a recent project, it was found that deletion in Cx43 from osteocytes resulted in a decreased OPG expression. Furthermore, it was found that deletion of Cx43 from osteocytes resulted in enhanced osteoclast differentiation. Osteoprotegerin (OPG), an osteoblast-secreted decoy receptor that modulates osteoclast formation could be directly controlled by Cx43 at the promoter binding sites of p53 and Sp1. Cx43 and OPG in turn are widely up regulated by Wnt, lipid-modified signaling proteins that influence cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. The activation of Wnt signaling results in the binding of the transcription factor Tcf in gene promoters, which leads to increased gene expression. The investigation was carried out using reporter constructs in which the activation of the promoter resulted in the transcription of the enzyme luciferase. Luciferase activity, in turn, can be measured using a commercially available substrate that emits luminescence when luciferase is present. OPG-Luc and Tcf-Luc were grown in E. coli and purified using a kit from Qiagen. Transfection of OPG 1 and Tcf-Luc reporter constructs on MLO-Y4 osteocyte cells deleted for Cx43 (Cx43shRNA) and Cx37 (Cx37shRNA) was conducted after seeding of the cells a day in advance. For each cell line, regular and Lithium Chloride (to mimic the effects of Wnt) induced medium was used, and cells were cultured for 24h. From the assay, it was deemed that luciferase activity was higher in Wnt induced cells. OPG is a target of Wnt signaling downstream of the transcription factor Tcf. We therefore also measure Tcf-mediated transcription using a Tcf-luciferase construct. Expression of OPG-Luc and Tcf-Luc was higher in cell lines that are not silenced for Cx43 and Cx37. According to ANOVA test, the results did reach statistical significance. However, future trials will be conducted to mimic the results

Numerical heat transfer modelling of staggered array impinging jets

A numerical study of flow field and heat transfer rate in external flow of a novel heat exchanger (Anglia Ruskin University, 2001) was conducted. The design comprises of confined impinging jets from a staggered bundle of tubes in which the fluid flows in an opposite staggered arrangement array after impingement. The RNG k-ε model and enhanced wall treatment near wall turbulence modelling was applied to model a three-dimensional computational domain. The accuracy of the model was validated in two- and three-dimensional cases for single impinging jets with available experimental results. The arrangement of the staggered array was fixed Sn/D=2.1 and Sp/D=1.6 where Sn and Sp are the distances between tubes transverse and parallel to fluid flow respectively and D was the hydraulic diameter of tubes. The dimensionless tubes to impinging surface distance (H/D) were in the range of 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 and the Reynolds number based on the tubes’ hydraulic diameter and average fluid velocity at the exit of tubes in the range of 1000, 5000, and 20000 were studied. The global heat transfer rate on both impinging and confinement plates increased with decreasing of H/D and increasing of Reynolds number; however, the slope of increasing Reynolds number was sharper in low H/Ds. The friction factor increased with a decreasing H/D and an increasing of the Reynolds number. The local Nusselt number was studied on both impinging and confinement plates. The temperature contours and velocity vectors are also presented. Keywords: bundle of impinging jets, jet to jet interaction, RNG k-ε, enhanced wall treatment

EFFECT OF WATER-SUPERABSORBENT AND DROUGHT ON SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH IN SOME WARM SEASON PLANTS

Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses in Iran’s agriculture and annually causes many damages to plant productions. This study was designed to determine effect of water-superabsorbent polymer and drought on seedling establishment and growth in some warm season plants (foxtail millet, dill and fenugreek). This experiment was conducted as a pot experiment at Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University. In the pot experiment, effect of water-superabsornbent polymer (0, 0.02, 0.04 and 0.08 grams per kilogram of soil) and drought (favorable and long-term irrigation) on warm season plants were investigated. Results showed that by increasing water-superabsorbent polymer application, seedling fresh weight, seedling dry weight, seedling height, emergence percentage and rate were increased. Drought reduced mentioned traits, but water-superabsorbent was able to reduce drought negative effects partially. Regarding results, for high emergence in foxtail millet, fenugreek and dill, application of 0.08 g of superabsorbent per kilogram of soil is usefull, especially under drought condition

Survey of Bibliotherapy in Hospital Libraries of Iran Based on SWOT Model

Abstract Purpose: The present study was performed with aim to survey bibliotherapy in hospital libraries of Iran based on SWOT model. Methods / Approach: The current applied research has been conducted through a survey method. The statistical population of the study consisted of 30 librarians and managers of 14 hospital libraries in Iran. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of 7 dimensions and 80 questions. Its validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach\u27s alpha coefficient. Results: Hospital libraries of Mashhad had strength in 19 components and had basic weakness in 31 components. Also, the most important opportunities for hospital libraries were: the presence of new advances in the field of information technology, the impact of increased numer of educated people and the level of community literacy on bibliotherapy, the presence of young and specialized staff in the country; and the most important threats were: an increase in the inflation rate of the community, no attention of the Ministry of Health officials to book and bibliotherapy. Conclusion: Although the value and position of bibliotherapy are obvious to librarians, but the existing problems have caused that bibliotherapy was not be able to get the required place in the planning of libraries

Improvement of SCP production and BOD removal of whey with mixed yeast culture

This research emphasizes on single cell protein (SCP) production and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) removal from whey with mixed yeast culture. For this purpose, 11 yeast strains were isolated from dairy products (M1-M11) and the strains were identified by morphological and physiological properties. These yeast strains were tested for their ability to reduce the BOD and to produce SCP from whey. Among these strains, K. lactis (M2) had the most SCP production from whey with the yield of 11.79 g/l. Ammonium sulphate as nitrogen source had an increasing effect on biomass yield. The mixed culture of the isolated yeast strains with Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used in order to increase the biomass yield and BOD removal. The highest biomass yield (22.38 g/l) and reduction of initial BOD from 30000 to 3450 mg/l were obtained with the mixed culture of K. lactis (M2) and S. cerevisiae

An analytical approach for analysis and optimisation of slider bearings with infinite width parallel textures

This paper introduces an analytical approach to study the textured surfaces in hydrodynamic lubrication regime. For this purpose, a method of integrating the Reynolds equation for slider bearings with surface discontinuities is presented. By introducing appropriate dimensionless parameters, analytical relations for various texture profiles in both indented and projected forms are delivered. These relations express the nature of mathematical dependence between textured bearing performance measures and geometrical/operational parameters. An optimisation procedure is employed to achieve the optimum texturing parameters promoting maximum load capacity, load capacity to lubricant flow rate ratio and minimum friction coefficient for asymmetric partially textured slider bearings

Dynamics of bacteriophages as a promising antibiofilm agents

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an ubiquitous organism which has emerged as a major threat in the hospital environment. Overuse of antibiotics has also significantly increased the emergence of antimicrobial multiresistant bacteria. P. aeruginosa has an innate ability to adhere to surfaces and form virulent biofilms. Bacteriophage might represent one attractive solution to this problem. In this study, P.aeruginosa phage were utilized to Biofilm inhibition and remove.Sample collected from University sewage. Isolation was done according to Martha.R.J.Clokie protocol. Serial dilution prepared, then equally incubated with bacteria to investigate Biofilm inhibition potential. Biofilm formed base on Microplate Biofilm Assay. The effect of isolated phage investigated on biofilm remove of Pseudomonas putida, E.coli and Acinetobacter baumanii. P.aeruginosa biofilm had OD: 1.688 in 492n.m. Pure phage, 10-2 and 10-3 diluted phage decreased OD to 1.587, 1.341 and 1.461, respectively. Isolated phage dramatically decline OD of Biofilm of all strains.Phages have various affinity to attach to hosts, thereby it is supposed to phages compete for their receptors. Therefore it is supposed phages have most efficiency in optimum concentration to remove biofilm or growth inhibition

Machine Learning role in clinical decision-making: Neuro-rehabilitation video game

In this study, we investigated the potential use of Machine Learning algorithms (ML) to predict the outcome of home-based neuro-rehabilitation video game intervention and its advantage in supporting clinical decision-making. We adopted Support Vector Machines (SVM) and K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) to develop multidimensional functions (multi-variable Kernel functions) since both algorithms were considered significant and active analysis agents for prediction and classification. Supervised SVM and KNN algorithms were trained using the upper extremity (arm, forearm, and hand) joints’ kinematic data and hand gestures of participants while interacting with the developed video games. Data collected from healthy and Multiple sclerosis (MS) participants were compared and used to develop the predictive algorithm. Pre- and post-rehabilitation data of MS subjects were investigated and used to assess the subject’s functional improvements following the program. Bayesian optimization, Sigmoid, polynomial, and Gaussian Radial Basis functions were utilized for training and predicting outcomes. The results showed that the first two kernel regressions had the best performance regarding predictability and cross-validation loss. KNN’s prediction accuracy was exceeded by 91.7% versus SVM, which was 88.0%. The effectiveness of the rehabilitation program was assessed through Spatiotemporal control and motor assessment scale presenting 40% improvement. Our findings suggest that ML has a great potential to be used for decision-making in neuro-rehabilitation programs