Determination and estimation of Cadmium intake from Tarom rice

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most well-known environmental intoxicants to humans. Its entrance to food chain causes the serious damage in humans. One of the major sources of Cadmium intake is rice for rice eating countries such as Iran. Cadmium in rice comes from soil through plant roots. Thus, Rice may be the best indicator for the environment monitoring of Cadmium especially in rice eating countries. The aims of this study were to determine of Cd contents in tarom rice and to assess Cadmium intake from rice. A total of 60 samples were collected from four areas of Qaemshahr region in Mazandaran province (North of Iran). The samples were collected in during harvesting of rice in filed. Rice samples were digested by acid digestion method and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometer. To assess the daily intake of Cd by rice, from daily consumption of rice was calculated. The results showed that average concentration of Cd in rice was 0.41±0.17 mg/kg dry wt. Notably the Cd content in the rice samples was found to be upper the FAO/WHO Guidelines. Also weekly intake of Cd from rice was upper than the maximum weekly intake recommended by WHO/FAO. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management Vol. 10(3) 2006: 147-15

Industrial Equipment’s Throughput Capacity Analysis

Throughput capacity (TC) is defined as the total amount of material processed or produced by the system in the given time. In practice, full capacity performance for industrial equipment is impossible because the failures are affected and cause a reduction. Therefore, failure interruptions, especially critical ones (bottlenecks), must be detected and considered in production management. From the point of production view, the bottleneck has the lowest production or performance. Most of the previous works used the availability and related importance measures as performance indicators and prioritization of subsystems. However, these measures cannot consider system production in their prioritization. This paper presents a bottleneck detection framework based on system performance and production capacity integration. The integrated approach is used to assess the loading and hauling subsystems of Golgohar Iron Mine, Iran. As a result of the analysis, the hauling subsystem identifies the system’s bottleneck

The preventive effects of natural adjuvants, G2 and G2F on tracheal responsiveness and serum IL-4 and IFN-? (th1/th2 balance) in sensitized guinea pigs

OBJECTIVE: The effects of natural adjuvants on lung inflammation and tracheal responsiveness were examined in sensitized guinea pigs. METHODS: The responses of guinea pig tracheal chains and the serum levels of interleukin-4 and interferon-gamma were examined in control pigs and three other groups of guinea pigs: the sensitized group and two other sensitized groups treated with either adjuvant G2 or adjuvant G2F (n = 7 for each group). Sensitization of the animals was achieved by injection and inhalation of ovalbumin. RESULTS: The results showed that sensitized animals had increased tracheal responsiveness and increased serum levels of interleukin-4 and interferon-gamma compared to controls (

A comprehensive review of a data centre for a cooling system

Cyber-Physical-Social Systems, commercial enterprises, and social networking use data centers to store, process, and distribute massive amounts of data. A data center serves as the foundation for all of these endeavors. The data center's workload and power consumption are increasing rapidly due to the demand for remote data services. Mechanical refrigeration and terminal cooling are the most critical components for most cooling systems. There is a way to transfer heat from the data center to the outside environment, but it's a complicated process. Air cooling systems and technology are most useful for room cooling and rack-level cooling. Because of their superior cooling performance and higher energy efficiency, air cooling has attracted more attention than water cooling in most existing data centers. The chillers and fans consume the most power of all the cooling equipment in the system. These methods can be divided into mechanism-based methods and data-driven methods for energy management of the cooling system. Operation management of cooling equipment is proposed to reduce power consumption, mainly using predictive model control and reinforcement learning-based methods. An overview of the data center's cooling system is presented in this paper, which focuses on the most common cooling solutions, power consumption modeling methods, and optimization control strategies, among others. In addition, the data center's cooling system is described as a current and future issue

Catalytic decomposition of 2-chlorophenol using an ultrasonicassisted Fe3O4–TiO2@MWCNT system: influence factors, pathway and mechanism study

As a reusable sonocatalyst, magnetically separable Fe3O4–TiO2@MWCNT (FMT) was synthesized by an ultrasound-assisted wet impregnation method and was evaluated in the removal of 2-chlorophenol (2CP). Physical and chemical properties of the catalyst composite materials were investigated by All catalysts were systematically characterized using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), and N2-physisorption. The efficiency and kinetics of 2CP removal by FMT-assisted sonocatalysis (FMT-US) was systematically investigated under various operational parameters i.e. pH, FMT and 2CP concentration, temperature and ultrasonic power. The results indicated that 0.4 g L-1 FMT dosage, pH 5, temperature of 35℃ as well as 50 w ultrasound power are the most favorable conditions for the degradation of the 2CP. Furthermore, both of the superoxide and hydroxyl radicals were produced in the reaction, however, superoxide radicals were assumed to be the dominating reactive species for the 2CP degradation, according to the scavenging tests and electron paramagnetic resonance tests. Moreover, the FMT catalyst exhibited a high reusability and stability in the US/FMT system during the five repetitive experiments. The intermediate products were identified by GC–MS, thereby a possible degradation pathway is proposed. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and corresponding total organic carbon (TOC) removal efficiencies were 64.9% and 56.7%, respectively. Finally, toxicity tests showed that the toxicity of the solution increased during the first 5 min and then decreased significantly with the progress of the oxidation. The mechanisms of ultrasound irritation enhanced FMT activation were also proposed

Cancer-associated mesenchymal stem/stromal cells: role in progression and potential targets for therapeutic approaches

Malignancies contain a relatively small number of Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), constituting a crucial tumor microenvironment (TME) component. These cells comprise approximately 0.01–5% of the total TME cell population. MSC differentiation potential and their interaction with the tumor environment enable these cells to affect tumor cells’ growth, immune evasion, metastasis, drug resistance, and angiogenesis. This type of MSC, known as cancer-associated mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (CA-MSCs (interacts with tumor/non-tumor cells in the TME and affects their function by producing cytokines, chemokines, and various growth factors to facilitate tumor cell migration, survival, proliferation, and tumor progression. Considering that the effect of different cells on each other in the TME is a multi-faceted relationship, it is essential to discover the role of these relationships for targeting in tumor therapy. Due to the immunomodulatory role and the tissue repair characteristic of MSCs, these cells can help tumor growth from different aspects. CA-MSCs indirectly suppress antitumor immune response through several mechanisms, including decreasing dendritic cells (DCs) antigen presentation potential, disrupting natural killer (NK) cell differentiation, inducing immunoinhibitory subsets like tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and Treg cells, and immune checkpoint expression to reduce effector T cell antitumor responses. Therefore, if these cells can be targeted for treatment so that their population decreases, we can hope for the treatment and improvement of the tumor conditions. Also, various studies show that CA-MSCs in the TME can affect other vital aspects of a tumor, including cell proliferation, drug resistance, angiogenesis, and tumor cell invasion and metastasis. In this review article, we will discuss in detail some of the mechanisms by which CA-MSCs suppress the innate and adaptive immune systems and other mechanisms related to tumor progression

Detection of astrocytic tau pathology facilitates recognition of chronic traumatic encephalopathy neuropathologic change

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with the development of a range of neurodegenerative pathologies, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Current consensus diagnostic criteria define the pathognomonic cortical lesion of CTE neuropathologic change (CTE-NC) as a patchy deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau in neurons, with or without glial tau in thorn-shaped astrocytes, typically towards the depths of sulci and clustered around small blood vessels. Nevertheless, although incorporated into consensus diagnostic criteria, the contribution of the individual cellular components to identification of CTE-NC has not been formally evaluated. To address this, from the Glasgow TBI Archive, cortical tissue blocks were selected from consecutive brain donations from contact sports athletes in which there was known to be either CTE-NC (n = 12) or Alzheimer’s disease neuropathologic change (n = 4). From these tissue blocks, adjacent tissue sections were stained for tau antibodies selected to reveal either solely neuronal pathology (3R tau; GT-38) or mixed neuronal and astroglial pathologies (4R tau; PHF-1). These stained sections were then randomised and independently assessed by a panel of expert neuropathologists, blind to patient clinical history and primary antibody applied to each section, who were asked to record whether CTE-NC was present. Results demonstrate that, in sections stained for either 4R tau or PHF-1, consensus recognition of CTE-NC was high. In contrast, recognition of CTE-NC in sections stained for 3R tau or GT-38 was poor; in the former no better than chance. Our observations demonstrate that the presence of both neuronal and astroglial tau pathologies facilitates detection of CTE-NC, with its detection less consistent when neuronal tau pathology alone is visible. The combination of both glial and neuronal pathologies, therefore, may be required for detection of CTE-NC

Exosomes from Adipose Tissue-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Induce Regulatory T Cells in COVID‐19 Patients

An imbalance between regulatory T (Treg) and T-helper (Th)-17 cells has been implicated in the pathogenesis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exert immunomodulatory properties through secreting exosomes. This study aimed to assess the effect of MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-Exo) on the differentiation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) into  Tregs from patients with COVID-19. Exosomes were isolated from adipose tissue–derived MSCs. PBMCs were separated from the whole blood of COVID-19 patients (n=20). Treg frequency was assessed before and 48 hours after treatment of PBMCs with MSC-Exo using flow cytometry. Expression of FOXP3 and cytokine genes, and the concentration of cytokines associated with Tregs, were assessed before and after treatment with MSC-Exo. The frequency of CD4+CD25+CD127-  Tregs was significantly higher after treating PBMCs with MSC-Exo (6.695±2.528) compared to before treatment (4.981±2.068). The expressions of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, interleukin (IL)-10, and FOXP3 were significantly upregulated in MSC-Exo–treated PBMCs. The concentration of IL‐10 increased significantly after treatment (994.7±543.9 pg/mL) of PBMCs with MSC-Exo compared with before treatment (563.5±408.6 pg/mL). The concentration of TGF-β was significantly higher in the supernatant of PBMCs after treatment with MSC-Exo (477.0±391.1 pg/mL) than PBMCs before treatment (257.7±226.3 pg/mL). MSC-Exo has the potential to raise anti-inflammatory responses by induction of  Tregs, potentiating its therapeutic effects in COVID-19

The role of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-) in the transdifferentiation of islets of Langerhans to duct-like epithelial structures /

The process of islet isolation destroys extracellular matrix and eliminates potentially important inter-cellular relationships. We have previously shown that isolated islets embedded in a type I collagen gel, in the presence of a defined medium, undergo a phenotypic switch to duct-like epithelial structures through a process known as transdifferentiation. The aim of this study was to characterize the specific effectors implicated in islet cell transdifferentiation in order to better understand the factors that confer morphogenetic stability on cells in the isolated islets.We demonstrated cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for TGF-beta isoforms over 8 days post isolation using canine islets. Islet-to-duct epithelial transdifferentiation was correlated with the total amount of TGF-beta and was maximal at 48 h of culture. Up regulation of TGF-betaRI and TGF-betaRII expression on day 2 post-isolation was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis, and correlated temporally with the induction of cell proliferation. The presence of TGF-beta1 in culture supernatants was detected using the PAI/L assay. The peak TGF-beta1 level was 10.94 +/- 2.27 pM (active form) and 52.23 +/- 1.57 pM (total TGF-beta) at 48h. Addition of exogenous TGF-beta1 at different concentrations caused an accelerated and more pronounced epithelial transformation at 5--10 ng/mL compared to lower concentrations (0.5--1 ng/mL).These studies confirm the biological potential of islets of Langerhans to transdifferentiate to duct epithelial structures. TGF-beta signal transduction appears to play an important role in this process

Availability Importance Measure for Various Operation Condition

The concept of availability importance measures can be used to identifying critical components from the availability performance point of view. The availability of an item depends on the combined aspects of its reliability and maintainability performance indices. These indices are considerably affected by operational and environmental conditions such as; ambient temperature, precipitation, wind, etc. Thus, different subsystems or components’ availability in various conditions changes the performance priority of the system. In this way, the paper used the availability importance measure considering the operating environment for a mining fleet consisting of one shovel and six trucks. The reliability and maintainability characteristic of machines considering all influence factors (covariates) is analysed using by Cox regression model. The availability importance measure in two scenarios demonstrated that subsystem criticality changes in various conditions and the appropriate decisions should be made on different operational conditions