Differentiation of two closely related species of the genus Empoasca (Hem.: Cicadellidae)

پیش‌تر، گونه‌ای زنجرک از مزارع چغندرقند استان اصفهان به اشتباه به نام Empoasca decipiens (Paoli) گزارش شده است که در این نوشتار نام صحیح آن به‌صورت Empoasca meridiana Zachvatkin اعلام می‌گردد. گونه‌ی اخیر دارای سینونیم شناخته‌تری به نام Empoasca punjabensis Singh-Pruthi می‌باشد. گونه‌های آسیایی خویشاوند گونه‌ی E. decipiens، براساس شکل پیگوفر (pygofer) ژنیتالیای نر ازهم تفکیک می‌گردند، به‌طوری‌که پیگوفر در گونه‌یE. meridiana دوکی‌شکل ولی در گونه‌ی E. decipiens عدسی‌شکل می‌باشد

Macro vs Micro Limit Analysis models for the seismic assessment of in-plane masonry walls made with quasi-periodic bond types

Masonry bond patterns can considerably affect the seismic performance of in-plane walls. Although several numerical and experimental works addressed this topic, few attempts tried to investigate such an issue using analytical formulations. This paper aims to compare macro and micro limit analysis models investigating masonry walls arranged with different bond types, namely Running, Flemish and English. A dataset involving 81 combinations is generated by varying geometrical (panel aspect ratio, block aspect ratio, bond type) and mechanical (friction coefficient) parameters. Finally, one-way and two-way factor interactions are used to evaluate how each parameter affects the horizontal load multiplier and assess matching among the two adopted formulations.This work was partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit ISISE under reference UIDB/04029/2020. This study has been partly funded by the STAND4HERITAGE project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 833123), as an Advanced Gran

Affordability assessment from a static to dynamic concept: A scenario�based assessment of cardiovascular medicines

The out�of�pocket payments for prescription medications can impose a financial burden on patients from low� and middle� incomes and who suffer from chronic diseases. The present study aims at evaluating the affordability of cardiovascular disease (CVD) medication in Iran. This includes measuring affordability through World Health Organization/Health Action International (WHO/HAI) methodology. In this method, affordability is characterized as the number of daysʹ wages of the lowest�paid unskilled government worker. The different medication therapy scenarios are defined in mono�and combination therapy approaches. This method adds on to WHO/HAI methodology to discover new approaches to affordability assessments. The results show the differences in the medicines affordability when different approaches are used in mono�and combination therapy between 6 main sub�therapeutic groups of CVD. It indicates the medicine affordability is not a static concept and it changes dynamically between CVD therapeutic subgroups when it used alone or in combination with other medicines regarding patients� characteristics and medical conditions. Hypertension and anti�arrhythmia therapeutic groups had the most non-affordability and hyperlipidemia had the most affordable medicines. Therefore, affordability can be considered as a dynamic concept, which not only affected by the medicine price but significantly affected by a patient�s characteristics, the number of medical conditions, and insurance coverage. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Drug-related mutational patterns in hepatitis B virus (HBV) reverse transcriptase proteins from Iranian treatment-Naïve chronic HBV patients

Background: Immunomodulators and Nucleotide analogues have been used globally for the dealing of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, the development of drug resistance is a major limitation to their long-term effectiveness. Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize the hepatitis B virus reverse transcriptase (RT) protein variations among Iranian chronic HBV carriers who did not receive any antiviral treatments. Materials and Methods: Hepatitis B virus partial RT genes from 325 chronic in active carrier patients were amplified and directly sequenced. Nucleotide/amino acid substitutions were identified compared to the sequences obtained from the database. Results: All strains belonging to genotype D.365 amino-acid substitutions were found. Mutations related to lamivudine, adefovir, telbivudine, and entecavir occurred in (YMDD) 4% (n = 13), (SVQ) 17.23% (n = 56), (M204I/V + L180M) 2.45% (n = 8) and (M204I) 2.76% (n = 9) of patients, respectively. Conclusions: RT mutants do occur naturally and could be found in HBV carriers who have never received antiviral therapy. However, mutations related to drug resistance in Iranian treatment-naïve chronic HBV patients were found to be higher than other studies published formerly. Chronic HBV patients should be monitored closely prior the commencement of therapy to achieve the best regimen option. © 2013, KOWSAR Corp

Evolution of hepatitis B virus surface gene and protein among Iranian chronic carriers from different provinces

Background and Objectives: Iranian chronic HBV carrier�s population has shown a unique pattern of genotype D distribution all around the country. The aim of this study was to explore more details of evolutionary history of carriers based on structural surface proteins from different provinces. Materials and Methods: Sera obtained from 360 isolates from 12 Different regions of country were used for amplification and sequencing of surface proteins. A detailed mutational analysis was undertaken. Results: The total ratio for Missense/Silent nucleotide substitutions was 0.96. Sistan and Kermanshah showed the lowest rate of evolution between provinces (P = 0.055). On the other hand, Khorasan Razavi and Khoozestan contained the highest ratio (P = 0.055). The rest of regions were laid between these two extremes. Azarbayjan and Guilan showed the highest proportion of immune epitope distribution (91.3 and 96, respectively). Conversely, Sistan and Tehran harbored the least percentage (66.6 and 68.8, respectively). Kermanshah province contained only 5.2, whereas Isfahan had 54.5 of B cell epitope distribution. In terms of T helper epitopes, all provinces showed a somehow homogeneity: 22.58 (Fars) to 46.6 (Khuzestan). On the other hand, distribution of substitutions within the CTL epitopes showed a wide range of variation between 6.6 (Khuzestan) and 63 (Kermanshah). Conclusion: Further to low selection pressure found in Iranian population, the variations between different regions designate random genetic drift within the surface proteins. These finding would have some applications in terms of specific antiviral regimen, design of more efficient vaccine and public health issues. © 2015, Tehran University of Medical Science. All rights reserved

Hepatitis B virus genotype D is the only genotype circulating in Iranian chronic carriers, the unique pattern of genotypic homogeneity

Aim: To characterize the hepatitis B virus surface protein genotypes and sequence variations among HBsAg positive chronic Iranian patients from different ethnic groups. Method: The surface genes from 312 patients were amplified and directly sequenced. Results: All strains (100) belonged to genotype D and subtypes ayw2. The average nucleotide mutation frequency was 0.91 (dN/dS < 1.0), indicated negative selection. There was no significant correlation between HBV DNA and ALT levels and the occurrence of amino acid substitutions. However, in terms of HBeAg/Anti-HBe status, the association between both groups for silent nucleotide mutation was strong, indicating selection bias on missense mutations. A higher number of amino acid mutations was found in anti-HBe positive versus HBeAg positive patients.Conclusion: The uniqueness pattern of HBV genetics hemogeniety together with the low mutational frequency indicated that HBV has introduced to Iran recently and isolation of people in the absence of intermixing with other genotypes led to a homologous pattern. © 2014 ACT

Amino acid substitutions within HLA-B*27- restricted T cell epitopes prevent recognition by hepatitis delta virus-specific CD8+ T cells

Virus-specific CD8 T cell response seems to play a significant role in the outcome of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection. However, the HDV-specific T cell epitope repertoire and mechanisms of CD8 T cell failure in HDV infection have been poorly characterized. We therefore aimed to characterize HDV-specific CD8 T cell epitopes and the impacts of viral mutations on immune escape. In this study, we predicted peptide epitopes binding the most frequent human leukocyte antigen (HLA) types and assessed their HLA binding capacities. These epitopes were characterized in HDV-infected patients by intracellular gamma interferon (IFN-γ) staining. Sequence analysis of large hepatitis delta antigen (L-HDAg) and HLA typing were performed in 104 patients. The impacts of substitutions within epitopes on the CD8 T cell response were evaluated experimentally and by in silico studies. We identified two HLA-B*27-restricted CD8 T cell epitopes within L-HDAg. These novel epitopes are located in a relatively conserved region of L-HDAg. However, we detected molecular footprints within the epitopes in HLA-B*27-positive patients with chronic HDV infections. The variant peptides were not cross-recognized in HLA-B*27-positive patients with resolved HDV infections, indicating that the substitutions represent viral escape mutations. Molecular modeling of HLA-B*27 complexes with the L-HDAg epitope and its potential viral escape mutations indicated that the structural and electrostatic properties of the bound peptides differ considerably at the T cell receptor interface, which provides a possible molecular explanation for the escape mechanism. This viral escape from the HLA-B*27-restricted CD8 T cell response correlates with a chronic outcome of hepatitis D infection. T cell failure resulting from immune escape may contribute to the high chronicity rate in HDV infection. © 2018 American Society for Microbiology

The United States COVID-19 Forecast Hub dataset

Academic researchers, government agencies, industry groups, and individuals have produced forecasts at an unprecedented scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. To leverage these forecasts, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with an academic research lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub. Launched in April 2020, the Forecast Hub is a dataset with point and probabilistic forecasts of incident cases, incident hospitalizations, incident deaths, and cumulative deaths due to COVID-19 at county, state, and national, levels in the United States. Included forecasts represent a variety of modeling approaches, data sources, and assumptions regarding the spread of COVID-19. The goal of this dataset is to establish a standardized and comparable set of short-term forecasts from modeling teams. These data can be used to develop ensemble models, communicate forecasts to the public, create visualizations, compare models, and inform policies regarding COVID-19 mitigation. These open-source data are available via download from GitHub, through an online API, and through R packages