MicroRNA-129-1 acts as tumour suppressor and induces cell cycle arrest of GBM cancer cells through targeting IGF2BP3 and MAPK1

Background MicroRNA-129-1 (miR-129-1) seems to behave as a tumour suppressor since its decreased expression is associated with different tumours such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). GBM is the most common form of brain tumours originating from glial cells. The impact of miR-129-1 downregulation on GBM pathogenesis has yet to be elucidated. Methods MiR-129-1 was overexpressed in GBM cells, and its effect on proliferation was investigated by cell cycle assay. MiR-129-1 predicted targets (CDK6, IGF1, HDAC2, IGF2BP3 and MAPK1) were also evaluated by western blot and luciferase assay. Results Restoration of miR-129-1 reduced cell proliferation and induced G1 accumulation, significantly. Several functional assays confirmed IGF2BP3, MAPK1 and CDK6 as targets of miR-129-1. Despite the fact that IGF1 expression can be suppressed by miR-129-1, through 30-untranslated region complementary sequence, we could not find any association between IGF1 expression and GBM. MiR-129-1 expression inversely correlates with CDK6, IGF2BP3 and MAPK1 in primary clinical samples. Conclusion This is the first study to propose miR129-1 as a negative regulator of IGF2BP3 and MAPK1 and also a cell cycle arrest inducer in GBM cells. Our data suggests miR-129-1 as a potential tumour suppressor and presents a rationale for the use of miR-129-1 as a novel strategy to improve treatment response in GBM

Pelvic floor dysfunction and polycystic ovary syndrome

Objectives: To compare the prevalence of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction (PFMD) in patients with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS); to test PFMD in women with different PCOS phenotypes. Methods: This was a case-control study of 202 women who were recruited in an infertility clinic in Hormozgan, Iran: PCOS (n=103) and control groups who were healthy women whose husbands were diagnosed with male infertility (n=99). According to the presence or absence of menstrual dysfunction (M), hyperandrogenism (HA) and polycystic ovaries on ultrasonoghraphy (PCO), patients with PCOS were divided into three phenotypes: HA+PCO, M+PCO and M+HA+PCO. PFMD was assessed by the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 (PFDI-20. Results: The reported PFMD symptoms were higher in PCOS (P=0.05) than the non-PCOS group. The mean PFDI score in the HA+M+PCO was higher compared to other phenotypes, although the difference did not reach significance level (P>0.05). The mean LH level was higher in HA+M+PCO than the two other phenotypes. There was a significant positive correlation between LH level and PFDI score (P<0.04). Conclusion: The findings suggest that a high level of LH may cause PFMD. Further studies are needed to determine the precise role of LH levels and potential treatment options in women with PCOS and PFMD. Keywords: polycystic ovary syndrome, pelvic floor distress inventory, pelvic floor muscle dysfunctio

The Role of mathematical thought in the improvement of architecture students’ abilities on logical aspects of design

Background and Objectives: Architectural education as a challengeable subject is dependent on multiple variables. Since formation of an architect character and learning design abilities are related to this subject, it is so sensitive.  Historically, the role of mathematics and application of its different aspects in architectural design is indisputable. While recent decades have witnessed a high level of interaction between mathematics and architecture in the world, mathematics in architectural education in Iran is still being taught as a basic course through the lecture method. A great concern in learning architectural design is how to apply the basic courses in design process. Methods: According to the necessity of revising the role of mathematics in education of architectural design, and developing new approaches to apply mathematical thought in logical process of design, the present study aims to test an educational model in an environment consisting of test and control groups in the Basic Design 1 & 2 courses, using the proposed model of Lawson as well as quasi-experimental research method. The research subjects are selected among BA students of Islamic Azad University of Urmia (n=52). They provided logical solutions for design problems, using algebraic, arithmetic, geometric and symbolic aspects of mathematics. The subjects’ design abilities were evaluated by the performance measurement method based on verdict criteria. The researchers determined two groups of mathematical and architectural design measurement criteria. For design, the criteria included design conceptual quality, spatial and functional arrangement, form combination, presentation quality, creativity and final grade.  Findings: The final grades of four research projects executed in two studios were respectively for design 62.57,66.29, 71.30, 75.31 and for mathematics 64.99, 69.27, 71.72 and 74.9. The correlation between design and mathematics evaluation scores for project 1 of the studio 1 (ƿ=0.594) and project 2 of the studio 2 (ƿ=0.604) is independently obvious which indicates the strong combination between mathematics and design aspects in these projects. For the project 2 of the studio 1, the correlation was low (ƿ= 0.166). The possible explanation could be based on the lack of real materials application and the experiment of altering theory analysis to practical analysis. The correlation between design evaluation scores and mathematics application (ƿ=0.384) reveals a positive role for mathematical thought in developing logical solutions and general quality of design. Conclusion: Findings of this study directly refers to the correspondence between research assumptions and the verdict criteria. The findings indicate that students’ performance in test group is better than the students in control group in all criteria except the presentation. The best performance by subjects of the test group means that their ability in creating solution concept has much improved compared with the control group as a result of manipulating the independent variable which is the education method in this study. This improvement couldn’t be related to other unrelated independent variables, because these variables have been either controlled or their effect has been studied through the pre-test. Stated on the findings in analyzing the general quality of design, students provided complicated geometric patterns in their design as logical, creative and efficient solutions through realizing their mathematical principles. Acquiring and developing the design schema based on design problems in the Basic design studios results the improvement of the students’ ability in logical aspects of design.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2020 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Takayasu's arteritis associated with Crohn's disease: A case report

Introduction: The simultaneous presence of Takayasu's arteritis and Crohn's disease in a patient seems to be rare. To our knowledge, no patient with the combination of Crohn's disease and Takayasu's arteritis has been reported from our region. Case presentation: Herein we present the case of a 22-year-old Iranian woman previously diagnosed as Crohn's disease and who had subsequently developed Takayasu's arteritis. Conclusion: Clinical suspicion, proper imaging, and consideration of the differential diagnosis are important for the correct diagnosis and management of patients with this coincidence. © 2008 Daryani et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

TVOCs and BTEX concentrations in the air of south pars special economic energy zone

cold season were higher than those in warm season. High concentrations of Benzene in cold and warm seasons were used to identify areas of high exposure risk.survey TVOCs and BTEX in the air of South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in 2014. Materials and methods: In a cross-sectional study sampling and analysis was done by NIOSH 1501 method. The study was carried out in 336 activated carbon tubes and personal sampling pump in 6 sampling stations during one year. The compounds were extracted by solvent carbon disulfide and analyzed using Gas Chromatography- Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). Data analysis was performed in SPSS Ver.18 applying Kruskal-Wallis, Fligner test and ANOVA. Results: The mean concentrations of TVOCs and TBTEX were 229.34 and 31.23 µg/m3 in cold season and 212.19 and 29.89 µg/m3 in warm season, respectively. The mean concentrations of Benzene in all stations were 11.72 µg/m3 which were higher than the threshold levels recommended by Iranian Clean Air Act and US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The ANOVA results showed a significant difference between the concentration of pollutants and hour, month and sampling stations (P&lt;0.05), but no significant difference was found between the concentration of pollutants and seasons (P&gt;0.05). Conclusion: The concentrations of measured pollutants in cold season were higher than those in warm season. High concentrations of Benzene in cold and warm seasons were used to identify areas of high exposure risk. © 2016, AMazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Electroosmotic flow of biorheological micropolar fluids through microfluidic channels

An analysis is presented in this work to assess the influence of micropolar nature of fluids in fully developed flow induced by electrokinetically driven peristaltic pumping through a parallel plate microchannel. The walls of the channel are assumed as sinusoidal wavy to analyze the peristaltic flow nature. We consider that the wavelength of the wall motion is much larger as compared to the channel width to validate the lubrication theory. To simplify the Poisson Boltzmann equation, we also use the Debye-Hückel linearization (i.e. wall zeta potential ≤ 25mV). We consider governing equation for micropolar fluid in absence of body force and couple effects however external electric field is employed. The solutions for axial velocity, spin velocity, flow rate, pressure rise and stream functions subjected to given physical boundary conditions are computed. The effects of pertinent parameters like Debye length and Helmholtz-Smoluchowski velocity which characterize the EDL phenomenon and external electric field, coupling number and micropolar parameter which characterize the micropolar fluid behavior, on peristaltic pumping are discussed through the illustrations. The results show that peristaltic pumping may alter by applying external electric fields. This model can be used to design and engineer the peristalsis-lab-on-chip and micro peristaltic syringe pumps for biomedical applications

Targeted genetic analysis in a large cohort of familial and sporadic cases of aneurysm or dissection of the thoracic aorta

PURPOSE: Thoracic aortic aneurysm/aortic dissection (TAAD) is a disorder with highly variable age of onset and phenotype. We sought to determine the prevalence of pathogenic variants in TAAD-associated genes in a mixed cohort of sporadic and familial TAAD patients and identify relevant genotype–phenotype relationships. METHODS: We used a targeted polymerase chain reaction and next-generation sequencing–based panel for genetic analysis of 15 TAAD-associated genes in 1,025 unrelated TAAD cases. RESULTS: We identified 49 pathogenic or likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants in 47 cases (4.9% of those successfully sequenced). Almost half of the variants were in nonsyndromic cases with no known family history of aortic disease. Twenty-five variants were within FBN1 and two patients were found to harbor two P/LP variants. Presence of a related syndrome, younger age at presentation, family history of aortic disease, and involvement of the ascending aorta increased the risk of carrying a P/LP variant. CONCLUSION: Given the poor prognosis of TAAD that is undiagnosed prior to acute rupture or dissection, genetic analysis of both familial and sporadic cases of TAAD will lead to new diagnoses, more informed management, and possibly reduced mortality through earlier, preclinical diagnosis in genetically determined cases and their family members

Speed/Accuracy Trade-Off between the Habitual and the Goal-Directed Processes

Instrumental responses are hypothesized to be of two kinds: habitual and goal-directed, mediated by the sensorimotor and the associative cortico-basal ganglia circuits, respectively. The existence of the two heterogeneous associative learning mechanisms can be hypothesized to arise from the comparative advantages that they have at different stages of learning. In this paper, we assume that the goal-directed system is behaviourally flexible, but slow in choice selection. The habitual system, in contrast, is fast in responding, but inflexible in adapting its behavioural strategy to new conditions. Based on these assumptions and using the computational theory of reinforcement learning, we propose a normative model for arbitration between the two processes that makes an approximately optimal balance between search-time and accuracy in decision making. Behaviourally, the model can explain experimental evidence on behavioural sensitivity to outcome at the early stages of learning, but insensitivity at the later stages. It also explains that when two choices with equal incentive values are available concurrently, the behaviour remains outcome-sensitive, even after extensive training. Moreover, the model can explain choice reaction time variations during the course of learning, as well as the experimental observation that as the number of choices increases, the reaction time also increases. Neurobiologically, by assuming that phasic and tonic activities of midbrain dopamine neurons carry the reward prediction error and the average reward signals used by the model, respectively, the model predicts that whereas phasic dopamine indirectly affects behaviour through reinforcing stimulus-response associations, tonic dopamine can directly affect behaviour through manipulating the competition between the habitual and the goal-directed systems and thus, affect reaction time

Global, Regional, and National Levels and Trends in Burden of Oral Conditions from 1990 to 2017: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease 2017 Study

Government and nongovernmental organizations need national and global estimates on the descriptive epidemiology of common oral conditions for policy planning and evaluation. The aim of this component of the Global Burden of Disease study was to produce estimates on prevalence, incidence, and years lived with disability for oral conditions from 1990 to 2017 by sex, age, and countries. In addition, this study reports the global socioeconomic pattern in burden of oral conditions by the standard World Bank classification of economies as well as the Global Burden of Disease Socio-demographic Index. The findings show that oral conditions remain a substantial population health challenge. Globally, there were 3.5 billion cases (95% uncertainty interval [95% UI], 3.2 to 3.7 billion) of oral conditions, of which 2.3 billion (95% UI, 2.1 to 2.5 billion) had untreated caries in permanent teeth, 796 million (95% UI, 671 to 930 million) had severe periodontitis, 532 million (95% UI, 443 to 622 million) had untreated caries in deciduous teeth, 267 million (95% UI, 235 to 300 million) had total tooth loss, and 139 million (95% UI, 133 to 146 million) had other oral conditions in 2017. Several patterns emerged when the World Bank's classification of economies and the Socio-demographic Index were used as indicators of economic development. In general, more economically developed countries have the lowest burden of untreated dental caries and severe periodontitis and the highest burden of total tooth loss. The findings offer an opportunity for policy makers to identify successful oral health strategies and strengthen them; introduce and monitor different approaches where oral diseases are increasing; plan integration of oral health in the agenda for prevention of noncommunicable diseases; and estimate the cost of providing universal coverage for dental care