Exosomal miRNAs: Novel players in viral infection

Exosomes are secreted nanovesicles that are able to transfer their cargo (such as miRNAs) between cells. To determine to what extent exosomes and exosomal miRNAs are involved in the pathogenesis, progression and diagnosis of viral infections. The scientific literature (PubMed and Google Scholar) was searched from 1970 to 2019. The complex biogenesis of exosomes and miRNAs was reviewed. Exosomes contain both viral and host miRNAs that can be used as diagnostic biomarkers for viral diseases. Viral proteins can alter miRNAs, and conversely miRNAs can alter the host response to viral infections in a positive or negative manner. It is expected that exosomal miRNAs will be increasingly used for diagnosis, monitoring and even treatment of viral infections. © 2020 Future Medicine Ltd

Comparison of influenza type A and B with COVID-19: A global systematic review and meta-analysis on clinical, laboratory and radiographic findings

We compared clinical symptoms, laboratory findings, radiographic signs and outcomes of COVID-19 and influenza to identify unique features. Depending on the heterogeneity test, we used either random or fixed-effect models to analyse the appropriateness of the pooled results. Overall, 540 articles included in this study; 75,164 cases of COVID-19 (157 studies), 113,818 influenza type A (251 studies) and 9266 influenza type B patients (47 studies) were included. Runny nose, dyspnoea, sore throat and rhinorrhoea were less frequent symptoms in COVID-19 cases (14, 15, 11.5 and 9.5, respectively) in comparison to influenza type A (70, 45.5, 49 and 44.5, respectively) and type B (74, 33, 38 and 49, respectively). Most of the patients with COVID-19 had abnormal chest radiology (84, p < 0.001) in comparison to influenza type A (57, p < 0.001) and B (33, p < 0.001). The incubation period in COVID-19 (6.4 days estimated) was longer than influenza type A (3.4 days). Likewise, the duration of hospitalization in COVID-19 patients (14 days) was longer than influenza type A (6.5 days) and influenza type B (6.7 days). Case fatality rate of hospitalized patients in COVID-19 (6.5, p < 0.001), influenza type A (6, p < 0.001) and influenza type B was 3(p < 0.001). The results showed that COVID-19 and influenza had many differences in clinical manifestations and radiographic findings. Due to the lack of effective medication or vaccine for COVID-19, timely detection of this viral infection and distinguishing from influenza are very important. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Potential drugs used in the antibody–drug conjugate (ADC) architecture for cancer therapy

Cytotoxic small-molecule drugs have a major influence on the fate of antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs). An ideal cytotoxic agent should be highly potent, remain stable while linked to ADCs, kill the targeted tumor cell upon internalization and release from the ADCs, and maintain its activity in multidrug-resistant tumor cells. Lessons learned from successful and failed experiences in ADC development resulted in remarkable progress in the discovery and development of novel highly potent small molecules. A better understanding of such small-molecule drugs is important for development of effective ADCs. The present review discusses requirements making a payload appropriate for antitumor ADCs and focuses on the main characteristics of commonly-used cytotoxic payloads that showed acceptable results in clinical trials. In addition, the present study represents emerging trends and recent advances of payloads used in ADCs currently under clinical trials. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Bubble generation in liquid rope coiling

We present an experimental study of liquid rope coiling in order to explore different possibilities of air bubble generation in a viscous fluid. A column of viscous fluid falling on a smooth solid surface exhibits different behaviours, e.g., axisymmetric stagnation flow, coiling, rotatory folding, supercoiling, etc. These states provide ample opportunity for air to get trapped inside the body of a fluid. We investigate bubble generation mechanisms by studying the instability of a falling fluid rope and the characteristics of the observed bubbles. Our experiments show that a viscous rope undergoing supercoiling on the impact surface can, at times, produce a four-branched spiral pattern of bubbles. Finally, we provide a phase diagram illustrating the bubble properties relevant to the flow rate and fall height of the viscous jet. Our study provides a very simple method for the generation of mono/bi-dispersed bubbles in viscous fluids at high rates with an ability to tune the bubble size

Liquid supercoiling

Supercoiling is the large-scale secondary coiling or buckling of a structure that is already coiled at a smaller scale. Here, we show experimentally that a fluidmechanical analog of supercoiling can occur when a thin "rope" of viscous fluid falls vertically from a great height onto a surface. For appropriate values of the viscosity ν, the flow rate Q, and the fall height H, a primary coiling instability of the rope forms a hollow coiled cylinder that then experiences a secondary buckling instability in the form of periodic folding accompanied by slow rotation of the folding plane. To delineate the conditions under which this supercoiling state appears, we carry out systematic laboratory experiments over wide ranges of Q and H using several fluids with different viscosities. We find that five different states of the rope are possible: supercoiling (SC), periodic collapse of the fluid cylinder formed by a primary coiling instability (PC), periodic folding (F), and steady coiling (C) of the rope itself, and axisymmetric stagnation flow(S). Up to three of these states can be realized for a given set of experimental conditions, and we determine detailed state diagrams showing which combinations are observed as a function of ν, Q, and H. The selection of the states is controlled by the dimensionless parameter gHQ2/ν4 (g is the gravitational acceleration), which is directly related to the ratio of the rope radius a to the coil radius R in steady primary coiling with the parameters ν, Q, and H.</p

Optimizing the photocatalytic process of removing diazinon pesticide from aqueous solutions and effluent toxicity assessment via a response surface methodology approach

Diazinon is one of the most dangerous environment pollutants. In this study, the optimization of removing diazinon from contaminated aqueous solutions was evaluated by advanced oxidation process along with the evaluation of effluent toxicity by Escherichia coli bacteria. The design of the experiments was based on the response surface methodology. Iron oxide nanoparticles and iron oxide/titanium oxide were produced by co-precipitation and col�gel, respectively. The features of produced nanoparticles were investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) techniques. In this study, the toxicity tests of effluent were performed by the activity of dehydrogenase enzyme reducing Alamar Blue method. Based on statistical analyzes (R 2 = 0.996), the values of optimal pH, contact time, and nanoparticle concentration were obtained at 6.75, 65 min, and 550 mg/L in the removal of diazinon, respectively. In this case, the efficiency of removing diazinon was 94.15. By analyzing the effluent, eight by-products due to the degradation of diazinon were determined with the probability of correct detection above 50. Based on the Alamar Blue reduction test (ABR), the effective concentrations of 50 (EC 50 ) and the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) for E. coli were obtained 2340 and 18 mg/L, respectively. Based on the results, it was found that the photochemical process TiO 2 /Fe 3 O 4 has high efficiency on the removal of diazinon and there is a significant relation (p value &lt; 0.05) between dehydrogenase activity of E. coli bacteria and reduction of Alamar Blue. © 2018, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei

A systematic review and meta-analysis on the global status of Trichomonas vaginalis virus in Trichomonas vaginalis

Background: The small (4.5�5kbp), double-stranded Trichomonas vaginalis virus (TVV) that inhabits in the T. vaginalis parasite has been potentially associated to parasite virulence or its drug resistance. The aim of present study was to estimate the global and regional status of TVV in T. vaginalis. Methods: A systematic search was conducted for published articles between January 1990 and December 2020 by using five major databases include PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science as well as Google scholar search engine. The random-effect model was applied for pooled prevalence of TVV, geographical distribution, and heterogeneity by comprehensive meta-analysis (V2.2, Bio stat) software. Findings: A total of 28 studies were included for final meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of TVV was estimated at 47 (95 CI, 39.3�54.8). With respect to WHO regions, the lowest and highest prevalence rates were reported from South-East Asia 23 (95 CI, 12�41) and African 66 (95 CI, 25�92), respectively. Considering the countries, the prevalence was highest in the Brazil 90 (95 CI, 73�97) and lowest in the South Korea 14 (95 CI, 4�35). Conclusion: The high prevalence of the parasitic virus emphasizes the need to pay attention to the behavior of the parasite, both in terms of clinical symptoms and drug resistance. Moreover, it is suggested that more studies (i.e. in vitro, in vivo, and case-control studies) should be conducted for deep understanding of this coexistence. © 2021 Elsevier Lt

Exosomal miRNAs: Novel players in viral infection

Exosomes are secreted nanovesicles that are able to transfer their cargo (such as miRNAs) between cells. To determine to what extent exosomes and exosomal miRNAs are involved in the pathogenesis, progression and diagnosis of viral infections. The scientific literature (PubMed and Google Scholar) was searched from 1970 to 2019. The complex biogenesis of exosomes and miRNAs was reviewed. Exosomes contain both viral and host miRNAs that can be used as diagnostic biomarkers for viral diseases. Viral proteins can alter miRNAs, and conversely miRNAs can alter the host response to viral infections in a positive or negative manner. It is expected that exosomal miRNAs will be increasingly used for diagnosis, monitoring and even treatment of viral infections. © 2020 Future Medicine Ltd