Chitin-Induced Airway Epithelial Cell Innate Immune Responses Are Inhibited by Carvacrol/Thymol.

Chitin is produced in large amounts by fungi, insects, and other organisms and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of asthma. Airway epithelial cells are in direct contact with environmental particles and serve as the first line of defense against inhaled allergens and pathogens. The potential contributions of airway epithelial cells to chitin-induced asthma remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that chitin directly stimulates airway epithelial cells to release cytokines that promote type 2 immune responses and to induce expression of molecules which are important in innate immune responses. We found that chitin exposure rapidly induced the expression of three key type 2-promoting cytokines, IL-25, IL-33 and TSLP, in BEAS-2B transformed human bronchial epithelial cells and in A549 and H292 lung carcinoma cells. Chitin also induced the expression of the key pattern recognition receptors TLR2 and TLR4. Chitin induced the expression of miR-155, miR-146a and miR-21, each of which is known to up-regulate the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Also the expression of SOCS1 and SHIP1 which are known targets of miR-155 was repressed by chitin treatment. The monoterpene phenol carvacrol (Car) and its isomer thymol (Thy) are found in herbal essential oils and have been shown to inhibit allergic inflammation in asthma models. We found that Car/Thy inhibited the effects of chitin on type 2-promoting cytokine release and on the expression of TLRs, SOCS1, SHIP1, and miRNAs. Car/Thy could also efficiently reduce the protein levels of TLR4, inhibit the increase in TLR2 protein levels in chitin plus Car/Thy-treated cells and increase the protein levels of SHIP1 and SOCS1, which are negative regulators of TLR-mediated inflammatory responses. We conclude that direct effects of chitin on airway epithelial cells are likely to contribute to allergic airway diseases like asthma, and that Car/Thy directly inhibits epithelial cell pro-inflammatory responses to chitin

Stabilization of internal space in noncommutative multidimensional cosmology

We study the cosmological aspects of a noncommutative, multidimensional universe where the matter source is assumed to be a scalar field which does not commute with the internal scale factor. We show that such noncommutativity results in the internal dimensions being stabilizedComment: 8 pages, 1 figure, to appear in IJMP

Horizon Problem Remediation via Deformed Phase Space

We investigate the effects of a special kind of dynamical deformation between the momenta of the scalar field of the Brans-Dicke theory and the scale factor of the FRW metric. This special choice of deformation includes linearly a deformation parameter. We trace the deformation footprints in the cosmological equations of motion when the BD coupling parameter goes to infinity. One class of the solutions gives a constant scale factor in the late time that confirms the previous result obtained via another approach in the literature. This effect can be interpreted as a quantum gravity footprint in the coarse grained explanation. The another class of the solutions removes the big bang singularity, and the accelerating expansion region has an infinite temporal range which overcomes the horizon problem. After this epoch, there is a graceful exiting by which the universe enters in the radiation dominated era.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, to appear in GER

The electromagnetic field near a dielectric half-space

We compute the expectations of the squares of the electric and magnetic fields in the vacuum region outside a half-space filled with a uniform non-dispersive dielectric. This gives predictions for the Casimir-Polder force on an atom in the `retarded' regime near a dielectric. We also find a positive energy density due to the electromagnetic field. This would lead, in the case of two parallel dielectric half-spaces, to a positive, separation-independent contribution to the energy density, besides the negative, separation-dependent Casimir energy. Rough estimates suggest that for a very wide range of cases, perhaps including all realizable ones, the total energy density between the half-spaces is positive.Comment: Latex2e, IOP macros, 15 pages, 2 eps figure

The cosmological implications of a fundamental length: a DSR inspired de-Sitter spacetime

We study a de-Sitter model in the framework of a Deformed Special Relativity (DSR) inspired structure. The effects of this framework appear as the existence of a fundamental length which influences the behavior of the scale factor. We show that such a deformation can either be used to control the unbounded growth of the scale factor in the present accelerating phase or account for the inflationary era in the early evolution of the universe.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to appear in JCA

Exertional abdominal pain as a symptom of secondary pulmonary hypertension in mitral stenosis

We report a rare presentation of mitral stenosis (MS). MS is a common valvular disease, the first manifestation of which is usually easy fatigability and exertional dyspnea. As the disease progresses in severity, other signs and symptoms appear, such as orthopnea, hemoptysis, and peripheral edema. This is the first report of a case of mitral stenosis presenting with exertional abdominal pain as the first manifestation. This case report describes the clinical characteristics of a 55-year-old woman with mitral stenosis and severe pulmonary hypertension, whose first symptom was exertional abdominal pain.Key words: Abdominal pain, mitral stenosis, pulmonary hypertensio

Gravitational Radiation by Cosmic Strings in a Junction

The formalism for computing the gravitational power radiation from excitations on cosmic strings forming a junction is presented and applied to the simple case of co-planar strings at a junction when the excitations are generated along one string leg. The effects of polarization of the excitations and of the back-reaction of the gravitational radiation on the small scale structure of the strings are studied.Comment: minor changes added, the published version in JCA

The survey of family history of diabetes in patients with type 2 diabetes in Chaharmahal va Bakhteyari province, Iran, 2008

چکیده: زمینه و هدف: دیابت از گروه بیماری های متابولیک و یک اختلال چند عاملی است که با افزایش مزمن قند خون مشخص می شود. از آنجایی که در زمینه اپیدمیولوژی ژنتیک دیابت نوع 2 در کشور ما، مطالعات اندکی انجام شده و هنوز بطور قطعی مشخص نیست که توارث دیابت نوع 2 بیشتر از طرف کدام یک از والدین (پدر یا مادر) به فرزندان منتقل می شود، این مطالعه با هدف بررسی زمینه ژنتیکی بیماران دیابتی نوع 2 استان چهارمحال و بختیاری طراحی و اجرا گردید. روش بررسی: این بررسی یک مطالعه اپیدمیولوژیک از نوع توصیفی-تحلیلی است که جامعه پژوهش آن افراد مبتلا به دیابت نوع 2 در استان چهارمحال و بختیاری در سال 1387 بود. تعداد 254 نفر به روش تصادفی دو مرحله ای انتخاب و مورد بررسی قرار گرفتند. داده ها بوسیله مصاحبه و با تکمیل فرمی، جمع آوری و با نرم افزار STATA9 و آزمون مجذور کا مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفت. یافته ها: از254 نفر بررسی شده 150 نفر (59) مونث و 104 نفر(41) مذکر بودند. متوسط سن آنها 6/8±8/54 سال و متوسط مدت زمان ابتلا به دیابت در آنها 8/5±4/7 سال بود. 116 نفر (7/45) از آنها دارای سابقه خانوادگی مثبت دیابت بودند که از این میان، 4/61 مادر دیابتی، 8/19 پدر دیابتی، 9/62 خواهر دیابتی، 1/18 برادر دیابتی، 5/40 دختر دیابتی و 1/18 پسر دیابتی داشتند. سابقه خانوادگی دیابت در مادر بیشتر از پدر، در خواهر بیشتر از برادر و در دختران بیشتر از پسران بود (001/0>P). نتیجه گیری: نسبت شانس ابتلا به دیابت برای کسانی که سابقه خانوادگی مثبت دیابت در مادر دارند بیشتر و مهم تر از پدر بوده و می توان اظهار نمود که به احتمال قوی، توارث دیابت نوع 2 بیشتر از طریق مادر به فرزندان منتقل می شود.

Identification and abundance of fungal flora in egg, and larvae of Acipenser persicus in Shahid Beheshti Sturgeon Rearing Center (2007)

Fungal flora in egg, yolk sac larvae and larvae of Acipenser persicus were identified and studied. Totally, 270 specimens from Shahid Beheshti Sturgeon Rearing Center were examined. A heterogeneous solution from samples was prepared and inoculated on culture media SDA+C and CMA+C in lines under sterile conditions. Wet mounts were prepared for the identification of Saprolegnia sp. and the inoculants were cultured on culture media GP containing gentamycin and chloramphenicol. We found Penicillium, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Yeast, Mucor sp., Aspergillus niger and Paecilomuces on egg samples in order of frequency and in water samples we observed Penicillium, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Yeast, Mucor sp., Aspergillus niger, and Paecilomyces. Fungal species identified in yolk sac larvae included Penicilliium sp., Cladosporium sp., Fusarium sp., Alternaria sp., Yeast and in water samples we found Penicillium, Cladosporium, Fusarium, and Yeast, while in larvae we saw Cladosporium sp., Penicilliium sp., Fusarium sp., Alternaria sp., Aspergilus fumigatus, Yeast and Mucor spp. In water samples containing larvae we were able to identify Cladosporium sp., Penicilliium sp., Fusarium sp., Yeast and Aspergilus niger. Fungal species such as Cladosporium sp., Penicillium, Fusarium, Yeast and Saprolegnia were detected in all four sampling mediums. T-test indicated no significant differences in total counts (colonies/2 plates in all samples) in eggs (15.08 ±3.51 colony forming unit; CFU) and in water (15.91± 2.63) samples. However, t-test indicated significant differences in total counts in yolk sac larvae (5.33 ±1.05) and in water (11.77 ±2.39) samples. T-test showed no significant differences in total counts of larvae (32 ±12.46) and water (31.11 ±12.79) samples