The impact of third party reproduction on family and kinship

The development of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the UK, in 1978, proved a major breakthrough in the process of human reproduction, which had remained constant in human history. The impact of IVF and the ensuing assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) has not been limited in revolutionizing the "natural" practice of biological reproduction, but has reached out to and affected almost every institution in society. Family and kinship, as the social expression of reproduction and the institutions which are the most transparently structured realm of human life are those most profoundly affected by ARTs. Although literature on the implications of ARTs is in general abundant, this article presents new insights on their impact on family and kinship in Iran, which remains a unique case in the Muslim world. It explores the particular way ARTs, especially third-party donation, have been endorsed and practiced in Iran, and their consequences for the family, the infertile individuals, and their position vis-à -vis their kin and social group. The conclusion points to the lack of clarity concerning the initial rulings by the Islamic jurists, who allowed the practice of ARTs, and which has led to a number of unintended consequences regarding the legal, religious, cultural, and ethical issues, affecting the family, its structure and the relationship between the kin group. These consequences range, inter alia, from the question of the anonymity of third-party donor, to the permissibility of gamete donation between blood relatives, and to the absence of enforceable legislation. © 2021 Avicenna Research Institute. All rights reserved

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN G6PD DEFICIENCY AND TOTAL SERUM BILIRUBIN LEVEL IN ICTERIC NEONATES

"nGlucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most important disease of the hexose monophosphate pathway. Deficiency of this enzym can lead to hemolysis of red blood cells. Our aim was to study the prevalence of G6PD deficiency in relation to neonatal jaundice. We studied 456 clinically icteric neonates Laboratory investigations included determination of direct and indirect serum bilirubin concentrations, blood group typing, direct coomb's test, hemoglobin, blood smear, reticulocyte count and G6PD level. We divided these neonates to 3 groups based on total serum bilirubin level (TSB): TSB< 20 mg%, TSB=20-25 mg%, and TSB>25 mg%. In only 35 (7.6%) of cases G6PD deficiency was diagnosed. All of these babies were male. From 456 icteric neonates, 213 cases belong to group 1 (TSB<20 mg%), 158 cases belong to group 2 (TSB=20-25 mg%) and 85 cases belong to group 3 (TSB>25 mg%). 16 neonates from 213 neonates of group 1, 6 neonates from 158 neonates of group 2 and 13 neonates from 85 neonates of group 3 had G6PD deficiency. There was statistically significant difference of prevalence of G6PD deficiency between group 2 and 3 ( 15.3% vs 3.8%)( P = 0.001). Between groups 1 vs 2 and 1 vs 3 no statistically significant difference was found. Early detection of this enzymopathy regardless of sex and close surveillance of the affected newborns may be important in reducing the risk of severe hyperbilirubinemia. This emphasizes the necessity of neonatal screening on cord blood samples for G6PD deficiency

An Aptamer-based Biosensor for Troponin I Detection in Diagnosis of Myocardial Infarction

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (MI) accounts for one third of deaths. Cardiac troponin I (TnI) is a reliable biomarker of cardiac muscle tissue injury and is employed in the early diagnosis of MI. Objectives: In this study, a molecular method is introduced to early diagnosis of MI by rapid detection of TnI. Materials and Methods: The detection method was based on electrochemical aptasensing, being developed using different methods and evaluation steps. A gold electrode was used as a transducer to successful immobilize 76base aptamer to fabricate a TnI biosensor. Results: The designed aptasensor could detect TnI in a range of 0.03 to 2.0 ng mL-1 without using any label, pre-concentration or amplification steps. The limit of detection was attained as 10 pg mL-1 without significant trouble of interfering species. The TnI biosensor demonestrated a stable, regenerative and reproducible function. 89 human samples were used to evaluate the performance of the TnI biosensor, and it represented 100% and 81%, diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, respectively. Conclusions: This aptasensor may be used as an applicable tool in the future of early medical diagnosis of MI

"ASSOCIATION BETWEEN TOTAL SERUM BILIRUBIN LEVEL AND MANIFESTATIONS OF KERNICTERUS "

Kernicterus (bilirubin induced encephalopathy) is an uncommon disorder with tragic consequences, especially when it affects healthy term and near-term neonates. Appointment of cut off value of total serum bilirubin level that have a safe margin for early prompt treatment, as a result, prevention of kernicterus. In our study, all of icteric neonates that admitted in our center in 1 year were enrolled. From 305 neonates, 25 cases have kernicterus manifestations. These 25 neonates have not any conditions that mimic kernicterus manifestations (such as birth trauma, intra cranial hemorrhage, asphyxia). We divided neonates to 2major groups: neonates 8 days-old. Also these cases were divided to high-risk and low-risk neonates. In this study, 220 neonates (72.1%) were ≤ 7days and 85 neonates (27.9%) were > 8 days-old. Also 109 neonates (35.7%) were or with risk factors and 196 neonates (64.3%) were or without risk factors. Risk factors were prematurity, acidosis, hemolysis, duration of hyperbilirubinemia, sepsis and respiratory distress. Cutoff value of bilirubin level for neonates ≤ 7 days was 25.15 mg/dl and for neonates > 8 days was 22.25 mg/dl that no statistically significant difference was found. Cut off value of bilirubin level for high-risk neonates was 22.35 mg/dl and for low-risk neonates was 27.95 mg/dl that statistically significant difference was found. The lower limit of bilirubin in neonates with kernicterus was 16.5 mg/dl and the upper limit was 44 mg/dl. The high-risk neonates need prompt treatment of hyperbilirubinemia at lower levels of total bilirubin compared with low-risk neonates

Combining Transcription Factor Binding Affinities with Open-Chromatin Data for Accurate Gene Expression Prediction

The binding and contribution of transcription factors (TF) to cell specific gene expression is often deduced from open-chromatin measurements to avoid costly TF ChIP-seq assays. Thus, it is important to develop computational methods for accurate TF binding prediction in open-chromatin regions (OCRs). Here, we report a novel segmentation-based method, TEPIC, to predict TF binding by combining sets of OCRs with position weight matrices. TEPIC can be applied to various open-chromatin data, e.g. DNaseI-seq and NOMe-seq. Additionally, Histone-Marks (HMs) can be used to identify candidate TF binding sites. TEPIC computes TF affinities and uses open-chromatin/HM signal intensity as quantitative measures of TF binding strength. Using machine learning, we find low affinity binding sites to improve our ability to explain gene expression variability compared to the standard presence/absence classification of binding sites. Further, we show that both footprints and peaks capture essential TF binding events and lead to a good prediction performance. In our application, gene-based scores computed by TEPIC with one open-chromatin assay nearly reach the quality of several TF ChIP-seq data sets. Finally, these scores correctly predict known transcriptional regulators as illustrated by the application to novel DNaseI-seq and NOMe-seq data for primary human hepatocytes and CD4+ T-cells, respectively