Polymorphisms of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, angiotensin converting enzyme and coagulation factor XIII genes in patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion

We investigated polymorphisms of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE ) and coagulation factor XIII (FXIII) genes and their association with recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) in Iranian patients and normal healthy controls. Ten (18.5%) patients were homozygote (4G/4G) for PAI-1 polymorphism, in contrast with two (2%) controls (p = 0.001). Patients with homozygote 4G mutation were significantly more prone to RSA in contrast to others (odds ratio: 11.0, 95% CI: 2.3-52.4). Nineteen (30.2%) patients and 25 (26.6%) controls were homozygote (DD) for ACE polymorphism. We observed only two patients and one control with homozygosity (34leu) for FXIII polymorphism. 4G/4G polymorphism for PAI-1 gene could be a thrombophilic mutation leading to abortion in Iranian population

Geochemical study of the early cretaceous Fahliyan oil reservoir in the northwest Persian Gulf

Three crude oil samples from the Fahliyan Formation in ‘KG’ and ‘F’ fields in the northwest Persian Gulf, namely KG-031, F9A-3H and F15-3H for the geochemical study. In this study, the physicochemical properties, gas chromatography (GC, GC Mass) and (Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis) DHA analyses for the collected Fahliyan oils were carried out. The API, Trace Element (Ni, V) and S% parameters indicated that the Fahliyan oil was generated from a source rock which deposited in reducing environment condition with a carbonate-shale compound lithology. Moreover, low pour point, higher S% and low viscosity parameters of “KG” sample confirmed the existence of medium oil characteristics in this field. In addition, the geochemical outcomes of GC, GC–MS and DHA analyses indicated that the ‘KG’ oils are more aromatic compared with ‘F’ oil; while biomarkers revealed that Fahliyan reservoir oil is highly mature and was formed from a carbonate source rock containing types II, III kerogen. Thus, sterane/hopane biomarkers (C24/C23 and C22/C21 ratios) revealed that Fahliyan oil originated from carbonate source rocks deposited in an anoxic to dysoxic environment, which is consistent with the above analyses. It was identified that the source rock age is early Cretaceous to late Jurassic. It can be reported that the Fahliyan oils from both fields were generated in the same source rock and have almost the same physical properties, and will have the same production strategy

Herbal medicine as an auspicious therapeutic approach for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection: A concise review

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) causes gastric mucosa inflammation and gastric cancer mostly via several virulence factors. Induction of proinflammatory pathways plays a crucial role in chronic inflammation, gastric carcinoma, and H. pylori pathogenesis. Herbal medicines (HMs) are nontoxic, inexpensive, and mostly anti-inflammatory reminding meticulous emphasis on the elimination of H. pylori and gastric cancer. Several HM has exerted paramount anti-H. pylori traits. In addition, they exert anti-inflammatory effects through several cellular circuits such as inhibition of 5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, nuclear factor-κB, and activator protein-1 pathway activation leading to the inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin 1α [IL-1α], IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, interferon γ, and tumor necrosis factor-α) expression. Furthermore, they inhibit nitrous oxide release and COX-2 and iNOS activity. The apoptosis induction in Th1 and Th17-polarized lymphocytes and M2-macrophagic polarization and STAT6 activation has also been exhibited. Thus, their exact consumable amount has not been revealed, and clinical trials are needed to achieve optimal concentration and their pharmacokinetics. In the aspect of bioavailability, solubility, absorption, and metabolism of herbal compounds, nanocarriers such as poly lactideco-glycolide-based loading and related formulations are helpful. Noticeably, combined therapies accompanied by probiotics can also be examined for better clearance of gastric mucosa. In addition, downregulation of inflammatory microRNAs (miRNAs) by HMs and upregulation of those anti-inflammatory miRNAs is proposed to protect the gastric mucosa. Thus there is anticipation that in near future HM-based formulations and proper delivery systems are possibly applicable against gastric cancer or other ailments because of H. pylori

DEVELOPMENT OF A MORE APPLIED VERSION OF COHERENCY CALLED ‘SENSIBLE COHERENCY’ FOR ASSESSMENT OF FINANCIAL RISK MEASURES

<p>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Coherency is becoming a necessary feature for any risk measure, and now is an acceptable tool in risk management to assess the risk measures. For example, recent studies have strongly criticised VaR-based models for not providing a coherent risk measure. Because of such acceptance, it is important to improve the efficiency of the touchstone for evaluating risk measures in order to achieve a fairer assessment. This is just the challenge that this paper seeks to address. This goal is achieved on the one hand by doing some simplifications in axioms of coherency without losing their major financial points, and on the other hand by removing the paradox between two of the axioms. The new concept is called ‘sensible coherency’, and the risk measure that satisfies the four new simplified and corrected axioms will be ‘sensibly coherent’. Finally, the new axioms are applied to a particular type of lower partial moments as a case study.</p><p>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Koherensie word ‘n noodsaaklike kenmerk van enige risikomaatstaf en is nou ‘n aanvaarbare gereedskapstuk in die beoordeling van risikomaatstawwe. Die doel van hierdie artikel word bereik deur enersyds die aksiomas van koherensie te vereenvoudig en andersyds die paradoks tussen die aksiomas te verwyder. Die resultaat word “sinvolle koherensie” genoem.</p&gt

Heart-tonic (Mofarreh-e-ghalb) Medicines and Their Mechanism of Action in Persian Medicine

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: From the perspective of Persian medicine, heart is one of the key organs in determining the state of human health and disease. This medical school has introduced many medicines to maintain the health of the heart or to treat its diseases, including heart-tonic (Mofarreh-e-ghalb) medicines. In this study, Mofarreh-e-ghalb medicines and their function are described from the perspective of Persian medicine. METHODS: In this simple review article, six books from the main sources of Persian Medicine, including Al-Shamel, Makhzan ol Advieh, Qarabadin-e-Kabir, Advieh Ghalbieh, Canon of Medicine and Kholaseh-al-Hekamah were reviewed and Mofarreh-e-ghalb medicines and their function were analyzed. Qualitative content analysis was also performed, and then articles related to the mechanism of action of these drugs were extracted and the name of each Mofarreh was searched in databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, SID, IranMedex. FINDINGS: Approximately, 30 commonly used Mofarreh were identified and their characteristics including name, Persian and scientific names, temperament (Mizaj), origin and mode of effect on the heart were concluded and given as follows. Echium amoenum is a plant that has a hot temperament and enhances the heart due to its aroma and specific effects. Its antidepressant effects due to its antioxidant activity and inhibition of free radical has been proven in recent studies. CONCLUSION: Targeted use of Mofarreh-e-ghalb medicines, many of which are part of regular diets, could pave the way for future clinical trials to develop new and effective drugs of natural origin in the treatment of heart and mental illnesses

Collection and Morphological Characterization of some Native Allium Species of Khorassan

Introduction: Allium is one of the greatest genera in Amarylidaceae family with more than 900 species distributed in northern hemisphere from temperate region to tropical and subtropical areas. There are more than 135 Allium species in Iran, many of which have the ornamental potential and can be exploited in floriculture industry. Northeast of Iran with more than 35 species especially in Razavi and North Khorassan provinces is regarded as one of the main centers of diversity of Alliums. The species of Allium have the great potential to be used either as cut flower and potted plant or as outdoor plant in urban landscape. There are indeed a rich germplasm of Allium in Iran with diverse characteristics of flower colour, size and form. For the utilization of the wild species, it is necessary to identify and fully assess their main morphological and phenotypic characteristics as the initial step. Morphological markers are one of the commonly used tools which are applied in phenotypic evaluation, taxonomic classification and collection management of plant species. The aim of present study was to evaluate morphological traits and genetic diversity of some of the native Allium species of Razavi khorassan in Iran. Materials and Methods: In this study the Allium species were collected from diverse regions of Khorassan, Iran and were cultured as a collection in Research Center for Plant Sciences (RCPS) of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in a completely randomized block design. Following the establishment of the Allium species, 29 qualitative and 13 quantitative traits were recorded during the growing season in two successive years. Analysis of variance and comparison of all traits were performed using JMP8 software and simple correlation and factor analysis was calculated using SPSS software. Principal component analysis as well as maximum variance was also performed on the collected data. Results and Discussion: The results exhibited that the species and genotypes were significantly different in their morphological characteristics. Some of the traits like scape length, leaf colour, flower diameter and length and width of perianth were more diverse among the species and consequently were considered as the most discriminating traits whereas some qualitative traits like perianth segment form, ovary form and perianth tip form remain uniform amongst the species. There are number of studies indicating the existence of high genetic diversity in phenotypic characteristics of some species of Allium like garlic, onion and shallot .The traits having the higher coefficient of variance bring the opportunity for the wider range of selection. Correlation analysis revealed the significant correlations among some of the studied traits. High positive correlation observed among leaf length with scape length, scape diameter with perianth length, leaf width with scape diameter and scape diameter with flower diameter. In garlic, similar positive correlation was reported on leaf length and width with scape length. Considering the quantitative traits, various parameters like environmental conditions are also effective in correlation between traits along with the corresponding genetic controlling. Factor analysis is used to identify the most important factors involving in discriminating among the species and genotypes. Based on the results, the 42 morphological characters were classified into five main factors which could justify 91.62% of total variance. Characters like inflorescence diameter, scape diameter, flower form, pedicel length, filament length and ovary and style length were placed in the first factor and expressed 30.03% of the variation. The second factor that could explain 24.9% of variation was included scape form and length, leaf length and pedicel colour. The selected discriminating traits of this study were similar to the ones of Allium roseum which had been earlier introduced by Zammuri et al (2009). The first two factors explained the highest amount of diversity while the 3rd to fifth factors could define 16.10%, 12.265% and 9.19% of variance, respectively. Traits like scape length, leaf form and colour and inflorescence diameter are amongst the main factors for the selection of ornamental plants. Conclusion: In overall, substantial valuable information obtained for some of the native species of Alliums of Iran for the first time. This information can help in selection of desired species for specific landscape designing however characterization of the native germplasm can also be a very beneficial task in future breeding program as well as the conservation strategies for preserving the endangered species

Gastroprotective herbs for headache management in Persian medicine: A comprehensive review

The gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication system that exists between the brain and gut. Several studies claimed that some types of headaches are associated with various gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. In Persian medicine (PM), physicians believed that gastric disturbances could stimulate headache and introduced some herbs for boosting gastric function as a therapeutic remedy for headache. Here we review the current evidence for the gastroprotective and antiheadache effects of herbs used in PM. Herbs used for their gastrotonic effects in PM were identified from selected Persian medical and pharmaceutical textbooks. PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar were used to search for contemporary scientific evidence relating to the gastric and neurologic effects of these plants. A total of 24 plants were recorded from the selected sources included in this review, most of which belonged to the Rosaceae family. Phyllanthus emblica, Zingiber officinale, Boswellias errata, Punica granatum and Hypericum perforatum had the most recent studies related to GI disorder and headache, while current research about quince, rose, apple, hawthorn and pear was limited. Reducing Helicobacter pylori growth, gastritis, erosion of the stomach lining, hemorrhage and perforation, improving gastric mucosal resistance, antisecretary, antiulcer, antipyretic, analgesic, sedative, anxiolytic, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, neuroprotective and antioxidant effects as well as improvement in memory scores were some of the gastrotonic and neuroprotective mechanisms described in the current research. These results confirmed that medicinal plants prescribed in PM may improve headache in patients through the management of GI abnormalities. However, further studies are recommended to investigate the efficacy and safety of the mentioned medicinal plants. © 2019 Shanghai Changhai Hospita

The importance of inducible clindamycin resistance in enterotoxin positive S. aureus isolated from clinical samples

"nBackground: Clindamycin is a suitable antibiotic for treatment of skin and soft tissue infections. Moreover, it can suppress toxin production in many pathogenic bacteria such as S. aureus. There are two mechanisms of resistance in this antibiotic. Constitutive resistance can be detected by standard disk diffusion method but in the case of inducible resistance, D-test should be carried out. The main aim of this study is to determine prevalence of clindamycin inducible resistance among methicillin resistant and susceptible isolates of S. aureus isolated from different clinical samples. "nMethods: A total of 87 clinical isolates from clinical samples were collected. Methicillin resistance was determined using standard disk diffusion method. Subsequently, D-test was carried out according to CLSI guideline. Presence of the sea gene (enterotoxin A) was detected by PCR using specific primers. "nResults: Out of 87 isolates, 18(20.7%) were clindamycin inducible resistant while constitutive resistance was detected among 21(24.1%) isolates. The 95% Confidence intervals for the proportion of inducible clindamycin resistance among clinical isolates of S. aureus was 12.2% to 29.2%. The inducible phenotype in MRSA isolates was more common than that of MSSA isolates (33.3% vs 5.1%).Significant differences were found between prevalence of inducible clindamycin resistance and type of infection (p=0.045). Importantly, there was a significant correlation between sea gene and the constitutive/inducible resistance (p<0.0001). "nConclusions: Due to the high prevalence of clindamycin inducible resistance among clinical isolates of S. aureus, we recommend D-test to avoid treatment failure

Effects of Integration on the Cost Reduction in Distribution Network Design for Perishable Products

Perishable products, which include medical and pharmaceutical items as well as food products, are quite common in commerce and industries. Developing efficient network designs for storage and distribution of perishable products plays a prominent role in the cost and quality of these products. This paper aims to investigate and analyze the impact of applying an integrated approach for network design of perishable products. For this purpose, the problem has been formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear mathematical model that integrates inventory control and facility location decisions. To solve the integrated model, a memetic algorithm (MA) is developed in this study. For verification of the proposed algorithm, its results are compared with the results of an adapted Lagrangian relaxation heuristic algorithm from the literature. Moreover, sensitivity analysis of the main parameters of the model is conducted to compare the results of the integrated approach with a decoupled method. The results show that as the products become more perishable, application of an integrated method becomes more reasonable in comparison with the decoupled one

Design and construction of triplet atmospheric cold plasma jet for sterilization

In this paper, construction of triplet atmospheric plasma jet using argon, air, oxygen and nitrogen gases is reported. Bactericidal effect of the plasma jet is also investigated. To that end, longitudinal geometric configuration for the electrodes was chosen because it would increase the jet length. Electrical characteristics, jet length dependencies on the applied voltage and gas flow rate were decided, experimentally. Relative concentrations of chemical reactive species such as ozone, atomic oxygen, NOx compounds and hydroxyl were measured using optical emission spectroscopy. It was seen that atomic oxygen and ozone concentrations with triplet plasma jet are more than the concentration of single plasma jet. Triplet plasma jet was also used for sterilization of solid and liquid surfaces to disinfect gram-negative and gram-positive Escherichia coli and Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria. The results verified the effectiveness of the triplet plasma jet for killing bacteria