Extreme bendability of DNA double helix due to bending asymmetry

Experimental data of the DNA cyclization (J-factor) at short length scales, as a way to study the elastic behavior of tightly bent DNA, exceed the theoretical expectation based on the wormlike chain (WLC) model by several orders of magnitude. Here, we propose that asymmetric bending rigidity of the double helix in the groove direction can be responsible for extreme bendability of DNA at short length scales and it also facilitates DNA loop formation at these lengths. To account for the bending asymmetry, we consider the asymmetric elastic rod (AER) model which has been introduced and parametrized in an earlier study (B. Eslami-Mossallam and M. Ejtehadi, Phys. Rev. E 80, 011919 (2009)). Exploiting a coarse grained representation of DNA molecule at base pair (bp) level, and using the Monte Carlo simulation method in combination with the umbrella sampling technique, we calculate the loop formation probability of DNA in the AER model. We show that, for DNA molecule has a larger J-factor compared to the WLC model which is in excellent agreement with recent experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Nonimmune fetal hydrops and lysosomal storage disease: the finding of vacuolated lymphocytes in ascitic fluid in two cases

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102650/1/pd4274.pd

Current knowledge on functionality and potential therapeutic uses of donkey milk

The increase of knowledge on the composition of donkey milk has revealed marked similarities to human milk, which led to a growing number of investigations focused on testing the potential effects of donkey milk in vitro and in vivo. This paper examines the scientific evidence regarding the beneficial effects of donkey milk on human health. Most clinical studies report a tolerability of donkey milk in 82.6–98.5% of infants with cow milk protein allergies. The average protein content of donkey milk is about 18 g/L. Caseins, which are main allergenic components of milk, are less represented compared to cow milk (56% of the total protein in donkey vs. 80% in cow milk). Donkey milk is well accepted by children due to its high concentration of lactose (about 60 g/L). Immunomodulatory properties have been reported in one study in humans and in several animal models. Donkey milk also seems to modulate the intestinal microbiota, enhance antioxidant defense mechanisms and detoxifying enzymes activities, reduce hyperglycemia and normalize dyslipidemia. Donkey milk has lower calorie and fat content compared with other milks used in human nutrition (fat ranges from 0.20% to 1.7%) and a more favourable fatty acid profile, being low in saturated fatty acids (3.02 g/L) and high in alpha-linolenic acid (about 7.25 g/100 g of fat). Until now, the beneficial properties of donkey milk have been mostly related to whey proteins, among which β-lactoglobulin is the most represented (6.06 g/L), followed by α-lactalbumin (about 2 g/L) and lysozyme (1.07 g/L). So far, the health functionality of donkey milk has been tested almost exclusively on animal models. Furthermore, in vitro studies have described inhibitory action against bacteria, viruses, and fungi. From the literature review emerges the need for new randomized clinical trials on humans to provide stronger evidence of the potential beneficial health effects of donkey milk, which could lead to new applications as an adjuvant in the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases, malnutrition, and aging

Antibacterial effects of Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract on pathogenic bacteria isolated from specimens of patients with respiratory tract disorders

ABSTRACTThe antibacterial activity of Eucalyptus globulus leaf extract was determined for 56 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, 25 isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes, 12 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and seven isolates of Haemophilus influenzae obtained from 200 clinical specimens of patients with respiratory tract disorders. MIC50s for these species were 64, 32, 16 and 16 mg/L, respectively; MIC90s were 128, 64, 32 and 32 mg/L, respectively; and MBCs were 512, 128, 64 and 64 mg/L, respectively. These results suggest that further studies to clarify the possible therapeutic role of E. globulus leaf extract in the treatment of respiratory tract infection are warranted

A randomized controlled clinical trial evaluating quality of life when using a simple acupressure protocol in women with primary dysmenorrhea

Objective: To evaluate a simple acupressure protocol in LIV3 and LI4 acupoints in women with primary dysmenorrhea. Methods: This paper reports a randomized, single blinded clinical trial. 90 young women with dysmenorrhea were recruited to three groups to receive 20 minutes acupressure every day in either LIV3 or LI4, or placebo points. Acupressure was timed five days before menstruation for three successive menstrual cycles. On menstruation, each participant completed the Wong Baker faces pain scale, and the quality of life short form -12 (QOL SF-12). Results: Intensity and duration of pain between the three groups in the second and third cycles during the intervention (p<0.05) differed significantly. Significant differences were seen in all domains of QOL except for mental health (p=0.4), general health (p=0.7) and mental subscale component (p=0.12) in the second cycle, and mental health (p=0.9), and mental subscale component (p=0.14) in the third cycle. Conclusion: Performing the simple acupressure protocol is an effective method to decrease the intensity and duration of dysmenorrhea, and improve the QOL. Key words: Dysmenorrhea, acupressure, quality of life Registration ID in IRCT: IRCT2016052428038N

Optimal partial-arcs in VMAT treatment planning

Purpose: To improve the delivery efficiency of VMAT by extending the recently published VMAT treatment planning algorithm vmerge to automatically generate optimal partial-arc plans. Methods and materials: A high-quality initial plan is created by solving a convex multicriteria optimization problem using 180 equi-spaced beams. This initial plan is used to form a set of dose constraints, and a set of partial-arc plans is created by searching the space of all possible partial-arc plans that satisfy these constraints. For each partial-arc, an iterative fluence map merging and sequencing algorithm (vmerge) is used to improve the delivery efficiency. Merging continues as long as the dose quality is maintained above a user-defined threshold. The final plan is selected as the partial arc with the lowest treatment time. The complete algorithm is called pmerge. Results: Partial-arc plans are created using pmerge for a lung, liver and prostate case, with final treatment times of 127, 245 and 147 seconds. Treatment times using full arcs with vmerge are 211, 357 and 178 seconds. Dose quality is maintained across the initial, vmerge, and pmerge plans to within 5% of the mean doses to the critical organs-at-risk and with target coverage above 98%. Additionally, we find that the angular distribution of fluence in the initial plans is predictive of the start and end angles of the optimal partial-arc. Conclusions: The pmerge algorithm is an extension to vmerge that automatically finds the partial-arc plan that minimizes the treatment time. VMAT delivery efficiency can be improved by employing partial-arcs without compromising dose quality. Partial arcs are most applicable to cases with non-centralized targets, where the time savings is greatest

Characteristics of high-risk sexual behaviors for human immunodeficiency virus infection among Iranian drug abusers

Objectives: This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and the associated factors of high-risk sexual behaviors among drug abusers referred to a methadone clinic in Gorgan, the capital of Golestan province in the northeast of Iran, to help health care decision makers on designing interventional programs. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 400 drug abusers referred to our methadone clinic were evaluated for high-risk sexual behavior. A logistic regression model was fitted for the association between independent variables and high-risk sexual behavior. Results: Approximately a quarter of patients (25.5%) had high-risk sexual behavior among which 47% had not used a condom in their last sexual contact. Drug abusers who had poor economic status had a lower chance of high-risk sexual behavior than those with good economic status (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.13-0.96). Also, 1-year increase in age reduced the chance by 6% (AOR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.91-0.98). Heroin abusers, compared with opium abusers, had a duplicated chance of having high-risk sex (AOR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.12-3.96). Conclusion: According to this study, high-risk sexual behavior in the drug abusers referred to methadone clinic was associated with younger age, good economic status, and heroin addiction. Hence, in interventional planning, more attention should be paid to young drug abusers, patients with good economic status, and heroin addicts as well. Copyright © 2012 American Society of Addiction Medicine

First report of Parophonus dia (Col.: Carabidae) for the Iranian fauna

During a faunistic study of the family Carabidae in Guilan province in summer 2011, beetle specimens were collected directly or by using pitfall traps and light traps. A species of ground beetles was identified and later confirmed by Dr. R. Felix (Berkel Enschot, The Netherlands) as Parophonus dia (Reitter). This species is recorded from Iran for the first time

Response of RC structures subjected to near-fault and far-fault earthquake motions considering soil-structure interaction

ABSTRACT Near-fault earthquake motions have special characteristics that affect the response of structures. Their importance in earthquake design of civil structures was not fully realized until several failures occurred during the 1994 Northridge and 1995 Kobe earthquake events. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of near fault and far fault earthquake motions on the response of reinforced concrete structures considering soil-structure interaction. In detail, a series of linear time-history analysis was carried out for three example buildings. The effects of soil-structure interaction were evaluated for a 3-story building, a 7-story building and a 15-story building. The ordinary moment resisting frame system was considered for all example buildings as lateral force-resisting system. For all buildings timehistory analysis were performed under 3 example earthquake motions: Tabbas, Kobe and Loma Prieta. The buildings were supported on soft and stiff soils with 100m/s and 900m/s shear wave velocity respectively. For each building and earthquake record, analysis were carried out for both conditions, building supported on soft and stiff soil separately, and compared with fixed base results. For all analysis both near-field and far-field earthquake were considered. The main evaluated parameters were period of structure, base shear, global displacement and story drifts. Results based on linear time-history analysis had shown that considering the soil-structure interaction increases period of structure and story drifts and also had noticeable and significant effects on global displacement and base shear

Analysis of Switched Inductor Three-level DC/DC Converter

A non-isolated DC/DC converter with high transfer gain is proposed in this paper. The presented converter consists of the switched inductor and three-level converters. The DC/DC power converter is three-level boost converter to convert the output voltage of the DC source into two voltage sources. The main advantages of DC/DC converter are using low voltage semiconductors and high gain voltage. The steady-state operation of the suggested converter is analyzed. A prototype is developed and tested to verify the performance of the proposed converter. To sum up, the MATLAB simulation results and the experimental results have transparently approved high efficiency of proposed converter as well as its feasibility