Association of interleukin-1 gene cluster polymorphisms and haplotypes with multiple sclerosis in an Iranian population

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a multi-factorial autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. The exact etiology of MS is still unknown. Due to the important roles that cytokines play as mediators in immune and inflammatory responses, we have evaluated the association of IL-1 gene cluster polymorphisms and haplotypes with MS susceptibility in 306 unrelated MS patients and 312 healthy matched controls. A significant association was found for the IL-1β + 3953 T allele [OR = 1.43, 95% CI (1.14-1.79), P value = 0.002, Pc= 0.01] and for IL-1β + 3953 T/T genotype and MS risk [OR = 1.92, 95% CI (1.25-2.96), P value = 0.005, Pc= 0.01]. Interestingly, the genotypes of the polymorphisms remained significant under recessive, co-recessive and dominant models. However, no significant differences were found between MS patients and controls in the genotype and allele frequencies of the IL-1β - 511, - 31 and IL-1Ra polymorphisms. Haplotype analysis for IL-1β - 31 and IL-1β - 511, with moderate linkage disequilibrium (LD), using the EM algorithm revealed a significant global association of haplotype differences between the two groups. Lower presence of two haplotypes (H3: C-T and H4: T-C) was observed in the MS patients than healthy controls. However, after applying Bonferroni's correction the differences were not significant. To our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the association of the IL-1β + 3953 gene polymorphism and MS susceptibility. © 2015 Elsevier B.V

Evaluation of multidrug efflux pump expression in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus.aureus

Background: One of the mechanisms of Staphylococcus aureus resistance to ciprofloxacin is the presence of efflux pumps. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and expression of norA, norB and norC efflux pump genes in ciprofloxacin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates. Materials and methods: In this study, 40 isolates of S. aureus were obtained from blood and urine samples. Antibiotic resistance pattern by disc diffusion method and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was evaluated. Identification and expression of nor efflux family genes (norA, norB, and norC) in ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates of S. aureus were determined using Real-Time PCR method. Results: The resistant to ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin, Cotrimoxazol, Erythromycin and Amoxicillin was 42.5, 12.5, 12.5, 50 and 87.5, respectively. All of ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates were positive for of norA, norB, and norC genes. The results of Real-Time PCR showed that all ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates are active in the case of efflux pumps. Isolates showed different expressions of the norA, norB and norC genes. Expression levels of norA and norB increased by 6.8 and 7.1 fold, respectively. Conclusion: The results indicated that nor efflux family genes were expressed in all ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates of S. aureus. Moreover, there is an association between the expression of the efflux pump genes and resistance to ciprofloxacin in S. aureus isolates. © 201

Environmental damage of different waste treatment scenarios by considering avoided emissions based on system dynamics modeling

This study aims to develop a comprehensive model for life cycle assessment and environmental damage cost calculations considering avoided emissions in different waste management scenarios using the system dynamics (SD) approach. Our analysis reveals that under the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario for the period 2020–2050, the total net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reach 12.5 Mt, with the highest environmental damage cost being USD 689 million. In contrast, an integrated management strategy encompassing recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion, and incineration results in a 195% reduction in net GHG emissions compared to the BAU Scenario. Concurrently, the environmental damage cost drops to USD 277 million, incorporating USD 347 million in savings, leading to a net environmental damage cost of USD −71 million. The findings affirm that accounting for emissions avoided across various treatment methods offers a more accurate estimate of environmental damage costs. Additionally, policies centered on integrated waste management are more likely to achieve sustainability. The study also demonstrates the utility of the SD approach in providing a holistic view of waste management systems and in evaluating the effectiveness of various policy strategies for sustainable waste management

Markov Properties of Electrical Discharge Current Fluctuations in Plasma

Using the Markovian method, we study the stochastic nature of electrical discharge current fluctuations in the Helium plasma. Sinusoidal trends are extracted from the data set by the Fourier-Detrended Fluctuation analysis and consequently cleaned data is retrieved. We determine the Markov time scale of the detrended data set by using likelihood analysis. We also estimate the Kramers-Moyal's coefficients of the discharge current fluctuations and derive the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation. In addition, the obtained Langevin equation enables us to reconstruct discharge time series with similar statistical properties compared with the observed in the experiment. We also provide an exact decomposition of temporal correlation function by using Kramers-Moyal's coefficients. We show that for the stationary time series, the two point temporal correlation function has an exponential decaying behavior with a characteristic correlation time scale. Our results confirm that, there is no definite relation between correlation and Markov time scales. However both of them behave as monotonic increasing function of discharge current intensity. Finally to complete our analysis, the multifractal behavior of reconstructed time series using its Keramers-Moyal's coefficients and original data set are investigated. Extended self similarity analysis demonstrates that fluctuations in our experimental setup deviates from Kolmogorov (K41) theory for fully developed turbulence regime.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures and 4 tables. V3: Added comments, references, figures and major correction

Identification of hub genes associated with RNAi-induced silencing of XIAP through targeted proteomics approach in MCF7 cells

Background: The X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) is the most potent caspase inhibitor of the IAP family in apoptosis pathway. This study aims to identify the molecular targets of XIAP in human breast cancer cells exposed to XIAP siRNA by proteomics screening. The expression of XIAP was reduced in MCF-7 breast cancer cells by siRNA. Cell viability and the mRNA expression level of this gene were evaluated by MTS and quantitative real-time PCR procedures, respectively. Subsequently, the XIAP protein level was visualized by Western blotting and analyzed by two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis and LC-ESI-MS/MS. Results: Following XIAP silencing, cell proliferation was reduced in XIAP siRNA transfected cells. The mRNA transcription and protein expression of XIAP were decreased in cells exposed to XIAP siRNA than si-NEG. We identified 30 proteins that were regulated by XIAP, of which 27 down-regulated and 3 up-regulated. The most down-regulated proteins belonged to the Heat Shock Proteins family. They participate in cancer related processes including apoptosis and MAPK signaling pathway. Reduced expression of HSP90B1 was associated with apoptosis induction by androgen receptor and prostate specific antigen. Suppression of XIAP resulted in the enhancement of GDIB, ENO1, and CH60 proteins expression. The network analysis of XIAP-regulated proteins identified HSPA8, HSP90AA1, ENO1, and HSPA9 as key nodes in terms of degree and betweenness centrality methods. Conclusions: These results suggested that XIAP may have a number of biological functions in a diverse set of non-apoptotic signaling pathways and may provide an insight into the biomedical significance of XIAP over-expression in MCF-7 cells. © 2020 The Author(s)

Pectin Methacrylate (PEMA) and Gelatin-Based Hydrogels for Cell Delivery: Converting Waste Materials into Biomaterials.

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