Gender Identity Disorders in Iran; Request for Sex Reassignment Surgery

Background: Based on reports of the Tehran Legal Medicine Organization (LMO), requests for sex change operation by persons with Gender identity disorder (GID) have increased in the past few years in Iran. Due to the social and legal ramification of transsexualism, we decided to perform a study to assess the demographic status and legal aspects of Iranian Transsexuals who were applicants for sex reassignment surgery (SRS). Method: The total number of 69 cases with GID who requested sex change by surgery was assessed during a period of four years (2005-2009) in Tehran. Descriptive statistical methods and Chi square were used to analyze the data. Results: There were 44 male-to-female and 25 female-to-male Transsexuals with a mean age of 25 years. Out of 69 requests for sex change, transsexualism was confirmed in 61 cases and the remaining 8 cases had other Psychiatric disorders manifested by identity confusion. The onset of symptoms had developed in childhood (<10 y) in nearly 70% of patients. Depression was found in about 26% of cases. Eighteen cases (26%) had a history of suicide attempts. Among individuals with final diagnosis of Transsexualism, request of 93% was accepted for SRS. Conclusion: This study showed dominancy in Male to Female Transsexuals (1.7/1). Depression was the most common psychiatric disorder associated with Transsexualism. The article also showed that recently transsexualism accepted by community and country low more than before

Author Correction: Longitudinal assessment of tumor development using cancer avatars derived from genetically engineered pluripotent stem cells.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

Magnetite (Fe 3

Accumulation of heavy metals in the ecosystem and their toxic effects through food chain can cause serious ecological and health problems. In the present study, experiments were performed to understand how the addition of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles reduces the toxicity caused by Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn in cucumber plants. Plant growth parameters, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant enzymes were measured in seedling samples treated with either metals or metals supplemented with Fe3O4 to demonstrate the reduction in metal-induced oxidative stress conferred by Fe3O4. Results showed that the toxic effect of metals on seedling growth parameters can be arranged in the rank order of inhibition as follows: Cu > Cd > Zn > Pb. Exposure to metals significantly decreased the seedlings growth, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidases (POD), while the malondialdehyde (MDA) content significantly increased in cucumber seedlings. The reducing activity of nano-Fe3O4 against heavy metals stresses was confirmed in this study by the decrease in MDA content. The correlation between the decrease of MDA concentration and the increase in SOD and POD activities in the presence of nano-Fe3O4 suggest that the MDA reduction in the tested seedlings can result from the increased enzyme activity

Advances in non-destructive early assessment of fruit ripeness towards defining optimal time of harvest and yield prediction—a review

© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Global food security for the increasing world population not only requires increased sustainable production of food but a significant reduction in pre-and post-harvest waste. The timing of when a fruit is harvested is critical for reducing waste along the supply chain and increasing fruit quality for consumers. The early in-field assessment of fruit ripeness and prediction of the harvest date and yield by non-destructive technologies have the potential to revolutionize farming practices and enable the consumer to eat the tastiest and freshest fruit possible. A variety of non-destructive techniques have been applied to estimate the ripeness or maturity but not all of them are applicable for in situ (field or glasshousassessment. This review focuses on the non-destructive methods which are promising for, or have already been applied to, the pre-harvest in-field measurements including colorimetry, visible imaging, spectroscopy and spectroscopic imaging. Machine learning and regression models used in assessing ripeness are also discussed

Association between biomarkers of tissue inflammation and progression of osteoarthritis: evidence from the Rotterdam study cohort

__Background:__ We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of two biomarkers of tissue inflammation, matrix metalloproteinase-dependent degradation of C-reactive protein (CRPM) and connective tissue type I collagen turnover (C1M), on the incidence and progression of radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) in the Rotterdam Study, a prospective cohort. Moreover, the independent effect of these biomarkers with respect to the established biomarkers of OA progression, like urinary type II collagen degradation (uCTX-II) and serum cartilage oligomeric protein (COMP), was evaluated. __Methods:__ Serum levels of C1M, CRPM, COMP and CRP of 1335 participants aged >55 years were measured in fasting serum using ELISA. The commercial ELISA detecting CTX-II was used in urine. Radiographs at baseline and 5-year follow-up were scored for OA stage by Kellgren-Lawrence grade. The associations between progression and incidence of OA and the baseline biomarkers were examined using logistic regression and generalized estimating equations adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and possible other confounders. __Results:__ The uCTX-II, COMP, and CRP concentrations were associated with the incidence and progression of OA. Moreover, OA progression was positively associated with CRPM (OR = 1.3, p = 0.01) and CRP (OR = 1.3, p = 0.01) levels with similar effect size as uCTX-II (OR = 1.3, p = 0.01) and COMP (OR = 1.2, p = 0.02). CRPM had prognostic value for progression of OA independent from the uCTX-II and COMP. __Conclusions:__ Our study confirmed the associations between uCTX-II and COMP concentrations and OA progression. Importantly, we showed for the first time that CRPM predicts the risk of OA progression independent of the established biomarkers uCTX-II and COMP

Epidemiology of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Asia: A Systematic Review

Ethnic and geographical differences are important factors in studying disease frequencies, because they may highlight the environmental or genetic influences in the etiology. We retrieved the studies which have been published regarding the epidemiologic features of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in Asia, based on the definitions of GERD, study settings, publication years and geographical regions. From the population-based studies, the prevalence of symptom-based GERD in Eastern Asia was found to be 2.5%-4.8% before 2005 and 5.2%-8.5% from 2005 to 2010. In Southeast and Western Asia, it was 6.3%-18.3% after 2005, which was much higher than those in Eastern Asia. There were robust epidemiologic data of endoscopic reflux esophagitis in medical check-up participants. The prevalence of endoscopic reflux esophagitis in Eastern Asia increased from 3.4%-5.0% before 2000, to 4.3%-15.7% after 2005. Although there were only limited studies, the prevalence of extra-esophageal syndromes in Asia was higher in GERD group than in controls. The prevalence of Barrett's esophagus was 0.06%-0.84% in the health check-up participants, whereas it was 0.31%-2.00% in the referral hospital settings. In summary, the prevalence of symptom-based GERD and endoscopic reflux esophagitis has increased in Asian countries. However, the prevalence of Barrett's esophagus in Asia has not changed and also still rare

Human RAD18 Interacts with Ubiquitylated Chromatin Components and Facilitates RAD9 Recruitment to DNA Double Strand Breaks

RAD18 is an ubiquitin ligase involved in replicative damage bypass and DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair processes. We found that RPA is required for the dynamic pattern of RAD18 localization during the cell cycle, and for accumulation of RAD18 at sites of γ-irradiation-induced DNA damage. In addition, RAD18 colocalizes with chromatin-associated conjugated ubiquitin and ubiquitylated H2A throughout the cell cycle and following irradiation. This localization pattern depends on the presence of an intact, ubiquitin-binding Zinc finger domain. Using a biochemical approach, we show that RAD18 directly binds to ubiquitylated H2A and several other unknown ubiquitylated chromatin components. This interaction also depends on the RAD18 Zinc finger, and increases upon the induction of DSBs by γ-irradiation. Intriguingly, RAD18 does not always colocalize with regions that show enhanced H2A ubiquitylation. In human female primary fibroblasts, where one of the two X chromosomes is inactivated to equalize X-chromosomal gene expression between male (XY) and female (XX) cells, this inactive X is enriched for ubiquitylated H2A, but only rarely accumulates RAD18. This indicates that the binding of RAD18 to ubiquitylated H2A is context-dependent. Regarding the functional relevance of RAD18 localization at DSBs, we found that RAD18 is required for recruitment of RAD9, one of the components of the 9-1-1 checkpoint complex, to these sites. Recruitment of RAD9 requires the functions of the RING and Zinc finger domains of RAD18. Together, our data indicate that association of RAD18 with DSBs through ubiquitylated H2A and other ubiquitylated chromatin components allows recruitment of RAD9, which may function directly in DSB repair, independent of downstream activation of the checkpoint kinases CHK1 and CHK2

Comparative analysis of Neph gene expression in mouse and chicken development

Neph proteins are evolutionarily conserved members of the immunoglobulin superfamily of adhesion proteins and regulate morphogenesis and patterning of different tissues. They share a common protein structure consisting of extracellular immunoglobulin-like domains, a transmembrane region, and a carboxyl terminal cytoplasmic tail required for signaling. Neph orthologs have been widely characterized in invertebrates where they mediate such diverse processes as neural development, synaptogenesis, or myoblast fusion. Vertebrate Neph proteins have been described first at the glomerular filtration barrier of the kidney. Recently, there has been accumulating evidence suggesting a function of Neph proteins also outside the kidney. Here we demonstrate that Neph1, Neph2, and Neph3 are expressed differentially in various tissues during ontogenesis in mouse and chicken. Neph1 and Neph2 were found to be amply expressed in the central nervous system while Neph3 expression remained localized to the cerebellum anlage and the spinal cord. Outside the nervous system, Neph mRNAs were also differentially expressed in branchial arches, somites, heart, lung bud, and apical ectodermal ridge. Our findings support the concept that vertebrate Neph proteins, similarly to their Drosophila and C. elegans orthologs, provide guidance cues for cell recognition and tissue patterning in various organs which may open interesting perspectives for future research on Neph1-3 controlled morphogenesis