Cities Hosting Holy Shrines: the legacy of Pilgrimage and its impact on Urban Form

This paper explores pilgrimage in the context of historic holy cities which contain at least one religious complex through which the ritual of pilgrimage takes place. One controversial tension in urban development process of holy cities is the tension between urban growth, on the one hand, and adapting city structure to the needs of pilgrims on the other hand. This paper investigates this issue by referring to experiences of two major holy cities in of Mecca and Mashhad. Both cities are spiritual centers which host millions of pilgrims throughout year. The aim of this paper is to analyze the process of city center transformation in both cities and monitor different policies and interventions that shaped their morphologies up to now. Through historical analysis of urban form, flow of pilgrims has affected the morphology of both cities in similar ways. Accordingly policies and interventions by local officials have shaped the urban center in three similar ways: enlargement and expansion of shrine, vehicular access to shrine, and real-estate speculation. İn the absence of protective and preventive codes and policies both Mecca and Mashhad have lost their historical urban fabric and their cultural patrimonies. Their traditional urban scape and prominence of shrine has been substituted by high rise mega projects. İn a similar way their local crafts and small-scale retails have been replaced by global retail chain

Changes in postural and trunk muscles responses in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain during sudden upper limb loading

Background: Alterations in the neuromuscular control of the spine were found in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Sudden loading of the spine is assumed to be the cause of approximately 12 of lower back injuries. However, some aspects of this problem, such as alterations in the sensory-motor control of the spine, remain questionable. This study investigated postural and neuro- motor changes in trunk muscles during sudden upper limb loading in patients with CLBP. Methods: Electromyography of the erector spinae (ES) and transverses abdominis/internal oblique (TrA/IO) and external oblique (EOA) muscles were recorded in 20 patients with CLBP and 20 asymptomatic individuals with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) conditions. Moreover, measurements of the center of pressure (COP) and vertical ground reaction force (GRF) or Fz were recorded using a force plate. Data were analyzed using paired t-test and independent t-test at the significance level of 0.05. Results: In patients with CLBP, decreased electrical activity of the ES muscle was observed under both the EO and EC conditions and that of the TrA/IO muscle was observed under the EO condition (p < 0.05). Other findings included a shorter peak latency of the ES muscle in the EO condition and a greater increase in the peak latency of the ES muscle following the EC condition (p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in COP and GRF measurements between the groups. Conclusion: Electrical muscle activity may indicate less stiffening or preparatory muscle activity in the trunk muscle of patients with CLBP. Altered latency of the muscle may lead to microtrauma of lumbar structures and CLBP

MR defecography: A diagnostic test for the evaluation of pelvic floor motion in patients with dyssynergic defecation after biofeedback therapy

Background: Dyssynergic defecation is a major cause of chronic functional constipation as a common digestive complaint. We clinically evaluated the effects of biofeedback therapy on the pelvic floor motion indices through magnetic resonance (MR) defecography, quality of life and depression in patients with dyssynergic defecation. Methods: In this clinical trial study, among patients referring to the Colorectal Clinic of Hazrat Rasoul Hospital, 22 subjects were randomly assigned into two equal groups (n= 11) to receive either standard only or biofeedback and standard therapy. Dynamic changes of the pelvic floor were measured by MR defecography. During the simulated defecation, two MR defecography dynamic indices including abnormal anorectal angle change and perineal descent were measured before and after treatment. The effects of biofeedback therapy on patients' symptoms, quality of life and severity of depression were assessed and compared with the standard therapy. Statistical analysis was carried out using independent t-test and Mann-Whitney test. Results: Paradox index (p< 0.001), perineal descent index (p< 0.001), depression (p< 0.1), physical function (p< 0.001), vitality (p< 0.001) and role emotion (p< 0.001) significantly improved in the biofeedback therapy group in contrast to the standard therapy SDT group. Conclusion: Biofeedback therapy appears to be effective in improving symptoms of functional constipation and dysfunction of pelvic floor motion as well as patient's quality of life and depression state. MR defecography is able to show the changes in dynamic indices of the pelvic floor through biofeedback therapy

Tocilizumab for treatment patients with COVID-19: Recommended medication for novel disease

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) virus has spread all over the world. Scientists are trying to discover drugs as effective treatment for patients with COVID-19. So far about 30 drugs have been introduced that one of them is Tocilizumab. Recently Tocilizumab has been introduced to treat patients with COVID-19 and researchers are investigating further the efficacy of this drug for different are patients. In Iran and China, some reports showed a positive effect of Tocilizumab on Saturation of Peripheral Oxygen (SPO2) but results of CT scan in patients in different. In some patients, CT scan showed reduced infiltration, however in other no change was observed. Unfortunately, until now there has been no definitive and effective treatment for patients with COVID-19. Although Tocilizumab has been accepted by China Health Commission to treat infected patients, its positive effects still cannot be predicted in all patients. Based on evidence of the Tocilizumab's effect on the SARS COV 2, researchers hope this drug will make effective and promising treatment to improve lung tissue inflammation in patients with the fatal COVID-19 virus. The present study provides an overview of respiratory inflammation with COVID-19 and probable effect of Tocilizumab on SARS-COV 2. © 2020 Elsevier B.V

Protection and disinfection policies against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

In late December 2019, reports from China of the incidence of pneumonia with unknown etiology were sent to the World Health Organization (WHO). Shortly afterwards, the cause of this disease was identified as the novel beta-coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and its genetic sequence was published on January 12, 2020. Human-to-human transmission via respiratory droplets and contact with aerosol infected surfaces are the major ways of transmitting this virus. Here we attempted to collect information on virus stability in the air and on surfaces and ways of preventing of SARS-CoV-2 spreading

Comparison of postural balance between subgroups of nonspecific low-back pain patients based on O'Sullivan classification system and normal subjects during lifting

Background: Balance disorder is one of the most-studied fields in low-back pain patients (LBP). However, there is insufficient information regarding the effect of LBP subgrouping on postural control. The purpose of the present study was to compare postural control between subgroups of chronic nonspecific LBP and healthy subjects during lifting. Methods: A total of 35 men with chronic LBP (19 active extension pattern AEP and 16 flexion pattern FP) and 15 healthy controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Pooled LBP was subdivided based on the O'Sullivan's classification system (OCS). The participants were asked to lift a box from the ground to the waist level and hold it for 20 seconds. The load was 10% of the subject's weight. Force plate system was used to record balance parameters, including standard deviations (SDs) of center of pressure (COP) amplitude and COP velocity in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions and mean total velocity. The test was divided into two static and dynamic phases. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and independent t-test. Results: There were no significant differences between pooled LBP and control groups in any of the variables, except for the SD of the anterior-posterior direction velocity in the X-plane in the static phase (P=0.017). After classifying LBP, the results showed that the healthy and AEP groups were significantly different in SD of COP velocity in the frontal plane (P=0.021), mean total velocity (P=0.010), and SD of COP velocity in the sagittal plane (P=0.039). Conclusion: The present study showed that postural control was not different between the pooled LBP and normal groups. After classifying pooled LBP based on OCS, we found that the AEP showed different postural control as compared to healthy controls in the dynamic phase. The FP and AEP exhibited different postural control relative to the healthy controls in the static phase, and COP velocity was lower in those groups compared to the control group. The results of this study support the concept of LBP classification. © 2019 BY THE ARCHIVES OF BONE AND JOINT SURGERY

De Novo Transcriptome of Safflower and the Identification of Putative Genes for Oleosin and the Biosynthesis of Flavonoids

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is one of the most extensively used oil crops in the world. However, little is known about how its compounds are synthesized at the genetic level. In this study, Solexa-based deep sequencing on seed, leaf and petal of safflower produced a de novo transcriptome consisting of 153,769 unigenes. We annotated 82,916 of the unigenes with gene annotation and assigned functional terms and specific pathways to a subset of them. Metabolic pathway analysis revealed that 23 unigenes were predicted to be responsible for the biosynthesis of flavonoids and 8 were characterized as seed-specific oleosins. In addition, a large number of differentially expressed unigenes, for example, those annotated as participating in anthocyanin and chalcone synthesis, were predicted to be involved in flavonoid biosynthesis pathways. In conclusion, the de novo transcriptome investigation of the unique transcripts provided candidate gene resources for studying oleosin-coding genes and for investigating genes related to flavonoid biosynthesis and metabolism in safflower

Murine 3T3-L1 Adipocyte Cell Differentiation Model: Validated Reference Genes for qPCR Gene Expression Analysis

BACKGROUND: Analysis of gene expression at the mRNA level, using real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), mandatorily requires reference genes (RGs) as internal controls. However, increasing evidences have shown that RG expression may vary considerably under experimental conditions. We sought for an appropriate panel of RGs to be used in the 3T3-L1 cell line model during their terminal differentiation into adipocytes. To this end, the expression levels of a panel of seven widely used RG mRNAs were measured by qRT-PCR. The 7 RGs evaluated were ß-actin (ACTB), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl-transferase I (HPRT), ATP synthase H+ transporting mitochondrial F1 complex beta subunit (ATP-5b), tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5- monooxygenase activation protein, zeta polypeptide (Ywhaz), Non-POU-domain containing octamer binding protein (NoNo), and large ribosomal protein L13a (RPL). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using three Excel applications, GeNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper, we observed that the number and the stability of potential RGs vary significantly during differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells into adipocytes. mRNA expression analyses using qRT-PCR revealed that during the entire differentiation program, only NoNo expression is relatively stable. Moreover, the RG sets that were acceptably stable were different depending on the phase of the overall differentiation process (i.e. mitotic clonal expansion versus the terminal differentiation phase). RPL, ACTB, and Ywhaz, are suitable for terminal differentiation, whereas ATP-5b and HPRT, are suitable during mitotic clonal expansion. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that special attention must be given to the choice of suitable RGs during the various well defined phases of adipogenesis to ensure accurate data analysis and that the use of several RGs is absolutely required. Consequently, our data show for the first time, that during mitotic clonal expansion, the most suitable RGs are ATP-5b, NoNo and HPRT, while during terminal differentiation the most suitable RGs are, NoNo, RPL, ACTB and Ywhaz