Modeling of NiTiHf Using Finite Difference Method

NiTiHf is a high temperature and high strength shape memory alloy with transformation temperatures above 100oC. A constitutive model based on Gibbs free energy is developed to predict the behavior of this material. Two different irrecoverable strains including transformation induced plastic strain (TRIP) and viscoplastic strain (VP) are considered when using high temperature shape memory alloys (HTSMAs). The first one happens during transformation at high levels of stress and the second one is related to the creep which is rate-dependent. The developed model is implemented for NiTiHf under uniaxial loading. Finite difference method is utilized to solve the proposed equations. The material parameters in the equations are calibrated from experimental data. Simulation results are captured to investigate the superelastic behavior of NiTiHf. The extracted results are compared with experimental tests of isobaric heating and cooling at different levels of stress and also superelastic tests at different levels of temperature. More results are generated to investigate the capability of the proposed model in the prediction of the irrecoverable strain after full transformation in HTSMAs

Seroprevalence and Molecular Evaluation of Toxoplasmosis in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy for Malignancies in the Bushehr Province, Southwest Iran

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening infection in organ transplant recipients, people receiving corticosteroid or radiation therapy, people with malignancies, and AIDS patients. Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in patients receiving chemotherapy for malignancies in the Bushehr province of southwest Iran. Methods: Blood samples were taken from 86 patients who were continuously referred to the chemotherapy center in Bushehr province and evaluated by ELISA to determine anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies. Moreover, a blood buffy coat of each sample was assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), targeting a 529 bp gene of T. gondii. PCR products of the positive samples were sequenced to determine the genotype of the parasite. Results: Anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were detected in the sera of 21 (24.4%) cases. All of the patients were negative for anti- Toxoplasma IgM antibodies. No statistically significant correlation was found between seropositivity to Toxoplasma and duration of chemotherapy or having contact with cats. PCR detected a 529 bp band of T. gondii in the buffy coats of two out of 86 (2.3%) cases. The sequence analysis demonstrated that both cases were 95% identical to type III (VEG strain) of T. gondii. Conclusions: Findings of this study demonstrated the presence of type III T. gondii in the buffy coats of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Given that toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening infection in immunocompromised patients, these patients should be screened for toxoplasmosis before and during chemotherapy to prevent acute toxoplasmosi

Seroprevalence and Molecular Evaluation of Toxoplasmosis in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy for Malignancies in the Bushehr Province, Southwest Iran

Toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening infection in organ transplant recipients, people receiving corticosteroid or radiation therapy, people with malignancies, and AIDS patients. Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in patients receiving chemotherapy for malignancies in the Bushehr province of southwest Iran. Methods: Blood samples were taken from 86 patients who were continuously referred to the chemotherapy center in Bushehr province and evaluated by ELISA to determine anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies. Moreover, a blood buffy coat of each sample was assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), targeting a 529 bp gene of T. gondii. PCR products of the positive samples were sequenced to determine the genotype of the parasite. Results: Anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were detected in the sera of 21 (24.4%) cases. All of the patients were negative for anti- Toxoplasma IgM antibodies. No statistically significant correlation was found between seropositivity to Toxoplasma and duration of chemotherapy or having contact with cats. PCR detected a 529 bp band of T. gondii in the buffy coats of two out of 86 (2.3%) cases. The sequence analysis demonstrated that both cases were 95% identical to type III (VEG strain) of T. gondii. Conclusions: Findings of this study demonstrated the presence of type III T. gondii in the buffy coats of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Given that toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening infection in immunocompromised patients, these patients should be screened for toxoplasmosis before and during chemotherapy to prevent acute toxoplasmosis

Mongolian Traditional Medicine, a Combination of Other Nations' Traditional Medicine

زمینه و هدف: مغولان مانند دیگر اقوام بشری، اصول و قواعدی در طب و سبک زندگی داشته‌اند که برگرفته از شرایط و محیط زندگی ایشان بوده است، اما یافتن آن قواعد مغولی کمی مشکل است، چراکه مغولان در طی تاریخ حیات خود پا به سرزمین‌های فراوانی گذاشته و در نتیجه همواره تحت تأثیر رسوم و قواعد سرزمینی جدید بوده‌اند که اصول مغولی را دستخوش تغییراتی می‌کرده است، در نتیجه می‌توان گفت که باورهای طبی آنان نیز تغییرات فراوان داشته و همواره شکلی جدید به خود گرفته است. این پژوهش درصدد آن است که به مطالعه کهن‌ترین باورهای طب سنتی و روش‌های درمانی مغولان بپردازد و رشد و توسعه دانش طبی سنتی آنان را بررسی نموده و وضعیت فعلی آن را در مغولستان بیان نماید. مواد و روش‌ها: این پژوهش به روش مطالعه کتابخانه‌ای و منابع اینترنتی معتبر و جستجو در کتاب‌ها و منابع معتبر در رابطه با طب سنتی مغولی، صورت گرفته است. یافته‌ها: در این تحقیق تأثیر عقاید مذهبی مغولان بر باورهای بهداشتی و درمانی آن‌ها بررسی شد و اصول و مبانی طب سنتی مغولی و چگونگی تحول در دانش طب سنتی آن‌ها بعد از ترکیب با دانش طبی ملل دیگر، بیان گشته و برخی از روش‌های درمانی آن‌ها ذکر گردید. همچین جایگاه فعلی این طب در سیستم آموزشی و درمانی مغولستان و همینطور در میان مردم این کشور، بیان گردید. یافته‌ها: در این تحقیق تأثیر عقاید مذهبی مغولان بر باورهای بهداشتی و درمانی آن‌ها بررسی شد و اصول و مبانی طب سنتی مغولی و چگونگی تحول در دانش طب سنتی آن‌ها بعد از ترکیب با دانش طبی ملل دیگر، بیان گشته و برخی از روش‌های درمانی آن‌ها ذکر گردید. همچین جایگاه فعلی این طب در سیستم آموزشی و درمانی مغولستان و همینطور در میان مردم این کشور، بیان گردید. نتیجه‌گیری: از مهم‌ترین عوامل مؤثر بر طب سنتی مغول، باورهای دینی آنان بوده که بسیار با جادوگری آمیخته بوده است. باورهای طبی جادوگرانه و سنتی آنان به تدریج با رسوم طبی ملل دیگر همچون «تبت» و «هند» ترکیب گشته و نظریه‌ها و تکنیک‌های آن توسعه یافته است. طب سنتی در حال حاضر جایگاهی ارزشمند در میان مغولان داشته و مورد استفاده چشم‌گیری قرار می‌گیرد.Background and Aim: Mongols, like other ethnic communities, have had principles in medicine and lifestyle which have been influenced by their living conditions and environment. Finding Mongolian rules is a little difficult, because the Mongols lived in many lands during their life history and have always been influenced by the traditions and rules of a new land and Mongolian principles have been changed. As a result, it can be said that their medical beliefs also had many changes and have taken a new form. The aim of this study is to review the most ancient beliefs in traditional medicine and therapies of Mongols, to review the development of their traditional medical knowledge and the current situation. Materials and Methods: In this research, historical books, articles and Internet resources about Traditional Mongolian medicine were searched with the key words of "Mongol" and "traditional medicine". Findings: In this research, the effect of the Mongol’s religious beliefs on treatment and health beliefs were assessed. The principles of traditional Mongolian medicine and the way of changes in traditional medicine knowledge under the influence of the medical knowledge of other nations and some of their therapeutic manners were expressed. Conclusion: The most important factors affecting traditional Mongolian medicine were their religious beliefs which have been very mixed with witchcraft. Their traditional medical beliefs, practices have been gradually mixed with the traditions of other nations, such as "Tibet" and "India" and theories and techniques have been developed. Traditional medicine now has a valuable place among the Mongols and is used impressively.   Please cite this article as: Rajabnezhad MR, Niknejad SH, Asadi S. Mongolian Traditional Medicine, a Combination of Other Nations' Traditional Medicine. Med Hist J 2019; 11(40): 19-31

Dietary Administration of Yeast β 1,3 1,6 Glucan on Immunity and Survival Rate of White Indian Shrimp, Fennerpenaeus indicus Challenged with White Spot Syndrome Disease

The potency of dietary β 1,3 1,6 glucan (BG), derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, in stimulating the non-specific immunity of white Indian shrimp, Fennerpenaeus indicus (Milne-Edwards, 1837) and improving its resistance to white spot syndrome disease were investigated. F. indicus (11.32±1.20 g) were fed for 20 days on a series of treatment diets containing graded levels of BG (blank control, 0 as control, 2, 10, 20 g kg-1 feed) and were then challenged by injection of WSSV virus. Total haemocyte count (THC), total plasma protein (TPP), phagocytic activity (PA) and Bacterial Clearance activity (BC) were measured at days 0, 7, 14, 21 after BG feeding, and shrimp survival rate was also recorded daily after challenge. THC, TPP, PA and BC of the 10 and 20 g kg-1 BG treatments were significantly higher (P<0.05) by day 14 than control and 2 g kg-1 treatment shrimp. Survival rate of shrimp fed with the diet containing 10 and 20 g kg-1 BG after 21 days, were 53.32±5.77 and 48.32±5.77%, respectively. Accordingly, oral administration of BG at an optimal level of 10 g kg-1 diet for 20 days efficaciously stimulate the immune defense and improve the survival rate of WSV-infected F. indicus

Pegylated niosomal nanoparticles loaded with vincristine: Characterization and in vitro evaluation

Purpose: To investigate the effect of pegylated niosomal vincristine (VCR) on enhanced performance, drug resistance and prolonged blood circulation time.Methods: Pegylated niosomal VCR was synthesized by reverse phase evaporation. The mean diameter, size distribution, and zeta potential of pegylated niosomal VCR were evaluated using a Zetasizer. The half-maximal concentration (IC50) values of pegylated niosomal VCR and standard VCR were determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The impact of pegylated niosomal VCR on apoptosis and cell cycle of BCL1 lymphoma cancer cells were investigated.Results: The mean diameter, size distribution and zeta potential of pegylated niosomal VCR were 220 nm, 0.4, and –18.8 mV, respectively. Cell proliferation was evaluated using the MTT assay. The IC50 values of pegylated niosomal VCR and standard VCR were 1.6 and 3.5 μg/mL, respectively, after a 24-h incubation. The cytotoxicity of pegylated niosomal VCR was twice that of standard VCR. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis of the cell cycle showed that pegylated niosomal VCR induced greater mitotic arrest than did standard VCR.Conclusions: The findings demonstrate the effective antitumor activity of pegylated niosomal VCR compared with standard VCR.Keywords: Niosome, Anti-tumour, Polyethylene glycol, Vincristine,   Encapsulation, Lymphom

Wild Relatives of Wheat Respond Well to Water Deficit Stress : A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Their Encoding Gene Expression

Previous studies have revealed that some wild wheat accessions respond well to water deficit treatments and have a good potential in terms of photosynthetic parameters, root system architecture, and several physiological properties. However, the biochemical responses and molecular mechanisms of antioxidant-encoding genes remain to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the most tolerant accessions fromA. crassa,Ae. tauschii, andAe. cylindricapreviously identified from a core collection in previous studies, along with a control variety of bread wheat (T. aestivumcv. Sirvan) through measuring the shoot fresh and dry biomasses; the activities of antioxidant enzymes (including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), and peroxidase (POD)); and the relative expression ofCAT, superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), andGPXandAPXgenes under control and water deficit conditions. Water deficit stress caused a significant decrease in the shoot biomasses but resulted in an increase in the activity of all antioxidant enzymes and relative expression of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes. Principal component analysis showed a strong association between the shoot dry biomass and the activity of CAT, POD, and APX, as well asMnSODgene expression. Thus, these traits can be used as biomarkers to screen the tolerant plant material in the early growth stage. Taken together, our findings exposed the fact thatAe. tauschiiandAe. crassarespond better to water deficit stress thanAe. cylindricaand a control variety. Furthermore, these accessions can be subjected to further molecular investigation.Peer reviewe

Wild Relatives of Wheat Respond Well to Water Deficit Stress: A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Their Encoding Gene Expression

Previous studies have revealed that some wild wheat accessions respond well to water deficit treatments and have a good potential in terms of photosynthetic parameters, root system architecture, and several physiological properties. However, the biochemical responses and molecular mechanisms of antioxidant-encoding genes remain to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the most tolerant accessions from A. crassa, Ae. tauschii, and Ae. cylindrica previously identified from a core collection in previous studies, along with a control variety of bread wheat (T. aestivum cv. Sirvan) through measuring the shoot fresh and dry biomasses; the activities of antioxidant enzymes (including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), and peroxidase (POD)); and the relative expression of CAT, superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and GPX and APX genes under control and water deficit conditions. Water deficit stress caused a significant decrease in the shoot biomasses but resulted in an increase in the activity of all antioxidant enzymes and relative expression of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes. Principal component analysis showed a strong association between the shoot dry biomass and the activity of CAT, POD, and APX, as well as MnSOD gene expression. Thus, these traits can be used as biomarkers to screen the tolerant plant material in the early growth stage. Taken together, our findings exposed the fact that Ae. tauschii and Ae. crassa respond better to water deficit stress than Ae. cylindrica and a control variety. Furthermore, these accessions can be subjected to further molecular investigation

Effect of Water Deficit Stress on Seedling Biomass and Physio-Chemical Characteristics in Different Species of Wheat Possessing the D Genome

Wild relatives of wheat serve as an extraordinary source of variability for breeding programs due to their capabilities to respond to various environmental stresses. Here, we investigated some species possessing a D genome (T. aestivum, Ae. tauschii, Ae. crassa and Ae. cylindrica) in terms of relative water content (RWC), stomatal conductance (Gs), relative chlorophyll content, initial fluorescence (Fo), maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), maximum primary yield of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fo), as well as shoot fresh and dry biomasses under control and water deficit conditions. Our results revealed that water deficit negatively affected all traits; shoot fresh weight, Gs and RWC showed the highest reduction compared to the control condition. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified two PCs that accounted for 53.36% of the total variation in the water deficit conditions. Correlation analysis and PCA-based biplots showed that stress tolerance index (STI) is significantly associated with Fv/Fm and Fv/Fo under water stress conditions, suggesting that these are the best parameters to evaluate when screening for tolerant samples at the seedling stage. We identified 19 accessions from Ae. crassa and one from Ae. tauschii as the most tolerant samples. In conclusion, Ae. crassa might provide an ideal genetic resource for drought-tolerant wheat breeds

Effect of Water Deficit Stress on Seedling Biomass and Physio-Chemical Characteristics in Different Species of Wheat Possessing the D Genome

Wild relatives of wheat serve as an extraordinary source of variability for breeding programs due to their capabilities to respond to various environmental stresses. Here, we investigated some species possessing a D genome (T. aestivum, Ae. tauschii, Ae. crassa and Ae. cylindrica) in terms of relative water content (RWC), stomatal conductance (Gs), relative chlorophyll content, initial fluorescence (Fo), maximum quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm), maximum primary yield of PSII photochemistry (Fv/Fo), as well as shoot fresh and dry biomasses under control and water deficit conditions. Our results revealed that water deficit negatively affected all traits; shoot fresh weight, Gs and RWC showed the highest reduction compared to the control condition. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified two PCs that accounted for 53.36% of the total variation in the water deficit conditions. Correlation analysis and PCA-based biplots showed that stress tolerance index (STI) is significantly associated with Fv/Fm and Fv/Fo under water stress conditions, suggesting that these are the best parameters to evaluate when screening for tolerant samples at the seedling stage. We identified 19 accessions from Ae. crassa and one from Ae. tauschii as the most tolerant samples. In conclusion, Ae. crassa might provide an ideal genetic resource for drought-tolerant wheat breeds