Using cellular automata to simulate field-scale flaming and smouldering wildfires in tropical peatlands

Peat wildfires are the largest fires on Earth involving both flaming and smouldering combustion, with one leading to the other. A common ignition source of smouldering fires in tropical peatlands are intentional flaming fires used to clear surface vegetation. To capture the behaviour of these fires, it is necessary to consider the interaction between flaming vegetation and smouldering peat. However, doing so is infeasible with the state-of-the-art wildfire models, as they do not consider the transition from flaming to smouldering and are computationally too expensive at the field-scale hundreds of hectares. In this work, we overcome these limitations and model both flaming and smouldering at the field-scale using cellular automata: that is a discrete mathematical model that uses simple rules to capture complex behaviour while remaining computationally light. The model was calibrated against existing experiments in the literature and used to predict the effect of peat moisture content on the behaviour of peatland wildfires. The model shows how flaming creates smouldering hotspots and how these hotspots merge – flaming spreads rapidly, consuming surface vegetation, leaving behind hotspots of smouldering peat which consumes most of the peat. The model was then applied to study a real prescribed fire of 573 ha peatland in Borneo in 2015, observed by drone footage. The model captured the spread patterns of the fire and predicted that 2.9 ha of peatland burnt after 3 months with 70% peat moisture content (dry-based). This ioutcome could have been reduced to 0.02 ha if the peat moisture content had been above 100%. This work improves the fundamental understanding of how peat wildfires spread at the field scale which has received little attention until now

BAMBI is a novel HIF1-dependent modulator of TGF beta-mediated disruption of cell polarity during hypoxia

Hypoxia and loss of cell polarity are common features of malignant carcinomas. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF1) is the major regulator of cellular hypoxia response and mediates the activation of similar to 300 genes. Increased HIF1 signaling is known to be associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transformation. Here, we report that hypoxia disrupts polarized epithelial morphogenesis of MDCK cells in a HIF1 alpha-dependent manner by modulating the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) signaling pathway. Analysis of potential HIF1 targets in the TGF beta pathway identified the bone morphogenetic protein and activin membrane-bound inhibitor (BAMBI), a transmembrane glycoprotein related to the type I receptors of the TGF beta family, whose expression was essentially lost in HIF1-depleted cells. Similar to what was observed in HIF1-deficient cells, BAMBI-depleted cells failed to efficiently activate TGF beta signaling and retained epithelial polarity during hypoxia. Taken together, we show that hypoxic conditions promote TGF beta signaling in a HIF1-dependent manner and BAMBI is identified in this pathway as a novel HIF1-regulated gene that contributes to hypoxia-induced loss of epithelial polarity.Peer reviewe

Trout farms and other human activities effects on Cheshmehkileh river ecosystem in Tonekabon

Cheshmehkileh River and adjacent mountainous streams, play a strategic role as a historical axis for anthropogenic civilization, human welfare also habitat and migration pathway of commercial – biologic valuable fishes e.g. Caspian trout, Caspian kuttum, members of Cyprinidae family in south Caspian Sea drainage. Treats such as overfishing of Caspian trout and Red spotted trout stocks in mountainous headwaters, barriers construction and manipulations those are out of river carrying capacity developed by human activities, affected normal function of river as well. Sand mining big factories establishment next to the river, legal and illegal trade of river sediments, direct entry of Tonekabon landfill leakage into the river, development of Rainbow trout farms since 3 decades and huge effluents into the river containing dead fish and types of solids, escapement of cultured Rainbow trouts into the river, … are major minimum factors which needs basic information for integrating inclusively drainage management system. Cheshmehkileh River contains Headwaters of Dohezar (Daryasar & Nusha), Sehezar and Valamroud rivers during 13 monthly sampling phases between September 2009 and October 2010 based on macrozoobenthoses investigations by EPT, EPT/C EPA protocols, measurements of nominated physic-chemical and microbiologic parameters. Probability of Rainbow trouts escapement and invasion, existence, nutrition in Cheshmehkileh environment indeed investigated. Data analysis explained significant differences (P<0.05) between groups of measured parameters in different sampling stations. Dendogram of clustered analysis based on consolidation of major biologic/ physic-chemical and microbiologic parameters, separated stations No. 1, 3, 2, 4 in one group and remained classified in different groups. Station 8 and 9 similarly separated which expressed general similarities according to Sehezar river environment which were differs in comparison with other stations. Station 11 separated according to its natural quality of water and environment. Similarities between station 10 to Sehezar river stations 8 and 9 expressed general influence of Sehezar River more than Dohezar River in Cheshmehkileh condition especially in station No. 10. High scores of EPT and EPT/C indices in upstream stations 1, 3 and 8 also low score of indices in stations 7, 13 and 6 expressed levels of environment quality between these groups of stations. Maximum average biomass of macroinvertebrates belongs to Trichoptera order in Cheshmehkileh River. Significant decrease of biomass in stations 11, 12 and 13 in comparison with other stations stated environment degradation in mentioned stations relevant to excessive sand mining as well. Pollution resistant groups of invertebrates significantly increased in downstreams against upstream stations. Also disappearing of Plecoptera order in station No. 7, 9, 10 and 13 stated low quality of environment in comparison with upstream stations. Confirmation of effects quality and quantity for point and non-point sources of imported pollutants require specific management considerations in order to present exploitations, pollutants control and emergencies for river monitoring in forthcoming years

8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosin in peripheral leukocyte associated with HBsAg in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Background: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB), with accumulation of Hepatitis B surface Antigen (HBsAg) in hepatocytes, linked to the immune-mediated hepatic inflammation and induction of oxidative stress. 8-Hydroxyl-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is a useful biomarker for measuring the adverse effects of exogenous infectious agents in oxidative damage to DNA. Objectives: The current study aimed at investigating the possible oxidative adverse effects of HBsAg and systemic DNA damage in patients with CHB, and supporting the host-viral interaction in immune-mediated inflammatory. Methods: Thirty patients with CHB who had undergone liver biopsies for therapeutic purposes and 30 matched controls from a healthy population were randomly selected in the present study for assessment of 8-OHdG levels in peripheral blood leukocytes DNA by 32P-postlabeling analysis. Expression of HBsAg in hepatocytes was evaluated immunohistochemically in liver biopsies of patients with CHB. The effect of 8-OHdG and 95% confidence interval (CI), adjusted by relevant confounders, were assessed on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Results: Experimental investigation showed increased levels of DNA adduct 8-OHdG compared with healthy individuals (mean ± standard deviation, 1456±1275 vs. 402±271; P < 0.001). The logistic regression with continuous and dichotomous models revealed the strong impact of 8-OHdG on CHB infection (OR = 1.20; 95%CI: 1.01 -1.44, P = 0.043) and (OR = 7.18; 95%CI: 1.32 -39.02, P = 0.022). HBV DNA and hepatic expression of HBsAg had a borderline association with DNA adduct 8-OHdG (r = 0.35, P = 0.054 and r = 0.36, P = 0.05). Conclusions: The current study showed that the adduct of 8-OHdG in peripheral blood cells DNA increased in patients with CHB compared with healthy carriers and the pathophysiologic role of HBsAg in oxidative stress in patients with CHB. Nonetheless, the lack of efficient DNA repair enzymes activity as well as a proper diet with antioxidant agents in CHB need to be clarified in future studies. © 2017, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

The translational expression of ABCA2 and ABCA3 is a strong prognostic biomarker for multidrug resistance in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Narges Aberuyi,1 Soheila Rahgozar,1 Zohreh Khosravi Dehaghi,1 Alireza Moafi,2 Andrea Masotti,3,* Alessandro Paolini3,* 1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Isfahan, 2Department of Pediatric-Hematology-Oncology, Sayed-ol-Shohada Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; 3Gene Expression &ndash; Microarrays Laboratory, Bambino Ges&ugrave; Children&rsquo;s Hospital-Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy *These authors contributed equally to&nbsp;the manuscript Purpose: The aim of this work was to study the correlation between the expressions of the ABCA2 and ABCA3 genes at the mRNA and protein levels in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the effects of this association on multidrug resistance (MDR).Materials and methods: Sixty-nine children with de novo ALL and 25 controls were enrolled in the study. Mononuclear cells were isolated from the bone marrow. The mRNA levels of ABCA2 and ABCA3 were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Samples with high mRNA levels were assessed for respective protein levels by Western blotting. Following the first year of treatment, persistent monoclonality of T-cell gamma receptors or immunoglobulin H (IgH) gene rearrangement was assessed and considered as the MDR. The tertiary structure of ABCA2 was predicted using Phyre2 and I-TASSER web systems and compared to that of ABCA3, which has been previously reported. Molecular docking was performed using DOCK 6.7.Results: Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) showed high levels of ABCA2 and ABCA3 mRNAs in 13 and 17 samples, respectively. Among them, five and eight individuals demonstrated high levels of ABCA2 and ABCA3, respectively. Response to chemotherapy was significantly decreased (P=0.001) when the mRNA and protein of both genes were overexpressed compared to individuals with high transcriptional levels of either ABCA2 or ABCA3 alone. Close similarity between ABCA2 and ABCA3 structures was revealed by protein tertiary structure prediction, whereas molecular docking analysis suggested similar binding of chemotherapy drugs and therefore a potentially similar role in determining the MDR.Conclusion: Our findings suggested, for the first time, that quantification of the protein level of ABCA2 and ABCA3 transporters had a prognostic impact on pediatric ALL MDR. Furthermore, the tertiary structure of ABCA2 was predicted for the first time, and docking analysis revealed a possible compensatory effect between ABCA2 and ABCA3 transporters, which may contribute to the efflux of cytotoxic drugs and, ultimately, to chemoresistance. Keywords: ABCA2 transporter, ABCA3 transporter, multidrug resistance, childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, molecular docking, tertiary structur

Clinical Characteristics, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Mortality Rate of TB/COVID-19 Coinfectetd Patients: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and tuberculosis (TB) are the newest and one of the oldest global threats, respectively. In the COVID-19 era, due to the health system's focus on the COVID-19 epidemic, the national TB control program received less attention, leading to a worsening of the global TB epidemic. In this study, we will review the characteristics of TB patients coinfected with COVID-19.Material and Methods: Using Scopus, PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases, a systematic search was performed. Case reports and case series on TB/COVID-19 coinfection published from January 1, 2019 to February 24, 2021 were collected. There were no limitations regarding publication language.Results: Eleven case series and 20 case reports were identified from 18 countries, with the majority them being from India (N = 6) and China (N = 4). Overall, 146 patients (114 men and 32 women) coinfected with TB and COVID-19 enrolled. Smoking (15.1), diabetes (14.4), and hypertension (8.9) were the most frequent comorbidities among these patients. The COVID-19 patients with TB mainly suffered fever (78.8), cough (63.7), and respiratory distress (22.6). Hydroxychloroquine (64.0) and lopinavir/ritonavir (39.5) were the most common treatments for them. The mortality rate was 13.0 and the rate of discharged patients was 87.0.Conclusion: Global prevalence of COVID-19-related deaths is 6.6. Our results showed that 13.0 of patients with TB/COVID-19 died. Thus, this study indicated that coinfection of TB and COVID-19 can increase the mortality. The respiratory symptoms of TB and COVID-19 are very similar, and this causes them to be misdiagnosed. In addition, TB is sometimes diagnosed later than COVID-19 and the severity of the disease worsens, especially in patients with underlying conditions. Therefore, patients with TB should be screened regularly in the COVID-19 era to prevent the spread of the TB/COVID-19 coinfection

Evaluation of mRNA Expression Profile of ABCG2/BCRP in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Introduction: Multidrug resistance (MDR) is the main obstacle against treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). ATP-binding cassette transporters function is mentioned as one of the most effective factors on MDR development. Though, there are many evidences on interference of ABCG2/BCRP, one of the outstanding members of this superfamly, in MDR occurrence, the expression effect of this gene on blasts of ALL patients is unknown yet. Methods: In this study, we used Real-Time PCR technique in order to investigate the relative expression of ABCG2/BCRP mRNA in 1-17 year old children with ALL. Peripheral or bone marrow blood samples from 28 new case leukemic and 15 control children were investigated with cooperation of Seyyedo-Shohada hospital in Isfahan,. Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) was evaluated as quality of patient response to chemotherapy. Results: Profile of ABCG2/BCRP mRNA expression did not have any significant difference in new case ALL patients in comparison with control children. On the other hand, comparison of two groups of MRD+ and MRD- patients showed no difference in ABCG2/BCRP expression level. The level of ABCG2 expression was not associated with immunophenotype of ALL or known prognosis factors for this type of leukemia. Conclusion: Results of this study showed no effect of ABCG2/BCRP expression level on MDR development in ALL. Accordingly, clinical value of ABCG2/BCRP expression profile determination was rejected as the prognosis value for childhood ALL in our geographical area

Association of socio-economic status with injuries in children andadolescents: The CASPIAN-IV study

Background:Childhood and adolescence injuries are still frequently occuring in developing countries. This study aims to assess the association of socio-economic status (SES) with injuriesin Iranian children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: This multicentricsurvey was part of a national surveillance program, which was conducted in 2011-2012 amongst 14,880 students aged6-18 years. Participants were randomly selected from urban and rural areas of 30 provinces in Iran. Socio- economic status (SES) of participants was categorized to "low", "middle", and "high" by using principle component analysis method by considering parental job and education as well as family assets. Prevalence, types and places of injuries were based on the questionnaire of the World Health Organization- Global School-based student Health Survey (WHO-GSHS).Multivariate modelwas used for comparison of variables between SES groups. Results: Overall, 13486 out of 14880 invited students (response rate: 90.6) participated in this study.Their mean (SD) age was12.47 (3.36) years.Boys and urban residents constituted the majority of participants (50.8 and 75.6, respectively). Compared with low SES group, odds of sport injury was higher in students with middle (OR=1.44; 95CI: 0.92-2.26) and highSES (OR=1.96; 95CI: 1.27-3.01). Compared to participants withlow SES,odds of home injuries was significantly lower in high SES group (OR=0.78; 95CI: 0.64-0.95). Conclusion: This study revealedconsiderable differences in injuries of children and adolescents according to their SES, with higher prevalence of home injuries in low SES families and higher prevalence of sport injuries in middle and high SES levels. When implementing injury prevention programs, such differences should be taken into account

Association of socio-economic status with injuries in children andadolescents: The CASPIAN-IV study

Background:Childhood and adolescence injuries are still frequently occuring in developing countries. This study aims to assess the association of socio-economic status (SES) with injuriesin Iranian children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: This multicentricsurvey was part of a national surveillance program, which was conducted in 2011-2012 amongst 14,880 students aged6-18 years. Participants were randomly selected from urban and rural areas of 30 provinces in Iran. Socio- economic status (SES) of participants was categorized to "low", "middle", and "high" by using principle component analysis method by considering parental job and education as well as family assets. Prevalence, types and places of injuries were based on the questionnaire of the World Health Organization- Global School-based student Health Survey (WHO-GSHS).Multivariate modelwas used for comparison of variables between SES groups. Results: Overall, 13486 out of 14880 invited students (response rate: 90.6) participated in this study.Their mean (SD) age was12.47 (3.36) years.Boys and urban residents constituted the majority of participants (50.8 and 75.6, respectively). Compared with low SES group, odds of sport injury was higher in students with middle (OR=1.44; 95CI: 0.92-2.26) and highSES (OR=1.96; 95CI: 1.27-3.01). Compared to participants withlow SES,odds of home injuries was significantly lower in high SES group (OR=0.78; 95CI: 0.64-0.95). Conclusion: This study revealedconsiderable differences in injuries of children and adolescents according to their SES, with higher prevalence of home injuries in low SES families and higher prevalence of sport injuries in middle and high SES levels. When implementing injury prevention programs, such differences should be taken into account