SEGMENTING NICHE GOAT-MEAT MARKETS

This research report provides an examination of the ratings of an important sensory attribute of chevon (goat meat) with that of beef and pork. Results from an analysis of variance of comparative ratings of the flavor of chevon and that of beef and pork suggest that selected demographic characteristics of U.S. consumers influenced the ratings of chevon'Â’s flavor with that of beef and pork. The findings indicate that Hispanics, blacks, and females should not be treated as homogenous niche markets. The results suggest that there are distinct subdivision preferences within and between these consumer partitions.Agribusiness,

Construction of Novel Phytochelatins by Overlap Oligonucleotides

Synthetic phytochelatins are protein analogs of phytochelatin with similar heavy metal binding affinities that can be easily produced from a synthetic DNA template. We design synthetic phytochelatin [(Glu-Cys)n Gly] linked to hexahistidine by viral linker peptide and then followed by gene synthesis and cloning of it. Then peptide coding gene (synthetic phytochelatin with linker and hexahistidine) was designed exactly and constructed with step by step methods by overlapping oligonucleotides using T4 DNA Ligase. Finally, synthesized gene amplified by PCR, cloned in pTZ57R/T and transformed to Escherichia coli (DH5α). The results of sequencing show that some types of synthetic phytochelatin (EC4, EC12, and EC20) with linker and hexahistidine were constructed and cloned in vector

Predictors of curve flexibility in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A retrospective study of 100 patients

Curve flexibility in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) was one of the major concerns of spinal surgeons since the evolution of surgical correction techniques. In this respect, many tried to identify which criteria denote more rigid curve. In the present study, we aimed toward determining important factors influencing AIS curve flexibility on supine bending films. We assessed radiographs of 100 patients with AIS for direction of curves, number of involved vertebrae, apical vertebral translation and rotation, magnitude of main thoracic curve and T5-T12 kyphosis. Statistical analysis performed via stepwise linear regression model with these variables plus age and sex against flexibility index. According to regression analysis, there was a clear relationship between flexibility indexes (FI) and magnitude of main thoracic curve at all (P50) against rigid curves, apical vertebral rotation was a major determinant of curve flexibility also (P<0.001). Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis curves with larger Cobb�s angle and apical vertebral rotation show less flexibility on supine bending films. © 2015 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Optimization of expression, purification and handling anti bacteria feature protein of bovine neutrophil B-defensing BNBD2

زمینه و هدف: دیفنسین‎ها یکی از بزرگ‎ترین خانواده‎ی پپتید‎های ضد میکروب می‎باشند که به واسطه‎ی فعالیت بر علیه باکتری‎ها، قارچ‎ها و بسیاری از ویروس‎ها به عنوان آنتی‎بیوتیک‎های نسل جدید منفعت بسیاری دارند. هدف از این مطالعه بهینه سازی بیان، تخلیص و بررسی خاصیت ضد میکروبی پروتئین بتا دیفنسین 2 نوتروفیل‎های گاو (BNBD2) بوده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه‎ی تجربی-آزمایشگاهی باکتری اشرشیاکلی B‏L21(DE3) حامل وکتور pET-32a(+) که ژن BNBD2 در آن همسانه سازی شده بود جهت مطالعات مورد استفاده قرار گرفت. بیان پروتئین BNBD2 با تغییر در پارامترهای دانسیته‎ی سلولی، دمای رشد، مدت زمان القاء با استفاده از سیستم الکتروفورز عمودی (SDS-PAGE) و تست برادفورد به صورت کمی و کیفی بررسی گردید. مراحل تخلیص پروتئین نوترکیب با کمک روش شیمیایی شکافت در جایگاه فرمیک اسید و عبور از سانتریکون و اثر ضد باکتری پروتئین تخلیص شده بر چند نمونه‎ی باکتریایی گرم مثبت و گرم منفی مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. یافته ها: با استفاده از محیط کشت Luria–Bertani، شروع القاء در جذب نوری 8/0 در طول موج 600 نانومتر، غلظت یک میلی مولار ماده‎ی القاء کننده‎ی IPTG، دمای رشد 30 درجه و مدت زمان 4 ساعت پس از القاء بیشترین میزان بیان پروتئین به دست آمد. پروتئین نوترکیب با استفاده از شکافت در جایگاه فرمیک اسید و عبور از سانتریکون تخلیص گردید. نتایج آزمایش وسترن بلاتینگ نیز نشان داد که پروتئین نوترکیب به طور اختصاصی به آنتی‎بادی mouse anti-(His)6 peroxidase متصل می‎گردد. تشکیل هاله‎ی عدم رشد در محیط‎های کشت مولر هینتون آگار حاوی کشت سطحی باکتری های مورد آزمایش خاصیت ضد باکتری این پروتئین را نشان داد. نتیجه گیری: با توجه به خاصیت ضد میکروبی پروتئین BNBD2و امکان بیان پروتئین در باکتری E. coli می توان به تولید انبوه این پروتئین نوترکیب اقدام نمود

Targeting of oncogenic signaling pathways by berberine for treatment of colorectal cancer

Studies indicate that inhibiting a single signaling pathway or one single product of a gene is insufficient for the prevention and treatment of cancer. This is due to the fact that dysregulation must occur in more than 500 genes in order to produce a cancerous phenotype. Despite this evidence, available drugs used for cancer treatment focus on a single target. Meanwhile, berberine as a nutraceutical is capable of targeting various processes involved in tumor development including proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. In comparison with synthetic agents, berberine is cheaper, safer, and more available. Berberine has shown anti-inflammatory properties which make it an ideal option in order to prevent inflammation-associated cancers. Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers all over the world and its incidence is increasing each day. Therefore, further investigations about berberine could be helpful in the discovery of novel agents for preventing and/or treating colorectal cancer. This review emphasizes the studies investigating the roles of berberine in colorectal cancer such as controlling cell signaling pathways, inducing apoptosis, regulating microRNAs, attenuating oxidative stress, and affecting inflammation. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

The prevalence and risk factors of the Syndrome of Inappropriate Anti-Diuretic Hormone secretion (SIADH) following spinal surgery

Background: The Syndrome of Inappropriate Anti-Diuretic Hormone (SIADH) secretion is the most common etiology of normovolemic hyponatremia, which occurs following non-physiologic release of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) from the posterior pituitary, or an ectopic source. SIADH has been reported as a complication of cardiothoracic, brain, and spinal surgeries. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of SIADH following spinal surgeries and to identify the underlying risk factors. Methods: Samples were patients undergoing any spinal surgery at the Hospitals of Shafa Yahyaian and Rasoul Akram, Tehran, Iran in a 2-year period. Blood and urine sodium concentrations and osmolarity were measured before and after surgery. The amount of hemorrhage, as well as the patients' fluid input and output during surgery were recorded. Fluid input and output was also recorded on the first postoperative day. Results: The prevalence of SIADH following spinal surgeries was 60.3. Mean duration of surgery in SIADH patients was longer than in others. Mean amount of hemorrhage and total fluid loss during surgery were significantly higher in SIADH patients than in healthy individuals. Conclusions: SIADH is the principal cause of hyponatremia following spinal surgeries; the reported prevalence rates vary widely from 5 to 100. SIADH following surgery has been attributed to stress, and in spinal or neurological surgeries to dural damage or traction of neuronal pathways. Time is of the essence in the treatment of hyponatremia and prevention of complications that may increase the mortality and morbidity of spinal surgeries

Pancreatitis following scoliosis surgery and associated risk factors

Background: Postoperative pancreatitis in addition to surgeries involving the biliary ducts, the pancreas, or the surrounding organs, occurs in scoliosis surgery, with prevalence rates of 16-19. This study was designed and conducted to determine the prevalence of pancreatitis following scoliosis surgery and its associated risk factors. Methods: In a cross-sectional descriptive study, we enrolled 50 patients underwent surgery for correction of scoliosis at two hospitals in Tehran, Iran, between November 2006 and June 2007. Levels of serum amylase and lipase were measured before and two days after surgery. Duration of fasting after surgery, clinical signs of pancreatitis, duration of hospital stay, length of surgery, original curvature of the spine and degree of correction after surgery, and demographic data were recorded. The diagnosis of subclinical or biochemical pancreatitis was established with trebling of serum amylase and lipase. Findings: Twenty-seven of patients (54) developed postoperative pancreatitis following scoliosis surgery. Sex, type of scoliosis, type of surgery, correction of Cobb�s angle, and length of surgery were not found to correlate with the incidence of pancreatitis, whereas a significant relationship was found between the volume of hemorrhage and the incidence of pancreatitis (p<0.05). Conclusion: The higher prevalence of pancreatitis in this study (54) may be due to pancreatic ischemia. Patients are prone to ischemia owing to massive intraoperative bleeding and hypotensive anesthesia directed to reduce it. In this study patients developed pancreatitis were found to have lost more blood during surgery. This study demonstrated that pancreatitis can develop as a complication of the single-stage or two-stage surgery for correction of scoliosis and can dramatically affect patient outcome; hence we recommend that patients undergoing scoliosis surgery be monitored for increase in serum amylase and lipase, as well as any suggestive signs of clinical pancreatitis. © 2008, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved

Radiographic outcome of surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in males versus females

Background: Studies on adolescent idiopathic scoliosis have well documented the differences between natural history of male and female patients. There are also differences in responses to nonoperative treatment, but the results of operative treatment in male patients compared with females have not been widely reported. Only few studies had compared the outcomes of operative treatment between male and female patients with different results. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the outcome of 150 (112 girls and 38 boys) consecutive patients with diagnosis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who were managed surgically between May 1996 and September 2005. Next, male radiographic parameters were compared with female ones pre- and postoperatively. Then, a subgroup of 38 matched girls was compared regarding the age, curve type, curve magnitude, and the instrumentation we used. Results: In comparing male patients with unmatched girls, the boys had greater mean age (17.3 ± 2.3 vs. 16.3 ± 2.9; p = 0.049), greater primary curve (71.4 ± 21.3° vs. 62.7 ± 17.5°; p = 0.013), less flexibility (30.1 ± 13.5 vs. 40.3 ± 17.8; p = 0.01), and less correction percentage (51.3 ± 12.9 vs. 58.8 ± 16.5; p = 0/013). The loss of correction was comparable between the two groups. In the matched comparison, the flexibility in boys was less than girls (30.1 ± 13.5 vs. 38.1 ± 17.5; p = 0.027). Also, the boys had a smaller correction percentage compared to the girls, but this finding was not statistically significant. Conclusion: There was similar distribution curve pattern between male and female patients with AIS. Males had more rigid primary curves compared to females but a similar degree of postoperative scoliosis correction. Male AIS patients were older at the time of surgery. These preoperative gender differences, however; did not compromise the radiological outcomes of surgical treatment and the results were comparable between the genders. © 2008 Ameri et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Electric-field-induced alignment of electrically neutral disk-like particles: modelling and calculation

This work reveals a torque from electric field to electrically neutral flakes that are suspended in a higher electrical conductive matrix. The torque tends to rotate the particles toward an orientation with its long axis parallel to the electric current flow. The alignment enables the anisotropic properties of tiny particles to integrate together and generate desirable macroscale anisotropic properties. The torque was obtained from thermodynamic calculation of electric current free energy at various microstructure configurations. It is significant even when the electrical potential gradient becomes as low as 100 v/m. The changes of electrical, electroplastic and thermal properties during particles alignment were discussed

Translation and validation study of the Iranian versions of the neck disability index and the neck pain and disability scale

STUDY DESIGN. Cultural translation and psychometric testing. OBJECTIVE. To translate and validate the Iranian versions of the Neck Disability Index (NDI-IR) and the Neck Pain and Disability Scale (NPDS-IR). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA. The widely used the NDI and the NPDS scales have not been translated and validated for Persian-speaking patients with neck pain. This was to provide a validated instrument to measure functional status in patients with neck pain in Iran. METHODS. The translation and cultural adaptation of the original questionnaires were carried out in accordance with the published guidelines. One hundred and eighty-five patients with neck pain were participated in the study. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire booklet including the NDI-IR, the NPDS-IR, the Iranian SF-36, and a visual analog scale (VAS) of pain. To carry out the test-retest reliability, 30 randomly selected patients with neck pain were asked to complete the questionnaire booklet 48 hours later for the second time. RESULTS. Cronbach α coefficient for the NDI-IR was 0.88 and for the 4 subscales of the NPDS-IR was found to be satisfactory (ranging from 0.74 to 0.94). The NDI-IR and the NPDS-IR subscales showed excellent test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient ranged from 0.90 to 0.97; P < 0.01). The correlation between the NDI-IR and the NPDS-IR subscales and functional scales of the SF-36 showed desirable results, indicating a good convergent validity (Pearson correlation coefficients ranged from -0.31 to -0.70). The correlation between the NDI-IR and the VAS was 0.71 and between the NPDS-IR subscales and the VAS ranged from 0.63 to 0.79 (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION. The Iranian versions of the NDI and NPDS are reliable and valid instruments to measure functional status in Persian-speaking patients with neck pain in Iran. They are simple and easy to use and now can be applied in clinical settings and future outcome studies in Iran and other Persian speaking communities. © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc