Engendering Democracy after the Arab Spring

A gender analysis is needed for a deeper understanding of democracy and democratic transitions. While many commentators of the Middle East have focused on the participation (and transformation) of Islamist parties as key to a democratic transition, they tend to overlook what are in fact key constituencies, natural allies, and social bases of democratic politics—women and their feminist organizations. Women may need democracy in order to flourish, but democracy needs women if it is to be inclusive, representative, and enduring. A comparative perspective as well as a focus on the Middle East/North Africa region illustrates the relationship between the advancement of democracy and the advancement of women

A novel diblock copolymer of (monomethoxy poly [ethylene glycol]-oleate) with a small hydrophobic fraction to make stable micelles/polymersomes for curcumin delivery to cancer cells

Curcumin is a potent natural anticancer agent, but its effectiveness is limited by properties such as very low solubility, high rate of degradation, and low rate of absorption of its hydrophobic molecules in vivo. To date, various nanocarriers have been used to improve the bioavailability of this hydrophobic biomaterial. This study investigates the encapsulation of curcumin in a novel nanostructure of monomethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-oleate (mPEG-OA) and its anticancer effect. Tests were done to determine the critical micelle concentration (CMC), encapsulation efficiency, drug-loading efficiency, and cytotoxicity (against U87MG brain carcinoma cells and HFSF-PI3 cells as normal human fibroblasts) of some nanodevice preparations. The results of fluorescence microscopy and cell-cycle analyses indicated that the in vitro bioavailability of the encapsulated curcumin was significantly greater than that of free curcumin. Cytotoxicity evaluations showed that half maximal inhibitory concentrations of free curcumin and curcumin-loaded mPEG-OA for the U87MG cancer cell line were 48 μM and 24 μM, respectively. The Annexin-V-FLUOS assay was used to quantify the apoptotic effect of the prepared nanostructures. Apoptosis induction was observed in a dose-dependent manner after curcumin-loaded mPEG-OA treatments. Two common self-assembling structures, micelles and polymersomes, were observed by atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scat­tering, and the abundance of each structure was dependent on the concentration of the diblock copolymer. The mPEG-OA micelles had a very low CMC (13.24 μM or 0.03 g/L). Moreover, atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering showed that the curcumin-loaded mPEG-OA polymersomes had very stable structures, and at concentrations 1,000 times less than the CMC, at which the micelles disappear, polymersomes were the dominant structures in the dispersion with a reduced size distribution below 150 nm. Overall, the results from these tests revealed that this nanocarrier can be considered as an appropriate drug delivery system for delivering curcumin to cancer cells. © 2014 Erfani-Moghadam et al

Which therapies will provide the best results in IBS

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a chronic abdominal pain with the change of defecation. The present study aimed to compare the effects of standard medical treatment plus stress management treatment and standard medical treatment alone in IBS symptoms and quality of life. An experimental study has been carried out among participants with Rome-III diagnostic criteria. Participants randomly assigned into two groups. The case group received the standard medical treatment plus stress management treatment, n= 15, while, the control group received the standard medical treatment alone, n= 15. The training programs were contain 8 domains of relaxation, cognation reproduce, contrast skills training, express trains and problem solving, anger management training and social supports. Data were collected using demographic, ROME III, Bowel Syndrome Symptom Severity Score and Quality of Life- IBS. Overall, 30 male participants were evaluated. The age range of participants was 25-55 years. The stress management training could decrease the ROME-II scores. Also the stress management training has a significant effect on quality of life and the HSE. Therefore, it is necessary that IBS suffering referred to psychologists for psychotherapy while they are under medical treatment

Seroepidemiology of rubella, measles, HBV, HCV and B19 virus within women in child bearing ages (Saravan City of Sistan and Bloochastan Province)

Present survey basically focused on women between 15-45 years of age resident in a town of Sistan and Baluchistan province named as Saravan city located in border of Pakistan-Iran in order to find out the seropositivity against the viruses in child bearing ages in the above stated under study community. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried-out from 2001 up to 2002. Saravan town was divided into 4 geographical areas and each area was further sub-divided into 10 blocks and in each block 10 families were chosen randomly. In the next step by referring to each family from the chosen married women with specified age i.e., 15-45 years, 5 mL blood was collected. Serum was then separated and stored at -20°C before the assay. ELISA kit was employed to detect anti B19, anti rubella, anti measles, anti HBV and anti HCV antibody. Furthermore during samples collection a questionnaire filled for each woman under study. This study showed that 89.6% of women understudy were seropositive against measles, rubella (96.2%), B19 (59.2%), HCV (0.8%) and HBV (19.8%), respectively. According to the results of no serious problem with rubella in this area; But, about measles, the present immunity against measles in this area is insufficient. It seems that incidence of B19 infection in this region is same as other places in Iran. The rate of seropositivity against HBV and HCV indicated of these viruses circulating in the population in this area. © 2007 Academic Journals

Evolutionary Stability in Asymmetric Oligopoly. A Non-Walrasian Result

It is a very well-known result that in terms of evolutionary stability the long-run outcome of a Cournot oligopoly market with finitely many firms approaches the perfectly competitive Walrasian market outcome (Vega-Redondo, 1997). However, in this paper we show that an asymmetric structure in the cost functions of firms may change the long-run outcome. Contrary to Tanaka (1999) we show that the evolutionarily stable price in an asymmetric Cournot oligopoly needs not equal the marginal cost, it may rather equal a weighted average of (different) marginal cost. We apply a symmetrization technique in order to transform the game with asymmetric firms into a symmetric oligopoly game and then extend Schaffer's definition (1988) of a finite population ESS (FPESS) to this setup. Moreover, we show that the FPESS in this game represents a stochastically stable state of an evolutionary process of imitation with experimentation.Einem bekannten und überraschenden Result zufolge ist das langfristige evolutionäre Gleichgewicht in einem endlichen Cournot-Opligopol durch die Allokation des vollkommenen Wettbewerbsgleichgewichts nach Walras (und nicht die des klassischen Cournot-Gleichgewichts) gekennzeichnet (Vega-Redondo, 1997). Diese Arbeit zeigt, dass dies nicht mehr zutrifft, wenn sich die Firmen asymmetrisch durch unterschiedliche Kostenfunktionen unterscheiden. Das Ergebnis wird durch die Analyse einer symmetrisierten Version des ursprünglich asymmetrischen Spiels erzeugt, in der das Lösungskonzept einer evolutionär stabilen Strategie für endliche Populationen (Schaffer, 1988) für diesen Modellrahmen adaptiert wird. Das Ergebnis widerspricht insbesondere einem Resultat von Tanaka (1999), der das "marginal cost pricing"-Resultat von Vega-Redondo für symmetrische Firmen auch auf einen asymmetrischen Fall übertragen hatte. Die vorliegende Arbeit kritisiert dessen Modell und sein Ergebnis und weist ein "average cost pricing"-Resultat als evolutionär stabile Oligopollösung nach

Ultra-structure of Ionocyte cells in gills of Silurus glanis of Mahabad Dam, Kordestan Province

Gills of catfish Silurus glanis (300 g weight) of Mahabad Dam (Iran) were examined for structural attributes in 2004. Immediately after catch, gills were removed and placed in Bouin and Glutaraldehyde for structural and microscopic examinations. For classical histological assessment, samples were stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin and examined under light microscope. For electron microscopy, cuts 90 nanometers each were prepared and stained with Uranyl Acetate and Lead Citrate, covered with silver, examined and photographed. We found the gill cells being composed of ionocyte alpha, beta, accessory, mucous, pillar and mosaic cells. The ionocytes were located at the base of the gill rakers and intra raker spaces. These structural attributes of ionocyte cells demonstrate their active role in osmotic regulation of catfish

Use of single-chain antibody derivatives for targeted drug delivery

Single-chain antibodies (scFvs), which contain only the variable domains of full-length antibodies, are relatively small molecules that can be used for selective drug delivery. In this review, we discuss how scFvs help improve the specificity and efficiency of drugs. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery using scFv-drug fusion peptides, siRNA delivery using scFv-conjugated nanoparticles, targeted delivery using scFv-viral peptide-fusion proteins, use of scFv in fusion with cell-penetrating peptides for effective targeted drug delivery, scFv-mediated targeted delivery of inorganic nanoparticles, scFv-mediated increase of tumor killing activity of granulocytes, use of scFv for tumor imaging, site-directed conjugation of scFv molecules to drug carrier systems, use of scFv to relieve pain and use of scFv for increasing drug loading efficiency are among the topics that are discussed here. © 2016, University of Michigan. All rights reserved