Comparison of dosimetric parameters of small-field electron beams between Advanced Markus, Semiflex 3D, and Diode E responses

The usage of dosimetry of small fields in radiotherapy to measure radiation dose is difficult because of high-dose gradients, lateral electronic disequilibrium, and detector volume effects. In this study, three dosimeters namely, Markus, Semiflex 3D, and Diode E were tested using the Elekta-accelerator electron beams. The electron beam parameters, penumbra, and output factor were determined using these dosimeters for each field size and energy. According to the results, Diode E and Advanced Markus exhibited the greatest difference in Rq among the electron beam parameters. Furthermore, the greatest difference in penumbra was observed between Diode E and Advanced Markus for the field size of 3 cm2 at 10 MeV. In terms of output factor, three dosimeters exhibited the greatest difference between Diode E and Advanced Markus for the field size of 3 cm2 at 10 MeV. The findings indicate that the Semiflex 3D can be regarded as an appropriate dosimeter for electron small-field dosimetry. © 2020, Japanese Society of Radiological Technology and Japan Society of Medical Physics

A Comparison Between the Hemodynamic Effects of Cisatracurium and Atracurium in Patient with Low Function of Left Ventricle who are Candidate for Open Heart Surgery

BACKGROUND: The need for muscle relaxants in general anesthesia in different surgeries including cardiac surgeries, and the type of relaxant to be used considering its different hemodynamic effects on patients with heart disease can be of considerable importance. In this study, the hemodynamic effects of two muscle relaxants, Cisatracurium and Atracurium in patients whit low function of left ventricle who are candidate for open heart surgery have been considered. METHOD: This study has been designed as a randomized prospective double-blind clinical trial. The target population included all adult patients with heart disease whose ejection fraction reported by echocardiography or cardiac catheterization was 35 or less before the surgery, and were candidate for open heart surgery in Shahid Rajaei Heart Center. Taking into account the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the patients were randomly placed in two groups of 30 people each. In the induction stage, all the patients received midazolam, etomidate, and one of the considered muscle relaxant, either 0.2 mg/kg of cisatracurium or 0.5mg/kg of Atracurium within one minute. In the maintenance stage of anesthesia, the patients were administered by infusion of midazolam, sufentanil and the same muscle relaxant used in the induction stage. The hemodynamic indexes were recorded and evaluated in different stages of anesthesia and surgery as well as prior to transfer to ICU. RESULTS: In regard with descriptive indexes (age and sex distributions, premedication with cardiac drugs, ejection fraction before surgery, basic disease) there was no statistically significant difference between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The significant difference of hemodynamic indexes between the two groups of this study, and the need for hemodynamic stability in all stages of surgery for patients with low function of left ventricle who are candidate for open heart surgery, proves that administering Cisatracurium as the muscle relaxant is advantageous and better

Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome, a post-infectious neurologic complication of COVID-19: case series and review of literature

Opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndrome is a heterogeneous constellation of symptoms ranging from full combination of these three neurological findings to varying degrees of isolated individual sign. Since the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), neurological symptoms, syndromes, and complications associated with this multi-organ viral infection have been reported and the various aspects of neurological involvement are increasingly uncovered. As a neuro-inflammatory disorder, one would expect to observe opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome after a prevalent viral infection in a pandemic scale, as it has been the case for many other neuro-inflammatory syndromes. We report seven cases of opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome presumably parainfectious in nature and discuss their phenomenology, their possible pathophysiological relationship to COVID-19, and diagnostic and treatment strategy in each case. Finally, we review the relevant data in the literature regarding the opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome and possible similar cases associated with COVID-19 and its diagnostic importance for clinicians in various fields of medicine encountering COVID-19 patients and its complications. © 2021, Journal of NeuroVirology, Inc

The creation of genetic basic population of rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) based on study of genetic variation in brood stocks using microsatellite

In order to perform the project, 446 samples of rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) from 24 different regions in Iran were collected. About 2-3 g of caudal fin samples was collected from each specimen and preserved in absolute ethyl alcohol and then transferred to the genetic laboratory. Genomic DNA was extracted using the phenol-chloroform method and then DNA content and quality was determined using spectrophotometry and agarose gel electrophoresis, respectively. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) of genomic DNA fin samples was carried out using 10 pairs of microsatellite primers. All PCR products were electrophoresed on 6% polyacrylamide gel and stained with silver nitrate. Following the scoring of alleles, all parameters including allelic frequency, effective number of allele, observed and expected heterozygosity, shanon index, measurement of similarity and genetic distance and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, Fst , Rst and gene flow were calculated using AMOVA analysis in the GenAlex and Popgene programs. The results showed that 8 pairs of microsatellite primers were polymorphic. In total, 50 alleles were determined with the range size of 64-280 bp. The locus omyf had maximum number of allele (26) and loci OTSG 474 and Strurruta58 had minimum number of allele (5). The observed heterozygosity was between 0.86 and 0.964. Hardy-Weinberg departure was observed for all loci from farms 18, 15, 4, E20 and 21 and were disequilibrium (P<0.05). The farms 14, 8, 7 and 6 were equilibrium at 3 loci, but showed disequilibrium in other loci. The other farms were equilibrium at 1 or 2 loci and disequilibrium at 8 or 9 loci. The FST results showed that maximum FST (0.24) were between farms 1 and 11in which had minimum of gene flow (3.7). Minimum FST (0.04) were between farms 8 and 9 in which had maximum of gene flow (346). Based on the results of AMOVA analysis, significant differences were detected between all farms (P<0.01). Furthermore, based on Nei 's standard (1972) maximum genetic distance (0.89) were observed between farms 2 and 11 and maximum genetic similarity (0.15) were detected between farms 3 and 4. This result suggests that the unique genetic variation of rainbow trout in hatchery farms of Iran represents a highly valuable genetic resource and provide useful information for creating a based population in the future breeding programs

Altered gene expression in the Werner and Bloom syndromes is associated with sequences having G-quadruplex forming potential

The human Werner and Bloom syndromes (WS and BS) are caused by deficiencies in the WRN and BLM RecQ helicases, respectively. WRN, BLM and their Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologue Sgs1, are particularly active in vitro in unwinding G-quadruplex DNA (G4-DNA), a family of non-canonical nucleic acid structures formed by certain G-rich sequences. Recently, mRNA levels from loci containing potential G-quadruplex-forming sequences (PQS) were found to be preferentially altered in sgs1Δ mutants, suggesting that G4-DNA targeting by Sgs1 directly affects gene expression. Here, we extend these findings to human cells. Using microarrays to measure mRNAs obtained from human fibroblasts deficient for various RecQ family helicases, we observe significant associations between loci that are upregulated in WS or BS cells and loci that have PQS. No such PQS associations were observed for control expression datasets, however. Furthermore, upregulated genes in WS and BS showed no or dramatically reduced associations with sequences similar to PQS but that have considerably reduced potential to form intramolecular G4-DNA. These findings indicate that, like Sgs1, WRN and BLM can regulate transcription globally by targeting G4-DNA

The Yeast Pif1 Helicase Prevents Genomic Instability Caused by G-Quadruplex-Forming CEB1 Sequences In Vivo

In budding yeast, the Pif1 DNA helicase is involved in the maintenance of both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, but its role in these processes is still poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence for a new Pif1 function by demonstrating that its absence promotes genetic instability of alleles of the G-rich human minisatellite CEB1 inserted in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome, but not of other tandem repeats. Inactivation of other DNA helicases, including Sgs1, had no effect on CEB1 stability. In vitro, we show that CEB1 repeats formed stable G-quadruplex (G4) secondary structures and the Pif1 protein unwinds these structures more efficiently than regular B-DNA. Finally, synthetic CEB1 arrays in which we mutated the potential G4-forming sequences were no longer destabilized in pif1Δ cells. Hence, we conclude that CEB1 instability in pif1Δ cells depends on the potential to form G-quadruplex structures, suggesting that Pif1 could play a role in the metabolism of G4-forming sequences

Study of fauna, activity patterns and Leishmania infection rate of phlebotomine sand flies in Western Iran

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a crucial vector-borne disease caused by various species of Leishmania and is transmitted by several species of sandflies. The present study was conducted to describe sand fly fauna on vectors of leishmaniasis and performing molecular identification of Leishmania isolates from them on the Iran–Iraq border. Entomological surveys were done from May to October 2016–2018 in 2 counties (Mehran and Dehloran) of Ilam province, west of Iran. Sandflies were collected by 40 Sticky Traps at each station. Samples were mounted for species identification using morphological characters of the head and abdominal terminalia. DNA was extracted from Phlebotomus papatasi females, and Leishmania isolates were identified through PCR on minicircle kDNA, followed by sequencing. A total of 5592 sandflies including 2 genera of Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia comprising 8 species of sand flies were detected. Leishmania major infection was detected in 3.33 of 300 tested female sandflies. Phlebotomus papatasi was predominant in outdoor and indoor resting places. Phlebotomus papatasi was determined as dominant vector of Leishmania major infection in Mehran and Dehloran counties, West of Iran. It seems the composition of sandfly species in the study area is almost similar to the other parts of Iran. A detailed description of the epidemiology and ecology of Phlebotomine sand flies needs to be established to accomplish effective vector control programs. © 2020, Indian Society for Parasitology