Synthesizing efficacious genistein in conjugation with superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄ decorated with bio-compatible carboxymethylated chitosan against acute leukemia lymphoma

Abstract Background Genistein (C15H10O5) is a soy isoflavone with anti-cancer properties such as inhibition of cell growth, proliferation and tumor invasion, but effective dosage against hematopoietic malignant cells was not in non-toxic range. This property cause to impede its usage as chemotherapeutic agent. Therefore, this hypothesis raised that synthesizing biocompatible nanoparticle could assist to prevail this struggle. Methods Genistein covalently attached on Fe3O4 nanoparticles decorated with carboxymethylated chitosan to fabricate Fe3O4-CMC-genistein in alkaline circumstance. This obtained nanoparticles were evaluated by TEM, DLS, FTIR, XRD and VSM and its anti-cancer effect by growth rate and MTT assays as well as flow cytometer on ALL cancer cell lines. Results Different evaluations indicated that the drug delivery vehicle had a mean diameter size around 12ƞm with well bounded components. This system presented high degree of magnetization and superparamagnetic properties as well as good water solubility. In comparison with pure genistein, significant growth inhibition on hematopoietic cancer cells in lower dose of genistein nano-conjugated onto Fe3O4-CMC. It increased long lasting effect of genistein in cancer cells also. Conclusion This delivery system for genistein could be remarkably promised and futuristic as biocompatible chemotherapeutic agent against hematopoietic malignant cells

Study of hole-transporter-free perovskite solar cells based on fully printable components

Hole-transporter-free perovskite solar cells carrying a carbon back contact electrode provide the possibility of making full printable low cost and stable devices, even though their efficiency is substantially lower than those made in the standard configuration. The present work searched for simple and easy routes for constructing such devices, demonstrating that organic components do enhance device efficiency but only to a level that is not worth the trouble nor the cost. Devices based on a triple mesoporous layer of titania/zirconia/carbon with perovskite infiltration gave an efficiency of 10.7%. After 180 days of storing under ambient conditions, a small loss of efficiency has been observed for a cell made in June, in spite of the fact that in going from June to December, a large increase of the ambient humidity took place, thus verifying the protective effect that the carbon electrode is providing. The addition of spiro-OMeTAD to the hole-transporter-free device resulted in increasing the efficiency by about 10%, a change which is appreciated to be of low importance given the cost of this material. This increase mainly derived from an increase in the current. Devices of different sizes have been constructed by screen printing, using home-made pastes for all the components making the cell scaffold, i.e., for titania, zirconia, and carbon layers

Evaluation of Earth Dam Leakage Considering the Uncertainty in Soil ‎Hydraulic Parameters

Analysis of earth dams is generally conducted in three stages of stability, deformability and water penetration analysis. Lack of sufficient attention to leakage, as one of the most important issues, leads to erosion and destruction of slope stability. The aim of current paper is to analyze the earth dam leakage with respect to the existing uncertainty in soil hydraulic parameters. In this research, the Monte Carlo (MC) method was used to calculate soil hydraulic parameters. Using these parameters, analysis of Alborz earth dam leakage by means of SEEP/W model based on the finite elements method was investigated. Due to the hydraulic conditions of the core soil, the total head value, pore water pressure, and water flux in core region will change. The results indicate that uncertainty in the hydraulic parameters of Alborz earth dam are significant, thus risk is important in this dam. The application of the proposed methodology in estimation of leakage from Alborz earth dam in Mazandaran province reveals its efficiency and proper accuracy in predicting the amount of leakage flow in earth dams with respect to the possible changes in the hydraulic parameters of the soil. Moreover, it was found that the quantity of seepage increases considerably when the dam is without core, therefore, the core is very necessary to decrease the value of seepage through the earth dam

Investigation of k-ε Turbulent Models and Their Effects on Offset Jet Flow Simulation

In the case in which relatively low thickness and high-velocity flow enter into the lower velocity fluid, the resulting interference field of these two flows is called the jet. This phenomenon is the dominant output of power plants and some of the dams. The jets can be divided into two categories of free jets and confined jets, caused by the distance from the discharge to limited boundaries points. The offset jet is a type of confined jet in which both free surface and wall boundaries are near the diffusion location. The jet flow due to the extreme curvature in the main flow path and the proximal portion of this flow with solid boundaries have characteristics that make it difficult to solve with simple turbulence models.In this research, the offset jet phenomenon and related issues have been investigated. For this purpose, the offset jet flow pattern and probable factors in the complexity of this model have been simulated using Fluent software which analyses fluid flow in a two dimensional and three dimensional finite volume method. The simulation of offset jet flow pattern has been performed with a focus on investigating different models of turbulence k-ε, also boundary conditions, various wall functions and other effective coefficients in the numerical model and the model results compared with test case data findings and validating results, the necessary approaches in numerical simulation of this phenomenon for using in the next stages had been taken

Prevalence of epilepsy and comorbidity of psychiatric disorders in Iran

SummaryProblemTo determine the lifetime prevalence of self- and other relative informants-reported epilepsy in nationwide study among Iranian adults of aged 18 years and over and to study the association of epilepsy with lifetime history of the psychiatric disorders.MethodTwenty-five thousand one hundred and eighty individual were selected through a randomized clustered sampling method from all the Iranian households; interviewed and used epilepsy questionnaire face-to-face at home in year 2001. From 12,398,235 households residing in Iran, 7795 families selected from 1559 clusters, 997 clusters were in urban and 582 were in rural areas, each cluster with 5 households were studied. The response rate was 90%.ResultsThe prevalence of epilepsy was 1.8%. Epilepsy was more common in females, unemployed and higher educational level. It was not significantly associated with the age group, marital status and residential areas. The most common psychiatric disorders in subjects with epilepsy were major depressive disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. The rate of lifetime suicidal attempt was 8.1%.ConclusionLifetime prevalence of epilepsy in Iran is not low. As the other communities, it is more common in females and unemployed. However, in contrast with the other studies, it was not more common among some age groups and unmarried and low educated subjects

Holmium-YAG Laser Ureteroscopic Lithotripsy in a Patient with Ectopic Malrotated Kidney

The incidence of stone disease among patients with congenital renal anomalies including malrotated kidney is more than in normal population due to poor urine drainage and stasis (1). Various minimally invasive options have been used for the management. Ureteroscopy and Holmium:YAG laser lithotripsy have been reported with favorable outcomes (2). We report a 30-year-old male who presented to our hospital having a right side malrotated kidney with a large stone in it. He underwent two session of ureteroscopy and Holmium:YAG laser lithotrips