Cellular Imaging and Uptake Studies of PEG-coated SPION in Human Derived Endometrium Mesenchymal Stem Cell

Introduction: As human endometrium Mesenchymal stem cells (hEMSCs) therapy has been used to treat different diseases, its tracing is essential. Low image sensitivity is one of the most critical problems. So, in this study, transplanted hEMSCs were labeled with the PEG-coated SPION nanoparticles for the first time to improve low image sensitivity at Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for more efficient in vivo tracking of cells. To achieve the goals, we evaluated the effects of various concentrations of PEG-coated SPION (20nm) incubated with hEMSCs on cytotoxicity and cell survival. Materials and Methods: PEG-coated SPION was synthesized and its uptake into the cytoplasm of hEMSCs was confirmed by Prussian Blue staining 48 and 72h after incubation at 0, 100, 200, and 300 μg/ml concentrations. Several assessments were done to track the cell differentiation. Then gene expression was assessed by RT-PCR. Results: The data of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) confirmed that PEG-coated SPION absorption by hEMSCs was as increased as the dose (P<0.05). In general, higher concentrations of PEG-coated SPION improved MRI image contrast and enhanced cell fate tracking. Our results suggested that 100 μg/ml PEG-coated SPION was ideal because the cytotoxicity was not statically significant compared to the control group (p<0.05). At 200 and 300 μg/ml concentrations, PEG-coated SPION caused increased oxidative stress and initiated apoptosis and autophagy in hEMSCs. The mechanism of its action was found by evaluation of several key genes; the mRNA levels of apoptosis and autophagy markers, including Bax, Caspase3, BECLIN, LC3, and TP53 raised significantly (P<0.05), while BCL2 decreased at 300 μg/ml concentration (P<0.05). Conclusions: Higher concentrations of PEG-coated SPION can increase ROS production in a dose and time-dependent manner

GJB2 mutations: Passage through Iran

Hereditary hearing loss (HHL) is a very common disorder. When inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, it typically presents as an isolated finding. Interestingly and unexpectedly, in spite of extreme heterogeneity, mutations in one gene, GJB2, are the most common cause of congenital severe-to-profound deafness in many different populations. In this study, we assessed the contributions made by GJB2 mutations and chromosome 13 g.17771792085947del (the deletion more commonly known as del (GJB6-D13S1830) that includes a portion of GJB6 and is hereafter called �(GJB6-D13S1830)) to the autosomal recessive non-syndromic deafness (ARNSD) genetic load in Iran. Probands from 664 different nuclear families were investigated. GJB2-related deafness was found in 111 families (16.7). The carrier frequency of the 35delG mutation showed a geographic variation that is supported by studies in neighboring countries. �(GJB6-B13S1830) was not found. Our prevalence data for GJB2-related deafness reveal a geographic pattern that mirrors the south-to-north European gradient and supports a founder effect in southeastern Europe. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc

The Mediating Role of Attachment Styles in the Relationship of Parent-child Relationship and Parenting Styles With Children’s Behavioral Problems After Divorce

Objectives: After the divorce of their parents, children face various behavioral problems, and the attachment styles of the parents and their parenting styles will affect these problems. This research assesses the mediating role of attachment styles in the relationship between parent-child relationships and parenting styles with children’s behavioral problems after divorce. Methods: The investigation was classified as a descriptive-correlation type. The population consisted of mothers of children aged 6 to 10 years who had undergone divorce proceedings at the Shahid Bahonar Judicial Institute’s Welfare Department in Tehran City, Iran, during the first half of 2022. A convenience sampling method was used to select 268 mothers based on a correlation plan. They completed the child behavior inventory (CBCL), parent-child relationships survey questionnaire (PCRS), parenting styles inventory (PSI), and revised attachment style survey (RAAS). The research hypotheses were tested using the smart partial least squares in structural equation modeling.  Results: The assessment of the research tools’ reliability was conducted via the Cronbach α method and the composite reliability coefficient, with all variables showing a coefficient of above 0.7, indicating acceptable reliability. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated using the average variance extracted, which exceeded 0.4, indicating relatively acceptable validity. The assessment of the adequacy of the structural model involved analyzing important coefficients of Z, R2, and Q2, with the obtained results indicating an appropriate fit. The results displayed that the mediating role of anxious-ambivalent attachment style and avoidant attachment style is evident in the association between authoritarian and permissive parenting styles and the parent-child relationship, particularly concerning children’s behavioral problems (β=0.184, P<0.05; β=0.019, P<0.01). Secure attachment style serves as a mediating role (partial role) in the association between authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting style and parent-child relationship with children’s behavioral problems (β=-0.364, P<0.05; β=-0.096, P<0.01; β=0.056, P<0.05). Discussion: Avoidant and secure attachment styles can mitigate the impact of permissive and authoritarian parenting styles by mediating roles in the association between parent-child relationships and parenting styles with children’s behavioral problems after divorce. They also highlight the emphasis on maintaining positive parent-child relationships and implementing authoritative parenting styles to reduce children’s behavioral problems following. Further research is needed to address and assess concerns regarding children’s behavioral problems after divorce

Cardioprotective effects of simvastatin‑loaded nano‑niosomes on cardiomyocytes in cardiac ischemia

Background. Cardiac ischemia is the major cause of morbidity and mortality which can be increased by Statins. This study aimed to increase the effectiveness of simvastatin in the form of niosomes. Methods. In this study, 25 male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: control, ischemia (induced by closed LAD), ischemia receiving nano-niosomes, ischemia receiving simvastatin, and ischemia receiving simvastatin-loaded nano-niosomes. One month after the drug injection, RNA was extracted from the heart tissue of the studied groups, cDNA was synthesized, and a real-time PCR test was performed using specific primers. SPSS 21.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Analysis of variance was used to investigate the effect of the interventions, and Tukey's post hoc test was used to investigate a significant difference (P<0.05) between the control groups and other groups as well as between intervention groups. Results. Apoptosis and autophagy increased significantly in the ischemia group compared to the control group (P<0.05). In the simvastatin-loaded nano-niosomes group, compared to the simvastatin group, apoptosis and autophagy showed a significant decrease (P<0.05), and also in both simvastatin-loaded nano-niosomes and simvastatin group, compared to the control group, apoptosis and autophagy showed a significant decrease. (P<0.05). Conclusion. Simvastatin is an effective drug in the recovery of cardiac ischemia, but the main problem in using simvastatin is its instability and degradability, and the use of its niosomes form solves this problem properly. Practical Implications. Simvastatin‑loaded nano‑niosomes is more effective in reducing heart ischemia damage compared to simvastatin

An update on the molecular mechanisms of ZFAS1 as a prognostic, diagnostic, or therapeutic biomarker in cancers

Abstract Zinc finger antisense 1 (ZFAS1), a newly discovered long noncoding RNA, is expressed in various tissues and organs and has been introduced an oncogenic gene in human malignancies. In various cancers, ZFAS1 regulates apoptosis, cell proliferation, the cell cycle, migration, translation, rRNA processing, and spliceosomal snRNP assembly; targets signaling cascades; and interacts with transcription factors via binding to key proteins and miRNAs, with conflicting findings on its effect on these processes. ZFAS1 is elevated in different types of cancer, like colorectal, colon, osteosarcoma, and gastric cancer. Considering the ZFAS1 expression pattern, it also has the potential to be a diagnostic or prognostic marker in various cancers. The current review discusses the mode of action of ZFAS1 in various human cancers and its regulation function related to chemoresistance comprehensively, as well as the potential role of ZFAS1 as an effective and noninvasive cancer-specific biomarker in tumor diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. We expected that the current review could fill the current scientific gaps in the ZFAS1-related cancer causative mechanisms and improve available biomarkers

<em>In silico</em> analysis of chimeric subunit vaccine containing HER-2-MUC1 against breast cancer

224-233Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women worldwide. Although tumorectomy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone replacement therapy have been used for the treatment of breast cancer, there is no effective therapy for patients with invasive and metastatic breast cancer. Targeting tumors using cancer vaccine therapeutics has several advantages including the induction of long-term immunity, prime boost strategies for additional treatments and reduced side effects compared to conventional chemotherapeutics. However, one problem in targeting tumor antigens directly is that it can lead to antigen loss or immune editing. We have designed a complex immunogen derived from the extracellular domain of human HER-2/neu- (480–620) and seven tandem repeats of MUC1 (VNTR) that represents a three-dimensional epitope. The construct was analyzed by bioinformatics softwares. Linear and discontinuous B-cell epitopes, MHC class I and II binding peptides of chimeric protein were predicted. Results suggest that the construct can be an appropriate vaccine candidate against breast cancer

AFEX-Net: Adaptive feature extraction convolutional neural network for classifying computerized tomography images

Purpose Deep convolutional neural networks are favored methods that are widely used in medical image processing due to their demonstrated performance in this area. Recently, the emergence of new lung diseases, such as COVID-19, and the possibility of early detection of their symptoms from chest computerized tomography images has attracted many researchers to classify diseases by training deep convolutional neural networks on lung computerized tomography images. The trained networks are expected to distinguish between different lung indications in various diseases, especially at the early stages. The purpose of this study is to introduce and assess an efficient deep convolutional neural network, called AFEX-Net, that can classify different lung diseases from chest computerized tomography images. Methods We designed a lightweight convolutional neural network called AFEX-Net with adaptive feature extraction layers, adaptive pooling layers, and adaptive activation functions. We trained and tested AFEX-Net on a dataset of more than 10,000 chest computerized tomography slices from different lung diseases (CC dataset), using an effective pre-processing method to remove bias. We also applied AFEX-Net to the public COVID-CTset dataset to assess its generalizability. The study was mainly conducted based on data collected over approximately six months during the pandemic outbreak in Afzalipour Hospital, Iran, which is the largest hospital in Southeast Iran. Results AFEX-Net achieved high accuracy and fast training on both datasets, outperforming several state-of-the-art convolutional neural networks. It has an accuracy of 99.7 % and 98.8 % on the CC and COVID-CTset datasets, respectively, with a learning speed that is 3 times faster compared to similar methods due to its lightweight structure. AFEX-Net was able to extract distinguishing features and classify chest computerized tomography images, especially at the early stages of lung diseases. Conclusion The AFEX-Net is a high-performing convolutional neural network for classifying lung diseases from chest CT images. It is efficient, adaptable, and compatible with input data, making it a reliable tool for early detection and diagnosis of lung diseases

Identify the Nature of Personal Data and Search for a Suitable Legal Framework to Support it in the Iranian Legal System

People use their personal data in different contexts, the use of personal data is inevitable. On the other hand, the protection of personal data is a citizenship right and personal data must be legally protected. Such legal protection is fully achieved by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This European regulation is the most comprehensive legal framework for the protection of personal data. Despite the importance of personal data protection, many countries do not yet have an independent legal document in this regard or have not yet finalized their draft documents, Iran is also one of these countries that does not have an approved legal document in this regard. Therefore, the present article seeks to introduce a suitable legal framework for the protection of personal data in the Iranian legal system and identify the nature of personal data. The nature of personal data and the right to personal data is special