“Thinking Out of the Box” from Out of the Box! Increasing the Dimension of “Starting Point” Case Study: Architecture Students

To start a design process with plan and section in 2D environment (pen and paper) will exclude thousands of possibilities, which the designer will never be able to consider them. The 2D designer will never touch upon the rich world of complexity. Starting the design from higher dimension is the solution to get rid of old conventional designing methods. Adding extra dimension to the “starting point” is applying CAD (computer aided architectural design) software not to extrude the 2D lines, but thinking from a higher dimension. Now thinking out of the box from out of the box becomes possible. To prove the hypothesis, authors decided to conduct an experiment and asked a group of architecture students to design a same architectural task with different dimensions. First the conventional pen and paper in 2D and the second time applying 3D environment interface of their own choice for the same task. The jury of experts concluded that students were more creative when they chose a 3D interface (higher dimension)

A study of the efficacy of furosemide as a prophylaxis of acute renal failure in coronary artery bypass grafting patients: A clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Renal failure is a frequent event after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Hemodynamic alterations during surgery as well as the underlying disease are the predisposing factors. We aimed to study intermittent furosemide therapy in the prevention of renal failure in patients undergoing CABG. METHODS: In a single-blind randomized controlled trial, 123 elective CABG patients, 18-75 years, entered the study. Clearance of creatinine, urea and water were measured. Patients were randomly assigned into three groups: furosemide in prime (0.3-0.4 mg/kg); intermittent furosemide during CABG (0.2 mg/kg, if there was a decrease in urinary excretion) and control (no furosemide). RESULTS: There was a significant change in serum urea, sodium and fluid balance in �intermittent furosemide� group; other variables did not change significantly before or after the operation. Post-operative fluid balance was significantly higher in �intermittent furosemide� group (2573 ± 205 ml) compared to control (1574 ± 155 ml) (P < 0.010); also, fluid balance was higher in �intermittent furosemide� group (2573 ± 205 ml) compared to �furosemide in prime� group (1935 ± 169 ml) (P < 0.010). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated no benefit from intermittent furosemide in elective CABG compared to furosemide in prime volume or even placebo. © 2015, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved

Kinetics Study of the Formation of Pyrmidine Thione from the Reaction of 2,6-dibenzylidinecyclohexanone and its Derivatives with Thiourea

Kinetics of the addition of thiourea to 2,6-dibenzylidenecyclohexanone and its derivatives have been studied. The reaction is found as a pseudo-first order process which includes a nucleophilic attack by thiourea at the carbonyl group of the ketone system to produce the heterocyclic pyrimidine thione "thiopyrimidine" (Claisen route mechanism). The effect of the substituents at the para position of the 2,6-dibenzylidenecyclohexanone and its derivatives on the rate of reaction, at different temperatures, is studied. Arrhenius parameters, entropies, enthalpies and free energies of activations are estimated. A suitable mechanism, which is correspondent with the results and with Claisen routes mechanism, is suggested for this reaction

Regenerative function of immune system: Modulation of muscle stem cells

Ageing is characterised by progressive deterioration of physiological systems and the loss of skeletal muscle mass is one of the most recognisable, leading to muscle weakness and mobility impairments. This review highlights interactions between the immune system and skeletal muscle stem cells (widely termed satellite cells or myoblasts) to influence satellite cell behaviour during muscle regeneration after injury, and outlines deficits associated with ageing. Resident neutrophils and macrophages in skeletal muscle become activated when muscle fibres are damaged via stimuli (e.g. contusions, strains, avulsions, hyperextensions, ruptures) and release high concentrations of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors into the microenvironment. These localised responses serve to attract additional immune cells which can reach in excess of 1 × 105 immune cell/mm3 of skeletal muscle in order to orchestrate the repair process. T-cells have a delayed response, reaching peak activation roughly 4 days after the initial damage. The cytokines and growth factors released by activated T-cells play a key role in muscle satellite cell proliferation and migration, although the precise mechanisms of these interactions remain unclear. T-cells in older people display limited ability to activate satellite cell proliferation and migration which is likely to contribute to insufficient muscle repair and, consequently, muscle wasting and weakness. If the factors released by T-cells to activate satellite cells can be identified, it may be possible to develop therapeutic agents to enhance muscle regeneration and reduce the impact of muscle wasting during ageing and disease

The lymphocyte secretome from young adults enhances skeletal muscle proliferation and migration, but effects are attenuated in the secretome of older adults.

Older people experience skeletal muscle wasting, in part due to impaired proliferative capacity of quiescent skeletal muscle satellite cells which can be reversed by exposure to young blood. To investigate the role of immune cells in muscle regeneration, we isolated lymphocytes from whole blood of young and older healthy volunteers and cultured them with, or without, anti-CD3/CD28 activators to induce release of cytokines, interleukins, and growth factors into the media. The secreted proteins were collected to prepare a conditioned media, which was subsequently used to culture C2C12 myoblasts. The conditioned media from the activated young lymphocytes increased the rate of proliferation of myoblasts by around threefold (P < 0.005) and caused an approximate fourfold (P < 0.005) increase in migration compared with nonactivated lymphocyte control media. These responses were characterized by minimal myotube formation (2%), low fusion index (5%), low myosin heavy chain content, and substantial migration. In contrast, myoblasts treated with conditioned media from activated old lymphocytes exhibited a high degree of differentiation, and multi-nucleated myotube formation that was comparable to control conditions, thus showing no effect on proliferation or migration of myoblasts. These results indicate that secreted proteins from lymphocytes of young people enhance the muscle cell proliferation and migration, whereas secreted proteins from lymphocytes of older people may contribute to the attenuated skeletal muscle satellite cell proliferation and migration

Recent technological developments in the diagnosis and treatment of cerebral edema

Latest technological advancements in neurocritical care have translated to improved clinical outcomes and have paved the way for the effective diagnosis and treatment of cerebral edema. Effective management of cerebral edema has the potential to provide a personalized treatment by obtaining the complete pathophysiological information of the patient. The aims of this review are to inform the reader about the research and development in this field in the past decade as well as the materialization of scientific literature through patents. There is a growing interest in multimodal monitoring of the diseased brain as it provides a necessary means to implement effective intervention strategies. Although there is a gradual shift toward the adoption of noninvasive devices for research purposes, their clinical applications are hindered by their inaccuracies. However, the inherent risk of complication and high costs of implementation challenge the status quo. The role of neuroprotectants is explored and the combination of neurodiagnostic and neuroprotective approaches is proposed. Finally, the impacts of the current state of global affairs are discussed and it is predicted that the rising number of traumatic brain injury patents will inevitably translate to improvements in technologies to effectively address cerebral edema

Soluble factors released from activated T-lymphocytes regulate C2C12 myoblast proliferation and cellular signalling, but effects are blunted in the elderly.

The key objective of this work was to investigate the impact of young and old human lymphocyte secretomes on C2C12 myoblasts regeneration. Conditioned media (CMs) were harvested from isolated young and older lymphocytes treated with (activated AC), or without (non-activated NA), anti-CD3/CD28 activators for 4 days. AC conditioned media from older lymphocytes had decreased levels of amphiregulin (367±208pg/ml vs. 904±323pg/ml; p=0.018) and IGF-I (845±88ng/ml vs. 1100±48ng/ml; p=0.032) compared with younger AC. AC older vs younger lymphocytes had reduced expression of CD25 (24.6±5.5%; p=0.0003) and increased expression of FoxP3 (35±15.7%; p=0.032). Treatment of C2C12 myoblasts with young AC resulted in decreased expression of MyoD (0.46±0.12; p=0.004) and Myogenin (0.34±0.05; p=0.010) mRNA, increased activation of MEk1 (724±140 MFI; p=0.001) and ERK1/2 (3768±314 MFI; p=0.001) and a decreased activation of Akt (74.5±4 MFI; p=0.009) and mTOR (61.8±7 MFI; p=0.001) compared with old AC. By contrast, C2C12 myoblasts treated with older AC displayed increased expression of MyoD (0.7±0.08; p=0.004) and Myogenin (0.68±0.05; p=0.010) mRNA, decreased phosphorylation of MEk1 and ERK1/2 (528±80 MFI; p=0.008, and 1141±668 MFI; p=0.001, respectively) and increased Akt/mTOR activation (171±35 MFI; p=0.009, and 184±33 MFI; p=0.001, respectively). These data provide new evidence that differences between older and younger lymphocyte secretomes contribute to differential responses of C2C12 myoblasts in culture

Risk factors for pre-term birth in Iraq: a case-control study

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth (PTB)is a major clinical problem associated with perinatal mortality and morbidity. The aim of the present study is to identify risk factors associated with PTB in Mosul, Iraq. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted in Mosul, Iraq, from 1(st )September, 2003 to 28(th )February, 2004. RESULTS: A total of 200 cases of PTB and 200 controls of full-term births were screened and enrolled in the study. Forward logistic regression analysis was used in the analysis. Several significant risk associations between PTB and the following risk factors were identified: poor diet (OR = 4.33), heavy manual work (OR = 1.70), caring for domestic animals (OR = 5.06), urinary tract infection (OR = 2.85), anxiety (OR = 2.16), cervical incompetence (OR = 4.74), multiple pregnancies (OR = 7.51), direct trauma to abdomen (OR = 3.76) and abortion (OR = 6.36). CONCLUSION: The main determinants of PTB in Iraq were low socio-economic status and factors associated with it, such as heavy manual work and caring for domestic animals, in addition to urinary tract infections and poor obstetric history