Fabrication and Characterization of Covalently Functionalized poly Caprolactone Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering Application

Background: Healing bone involves osteoconductive and osteoinductive components as well as a scaffold with adequate porosity to allow good cell infiltration.Materials and Methods: Herein, cytocompatibility and osteogenic induction potential of polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibrous electrospun scaffold with different electron microscopy, MTT assay, DAPI and alizarin porosities (35%-90%) and chemical bonding was assessed through scanning red S staining, calcium content and alkaline phosphatase assay. Moreover, the relative expression of three important osteogenic-related genes Col I, RUNX 2 and osteocalcin was studied.Results: Covalent bonding played a more significant osteogenic role in scaffolds in scaffolds with lower porosity, namely H35cov. Although low porosity limits cell infiltration, substrate with lower porosities were easier to handle. On the other hand, substrates with higher porosity showed higher levels of cell proliferation, mineralization as well as osteogenic differentiation.Conclusion: Results indicated that PCL scaffold with higher porosity degree up to 90%, covalently functionalized by collagen, and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles was a good candidate for bone tissue engineering applications

Comparison of Flexural Strength of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate, Calcium-enriched Mixture and BioAggregate

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the flexural strength of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), calcium-enriched mixture (CEM), and BioAggregate (BA). Methods and Materials: In this study, the flexural strength of materials was measured using a 3-point bend test. After being prepared, MTA, CEM, and BA were inserted into the intra-putty molds using amalgam plugger. The specimens were covered with a sponge wetted with synthetic tissue fluid (STF) and incubated for 96 h. They were then subjected to a 3-point bend test using Universal Testing Machine. The Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare flexural strength in groups. In this study, P<0.05 was considered as the significant level. Results: There were significant differences between the three groups in terms of the flexural strength (P<0.001). The mean flexural strength in the BA, CEM, and MTA groups were 27.32±2, 9.09±1.16, and 10.25±1.6, respectively. Pairwise comparison showed significant differences between the three groups. Conclusion: This in vitro study showed that BA has the highest and CEM has the lowest flexural strength.Keywords: BioAggregate; CEM Cement; Flexural Strength; Mineral Trioxide Aggregate

Study of type and frequency of Alfa-thalassemia mutations in a cohort of 3,823 patients from Isfahan Province, Iran

Introduction: Alpha-thalassemia (α-thalassemia) is caused by a range of mutations in the α-globin gene resulting in the complete reduction or absence of α-globin chain production. Material and methods: This study assessed the presence of α-thalassemia in 3,823 patients referred to Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran during a 10-year period (from 2012 to 2022). These patients experienced anaemia for more than ten years but had not the full indication for β-thalassemia or iron deficiency. Results: Based on the present assessment, 3,483 cases out of 3,823 suspicious cases had an α-Thalassemia-involved mutation (91.1%). According to the results, the most common detected mutation in the α-thalassemia carriers of Isfahan province was –α3.7 with a frequency of 81.58% (3,119 individuals), followed by α5nt (–TGAGG) (3.71% in total or 39.01% between 364 patients), polyadenylation signal mutations (polyA2) (14.28% between 364 patients), αcodon 19 (GCG4GC–, a2) (11.53%), –α3.7/–α3.7 (11.53%), –α20.5 (7.69%), Hb Constant Spring [Hb CS, a142, Stop →Gln; HBA2: c.427T4C] (5.7%), α4.2 (5.49) and – –MED (4.67%). Conclusion: The results of this investigation may be valuable for designing a program for carrier screening, premarital genetic counselling, and prenatal diagnosis in the Isfahan province

Plasma Malondialdehyde, Thyroid Hormones and Some Blood Profiles in Ovine Babesiosis

Thyroid hormone and plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) levels as well as other blood parameters were performed in ovine babesiosis. The Babesia genus comprises pathogen parasites that cause economic problems in livestock management. Many published studies have suggested its complications, but few studies have assessed blood biochemistry. Hence, a survey of the changes in blood parameters in animals with babesiosis may be useful. Sheep with acute babesiosis were identified based on clinical signs and the observation of Piroplasms in red blood cells with Giemsa staining of blood smears. Blood samples were obtained from the jugular veins of 46 babesiosis-infected sheep and 46 healthy sheep without babesiosis. Malondialdehyde (MDA), Paraoxonase (PON), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), Cholestrol (Chol), Total plasma protein (TPP) and glucose (GL) in plasma and triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) measured in serum. Levels of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were also measured. The results indicated significant increases (p<0.01) in MDA and GL and significant decreases (p<0.01) in the levels of antioxidant enzymes (PON, GSH-Px, CAT, TAC [except SOD], TPP, T3, and T4, LDL, HDL, and Chol levels when compared with healthy group. The results suggested that hypothyroidism with concurrent oxidative stress are significant signs of ovine babesiosis

Type 1 early infantile epileptic encephalopathy: A case report and literature review

Abstract Background Variants in the Aristaless‐related homeobox (ARX) gene lead to a variety of phenotypes, with intellectual disability being a steady feature. Other features can include severe epilepsy, spasticity, movement disorders, hydranencephaly, and ambiguous genitalia in males. X‐linked Ohtahara syndrome or Type 1 early infantile epileptic encephalopathy (EIEE1) is a severe early‐onset epileptic encephalopathy with arrested psychomotor development caused by hemizygous mutations in the ARX gene, which encodes a transcription factor in fundamental brain developmental processes. Methods We presented a case report of a 2‐year‐old boy who exhibited symptoms such as microcephaly, seizures, and severe multifocal epileptic abnormalities, and genetic techniques such as autozygosity mapping, Sanger sequencing, and whole‐exome sequencing. Results We confirmed that the patient had the NM_139058.3:c.84C>A; p.(Cys28Ter) mutation in the ARX gene. Conclusion The patient with EIEE1 had physical symptoms and hypsarrhythmia on electroencephalogram. Genetic testing identified a causative mutation in the ARX gene, emphasizing the role of genetic testing in EIEE diagnosis

The importance of personalized medicine in chronic myeloid leukemia management: a narrative review

Abstract Background Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are prescribed as a targeted therapy to treat chronic myeloid leukemia patients. A challenge in clinical practice is that despite excellent efficacy and improved clinical response levels acquired by imatinib, a number of patients receive TKI therapy but have a poor primary response, develop a drug resistance, or relapse after initial success. This inter-individual difference into response has increased the concern in investigating the pharmacogenetics of cancer drugs. This review discusses the influence of various factors, such as BCR-ABL point mutation, efflux and influx transporters, and others, on targeted drug response in CML. Additionally, we focus on how patients can overcome these issues

Hold Tight: Identifying Behavioral Patterns During Prolonged Work in VR Through Video Analysis.

VR devices have recently been actively promoted as tools for knowledge workers and prior work has demonstrated that VR can support some knowledge worker tasks. However, only a few studies have explored the effects of prolonged use of VR such as a study observing 16 participants working in VR and a physical environment for one work-week each and reporting mainly on subjective feedback. As a nuanced understanding of participants' behavior in VR and how it evolves over time is still missing, we report on the results from an analysis of 559 hours of video material obtained in this prior study. Among other findings, we report that (1) the frequency of actions related to adjusting the headset reduced by 46% and the frequency of actions related to supporting the headset reduced by 42% over the five days; (2) the HMD was removed 31% less frequently over the five days but for 41% longer periods; (3) wearing an HMD is disruptive to normal patterns of eating and drinking, but not to social interactions, such as talking. The combined findings in this work demonstrate the value of long-term studies of deployed VR systems and can be used to inform the design of better, more ergonomic VR systems as tools for knowledge workers