Synthesis and cytotoxicity evaluation of N-(2-oxo-2-((5-(trifluoromethyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)amino)ethyl)-2-phenylacetamide derivatives as apoptosis inducers with potential anticancer effects

Introduction: The statistics show that the numbers of cancer reports is increasing and need for development of new anticancer drugs is a principal aim in current medicinal chemistry. Due to very limitations of current antineoplastic therapeutics such as high incidence of adverse effects and intuitive resistance of tumor, discovery of new anticancer agents feel to be crucial. Methods and Results: Synthesis and cytotoxicity assessment of 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives led to the discovery of new compounds with potential anticancer activity. MTT assay was done against three cancerous cell lines containing PC3 (prostate carcinoma), HT-29 (human colon adenocarcinoma) and SKNMC(neuroblastoma) in comparison with doxorubicin as reference drug. All synthesized compounds were identified using spectroscopic techniques like 1HNMR, IR and MS. The synthesized derivatives were afforded with high yields. All target compounds were tested against MCF-7 (breast cancer), H1299 (non-small cell lung carcinoma), A2780 (ovarian carcinoma). Tested derivatives exhibited favorable anticancer activity in vitro compared to doxorubicin in MTT assay. Various derivatives such as Cl, Br, CH3 and F substituents were the best moieties for para positions of the phenyl ring (less than 1 µM). Some of tested compounds with these moieties showed superior activity than doxorubicin. Caspases activation was also explored for tested derivatives. Conclusions: The 1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives that prepared in the current project displayed significant anticancer activity and apoptosis induction. These agents could be proposed as novel anticancer lead compounds

Suicide and Repeated Suicide Attempt in Intoxicated Patients: An Epidemiological Survey in a Tertiary Center

Background: Suicide is one of the most important psychological emergencies and it is necessary to deal with it. The goal of this study was to evaluate the frequency of suicide attempts, suicide re-attempt, and guesstimated risk factors in suicidal patients in the poisoning ward of Loghman Hakim Hospital.Methods: This study was performed on suicidal patients in Loghman Hakim hospital in 2021 (January to August). The suicide attempt and the type of mental disorder were confirmed by a psychiatrist and the data sheets were completed. The sample size was 500 cases based on previous similar studies. Results: Three hundred fifteen cases attempted suicide for the first time and 185 had a history of suicide. In both groups, the numbers of women were significantly more than men. In addition, 196 cases of the first group and 121 cases of the second group were under 30 years old and 65.1% of cases with first-time suicides and 62.2% of cases with suicide re-attempts were unemployed. In both groups, the most common drug for suicide was benzodiazepines (30.5% and 21.6%). Unfortunately, two patients died. Also, 67.6% in the first-time suicide attempt group and 57.3% in the suicide re-attempt group had adjustment disorder. No significant differences were observed between both groups in terms of gender, age, marital status, education, chronic disease, drug and habit history, employment status, diagnosed mental disorder, and type of drug used for the current suicide.Conclusion: Young age, unemployment, mental disorders (especially adjustment disorder), and female gender are the most important risk factors for a suicide attempt and re-attempt

One-step versus two-step screening for diagnosis of gestational diabetes mellitus in Iranian population : A randomized community trial

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Investigation of Frequency of the Lethal Triad and Its 24 Hours Prognostic Value among Patients with Multiple Traumas

BACKGROUND: Death in multiple trauma (MT) patients is one of the serious concerns of the medical service provider. Any prediction of the likelihood of death on the assessment of the patient's condition is performed using different variables, one of the tools in the triage of patients to determine their condition. AIM: We aimed to investigate the frequency and the predictive value of death in 24 hours triad of death in patients qualified with multiple traumas admitted to Imam Khomeini hospital. METHODS: This was a prospective cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and predictive value of 24-hour triad of death among patients with MT referred to an emergency department. Three factors including acidosis, hypothermia and coagulopathy and predictive value of 24-hour death were evaluated. Arterial blood gas, oral temperature and blood samples for coagulation factors were analysed. Data were analysed using SPSS version 19. Multivariate analysis (logistic regression) was used to determine the predictive value of the triad of death. RESULTS: A group of 199 MT patients referring to Imam Khomeini hospital during the first 6 months of 2015 were evaluated for the first 24 hours of admission. Logistic regression analysis showed that using the following formula based on the triad of death can predict death in 96% of cases can be based on the triad of a death foretold death upon admission to the emergency room. It should be noted that this prediction tool as 173 people left alive after 24 hours as live predicts (100% correct). CONCLUSION: The triad of death is one of the tools in the triage of patients to determine their condition and care plan to be used, provided valuable information to predict the prognosis of patients with a medical team

Survey of both hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) and hepatitis C virus (HCV-Ab) coinfection among HIV positive patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV, HBVand HCV is major public health concerns. Because of shared routes of transmission, HIV-HCV coinfection and HIV-HBV coinfection are common. HIV-positive individuals are at risk of coinfection with HBV and HCV infections. The prevalence rates of coinfection with HBV and HCV in HIV-patients have been variable worldwide depending on the geographic regions, and the type of exposure.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>This study aimed to examine HBV and HCV coinfection serologically and determine the shared and significant factors in the coinfection of HIV-positive patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on 391 HIV-positive patients including 358 males and 33 females in Lorestan province, west Iran, to survey coinfection with HBsAg and anti-HCV. The retrospective demographic data of the subjects was collected and the patients' serums were analyzed by ELISA kits including HBsAg and anti-HCV. The collected data was analyzed with SPSS software (15) and Chi-square. Fisher's exact test with 5% error intervals was used to measure the correlation of variables and infection rates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of the study indicated that the prevalence of coinfection in HIV-positive patients with hepatitis viruses was 94.4% (370 in 391), out of whom 57 (14.5%) cases were HBsAg positive, 282 (72%) cases were anti-HCV positive, and 31 (7.9%) cases were both HBsAg and anti-HCV positive.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was a significant correlation between coinfection with HCV and HBV and/or both among HIV-positive patients depending on different variables including sex, age, occupation, marital status, exposure to risk factors.(p < 0.001).</p

Does fasting plasma glucose values 5.1-5.6 mmol/l in the first trimester of gestation a matter?

ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to investigate the effect of treatment on pregnancy outcomes among women who had fasting plasma glucose (FPG) 5.1-5.6 mmol/l in the first trimester of pregnancy.MethodsWe performed a secondary-analysis of a randomized community non-inferiority trial of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) screening. All pregnant women with FPG values range 5.1-5.6 mmol/l in the first trimester of gestation were included in the present study (n=3297) and classified to either the (i) intervention group who received treatment for GDM along with usual prenatal care (n=1,198), (ii) control group who received usual-prenatal-care (n=2,099). Macrosomia/large for gestational age (LGA) and primary cesarean-section (C-S) were considered as primary-outcomes. A modified-Poisson-regression for binary outcome data with a log link function and robust error variance was used to RR (95%CI) for the associations between GDM status and incidence of pregnancy outcomes.ResultsThe mean maternal age and BMI of pregnant women in both study groups were similar. There were no statistically significant differences in the adjusted risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including macrosomia, primary C-S, preterm birth, hyperbilirubinemia, preeclampsia, NICU-admission, birth trauma, and LBW both groups.ConclusionsIt is found that treating women with first-trimester FPG values of 5.1-5.6 mmol/l could not improve adverse pregnancy outcomes including macrosomia, Primary C-S, Preterm birth, hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, preeclampsia, NICU admission, Birth trauma and LBW. Therefore, extrapolating the FPG cut-off point of the second trimester to the first –which has been proposed by the IADPSG, might therefore not be appropriate.Clinical Trial Registrationhttps://www.irct.ir/trial/518, identifier IRCT138707081281N1

The memory of thin polymer films generated by spin coating

We present results from isothermal and temperature-sweep creep experiments adapted to filaments which were derived from spin coated and subsequently crumpled thin polystyrene films. Due to the existence of residual stresses induced by preparation, the filaments showed significant shrinkage which we followed as a function of time at various temperatures. In addition, the influence of preparation conditions and subsequent annealing of supported thin polymer films on shrinkage and relaxation behavior was investigated. The temporal evolution of shrinkage revealed a sequence of relaxation regimes. We explored the temperature dependence of this relaxation and compared our observations with published results on drawn melt-spun fibers. This comparison revealed intriguing similarities between both systems prepared along different pathways. For instance, the magnitudes of shrinkage of melt-spun fibers and of filaments from crumpled spin coated polymer films are similar. Thus, our results suggest the existence of generic mechanisms of “forgetting”, i.e., how non-equilibrated polymers lose their memory of past processing events

Object categorization in visual periphery is modulated by delayed foveal noise

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Perceptual difficulty modulates the direction of information flow in familiar face recognition.

Humans are fast and accurate when they recognize familiar faces. Previous neurophysiological studies have shown enhanced representations for the dichotomy of familiar vs. unfamiliar faces. As familiarity is a spectrum, however, any neural correlate should reflect graded representations for more vs. less familiar faces along the spectrum. By systematically varying familiarity across stimuli, we show a neural familiarity spectrum using electroencephalography. We then evaluated the spatiotemporal dynamics of familiar face recognition across the brain. Specifically, we developed a novel informational connectivity method to test whether peri-frontal brain areas contribute to familiar face recognition. Results showed that feed-forward flow dominates for the most familiar faces and top-down flow was only dominant when sensory evidence was insufficient to support face recognition. These results demonstrate that perceptual difficulty and the level of familiarity influence the neural representation of familiar faces and the degree to which peri-frontal neural networks contribute to familiar face recognition

Alkyl cross-linked low molecular weight polypropyleneimine dendrimers as efficient gene delivery vectors

Objective(s): First, 10-bromodecanoic acid was covalently attached to all available surface primary amines of PPI G2 and G3 to increase their lipophilicity. In the subsequent step, PPIs were conjugated to the alkylcarboxylate groups of alkylcarboxylate-PPI derivatives to increase the number of surface primary amines. Physicochemical properties of modified PPIs were determined. Transfection experiments (using both luciferase and green fluorescent protein (GFP)- expressing plasmids) and cytotoxicity assay were performed to evaluate the efficiency of the final derivatives. Materials and Methods: First, 10-bromodecanoic acid was covalently attached to all available surface primary amines of PPI G2 and G3 to increase their lipophilicity. In the subsequent step, PPIs were conjugated to the alkylcarboxylate groups of alkylcarboxylate-PPI derivatives to increase the number of surface primary amines. Physicochemical properties of modified PPIs were determined. Transfection experiments (using both luciferase and green fluorescent protein (GFP)- expressing plasmids) and cytotoxicity assay were performed to evaluate the efficiency of the final derivatives. Results: Fabricated vectors condensed DNA effectively so that polyplexes with appropriate size (below 155 nm) and positive surface charge were constructed. Cross-linked low molecular weight PPIs (G2 or G3) with decanoate linkage increased transfection efficiency significantly while maintaining the low cytotoxicity. PPI G2 derivative exhibited increased buffering capacity which is believed to be responsible for better proton sponge mechanism leading to higher transfection efficiency. Conclusion: Our results indicated that oligomerization of low molecular weight PPI (PPI G2-alkyl-PPI G2 conjugate) could be an approach to increase the transfection efficiency and to lower the cytotoxicity of low molecular weight polycations