Psoriasis Associated Hub Genes Revealed by Weighted Gene Co-Expression Network Analysis

Objective: Psoriasis, an immune-mediated disorder, is a multifactorial disease of unidentified cause. This study aims to discover the possible biomarkers of this papulosquamous skin disease.Materials and Methods: The gene chip GSE55201, resulted from an experimental study, including 44 psoriasis patients and 30 healthy controls was downloaded from GEO and weighted gene co-expression network analysis was utilized to identify the hub genes. The key modules were determined using the module eigenvalues. We used biological functions, cellular components, and molecular functions in the Gene Ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis in the gene metabolic pathway were used for enrichment analysis.Results: Adjacency matrix was built by using power adjacency function and the power to turn the correlation to adjacency matrix was 4 with a topology fit index of 0.92. Using the weighted gene co-expression network analysis, 11 modules were identified. The green-yellow module eigenvalues were significantly associated with psoriasis (Pearson correlation=0.53, p<0.001). Candidate hub genes were determined by their higher connectivity and relationship with module eigenvalue. The genes including SIGLEC8, IL5RA, CCR3, RNASE2, CPA3, GATA2, c-KIT, and PRSS33 were recorded as the hub genes.Conclusion: In summary we can conclude that SIGLEC8, IL5RA, CCR3, RNASE2, CPA3, GATA2, c-KIT, and PRSS33 have an important role in the immune response regulation and could be considered as a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for Psoriasis

Determination of tricyclic antidepressants in human urine samples by the three-step sample pretreatment followed by HPLC-UV analysis

In this work, an efficient sample pretreatment method has been developed by combining salt induced– homogenous liquid–liquid extraction, dispersive solid phase extraction, and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction based on the solidification of floating organic droplet for the extraction of some widely used tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) drugs (nortriptyline, amitriptyline, desipramine, clomipramine, and imipramine) in human urine samples before their determination by high performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection. In brief, the target analytes are first isolated from urine samples into acetonitrile (ACN) separated by adding a salt. Then the obtained ACN phase is treated with a mixture of appropriate sorbents to remove interferences. Afterward, the purified ACN is mixed with menthol as an extractant and rapidly injected into alkaline HPLC–grade water as a preconcentration step. Next, the obtained solution is placed in an ice bath and menthol collects on top of the solution after solidification. The solidified drop is then withdrawn and injected into separation system after dissolving in 10 μL ACN. Under the optimum experimental conditions, extraction recoveries and enrichment factors of the selected drugs ranged from 69–84 % and 345–420, respectively. The limits of detection and quantification were obtained at the ranges of 0.22–0.31, and 0.71–1.1 μg L–1, respectively. The relative standard deviations of the proposed method were ≤ 6 % for intra– (n=6) and inter–day (n=4) precisions at a concentration of 10 μg L–1 (each drug). Finally, the suggested approach was applied to determine of TCA drugs in different patients' urine samples. The method could be applied in further TCAs pharmacokinetic and forensic studies

In Silico and In Vitro Evaluation of Selected Herbal Compounds as Robust HER-2 Inhibitors for Effective Treatment of Breast Cancer

Background and objectives: Breast cancer is the most frequently reported malignancy in women worldwide and is a heterogeneous disease. Due to different levels of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) and its critical role in tumor progression, HER-2 has been considered as a validated target in breast cancer therapy. The present study aimed to identify new and effective HER-2 inhibitors from selected plant-based compounds using a computational drug discovery approach. The anticancer effects of top-ranked compounds were then evaluated using cellular and molecular methods. Methods: The binding affinities of 47 herbal compounds (including 21 flavonoids, 16 anthraquinones, and 10 cinnamic acids) with the extracellular domain of HER-2 were evaluated using m­olecular docking analysis. The top hits were evaluated for their cell proliferation inhibition, apoptosis, and migration effects in high and low HER-2-overexpressing SKBR-3 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. Results:  Chrysin, chrysophanol, and chlorogenic acid revealed the highest binding affinity to the extracellular domain of HER-2; therefore, they were considered the top-ranked HER-2 inhibitors in this study. Each component inhibited cell proliferation and decreased migration activity of SKBR-3 and MCF-7 cell lines, while the SKBR-3 cells were affected more. The results of the apoptosis assay showed that chrysin was the only compound that could cause a significant induction of SKBR-3 cell apoptosis in comparison to MCF-7 cells. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that chrysophanol, chlorogenic acid, and especially chrysin may have anticancer effects and could be considered drug candidates for therapeutic aims in human HER-2 positive cancer

Association of MGLL Intronic C>T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (rs782440) with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Case-Control Study

Objective: From the perspective of etiology, borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a multifactorial and complexdisorder, hence our understanding about the molecular basis and signaling of this disorder is extremely limited.The purpose of this study was evaluating the relationship between BPD and the Monoacylglycerol lipase (MGLL)polymorphism rs782440 in the population of Hamadan, Iran.Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 106 participants including 53 patients with BPD and 53healthy control subjects were selected by psychiatrists in the Department of Psychiatry at Farshchian SinaHospital in Hamadan. The BPD patients were selected based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of MentalDisorders (DSM-5) form for diagnosing BPD patients. For genotyping, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) wasused to amplify the desired region including the MGLL intronic C>T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)(rs782440) and afterward the amplicon was sequenced using the Sanger sequencing method. To determine thegenotype of these patients, their sequences were aligned with the reference sequence of MGLL through the CLCgenomic workbench software.Results: The results indicated that the frequency of TT in comparison to the CC genotype was significantly different(P=0.003) and the risk of BPD in change from the TT genotype to CC genotype was increased by 6.679%. Regardingthe frequency of allele in this group, no significant difference was observed.Conclusion: This paper, has studied and reports for the first time, the association between MGLL SNP (rs782440) withBPD. The findings of the current research revealed that the TT genotype increases the risk of BPD compared to the CCgenotype. Considering the lack of a suitable diagnostic biomarker for BPD, using this potential biomarker in the nearfuture can be promising

Tolerance and Accumulation of Heavy Metals by Descurainia sophia L.

Today, biosphere pollution has accelerated strongly with start of industrial revolution by toxicity of heavy metals. One of existing pollution is soil pollution. Unfortunately, soil pollution by metals is as intensive environmental stress for plant hence for human. Plants, which are able to store heavy metals in their organs, can be used for phytoremediation of polluted soils and utilization of these plants is effective for phytoremediation as a cheap and economic method. In this research, the absorption rate of Cd (II), Ni (II) by Descurainia sophia was considered in hydroponic conditions. Plants were grown in Hoagland media containing different concentrations of Cd (II), Ni (II). An experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted. Two weeks after treatment of plants the sample were gathered and metal concentration was measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Besides, the content of chlorophyll and proline was measured. The results showed the chlorophyll content in high concentrations of the metals (Cd (II), Ni (II)) was decreased in plants that were sign of pigment degradation in presence of heavy metals. Similarly, the proline content in plants was increased under stress which was sign of damage of heavy metal stress on plant and activation of defensive mechanisms in this condition. The effects of toxic concentration of nickel and cadmium on metal accumulation in these plants showed that roots were able to absorb more than shoots, which is sign of elements connection to root cell wall

Designing a women’s entrepreneurship model based on starting e-business

The purpose of this study is to identify and explore the factors affecting women's entrepreneurship based on starting e-businesses and ultimately provide a model in this area. This research was an exploratory type with a qualitative approach and using the strategy of Grounded theory. The research community consisted of female entrepreneurs active in social networks. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview and to collect data using the purposive sampling method, 17 women entrepreneurs in e-businesses were selected in the fourteenth interview. To ensure the validity and reliability criteria of the research, necessary studies including validity, transferability, verification and reliability were performed. Data analysis was performed in three stages open coding, axial coding and selective coding using MAXQDA10 software. The results of the study led to the identification of 291 indicators and 31 sub-categories and 12 main categories in the form of a paradigm model including women entrepreneurship as a central category and causal factors (family factors and technological factors); Underlying factors (socio-cultural factors, legal factors, economic factors and education); Interfering conditions (individual factors); Strategies (marketing plan, value proposition design and removing business barriers) and outcomes (e-business growth) reflect the factors influencing women’s entrepreneurship to start e-businesses. These results suggest that female entrepreneurs should consider strategies for the growth and development of their e-businesses, such as developing a marketing plan, designing a value proposition and removing individual and environmental barriers to the business.‌‌Women’s Entrepreneurship, Electronic Businesses, Social Entrepreneurship, Family Support, Data Theory Foundation.‌‌IntroductionEntrepreneurship is an integral and key part of economic development. It is the engine of transformation and development of economy, culture and society in many developed and developing countries and entrepreneurs as superstars, play a vital role in the consistent growth and national development of their countries. They are always looking for new contexts and technologies to reveal their capabilities and start new businesses. The electronic environment is one of the most useful environments for entrepreneurship. It has a lot of capabilities in creating various types of business in different sectors. Internet and social networks not only create opportunities for existing businesses but also create great opportunities for new entrepreneurs like women who wish to start a business. MethodologyThis research was an exploratory type with a qualitative approach and using the strategy of Grounded theory. The research community consisted of female entrepreneurs active in social networks. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview and to collect data using the purposive sampling method, 17 women entrepreneurs in e-businesses operating on the Internet were selected, in the fourteenth interview, theoretical saturation was obtained and additional confirmation interviews were conducted with three more experts active in e-business who had a doctorate. To ensure the validity and reliability criteria of the research, necessary studies including validity, transferability, verification and reliability were performed. Data analysis was performed in three stages open coding, axial coding and selective coding using MAXQDA10 software. For this purpose, information was recorded during the interviews and then translated into text for analysis in the software. then based on data coding, it has been tried to explore the relationship between them and analyze the similarities and differences in each category and then create new concepts and finally introduce a model of women entrepreneurship based on triggering electronic businesses. FindingsIn the present study, 291 open codes were identified from 425 concepts that describe family factors, technological factors, socio-cultural factors, training, legal factors, marketing planning, value proposition design, removing business barriers and growing e-business.The frequency of sub-criteria related to each category showed from the category of family factors, perspective index and emotional support of family and friends; From the category of technological factors, information and communication technology index; From the women entrepreneurship, index of necessity and importance of women entrepreneurship; From the economic factors, price index and cost; From the category of socio-cultural factors, index of cultural factors (customer orientation);From the education category, self-education index; From the category of legal factors, index of familiarity with legal instructions; From the category of individual factors, index of non-psychological characteristics; From the marketing plan development category, price index; From the value proposition design category, innovation index; From the business barriers removal category, individual business barriers removal index; From the category of e-business growth, the index of e-business success, has the highest repetition. ResultBased on the findings of this research and paradigmatic model, the results of coding show that family and technological factors can be influenced by the effective causal conditions of women in the setup of e-businesses. Guidelines that female entrepreneurs need to consider for their e-business development and development include the formulation of the marketing plan, the design of the proposed value, and removing individual and environmental barriers, contextual conditions of economic, cultural-social, legal and education factors; Interfering conditions, individual factors (psychological characteristics and non-psychological); Implication and results, e-business growth were extracted. These results can help entrepreneur women to set up their e-businesses as well as policymakers to have better plans and supports for them

The Role of Mycorrhiza in Drought Tolerance of Marigold (Calendula officinalis L.)

To study the effect of mycorrhizal symbiosis and drought stress on marigold, a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted at the Plant Research Laboratory of Islamic Azad University, Neyshabur branch in 2014. The first factor consisted of application and non-application of mycorrhiza (Glomus intraradices) and the second factor consisted of drought stress with three levels (irrigation based on 100%, 75% and 50% of field capacity). The results showed that growth parameters like plant height, leaf number, leaf area, root, shoot dry/fresh weight, Chla and Chlb content were significantly decreased by drought stress in both mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants. However, inoculation of plants by mycorrhizal fungus increased growth parameters and photosynthetic pigments as compared with non-mycorrhizal ones. Traits like RWC, potassium and phosphorus in response to drought stress were decreased. Inoculation of plant roots with Mycorrhizal fungi increased significantly RWC, potassium and phosphorus content of the plants under drought conditions as compared with non-inoculated plants. The results also showed the mycorrhizal symbiosis by Glomus intraradices improved drought tolerance of marigold through enhancing the absorption of water and mineral ions

Effect of Salicylic Acid and Ethephon on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Wheat under Salt Stress

Water or soil salinities are the most important factors that reduce the seed germination of plants. Ethephon can break seed dormancy in a variety of plants, such as cereals and speeds up germination. In some plants pretreatment of seeds with salicylic acid has increased the germination percentage. To study effect of salicylic acid and ethephon on seed germination of wheat (Seivand cultivar) under salinity condition a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted at the Plant Research Laboratory of Neyshabur Branch of Islamic Azad University in 2011. Four salinity levels (0, 50, 100, 150 mM), three salicylic acid levels (0, 0.5, 1 mM) and four ethephon levels (0, 0.5, 1, 2 mM) were used. The results showed that at salinity condition seed germination rate and percentage, shoot and root length, their dry weight and α-amylase activity decreased and proline content increased. Pretreatment of seeds by salicylic acid increased seed germination percentage, some growth parameters, α-amylase activity and proline content under salinity condition. Moreover, pretreatment of seeds by ethephon decreased some growth parameters and increased proline content but its effect on germination and α-amylase activity were not significant. It seems that Salicylic acid as a plant growth regulator under salinity condition and ethephon convertion to ethylene, activated plant tolerance mechanisms to salinity condition and decrease damaging effect of salinity on seed germination and seedling growth of wheat