Evaluation of diagnostic value of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor in sepsis

Background: Sepsis is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in the intensive care units (ICUs). It is difficult to accurately differentiate sepsis from similar diseases rapidly. Therefore, it becomes critical to identify any biomarker with the ability of differentiation between sepsis and nonsepsis conditions. The urokinase plasminogen activator receptor has been implicated as an important factor in regulation of leukocyte adhesion and migration. Objectives: In this study, we evaluated the value of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), erythrocyte sedimentation (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) serum levels in terms of their value for sepsis diagnosis in ICU patients. Patients and Methods: We enrolled 107 ICU patients; 40 with sepsis, 43 with systemic inflammatory response syndrome, and 24 as control group. Serum soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, ESR, white blood cell (WBC), and CRP levels were measured on the day of admission. Results: The group with sepsis had higher suPAR, ESR, and CRP levels compared with the group with noninfectious systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) (P = 0.01, 0.00 and 0.00, respectively). CRP concentrations and ESR were higher in the sepsis group than in the non-SIRS group (P = 0.00 and 0.00, respectively). In a receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, ESR, CRP and suPAR had an area under the curve larger than 0.65 (P = 0.00) in distinguishing between septic and noninfectious SIRS patients. CRP, ESR and suPAR had a sensitivity of 87, 71 and 66 and a specificity of 59, 76 and 74 respectively in diagnosing infection in SIRS. Conclusions: The diagnostic values of CRP and ESR were better than suPAR and WBC count in patients with sepsis. © 2015, Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center

Study of NGEP expression in androgen sensitive prostate cancer cells: A potential target for immunotherapy

Background: Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among men. New gene expressed in prostate (NGEP), is a prostate-specific gene expressed only in normal prostate and prostate cancer tissue. Because of its selective expression in prostate cancer cell surface, NGEP is a potential immunotherapeutic target. To target the NGEP in prostate cancer, it is essential to investigate its expression in prostate cancer cells. Methods: In the present study, we investigated NGEP expression in LNCaP and DU145 cells by real time and RT-PCR, flow cytometric and immunocytochemical analyses. Results: Real time and RT-PCR analyses of NGEP expression showed that NGEP was expressed in the LNCaP cells but not in DU145 cells. The detection of NGEP protein by flow cytometric and immunocytochemistry analyses indicated that NGEP protein was weakly expressed only in LNCaP cell membrane. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that LNCaP cell line is more suitable than DU145 for NGEP expression studies; however, its low-level expression is a limiting issue. NGEP expression may be increased by androgen supplementation of LNCaP cell culture medium

Clinical learning environments (actual and expected): Perceptions of Iran University of Medical Sciences nursing students

Background: Educational clinical environment has an important role in nursing students' learning. Any difference between actual and expected clinical environment will decrease nursing students' interest in clinical environments and has a negative correlation with their clinical performance. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study is an attempt to compare nursing students' perception of the actual and expected status of clinical environments in medical-surgical wards. Participants of the study were 127 bachelor nursing students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in the internship period. Data gathering instruments were a demographic questionnaire (including sex, age, and grade point average), and the Clinical Learning Environment Inventory (CLEI) originally developed by Professor Chan (2001), in which its modified Farsi version (Actual and Preferred forms) consisting 42 items, 6 scales and 7 items per scale was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test, paired t-test, ANOVA) were used for data analysis through SPSS version 16. Results: The results indicated that there were significant differences between the preferred and actual form in all six scales. In other word, comparing with the actual form, the mean scores of all items in the preferred form were higher. The maximum mean difference was in innovation and the highest mean difference was in involvement scale. Conclusion: It is concluded that nursing students do not have a positive perception of their actual clinical teaching environment and this perception is significantly different from their perception of their expected environment

Modified Block Pulse Functions for Numerical Solution of Stochastic Volterra Integral Equations

We present a new technique for solving numerically stochastic Volterra integral equation based on modified block pulse functions. It declares that the rate of convergence of the presented method is faster than the method based on block pulse functions. Efficiency of this method and good degree of accuracy are confirmed by a numerical example

Effect of dietary phytase and wheat bran on some growth performances and phosphorus absorption function of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) fry

In this study, the effect of dietary phytase and wheat bran on some growth performances and phosphorus absorption function of common carp fry for 60 days was assessed. A total number of 180 common carp fry (20±1 initial weight) was randomly distributed in six experimental groups including, control group without any additive (basal diet), T1 (basal diet+2000 IU/Kg phytase), T2 (basal diet+4000 IU/Kg phytase), T3 (basal diet+20 g/Kg wheat bran), T4 (basal diet+40 g/Kg wheat bran) and T5 (basal diet+2000 IU/Kg phytase+20 g/Kg wheat bran). The highest body weight (150.02±4.76 g), specific growth rate (0.65±0.19%), and condition factor (3.20±0.26%) was observed in T5 (p<0.05). However, the lowest FCR (2.53±0.70) was seen in T5 (p<0.05). Also, the highest phosphorus concentration in the fry bones (2.54±0.003 ppm) was recorded in T5 (p<0.05). Results showed that using of 2000 IU/Kg phytase and 20 g/Kg wheat bran in the diet can improve growth indices and phosphorus absorption rate of common carp fry

Nutritional value and heavy metal content of fishmeal from the Southwest Caspian Sea

This study aimed to evaluate some nutritional values and heavy metal contents of fishmeal produced by the commercial factories in Guilan Province, the Southwest Caspian Sea. The fishmeal samples were randomly collected from five factories producing fishmeal by Kilka (Clupeonella spp.) (units 1-4) and tuna canning offal (unit 5) as the raw materials. Proximate fish composition, amino acid contents and four heavy metal concentrations including chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) were measured in the fishmeal specimens. Crude protein contents were found to be in the range of 53.61-68.82% and the lowest value belonged to the unit 5. Also, the highest level of fat and ash contents were 22.49% and 18.05%, respectively (p < 0.05). The lowest essential: nonessential amino acid ratio was 0.71 in unit 5. Fishmeal specimens from unit 5 showed the highest metal concentrations with the following descending order: Cr > Cd > Pb > Hg. Results indicated that the heavy metal concentrations in the fishmeal are dependent on the source of raw materials. The heavy metal concentrations in the examined fishmeal did not exceed the permissible limits proposed by National Research Council (NRC) for animal feedstuff requirements

Red yeast (Phaffia rhodozyma) and its effect on growth, antioxidant activity and color pigmentation of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Efficacy of orally used of red yeast (Phaffia rhodozyma) (1.6 mg astaxanthin/g product) at 15.5 g (P1), 37.3 g (P2) and 47 (P3) g per kg diet were studied on performance, carcass composition, antioxidant activity and fillet pigmentation in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) weighing 208–212 g for eight weeks at 11 °C. Synthetic astaxanthin (AX) (0.5 g/kg diet) and basal diet were used as controls. With an increase in P. rhodozyma concentration in diet, weight gain and specific growth rate exhibited an increase compared to basal diet (P 0.05). Water holding capacity and lipid loss in fillets of treatments were lower than fish fed basal diet (P < 0.05). By increasing P. rhodozyma concentration in fish diets, redness value exhibited a progressive increase, and the highest value was seen in P3 diet compared to other treatments (P < 0.05). These data show application of P. rhodozyma at 47 g/kg diet in trout could provide a better performance, antioxidant activities, and fillet pigmentation

Photoemission study and band alignment of GaN passivation layers on GaInP heterointerface

III-V semiconductor-based photoelectrochemical (PEC) devices show the highest solar-to-electricity or solar-to-fuel conversion efficiencies. GaInP is a relevant top photoabsorber layer or a charge-selective contact in PEC for integrated and direct solar fuel production, due to its tunable lattice constant, electronic band structure, and favorable optical properties. To enhance the stability of its surface against chemical corrosion which leads to decomposition, we deposit a GaN protection and passivation layer. The n-doped GaInP(100) epitaxial layers were grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on top of GaAs(100) substrate. Subsequently, thin 1-20 nm GaN films were grown on top of the oxidized GaInP surfaces by atomic layer deposition. We studied the band alignment of these multi-junction heterostructures by X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. Due to the limited emission depth of photoelectrons, we determined the band alignment by a series of separate measurements in which we either modified the GaInP(100) surface termination or the film thickness of the grown GaN on GaInP(100) buffer layers. On n-GaInP(100) surfaces prepared with the well-known phosphorus-rich (2x2)/c(4x2) reconstruction we found up-ward surface band bending (BB) of 0.34 eV, and Fermi level pinning due to the present surface states. Upon oxidation, the surface states are partially passivated resulting in a reduction of BB to 0.12 eV and a valence band offset (VBO) between GaInP and oxide bands of 2.0 eV. Between the GaInP(100) buffer layer and the GaN passivation layer, we identified a VBO of 1.8 eV. The corresponding conduction band offset of -0.2 eV is found to be rather small. Therefore, we evaluate the application of the GaN passivation layer as a promising technological step not only to reduce surface states but also to increase the stability of the surfaces of photoelectrochemical devices

Effects of oral probiotic feeding on toll-like receptor gene expression of the chicken's cecal tonsil

Background: It was proposed that probiotics may influence immune system through direct or indirect exposure. Direct exposure is mostly mediated by surface receptors. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are conserved molecular sensors which could be triggered via some pathogen associated structures, hence, modulate the immune responses. This study was conducted to elucidate the impact of lactobacillus acidophilus as a common probiotic on the expression level of TLRs in the chicken's cecal tonsil. Methods: Thirty one-day-old chicken were selected and separated into three groups as probiotic-fed, dairy-fed and control. In addition to commercial powder supply, each chicken in the probiotic-fed group received 109 CFU/Kg of L. acidophilus daily. While, chickens in the dairy-fed group were provided with commercial powder feed and sterile dairy milk. After 14 and 21 days of oral feeding the cecal tonsil was removed and the expression of TLR2, TLR4 and TLR5 were examined by real-time PCR. Results: At the age of 14-day, there was a slight upregulation in the expression levels of TLR2 (118.9), TLR4 (129.6) and TLR5 (123.7) of the cecal tonsil in the probiotic-fed group; however, these alterations were not statistically significant. At the age of 21-day, a non-significant downregulation was observed in TLR expression level of both dairy-fed (TLR2, 85; TLR4, 79.5; and TLR5, 86.5) and probiotic-fed (TLR2, 88.8; TLR4, 81; and TLR5, 87.2) groups in comparison to controls. Conclusions: The findings revealed that although the probiotic supplementation could be useful but it did not significantly affect innate immunity state through alteration of TLRs

Effects of oral probiotic feeding on toll-like receptor gene expression of the chicken's cecal tonsil

Background: It was proposed that probiotics may influence immune system through direct or indirect exposure. Direct exposure is mostly mediated by surface receptors. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are conserved molecular sensors which could be triggered via some pathogen associated structures, hence, modulate the immune responses. This study was conducted to elucidate the impact of lactobacillus acidophilus as a common probiotic on the expression level of TLRs in the chicken's cecal tonsil. Methods: Thirty one-day-old chicken were selected and separated into three groups as probiotic-fed, dairy-fed and control. In addition to commercial powder supply, each chicken in the probiotic-fed group received 109 CFU/Kg of L. acidophilus daily. While, chickens in the dairy-fed group were provided with commercial powder feed and sterile dairy milk. After 14 and 21 days of oral feeding the cecal tonsil was removed and the expression of TLR2, TLR4 and TLR5 were examined by real-time PCR. Results: At the age of 14-day, there was a slight upregulation in the expression levels of TLR2 (118.9), TLR4 (129.6) and TLR5 (123.7) of the cecal tonsil in the probiotic-fed group; however, these alterations were not statistically significant. At the age of 21-day, a non-significant downregulation was observed in TLR expression level of both dairy-fed (TLR2, 85; TLR4, 79.5; and TLR5, 86.5) and probiotic-fed (TLR2, 88.8; TLR4, 81; and TLR5, 87.2) groups in comparison to controls. Conclusions: The findings revealed that although the probiotic supplementation could be useful but it did not significantly affect innate immunity state through alteration of TLRs