Student Movement: The Harbinger of a New Era in Iran

This past year has witnessed India and Pakistan battling over an area that has known little peace since 1947. While the two states speak of 'nationalism', 'secularism' or 'Muslim unity', and various Islamist organizations call for jehad, most Kashmiris speak of 'self-determination' and 'Kashmiri identity'. The idea of self-determination as independence was first formulated in 1947 by the last Hindu Dogra Maharaja, Hari Singh. The concept of a distinct Kashmiri identity (kashmiriyat) evolved in the 1930s with a movement, explicitly involving both Muslim and Hindu intelligentsia, against feudal-cum-colonial rule. The notion of a discrete Kashmiri citizenship goes back to the 1920s, when Kashmiri Hindus, facing competition from Punjabi Hindus, pressed for a formal definition of 'state subjects'

Influence of transcrystalline layer on finite element mesoscale modeling of polyamide 6 based single polymer laminate composites

This study presents a novel approach for finite element modeling of the elastic behavior of a plain-woven reinforced single polymer laminate composites (WSPC) based on polyamide 6 (PA6). These composites are produced via compression molding of PA6 woven textile structures that are powder-coated by anionic PA6 microparticles. Morphological and structural analysis complemented by electron microscopy, image processing and X-ray diffraction suggest the presence of transcrystalline layer (TCL) at the matrix-reinforcement interface. Having in mid this experimental fact, a novel procedure is developed for finite level discretization of TCL in the representative volume element (RVE) during tensile straining. The procedure correlates the material properties with the overall load applied, thus adequately modelling the tensile behavior of the WSPC based on the constituent materials. The stress field along the elements of the RVE model is studied while the tensile loads were applied in two principal directions. A good agreement between the real mechanical behavior and that calculated based on the model was demonstrated.IPC and 2C2T gratefully acknowledge the support of the project TSSiPRO-NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000015 funded by the regional operational program NORTE 2020, under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund. The authors affiliated to 2C2T acknowledge also partial funding from FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia within the projects POCI- 01-0145-FEDER-007136 and UID/CTM/00264. S.D. Tohidi thanks to FCT for the PhD Grant SFRH/BD/94759/2013. N. Dourado acknowledges FCT for the financial support through the projects UID/EEA/04436/2013 and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941. M. Rezazadeh acknowledges the support provided by FEDER and FCT funds through project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029485. N.Q. Quyền thanks for the financial support of FCT through the project PESTUID/CTM/00264. A. Zille also acknowledges the FCT Investigator Research contract IF/00071/2015. S. Hesseler and T. Gries gratefully acknowledge the financial support of German Science Foundation (DFG) through the project RE1057/41. Z. Z. Denchev and N. V. Dencheva acknowledge the support by National Funds through FCT, project UID/CTM/50025/2019. N. Dencheva is also grateful for the financial support of FCT in the frames of the strategic project UID/CTM/50025/2013 and the personal program-contract CTTI-51/18-IP

Increased circulating ANG II and TNF-α represents important risk factors in obese Saudi adults with hypertension irrespective of diabetic status and BMI

Central adiposity is a significant determinant of obesity-related hypertension risk, which may arise due to the pathogenic inflammatory nature of the abdominal fat depot. However, the influence of pro-inflammatory adipokines on blood pressure in the obese hypertensive phenotype has not been well established in Saudi subjects. As such, our study investigated whether inflammatory factors may represent useful biomarkers to delineate hypertension risk in a Saudi cohort with and without hypertension and/or diabetes mellitus type 2 (DMT2). Subjects were subdivided into four groups: healthy lean controls (age: 47.9±5.1 yr; BMI: 22.9±2.1 Kg/m2), non-hypertensive obese (age: 46.1±5.0 yr; BMI: 33.7±4.2 Kg/m2), hypertensive obese (age: 48.6±6.1 yr; BMI: 36.5±7.7 Kg/m2) and hypertensive obese with DMT2 (age: 50.8±6.0 yr; BMI: 35.3±6.7 Kg/m2). Anthropometric data were collected from all subjects and fasting blood samples were utilized for biochemical analysis. Serum angiotensin II (ANG II) levels were elevated in hypertensive obese (p<0.05) and hypertensive obese with DMT2 (p<0.001) compared with normotensive controls. Systolic blood pressure was positively associated with BMI (p<0.001), glucose (p<0.001), insulin (p<0.05), HOMA-IR (p<0.001), leptin (p<0.01), TNF-α (p<0.001) and ANG II (p<0.05). Associations between ANG II and TNF-α with systolic blood pressure remained significant after controlling for BMI. Additionally CRP (p<0.05), leptin (p<0.001) and leptin/adiponectin ratio (p<0.001) were also significantly associated with the hypertension phenotype. In conclusion our data suggests that circulating pro-inflammatory adipokines, particularly ANG II and, TNF-α, represent important factors associated with a hypertension phenotype and may directly contribute to predicting and exacerbating hypertension risk

Association of liver enzymes with incident type 2 diabetes: A nested case control study in an Iranian population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To investigate the association of Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), Alanin aminotranferase (ALT) and Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) with incident type 2 diabetes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a nested case-control study, AST, ALT, GGT as well as classic diabetes risk factors, insulin and C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in 133 non-diabetic subjects at baseline of which 68 were cases and 65 were controls. Incident diabetes was defined by the WHO 1999 criteria. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) of incident diabetes associated with different hepatic markers. We used factor analysis for clustering of classic diabetes risk factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In Univariate analysis both ALT and GGT were associated with diabetes with ORs of 3.07(1.21–7.79) and 2.91(1.29–6.53) respectively. After adjustment for CRP and insulin, ALT and GGT were still predictive of incident diabetes. When the model was further adjusted for anthropometric, blood pressure and metabolic factors, only ALT was independently associated with diabetes [OR = 3.18 (1.02–9.86)]. No difference was found between the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves of the models with and without ALT (0.820 and 0.802 respectively, P = 0.4)</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ALT is associated with incident type 2 diabetes independent of classic risk factors. However, its addition to the classic risk factors does not improve the prediction of diabetes.</p

Equilibrium conditions for semi-clathrate hydrates formed with CO2, N2 or CH4 in the presence of tri-n-butylphosphine oxide

We measured the thermodynamic stability conditions for the N, CO, or CH semiclathrate hydrate formed from the aqueous solution of tri-n-butylphosphine oxide (TBPO) at 26 wt %, corresponding to the stoichiometric composition for TBPO·34.5HO. The measurements were performed in the temperature range 283.71-300.34 K and pressure range 0.35-19.43 MPa with the use of an isochoric equilibrium step-heating pressure-search method. The results showed that the presence of TBPO made these semiclathrate hydrates much more stable than the corresponding pure N , CO, and CH hydrates. At a given temperature, the semiclathrate hydrate of 26 wt % TBPO solution + CH was more stable than that of 26 wt % TBPO solution + CO, which in turn was more stable than that of 26 wt % TBPO solution + N. We analyzed the phase equilibrium data using the Clausius-Clapeyron equation and found that, in the pressure range 0-20 MPa, the mean dissociation enthalpies for the semiclathrate hydrate systems of 26 wt % TBPO solution + N, 26 wt % TBPO solution + CO, and 26 wt % TBPO solution + CH were 177.75, 206.23, and 159.00 kJ·mol, respectively

Metabolic syndrome is linked to a mild elevation in liver aminotransferases in diabetic patients with undetectable non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by ultrasound

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite ongoing findings on the relationship between elevated levels of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases (ALT and AST) and metabolic syndrome (MetS), this association in diabetic patients without a known cause for liver enzymes elevation other than diabetes, per se, remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to assess the relationship between circulating liver enzymes and MetS in a relatively large sample of patients with diabetes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 670 diabetic patients, without known causes of hepatocellular injury, were enrolled. Patients with ultrasonographic signs of fatty liver disease were not included. Fasting blood samples were obtained and biochemical characteristics were measured. MetS was defined according to the international diabetes federation criteria.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Serum ALT and AST were significantly higher in patients with MetS (p < 0.001). High waist circumference and low HDL-cholesterol were significantly associated with elevated ALT (OR = 2.56 and 2.0, respectively) and AST (OR = 2.23 and 2.21, respectively). ALT and AST were significantly associated with MetS (OR = 2.17 and 2.31, respectively). These associations remained significant after multiple adjustments for age, sex, BMI, diabetes duration, HbA1c and medications. There was a significant (p < 0.01) positive association between the number of the MetS features and the level of ALT or AST.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In diabetic patients without ultrasonographic evidence of fatty liver, elevated aminotransferases are independently associated with MetS. Despite negative ultrasound results in diabetic patients with MetS, the serum level of liver aminotransferases may be elevated and should be more thoroughly monitored.</p

Opto-Current-Clamp Actuation of Cortical Neurons Using a Strategically Designed Channelrhodopsin

BACKGROUND: Optogenetic manipulation of a neuronal network enables one to reveal how high-order functions emerge in the central nervous system. One of the Chlamydomonas rhodopsins, channelrhodopsin-1 (ChR1), has several advantages over channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in terms of the photocurrent kinetics. Improved temporal resolution would be expected by the optogenetics using the ChR1 variants with enhanced photocurrents. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The photocurrent retardation of ChR1 was overcome by exchanging the sixth helix domain with its counterpart in ChR2 producing Channelrhodopsin-green receiver (ChRGR) with further reform of the molecule. When the ChRGR photocurrent was measured from the expressing HEK293 cells under whole-cell patch clamp, it was preferentially activated by green light and has fast kinetics with minimal desensitization. With its kinetic advantages the use of ChRGR would enable one to inject a current into a neuron by the time course as predicted by the intensity of the shedding light (opto-current clamp). The ChRGR was also expressed in the motor cortical neurons of a mouse using Sindbis pseudovirion vectors. When an oscillatory LED light signal was applied sweeping through frequencies, it robustly evoked action potentials synchronized to the oscillatory light at 5-10 Hz in layer 5 pyramidal cells in the cortical slice. The ChRGR-expressing neurons were also driven in vivo with monitoring local field potentials (LFPs) and the time-frequency energy distribution of the light-evoked response was investigated using wavelet analysis. The oscillatory light enhanced both the in-phase and out-phase responses of LFP at the preferential frequencies of 5-10 Hz. The spread of activity was evidenced by the fact that there were many c-Fos-immunoreactive neurons that were negative for ChRGR in a region of the motor cortex. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The opto-current-clamp study suggests that the depolarization of a small number of neurons wakes up the motor cortical network over some critical point to the activated state

Assessment and validation of a suite of reverse transcription-quantitative PCR reference genes for analyses of density-dependent behavioural plasticity in the Australian plague locust

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Australian plague locust, <it>Chortoicetes terminifera</it>, is among the most promising species to unravel the suites of genes underling the density-dependent shift from shy and cryptic solitarious behaviour to the highly active and aggregating gregarious behaviour that is characteristic of locusts. This is because it lacks many of the major phenotypic changes in colour and morphology that accompany phase change in other locust species. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the most sensitive method available for determining changes in gene expression. However, to accurately monitor the expression of target genes, it is essential to select an appropriate normalization strategy to control for non-specific variation between samples. Here we identify eight potential reference genes and examine their expression stability at different rearing density treatments in neural tissue of the Australian plague locust.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Taking advantage of the new orthologous DNA sequences available in locusts, we developed primers for genes encoding 18SrRNA, ribosomal protein L32 (RpL32), armadillo (Arm), actin 5C (Actin), succinate dehydrogenase (SDHa), glyceraldehyde-3P-dehydrogenase (GAPDH), elongation factor 1 alpha (EF1a) and annexin IX (AnnIX). The relative transcription levels of these eight genes were then analyzed in three treatment groups differing in rearing density (isolated, short- and long-term crowded), each made up of five pools of four neural tissue samples from 5^thinstar nymphs. SDHa and GAPDH, which are both involved in metabolic pathways, were identified as the least stable in expression levels, challenging their usefulness in normalization. Based on calculations performed with the geNorm and NormFinder programs, the best combination of two genes for normalization of gene expression data following crowding in the Australian plague locust was EF1a and Arm. We applied their use to studying a target gene that encodes a Ca²⁺binding glycoprotein, <it>SPARC</it>, which was previously found to be up-regulated in brains of gregarious desert locusts, <it>Schistocerca gregaria</it>. Interestingly, expression of this gene did not vary with rearing density in the same way in brains of the two locust species. Unlike <it>S. gregaria</it>, there was no effect of any crowding treatment in the Australian plague locust.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Arm and EF1a is the most stably expressed combination of two reference genes of the eight examined for reliable normalization of RT-qPCR assays studying density-dependent behavioural change in the Australian plague locust. Such normalization allowed us to show that <it>C. terminifera </it>crowding did not change the neuronal expression of the <it>SPARC </it>gene, a gregarious phase-specific gene identified in brains of the desert locust, <it>S. gregaria</it>. Such comparative results on density-dependent gene regulation provide insights into the evolution of gregarious behaviour and mass migration of locusts. The eight identified genes we evaluated are also candidates as normalization genes for use in experiments involving other Oedipodinae species, but the rank order of gene stability must necessarily be determined on a case-by-case basis.</p

Evidence for Widespread Genomic Methylation in the Migratory Locust, Locusta migratoria (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

The importance of DNA methylation in mammalian and plant systems is well established. In recent years there has been renewed interest in DNA methylation in insects. Accumulating evidence, both from mammals and insects, points towards an emerging role for DNA methylation in the regulation of phenotypic plasticity. The migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) is a model organism for the study of phenotypic plasticity. Despite this, there is little information available about the degree to which the genome is methylated in this species and genes encoding methylation machinery have not been previously identified. We therefore undertook an initial investigation to establish the presence of a functional DNA methylation system in L. migratoria. We found that the migratory locust possesses genes that putatively encode methylation machinery (DNA methyltransferases and a methyl-binding domain protein) and exhibits genomic methylation, some of which appears to be localised to repetitive regions of the genome. We have also identified a distinct group of genes within the L. migratoria genome that appear to have been historically methylated and show some possible functional differentiation. These results will facilitate more detailed research into the functional significance of DNA methylation in locusts