Isolation and typing of the influenza viruses in the Caspian littoral of Iran

Present study introduces results of common influenza virus strains in the north of Iran. Samples collected from 65 patients with acute respiratory illness by throat washing and swabs, randomly from north of Iran (Mazandaran, Golestan and Guilan provinces). The patients suffered from fever (high), cough, sore throat, general malaise, chill and myalgia. Viruses were isolated by cell culture and confirmed with HA (Hemagglutination) test and then typed by and HI (Hemagglutination Inhibition) test. Out of 65 throat samples, 12 influenza viruses were isolated and typed. Isolated viruses belonged to A (H1N1), A (H3N2) and B influenza viruses. This study showed that Influenza viruses displayed identical pattern to other provinces in Iran and to other countries. To fight against epidemics and pandemics, we should collect enough data about status of influenza each year and data of exact vaccine formulation application for use in different areas of the world. Acquired data has shown that the vaccine for above viruses that confirmed by WHO can result in decreased risks of influenza in at risk cases in provinces of north Iran

Hyperglycemia decreased medial amygdala projections to medial Preoptic area in experimental model of diabetes mellitus

In Wistar rats, reproductive behavior is controlled in a neural circuit of ventral forebrain including the medial amygdala (Me), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and medial preoptic area (MPOA) via perception of social odors. Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a widespread metabolic disease that affects many organs in a variety of levels. DM can cause central neuropathies such as neuronal apoptosis, dendritic atrophy, neurochemical alterations and also causes reproductive dysfunctions. So we hypothesized damage to the nuclei of this circuit can cause reproductive dysfunctions. Therefore in this project we assessed diabetic effect on these nuclei. For this purpose neuron tracing technique and TUNEL assay were used. We injected HRP in the MPOA and counted labeled cells in the Me and BNST to evaluate the reduction of neurons in diabetic animals. Also, coronal sections were analyzed with the TMB histochemistry method. Animals in this study were adult male Wistar rats (230 ± 8g) divided to control and 10-week streptozotocin-induced diabetic groups. After data analysis by SPSS 16 software, a significant reduction of HRP-labeled neurons was shown in both Me and BNST nuclei in the diabetic group. Moreover, apoptotic cells were significantly observed in diabetic animals in contrast to control the group. In conclusion, these alterations of the circuit as a result of diabetes might be one of the reasons for reproductive dysfunctions. © 2015 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Antitumor effects of a recombinant baculovirus displaying anti-HER2 scFv expressing Apoptin in HER2 positive SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells

Aim: Since HER2 targeted therapies have shown clinical benefit in breast cancer, in the present study recombinant baculovirus (BV) displaying anti-HER2 single-chain variable domain fragment (scFv) expressing Apoptin was generated. Methods: The binding specificity and surface display of anti-HER2 scFv were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent andassay (ELISA) and electron microscopy, respectively. The targeting properties and cytotoxic effect on breast cancer cells determined by fluorescence microscopy and MTT assays. Results: The results demonstrated that recombinant BV could specifically bind to HER2-overexpressing SK-BR-3 cells but not to the HER2 negative MCF-7 cells and reduced the viability of SK-BR-3 cells by expressing Apoptin. Conclusion: These results suggest that the antitumor effect of Apoptin in combination with HER2 targeting of this recombinant BV makes it a promising vector in targeted cancer therap

Experimental Investigation of the Free Surface Effect on the Conical Taylor-Couette Flow System

The aim of this work is to highlight the critical thresholds corresponding to the onset of different instabilities considered in the flow between two vertical coaxial cones with and without free surface. The inner cone is rotating and the outer one is maintained at rest. Both cones have the same apex angle Φ =12° giving a constant annular gap δ =d/R1max. The height of the fluid column is H=155mm and It can be progressively decreased for each studied case of the flow system. Two kinds of configurations are studied, small and large gap. The working fluid is assumed as Newtonian and having constant properties like density and viscosity within the range of the required experimental conditions. By means of visualization technique of the flow we have been able to show the different transition modes occurring in the conical flow system according to the aspect ratio and then the induced action of the free surface which introduces a delay in the onset of different instability modes. The obtained results in term of features and stability of the flow are compared to those of Wimmer and Noui-Mehidi

Clinical manifestation and maternal complications and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with COVID-19: a comprehensive evidence synthesis and meta-analysis

Objectives: There is little known about pregnancy-related complications and comorbidity in this group of women. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to find out whether COVID-19 may cause different manifestations and outcomes in the antepartum and postpartum period or not. Material and methods: We searched databases, including Medline (PubMed), Embase, Scopus, Web of sciences, Cochrane library, Ovid, and CINHAL to retrieve all articles reporting the prevalence of maternal and neonatal complications, in addition to clinical manifestations, in pregnant women with COVID-19 that published with English language January to November 2020. Results: Seventy-four studies with total 5560 pregnant women included in this systematic review. The results show that the pooled prevalence of neonatal mortality, lower birth weight, stillbirth, premature birth, and intrauterine fetal distress in women with COVID-19 was 4 (95 Cl: 1 � 9), 21 (95 Cl: 11 � 31), 2 (95 Cl: 1 � 6), 28 (95 Cl: 13 � 43), and 14 (95 Cl: 4 � 25); respectively. Moreover, the pooled prevalence of fever, cough, diarrhea, and dyspnea were 56 (95 Cl: 32 � 81), 29 (95 Cl: 21 � 38), 9 (95 Cl: 2 � 16), and 3 (95 Cl: 1 � 6) in pregnant women with COVID-19. Two studies reported that pregnant women with severe COVID pneumonia have higher levels of d-dimer. Also, COVID pneumonia is more common in pregnant women than non-pregnant. Conclusion: According to this meta-analysis, pregnant women with COVID-19 with or without pneumonia, are at a higher risk of preeclampsia, preterm birth, miscarriage and cesarean delivery. Furthermore, the risk of LBW and intrauterine fetal distress seems to be increased in neonates. In addition, our evaluations are investigative of higher risk of COVID-19 in the third trimester in pregnant women comparing to the first and second trimester. It can be due to higher BMI in the third trimester causing to increase the likelihood of disease deterioration, which can trigger a cascade of side effects starting with coagulation, pneumonia, hypoxemia affecting the placenta leading to ICU admission, fetal distress, premature birth and higher rates of C-section. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Human amniotic membrane mesenchymal stem cells-conditioned medium attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats by targeting oxidative stress

Objective(s): Ischemic heart diseases (IHD) are one of the major causes of death worldwide. Studies have shown that mesenchymal stem cells can secrete and release conditioned medium (CM) which has biological activities and can repair tissue injury. This study aimed to investigate the effects of human amniotic membrane mesenchymal stem cells (hAMCs)-CM on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats by targeting oxidative stress. Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats (40 rats, weighing 200�250 g) were randomly divided into four groups: Sham, myocardial infarction (MI), MI + culture media, and MI + conditioned medium. MI was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min. After 15 min of reperfusion, intramyocardial injections of hAMCs-CM or culture media (150 μl) were performed. At the end of the experiment, serum levels of cardiac troponin-I (cTn-I), myocardial levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), as well as cardiac histological changes were evaluated. Results: HAMCs-CM significantly decreased cTn-I and MDA levels and increased SOD and GPx activities (P<0.05). In addition, hAMCs-CM improved cardiac histological changes and decreased myocardial injury percentage (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that hAMCs-CM has cardioprotective effects in the I/R injury condition. Reduction of oxidative stress by hAMCs-CM plays a significant role in this context. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that hAMCs-CM can be offered as a therapeutic candidate for I/R injury in the future, but more research is needed. © 2020 University of Baghdad-College of Science. All rights reserved

Search for new loci and low-frequency variants influencing glioma risk by exome-array analysis

To identify protein-altering variants (PAVs) for glioma, we analysed Illumina HumanExome BeadChip exome-array data on 1882 glioma cases and 8079 controls from three independent European populations. In addition to single-variant tests we incorporated information on the predicted functional consequences of PAVs and analysed sets of genes with a higher likelihood of having a role in glioma on the basis of the profile of somatic mutations documented by large-scale sequencing initiatives. Globally there was a strong relationship between effect size and PAVs predicted to be damaging (P=2.29 × 10−49); however, these variants which are most likely to impact on risk, are rare (MAFT, p.(Lys3326Ter), which has been shown to influence breast and lung cancer risk (odds ratio (OR)=2.3, P=4.00 × 10−4 for glioblastoma (GBM)) and IDH2:c.782G>A, p.(Arg261His) (OR=3.21, P=7.67 × 10−3, for non-GBM). Additionally, gene burden tests revealed a statistically significant association for HARS2 and risk of GBM (P=2.20 × 10−6). Genome scans of low-frequency PAVs represent a complementary strategy to identify disease-causing variants compared with scans based on tagSNPs. Strategies to lessen the multiple testing burden by restricting analysis to PAVs with higher priors affords an opportunity to maximise study power

Etude comparative des huiles essentielles de six variétés des nouvelles obtentions d’agrumes cultivées au Maroc

In this research, the essential oils of six INRA’s citrus varieties, which are mandarines El Marzaka, El Mahdia, El Gharabaouia, El Hamra, El Maamoura and orange Shemsia were compared and analyzed. For this purpose, the oil yield, chemical composition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity were investigated. The extraction was carried out by hydro-distillation. The highest essential oil yield was obtained for Shemsia (5,63%/ DW). The main components of essential oils were identified by GC-MS and their antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH method. The major component of essential oils is D-Limonene, and the highest antioxidant activity was obtained for Shemsia essential oil (24.02%). Antifungal activity was detected in all varieties and the highest value was identified in El Maamoura, while antibacterial activity was not distinguished. From the obtained results, we note that the essential oils of El Maamoura can be valued as a fungicide in agriculture or in medical field. in addition, El Hamra, can be used in Solar cream industry.Les huiles essentielles de six variétés d’agrumes obtenues de l’INRA du Maroc, et qui sont : les mandarines El Marzaka, El Mahdia, El Gharabaouia, El Hamra, El Maamoura et l’orange Shemsia ont été comparées et analysées. La comparaison a été effectuée en termes de rendement, de composition chimique, d’activité antioxydante et d’activité antimicrobienne de ces huiles essentielles. L’extraction a été effectuée par hydro-distillation. Le rendement en huile essentielle le plus élevé a été obtenu chez la variété Shemsia (5,63%/PS). Les principaux composants des huiles essentielles ont été identifiés par CPG-MS et leur activité antioxydante a été déterminée en testant la capacité de piégeage des radicaux libres par DPPH. Le composant majeur des huiles essentielles est le D-Limonène et la plus haute activité antioxydante a été obtenue pour l'huile essentielle d’El Maamoura (24,02%). L'activité antifongique a été détectée chez toutes les variétés et la valeur la plus élevée a été repérée chez El Maamoura, alors que l'activité antibactérienne n'a été détectée chez aucune variété. À partir des résultats obtenus, nous constatons que l’huile essentielle de la mandarine El Maamoura peut être valorisée sous forme de fongicide dans le domaine d’agriculture ou dans le domaine médical. En plus, la variété El Hamra peut être incorporée dans l’industrie de la fabrication des crèmes solaires