Comparative effects of Nucleostemin silencing in human Molt-4 and Jurkat leukemia T-ALL cells

     Nucleostemin (NS), a stem cell-abundant nucleolar protein, is critical for maintaining the self-renewal and proliferative properties of normal and cancerous stem cells. Recent data suggests that NS signaling is important for proliferation of T-cells and leukemia cells. This study was conducted to verify the role of NS in pathogenesis and treatment of T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (T-ALL). Our results revealed that RNA interference-mediated NS silencing primarily affected clonogenicproperty of T-ALL cells by limiting their self-renewal potential in vitro.These effects were accompanied with inhibition of proliferation and early apoptosis in Jurkat cells (p53-null) while late apoptosis in Molt-4 (p53 functional) T-ALL cells. Collectively, our results suggest that NS is a critical regulator in self-renewal and apoptosis of differentT-ALL cells. This suggests therapeutic potential of this gene in leukemia

Safety and efficacy of the Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in Pediatrics; A 10-year single-center experience in Iran

Background: The aim of this study was to describe the one-decade experience in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy surgery in children with kidney stones in Tehran, Iran. Methods: All patients (less than 18 years old) undergoing Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy at our referral medical center, were reviewed in this cross-sectional study. All the demographics, surgical data and post-operative information were obtained to identify the stone free rates and complications. Results: In a total, 119(56.4%) cases of 211 patients who underwent Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in our study were male and 92(43.6%) cases were female. The mean age of participants was 137.15±60.11 months (range: 9-204). The most common presenting symptom was pain (62.6%). The mean stone burden was 23.5 ± 9.68mm and the mean operative time was 109.95±37.1 min. Overall, stone clearance rate was 73.9% after single PNL. Among those patients who had renal malformation, the stone free rate was (13/19) 68.4% for PCNL. The postoperative complication rate was 5/47 (10.6%) during all procedures and there were no major operative or postoperative complications. Conclusions: According to the findings, pediatric PCNL with the acceptable stone free rates could be considered as a safe and effective procedure among children with complex stones and renal malformation

Safety and efficacy of the Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in Pediatrics; A 10-year single-center experience in Iran

Background: The aim of this study was to describe the one-decade experience in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy surgery in children with kidney stones in Tehran, Iran. Methods: All patients (less than 18 years old) undergoing Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy at our referral medical center, were reviewed in this cross-sectional study. All the demographics, surgical data and post-operative information were obtained to identify the stone free rates and complications. Results: In a total, 119(56.4%) cases of 211 patients who underwent Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy in our study were male and 92(43.6%) cases were female. The mean age of participants was 137.15±60.11 months (range: 9-204). The most common presenting symptom was pain (62.6%). The mean stone burden was 23.5 ± 9.68mm and the mean operative time was 109.95±37.1 min. Overall, stone clearance rate was 73.9% after single PNL. Among those patients who had renal malformation, the stone free rate was (13/19) 68.4% for PCNL. The postoperative complication rate was 5/47 (10.6%) during all procedures and there were no major operative or postoperative complications. Conclusions: According to the findings, pediatric PCNL with the acceptable stone free rates could be considered as a safe and effective procedure among children with complex stones and renal malformation

Nucleostemin depletion induces post-G1 arrest apoptosis in chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells

Abstract Purpose: Despite significant improvements in treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), the emergence of leukemic stem cell (LSC) concept questioned efficacy of current therapeutical protocols. Remaining issue on CML includes finding and targeting of the key genes responsible for self-renewal and proliferation of LSCs. Nucleostemin (NS) is a new protein localized in the nucleolus of most stem cells and tumor cells which regulates their self-renewal and cell cycle progression. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of NS knocking down in K562 cell line as an in vitro model of CML. Methods: NS gene silencing was performed using a specific small interfering RNA (NS-siRNA). The gene expression level of NS was evaluated by RT-PCR. The viability and growth rate of K562 cells were determined by trypan blue exclusion test. Cell cycle distribution of the cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. Results: Our results showed that NS knocking down inhibited proliferation and viability of K562 cells in a time-dependent manner. Cell cycle studies revealed that NS depletion resulted in G1 cell cycle arrest at short times of transfection (24 h) followed with apoptosis at longer times (48 and 72 h), suggest that post-G1 arrest apoptosis is occurred in K562 cells. Conclusion: Overall, these results point to essential role of NS in K562 cells, thus, this gene might be considered as a promising target for treatment of CML

HEAT TRANSFER THROUGH HYDROGENATED GRAPHENE SUPERLATTICE NANORIBBONS: A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY

Optimization of thermal conductivity of nanomaterials enables the fabrication of tailor-made nanodevices for thermoelectric applications. Superlattice nanostructures are correspondingly introduced to minimize the thermal conductivity of nanomaterials. Herein we computationally estimate the effect of total length and superlattice period ( lp ) on the thermal conductivity of graphene/ graphane superlattice nanoribbons using molecular dynamics simulation. The intrinsic thermal conductivity ( ) is demonstrated to be dependent on lp . The of the superlattice, nanoribbons decreased by approximately 96% and 88% compared to that of pristine graphene and graphane, respectively. By modifying the overall length of the developed structure, we identified the ballisticdiffusive transition regime at 120 nm. Further study of the superlattice periods yielded a minimal thermal conductivity value of 144 W m− 1 k− 1 at lp = 3.4 nm. This superlattice characteristic is connected to the phonon coherent length, specifically, the length of the turning point at which the wave-like behavior of phonons starts to dominate the particle-like behavior. Our results highlight a roadmap for thermal conductivity value control via appropriate adjustments of the superlattice period

Water Policies and Conflict Resolution of Public Participation Decision-Making Processes Using Prioritized Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) Operators

[EN] There is a growing interest in environmental policies about how to implement public participation engagement in the context of water resources management. This paper presents a robust methodology, based on ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operators, to conflict resolution decision-making problems under uncertain environments due to both information and stakeholders' preferences. The methodology allows integrating heterogeneous interests of the general public and stakeholders on account of their different degree of acceptance or preference and level of influence or power regarding the measures and policies to be adopted, and also of their level of involvement (i.e., information supply, consultation and active involvement). These considerations lead to different environmental and socio-economic outcomes, and levels of stakeholders' satisfaction. The methodology establishes a prioritization relationship over the stakeholders. The individual stakeholders' preferences are aggregated through their associated weights, which depend on the satisfaction of the higher priority decision maker. The methodology ranks the optimal management strategies to maximize the stakeholders' satisfaction. It has been successfully applied to a real case study, providing greater fairness, transparency, social equity and consensus among actors. Furthermore, it provides support to environmental policies, such as the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), improving integrated water management while covering a wide range of objectives, management alternatives and stakeholders.Llopis Albert, C.; Merigó-Lindahl, JM.; Liao, H.; Xu, Y.; Grima-Olmedo, J.; Grima-Olmedo, C. (2018). Water Policies and Conflict Resolution of Public Participation Decision-Making Processes Using Prioritized Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA) Operators. 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Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed