Differentiation of definitive endoderm from human induced pluripotent stem cells on hMSCs feeder in a defined medium

Background: The Definitive Endoderm (DE) differentiation using the undefined media and non-human feeders can cause contaminations in the generated cells for therapeutic applications. Therefore, generating safer and more appropriate DE cells is needed. This study compared five different methods to establish an appropriate method for inducing an efficient DE differentiation from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs) on an appropriate feeder in a more defined medium. Methods: Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs) were cultured on inactivated feeders. Passaged hiPSCs, without feeder, were incubated for three days with Activin-A and different endodermal differentiation media including 1-FBS, 2-B27, 3- ITS and albumin fraction-V, 4-B27 and ITS and 5-like the third medium. The feeder cells in the first four methods were Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts (MEFs) and in the fifth method were human adult bone marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs). DE markers FOXA2, SOX17 and CXCR4 and also pluripotency marker OCT4 were evaluated using qRT-PCR, as well as FOXA2 by the immunocytochemistry. Results: QRT-PCR analysis showed that after three days, the expression levels of DE and pluripotency markers in the differentiated hiPSCs among all five groups did not have any significant differences. Similarly, the immunocytochemistry analysis demonstrated that the differentiated hiPSCs expressed FOXA2, with no significant differences. Conclusion: Despite this similarity in the results, the third differentiation medium has more defined and cost effective components. Furthermore, hMSC, a human feeder, is safer than MEF. Therefore, the fifth method is preferable among other DE differentiation methods and can serve as a fundamental method helping the development of regenerative medicine. © 2016, Avicenna Journal of Medical Biotechnology. All rights reserved

Roles and functions of special purpose vehicles (SPV): a comparison between Islamic and conventional finance / Mohammad Soleimani and S. Mustafa Shadab

The SPV (special purpose vehicle) is one of the key components of the securitization in both Islamic and conventional finance; however the details of how the transactions are implemented differ subject to the mode of securitization in Islamic and conventional finance. In conventional finance, the bank establishes a SPV and transfers its asset from its balance sheet to the SPV. The assets are used as the collateral for issuing securitized, debt-like instruments. Nevertheless, in Islamic finance mode of securitization, the SPV just services the cash flows for security holders and do participate in debt-issuance. This difference is originated from the risk-sharing principle in asset-based Islamic finance which contrasts with risk-transfer nature of an interest-based conventional finance and results in important differences in ownership right and valuation of SPVs in the two financial systems

In-situ steel solidification imaging in continuous casting using magnetic induction tomography

: Solidification process in continuous casting is a critical part of steel production. The speed and quality of the solidification process determines the quality of final product. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are often used to describe the process and design of its control system, but so far, there is no any tool that provides an on-line measurement of the solidification front of hot steel during the continuous casting process. This paper presents a new tool based on magnetic induction tomography (MIT) for real time monitoring of this process. The new MIT system was installed at the end of the secondary cooling chamber of a casting unit and tested during several days in a real production process. MIT is able to create an internal map of electrical conductivity of hot steel deep inside the billet. The image of electrical conductivity is then converted to temperature profile that allows the measurement of the solid, mushy and liquid layers. In this study, such a conversion is done by synchronizing in one time step the MIT measurement and the thermal map generated with the actual process parameters available at that time. The MIT results were then compared with the results obtained of the CFD and thermal modelling of the industrial process. This is the first in-situ monitoring of the interior structure during a real continuous casting.The SHELL-THICK project has received funding from EU Research Fund for Coal and Steel under grant number 709830. This study reflects only the author's views and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein

Relationship of some risk factors and symptoms in patients with acute coronary syndrome

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is one of the major causes of death in the worldwide. Clinical manifestations are different. So it's necessary to have knowledge about the types of symptoms experienced by patients with ACS. This study was performed to assay the Relationship of some risk factors and symptoms in patients with acute coronary syndrome. This cross-sectional study, were studied 294 patients with acute coronary syndrome at least 24 hours after admission had survived. Data was collected by a questionnaire that included demographic data form and check list of some symptoms and history of risk factors. There was a significant relationship between STEMI with vomiting (OR=1.94) and anxiety (OR=1.83) and UA with vomiting (OR=0.42). Between sex with weakness (OR=2.29) and anxiety (OR=1.82), diabetes with dyspenea (OR=1.8), weakness (OR=1.02) and tinnitus (OR=2.06) and hyperlipidemia with weakness (OR=2.35) and tinnitus (OR=2.49) was available significant difference. The findings of this study indicate that the appearance of symptoms of acute coronary syndrome were different as for ECG changes and risk factors, and more focused on those symptoms that they are common with any other diseases. Since, many of the symptoms of acute coronary syndrome can be potentially dangerous and life threatening, accurate diagnosis and timely action is crucial for the patients

Metrizability of Cone Metric spaces

In 2007 H. Long-Guang and Z. Xian, [H. Long-Guang and Z. Xian, Cone Metric Spaces and Fixed Point Theorems of Contractive Mapping, J. Math. Anal. Appl., 322(2007), 1468-1476], generalized the concept of a metric space, by introducing cone metric spaces, and obtained some fixed point theorems for mappings satisfying certain contractive conditions. The main question was "Are cone metric spaces a real generalization of metric spaces?" Throughout this paper we answer the question in the negative, proving that every cone metric space is metrizable and the equivalent metric satisfies the same contractive conditions as the cone metric. So most of the fixed point theorems which have been proved are straightforward results from the metric case.Comment: 9 page

Psychometric properties of the king spiritual intelligence questionnaire (KSIQ) in physical veterans of Iran-Iraq warfare

Aims: The study's purpose was to determine reliability and validity of the King spiritual intelligence questionnaires in veterans of Iran-Iraq Warfare. Methods: In this cross sectional study, 300 veterans of the Iran-Iraq war completed the King spiritual intelligence questionnaires. Principal components analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation was used to assess domain structure of the King spiritual intelligence questionnaires. Internal and external consistency reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Internal consistency of King spiritual intelligence questions estimated with Cronbach's alpha, 0.872 and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC).872 (CI 95%: 0.84 -0.89). The construct validity of the questionnaire was calculated using exploratory factor analysis that showed 3 factors with Eigen values of greater than one, which explained in total 44.7% of the variance. (1, 8 items, α= 0.87; 2, 5. items; α = 0.89; 3, 2 items, α= 0.51). Conclusion: The Persian version of King spiritual intelligence questionnaire demonstrated suitable validity and reliability among the Veterans of Iran-Iraq Warfare. With the consideration of the proper psychometric characteristics, this questionnaire can be used to further research spiritual intelligence in this population

Design of heat sinks for wearable thermoelectric generators to power personal heating garments: A numerical study

To mitigate climate change attributed to the built environments, there have been tremendous efforts to improve air conditioning systems in the buildings. The possibility of harvesting body heat as a renewable energy source to power a wearable personal heating system is investigated. The aim of this study is to integrate a wearable personal heating system with a thermoelectric generator (TEG) that harvests the body heat which is used to convert it into electricity. Moreover, the interaction between the TEG configuration and power output is studied. The power generation of TEG system is obtained by COMSOL Multiphysics software. The simulation results concluded that all the four proposed heat sink configurations can improve the power output of the wearable TEG at 1.4 m/s and 3m/s compared to that of the reference model. Furthermore, the perforated and trapezium shapes of heat sinks have a significantly better performance in comparison to conventional heat sinks