Association of TIMP-1 and COL4A4 Gene Polymorphisms with Keratoconus in an Iranian Population

Purpose: Keratoconus (KC) is a bilateral and noninflammatory disease, characterized by progressive thinning and anterior protrusion of the cornea and may result in severe visual impairment due to irregular astigmatism. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are the main group of enzymes that degrade extracellular matrix proteins including collagens; Type IV collagen is found in the corneal stroma. MMP enzymatic activity is inhibited by tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1). A decrease in TIMP-1 level is associated with the development of KC. In the present study, we investigated the impact of COL4A4 rs2228557 C/T and TIMP-1 rs4898 C/T (X-chromosome) variants on the odds of KC development in a sample of Iranian population. Methods: This case–control study was conducted on 140 patients with KC and 150 healthy control subjects. We used modified methods of Nested-PCR and ARMS-PCR in combination (Nested- ARMS-PCR) and confirmed their validity with RFLP–PCR. Results: Significant differences were noticed between KC patients and healthy individuals regarding the genotype TY or T allele frequencies of rs4898 in the male subjects (OR = 0.43, 95%CI: 0.20–0.92, P = 0.03), whereas no significant differences were identified in the female subjects (OR = 1.07, 95%CI: 0.52–2.20, P = 0.85). The rs2228557, T allele was associated with KC (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.50–0.97, P = 0.035). Conclusion: In the rs2228557 variant, T allele acts as a protective factor from the disease and decreases the risk of KC compared with the C allele. Also, in our investigation about rs4898, we found that TY genotype or T allele decreased the risk of KC compared with the C allele in males and was a protective factor for KC in our population

Design and Build an Adapter for Hearing Protector Test

Introduction: To determine the effectiveness of hearing protective devices that lack the technical information are one of the major challenges of occupational health experts to judge the impact of this exposure on reducing the level of occupational exposure to noise. The aim of this study was to design a built a hearing test adapter and expriment it to determine the reduction rate of earmuffs and earplugs. Methods: Technical information in real environments and glass industries were Hamadan kitchen garden and guards to ensure exceptional performance test results were compared with computational methods. Results: The results of the testing of Personal hearing protection compared with the results in real industry environment and octave-band method, have shown good regrassions average operating transmission losses. Results showed that the average noise reduction between measured and calculations method for earmuffs 9.3, 8.8 dB and 9.3, 11.2 dB for earplugs respectively. Comparison of the tests, did not show significant differences between the results in tow methods (P>0.05). Conclusion: The results of the testing designed Adaptor for some hearing protectors showed that the valid tool for used to reduction rate teste of earmuffs and earplug

Removal of Hydrogen Sulfide from Septic Tank by Vermicomposting Bio Filter

Background & Aims of the Study: Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a colorless and highly toxic, easily dissolved in water, flammable and explosive gas. Hydrogen sulfide gas is the main cause of odor emissions from municipal sewage plants. One method for removal of hydrogen sulfide gas is the use of biological systems, biofilter. The aim of this study was to survey removal hydrogen sulfide provide in septic tank by vermicomposting biofilter. Materials and Methods: In this study pilot-scale biofilter has been made of bed vermicompost and wood trash. To survey biofilter performance under real condition, the pilot installed in one wastewater pumping station of Ahwaz city, Iran. The study was carried out over 80 days. Inlet and outlet H2S concentration were measured on regular basis. To provide an optimal condition for bacterial growth, moisture was adjusted between 40% and 60% throughout the experiment. Results: Results showed that H2S concentration emitted from the pumping station during the study varied greatly between 33 and 54ppm .The maximum adsorption capacity of the biological bedding was recorded at 22.4 g/m3.hr and the mean efficiency of H2S removal account the startup time was 89.31% .The mean performance efficiency during the biological activity after the startup was recorded at 96.88%. Conclusion: use up biofilter with vermicompost bed and woodchip is an economic method for H2S removal of septic tanks. Removal efficiency of more than 96% is expected with this method

Association of <i>Lysyl oxidase (LOX)</i> polymorphisms with the risk of Keratoconus in an Iranian population

<div><p></p><p><i>Background</i>: Keratoconus is a connective tissue-related eye disease with unknown etiology that causes the loss of visual acuity. Lysyl oxidase (LOX) is an amine oxidase that catalyzes the covalent cross-link of collagens and elastin in the extracellular environment, thus determining the mechanical properties of connective tissue. The current study aimed to investigate the possible associations between two <i>LOX</i> polymorphisms, rs1800449 and rs2288393, and susceptibility to keratoconus.</p><p><i>Methods</i>: A total of 262 Iranian subjects including 112 patients with keratoconus and 150 healthy individuals as controls were recruited. Genotyping for the <i>LOX</i> variants was performed using allele-specific PCR.</p><p><i>Results</i>: A significant difference was found between two groups regarding allelic and genotyping distribution of <i>LOX</i> polymorphism at position rs1800449 G>A. The frequency of AA and GA + AA genotypes were increased in patients compared to controls (17% versus 8% and 62.5% versus 50%, respectively), showing a statistically significant difference (OR = 2.827, 95% CI: 1.251–6.391, <i>p</i> = 0.012). The A allele was associated with an increased risk for keratoconus, with the frequency of 39.9% and 29% in patients and controls, respectively (OR = 1.614, 95% CI: 1.119–2.326, <i>p</i> = 0.011). Furthermore, the haplotype analysis revealed that the rs1800449G/rs2288393C is a protective factor against keratoconus (OR = 0.425, 95% CI = 0.296–0.609, <i>p</i> = 0.001). Conversely, the +473A/rs2288393C (OR = 3.703, 95% CI = 2.230–6.149, <i>p</i> = 0.001) and +473G/rs2288393G (OR = 15.48, 95% CI = 3.805–63.03, <i>p</i> = 0.001) haplotypes were identified as risk factors for keratoconus.</p><p><i>Conclusion</i>: Our study demonstrated that the LOX rs1800449 genotypes (AA and GA + AA) and allele (A) appears to confer risk for susceptibility to keratoconus.</p></div

Curcumin Offers No Additional Benefit to Lifestyle Intervention on Cardiometabolic Status in Patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Curcumin has been shown to exert glucose-lowering and anti-atherosclerotic effects in type 2 diabetes. Hence, we investigated curcumin&rsquo;s effects on atherogenesis markers, fatty liver, insulin resistance, and adipose tissue-related indicators in patients with NAFLD. In this secondary analysis of a 12-week randomized controlled trial, fifty-two patients with NAFLD received lifestyle modification. In addition, they were randomly allocated to either the curcumin group (1.5 g/day) or the matching placebo. Outcome variables (assessed before and after the study) were: the fatty liver index (FLI), hepatic steatosis index (HSI), fatty liver score (FLS), BMI, age, ALT, TG score (BAAT), triglyceride glucose (TyG) index, Castelli risk index-I (CRI-I), Castelli risk index-II (CRI-II), TG/HDL&ndash;C ratio, atherogenic coefficient (AC), atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), lipoprotein combine index (LCI), cholesterol index (CHOLINDEX), lipid accumulation product (LAP), body adiposity index (BAI), visceral adiposity index (VAI), metabolic score for visceral fat (METS-VF), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) values. The TyG index decreased in the curcumin group and increased in the placebo group, with a significant difference between the groups (p = 0.029). However, a between-group change was not significant after adjustment for multiple testing. Other indices were not significantly different between the groups either before or after multiple test correction. After the intervention, there was a lower number of patients with severe fatty liver (FLI &ge; 60) and metabolic syndrome in the curcumin group compared to the placebo (p = 0.021 and p = 0.012, respectively). In conclusion, curcumin offers no additional cardiometabolic benefits to lifestyle intervention in patients with NAFLD