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A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) and machine learning approach is used to investigate heat transfer on NASA airfoils of type NACA 0012. Several different models have been developed to examine the effect of laminar flow, Spalart flow, and Allmaras flow on the NACA 0012 airfoil under varying aerodynamic conditions. Temperature conditions at high and low temperatures are discussed in this article for different airfoil modes, which are porous mode and non-porous mode. Specific parameters included permeability of 11.36 x 10-10 m², porosity of 0.64, an inertia coefficient of 0.37, and a temperature range between 200 K and 400 K. The study revealed that a temperature increase can significantly increase lift-to-drag. Additionally, employing both a porous state and temperature differentials further contributes to enhancing the lift-to-drag coefficient. The neural network also successfully predicted outcomes when adjusting the temperature, particularly in scenarios with a greater number of cases. Nevertheless, this study assessed the accuracy of the system using a SMOTER model. It has been shown that the MSE, MAE, and R for the best performance validation of the testing case were 0.000314, 0.0008, and 0.998960, respectively, at K = 3. However, the study shows that epoch values greater than 2000 increase computational time and cost without improving accuracy. This indicates that the SMOTER model can be used to classify the testing case accurately; however, higher epoch values are not necessary for optimal performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Otosclerosis is caused by abnormal bone remodeling in the middle ear, which is associated with dizziness and lightheadedness. An underlying cause of dizziness in this disease can be the presence of an enlarged vestibular aqueduct. In this study, the prevalence of enlarged vestibular aqueduct in these patients compared to the normal population has been investigated. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 26 people with bilateral otosclerosis and 26 people with at least one healthy ear requiring a CT scan were compared. Vestibular aqueduct was tested by evaluating the two factors of the midpoint width between the external diaphragm and the common crus, and its width in the external diaphragm region and comparing the two groups. Bone conduction, speech detection threshold, and gap between bone conduction and air conduction were calculated and compared in otosclerosis patients with enlarged versus normal vestibular duct. Findings: The median width of the vestibular aqueduct in the area of the external aperture in patients with otosclerosis (1.2 mm) was significantly greater than that of healthy subjects (1 mm) (p=0.046). Regarding the size of the vestibular aqueduct in otosclerosis patients, 5 patients (9.6%) were found with enlarged vestibular aqueduct in radiological findings. However, this difference was not statistically significant. In otosclerosis patients, bone conduction threshold in all frequencies was significantly higher in people with enlarged vestibular aqueduct compared to other patients (p<0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the prevalence of enlarged vestibular aqueduct in patients with otosclerosis is considerable, and it is better to pay enough attention to the CT scan of patients before surgery to prevent possible complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Razi Institute is the property of Institut Razi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The family Mx ⊆ P(X) is called an ∩-structure, when it is closed under the arbitrary intersection. This concept has been studied and considered in algebra, specially in lattices. Using this concept, we define a quasi topological structure which is called ∩-structure space. By studying this space, we attempt to explain some algebraic concepts through this structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let G=(V,E) be a simple connected graph with vertex set V and edge set E. The first, second and third Zagreb indices of G are respectivly defined by: M1(G) = Σu∈V d(u)², M2(G) = ΣuvelementEd(u)·d(v) and M3(G) = ΣuvelementE|d(u) - d(v)|, where d(u) is the degree of vertex u in G and uv is an edge of G connecting the vertices u and v. Recently, the first and second multiplicative Zagreb indices of G are defined by: PM1(G) = Πu∈V d(u)² and PM2(G) = Πu∈Vd(u).d(u). The first and second Zagreb coindices of G are defined by: M1(G) = Σuv∉E(d(u) + d(v)) and M2(G) = Σuv∉E (u):d(v). The indices PM1(G) = Πuv∉E d(u) + d(v) and PM2(G) = Πuv∉E d(u):d(v), are called the first and second multiplicative Zagreb coindices of G, respectively. In this article, we compute the first, second and third Zagreb indices and the first and second multiplicative Zagreb indices of some classes of dendrimers. The first and second Zagreb coindices and the first and second multiplicative Zagreb coindices of these graphs are also computed. Also, the multiplicative Zagreb indices are computed using link of graphs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steviol glycosides (SVglys) are a group of diterpenoids mainly present in the leaves of stevia (Stevia rebaudianaBertoni). An experiment was conducted to find the functional role of SVglys compounds in stevia affected by drought stress. In this study, a liquid blend of SVglys (200 ppm) was sprayed on stevia plants grown in well-watered (90% field capacity) and drought-stress conditions (45% field capacity) and then the morphological traits and metabolites were evaluated. It was observed that leaf losses caused by drought stress were stopped through external application of SVglys and consequently the harvest index of stevia was increased. Metabolite analysis of stevia leaves showed that the total SVglys content was significantly decreased due to drought stress, but was compensated by external application of SVglys. Among the SVglys, Rebaudioside A responded more to external SVglys. A slight promotion in total antioxidant activity of stevia leaves was observed when external SVglys was applied. The glucose availability in stevia leaves was increased by external application of SVglys but only in well-watered plants. According to our findings, it can be concluded that in stevia, SVglys may have a positive function in drought stress tolerance by exerting a protective role under such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background and Aim: Candida albicans, the most common human fungal commensal pathogen, is a normal member of the human microbiota which can colonize the oral cavity, vagina and gastrointestinal tract. This opportunistic pathogen can cause diseases ranging from mucosal infections to systemic mycoses, depending on the vulnerability and weakness of the immune system of the host. In addition, it is the most common cause of septicemia with 50-100% mortality. Ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation is an electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 100-400 nm. It reduces the synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids, retards growth, and causes mutation in eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Previous investigators have reported on the different effects of UV irradiation on Candida albicans including cidal effect, inhibitory growth, as well as phenotype switching. In the present study we investigated the effect of UV-B irradiation on C. albicans’s growth in a solid medium, production of chlamydoconidia, carbohydrate assimilation and pathogenesis in mice. Material and Methods: C. albicans was grown in a SC medium, followed by incubation at 30° C for 24 hours and irradiating the cells with UV-B for 5,10,15,20 min at 302 nm wavelength by transilluminator. A sample of non-irradiated yeast cells served as control. Results: After 24, 48 and 72 hours of irradiation growth rate was reduced, the maximum reduction occurring after 20 minute. There was no difference between irradiated and non-irradiated C. albicans samples as regards sugars assimilation. Irradiation could inhibit production of chlamidoconidia by the fungus, the magnitude of inhibition increasing with increasing length of exposure to irradiation, such that after 20 minutes no chlamidoconidia could be seen in the medium. Further analysis of the data showed that pathogenicities of the fungus in irradiated and control samples were not statistically different. Neither was there any difference between them as regards size or number of bands of DNA molecules on 1% agarose gel. Conclusion: The findings throw some light on how UVB irradiation can affect the phenotype of C. albicans isolates. Certainly more studies, e.g., on gene regulation, are required to find the effects of UVB at the molecular level in this fungus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sour cherries (Prunus cerasusL.) are rich in anthocyanins and have a correspondingly high antioxidant activity and potential health benefits with respect to the prevention of many diseases, including cancers and diabetes. As one of the centres of origin of the subgenusCerasus, Iran is rich in cherry germplasm resources. The aim of this research was to evaluate promising Iranian sour cherries for different fruit quality characteristics. Generally, significant differences (P≤ 0.05) were observed across the sour cherry genotypes for characters such as fruit weight (FW) (1.89–5.51 g), firmness (0.17–0.37 Nmm−1), total sugars (14.57–21.54 °Brix), titratable acidity (0.91%–2.81% malic acid), total organic acids (381.04–1742.50 mg 100 g−1), total phenolic content (184.10–625.38 mg GAE 100 g−1), total anthocyanin content (17.49–123.80 mg cy-3-gly 100 g−1) and total antioxidant activity (10.09%–28.79% FW). In addition, a wide variation in fruit colour and sensory quality were observed within the studied genotypes. It was found that Iranian selections such as KaThLaSSGe21, Hamedan, KaTaJo2Ge9, KrRIV4C20, EsASC1V1SS1 and KaThLa3Ge23 generally scored higher for desirable fruit characteristics across this range of parameters than existing commercial genotypes used as the control comparisons. Thus, they can be considered as promising genotypes for further evaluation in cherry breeding programmes, as well as being potentially useful for the cherry juice/concentrate industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study analyses energy and exergy consumption for drying dog-rose flowers using a hybrid infrared and hot-air dryer at three IR (Infrared) radiation levels, three airflow velocities, and three drying temperatures. Results showed that energy and exergy efficiencies sharply increased at the beginning of the drying process. Energy loss, exergy destruction and exergy loss increased with increasing IR radiation, rise in the incoming air's temperature, and decrease of the airflow velocity. The average of lowest energy and exergy efficiencies were 5.76 and 3.98%, respectively, observed at the air temperature of 40°C using an IR radiation of 0.22 W/cm2 and an airflow velocity of 1 m/s. The average of highest energy and exergy efficiency values were 49.92 and 23.65%, respectively, observed at the beginning of the drying process at 60°C using 0.49 W/cm2 IR radiation and an airflow velocity of 0.4 m/s.

At present, the issue ecological balance restoring and rational resource con-sumption is especially acute, which determines large-scale transformations at the world level, as well as the need to modernize the tools for socio-economic develop-ment systems of countries (macro-level), individual territories and regions (meso-level), a set of interacting economic systems and economic units (microlevels). The article examines the problems of responsible resource consumption in regional socioeconomic systems, which led to change of effective growth paradigm to: 1) the sustainable development paradigm, society’s informatization; 2) selective regional policy of interregional differentiation. Obviously, at the macro-level, there is an intensive search for effective management of regional resource consumption; development of mechanisms and tools for environmental responsibility management. That is why a decrease in the level of negative impacts, as well as the consequences of low socio-economic development, determines the genesis of responsible resource consumption tools in regions’ strategizing as a key development task. However, the study of the ontology “responsible resource consumption tools” goes through the concept of sustainable development and is transformed into an integral, logically linked system of views, united by a common idea and aimed at achieving the goal of work.

We present a comprehensive study of the electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of CuGa1-xFexS2, as a promising candidate for intermediate-band (IB) solar cells. We use hybrid exchange-correlation functional within the density functional theory framework, and show that Fe doping induces unoccupied states 1.6-1.9 eV above the valence band. The IBs significantly enhance the optical absorption in lower energy part of the spectrum. We find that at moderate n-type co-doping concentration, the added charge occupies part of the IB in the gap, but large concentrations lower the energy of the occupied IB toward the valence band. Moreover, we show that Fe impurities tend to cluster within the compound and they choose antiferromagnetic ordering. The findings can have a significant effect in understanding this material and help to synthesize more efficient IB solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of the study was to establish an AI-driven decision support system by identifying the most important features in the severity of disease for I ntensive C are U nit (ICU) with M echanical V entilation (MV) requirement, ICU, and I nter M ediate C are U nit (IMCU) admission for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in South Florida. The features implicated in the risk factors identified by the model interpretability can be used to forecast treatment plans faster before critical conditions exacerbate. Methods: We analyzed eHR data from 5371 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 from South Florida Memorial Healthcare Systems admitted between March 2020 and January 2021 to predict the need for ICU with MV, ICU, and IMCU admission. A Random Forest classifier was trained on patients' data augmented by SMOTE, collected at hospital admission. We then compared the importance of features utilizing different model interpretability analyses, such as SHAP, MDI, and Permutation Importance. Results: The models for ICU with MV, ICU, and IMCU admission identified the following factors overlapping as the most important predictors among the three outcomes: age, race, sex, BMI, diarrhea, diabetes, hypertension, early stages of kidney disease, and pneumonia. It was observed that individuals over 65 years ('older adults'), males, current smokers, and BMI classified as 'overweight' and 'obese' were at greater risk of severity of illness. The severity was intensified by the co-occurrence of two interacting features (e.g., diarrhea and diabetes). Conclusions: The top features identified by the models' interpretability were from the 'sociodemographic characteristics', 'pre-hospital comorbidities', and 'medications' categories. However, 'pre-hospital comorbidities' played a vital role in different critical conditions. In addition to individual feature importance, the feature interactions also provide crucial information for predicting the most likely outcome of patients' conditions when urgent treatment plans are needed during the surge of patients during the pandemic.

This paper presents a systematic investigation into the effectiveness of Self-Supervised Learning (SSL) methods for Electrocardiogram (ECG) arrhythmia detection. We begin by conducting a novel analysis of the data distributions on three popular ECG-based arrhythmia datasets: PTB-XL, Chapman, and Ribeiro. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to quantitatively explore and characterize these distributions in the area. We then perform a comprehensive set of experiments using different augmentations and parameters to evaluate the effectiveness of various SSL methods, namely SimCRL, BYOL, and SwAV, for ECG representation learning, where we observe the best performance achieved by SwAV. Furthermore, our analysis shows that SSL methods achieve highly competitive results to those achieved by supervised state-of-the-art methods. To further assess the performance of these methods on both In-Distribution (ID) and Out-of-Distribution (OOD) ECG data, we conduct cross-dataset training and testing experiments. Our comprehensive experiments show almost identical results when comparing ID and OOD schemes, indicating that SSL techniques can learn highly effective representations that generalize well across different OOD datasets. This finding can have major implications for ECG-based arrhythmia detection. Lastly, to further analyze our results, we perform detailed per-disease studies on the performance of the SSL methods on the three datasets.

Global atmospheric concentrations of nitrous oxide have been increasing over previous decades with emerging research suggesting the Arctic as a notable contributor. Thermokarst processes, increasing temperature, and changes in drainage can cause degradation of polygonal tundra landscape features resulting in elevated, well-drained, unvegetated soil surfaces that exhibit large nitrous oxide emissions. Here, we outline the magnitude and some of the dominant factors controlling variability in emissions for these thermokarst landscape features in the North Slope of Alaska. We measured strong nitrous oxide emissions during the growing season from unvegetated high centered polygons (median (mean) = 104.7 (187.7) µg N 2 O-N m -2  h -1 ), substantially higher than mean rates associated with Arctic tundra wetlands and of similar magnitude to unvegetated hotspots in peat plateaus and palsa mires. In the absence of vegetation, isotopic enrichment of 15 N in these thermokarst features indicates a greater influence of microbial processes, (denitrification and nitrification) from barren soil. Findings reveal that the thermokarst features discussed here (~1.5% of the study area) are likely a notable source of nitrous oxide emissions, as inferred from chamber-based estimates. Growing season emissions, estimated at 16 (28) mg N 2 O-N ha -1  h -1 , may be large enough to affect landscape-level greenhouse gas budgets., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Purpose: Although CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) therapy has shown remarkable success in B-cell malignancies, a substantial fraction of patients do not obtain a long-term clinical response. This could be influenced by the quality of the individual CAR-T infusion product. To shed some light on this, clinical outcome was correlated to characteristics of CAR-T infusion products., Patients and Methods: In this phase II study, patients with B-cell lymphoma (n = 23) or leukemia (n = 1) received one or two infusions of third-generation CD19-directed CAR-Ts (2 × 108/m2). The clinical trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03068416. We investigated the transcriptional profile of individual CD19 CAR-T infusion products using targeted single-cell RNA sequencing and multicolor flow cytometry., Results: Two CAR-T infusions were not better than one in the settings used in this study. As for the CAR-T infusion products, we found that effector-like CD8+CAR-Ts with a high polyfunctionality, high cytotoxic and cytokine production profile, and low dysfunctional signature were associated with clinical response. An extended ex vivo expansion time during CAR-T manufacturing negatively influenced the proportion of effector CD8+CAR-Ts in the infusion product., Conclusions: We identified cell-intrinsic characteristics of effector CD8+CAR-Ts correlating with response that could be used as an indicator for clinical outcome. The results in the study also serve as a guide to CAR-T manufacturing practices., (©2023 The Authors; Published by the American Association for Cancer Research.)

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has created substantial health and economic burdens in the US and worldwide. As new variants continuously emerge, predicting critical clinical events in the context of relevant individual risks is a promising option for reducing the overall burden of COVID-19. This study aims to train an AI-driven decision support system that helps build a model to understand the most important features that predict the "mortality" of patients hospitalized with COVID-19., Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of "5,371" patients hospitalized for COVID-19-related symptoms from the South Florida Memorial Health Care System between March 14th, 2020, and January 16th, 2021. A data set comprising patients' sociodemographic characteristics, pre-existing health information, and medication was analyzed. We trained Random Forest classifier to predict "mortality" for patients hospitalized with COVID-19., Results: Based on the interpretability of the model, age emerged as the primary predictor of "mortality", followed by diarrhea, diabetes, hypertension, BMI, early stages of kidney disease, smoking status, sex, pneumonia, and race in descending order of importance. Notably, individuals aged over 65 years (referred to as "older adults"), males, Whites, Hispanics, and current smokers were identified as being at higher risk of death. Additionally, BMI, specifically in the overweight and obese categories, significantly predicted "mortality". These findings indicated that the model effectively learned from various categories, such as patients' sociodemographic characteristics, pre-hospital comorbidities, and medications, with a predominant focus on characterizing pre-hospital comorbidities. Consequently, the model demonstrated the ability to predict "mortality" with transparency and reliability., Conclusion: AI can potentially provide healthcare workers with the ability to stratify patients and streamline optimal care solutions when time is of the essence and resources are limited. This work sets the platform for future work that forecasts patient responses to treatments at various levels of disease severity and assesses health disparities and patient conditions that promote improved health care in a broader context. This study contributed to one of the first predictive analyses applying AI/ML techniques to COVID-19 data using a vast sample from South Florida., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2023 Datta, George Dalmida, Martinez, Newman, Hashemi, Khoshgoftaar, Shorten, Sareli and Eckardt.)

Conduits are commonly used for treating lesions in arteries and veins. The conventional stents are cylindrical in shape, which increases flow resistance with length. This study presents a design of stents and conduits where the conduit caliber expands gradually to reduce resistance while avoiding flow separation. Inflow was provided from a header tank at two different pressures (i.e., 10 and 25 mm Hg pressure) into a cylindrical or expanding conduit. The initial conduit calibers were 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-mm and 160-, 310-, and 620-mm lengths in each case. The flow rates of expanding caliber conduits (at a rate of r 4-6 /cm where r is the initial conduit radius) were compared to traditional cylindrical conduits of constant radius. The expanded caliber yields a significantly increased flow of 16-55% for R 4 /L expansion, 9-44% for R 5 /L expansion, and 1-28% for R 6 /L expansion. Simulated flow models using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were used to validate and expand the experimental findings. Flow separation was detected for certain simulations by flow pathlines and wall shear stress (WSS) calculations. The results showed that a caliber expansion rate of r 6 /cm is the optimal rate of expansion for most potential applications with minimum flow separation, lower resistance, and increased flow., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Long-term atmospheric CO 2 concentration records have suggested a reduction in the positive effect of warming on high-latitude carbon uptake since the 1990s. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the reduced net carbon sink of northern ecosystems with increased air temperature, including water stress on vegetation and increased respiration over recent decades. However, the lack of consistent long-term carbon flux and in situ soil moisture data has severely limited our ability to identify the mechanisms responsible for the recent reduced carbon sink strength. In this study, we used a record of nearly 100 site-years of eddy covariance data from 11 continuous permafrost tundra sites distributed across the circumpolar Arctic to test the temperature (expressed as growing degree days, GDD) responses of gross primary production (GPP), net ecosystem exchange (NEE), and ecosystem respiration (ER) at different periods of the summer (early, peak, and late summer) including dominant tundra vegetation classes (graminoids and mosses, and shrubs). We further tested GPP, NEE, and ER relationships with soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit to identify potential moisture limitations on plant productivity and net carbon exchange. Our results show a decrease in GPP with rising GDD during the peak summer (July) for both vegetation classes, and a significant relationship between the peak summer GPP and soil moisture after statistically controlling for GDD in a partial correlation analysis. These results suggest that tundra ecosystems might not benefit from increased temperature as much as suggested by several terrestrial biosphere models, if decreased soil moisture limits the peak summer plant productivity, reducing the ability of these ecosystems to sequester carbon during the summer., (© 2022 The Authors. Global Change Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Dermatophytes have the ability to invade the keratin layer of humans and cause infections. The aims of this study were the accurate identification of dermatophytes by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism method and sequencing and comparison between the in vitro activities of newer and established antifungal agents against them., Methods: Clinical specimens of patients from five Iranian university laboratories were entered in this study. Samples were cultured on sabouraud dextrose agar medium. For molecular identification, extracted DNAs were amplified by the universal fungal primers ITS1 and ITS4, and digested with MvaI enzymes. The antifungal susceptibility test for each isolate to terbinafine, griseofulvin, caspofungin, fluconazole, itraconazole, luliconazole, and isavuconazole was performed, according to the microdilution CLSI M38-A2 and CLSI M61 standard methods., Results: Two hundred and seven fungi species similar to dermatophytes were isolated of which 198 (95.6%) were dermatophytes by molecular assay. The most commonly isolated were Trichophyton mentagrophytes (76/198), followed by Trichophyton interdigitale (57/198), Trichophyton rubrum (34/198), Trichophyton tonsurans (12/198), Microsporum canis (10/198), Trichophyton simii (3/198), Epidermophyton floccosum (3/198), Trichophyton violaceum (2/198), and Trichophyton benhamiae (1/198). The GM MIC and MIC 90 values for all the isolates were as follows: terbinafine (0.091 and 1 μg/ml), griseofulvin (1.01 and 4 μg/ml), caspofungin (0.06 and 4 μg/ml), fluconazole (16.52 and 32 μg/ml), itraconazole (0.861 and 8 μg/ml), isavuconazole (0.074 and 2 μg/ml), and luliconazole (0.018 and 0.25 μg/ml)., Conclusion: Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton interdigitale, and Trichophyton rubrum were the most common fungal species isolated from the patients. luliconazole, terbinafine, and isavuconazole in vitro were revealed to be the most effective antifungal agents against all dermatophyte isolates., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Correlating gene expression patterns with biomechanical properties of connective tissues provides insights into the molecular processes underlying the tissue growth and repair. Cadaveric specimens such as human knees are widely considered suitable for biomechanical studies, but their usefulness for gene expression experiments is potentially limited by the unavoidable, nuclease-mediated degradation of RNA. Here, we tested whether valid gene expression profiles can be obtained using degraded RNA from human anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs). Human ACL RNA (N = 6) degraded in vitro by limited ribonuclease digestion resemble highly degraded RNA isolated from cadaveric tissue. PCR threshold cycle (C t ) values for 90 transcripts (84 extracellular matrix, 6 housekeeping) in degraded RNAs variably ranged higher than values obtained from their corresponding non-degraded RNAs, reflecting both the expected loss of target templates in the degraded preparations as well as differences in the extent of degradation. Relative C t values obtained for mRNAs in degraded preparations strongly correlated with the corresponding levels in non-degraded RNA, both for each ACL as well as for the pooled results from all six ACLs. Nuclease-mediated degradation produced similar, strongly correlated losses of housekeeping and non-housekeeping gene mRNAs. RNA degraded in situ yielded comparable results, confirming that in vitro digestion effectively modeled degradation by endogenous ribonucleases in frozen and thawed ACL. We conclude that, contrary to conventional wisdom, PCR-based expression analyses can yield valid mRNA profiles even from RNA preparations that are more than 90% degraded, such as those obtained from connective tissues subjected to biomechanical studies. Furthermore, legitimate quantitative comparisons between variably degraded tissues can be made by normalizing data to appropriate housekeeping transcripts.

Given the importance of COVID-19-induced ARDS, recently, researchers have strived to determine underlying mechanisms involved in the inflammatory responses. In this regard, inflammasomes possess a distinct priority for cytokine storm occurrence and, subsequently, ARDS progression in ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this minireview, the characteristics of known inflammasome inhibitors and designed research in this field were concretely deciphered., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Oxidative damage by free radicals has a negative effect on blood quality during storage. Antioxidant nanoparticles can prevent oxidative stress. We use SOD-CAT-Alb-PEG-PLGA- nanoparticles to reduce the effects of oxidative stress in blood storage. Electrospray was employed to prepare nanoparticles. Nanoparticles entered the test bags and were kept for 35 days from the time of donation under standard conditions. On target days, experiments were performed on the samples taken. The examination included blood smear, red blood cells count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, K, Fe, glutathione peroxidase, glutathion reductase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, prooxidant-antioxidant balance, malondialdehyde, and flow cytometric assay for phosphatidylserine. The repeated measures analysis was performed on samples every week. Morphological changes were less in the test group compared to the control. The quantitative hemolysis profile test showed significant changes in the test and control groups (p < 0.05) in consecutive weeks except for K and Fe. Oxidative stress parameters too showed a significant change during the target days of the examination (p < 0.05). Also, the phosphatidylserine expression was increased in control groups more than test in consecutive weeks (p < 0.05). It seems that the use of antioxidant nanoparticles improves the quality of stored red blood cells and can prevent posttransfusion complications and blood loss by reducing oxidative stress., (© 2021 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.)

Background: In late 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is responsible for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was identified as the new pathogen to lead pneumonia in Wuhan, China, which has spread all over the world and developed into a pandemic. Despite the over 1 year of pandemic, due to the lack of an effective treatment plan, the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 remains high. Efforts are underway to find the optimal management for this viral disease., Main Body: SARS-CoV-2 could simultaneously affect multiple organs with variable degrees of severity, from mild to critical disease. Overproduction of pro-inflammatory mediators, exacerbated cellular and humoral immune responses, and coagulopathy such as Pulmonary Intravascular Coagulopathy (PIC) contributes to cell injuries. Considering the pathophysiology of the disease and multiple microthrombi developments in COVID-19, thrombolytic medications seem to play a role in the management of the disease. Beyond the anticoagulation, the exact role of thrombolytic medications in the management of patients with COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is not explicit. This review focuses on current progress in underlying mechanisms of COVID-19-associated pulmonary intravascular coagulopathy, the historical use of thrombolytic drugs in the management of ARDS, and pharmacotherapy considerations of thrombolytic therapy, their possible benefits, and pitfalls in COVID-19-associated ARDS., Conclusions: Inhaled or intravenous administration of thrombolytics appears to be a salvage therapy for severe ARDS associated with COVID-19 by prompt attenuation of lung injury. Considering the pathogenesis of COVID-19-related ARDS and mechanism of action of thrombolytic agents, thrombolytics appear attractive options in stable patients without contraindications., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Aspergillus species are a major cause of life-threatening invasive infections and noninvasive diseases. This study seeks to investigate the frequency of Aspergillus species among Iranian patients and their susceptibility to seven antifungals. In a cross-sectional study, 233 Aspergillus isolates were collected from 11 university hospitals in Iran between 2018 and 2021. Aspergillus isolates were identified based on colony morphology, microscopic characteristics, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and sequencing of the beta-tubulin gene. The CLSI M38-A2 reference methodology was used for antifungal susceptibility testing of amphotericin B, voriconazole, posaconazole, itraconazole, luliconazole, isavuconazole, and caspofungin. Members of Aspergillus section Flavi (117/233, 50.2%), Aspergillus section Nigri (77/233, 33.1%), Aspergillus section Fumigati (21/233, 9%), Aspergillus section Terrei (14/233, 6%), Aspergillus pseudodeflectus (2/233, 0.85%), and Aspergillus melleus (2/233, 0.85%) were isolated from the samples. The lowest 0.25 MIC 90 values for all isolates tested were for luliconazole (0.016 μg/mL) and isavuconazole (0.250 μg/mL), and the highest value was observed for itraconazole (≥ 8μg/mL). The 90% minimum effective concentration (MEC 90 ) value for caspofungin was 0.125 μg/mL. MIC 90 values for voriconazole, amphotericin B, and posaconazole were 1, 2, and 2 μg/mL, respectively. The non-wild-type species were presented for amphotericin B (3%), voriconazole (1.3%), posaconazole (2.6%), luliconazole (1.3%), isavuconazole (1.7%), and caspofungin (4.7%). Positive correlations in the MIC values of azole antifungals were observed, and using one azole increases the MIC value rates of other ones. None of the species were pan-azole resistant. Species of Aspergillus section Flavi were the most common Aspergillus species isolated from Iranian samples. Luliconazole, caspofungin, and isavuconazole present the most effective antifungal agents for treatment of infection due to Aspergillus species. Susceptibility tests should be performed frequently in each region for the best management of patients. IMPORTANCE Aspergillus species are the leading cause of invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised hosts. The susceptibility of Aspergillus species to antifungal agents might be different. Azole-resistant species have emerged worldwide. Performing susceptibility testing in each region can help in the best management of patients. Here, we show the epidemiology and distribution of Aspergillus species in Iran and their susceptibility patterns for seven antifungal agents. The significant points of the present study are that species of Aspergillus section Flavi are the most prevalent Aspergillus species isolated from 11 university hospitals. Luliconazole, caspofungin, and isavuconazole were effective antifungal agents against all Aspergillus species.

The glycoprotein CD47 regulates antiphagocytic activity via signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPa). This study investigated CD47 expression on Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells in the classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) tumour microenvironment and its correlation with prognosis, programmed-death (PD) immune markers, and SIRPa + leukocytes. We conducted immunohistochemistry with CD47 and SIRPa antibodies on diagnostic biopsies (tissue microarrays) from cHL patients from two cohorts (n = 178). In cohort I (n = 136) patients with high expression of CD47 on HRS cells (n = 48) had a significantly inferior event-free survival [hazard ratio (HR) = 5.57; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.78-11.20; p < 0.001] and overall survival (OS) (HR = 8.54; 95% CI, 3.19-22.90; p < 0.001) compared with patients with low expression (n = 88). The survival results remained statistically significant in multivariable Cox regression adjusted for known prognostic factors. In cohort II (n = 42) high HRS cell CD47 expression also carried shorter event-free survival (EFS) (HR = 5.96; 95% CI, 1.20-29.59; p = 0.029) and OS (HR = 5.61; 95% CI, 0.58-54.15; p = 0.136), although it did not retain statistical significance in the multivariable analysis. Further, high CD47 expression did not correlate with SIRPa + leukocytes or PD-1, PD-L1 and PD-L2 expression. This study provides a deeper understanding of the role of CD47 in cHL during an era of emerging CD47 therapies., (© 2022 The Authors. British Journal of Haematology published by British Society for Haematology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

To produce an esophageal scaffold with suitable features and evaluate the result of in vivo cell seeding after its implantation in the omentum and near its original anatomical position in the rat model. The esophagus of twelve rats were resected, cannulated, and decellularized via a peristaltic pump. After confirmation of decellularization and preservation of extracellular matrix, decellularized scaffolds were implanted either in the abdominal cavity (group I, n = 6) or cervical area (group II, n = 6). Histological evaluations were performed after 3 and 6 months of implantation. The results of histological evaluations, scanning electron microscopy, and the tensile test confirmed the maintenance of extracellular matrix and removal of all cellular constituents. At the time of biopsy, no evidence of inflammation was detected and the implanted scaffolds appeared normal. Histopathological evaluations of implanted tissues revealed that undifferentiated cells were seen in scaffolds of all follow-ups in both groups. Epithelial cell seeding was more advanced in biopsies of group II obtained after 6 months of operation and was accompanied by angiogenesis in surrounding adventitia. It seems that the implantation of scaffold near its original place may have an important role in further cell seeding. This method may be surpassing in comparison with traditional implantation techniques for perfecting esophageal transplantation., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)