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Inorganic carbon is the largest source of carbon in terrestrial surface, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, including the Chahardowli Plain in western Iran. Inorganic carbon plays an equal or greater role than organic soil carbon in these areas, although less attention has been paid in quantifying their variability. The objective of this study was to model and map calcium carbonate equivalent (CCE) presenting inorganic carbon in soil using machine learning and digital soil mapping techniques. Chahardowli Plain in foothills of the Zagros Mountains in the southeast of Kurdistan Province in Iran was taken as a case study area. CCE was measured at 0–5, 5–15, 15–30, 30–60, and 60–100 cm depths following GloalSoilMap.net project specifications. A total of 145 samples were collected from 30 soil profiles using the conditional Latin hypercube (cLHS) method of sampling. Relationships between CCE and environmental predictors were modeled using random forest (RF) and decision tree (DT) models. In general, the RF model performed slightly superior than the DT model. The mean value of CCE increased with soil depth, from 3.5% (0–5 cm) to 63.8% (30–60 cm). Remote sensing (RS) variables and terrestrial variables were equally important. The importance of RS variables was higher at the surface than terrestrial variables, and vice versa. The most significant variables were Channel Network Base Level (CNBL) variable and Difference Vegetation Index (DVI) with the same variable importance value (21.1%). In areas affected by river activities, the use of the CNBL and vertical distance to channel networks (VDCN) as variables in digital soil mapping (DSM) could increase the accuracy of soil property prediction maps. The VDCN played a principal role in soil distribution in the study area by affecting the rate of discharge and, thus, erosion and sedimentation. A high percentage of carbonate in parts of the region could exacerbate nutrient deficiencies for most crops and provide information for sustainably managing agricultural activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to compare generalized linear model (GLM), random forest (RF), and Cubist to produce available phosphorus (AP) and potassium (AK) maps and to identify the covariates that control mineral distribution in Lorestan Province, Iran. To this end, the locations for collecting 173 soil samples were determined through the conditioned Latin hypercube sampling (cLHS) method, at four different land-uses (orchards, paddy fields, agricultural, and abandoned fields). The performance of the models was assessed by coefficient of determination (R2), root-mean-square error (RMSE), and mean absolute error (MAE) indices. The results showed that the RF model fitted better than GLM and Cubist models and could explain 40 and 57% of AP and AK distribution, respectively. The R2, RMSE, and MAE of the RF model were 0.4, 2.81, and 2.43 for predicting AP and equal to 0.57, 143.77, and 116.61 for predicting AK, respectively. The most important predictors selected by the RF model were valley depth and soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) for AP and AK, respectively. The maps showed higher AP and AK content in apricot orchards compared to other land-uses. No difference was observed between AP and AK content on paddy fields, agricultural, and abandoned areas. The higher AP and AK contents were related to orchard management practices, such as failure to dispose of plant residuals and fertilizer consumption. It can be concluded that the orchards (by increasing soil quality) was the best land-use in line with sustainable management for the study area. However, generalizing the results needs more detailed research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a malignancy caused by clonal proliferation of T-cell pre-cursors arising from the thymus. Although the optimized chemotherapy regimen could improve the outcome of such patients, some challenges such as higher risk for induction failure, early relapse and isolated central nervous system (CNS) relapse occurring in T-ALL patients are of great significance, leading to increased mortality rates. Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is a key component involved in cell signaling through a variety of mechanisms in regulating gene expression. Oncogenes and tumor suppressors are no exception and their expression can be affected by lncRNAs. In addition, accumulating researches in samples from T-ALL patients as well as pre-clinical studies in mice suggest that the expression profile of lncRNAs in T-ALL could be aberrant, resulting in deregulation of target genes and downstream signaling pathways. In addition, accumulating researches in samples from T-ALL patients as well as pre-clinical studies in mice suggest that the expression profile of lncRNAs in T-ALL could be aberrant, resulting in deregulation of target genes and downstream signaling pathways. These lncRNAs may be determinants of proliferation, apoptosis, and drug resistance observed in T-ALL. Thus, lncRNAs can be a good tool to develop novel strategies against cancer cells in the treatment of relapsed and refractory T-ALL. They can also act as promoting biomarkers in assessing T-ALL and differentiating between patients with poor prognosis and good prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pelvic floor dyssynergia (PFD) is one of the causes of chronic constipation. Laxative-based therapies are not very effective in treating this type of constipation. The therapeutic effectiveness of three therapeutic strategies, including biofeedback (BOF) alone, BOF+ fiber laxative (psyllium), and BOF +osmotic laxative (polyethylene glycol; [PEG]), was assessed in patients with constipation secondary to PFD. Methods: Eighty-eight patients with constipation were included during a period from 2017 to 2018. Thirty-two patients were treated with BOF alone, 25 patients received BOF+ fiber laxative (psyllium), and 31 patients received BOF+ osmotic laxative (PEG) for 2 to 3 months. A checklist was used to compare outcomes before and after the interventions. Results: Satisfaction rates from the treatments were 60.83%, 46.88%, and 41.32% in the BOF, BOF + psyllium, and BOF + PEG groups, respectively. Women had a higher satisfaction rate compared to men. Defecation quality improved, and the frequency of enema usage decreased (p <0.05) in all the groups after intervention. Difficulty in evacuation, need for digitation, and return to the toilet after defecation significantly improved in the BOF alone group. Using laxatives reduced straining during evacuation and increased the duration of defecation. All the three regimens reduced rectal bleeding (p <0.05). Conclusions: Combinations of laxatives with BOF did not offer significant therapeutic benefit. As laxatives may cause dissatisfaction and incomplete/prolonged defecations in patients with PFD, adding laxatives to the BOF regimen is not recommended for these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More has yet to be indicated on the adsorption and degradation processes, determining herbicides recycling in the environment. The sorption and degradation of 2, 4-D, affected by organic carbon (1.92–2.81%), soil clay (20–30%) and pH of the citrus orchards of Mazandaran province, Iran was investigated using HPLC equipped with UV detector for the identification and quantification of soil 2, 4-D. The adsorption (kd) and degradation (Kdeg) coefficients were determined using Freundlich and the first-degree kinetic equations. Gardens C (2.45 mL g−1), and B (0.3 mL g−1), with the highest (8.2 g day−1) and least (2.7 g day−1) degradation coefficients, had the highest and lowest Kd values. Kd variations with pH indicated higher adsorption of 2, 4-D in acidic pH. Due to the high presence of functional groups and soil biological activities, organic carbon affected the adsorption and degradation rates more effectively, which is of economic and environmental significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the design of a microstrip power divider, there are some important factors, including harmonic suppression, insertion loss, and size reduction, which affect the quality of the final product. Thus improving each of these factors contributes to a more efficient design. In this respect, a hybrid technique to reduce the size and improve the performance of a Wilkinson power divider (WPD) is introduced in this paper. The proposed method includes a typical series LC circuit, a miniaturizing inductor, and two transmission lines, which make an LC branch. Accordingly, two quarter-wavelength branches of the conventional WPD are replaced by two proposed LC branches. Not only does this modification lead to a 100% size reduction, an infinite number of harmonics suppression, and high-frequency selectivity theoretically, but it also results in a noticeable performance improvement practically compared to using quarter-wavelength branches in the conventional microstrip power dividers. The main important contributions of this technique are extreme size reduction and harmonic suppression for the implementation of a filtering power divider (FPD). Furthermore, by tuning the LC circuit, the arbitrary numbers of unwanted harmonics are blocked while the operating frequency, the stopband bandwidth, and the operating bandwidth are chosen optionally. The experimental result verifies the theoretical and simulated results of the proposed technique and demonstrates its potential for improving the performance and reducing the size of other similar microstrip components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel miniaturized microstrip Wilkinson power divider (WPD) using squared resonators and open-ended stubs is designed, fabricated, and measured. The proposed divider is designed at 1.9 GHz, which suppresses 2nd, 3rd, and 4th harmonics with high attenuation levels. Moreover, the size of the proposed divider is only 0.1 λg × 0.07 λg, which reduces the circuit size by more than 55%, compared to the conventional Wilkinson divider. In the design process, the neural network model and LC-equivalent circuit model are used to predict the transmission zeros of the circuit. These transmission zeros are used to provide the suppression at the desired harmonics. Also, the main circuit elements could be predicted with the neural network model, which results in a performance improvement of the proposed divider. The results show that the proposed model can predict the frequency response of the designed WPD, accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low concentration issue is a fundamental challenge when it comes to prebiotic chemistry, as macromolecular systems need to be assembled via intermolecular reactions, and this is inherently difficult in dilute solutions. This is especially true when the reactions are challenging, and reactions that proceeded more rapidly could have dictated chemical evolution. Herein we establish that formaldehyde is capable of catalyzing, via temporary intramolecularity, a challenging reaction in water at low concentrations, thus providing an alternative to other approaches that can either lead to higher concentrations or higher effective molarities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing evidence has confirmed that dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) can contribute to the progression and metastasis of human tumors. Chondrosarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumor in adults and has no effective systemic treatment, and patients with this disease have poor survival. Thus, it is important to find new diagnostic markers and improve treatment options. In the current study, we are interested to examine the role of miR-185 and miR-218 expression in patients with chondrosarcoma using real-time PCR. Moreover, the association of the two miRNAs with clinicopathological features and prognosis was evaluated. Survival and Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed to find the association of miR-185 expression and miR-218 levels with prognosis in the patients. Our results indicated that the miR-185 expression was significantly downexpressed in clinical chondrosarcoma bone tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues ( P = 0.001). MiR-218 expression level was increased in clinical chondrosarcoma bone tissue than those adjacent normal tissues ( P = 0.001). Decreased expression of miR-185 showed remarkable correlation with advanced tumor stage ( P = 0.019), tumor grade ( P < 0.001), and distant metastasis ( P = 0.001). Moreover, high expression of miR-218 was strongly correlated with advanced tumor stage ( P = 0.014), tumor grade ( P < 0.001), and distant metastasis ( P = 0.002). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that the low miR-185 expression group and the high miR-218 expression group had remarkably shorter overall survival (log-rank test P = 0.007, P = 0.004). The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model indicated that decreased expression of miR-185 and increased expression of miR-218 ( P = 0.017, P = 0.012), advanced tumor stage ( P = 0.006, P = 0.012), tumor grade ( P = 0.032, P = 0.016), and distant metastasis ( P = 0.004, P = 0.015) were independently related to overall survival in patients with chondrosarcoma. In conclusion, downregulation of miR-185 and upregulation of miR-218 can be associated with progression of chondrosarcoma and also both of them may act as tumor suppressor genes in chondrosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]