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In the present study, for the first time, we released and assembled the particles of three major structural proteins of velogenic NDV (M, HN, and F glycoproteins) as a NDV-VLPs. The ElISA result of the cytokines of splenocyte suspension cells showed that IL2, IL10, TNF-α, and IFN- ˠ titers were significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in mice that were immunized only with NDV-VLPs three times with a 10-day interval, in comparison to those that were immunized with NDV-VLPs twice in a 10-day interval and received a B1 live vaccine boost on the third interval. Flow cytometry results showed that CD8 + titers in the group that only received NDV-VLP was higher than other group. However, serum ELISA results did not show a significantly (p ≥ 0.05) higher NDV antibody titer in NDV-VLPs immunized mice compared to the boosted group. Besides, HI results of SPF chickens vaccinated with NDV-VLPs and boosted with B1 live vaccine were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher than those that only received NDV-VLPs. Interestingly, after challenging with NDV sub-genotype VII, all the chickens that were solely vaccinated with NDV-VLPs remained alive (six out of six), whereas two out of six chickens that were vaccinated with NDV-VLPs and also received the B1 live vaccine boost died. In conclusion, our results strongly indicated that the T-cell immune response in an NDV host is more important than the B-cell response. Also, the results of the present study revealed that to completely protect chickens against velogenic NDV strains, a vaccine comprising specific epitopes of velogenic strain is needed.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved non-coding RNAs involved in many physiological processes such as cell proliferation, inhibition, development of apoptosis, differentiation, suppression of tumorigenicity, and regulation of cell growth. The description of the alterations of miRNA expression patterns in cancers will be helpful in recognizing biomarkers for early detection and possible therapeutic intervention in the treatment of cancers. Recent studies have shown that miR-451 is broadly dysregulated in lung cancer and is a crucial agent in lung tumor progression. This review summarizes recent advances in the potential role of miR-451 in lung cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment and provides an insight into the potential use of miR-451 for the development of advanced therapeutic methods in lung cancer.

Background Colorectal cancer which is related to genetic and environmental risk factors, is among the most prevalent life-threatening cancers. Although several pathogenic bacteria are associated with colorectal cancer etiology, some others are considered as highly selective therapeutic agents in colorectal cancer. Nowadays, researchers are concentrating on bacteriotherapy as a novel effective therapeutic method with fewer or no side effects to pay the way of cancer therapy. The introduction of advanced and successful strategies in bacterial colorectal cancer therapy could be useful to identify new promising treatment strategies for colorectal cancer patients. Main text In this article, we scrutinized the beneficial effects of bacterial therapy in colorectal cancer amelioration focusing on different strategies to use a complete bacterial cell or bacterial-related biotherapeutics including toxins, bacteriocins, and other bacterial peptides and proteins. In addition, the utilization of bacteria as carriers for gene delivery or other known active ingredients in colorectal cancer therapy are reviewed and ultimately, the molecular mechanisms targeted by the bacterial treatment in the colorectal cancer tumors are detailed. Conclusions Application of the bacterial instrument in cancer treatment is on its way through becoming a promising method of colorectal cancer targeted therapy with numerous successful studies and may someday be a practical strategy for cancer treatment, particularly colorectal cancer.

Leukemia stem cells (LSCs) are suitable candidates to be deployed for the diagnosis and therapy of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. In this study, a novel electrochemical cytosensor was designed for the sensitive detection and quantification of KG1a cells as a model of LSCs. The developed cytosensor was based on the overexpression of cell surface protein CD123 by leukemia KG1a cells. For this purpose, the glassy carbon electrode was modified by graphene quantum dots (GQDs), Au nanoparticles, streptavidin coated AuNPs, biotinylated CD123 antibody and target cells. The dense loading of CD123 antibody and electrical enhancement on the modified electrode were carried out using GQDs, this resulting in a sensitive detection of CD123 positive cells within KG1a cells. Step by step preparation of the nanomaterial-based cytosensor and its optimization steps were confirmed by different electrochemical techniques. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images also confirmed the proper attachment of the materials and the cells on the surface of the modified electrode. The linear detection range (LDR) and limit of detection (LOD) of the developed electrochemical biosensor were recorded as 1 cell/mL and 1–25 cells/mL, respectively, which is remarkable. Importantly, the present findings are precise and highly selective in the presence of other leukemia cells (NB4, HL60, and U937 cells). Further, the versatility and accuracy of the proposed cytosensor were evaluated using clinical samples. We believe that the cytosensor proposed in this study has the potential to serve as a next generation sensor for the early detection of leukemia stem cells.

Deep wells suffer from the instability and disintegration of natural polymers and other commonly used additives under high pressure and high temperature condition. As a result, serious problems such as hydraulic loss, stuck pipe, and high torque and drag are expected to take place which leads to a dramatic increase in cost and time. This study presents the functionality of a novel synthetic based acrylamide-styrene copolymer (SBASC) as a supersede additive for water-based drilling mud. First, the SBASC was synthesized using an emulsion polymerization process and its particle morphological and polymer chain structural properties were determined by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Fourier- Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. Then, the designated copolymer was added into a mud formulation which is applicable in oil and gas fields, and its performance in the mud was investigated with respect to filtration properties and rheological characteristics. In addition, the rheological characteristics and filtration behavior of drilling fluids containing SBASC were compared with those of a field applicable fluid that contained 9 g of HT starch which is a commercial natural polymer commonly used in drilling fluid industry. Furthermore, the thermal stability of SBASC was determined by conducting hot rolling and high pressure-high temperature (HP-HT) filtration tests. The obtained results confirmed that the addition of the copolymer enhances the rheological characteristics of the drilling fluid before and after aging at 121.1 °C. Moreover, the filtration behavior at both conditions was improved by introducing SBASC into the fluid, while the best performance was observed for the fluid containing 3 g of SBASC which shows 38.8% and 47.5% fluid loss reduction for HP-HT and LP-LT conditions, respectively. Furthermore, the solubility of SBASC in saline and fresh water is verified by demonstrating a promising solubility in high salinity water sample with different concentrations of a monovalent salt.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most frequent cancer in human beings and is also the major cause of death among the other gastrointestinal cancers. The exact mechanisms of CRC development in most patients remains unclear. So far, several genetically, environmental and epigenetically risk factors have been identified for CRC development. The circadian rhythm is a 24-h rhythm that drives several biologic processes. The circadian system is guided by a central pacemaker which is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus. Circadian rhythm is regulated by circadian clock genes, cytokines and hormones like melatonin. Disruptions in biological rhythms are known to be strongly associated with several diseases, including cancer. The role of the different circadian genes has been verified in various cancers, however, the pathways of different circadian genes in the pathogenesis of CRC are less investigated. Identification of the details of the pathways in CRC helps researchers to explore new therapies for the malignancy.

A MicroRNA (miR) based electrochemical method for quantification of miR-146a, a known biomarker for neurodegenerative disease, was developed. In this bioassay, the capture microRNA (C-miR) was self-assembled on the gold surface and used for quantification of target microRNA (T-miR) of miR-146a. For this purpose, an optimized concentration of C-miR was immobilized on the surface of gold electrode and used for capture of target analyte (T-miR). All of preparation steps were characterized by electrochemical techniques (cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). At the optimized conditions, the linear dynamic range, limit of quantification and relative standard deviation of the proposed bioassay were obtained as 10 pM to 1 mu M, 10 pM and 1.59%, respectively. The unprocessed human serum sample was used as a real sample and the results fully confirm that the designed microRNA based biosensor is capable for detection of miR-146a as neurodegenerative disease biomarker. The developed method offers a more precise and high sensitive tool to be used in clinical applications for early detection of neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer's and Parkinson. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The casing-collapse hazard is one that drilling engineers seek to mitigate with careful well design and operating procedures. However, certain rock formations and their fluid pressure and stress conditions are more prone to casing-collapse risks than others. The Gachsaran Formation in south west Iran, is one such formation, central to oil and gas resource exploration and development in the Zagros region and consisting of complex alternations of anhydrite, marl and salt. The casing-collapse incidents in this formation have resulted over decades in substantial lost production and remedial costs to mitigate the issues surrounding wells with failed casing string. High and vertically-varying horizontal stresses across the Gachsaran formation are the challenge to predict and overcome. This study investigates casing collapse in wellbores from an established petroleum geomechanics perspective to develop and compare two hybrid neural-network models, multilayer perceptron's tuned, respectively, with a genetic algorithm (MLP-GA) and a particle swarm algorithm (MLP-PSO). These machine-learning algorithms are configured to predict Poisson's ratio ( ϑ ) and maximum horizontal stress ( σ H ) from available well-log input data. A large dataset from three wellbores drilled though the Gachsaran Formation in the Marun oil field, the second largest in Iran, is used to construct and validate the hybrid MLP models. In the first step, 22323 data records from a collapsed wellbore are divided into training (15626 records; 70%) and independent testing subsets (6697 records; 30%). In the next step, in order to test whether the suggested algorithms could be generalized, the data sets of the other two wells in the field were tested. Those tests confirmed that the algorithms achieved high prediction accuracy for Poisson's ratio and maximum horizontal stress in other wellbores.

A Takagi-Sugeno adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (TSFIS) model is developed and applied to a dataset of wellhead flow-test data for the Resalat oil field located offshore southern Iran, the objective is to assist in the prediction and control of multi-phase flow rates of oil and gas through the wellhead chokes. For this purpose, 182 test data points (Appendix 1) related to the Resalat field are evaluated. In order to predict production flow rate (QL) expressed as stock-tank barrels per day (STB/D), this dataset includes four selected input variables: upstream pressure (Pwh); wellhead choke sizes (D64); gas to liquid ratio (GLR); and, base solids and water including some water-soluble oil emulsion (BS&W). The test data points evaluated include a wide range of oil flow rate conditions and values for the four input variables recorded. The TSFIS algorithm applied involves five data processing steps: a) pre-processing, b) fuzzification, c) rules base and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference engine, d) defuzzification, and e) post-processing of the fuzzy model. The developed TSFIS model for the Resalat oil field database predicted oil flow rate to a high degree of accuracy (root mean square error = 247 STB/D, correlation coefficient = 0.9987), which improves substantially on the commonly used empirical algorithms used for such predictions. TSFIS can potentially be applied in wellhead choke fuzzy controllers to stabilize flow in specific wells based on real-time input data records.

Gastric cancer is a complex heterogeneous disease which is the fourth prevalent malignancy worldwide. Although, several diagnosis and treatment are available for the gastric cancer patients, however the malignancy is still the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. Beside the genetic and environmental factors, epigenetic alterations are also involved in the emergence of gastric cancer. Epigenetics alterations are heritable changes which regulate gene expression without occurring changes in DNA sequence. Epigenetic changes mostly include DNA methylation, histon post-translational modifications, chromatin remodeling and non-coding RNAs. Among the mentioned epigenetic modifications, DNA methylation is a major epigenetic process that plays a key role in different stages of evolution and cancer development. In this review, we address all types of related epigenetic modifications in gastric cancer by focus on DNA methylation by reviewing the recent literatures. Understanding of molecular mechanisms of epigenetics alterations in gastric cancer development helps researchers to identify new epigenetic drugs against the malignancy.