Empirical investigation of the effect of adding nanoparticles to HB-80 gas turbine oil: Evaluation of thermophysical behaviors

The current study aims to conduct an empirical investigation on the performance of copper (II) oxide (CuO), Graphene Oxide (GO), and Molybdenum (VI) Oxide (MoO3) nanoparticles as additives for HB-80 base lubricant and their effects on essential characteristics such as density, flashpoint and flammability, cloud point and pour point, viscosity and viscosity indicators, thermal conductivity coefficient, friction coefficient and wear. The test results show that nanoparticles have minor effects on density and viscosity but managed to improve viscosity indicators. Flashpoint, flammability, cloud point, and pour point all increased after the addition of nanoparticles. The increase in the concentration of nanoparticles also improved and increased the lubricant's thermal conductivity coefficient; the highest increase was 11.3 % compared to the base oil with the addition of 1 wt% CuO. Adding nanoparticles to lubricant decreases wear and friction coefficient by creating a lubricant film, especially at lower nanoparticle concentrations, which leads to a more stable lubricant film by nanoparticles. Copper (II) Oxide nanoparticles had the best performance in reducing friction coefficient and wear at 0.2 wt% with 22.86 % and 63.92 % reduction compared to the base oil, respectively.

Investigation the effect of dissimilar laser welding parameters on temperature field, mechanical properties and fusion zone microstructure of inconel 600 and duplex 2205 stainless steel via response surface methodology

This study focused on dissimilar welding characterization of Inconel 600 and duplex 2205 stainless steel using central composite design (CCD) of experiments the response surface methodology (RSM). This study determined the effect of laser welding parameters and the reactions of the temperature field on the melt pool, the mechanical characteristics of the weld joint, and the geometry of the melt pool. According to the ANOVA results, the power of laser and focal distance were found to be the most influential factors on the temperature of both Inconel 600 and duplex stainless steel. The weld joint's tensile strength and elongation were significantly influenced by laser power and focal distance. Increasing the laser power from 250 to 450 W raised the tensile strength from 250 to 550 MPa. The Mo rich phases formed at the inter-dendritic region according to the EDS phase analysis results in loss of ductility and the resultant tensile strength of the samples failure from the fusion zone adjacent to the duplex stainless steel. At high laser power levels, the samples fractured from fusion zone while at lower laser powers below 350 W, the samples fractured from the HAZ and the areas adjacent to the duplex steel fusion line. The micro-hardness value of the weld joint at different laser power of 525 W and 375 W was increased to the maximum values of 370 and 325 HV, respectively from the fusion line of Inconel 600 to the center of the fusion zone. Further, molten pool microstructure of the dissimilar joint zone was mainly composed of a cellular and columnar dendritic structure Variations in melt flow, temperature gradient and solidification rate from the molten scan line to the weld center clearly changed the grain growth and the resultant microstructure in different areas of the fusion zone. By transferring the laser light to the center of the Inconel 600 and duplex stainless steel joint, the molten pool depth was increased from 0.2 to 1.5 mm.

Towards Room Temperature Thermochromic Coatings with controllable NIR-IR modulation for solar heat management & smart windows applications

Solar heat management & green air-conditioning are among the major technologies that could mitigate heat islands phenomenon while minimizing significantly the CO2 global foot-print within the building & automotive sectors. Chromogenic materials in general, and thermochromic smart coatings especially are promising candidates that consent a noteworthy dynamic solar radiation Infrared (NIR-IR) regulation and hence an efficient solar heat management especially with the expected increase of the global seasonal temperature. Within this contribution, two major challenging bottlenecks in vanadium oxide based smart coatings were addressed. It is validated for the first time that the NIR-IR modulation of the optical transmission (∆TTRANS = T(T〈TMIT) - T(T〉TMIT) of Vanadium oxide based smart coatings can be controlled & tuned. This upmost challenging bottle-neck controllability/tunability is confirmed via a genuine approach alongside to a simultaneous drastic reduction of the phase transition temperature TMIT from 68.8 °C to nearly room temperature. More precisely, a substantial thermochromism in multilayered V2O5/V/V2O5 stacks equivalent to that of standard pure VO2 thin films but with a far lower transition temperature, is reported. Such a multilayered V2O5/V/V2O5 thermochromic system exhibited a net control & tunability of the optical transmission modulation in the NIR-IR (∆TTRANS) via the nano-scaled thickness' control of the intermediate Vanadium layer. In addition, the control of ∆TTRANS is accompanied by a tremendous diminution of the thermochromic transition temperature from the elevated bulk value of 68.8 °C to the range of 27.5-37.5 ºC. The observed remarkable and reversible thermochromism in such multilayered nano-scaled system of V2O5/V/V2O5 is likely to be ascribed to a noteworthy interfacial diffusion, and an indirect doping by alkaline ions diffusing from the borosilicate substrate. It is hoped that the current findings would contribute in advancing thermochromic smart window technology and their applications for solar heat management in glass windows in general, skyscraper especially & in the automotive industry. If so, this would open a path to a sustainable green air-conditioning with zero-energy input.

The cGAS-STING signaling pathway is modulated by urolithin A

During aging, general cellular processes, including autophagic clearance and immunological responses become compromised; therefore, identifying compounds that target these cellular processes is an important approach to improve our health span. The innate immune cGAS-STING pathway has emerged as an important signaling system in the organismal defense against viral and bacterial infections, inflammatory responses to cellular damage, regulation of autophagy, and tumor immunosurveillance. These key functions of the cGAS-STING pathway make it an attractive target for pharmacological intervention in disease treatments and in controlling inflammation and immunity. Here, we show that urolithin A (UA), an ellagic acid metabolite, exerts a profound effect on the expression of STING and enhances cGAS-STING activation and cytosolic DNA clearance in human cell lines. Animal laboratory models and limited human trials have reported no obvious adverse effects of UA administration. Thus, the use of UA alone or in combination with other pharmacological compounds may present a potential therapeutic approach in the treatment of human diseases that involves aberrant activation of the cGAS-STING pathway or accumulation of cytosolic DNA and this warrants further investigation in relevant transgenic animal models.

BioAct-Het: A Heterogeneous Siamese Neural Network for Bioactivity Prediction Using Novel Bioactivity Representation

Drug failure during experimental procedures due to low bioactivity presents a significant challenge. To mitigate this risk and enhance compound bioactivities, predicting bioactivity classes during lead optimization is essential. The existing studies on structure-activity relationships have highlighted the connection between the chemical structures of compounds and their bioactivity. However, these studies often overlook the intricate relationship between drugs and bioactivity, which encompasses multiple factors beyond the chemical structure alone. To address this issue, we propose the BioAct-Het model, employing a heterogeneous siamese neural network to model the complex relationship between drugs and bioactivity classes, bringing them into a unified latent space. In particular, we introduce a novel representation for the bioactivity classes, called Bio-Prof, and enhance the original bioactivity data sets to tackle data scarcity. These innovative approaches resulted in our model outperforming the previous ones. The evaluation of BioAct-Het is conducted through three distinct strategies: association-based, bioactivity class-based, and compound-based. The association-based strategy utilizes supervised learning classification, while the bioactivity class-based strategy adopts a retrospective study evaluation approach. On the other hand, the compound-based strategy demonstrates similarities to the concept of meta-learning. Furthermore, the model's effectiveness in addressing real-world problems is analyzed through a case study on the application of vancomycin and oseltamivir for COVID-19 treatment as well as molnupiravir's potential efficacy in treating COVID-19 patients. The data and code underlying this article are available on https://github.com/CBRC-lab/BioAct-Het. However, data sets were derived from sources in the public domain.

DrugRep-HeSiaGraph: when heterogenous siamese neural network meets knowledge graphs for drug repurposing

BACKGROUND

Drug repurposing is an approach that holds promise for identifying new therapeutic uses for existing drugs. Recently, knowledge graphs have emerged as significant tools for addressing the challenges of drug repurposing. However, there are still major issues with constructing and embedding knowledge graphs.

RESULTS

This study proposes a two-step method called DrugRep-HeSiaGraph to address these challenges. The method integrates the drug-disease knowledge graph with the application of a heterogeneous siamese neural network. In the first step, a drug-disease knowledge graph named DDKG-V1 is constructed by defining new relationship types, and then numerical vector representations for the nodes are created using the distributional learning method. In the second step, a heterogeneous siamese neural network called HeSiaNet is applied to enrich the embedding of drugs and diseases by bringing them closer in a new unified latent space. Then, it predicts potential drug candidates for diseases. DrugRep-HeSiaGraph achieves impressive performance metrics, including an AUC-ROC of 91.16%, an AUC-PR of 90.32%, an accuracy of 84.63%, a BS of 0.119, and an MCC of 69.31%.

CONCLUSION

We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in identifying potential drugs for COVID-19 as a case study. In addition, this study shows the role of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) as a potential receptor for SARS-CoV-2 and the effectiveness of DPP-4 inhibitors in facing COVID-19. This highlights the practical application of the model in addressing real-world challenges in the field of drug repurposing. The code and data for DrugRep-HeSiaGraph are publicly available at https://github.com/CBRC-lab/DrugRep-HeSiaGraph .

Relationship between echogenicity of deep cervical muscles and pain laterality in subjects suffering from cervicogenic headache

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the deep upper cervical muscles echogenicity in cervicogenic headache (CGH) patients.

METHODS

The echogenicity of longus capitis (LCAP), rectus capitis posterior major (RCPM), and obliquus capitis superior (OCS) muscles was measured by ultrasonography and analyzed by Image J software in 17 CGH patients matched with 17 healthy subjects.

RESULTS

The echogenicity of all muscles in the CGH group was higher than that in healthy subjects. The echogenicity of the LCAP muscle on the right side was significantly different between the CGH and healthy subjects (p< 0.05), but there was no difference in the echogenicity of RCPM and OCS muscles between the groups (p> 0.05). Additionally, the echogenicity differences did not match with the pain side in CGH patients (p> 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Only the deep anterior muscle (LCAP) echogenicity affected by CGH and fatty infiltration occurred in this muscle. Hence, anterior muscle dysfunction is important in CGH diagnosis and treatment.

The Effect of the Web-Based Psychosocial Health Promotion Program on the Burden of Care in Family Caregivers of Patients with Chronic Mental Disorders

Background

Family members of Chronic Mental Disorders (CMD), who are responsible for patient care, face many physical, psychological, and social problems which make them face the burden of care. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a psychosocial health promotion program on the care burden of family caregivers of patients with CMD.

Materials and Methods

This is a quasi-experimental study that was conducted in two intervention and control groups in the form of pretest and posttest. This study was performed on 67 family caregivers of patients with CMD in Farabi and Noor centers in Isfahan, Iran. Participants in this study were randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. Data from the intervention and control groups were collected in two stages, before and after the intervention by demographic information form and Zarit burden questionnaire. The intervention group received a web-based psychosocial health promotion program in eight sessions in 4 weeks. At the end of the intervention, the Zarit questionnaire was completed by the intervention and control groups.

Results

The mean score of care burden between the intervention and control groups was not statistically significantly different before the implementation of the program (p = 0.534). But after the intervention, the mean score of care burden was significantly different between the two groups (t65 = 3.43, p = 0.001).

Conclusions

This study provides evidence for the benefits of web-based psychosocial health promotion program in reducing the perceived care burden of the caregiver of CMD.

Compositional modeling of gas-condensate viscosity using ensemble approach

In gas-condensate reservoirs, liquid dropout occurs by reducing the pressure below the dew point pressure in the area near the wellbore. Estimation of production rate in these reservoirs is important. This goal is possible if the amount of viscosity of the liquids released below the dew point is available. In this study, the most comprehensive database related to the viscosity of gas condensate, including 1370 laboratory data was used. Several intelligent techniques, including Ensemble methods, support vector regression (SVR), K-nearest neighbors (KNN), Radial basis function (RBF), and Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) optimized by Bayesian Regularization and Levenberg-Marquardt were applied for modeling. In models presented in the literature, one of the input parameters for the development of the models is solution gas oil ratio (Rs). Measuring Rs in wellhead requires special equipment and is somewhat difficult. Also, measuring this parameter in the laboratory requires spending time and money. According to the mentioned cases, in this research, unlike the research done in the literature, Rs parameter was not used to develop the models. The input parameters for the development of the models presented in this research were temperature, pressure and condensate composition. The data used includes a wide range of temperature and pressure, and the models presented in this research are the most accurate models to date for predicting the condensate viscosity. Using the mentioned intelligent approaches, precise compositional models were presented to predict the viscosity of gas/condensate at different temperatures and pressures for different gas components. Ensemble method with an average absolute percent relative error (AAPRE) of 4.83% was obtained as the most accurate model. Moreover, the AAPRE values for SVR, KNN, MLP-BR, MLP-LM, and RBF models developed in this study are 4.95%, 5.45%, 6.56%, 7.89%, and 10.9%, respectively. Then, the effect of input parameters on the viscosity of the condensate was determined by the relevancy factor using the results of the Ensemble methods. The most negative and positive effects of parameters on the gas condensate viscosity were related to the reservoir temperature and the mole fraction of C₁₁, respectively. Finally, suspicious laboratory data were determined and reported using the leverage technique.

DrugRep-KG: Toward Learning a Unified Latent Space for Drug Repurposing Using Knowledge Graphs

Drug repurposing or repositioning (DR) refers to finding new therapeutic applications for existing drugs. Current computational DR methods face data representation and negative data sampling challenges. Although retrospective studies attempt to operate various representations, it is a crucial step for an accurate prediction to aggregate these features and bring the associations between drugs and diseases into a unified latent space. In addition, the number of unknown associations between drugs and diseases, which is considered negative data, is much higher than the number of known associations, or positive data, leading to an imbalanced dataset. In this regard, we propose the DrugRep-KG method, which applies a knowledge graph embedding approach for representing drugs and diseases, to address these challenges. Despite the typical DR methods that consider all unknown drug-disease associations as negative data, we select a subset of unknown associations, provided the disease occurs because of an adverse reaction to a drug. DrugRep-KG has been evaluated based on different settings and achieves an AUC-ROC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) of 90.83% and an AUC-PR (area under the precision-recall curve) of 90.10%, which are higher than in previous works. Besides, we checked the performance of our framework in finding potential drugs for coronavirus infection and skin-related diseases: contact dermatitis and atopic eczema. DrugRep-KG predicted beclomethasone for contact dermatitis, and fluorometholone, clocortolone, fluocinonide, and beclomethasone for atopic eczema, all of which have previously been proven to be effective in other studies. Fluorometholone for contact dermatitis is a novel suggestion by DrugRep-KG that should be validated experimentally. DrugRep-KG also predicted the associations between COVID-19 and potential treatments suggested by DrugBank, in addition to new drug candidates provided with experimental evidence. The data and code underlying this article are available at https://github.com/CBRC-lab/DrugRep-KG.

Reliability of Ultrasound Measurements of the Lumbar Multifidus and Transversus Abdominis Muscles during Lying and Unstable Sitting Positions in Individuals With and Without Chronic Low Back Pain

Background

The reliability studies are limited to support ultrasound usage during dynamic conditions; for example, unstable sitting position.

Objective

This study aims to examine the reliability of ultrasound measurements of the lumbar multifidus and transversus abdominis during lying and unstable sitting positions in individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and asymptomatic individuals considering abnormal lumbar lordosis.

Material and Methods

In this observational study, intrarater within-day and between-day reliability of muscle thickness and contraction ratio of the lumbar multifidus and transversus abdominis muscles were assessed using ultrasound imaging. In total, 40 participants (27 with CLBP, 13 asymptomatic individuals) with abnormal lumbar lordosis were recruited. The degree of lumbar lordosis has been measured by a flexible ruler. The muscle thickness was assessed at lying and sitting on a gym ball for both muscles in three sessions.

Results

Both groups had well to high ICCs of thickness measurement and contraction ratio in the transversus abdominis and lumbar multifidus muscles during both static (ICC=0.71-0.99) and semi-dynamic conditions (ICC=0.73-0.98). The standard error of measurements and minimal detectable changes were rather small in both groups.

Conclusion

Ultrasound imaging is a highly reliable method to assess muscle thicknesses and contraction ratio of the transversus abdominis and lumbar multifidus during different conditions, even in patients with CLBP and abnormal lumbar lordosis.

CROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION AND VALIDATION OF THE PERSIAN VERSION OF THE FAMILY FUNCTIONING, HEALTH, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT QUESTIONNAIRE IN A SAMPLE OF HEART FAILURE PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS

Background and Purpose: Family functioning, family health, and social support have significant roles in the management of heart failure (HF). This study aimed to translate, adapt, and assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Family Functioning, Family Health, and Social Support (FAFHES) questionnaire. Methods: FAFHES questionnaire was translated into Persian, and an expert panel assessed the cross-cultural adaptation. We examined the construct validity by confirmatory factor analysis and internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha coefficients among 576 participants. Results: The Persian FAFHES confirmed the three-factor structure in the social support and the five-factor structure in the family health scales. However, the family functioning scale yielded the three-factor structure versus the four-factor structure in the original scales. The Cronbach's alpha for the three scales varied from 0.85 to 0.94. Conclusions: The adapted FAFHES seems to be valid and reliable to measure family functioning, family health, and social support in families with HF.

Abstract P5-03-07: Prevalence of Pathogenic Variants in Cancer Predisposition Genes in Women with Young Onset Breast Cancer

Introduction: Approximately 5% of breast cancers are diagnosed in women 40 years of age or younger. Known risk factors for young-onset breast cancer are few and can only account for a very small proportion of cases. In this study, we evaluated the contribution of mutations in 24 breast cancer predisposition genes in unselected Canadian women diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 or younger. Methods: This study is a sub-study of the larger Reducing the bUrden of Breast cancer in Young women (RUBY) Study. In the RUBY study, women diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 40 years or younger are recruited at the time of diagnosis from 33 centres across Canada. Participants in RUBY provided detailed demographic and clinical data, in addition to provision of serial biospecimens. Participants could elect to consent into the genetics substudy, and have genetic testing performed for pathogenic variants in 24 breast cancer predisposition genes, including ATM, BARD1, BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, CDH1, CHEK2, EPCAM, FAM175A, MLH1, MRE11, MSH2, MSH6, NBN, PALB2, PMS2, PTEN, RAD50, RAD51C, RAD51D, RECQL, STK11, TP53 and XRCC2. Sequencing was performed and all potentially pathogenic variants were confirmed with conventional Sanger sequencing. Pathogenic and likely pathogenic mutations were reported for all 24 genes. CanRisk scores for likelihood of having a pathogenic variant in 8 cancer predisposition genes (BRCA1 BRCA2, PALB2, CHEK2, ATM, RAD51C, RAD51D, and BRIP1) were generated for each participant. Results: 714 women consented and genetic testing was performed on the blood samples provided as a component of the RUBY study. The mean age of the participants was 35.8 years (range 23-40 years), and the mean CanRisk score was 13.7 (range 2.3-98.0). Overall, 150 pathogenic mutations (21.0%) were detected in 147 women (three participants had mutations in two genes). The most common pathogenic variants detected were in BRCA1 (48), BRCA2 (40), CHEK2 (24), ATM (10), and PALB2 (9), representing 87.3% of all pathogenic variants identified. The mean CanRisk score was 28.8% (range 3.2-98.0%) for those identified with a pathogenic variant compared to 9.6% (range 1.0-88.9%) for those with a negative result (p &lt; 0.0001). The prevalence of pathogenic variants was 32.9% for women age 20-30 years, 27.5% for 31-35 years, and 16.7% for 36-40 years. Conclusions: Twenty-one percent of women with breast cancer at age 40 or younger had a pathogenic variant in a breast-cancer predisposition gene. The great majority of these pathogenic variants were found in genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, PALB2) for which there are validated breast cancer treatment recommendations. All women with young-onset breast cancer should be offered germline genetic testing at the time of breast cancer diagnosis to make informed surgical and medical treatment decisions.

Citation Format: Kelly Metcalfe, May Lynn Quan, Steven Narod, Ellen Warner, Christine Friedenreich, Nancy Baxter, Aletta J. Poll, Mohammad Akbari. Prevalence of Pathogenic Variants in Cancer Predisposition Genes in Women with Young Onset Breast Cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-03-07.

On the trapping of neutrons in Fabry–Pérot nano-structures and potential applications for cold neutron lifetime Investigations

Correlated to the neutron total reflection phenomenon is the so-called frustrated total reflection, also known as neutron channeling, observed with both thermal and cold neutrons. Within this contribution, such a phenomenon is validated in various additional distinctive Fabry–Pérot nano-resonating configurations; namely in: (i) dual reflection and transmission neutron Fabry–Pérot nano-resonator (Ni/V/Ni/Si substrate), (ii) isotope-based neutron Fabry–Pérot nano-resonator (58Ni/62Ni/58Ni/Silicon substrate), and (iii) multilayered neutron Fabry–Pérot nano-resonator of 8 superposed (B4C/Ti/B4C) single nano-resonators. While such Fabry–Pérot nano-resonators allow effective neutron trapping, the precision of the trapping time of free neutrons in such nano-resonators is governed by the Heisenberg uncertainty and hence offers, a priori, an additional attractive precise approach for potential lifetime investigations. Depending on the configuration of the Fabry–Pérot nano-resonators and the available cold neutron beam, the trapping time is found to be within the temporal regime of 3 to 19 ps. While the main intention of this contribution is to validate the possibility of trapping cold neutrons in nano-structured Fabry–Pérot resonators with a picosecond precision in various configurations, it is hoped that these preliminary results will attract the interest of the neutron lifetime community specifically and the neutron scattering community in general. The potential integration of such trapping method into the bottle or beam methods would elucidate the origin of the difference in neutron lifetime between the two approaches.

Effect of Pistacia atlantica (Bane) Essential Oil on Oxidative Stability of Sunflower Oil

Background: The antioxidant activity of Bane (Pistacia atlantica) has been proved in different researches. This study evaluated the potential of Bane (Pistacia atlantica) essential oil (as a natural antioxidant) on the oxidative stability of sunflower oil.  Methods: The essence of Bane was added to sunflower oil at concentrations of 200, 400,600,800, and 1,000 ppm. Tertiary Butyl Hydroquinone (TBHQ) was applied as synthetic antioxidant. All samples with the control were stored at 65 ̊C for 20 days. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry was used for the essence analysis. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay, rancimat, p-anisidine value (P-AnVs), and peroxide value (PV) were determined to assess the efficacy of differecnt concentration of essence (200, 400,600,800, and 1,000 ppm). Data were analyzed by Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 9 Software. Results: The essential oil yield was 0.1% v/w. The basic components of essence were monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. Synthetic antioxidant had the highest scavenging activity, followed by the mixture sample. PVs were in the range of 19.56-20.73 milliequivalents (meq)/kg for the treated samples after 20 days, while it was 38.74 on the 20th day for the control. For all treatments, PV was increased with increasing storage time. P-AnVs were 8.58-17.14 for stabilized samples and 18.02 for control sample on the 20th day of storage. In all stages, control sample had the highest P-AnV. For all samples, P-AnV increased as a subject of storage time. Conclusion: P. atlantica (Bane) essential oil had a stabilizing effect on sunflower oil and can be used as a natural antioxidant to stabilize edible oil during storage.

Physical properties of computationally informed phyto-engineered 2-D nanoscaled hydronium jarosite

This study describes a molecular dynamics computational modelling informed bioengineering of nano-scaled 2-D hydronium jarosite. More specifically, a phyto-engineering approach using green nano-chemistry and agro-waste in the form of avocado seed natural extract was utilized as a green, economic, and eco-friendly approach to synthesize this unique mineral at the nanoscale via the reduction of iron (II) sulphate heptahydrate. The nanoproduct which was found to exhibit a quasi-2D structure was characterized using a multi-technique approach to describe its morphological, optical, electrochemical, and magnetic properties. Radial distribution function and electrostatic potential maps revealed that flavone, a phenolic compound within the avocado seed natural extract, has a higher affinity of interaction with the nanoparticle's surface, whilst vanillic acid has a higher wetting tendency and thus a lower affinity for interacting with the hydronium jarosite nanoparticle surface compared to other phytoactive compounds. XRD and HRTEM results indicated that the nanoscale product was representative of crystalline rhombohedral hydronium jarosite in the form of quasi-triangular nanosheets decorated on the edges with nanoparticles of approximately 5.4 nm diameter that exhibited significant electrochemical and electroconductive behaviours. Magnetic studies further showed a diamagnetic behaviour based on the relationship of the inverse susceptibility of the nanomaterial with temperature sweep.

Ten-Year Survival of Breast Cancer in Iran: A National Study (Retrospective Cohort Study)

Purpose

This study aimed to estimate the 5- and 10-year survival rates of breast cancer in Iran.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study was performed in 2019 on breast cancer patients registered in the national cancer registry system of Iran during 2007-2014. The patients were contacted to collect their information and status (alive or dead). Age and pathological type of tumor were categorized into five groups, and the place of residence was divided into 13 regions. The Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model were used for data analysis.

Results

A total of 87,902 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer during the study, 22,307 of whom were followed-up. The 5- and 10-year survival rates of the patients were 80% and 69%, respectively. The mean age of the patients was 50.68 ± 12.76 years (median age, 49 years). About 2.3% of the patients were male. The 5- and 10-year survival rates were 69% and 50% in men, respectively. The highest survival rate was reported in the age group of 40-49 years, and the lowest rate was found in the age group of ≥70 years. Of all pathological types, 88% were found in the invasive ductal carcinoma group; the highest survival rate was reported in the noninvasive carcinoma group. The highest survival rate was reported in the Tehran region and the lowest in the Hamedan region. Based on the results, the Cox proportional hazards model, sex, age group, and pathological type were statistically significant differences.

Conclusion

This nationwide study performed on breast cancer patients indicated an improvement in the overall survival rate of these patients over the past years (the 5-year survival rate increased from 71% in 2011 to 80% in the present study), which might be attributed to advances in cancer management.

Learned Image Compression With Gaussian-Laplacian-Logistic Mixture Model and Concatenated Residual Modules

Recently deep learning-based image compression methods have achieved significant achievements and gradually outperformed traditional approaches including the latest standard Versatile Video Coding (VVC) in both PSNR and MS-SSIM metrics. Two key components of learned image compression are the entropy model of the latent representations and the encoding/decoding network architectures. Various models have been proposed, such as autoregressive, softmax, logistic mixture, Gaussian mixture, and Laplacian. Existing schemes only use one of these models. However, due to the vast diversity of images, it is not optimal to use one model for all images, even different regions within one image. In this paper, we propose a more flexible discretized Gaussian-Laplacian-Logistic mixture model (GLLMM) for the latent representations, which can adapt to different contents in different images and different regions of one image more accurately and efficiently, given the same complexity. Besides, in the encoding/decoding network design part, we propose a concatenated residual blocks (CRB), where multiple residual blocks are serially connected with additional shortcut connections. The CRB can improve the learning ability of the network, which can further improve the compression performance. Experimental results using the Kodak, Tecnick-100 and Tecnick-40 datasets show that the proposed scheme outperforms all the leading learning-based methods and existing compression standards including VVC intra coding (4:4:4 and 4:2:0) in terms of the PSNR and MS-SSIM. The source code is available at https://github.com/fengyurenpingsheng.

Dendritic Cells - Winning the Fight against HIV

HIV is a virus that targets and hijacks the immune cells of the host. It multiplies by attacking the helper T-lymphocytes. HIV has remained one of the most difficult and dangerous infections in the world due to the inability to find a successful treatment and a lack of access to medical care. When the virus reaches the body, dendritic cells are the first cells it encounters. DCs have been identified as one of the most effective mediators of immune responses, implying a promising strategy against viral infection. The current state of knowledge about the function of dendritic cells and their subsets is critical for using their full potential as a candidate for the development of an HIV vaccine. Despite extensive efforts, a reliable vaccine with the fewest side effects has yet to be found, and further research is needed to find a dependable and efficient vaccine. The extent to which dendritic cell-based therapy is used to treat HIV was investigated in this study. As the virus attacks the host immune system, the dendritic cells can trigger an immune response against HIV-1 infection.

Promoting Psychosocial Health of Family Caregivers of Patients with Chronic Mental Disorders: A Review of Challenges and Strategies

The present study aimed to investigate the mental and social health challenges of family caregivers of the patients with chronic mental disorders (CMD) and strategies which can be helpful in this regard. This study is a narrative review conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Elsevier, Google Scholar, Proquest, Magiran, and Sid databases where keywords such as Family caregiver, Chronic Mental disorder, Health Promotion, Program, Psychosocial, Support, Challenge, and Problem were searched in both Persian and English. A total of 5,745 published documents were found and were screened based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, 64 studies were found which had examined the related challenges, needs and strategies. According to the results, information deficits, needs for support, community participation deficits, and psychological suffering were recognized as challenges of family caregivers of these patients. Moreover, empowerments programs for the enhancement of the knowledge and skills of caregivers and peer-centered support programs were used to improve the level of mental and social health of family caregivers of these patients. Psychosocial problems and challenges that family caregivers of the patients with CMD face affect their health, satisfaction and quality of life. Using a collaborative approach, mental health service providers and government systems can help improve the psychosocial health of caregivers. The related managers and policymakers can reduce the emotional and psychological burden of families and promote their psychosocial health through developing a comprehensive program including practical objectives and strategies and taking into account the challenges that exist for caregivers in caring for patients with CMD.

FLVCR1-AS1 and FBXL19-AS1: Two Putative lncRNA Candidates in Multiple Human Cancers

(1) Background: Mounting evidence supports the idea that one of the most critical agents in controlling gene expression could be long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Upregulation of lncRNA is observed in the different processes related to pathologies, such as tumor occurrence and development. Among the crescent number of lncRNAs discovered, FLVCR1-AS1 and FBXL19-AS1 have been identified as oncogenes in many cancer progression and prognosis types, including cholangiocarcinoma, gastric cancer, glioma and glioblastoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and osteosarcoma. Therefore, abnormal FBXL19-AS1 and FLVCR1-AS1 expression affect a variety of cellular activities, including metastasis, aggressiveness, and proliferation; (2) Methods: This study was searched via PubMed and Google Scholar databases until May 2022; (3) Results: FLVCR1-AS1 and FBXL19-AS1 participate in tumorigenesis and have an active role in impacting several signaling pathways that regulate cell proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, and EMT; (4) Conclusions: Our review focuses on the possible molecular mechanisms in a variety of cancers regulated by FLVCR1-AS1 and FBXL19-AS1. It is not surprising that there has been significant interest in the possibility that these lncRNAs might be used as biomarkers for diagnosis or as a target to improve a broader range of cancers in the future.

The effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy on death anxiety and depression in patients with heart failure: A quasi-experimental study

PURPOSE

In this study, the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on death anxiety and depression was investigated in patients with heart failure.

DESIGN AND METHODS

In this quasi-experimental study, 66 patients with heart failure were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 33) and control (n = 33) groups. Data collection was done using a demographic questionnaire, Templer death anxiety scale, and Beck depression inventory.

FINDINGS

It was found that the overall scores of death anxiety and depression in posttest were significantly lower than those at the follow-up stage in the intervention group.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

CBT could significantly reduce death anxiety and depression in patients with heart failure. Therefore, it is recommended to equip nurses with CBT trainings to manage patients with heart failure better.

Effects of External Focus and Motor Control Training in Comparison with Motor Control Training Alone on Pain, Thickness of Trunk Muscles and Function of Patients with Recurrent Low Back Pain: A Single Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Recurrent low back pain (RLBP) affects different structures in the lumbar spine. Exercise therapy is highly recommended as one of the first-line treatments. One crucial variable introduced to enhance RLBP is the external focus. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of external focus training on pain, the thickness of transverse abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO), external oblique (EO), and lumbar multifidus (LM) muscles, kinesiophobia, fear-avoidance beliefs, and disability of people with RLBP.

METHODS

This randomized-controlled trial consisted of 38 RLBP patients. Patients were randomly divided into two groups the treatment group (n=19) that received external focus training in addition to motor control training and the control group (n=19) that received motor control training alone. The primary outcome was pain intensity, and secondary outcomes were the thickness of TrA, IO, EO, LM muscles, kinesiophobia, fear-avoidance beliefs, and disability that were measured at the baseline and after 16 sessions of interventions. The interventions were performed three sessions weekly.

RESULTS

Reduction in pain intensity was more significant in the intervention group than in the control group (P<0.001, Cohen's d=-1.47). The thickness of TrA muscle in the contraction condition of the intervention group was significantly more on the left side (P<0.001, Cohen's d=1.05) than on the right side (P=0.03, Cohen's d=0.44). Other outcomes showed no significant differences. However, the Cohen's d effect size for the left IO (Cohen's d=0.57) and TKS (Cohen's d=-0.53) were moderate.

CONCLUSION

In RLBP patients, external focus and motor control training could effectively reduce the pain. Although this intervention could increase the thickness of the TrA muscle of RLBP, it has no significant effect on the thickness of IO, EO, and LM muscles. In addition, the obtained results indicated that this intervention has no significant effect on kinesiophobia, fear-avoidance beliefs, and disability..

Mercury goes Solid at room temperature at nanoscale and a potential Hg waste storage

While room temperature bulk mercury is liquid, it is solid in its nano-configuration (Ønano-Hg ≤ 2.5 nm). Conjugating the nano-scale size effect and the Laplace driven surface excess pressure, Hg nanoparticles of Ønano-Hg ≤ 2.4 nm embedded in a 2-D turbostratic Boron Nitride (BN) host matrix exhibited a net crystallization at room temperature via the experimentally observed (101) and (003) diffraction Bragg peaks of the solid Hg rhombohedral α-phase. The observed crystallization is correlated to a surface atomic ordering of 7 to 8 reticular atomic plans of the rhombohedral α-phase. Such a novelty of size effect on phase transition phenomena in Hg is conjugated to a potential Hg waste storage technology. Considering the vapor pressure of bulk Hg, Room Temperature (RT) Solid nano-Hg confinement could represent a potential green approach of Hg waste storage derived from modern halogen efficient light technology.

The Promise of CAR T-Cell Therapy for the treatment of cancer stem cells: A Short Review

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is a type of sophisticated tailored immunotherapy used to treat a variety of tumors. Immunotherapy works by utilizing the body's own immune system to discover and destroy malignant cells. In CAR-T therapy, a patient's own immune cells are genetically engineered to recognize and attack cancer. Treatments employing CAR T-cells are currently showing promising therapeutic results in patients with hematologic malignancies, and their safety and feasibility in solid tumors has been verified. In this review, we will discuss in detail the likelihood that CAR T-cells inhibit cancer stem cells (CSCs) by selectively targeting their cell surface markers will ultimately improve the therapeutic response for patients with various forms of cancer. This review addresses the major components of cancer stem cell (CSC)-targeted CAR T-cells against malignancies, from bench to bedside.

Autophagy-regulating microRNAs: two-sided coin in the therapies of breast cancer

Despite recent advances in the treatment of breast cancer (BC), it still remains as a prevalent and deadly cancer in the world. Given that BC is a heterogeneous disease, it is necessary to clarify molecular mechanisms in tumor cells to improve various therapy outcomes and overcome therapy resistance. Autophagy represents one of the most important intracellular degradation pathways involved in diverse biological processes and plays an important bi-directional role in tumor formation and progression. Among the several mechanisms that affect autophagy, microRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role as gene regulators. Several in vivo and in vitro studies have reported multiple miRNAs regulating autophagy in BC that affect tumor initiation, progression, and response to various therapies. In the present review, we highlighted the mechanisms through which miRNAs regulate autophagy in BC and their potential use as therapeutic targets.

The effectiveness of self-compassion based training program on resilience of mothers of children with type 1 diabetes in Isfahan, Iran

Background:

Concerns about the complications of diabetes and the responsibility of constantly managing a child's blood glucose are stressful for parents, especially for mothers, and can reduce their resilience. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a self-compassion-based training program on the resilience of mothers of children with type 1 diabetes.

Materials and Methods:

This is a randomized clinical trial study. The statistical population of the study consisted of all mothers of children with type 1 diabetes who were being treated at the Isfahan Endocrine and Metabolism Research Centre, Iran. The study samples were recruited conveniently, 64 of whom were randomly divided into two groups (compassion training program = 32; control group = 32). The intervention group participated in eight training sessions. Data were analyzed using t-test, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) tests for between-group comparisons of dependent variables.

Results:

There was no significant difference between the mean scores of resilience before intervention (p > 0.05). Mean scores of resilience in the intervention group were significantly higher than the control group immediately (F_1,60 = 9.726 p = 0.003) and 1 month after intervention (F_{1, 60} = 13.146, p = 0.001).

Conclusions:

It may be worthwhile to suggest compassion-based training program for mothers of children with type 1 diabetes to improve their resilience.

The Risks of Breast and Ovarian Cancer Associated with the Ashkenazi Jewish Founder Allele BRCA2 6174delT

Approximately one percent of the Ashkenazi Jewish population carries the BRCA2 6174delT (c.5946del) pathogenic variant. It is important to have accurate knowledge of the risks of breast and ovarian cancer associated with this specific variant so that women may be counselled accordingly. In this prospective study, we estimated the risks of breast and ovarian cancer associated with the 6174delT variant compared with the risks for other pathogenic variants in the BRCA2 gene. The annual risk for developing breast cancer was significantly lower in 246 women who carried the 6174delT variant compared with 721 non-Jewish women who carried a variant at any other locus in BRCA2 (1.2% per year vs. 2.4% per year, p=0.003). We estimated the cumulative risk of breast cancer from age 30 to 70 to be 39% for carriers of the BRCA2 6174delT variant and 61% for carriers of other BRCA2 variants. The annual risk for ovarian or fallopian tube cancer was 0.51% per year for the 233 women who carried the 6174delT variant compared to 0.22% per year for the 1128 carriers of other BRCA2 variants; the difference was not significant. Lower risks for breast cancer associated with 6174delT may not impact screening and prevention choices, however, the discussion should be based on accurate risk assessment.

Intra-examiner and inter-examiner reliability of rehabilitative ultrasound imaging for lumbar multifidus and anterolateral abdominal muscles in females with recurrent low back pain: an observational, cross-sectional study

Aim: To examine the reliability of rehabilitative ultrasound imaging performed to measure the thickness of the transverse abdominis, internal oblique, external oblique, and lumbar multifidus muscles in females with recurrent low back pain. Material and methods: A sample of 15 women was recruited. Two independent examiners recorded the thickness of their deep abdominal and spinal muscles by rehabilitative ultrasound imaging. Imaging scans of the transverse abdominis, internal oblique, and external oblique muscles were performed in the supine position and in the midaxillary line, between the lower edge of the ribcage and the iliac crest. Imaging of the lumbar multifidus was done in the prone position and at the level of the L5/S1 zygapophyseal joints. Imaging scans were performed bilaterally in rest and contraction, three times by the first examiner (at baseline, after two hours, and one week later) and once by the second examiner. Results: Good to excellent within-session intra-rater (ICC = 0.76, 0.97), good to excellent between-session intra-rater reliability (ICC = 0.73, 0.93), and good to excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.73, 0.98) were obtained. Conclusions: The results showed that rehabilitative ultrasound imaging can be used as an excellent reliable instrument by one or two examiners to measure the thickness of the transverse abdominis, internal oblique, external oblique and lumbar multifidus muscles in females with recurrent low back pain.

Ultrasonography Method of Deep Cervical Muscles and Thickness Measurement Reliability in Cervicogenic Headache and Healthy Subjects:APilot Study

Introduction: In Cervicogenic Headache (CGH), motor control of muscles is impaired and deep upper neck muscles (extensor and flexor muscles) become atrophied. In this research, thickness measurement of Longus Capitis (LCap), Rectus Capitis Posterior Major (RCPM), and Obliquus Capitis Superior (OCS) muscles were conducted and intra-rater reliability of the thickness measurement of these muscles was assessed in CGH and healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: Twenty subjects, including 10 healthy subjects (19-32 years old) and 10 CGH patients (20-35 years old) participated in this study. LCap thickness was measured at the level of C3-C4 in the supine position and posterior muscles (RCPM and OCS) thickness at the C1-C2 level in the sitting position. All ultrasound images were captured by a linear probe with a 50-mm footprint in B mode option and frequency range of 9-12 Hz. Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC), Standard Error Of Measurement (SEM), and the Smallest Detectable Difference (SDD) were calculated for data analysis. Results: The ICC for thickness measurement of LCap was from 0.70 to 0.91 (good to excellent), for RCPM thickness was from 0.69 to 0.94 and for OCS muscle thickness was from 0.87 to 0.98. SEM values for LCap were between 0.08 and 0.25 and the SDD values between 0.22 and 0.71. SEM values for RCPM were between 0.22 and 0.43 and these values were reported for OCS muscle between 0.19 and 0.45. Conclusion: The results indicated that the presented position and the level of ultrasonography in this study are appropriate and ultrasound is a reliable tool to measure the deep upper neck muscle thickness in CGH and healthy subjects.

Unnecessary ultrasonography as supplier-induced demand in diagnosis of primary breast cancer in Iran: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Supplier-induced demand (SID) refers to the concept that healthcare providers may deliver services that are not medically necessary to patients. An estimation of the extent to which this event has occurred can be insightful for policymaking and guiding health and insurance systems. This study aimed to investigate the extent of SID when performing a diagnostic ultrasonography for primary breast cancer patients and its relationship with socioeconomic factors in Iran.

METHODS

Data were obtained using questionnaires from 334 patients referred to the Cancer Research Center. To identify the patients who were candidates for undergoing a necessary diagnostic US, we employed the international clinical guidelines with confirmation of our expert panelists. With their assistance, a comprehensive index was created to screen those 'most probably affected by SID'.

RESULTS

55.9% had undergone an unnecessary diagnostic ultrasonography, and thus were most probably affected by SID. A significant association between socioeconomic factors (education, occupation, and supplemental health insurance) and SID was confirmed (p value ≤ 0.001, 0.002, and 0.039, respectively).

CONCLUSION

This study supports the SID hypothesis and the unnecessary demand for diagnostic ultrasonography in primary breast cancer. Also, our evidence indicates imposing excessive costs that can positively influence the policymakers' decision-making in the healthcare systems.

Advances in Rootstock Breeding of Nut Trees: Objectives and Strategies

The production and consumption of nuts are increasing in the world due to strong economic returns and the nutritional value of their products. With the increasing role and importance given to nuts (i.e., walnuts, hazelnut, pistachio, pecan, almond) in a balanced and healthy diet and their benefits to human health, breeding of the nuts species has also been stepped up. Most recent fruit breeding programs have focused on scion genetic improvement. However, the use of locally adapted grafted rootstocks also enhanced the productivity and quality of tree fruit crops. Grafting is an ancient horticultural practice used in nut crops to manipulate scion phenotype and productivity and overcome biotic and abiotic stresses. There are complex rootstock breeding objectives and physiological and molecular aspects of rootstock-scion interactions in nut crops. In this review, we provide an overview of these, considering the mechanisms involved in nutrient and water uptake, regulation of phytohormones, and rootstock influences on the scion molecular processes, including long-distance gene silencing and trans-grafting. Understanding the mechanisms resulting from rootstock × scion × environmental interactions will contribute to developing new rootstocks with resilience in the face of climate change, but also of the multitude of diseases and pests.

Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Human Umbilical Cord Perivascular Cells Improve Functional Recovery in Brain Ischemic Rat via the Inhibition of Apoptosis

Background:

Ischemic stroke, as a health problem caused by the reduced blood supply to the brain, can lead to the neuronal death. The number of reliable therapies for stroke is limited. MSCs exhibit therapeutic achievement. A major limitation of MSC application in cell therapy is the short survival span. MSCs affect target tissues through the secretion of many paracrine agents including EVs. This study aimed to investigate the effect of HUCPVCs-derived EVs on apoptosis, functional recovery, and neuroprotection.

Methods:

Ischemia was induced by MCAO in male Wistar rats. Animals were classified into sham, MCAO, MCAO + HUCPVC, and MCAO + EV groups. Treatments began at two hours after ischemia. Expressions of apoptotic-related proteins (BAX/BCl-2 and caspase-3 and -9), the amount of TUNEL-positive cells, neuronal density (MAP2), and dead neurons (Nissl staining) were assessed on day seven post MCAO.

Results:

Administration of EVs improved the sensorimotor function (p < 0.001) and reduced the apoptotic rate of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio (p < 0.001), as well as caspases and TUNEL-positive cells (p < 0.001) in comparison to the MCAO group. EV treatment also reduced the number of dead neurons and increased the number of MAP2⁺ cells in the IBZ (p < 0.001), as compared to the MCAO group.

Conclusion:

Our findings showed that HUCPVCs-derived EVs are more effective than their mother’s cells in improving neural function, possibly via the regulation of apoptosis in the ischemic rats. The strategy of cell-free extracts is, thus, helpful in removing the predicaments surrounding cell therapy in targeting brain diseases.

Isolation and Purification of Low Molecular Weight Proteins from Culture Filtrate of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Strain C

In the last couple of years, a number of new and rapid tests for the diagnosis of Tuberculosis (TB) have been developed based on the low molecular weight antigens from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) culture supernatant. This study aimed to isolate and purify low molecular weight antigens secreted by Mtb strain C for diagnostic purpose. The secretory proteins from culture filtrate of Mtb were extracted using ammonium sulphate precipitations and sephadex-G50 gel chromatography. The obtained antigen fractions were analyzed for their protein concentrations and approximate molecular weight using Lowry method and SDS-PAGE (12.5%), respectively. DOT-ELISA and Western blot assay was performed to confirm the presence of purified low molecular weight proteins isolated from Mtb using sera from pulmonary tuberculosis patients (polyclonal antibodies). During chromatography, low molecular weight proteins were separated, that was approximately 0.7 mg/ml of the total proteins (1.662 mg/ml). The purified protein fractions in molecular weight range of 14 kDa-41kDa appeared during SDS-PAGE analysis. The chromatographic band fraction in the weight range of 30-41 kDa was identified in the TB patients&amp;rsquo; sera using Western blotting. The low molecular weight proteins in the culture filtrate of Mtb strain C were purified using ammonium sulphate and chromatography. These fractions were confirmed using Western blotting. The obtained results might support the hypothesis that the Mtb culture filtrate antigens could be used as a rapid and sensitive assay for the detection of patients with pulmonary TB.

Retinal displacement following pars plana vitrectomy with silicone oil tamponade for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

PURPOSE

To evaluate the frequency of retinal displacement after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) using silicone oil tamponade in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).

METHODS

Patients with fresh RRD were enrolled in this prospective interventional case series. A standard 3-port PPV with silicone oil tamponade was performed in all cases. A complete ocular examination, optical coherence tomography and fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging were performed at 1 and 3 months follow-up. Orthoptic examinations including synoptophore and light on-off tests were also performed at 3 months.

RESULTS

Twenty-three eyes from 23 patients with mean age of 56.6 ± 11 (range: 38-82) years were included. All patients were pseudophakic. Downward retinal displacement was found in 2 eyes (8.7%) showing hyperautofluorescent lines parallel to retinal vessels in FAF image. The patients with retinal displacement did not complain of metamorphopsia and did not show abnormality in orthoptic tests.

CONCLUSION

Unintentional retinal shift following PPV with silicone oil tamponade for RRD is uncommon and might have little clinical significance.

Recovery of the lumbar multifidus muscle size in chronic low back pain patients by strengthening hip abductors: A randomized clinical trial

INTRODUCTION

Decrease in cross-sectional thickness of lumbar multifidus (MF) muscles during prolonged low back pain episodes commonly occurs. Restoration of the MF muscle size can be an effective way of treating chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients. Traditionally, clinicians apply muscle stabilization exercises for these patients. Recent studies support the need for active strengthening exercises for treatment of the CLBP patients.

OBJECTIVE

The MF muscles provide lumbar stability, and therefore we hypothesized that strengthening of these muscles can be more effective than the MF muscle stabilization exercises in restoration of the muscle size.

DESIGN

Study design was a randomized allocation control trial with two groups of adult female CLBP patients (n = 12 each; age range of 20-45). Patients in the control group underwent stabilization exercises and the patients in the intervention group underwent the hip abductor strengthening exercises.

SETTING

For all subjects of each group, the trials continued in 24 sessions distributed over 8 weeks and the MF muscles were measured in the beginning of the first session and one week after completion of the last session.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Statistical significance (p-value) of the change in the average MF muscle thickness, pain, and disability scores along with for each group were estimated.

RESULTS

Both regimens of exercises can significantly decrease the pain and disability: average pain and disability reductions of 46% (p-value of 0.001) and 33% (p-value of 0.02) via stabilization versus average pain and disability reductions of 65% (p-value of 0.001) and 59% (p-value of 0.001) via hip abductor strengthening. However, the hip abductor strengthening is the sole statistically significant exercise regimen (p-value of 0.014 vs 0.94) for increasing the MF muscle size.

CONCLUSION

Replacement of the traditional stabilization exercises with the hip abductor strengthening exercises for effective treatment of female adults with CLBP is recommended.

Effect of Posterior Pelvic Tilt Taping on Abdominal Muscle Thickness and Lumbar Lordosis in Individuals With Chronic Low Back Pain and Hyperlordosis: A Single-Group, Repeated-Measures Trial

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of posterior pelvic tilt taping (PPTT) on lumbar lordosis, pain, disability, and abdominal muscle thickness in individuals with nonspecific chronic low back pain with hyperlordosis.

METHODS

A prospective, single-group, repeated-measures design was conducted with 31 individuals with nonspecific chronic low back pain (16 men, 15 women) with hyperlordosis (mean ± SD = 59.3° ± 2.9°). Participants' mean age, pain, disability, and lumbar lordosis were, respectively, 35.7 ± 9.9 years, 5.1 ± 1.3, 26.8 ± 11.5, and 59.3° ± 2.9°. The thickness of the abdominal muscles on both sides was measured in the crook lying position by ultrasound imaging. PPTT was performed on both sides. Pain intensity, functional disability, lumbar lordosis angle, and abdominal muscle thickness were measured before PPTT (W0), 1 week after PPTT (W1), and 1 week after PPTT removal (W2).

RESULTS

Analysis revealed significant reductions in lumbar lordosis, pain, and disability, and increased abdominal muscle thickness, at W1 and W2 compared with W0 (P < .001). There were no significant differences in lumbar lordosis or abdominal muscle thickness between W1 and W2.

CONCLUSION

The current study showed in a small group of participants that 1 week of PPTT may improve lumbar lordosis, pain, disability, and abdominal muscle thickness in individuals with nonspecific chronic low back pain with hyperlordosis.

Persian Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Shoulder and Elbow Score in Overhead Athletes

Background and Objectives: The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic Shoulder and Elbow Score (KJOC-SES) is a reliable and sensitive tool used to measure the performance and function in overhead athletes with shoulder and elbow injuries. This study aimed to culturally adapt and validate the KJOC-SES questionnaire in the Persian language. Materials and Methods: A total number of 341 healthy competitive overhead athletes took part in this cross-sectional study and completed the KJOC-SES questionnaire. To assess the reliability of the KJOC-SES, 41 professional volleyball players filled out the questionnaire at the baseline and after a 4-week interval, during the off-season. Also, we compared the scores of KJOC-SES with those of the sports/performing arts module of disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand and the 12-item short-form health survey to test the construct validity. Moreover, we investigated the internal consistency and the concurrent validity of all measures. Results: The KJOC-SES was correlated with the sports/performing arts module of the disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand (r=−0.559, P<0.001), and the 12-item short-form health survey (r=−0.505, P<0.001). The KJOC-SES had an excellent internal consistency (the Cronbach alpha=0.92). Also, the intra-class correlation coefficients of test-retest reliability for the 10 items of KJOC-SES were excellent (ICC=0.82, P<0.001). The new score correctly stratified overhead athletes by the injury category (P<0.001). Conclusion: The KJOC-SES is a valid and reliable tool for assessing the shoulder and elbow injuries in Iranian overhead athletes.

Simulation of blood flow into the popliteal artery to explain the effect of peripheral arterial disease: Investigation the conditions and effects of different foot states during the daily activity of the patient

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Peripheral artery disease, one type of atherosclerosis, is a common medical condition in the world that results from plaque build-up in the peripheral blood vessels. The symptoms of this disease are the senses of pain and weakness in outer muscles.

METHODS

The artery under consideration is called the popliteal artery. In this model, the blood flow is considered as pulsating. Therefore the inlet boundary condition is taken as unsteady velocity, and the outlet boundary condition is taken the outflow. The inlet boundary condition represents the increasing systole flow and the decreasing diastole flow, which occur naturally in blood flow. Systolic flow occurs when the heart contracts and pumps blood into the arteries. The inlet blood flow is in the form of a sine-cosine parabolic profile.

RESULTS

The artery bends from the middle at an angle of 45°. As the bending of the artery begins, the flow field also takes a bent form. At this point, the flow bends from the outside of the top wall and enfolds the bottom wall in its bending. For different periods, the popliteal flow is closer to the lower bend when the inlet velocity is more significant. While the top wall experiences a low-intensity region along the bend, the bottom wall experiences the same effect just before and after the bend. As the blood flows along the bend, the flow path becomes significantly curved near the bend, similar to the model. The clotted artery exhibits a large increase in flow due to a reduction in the cross-section as a result of the clotting in half of the artery. The flow before the clotting is not considerably different from the main model of the straight artery.

CONCLUSIONS

Like shear stress, the pressure drop has a linear relationship with the blood HCT and, hence, the viscosity. The pressure drop decreases with the inlet velocity reaching its maximum value and then increases with the start of the acceleration reduction in the second and third-time steps. This indicates that the pressure drop has a stronger relationship with the acceleration than the inlet velocity.

Rapid Genetic Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutations at the Time of Breast Cancer Diagnosis: An Observational Study

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of rapid genetic testing (RGT) for BRCA1 and BRCA2 at the time of breast cancer diagnosis on treatment choices. Bilateral mastectomy for the treatment of breast cancer in women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation offers a reduction in the risk of contralateral breast cancer. It is unclear whether offering RGT at the time of breast cancer diagnosis has an impact on women's surgical decision-making.

METHODS

Women with breast cancer diagnosed between June 2013 and May 2018 were recruited from four academic health sciences centers in Toronto, Canada. The participants completed a questionnaire before genetic testing, then one week and one year after disclosure of the genetic test result. Before surgery, RGT was performed. Diagnostic, pathologic, and treatment data were compared between those with and those without a BRCA mutation.

RESULTS

The study enrolled 1007 women who consented to RGT. The mean age of the participants was 46.3 years, and the median time to result disclosure was 10 days. A BRCA mutation was found in 6% of the women. The women with a BRCA mutation were significantly more likely to elect for bilateral mastectomy than the women without a BRCA mutation (p < 0.0001). Of the BRCA-positive patients, 95.7% reported that they used their genetic test result to make a surgical decision.

CONCLUSIONS

The women provided with RGT at the time of breast cancer diagnosis use the genetic information to make treatment decisions, and the majority of those identified with a BRCA mutation elect for a bilateral mastectomy.

Combined Fuzzy AHP-GIS for Agricultural Land Suitability Modeling for a Watershed in Southern Iran

Modeling agriculture land suitability at a regional scale plays an important role in designing the best sustainable management systems. The aim of this study was to derive a land suitability map for wheat farming by combining the Geostatistics and analytic hierarchy (AHP)-Fuzzy algorithm in geographic information system (GIS) in calcareous and saline-sodic soils, southern Iran. The local expert's opinions were used to make a decision on the weighting of climate, terrain, and soil data by applying an AHP method. The input data were transformed to a fuzzy-set data. The Spherical and Gaussian semi-variogram models had the best performance for fitting the soil parameters. The results revealed that soil texture (w = 0.207), pH (w = 0.121), slope (w = 0.120), electrical conductivity (w = 0.113), and exchangeable sodium percentage (w = 0.111) had the highest specific weighting for wheat production, respectively. The land suitability map indicated that 25.65% (48306.6 ha) of the studied area was for highly suitable, 38.2% (71939.7 ha) was moderately suitable, and 27.63% (52017.2 ha) was marginally suitable. Only 8.52% (16042.4 ha) of the studied area was not suitable for wheat farming. In conclusion, a combination of AHP, Fuzzy, and GIS could be a potential approach for site-specific soil management, land-use planning, and protection of the environment.

Intrathecal administration of the extracellular vesicles derived from human Wharton's jelly stem cells inhibit inflammation and attenuate the activity of inflammasome complexes after spinal cord injury in rats

Activation of inflammasome complexes during spinal cord injury (SCI) lead to conversion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) to their active form to initiates the neuroinflammation. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) showed anti-inflammatory properties through their extracellular vehicles (EVs). We investigated immunomodulatory potential of human Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells derived extracellular vesicles (hWJ-MSC-EVs) on inflammasome activity one week after SCI in rats. The gene expression and protein level of IL-1β, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and caspase1, were assessed by QPCR and western blotting. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was done to measure the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Nestin expression. Cell death, histological evaluation and hind limb locomotion was studied by TUNEL assay, Nissl staining and Basso, Beattie, Bresnaham (BBB), respectively. Our finding represented that intrathecally administrated of hWJ-MSC-EVs significantly attenuated expression of the examined factors in both mRNA (P < 0.05 and P ≤ 0.01) and protein levels (P < 0.05 and P ≤ 0.01), decreased GFAP and increased Nestin expression (P < 0.05), reduced cell death and revealed the higher number of typical neurons in ventral horn of spinal cord. Consequently, progress in locomotion. We came to the conclusion that hWJ-MSC-EVs has the potential to control the inflammasome activity after SCI in rats. Moreover, EVs stimulated the neural progenitor cells and modulate the astrocyte activity.

Abstract C060: The spectrum of germline mutation carriers in a cohort of breast and ovarian cancer patients in the Caribbean

The Caribbean population is predominantly of African descent with an admixture of Indigenous, East Asian, Indian subcontinent, Western European and Middle Eastern descendants. This region has one of the highest burdens of cancer in the world, and breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Caribbean women. We established a cohort of 1,019 people diagnosed with breast and ovarian cancer across 7 Caribbean countries (Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago)—Caribbean Women's Cancer Study (CWCS). The primary objective was to identify deleterious mutations in the breast cancer genes in a cohort of Caribbean people with breast and/or ovarian cancer.

Methods: The study was conducted between 2004-2015 in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti. Following IRB approval, 1,019 women and men diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer were identified through outpatient oncology clinicals, treating physicians and cancer societies on the islands. In addition, participants were recruited through radio, newspaper and TV advertisements. Inclusion criteria were pathologic diagnosis of breast (male or female) and/or ovarian cancer, at least 1 grandparent born in one of the participating countries and ability to provide saliva. NGS and MPLA (BRCA1/2) were performed on a panel of 31 genes. The following epidemiologic and anthropometric measures were collected: family pedigree; age of menarche, menopause, and first pregnancy; number of pregnancies; number of siblings; year of birth; age at cancer diagnosis; body mass index (BMI) at time of diagnosis; stage of cancer; mode of diagnosis; and tumor characteristics.

Results: The mean age of the mutation carriers was 45 (20-70) years and mean BMI was 29.0. 70% of the mutation carriers self-identified as Afro-Caribbean. 75% identified their cancer by palpation. The Bahamas has the highest incidence of hereditary breast cancer in the world due to founder mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes (23% of unselected breast cancer). In Trinidad and Tobago 12% of women with breast cancer had a mutation in BRCA1/2, PALB2, RAD51C or CHEK2. Jamaica had 4.9% incidence of BRCA1/2, STK11, NBN and PALB2 mutations and 6.9% (5/94) of Haitian women have deleterious mutations in BRCA1/2, PALB2. In Barbados 17.9% (16/89) have deleterious mutations in BRCA1/2, PALB2. In Dominica (4/57) 8.8% of the cohort had BRCA2 or PALB2 deleterious mutations and 6.3% (4/63) in the Cayman Islands had a deleterious mutation in ATM, BRCA1/2. 64% of mutations carriers had a frameshift, nonsense, or large deletion in BRCA1, 23% in BRCA2 and 9% in PALB2. There were 29 unique mutations in BRCA1 in 92 individuals (64%) and 23 unique mutations in BRCA2 with recurring (founder) mutations predominantly in the Bahamas. 11 distinct mutations in PALB2 were seen in 13 individuals across 5 countries.

Conclusion: This initial Caribbean population-based study demonstrates that genetic causes of breast cancer are common in the Caribbean population.

Citation Format: Sophia H.L. George, Talia Donenberg, Cheryl Alexis, Vincent DeGennaro, Hedda Dyer, Sook Yin, Priscila Barreto-Coelho, Simonnette Thompson, Raleigh Butler, Gillian Wharfe, Jameel Ali, Theodore Turnquest, DuVaughn Curling, Mohammad Akbari, Steven Narod, Judith Hurley. The spectrum of germline mutation carriers in a cohort of breast and ovarian cancer patients in the Caribbean [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2018 Nov 2-5; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl):Abstract nr C060.

Subventricular zone-derived extracellular vesicles promote functional recovery in rat model of spinal cord injury by inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome complex formation

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is the destruction of spinal cord motor and sensory resulted from an attack on the spinal cord, which can cause significant physiological damage. The inflammasome is a multiprotein oligomer resulting in inflammation; the NLRP3 inflammasome composed of NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC), procaspase-1, and cleavage of procaspase-1 into caspase-1 initiates the inflammatory response. Subventricular Zone (SVZ) is the origin of neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) in the adult brain. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are tiny lipid membrane bilayer vesicles secreted by different types of cells playing an important role in cell-cell communications. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intrathecal transplantation of EVs on the NLRP3 inflammasome formation in SCI rats. Male wistar rats were divided into three groups as following: laminectotomy group, SCI group, and EVs group. EVs was isolated from SVZ, and characterized by western blot and DLS, and then injected into the SCI rats. Real-time PCR and western blot were carried out for gene expression and protein level of NLRP3, ASC, and Caspase-1. H&E and cresyl violet staining were performed for histological analyses, as well as BBB test for motor function. The results indicated high level in mRNA and protein level in SCI group in comparison with laminectomy (p < 0.001), and injection of EVs showed a significant reduction in the mRNA and protein levels in EVs group compared to SCI (p < 0.001). H&E and cresyl violet staining showed recovery in neural cells of spinal cord tissue in EVs group in comparison with SCI group. BBB test showed the promotion of motor function in EVs group compared to SCI in 14 days (p < 0.05). We concluded that the injection of EVs could recover the motor function in rats with SCI and rescue the neural cells of spinal cord tissue by suppressing the formation of the NLRP3 inflammasome complex.

Mastering the Art of Collaboration: Supporting Family Caregivers of Mental Health Patients by Service Providers in Iran

Responsive support systems, designed and promoted by policy makers, are critical in supporting family caregivers. The purpose of this study was to explore viewpoints of service providers in supporting family caregivers of mental health patients in Iran. In this qualitative study, a purposive sample of 29 service providers and policy makers consented to participate in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis and three main categories and seven sub-categories were identified. The main categories were: interpersonal collaboration, intra-organization collaboration and inter-sectorial collaboration. A common theme in this study was that service providers play a key role in coordinating responsive support services for Iranian family caregivers of mental health patients across all levels. The increasing complexity of the health care system and resource limitations have created complex problems, which require the use of participatory approaches by the various specialties, disciplines and departments to provide complementary services and mutual support. This approach is the best way of ensuring that service users receive the most relevant services from the right service providers in the right place as and when needed.

The effect of essential oil of rosemary on eccentric exercise-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness in non-active women

Muscle soreness is a problem associated with physical activities. Recently, the medicinal herbs are strategies to prevent muscle soreness. The present study aims were to determine the effect of rosemary essential oil on the responses of lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase (CK), lymphocytes, neutrophils, muscle swelling (MS) and muscle pain (MP) following eccentric leg curl exercise in non-active women. 24 non-active females voluntarily participated in this study and were randomly assigned into three groups: rosemary dose 1 (RD1) (n=8; 0.25 ml), rosemary dose 2 (RD2) (n=8; 0.5 ml) and placebo (n=8; 0.5 ml olive oil). Participants in supplement groups consumed the desire amounts of rosemary essential oil every 8 h per day for 14 days. Then, the eccentric leg curl exercise was performed. The supplementation continued until 72 h after exercise. The serum variables, as well as, MS and MP were measured before, 24, 48 and 72 h after exercise. Data were analysed using repeated measure analysis of variance and P≤0.05 considered as significant. The results showed that rosemary significantly decreases CK in RD2 compared with placebo and RD1 48 h after exercise. There was no other significant difference in other serum variables. In conclusion, the present study showed a beneficial effect of rosemary on 48-h post-exercise serum CK concentration (a muscle damage indicator).