Cold atmospheric plasma induced genotoxicity and cytotoxicity in esophageal cancer cells

Molecular Biology Reports - In this paper, we studied the functional effects of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on the esophageal cancer cell line (KYSE-30) by direct and indirect treatment and...     

Comparison of PCR-RFLP with 21-plex PCR and rDNA Sequencing for Identification of Clinical Yeast Isolates

Non-albicans Candida species and other rare yeasts have emerged as major opportunistic pathogens in fungal infections. Identification of opportunistic yeasts in developing countries is mainly performed by phenotypic assay, which are time-consuming and prone to errors. The aim of the present study was to evaluate PCR-RFLP as a routinely used identification technique for the most clinically important Candida species in Iran and make a comparison with a novel multiplex PCR, called 21-plex PCR. One hundred and seventy-three yeast isolates from clinical sources were selected and identified with sequence analysis of the D1/D2 domains of rDNA (LSU rDNA) sequencing as the gold standard method. The results were compared with those obtained by PCR-RFLP using MspI restriction enzyme and the 21-plex PCR. PCR-RFLP correctly identified 93.4% of common pathogenic Candida species (C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. tropicalis, and P. kudriavsevii (=?C. krusei)) and was able to identify 45.5% of isolates of the uncommon yeast species compared to the D1/D2 rDNA sequencing. Compared with PCR-RFLP, all common Candida species and 72.7% of uncommon yeast species were correctly identified by the 21-plex PCR. The application of the 21-plex PCR assay as a non-sequence-based molecular method for the identification of common and rare yeasts can reduce turnaround time and costs for the identification of clinically important yeasts and can be applied in resource-limited settings.

     

Quantifying of surface urban cool island in arid environments case study: Isfahan metropolis

Landscape and Ecological Engineering - The cities that are built on the arid biomes with the hot and dry climates can adjust the temperature (oasis effect) and create the urban cool island (UCI)...     

Peptides with Dual Antimicrobial-Anticancer Activity Derived from the N-terminal Region of H. pylori Ribosomal Protein L1 (RpL1)

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Whereas the traditional approaches of cancer therapy including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy have failed to properly...     

Computational Design and Analysis of a Multi-epitope Against Influenza A virus

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Influenza A viruses are among the most studied viruses, however no effective prevention against influenza infection has been developed....     

Investigating the Effect of Ag and Au Nanostructures with Spherical and Rod Shapes on the Emission Wavelength of OLED

Noble metals, especially Ag and Au nanostructures, have unique and adjustable optical attributes in terms of surface plasmon resonance. In this research, the effect of Ag and Au nanoparticles with spherical and rod shapes on the light extraction efficiency and the FWHM of OLED structures was investigated using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The simulation results displayed that by changing the shape and size of Ag and Au nanostructures, the emission wavelength can be adjusted, and the FWHM can be reduced. The presence of Ag and Au nanoparticles in the OLEDs showed a blue and red shift of the emission wavelength, respectively. Also, the Ag and Au nanorods caused a significant reduction in the FWHM and a shift to the longer wavelengths in the structures. The structures containing Ag nanorods showed the narrowest FWHM and longer emission wavelength than the other structures.

     

Dental stem cell banking: Techniques and protocols

Dental tissue-derived stem cells (DSCs) provide an easy, accessible, relatively noninvasive promising source of adult stem cells (ASCs), which brought encouraging prospective for their clinical applications. DSCs provide a perfect opportunity to apply for a patient's own ASC, which poses a low risk of immune rejection. However, problems associated with the long-term culture of stem cells, including loss of proliferation and differentiation capacities, senescence, genetic instability, and the possibility of microbial contamination, make cell banking necessary. With the rapid development of advanced cryopreservation technology, various international DSC banks have been established for both research and clinical applications around the world. However, few studies have been published that provide step-by-step guidance on DSCs isolation and banking methods. The purpose of this review is to present protocols and technical details for all steps of cryopreserved DSCs, from donor selection, isolation, cryopreservation, to characterization and quality control. Here, the emphasis is on presenting practical principles in accordance with the available valid guidelines.     

Comparison of hinge microflow fields of bileaflet mechanical heart valves implanted in different sinus shape and downstream geometry

The characterization of the bileaflet mechanical heart valves (BMHVs) hinge microflow fields is a crucial step in heart valve engineering. Earlier in vitro studies of BMHV hinge flow at the aorta position in idealized straight pipes have shown that the aortic sinus shapes and sizes may have a direct impact on hinge microflow fields. In this paper, we used a numerical study to look at how different aortic sinus shapes, the downstream aortic arch geometry, and the location of the hinge recess can influence the flow fields in the hinge regions. Two geometric models for sinus were investigated: a simplified axisymmetric sinus and an idealized three-sinus aortic root model, with two different downstream geometries: a straight pipe and a simplified curved aortic arch. The flow fields of a 29-mm St Jude Medical BMHV with its four hinges were investigated. The simulations were performed throughout the entire cardiac cycle. At peak systole, recirculating flows were observed in curved downsteam aortic arch unlike in straight downstream pipe. Highly complex three-dimensional leakage flow through the hinge gap was observed in the simulation results during early diastole with the highest velocity at 4.7 m/s, whose intensity decreased toward late diastole. Also, elevated wall shear stresses were observed in the ventricular regions of the hinge recess with the highest recorded at 1.65 kPa. Different flow patterns were observed between the hinge regions in straight pipe and curved aortic arch models. We compared the four hinge regions at peak systole in an aortic arch downstream model and found that each individual hinge did not vary much in terms of the leakage flow rate through the valves.