Changes in Physiological Parameters of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) Genotypes in Response to High Temperature under Two Different Climates

Russian Journal of Plant Physiology - Having increased the temperature of different regions, global climate change can affect plants’ growth and development. This study aimed to explore the...     

The effect of mesenchymal stem cells and imatinib on macrophage polarization in rat model of liver fibrosis

Liver fibrosis is a disorder in which inflammatory reactions play an important role, and central to the progression and pathogenesis of this disease are the immune-specific cells known as macrophages. Macrophage types are distinguished from each other by the expression of a series of surface markers. STAT6 and Arg1 play an important role in the polarization of macrophages, so these two factors are downstream of interleukin 4 (IL-4) and IL-13 cytokines and cause to differentiate M2. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the independent effects of imatinib and mesenchymal cell treatment on the polarization of macrophages in rat models of liver fibrosis. The liver fibrosis was induced by the injection of CCL4 for 6 weeks in Sprague–Dawley rats. Then, rats were divided into four different groups, and the effects of imatinib and mesenchymal cells on the expression of Arg1, Ly6c, and STAT6 were evaluated. Histopathology experiments considered the amelioration effect of treatments. Our results showed that Arg1 expression was significantly increased in the groups treated with mesenchymal cells and imatinib compared to the control group. On the other hand, expression of STAT6 was significantly increased in the imatinib-treated mice compared to mesenchymal and control groups. Moreover, the expression of LY6C significantly decreased in imatinib and mesenchymal treated groups compared to the control group. Therefore, our data showed that mesenchymal stem cells and imatinib significantly modulate the fibrotic process in rat models of fibrosis, probably by polarizing macrophages towards an anti-inflammatory profile and increasing the frequency of these cells in liver tissue.     

Environmental Risk Assessment of Dams by Using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods: A Case Study of the Polrood Dam,Guilan Province,Iran

A dam's construction always imposes some risks to the environment. In this article, the environmental risks of the Polrood dam, located in a northern province of Iran, during its construction phase, were identified, ranked, and evaluated. The risk factors were initially identified by Delphi questionnaire and then rated using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Subsequently, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to classify the risk factors into four major categories, and Expert Choice software was used to weight them. Based on the obtained results, Physicochemical; Biological; Economic, Social, and Cultural; and Health and Safety risks were rated by the weights of 0.124, 0.080, 0.048, and 0.021, respectively. Among the physicochemical risks, Erosion and Sedimentation weighted 0.061 and 0.047, respectively, were identified as the most serious risks. Among the biological risks, the highest negative impact was assigned to Land Cover with the weight of 0.189. In the third category, the most important risk was Population Displacement, weighted 0.114. Workers’ Falls with the weight of 0.109 was also determined as the highest risk in the last category. A comprehensive risk response plan will be required for dealing with the identified risks and their mitigation.