Occurrence of coliphages in urban stormwater and their fate in stormwater management systems

AIMS: To investigate the occurrence of coliphages in, and their removal from, urban stormwater. METHODS AND RESULTS: Inflow and outflow concentrations of somatic and f-specific RNA coliphages to two stormwater treatment systems were determined on 21 occasions over a period of 5 months. Somatic coliphages were detected in 19 (90%) of the constructed wetland inlet samples, 13 (62%) of the pond inlet samples, and less frequently at the outlets of the two systems. F-specific RNA coliphages were detected at the inlets but only occasionally at the pond outlet. Somatic coliphages were found to attach preferentially to particles <5 microm in size and persisted in the sediments of the two systems. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment systems providing conditions that are conducive to the settlement of fine particles may effectively remove sediment-bound coliphages and, therefore, possibly enteric viruses from stormwater. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The results will aid the design of systems for effective removal of viral contaminants from urban stormwater.     

Preparation,Statistical Optimization,and <Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> Characterization of Insulin Nanoparticles Composed of Quaternized Aromatic Derivatives of Chitosan

The aim of this study was the preparation, optimization, and in vitro characterization of insulin nanoparticles composed of methylated N-(4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzyl), methylated N-(4-pyridinyl), and methylated N-(benzyl) chitosan. Three types of derivatives were synthesized by the Schiff base reaction followed by quaternization. Nanoparticles were prepared by the polyelectrolyte complexation method. Experimental design D-optimal response surface methodology was used for the optimization of the nanoparticles. Independent variables were pH of polymer solution, concentration ratio of polymer/insulin, and also polymer type. Dependent variables include size, zeta potential, polydispersity index (PdI), and entrapment efficiency (EE%). Optimized nanoparticles were studied morphologically by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and in vitro release of insulin from nanoparticles were determined under phosphate buffer (pH = 6.8) condition. Although a quadratic model has been chosen to fit the responses for size, PdI, and EE%, the zeta potential of the particles has been best fitted to 2-FI model. The optimized nanoparticles were characterized. The size of the particles were found to be 346, 318, and 289 nm; zeta potentials were 28.5, 27.7, and 22.2 mV; PdI of particles were 0.305, 0.333, and 0.437; and calculated EE% were 70.3%, 84.5%, and 69.2%, for methylated (aminobenzyl), methylated (pyridinyl), and methylated (benzyl) chitosan nanoparticles, respectively. TEM images show separated and non-aggregated nanoparticles with sub-spherical shapes and smooth surfaces. An in vitro release study of the prepared nanoparticles showed that the cumulative percentage of insulin released from the nanoparticles were 47.1%, 38%, and 68.7% for (aminobenzyl), (pyridinyl), and (benzyl) chitosan, respectively, within 300 min.     

EBV seroepidemiology in married and unmarried women and men in Iran

Background:

Among the eight known human herpes viruses, Epstein- Barr virus (EBV) is considered to be sexually transmissible. This study was conducted to evaluate the seroepidemiology of this infection in married and unmarried Iranian couples.

Methods:

In this comparative observational and cross-sectional study, 160 men and women were divided into married and unmarried groups. Serum IgG and IgM antibodies to the EBV viral capsid antigen were analyzed by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs).

Results:

In this study 78 men and 82 women were enrolled. Ninety percent of the married and 76.2% of the unmarried women were anti-EBV IgG positive (P = 0.08), while 80% of the married and 94% of the unmarried men were antiEBV IgG positive (P = 0.052).

Conclusion:

Seroepidemiology of EBV is not significantly different in married vs. unmarried women and men in Iran; therefore, sexual contact may not be the primary mechanism of EBV transmission in Iran and other developing countries. Attention to other possible routes of transmission is recommended. Key Words: Epstein Barr Virus, Sexual contact, Anti-VCA     

Epstein Barr virus inhibits the stimulatory effect of TLR7/8 and TLR9 agonists but not CD40 ligand in human B lymphocytes

Viruses and other microorganisms express specific pathogen‐associated molecular patterns that are recognized by cell surface or endosome‐associated Toll‐like receptors (TLR). There are many examples of viruses that have developed strategies to modulate TLR signaling through the use of viral or cellular molecules. Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) has recently been found to display a complex interaction with TLR. The aim of this study was to asses the effect of EBV infection on proliferative capacity of TLR7/8 and 9 agonist and CD40 ligand (CD40L) in normal B lymphocytes. Our results demonstrate that EBV induces a significant inhibition in proliferative response to TLR7/8 (P < 0.004) and TLR9 (P < 0.000) agonists but not to CD40L stimulation in enriched human normal B lymphocytes. Similar inhibitory effect was also observed in B lymphocytes prestimulated with the TLR agonists, implying that the suppressive effect is not due to downregulation of TLR protein expression by EBV. EBV infection did not induce apoptosis and did not downregulate TLR7/8 mRNA expression in B lymphocytes. Our results suggest that EBV might be able to evade the immune system by modulation of the TLR signaling pathway.     

Chronic type-I diabetes could not impede the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of combined postconditioning with ischemia and cyclosporine A in myocardial reperfusion injury

It has been shown that diabetes modifies the myocardial responses to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and to cardioprotective agents. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of combined treatment with ischemic postconditioning (IPostC) and cyclosporine A (CsA) on inflammation and apoptosis of the diabetic myocardium injured by I/R. Eight weeks after induction of diabetes in Wistar rats, hearts were mounted on a Langendorff apparatus and were subsequently subjected to a 30-min regional ischemia followed by 45-min reperfusion. IPostC was induced at the onset of reperfusion, by 3 cycles of 30-s reperfusion/ischemia (R/I). The concentration of creatine kinase (CK), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 were determined; the levels of total and phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (p-GSK3β) and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) were quantified by western blotting, and the rate of apoptosis was assessed by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Administration of either IPostC or CsA alone in nondiabetic animals significantly reduced CK, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 concentrations, increased the p-GSK3β and Bcl-2, and decreased the level of apoptosis (P < 0.05) but had no effect on diabetic hearts. However, in diabetic animals, after administration of CsA, the cardioprotective effects of IPostC in increasing the p-GSK3β and Bcl-2 and decreasing apoptosis and inflammation were restored in comparison with nonpostconditioned diabetic hearts. IPostC or CsA failed to affect apoptosis and inflammation and failed to protect the diabetic myocardium against I/R injury. However, combined administration of IPostC and CsA at reperfusion can protect the diabetic myocardium by decreasing the inflammatory response and apoptosis.     

Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics study on radial thermal conductivity and thermal rectification of graphene

In the present study, the radial thermal rectification and thermal conductivity of the graphene were investigated by non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation and then corrected by quantum correction to make it closer to the fact. The Optimised three-body Tersoff potential is employed in order to simulate the interactions between the carbon atoms in the graphene sheet. A circular region in the centre and the one at the graphene edge are selected as hot and cold bath to generate radial temperature gradient. It is observed that the heat current passes through radially inward direction than outward with the same temperature gradient and hence there is a radial thermal rectification in graphene. Also, temperature distribution and heat flux are theoretically introduced as a function of distance from the graphene centre and then it is confirmed by the molecular dynamics simulation data. Finally, the influence of temperature gradient and size of graphene on radial thermal rectification and the impact of size on the radial thermal conductivity is investigated.     

Integrated framework of system dynamics and meta-heuristic for multi-objective land use planning problem

Land use optimization as a resource allocation problem can be defined as the process of assigning different land uses to a region. Sustainable development also involves the exploitation of environmental resources, investment orientation, technology development, and industrial changes in a coordinated form. This paper studies the multi-objective sustainable land use planning problem and proposes an integrated framework, including simulation, forecasting, and optimization approaches for this problem. Land use optimization, a multifaceted process, requires complex decisions, including selection of land uses, forecasting land use allocation percentage, and assigning locations to land uses. The land use allocation percentage in the selected horizons is simulated and predicted by designing a System Dynamics (SD) model based on socio-economic variables. Furthermore, land use assignment is accomplished with a multi-objective integer programming model that is solved using augmented ε-constraint and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) methods. According to the results of the SD model, land use changes depend on population growth rate and labor productivity variables. Among the possible scenarios, a scenario focusing more on sustainable planning is chosen and the forecasting results of this scenario are used for optimal land use allocation. The computational results show that the augmented ε-constraint method cannot solve this problem even for medium sizes. The NSGA-II method not only solves the problem at large sizes over a reasonable time, but also generates good-quality solutions. NSGA-II showed better performance in metrics, including number of non-dominated Pareto solutions (NNPS), mean ideal distance (MID), and dispersion metric (DM). Integrated framework is implemented to allocate four types of land uses consisting of residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural to a given region with 900 cells.