A new species of the genus Pergalumna Grandjean, 1936 from Iran (Acari: Oribatida: Galumnidae)

A new species of galumnid mite (Acari: Oribatida: Galumnidae), Pergalumna persica sp. n., is described from Fars province, southern Iran. The new species is characterised by a pointed rostrum, minute interlamellar setae, medium long, setiform sensilla, with finely barbed, slightly dilated head, complete dorsosejugal suture, large, nearly elongate-triangular areae porosae Aa, absence of median pore, and large body size.     

Synthesis of Injectable Shear‐Thinning Biomaterials of Various Compositions of Gelatin and Synthetic Silicate Nanoplatelet

Injectable shear‐thinning biomaterials (iSTBs) have great potential for in situ tissue regeneration through minimally invasive therapeutics. Previously, an iSTB was developed by combining gelatin with synthetic silicate nanoplatelets (SNPs) for potential application to hemostasis and endovascular embolization. Hence, iSTBs are synthesized by varying compositions of gelatin and SNPs to navigate their material, mechanical, rheological, and bioactive properties. All compositions (each component percentage; 1.5–4.5%/total solid ranges; 3–9%) tested are injectable through both 5 Fr general catheter and 2.4 Fr microcatheter by manual pressure. In the results, an increase in gelatin contents causes decrease in swellability, increase in freeze‐dried hydrogel scaffold porosity, increase in degradability and injection force during iSTB fabrication. Meanwhile, the amount of SNPs in composite hydrogels is mainly required to decrease degradability and increase shear thinning properties of iSTB. Finally, in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility tests show that the 1.5–4.5% range gelatin–SNP iSTBs are not toxic to the cells and animals. All results demonstrate that the iSTB can be modulated with specific properties for unmet clinical needs. Understanding of mechanical and biological consequences of the changing gelatin–SNP ratios through this study will shed light on the biomedical applications of iSTB on specific diseases.     

Design, synthesis and antimycobacterial activity of cinnamide derivatives: a molecular hybridization approach

A series of cinnamide derivatives was designed as potential antimycobacterial agents using molecular hybridization approach. The diamine moiety, a key feature of ethambutol and its other analogs, and certain structural features of cerulenin and cinnamic acid were hybridized to obtain cinnamide derivatives. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of all synthesized compounds was determined against M. tuberculosis H₃₇R_v using Resazurin Microtitre plate Assay (REMA) method. The synthesized molecules showed good to moderate activity with MIC in the range of 5-150 μM and good safety profile. Additionally, the most potent compound 1a, having MIC 5.1 μM exhibited synergy with rifampicin.     

Prediction of thermostability from amino acid attributes by combination of clustering with attribute weighting: a new vista in engineering enzymes

The engineering of thermostable enzymes is receiving increased attention. The paper, detergent, and biofuel industries, in particular, seek to use environmentally friendly enzymes instead of toxic chlorine chemicals. Enzymes typically function at temperatures below 60°C and denature if exposed to higher temperatures. In contrast, a small portion of enzymes can withstand higher temperatures as a result of various structural adaptations. Understanding the protein attributes that are involved in this adaptation is the first step toward engineering thermostable enzymes. We employed various supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms as well as attribute weighting approaches to find amino acid composition attributes that contribute to enzyme thermostability. Specifically, we compared two groups of enzymes: mesostable and thermostable enzymes. Furthermore, a combination of attribute weighting with supervised and unsupervised clustering algorithms was used for prediction and modelling of protein thermostability from amino acid composition properties. Mining a large number of protein sequences (2090) through a variety of machine learning algorithms, which were based on the analysis of more than 800 amino acid attributes, increased the accuracy of this study. Moreover, these models were successful in predicting thermostability from the primary structure of proteins. The results showed that expectation maximization clustering in combination with uncertainly and correlation attribute weighting algorithms can effectively (100%) classify thermostable and mesostable proteins. Seventy per cent of the weighting methods selected Gln content and frequency of hydrophilic residues as the most important protein attributes. On the dipeptide level, the frequency of Asn-Glu was the key factor in distinguishing mesostable from thermostable enzymes. This study demonstrates the feasibility of predicting thermostability irrespective of sequence similarity and will serve as a basis for engineering thermostable enzymes in the laboratory.     

Correlation of circulating omentin-1 with bone mineral density in multiple sclerosis: the crosstalk between bone and adipose tissue

Background

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) are at increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Adipose tissue-derived adipokines may play important roles in the osteoimmunology of MS. In order to determine whether omentin-1 and vaspin may be related to bone health in MS patients, we compared circulating levels of these recently identified adipokines, between MS patients and healthy controls.

Methods

A total of 35 ambulatory MS patients with relapsing-remitting courses were compared with 38 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Bone mineral density (BMD) was determined for the lumbar spine (L2–L4) and the proximal femur using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Circulating omentin-1, vaspin, osteocalcin, osteopontin, osteoprotegerin, the receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand, matrix metalloproteinase 9, C-reactive protein and 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels were evaluated by highly specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods.

Results

There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding bone-related cytokines, adipocytokines, and the BMD measurements of patients with MS and the healthy controls. However, in multiple regression analysis, serum omentin-1 levels were positively correlated with BMD at the femoral neck (β = 0.49, p = 0.016), total hip (β = 0.42, p = 0.035), osteopontin (β = 0.42, p = 0.030) and osteocalcin (β = 0.53, p = 0.004) in MS patients. No correlations were found between vaspin, biochemical, and BMD measures in both groups.

Conclusions

Elevated omentin-1 serum levels are correlated with BMD at the femoral neck and the serum levels of osteocalcin and osteopontin in MS patients. Therefore, there is crosstalk between adipose tissue and bone in MS.     

Wound dressing based on PVA nanofiber containing silk fibroin modified with GO/ZnO nanoparticles for superficial wound healing: In vitro and in vivo evaluations

Silk fibroin (SF), extracted from Bombyx mori, has unique physicochemical properties to achieve an efficient wound dressing. In this study, reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/ZnO NPs/silk fibroin nanocomposite was made, and an innovative nanofiber of SF/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/RGO/ZnO NPs was ready with the electrospinning technique and successfully characterized. The results of MIC and OD analyses were used to investigate the synthesized materials' antibacterial effects and displayed that the synthesized materials could inhibit growth against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria. However, both in vitro cytotoxicity (MTT) and scratch wound studies have shown that RGO/ZnO NPs and SF/PVA/RGO/ZnO NPs are not only non-toxic to NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, but also can cause cell viability, cell proliferation, and cell migration. Furthermore, improving the synthesized nanofiber's structural properties in the presence of RGO and ZnO NPs has been confirmed by performing tensile strength, contact angle, and biodegradation analyses. Also, in a cell attachment analysis, fibroblast cells had migrated and expanded well in the nanofibrous structures. Moreover, in vivo assay, SF/PVA/RGO/ZnO NPs nanofiber treated rats and has been shown significant healing activity and tissue regeneration compared with other treated groups. Therefore, this study suggests that SF/PVA/RGO/ZnO NPs nanofiber is a hopeful wound dressing for preventing bacteria growth and improving superficial wound repair.     

Microfacies,sedimentary environment and paleoecology of Paleocene–Eocene deposits in the Zagros Basin,north of Shiraz,southwest Iran

The Jahrum Formation act as reservoir rocks in the Zagros Mountains west of Iran. For the study of this formation, a stratigraphic section of Lapoee which is situated north of Shiraz has been examined. Petrographic and stratigraphic results along with field observations show that the Jahrum Formation consists of cream-grey thin-to-medium-bedded limestone so that at the top of the formation, they are locally changed to dolomite. The Jahrum Formation overlies the Sachun Formation. We also found Nubecularids as paleoecology indicators in middle parts of the Jahrum Formation. The presence of Nubecularids in the Lapoee stratigraphic section (i.e. the Jahrum Formation) indicates a lagoon depositional environment.