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3D printing technologies and continuous flow microreaction systems are rapidly gaining attention in the domain of heterogeneous catalysis.

Platform operators have devoted significant effort to combating misinformation on behalf of their users. Users are also stakeholders in this battle, but their efforts to combat misinformation go unsupported by the platforms. In this work, we consider three new user affordances that give social media users greater power in their fight against misinformation: (1) the ability to provide structured accuracy assessments of posts, (2) user-specified indication of trust in other users, and (3) and user configuration of social feed filters according to assessed accuracy. To understand the potential of these designs, we conducted a need-finding survey of 192 people who share and discuss news on social media, finding that many already act to limit or combat misinformation, albeit by repurposing existing platform affordances that lack customized structure for information assessment. We then conducted a field study of a prototype social media platform that implements these user affordances as structured inputs to directly impact how and whether posts are shown. The study involved 14 participants who used the platform for a week to share news while collectively assessing their accuracy. We report on users' perception and use of these affordances. We also provide design implications for platforms and researchers based on our empirical observations.

A new approach to online discussion, which situates student discussions in the margins of the course content, can enhance student engagement with course materials. However, in high-enrollment classes, the large number of comments can overwhelm and intimidate students. Some become frustrated by the volume of potential online interactions and by a perceived lack of immediate relevance to their studies. Likewise, instructors are disappointed when outstanding discussions, that they deem valuable for all to see, get lost in the clutter. To address these challenges, we propose visual spotlighting mechanisms for increasing the saliency of selected comments. We piloted and deployed multiple designs in two high-enrollment biology courses at a large public university in the United States. Interviews, surveys, and a controlled experiment show that spotlighting relevant comments in heavily annotated texts positively affects students' engagement, measured in terms of their attention to comments, and their reported sense of validation and pride. Students also reported their preferences for certain spotlighting designs.

Headlines play a critical role in how users perceive articles. But many headline publishers craft headlines in ways that either attract clicks in an attempt to earn ad revenue, or misinform users or manipulate their opinions for malicious intents. Such headlines can do harm since many users simply skim and share headlines without reading the articles in full. We present an exploratory browser extension that empowers users to suggest headlines they deem better for news articles. Users can view headlines suggested by other users that they follow as they browse websites. We conducted a study of 27 users who used the extension for one week to read news and suggest headlines. We found that users saw value in the tool and used it to change headlines that they found in need of improvement. We characterize the changes that people make to headlines if enabled. We also report on a followup study we conducted with 312 participants to evaluate headlines suggested by the tool. The purpose of the study was to examine whether headlines suggested by untrained users could be preferred over original headlines by professional editors. We found that a substantial number of the suggested headlines were indeed preferred. Our work explores the designs for, and opportunities and consequences of, empowering news consumers by giving them control over the content curation process.

The role of branding the sports performance of Iranian professional football League players was investigated by adopting a survey-based research strategy. Players with a history of competing in the Iranian Football League made up the statistical population for the study. 200 players were selected from this population as the study sample. The questionnaire data obtained were analyzed using IBM® SPSS® Amos TM 23 software. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were acceptable and a good fit. The results showed that the structural equation model used is a strong theoretical model for studying the branding of Iranian League players, and that such branding has a significant positive effect on sports performance. Therefore, sports clubs need to understand the power of branding players to increase their athletic performance in sports expertise, competitive style and fair play. On the other hand, the most important aspect of branding is branding the whole club, rather than each product or player, since each individual product can benefit from the income belonging to the brand family of the club or organization. It is suggested that professional and strategic methods can help players and motivate them to acquire the necessary skills to grow branding.

s Background Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is extremely costly to the global health system. Due to the significant frequency rate of traumatic cervical spinal cord injuries (TCSCI), the possible association between imaging findings and clinical outcome is not yet clear. In this study, we quantified maximum spinal cord compression and maximum cord swelling following TCSCI and determined the relevance of imaging findings to clinical outcome in patients. Materials and Methods This retrospective cohort comprises 20 patients with TCSCIs (C3-C7), classified as complete, incomplete, and no SCI, who were treated at the Poursina Hospital, Iran, from 2018 to 2020, and underwent spinal surgery. Patients with penetrating injuries and multiple trauma were excluded. Imaging findings revealing spinal cord compression, swelling, and canal stenosis, based on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) grades of patients from hospital admission (up to 48 hours after injury) and improvement of postoperative neurological symptoms (6–12 months) were evaluated. Results Cord compression (p = 0.05) and cord swelling (p = 0.02) were significantly related to predictive neurological outcomes in all cases. Evaluation with AIS at hospital admission and at 6 to 12 months postoperatively showed significant correlation with fracture type (p = 0.05) and the longitudinal length of the intramedullary lesion (IML); p = 0.01, respectively. Conclusion According to the results obtained in this study, it may be concluded that there is a significant association between cervical spinal cord compression and swelling, and clinical outcomes in patients with complete, incomplete, and no SCI.

This article examines the effect of the increase in the cost of living on the age of marriage in Iran. Age of marriage, reproductive age and number of children are used as dependent variables and income, unemployment and living expenses are used as independent variables in this article. The required data was collected from the distribution of 384 questionnaires among single and married men and women. For data analysis, one-sample t-test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test were used. According to the results obtained from the data analysis, with the increase in the cost of living, the age of marriage and reproductive age also increases, and also with the increase in the cost of living, the desire to have more children decreases, and there is a significant relationship between income and the number of children. This is despite the fact that there is no significant relationship between unemployment and marriage age, if unemployment and income and living expenses are dependent on each other, but in the statistical population of this article, unemployment does not explain its effect on marriage age correctly. Also, there is an inverse relationship between the amount of income and the age of marriage., {"references":["Afshari, Zahra. (2014), The effect of macroeconomic instability on women's fertility rate in Iran (using provincial panel data), Journal of Regional Economics and Development, Year 22, Number 10, pp. 1-15.","Akbarpour, Mohammad. (2014), marriage market and features of dating sites, Tejarat Farda, No. 138, pp. 1-15.","Azad Aramaki, Taghi, Sharifi et al. (2012), The emergence of new family forms in Tehran, Cultural Research Society, Research Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies, 3rd year, pp. 43-77.","Azad Aramaki, Taghi. (2016), Changes, Challenges and Future of the Iranian Family, Tehran: Tisa Publications.","Courtioux, P. VincentLignon (2016). A good career or a good marriage: The returns of higher education in France Economic Modelling, 221-237.","Gary S. Becker, A Theory of Marriage: Part I, The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 81, No. 4. (Jul. - Aug., 1973), pp. 813-846.","Gebel ,M & Heyne, S ( 2016). Delayed transitions in times of increasing uncertainty: School to-work transition and the delay of first marriage in Jordan. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility . Part A, 61-72.","Gholipour, H. Farzanegan, M. (2015). Marriage crisis and housing costs: Empirical evidence from provinces of Iran, Journal of Policy Modeling, 107-123.","Khojaste Mehr, Reza et al. (2016), married students' attitude towards marriage: a qualitative study, Psychiatric Nursing Journal, Volume 4, Number 2, pp. 19-27.","Kind regards, Vahid. (2013), economic analysis of decision making for the age of marriage, strategic studies of women, quarterly journal of the Social Council of Women and Family, 17th year, number 65, pp. 118-69.","Kind regards, Vahid. (2014), Education and the economic benefits of family formation: a test of the cross-productivity effect, Economic Research, No. 4, pp. 925-903.","Lucas, David and Paul Meyer. (1381), an introduction to population studies, translated by Hossein Mahmoudian, University of Tehran.","Park, H . KyungLee, J, (2017). Growing educational differentials in the retreat from marriage among Korean men, Social Science Research, 187-200.","Rastgar Khaled, Amir, Rahimi, Maziar and Azimi, Hajer. (2014), Attitude measurement of late marriage phenomenon studied in Ilam city, Social Studies and Research in Iran, Volume 4, pp. 685-706.","Sarmad, Zahra and others. (2012), Research Methods in Behavioral Sciences, 25th Edition, Aware Publications.","Shirkund, Shahram. (2017), Recognizing Family Economy Management (Successful Solutions in Family Economy), Transportation and Development, 6th Year, No. 65, pp. 51-42.","Statistics Center of Iran, the results of the household income and expenses survey project. Different years.","Todaro, Michael. (1377), Economic Development in the Third World, translated by Gholam Ali Farjadi, 6th edition, Higher Institute of Research in Planning and Development.","Todaro, Michael. (2016), Economic Development in the Third World, translated by Gholam Ali Farjadi and Hamid Sohrabi, second volume, Ministry of Planning and Budget.","Web 1: https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1395/02/21/1071512","Web 2: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-19/u-s-married-men-earn-much-more-than-others-demographics-trends"]}

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders. This abnormality is identified with hyperandrogenism, polycystic ovary and ovulation disorder. Environmental factors are one of the etiologies of this disease. In this systematic review, a search was performed with the keywords of polycystic ovary syndrome, PCOS, pesticides, organochlorine, heavy metals, PCBs, PAHs, bisphenol A, BPA, phthalates, mycotoxin, Tributyltin, TBT, environmental contaminants, regardless of publication time. 567 studies were obtained and after assessing 26 articles were finally selected. 61 % of the studies were attributed to bisphenol A. The positive correlation was seen between bisphenol A, tributyltin, air pollutants and organic contaminates with this disease. The association between this syndrome and bisphenol A in adolescents was also confirmed. Zinc has led to a reduction in the incidence of disease in almost all research literature. This issue can be considered in the prevention of the disease.

For the first time, alpha-ketoglutarate (AKG) was used to differentiate Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in the presence of BMP-4 and Retinoic acid. So, SSCs were isolated from testis of 3-6 day-old mice by enzymatic digestion by collagenase and trypsin. The Cell suspension was cultured for one week in DMEM/F12 and 20% FBS in presence of GDNF growth factor. The proliferated cells were divided between control and treatment groups. In the control group, the cells were cultured for three weeks in DMEM/F12 containing 10% FBS in presence of 10-6 M retinoic acid and 40 ng/ml of BMP-4. A dose of 0.1 M AKG was added to the treatment group. The presence of Sertoli cells in culture system was confirmed by positive reaction of vimentin immunocytochemistry. The colonies that appeared on Sertoli cells also showed positive alkaline phosphatase activity and Oct4 immunocytochemistry reaction. qRT-PCR studies showed that the expression of Acrosin and Sycp3 genes was low in two groups after 7 days of culture. 21 days after culture, in the treatment group, the expression of Acrosin and Sycp3 genes was significantly increased rather than control group (p≤0.05). Large number of early spermatids were observed in the treatment group based on TEM studies.

In the path to a net-zero carbon and energy transition from fossil fuel, the world is facing a dilemma of growing global energy demand and required actions on climate-related risks. While over 80% of the current global energy needs are supplied by fossil fuels, the number of carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects is limited in this sector. There is a huge gap between the scale and distribution of ongoing CCUS projects and the carbon intensity (CI) of energy-intensive industries. Furthermore, the climate impact of growing reliance on unconventional resources (Tar sands and shales) as well as the depletion of conventional resources poses challenges to the oil and gas sector to meet energy demand, while limiting their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. On the other hand, the economic viability of CCUS projects is highly sensitive to carbon credits policies, which are not yet fully integrated in a way to fill the current gap in the number, scale and distribution of these projects. Moreover, there is limited consistency between the allocated decarbonization funds and the anticipated economic growth of fossil fuel economies to promote wide-scale global resilience to carbon exposure. Therefore, it is essential to take climate-related risks, including socioeconomic impacts, into consideration for the decision-making process of companies and governments to embrace low-carbon energy. The focus of this article is on carbon resilience calibration and emissions scenario analysis in investment decisions to realize decarbonization goals through balancing short-term actions with long-term energy transition plans. The challenges and prospects of the application of CCUS technologies as an industrial decarbonization approach are discussed. Carbon footprint (CFP) observing, factoring and reporting workflows for correlating carbon exposure and resilience as part of climate assessment are introduced. Moreover, the main elements of carbon resilience scenarios are analyzed to fill the gap between the current industrial activities and decarbonization plans and to avoid making decisions solely based on economic aspects. Finally, we propose a workflow for carbon resilience calibration and a cash flow model for a sample CCUS project in the upstream oil and gas industry.

Docetaxel (DTX) is a taxane chemotherapy agent used to treat many types of cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Adenosine is a purinergic signaling molecule that contributes to cancer cell proliferation via A2B adenosine receptor (A2BAR) activation. Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) plays a crucial role in cell proliferation in various types of cancers. Stimulation of A2BAR involves a regulated ERK signaling pathway, and might provide a fascinating approach for treatment, leading to decreased proliferation in certain tumors that express A2BAR. Recent studies demonstrated that DTX and A2BAR have anticancer effects. The current study was designed to investigate the synergistic effect of the A2BAR agonist (BAY606583) on DTX in inducing antiproliferation effects on esophageal squamous cells carcinoma (ESCCs). The cell viability was assessed using the MTT assay in KYSE-30 and Ym-1 cells. In addition, the synergistic effect of DTX on the A2BAR agonist was evaluated. Subsequently, apoptosis was assessed by Annexin-V and propidium iodide staining, and Bcl-2, Bax, and ERK1/2 protein-level expressions were evaluated by Western blot. Use of BAY606583 and cotreatment of DTX and BAY606583 significantly decreased cell proliferation in KYSE-30 and Ym-1 cell lines. The use of BAY606583 and cotreatment of DTX with the A2BAR agonist induced apoptosis in KYSE-30 and Ym-1 cells. Western blot analysis revealed that the use of the A2BAR agonist and cotreatment of DTX with the A2BAR agonist inhibited the expression of apoptotic regulatory proteins as well as the expression of ERK1/2 proteins. Our findings suggested that use of BAY606583 and cotreatment of BAY606583/DTX have an antiproliferative effect on ESCC cell lines through ERK signaling pathway inhibition. BAY606583 has a synergistic effect on DTX, which could be used as an adjuvant for esophageal cancer therapy.

[Image: see text] Antibacterial resistance continues its devastation of available therapies. Novel bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors (NBTIs) offer one solution to this critical issue. Two series of amine NBTIs bearing tricyclic DNA-binding moieties as well as amide NBTIs with a bicyclic DNA-binding moiety were synthesized and evaluated against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Additionally, these compounds and a series of bicyclic amine analogues displayed high activity against susceptible and drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae, expanding the spectrum of these dioxane-linked NBTIs.

Objective Infertility had an increasing trend between couples in Iran. Several factors such as lifestyle, physical activity, unhealthy dietary habits and stress are associated with production of ROS in seminal fluid. The aim of this study was to identify the role of dietary antioxidants and vitamins intake on semen quality parameters, among Iranian infertile men. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed on 400 newly diagnosed infertile men in Yazd Reproductive sciences Institute from July 2019 to December 2019. The presence of infertility was confirmed by an expert andrologist, based on WHO criteria. Dietary antioxidants and vitamins intake were assessed using a 168 items semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Results We found an association between semen volume and Alpha Carotene dietary intake, total motility and Beta Cryptoxanthin dietary intake, and sperm count with riboflavin intake (P = 0.03). Conclusions We concluded that dietary intake of Alpha Carotene, Beta Cryptoxanthin, and Riboflavin are related to sperm count, semen volume and total motility in Iranian infertile men, respectively. Our data suggest that that adhering to a diet that is rich in sources of antioxidant and vitamin can have a positive effect on men’s sexual health. However, more research is needed to confirm these relations and provide the evidence needed to exert these findings into clinical practice.

Glioblastoma is a type of brain cancer with aggressive and invasive nature. Such features result from increased proliferation and migration and also poor apoptosis of glioma cells leading to resistance to current treatments such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In recent studies, micro RNAs have been introduced as a novel target for treating glioblastoma via regulation of apoptotic signaling pathway, remarkably PI3K/AKT, which affect cellular functions and blockage or progression of the tumor. In this review, we focus on PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and other related apoptotic processes contributing to glioblastoma and investigate the role of micro RNAs interfering in apoptosis, invasion and proliferation of glioma through such apoptotic processes pathways. Databases NCBI, PubMed, and Web of Science were searched for published English articles using keywords such as 'miRNA OR microRNA', 'Glioblastoma', 'apoptotic pathways', 'PI3K and AKT', 'Caspase signaling Pathway' and 'Notch pathway'. Most articles were published from 7 May 2015 to 16 June 2020. This study focused on PI3K/AKT signaling pathway affecting glioma cells in separated subparts. Also, other related apoptotic pathways as the Caspase cycle and Notch have been also investigated. Nearly 40 miRNAs were found as tumor suppressors or onco-miRNA, and their targets, which regulated subcomponents participating in proliferation, invasion, and apoptosis of the tumoral cells. Our review reveals that miRNAs affect key molecules in signaling apoptotic pathways, partly PI3K/AKT, making them potential therapeutic targets to overcome the tumor. However, their utility as a novel treatment for glioblastoma requires further examination and investigation.

This study aims at investigating the effect of the substrate material on growth mechanism and also microstructure of Ta2O5 thin films. For this purpose, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and interferometry analyses were implemented to reveal the influence of silicon wafer and amorphous BK7 glass substrates on the nucleation and growth mechanisms of Ta2O5 thin films deposited via the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. Results indicated that those films with finer morphologies had relatively higher nucleation densities. Compared with BK7 glass substrate, crystals formed on the silicon wafer were shown to be finer and had lower mean areas in more nucleation sites. Moreover, optical properties and morphological characteristics of the films on the silicon substrates had much more endurance after the annealing treatment. It was observed that shift in the transmission spectra of the deposited films after the treatment was insignificant, implying high packing density of the films. However, a 6-nm shift in the transmission spectra indicated low density and high porosity of the films. Finally, atomic force microscopy analysis along with the light scattering measurements confirmed the formation of a low-roughness film on the silicon wafer substrates.

Background: Blended learning is the thoughtful integration of online and face-to-face learning, which is widely accepted in nursing education. Objectives: Despite its importance and complicacy, few studies investigated this issue. This study aimed to extend knowledge regarding factors contributing to effective blended learning in nursing education. Methods: Following the Attride-Stirling content analysis method, we searched PubMed, Elsevier, Emerald, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Springer databases and national databases of SID and MagIran to identify relevant studies using various combinations of online, semi-online, hybrid, and mixed keywords from 2005 to 2018. Results: Four main themes were identified, content, context, educational activities, and evaluation. Nine identified organizer themes were as follows: Content objectives, flexibility, control and evaluation, technological capabilities, support system, teaching activities, learning activities, performance feedback, and evaluation methods. Finally, 23 basic themes codes were obtained as factors that should be embedded in the online nursing curriculum. Conclusion: Blended learning is a rational and flexible method to improve the educational performance of nursing students. However, it should be based on need assessment, appropriate planning and execution, and evaluation and feedback.

Cold plasma (CP) application has increasing interest due to its environmental-friendly, high efficient, and low cost aspects to mitigate deletion effects of heavy metals on plants. A pot experiment was carried out to evaluate the CP application on yield, physiological, and fatty acid profile of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in a completely randomized design (CRD) with five replicates. Cadmium (Cd) was applied at four levels (0, 50, 100, and 150 μM), and CP were used on germinated seeds at three levels (0, 60, and 120 s) in a hydroponic system. The results showed CP alleviated the Cd accumulation in roots, shoots, and grains. The significant reduction of grain yield (GY) and thousand grain yield (TGY) was observed in plants exposed to 100 and 150 μM compared with the control plants; however, CP improved GY and TGY particularly at severe Cd stress. The minimum chlorophyll (Chl) and relative water content (RWC) were observed in plants exposed in 100 μM Cd and non-CP treatments. Proline increased by Cd stress but decreased with CP in most treatments. Unlike proline, methionine showed significant reduction under Cd stress. The fatty acid profile of wheat represented that severe Cd stress decreased monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) but increased polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Heat map (HM) showed that GY and methionine were the most sensitive traits under treatments of Cd and CP. Totally, we suggest the use of 120 s of CP to mitigate Cd stress on wheat plants.

For over 10 years, several bolometer sensors with different properties have been tested in the IBOVAC facility. The aim has been to develop a bolometer sensor that can be operated in ITER and can withstand harsh operating conditions. For this purpose, important physical properties of the sensors, i.e., cooling time constant τ, normalized heat capacity κ, and normalized sensitivity s n, have been characterized in a vacuum condition and at various temperatures up to 300 °C. The calibration is achieved by ohmic heating of the sensor absorbers by applying a DC voltage and recording exponential current fall during heating. Recently, a Python program was developed to analyze the data and extract the above mentioned parameters including the uncertainties from recorded currents. In the present series of experiments, the latest prototype sensors developed for ITER are tested and evaluated. These include three different sensor types: two with Au absorbers on ZrO2 membranes (self-supporting substrate sensors) and one with Au absorbers on Si3N4 membranes supported by a Si frame (supported membrane sensors). Tests revealed that the sensor with ZrO2 substrate can only be operated up to 150 °C, while the supported membrane sensors passed the tests up to 300 °C successfully. These results will be used, together with other upcoming tests, such as irradiation testing, to select the most suitable sensors to be employed in ITER.

The present study was conducted 1: to compare generalized linear model (GLM), random forest (RF), and Cubist, 2: to produce available phosphorus (AP) and potassium (AK) maps, and 3: to identify covariates controlling mineral distribution in Maru’ak area, Lorestan Province. To fulfill the goals, the location of 173 soil samples was determined by the cLHS method, in four different land uses including orchards, paddy fields, and agricultural and abandoned fields. The performance of models was assessed by the R2, RMSE, and MAE. Results showed that the RF model fitted better than GLM and Cubist models, and could explain 40 and 57% of AP and AK distribution, respectively. The R2, RMSE, and MAE for the RF model were 0.4, 2.81, and 2.43 for predicting AP; and were 0.57, 143.77, and 116.61 for predicting AK, respectively. The most important predictors selected by the RF model were valley depth and SAVI for AP and AK, respectively. The maps showed higher amounts of AP and AK in apricot orchards compared to other land uses, and no difference was observed between AP and AK content of paddy fields, agricultural and abandoned area. The higher amounts of AP and AK were related to orchard management, such as not removing plant residuals and fertilizer consumptions. It can be concluded from the present study that the orchards were the best land use for the study area, which increases soil quality and is in line with sustainable management. However, before generalizing the results, more detailed research is needed.

β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) as cyclic oligosaccharide can be widely employed for preparation of controlled delivery of drugs. Hence, we synthesized a novel β-CD-based nanocarrier with superparamagnetic and molecular recognition properties for controlled release of doxorubicin (DOX) drug. The nanocarrier was prepared by using a facile ultrasonic-assisted method and through surface reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) copolymerization of core-shell Fe3O4@SiO2 nanoparticles onto vinylated β-CD. The spherical amino-functionalized Fe3O4@SiO2 nanomaterials were synthesized easily by a co-condensation green process of Fe3O4 nanoparticles with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and (3-Aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTES). The structure and composition of the as-prepared drug delivery nanocomposites were studied by FTIR, SEM, TEM, XRD, and VSM. Then, the loading and releasing behaviors of DOX drug have been investigated in detail. First of all, the loading of DOX was confirmed by UV-Vis spectra and SEM and TEM images of drug-loaded samples. The results also exhibited that the drug loading efficiency is found to be dependent on initial drug concentration, β-CD content and temperature. The drug loading capacity of nanocarrier was also compared with pure β-CD. Moreover, it was revealed that in vitro release rate of DOX was dependent on physiological solution pH. Finally, the drug release kinetics data were well fitted to the Higuchi model. In addition, biological characterizations were tested by MTT assay, which approved the high performance of the nanocarriers in killing cancerous cells. Due to its unique and distinct advantageous and properties, the synthesized nanocarriers can be utilized as a potential and promising biodegradable drug carrier for controlled and sustained release of various drugs.

Context: Spinal cord injury (SCI), a debilitating and catastrophic condition, leads to sensory motor impairments, paralysis, and high mortality. It consists of initial physical insult and secondary injury. Despite much research on SCI treatment, it is still one of the incurable damages because of its complex pathophysiology and limited neuronal regeneration ability. In recent years, stem cell therapy has been a promising and exciting strategy for SCI treatment. Evidence Acquisition: In this review, the articles published in PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Scopus from 2000 to 2022 were collected using keywords such as spinal cord injury, stem cell therapy, neuroprotection, neuroregeneration, neurotrophic factors, anti-inflammatory cytokines, and neural cell death. The articles whose full texts were available and met the inclusion criteria were examined. According to the inclusion criteria, 30 articles were analyzed. Results: Stem cell therapy can promote neuroplasticity and neuroregeneration in the damaged spinal cord. Grafted cells can reconstruct nerves and create new circuits after SCI. Stem cell transplantation can also replace lost oligodendrocytes, thus promoting axon remyelination. Many neurotrophic factors and anti-inflammatory cytokines are secreted by transplanted stem cells to decrease secondary injury and neural cell death, thus inhibiting the glial scar formation after SCI. Stem cells also have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anti-apoptotic effects. Grafted stem cells can block microglial activation and astrocyte reactivity and enhance revascularization. Conclusions: Stem cells isolated from different tissues can be promising candidates and attractive options for treating the injured spinal cord. Despite remarkable progress in animal studies, cell transplantation's clinical efficacy and adequacy for SCI remain limited and dubitable. Many essential challenges must be considered in translation to the clinic. It is hoped that the invention of new methods and the anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, antioxidant, and neuronal repair properties of stem cells can effectively improve the sensorimotor function of patients with SCI.

Water resources modeling can provide valuable information to planners. In this respect, water yield is an ecosystem service with significant roles in the sustainability of societies and ecosystems. The present study aimed to model the supply and demand of water resources and identify their scarcity and stress in the Sirvan river basin. For this purpose, we employed the ecosystem services concept as new thinking in earth sciences and using soil, climate, and land use data. Firstly, the Landsat satellite images of 2019 were prepared after different corrections, and the land use map was produced. Then, precipitation, evapotranspiration, root restricting layer depth, and evapotranspiration coefficients of the land uses were prepared and modeled in the InVEST 3.8.9 software environment. The findings indicated that the water yield in this river basin is 5,381 million m3, with sub-basins 5, 11, and 1 having the highest water yield per year and sub-basin 2 having the lowest water yield. Moreover, sub-basins 5 and 11 had the highest water consumption. Based on the estimated water scarcity and stress index, sub-basin 8 has experienced water scarcity and sub-basin 4 water stress. We conclude that applying the InVEST Water Yield model to assess water resource status at the basin and sub-basins level can provide suitable results for planning.

The antagonists of the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R) are known for their anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, antiemetic, and anticancer activities. Aprepitant, a nonpeptide NK1R antagonist, is used in nausea and vomiting, the most common side effects of cancer chemotherapy in patients. It has been established that NK1R activation by substance P (SP), which links cancer promotion and progression to a neurokinin-mediated environment, became one mechanism that corresponds to the mitogenesis of tumor cells. Therefore, this study is aimed at explaining and evaluating the anticancer impacts of aprepitant on esophageal squamous cancer cell (ESCC) spheres by using in vitro experiments, such as resazurin, ROS, annexin-V binding, RT-PCR, and Western blot analysis. As a result, we showed that aprepitant had strong antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects on ESCC cell spheres. Also, aprepitant caused significant G2-M cell cycle arrest depending on concentration increase. Further, exposure of cells to this agent resulted in caspase -8/-9-dependent apoptotic pathway activation by modifying the expression of genes involved in apoptosis. Besides, treatment of the cells by aprepitant abrogates of the PI3K/Akt pathway, as shown by reducing the level of Akt, induces apoptotic cell death. In summary, pharmacological inhibition of NK1R with aprepitant seems to have a significant chance of treating ESCC as a single agent or in conjunction with other chemotherapeutic drugs.

The goal of this study was to create highly efficient dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) using strontium doped zinc oxide-reduced graphene oxide (Sr-doped ZnO/rGO) nanocomposites. As photo-anodes of DSSCs, ZnO, ZnO/rGO (with weight percent rGO in composites: 0, 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, and 1 wt%) and Sr-doped ZnO/rGO (with Zn1-xSrxO nanoparticle stoichiometry: x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08) nanocomposites were designed and characterized. AFM, FESEM, XRD, EDS, XPS, PL, and FTIR analyses were used to investigate the morphology and structure properties of prepared nanocomposites. UV–vis spectroscopy and photo-electrochemical measurements were used to investigate the efficiency of prepared photo-anodes. The efficiency (η) and short-circuit photocurrent density (JSC) of DSSCs based on Zn0.92Sr0.08O/rGO nanocomposite were 7.98 % and 18.4 mA cm−2, respectively. The results showed that doping Sr on ZnO/rGO nanocomposites resulted in a wide bandgap energy and increased the values of η, JSC, IPCE, and photo-anode electron transportability. These findings suggest that Sr-doped ZnO/rGO nanocomposites can provide a novel approach for increasing photo-electrochemical activity in ZnO-based DSSCs.

Nowadays, opinion texts are quickly published on websites and social networks by various users in the form of short texts and also in high volumes and various fields. Because these texts reflect the opinions of many users, their processing and analysis, such as clustering, can be very useful in a variety of applications including politics, industry, commerce, and economics. High dimensions of the text representation decrease efficiency of clustering, and an effective solution for this challenge is reducing dimensions of texts. Manifold learning is a powerful tool for nonlinear dimension reduction of high-dimensional data. Therefore, in this paper, for increasing efficiency of opinion texts clustering, by manifold learning, dimensions of the represented opinion texts are reduced based on sentiment and semantics, and their intrinsic dimensions are extracted. Then, the clustering algorithm is applied to dimension-reduced opinion texts. The proposed approach helps us to cluster opinion texts with simultaneous consideration of sentiment and semantics, which has received very little attention in the previous works. This type of clustering helps users of opinion texts to obtain more useful information from texts and also provides more accurate summaries in applications, such as the summarization of opinion texts. Experimental results on three datasets show better performance of the proposed approach on opinion texts in terms of important measures for evaluating clustering efficiency. An improvement of about 9% is observed in terms of accuracy on the third dataset and clustering based on sentiment and semantics.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most important gynecological disorders of women in the age of reproduction. Different hormonal and inflammatory cross-talks may play in the appearance of its eventual complications as a leading cause of infertility. Excessive production of reactive oxygen species over the power of the antioxidant system as oxidative stress is known to contribute to a variety of diseases like PCOS. Thus, the utilization of antioxidants can be efficient in preventing or assistant in treating these diseases. In this review, we describe the clinical trial studies that have examined the efficiency of antioxidant strategies against PCOS and the possible underlying mechanisms. The investigations presented here lead us to consider that targeting oxidative stress pathways is probably a powerful promising therapeutic approach towards PCOS. There is preparatory evidence of the effectiveness of antioxidant interventions in ameliorating some of the PCOS complications, including metabolic and hormonal disorders. Due to limited data and relatively few clinical trials, many of these interventions need further investigation before they can be considered effective agents for routine clinical use.

DNA repair is an important pathway for the protection of DNA molecules from destruction. DNA damage can be produced by oxidative reactive nitrogen or oxygen species, irritation, alkylating agents, depurination and depyrimidination; in this regard, DNA repair pathways can neutralize the negative effects of these factors. Melatonin is a hormone secreted from the pineal gland with an antioxidant effect by binding to oxidative factors. In addition, the effect of melatonin on DNA repair pathways has been proven by the literature. DNA repair is carried out by several mechanisms, of which homologous recombination repair (HRR) and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) are of great importance. Because of the importance of DNA repair in DNA integrity and the anticancer effect of this pathway, we presented the effect of melatonin on DNA repair factors regarding previous studies conducted in this area.

Background: Social health is defined as the individual’s ability to effectively and efficiently play social roles without hurting other people. It is the examination of an individual’s activities and status in society. Saffron cultivation, given its special properties, such as teamwork, cooperation, and social correlation, plays a major role in social health. Thus, the current study was done to compare the social health components among the farmers in saffron villages and the others in South Khorasan Province. Methods: The current study was applied and comparative. The statistical population included the farmers in saffron villages and the others in South Khorasan Province in 2018. The sample consisted of 550 farmers (275 producing saffron and 275 producing other plants) based on the Cochran formula who were selected through multistage sampling. The tool used to collect the data was Keyes’s standard Social Well-being Questionnaire (2004), consisting of 28 questions. After collecting the questionnaires, the data were analyzed using SPSS v. 23 and an independent t-test at a significance level of P

Background Cellular vascularization processes including proliferation, migration, and tube formation are selectively the purpose of current angiogenic inhibitors. In this study, we investigated the impact of Urtica dioica agglutinin (UDA) on the cellular vascularization processes events. Methods and Results Different concentrations of UDA were treated on various normal (HUVEC, MCF-10A and HDF from human and L-929 from mouse) and cancer (A431 and U87 from human and 4T1 from mouse) cell lines at different times. The MTT, cell migration assay, differentiation of endothelial cells, and expression of VEGF-A/VEGF-R2 and integrin α2 were evaluated. The MTT results demonstrated that UDA was non-toxic on normal cells whereas this lectin was able to prevent the growth of neoplastic cells. The migratory capacity of HUVECs and U87 Glioblastoma cells was inhibited by UDA in wound repair model. This lectin was a preventive agent for HUVECs-induced vessel sprouting in Collagen-cytodex matrix. Also, down-regulation of the VEGF-integrin cross-talk in HUVECs under the UDA treatment confirmed the anti-angiogenic activity of this molecule. Conclusions Based on our findings, UDA may have an effect on the proliferation of cancer cells and vascularization events with minimal toxicity on normal cells through binding glyco-conjugates which bear GlcNAc/Man oligomer like EGFR. This is a blue clue for the angiogenesis-related therapeutic importance of UDA.

Background: SOX2OT is a novel cancer associated long non-coding RNA (LncRNA) with higher expression in variable tumor tissues, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). It also plays an important function in embryonic neuronal development. Regarding its function in both stemness and carcinogenesis, here, we aimed to investigate its expression and function in tumorspheres of the esophagus using the RNAi method. Material & Methods: Two esophageal squamous cancer cells (ESCC): KYSE30 and YM1 cells were used for sphere enrichment. Cells were transfected with SOX2OT targeting and control siRNA. The size and the number of spheres were measured using light microscopy. Gene expression of the pluripotency genes was measured by qRT-PCR and docetaxel chemoresistance was assessed by MTS viability assay. Results: Our findings showed that ESCC tumorspheres overexpress SOX2OT gene along with other stemness genes (SOX2, OCT4A, and Nanog) compared to their original cancer cells. RNAi experiments indicated that SOX2OT knockdown can suppress the stemness-related gene expression, sphere formation ability (both size and number), and docetaxel resistance as three of the main cancer stem cell characteristics of tumorspheres. Conclusion: Altogether our results showed the regulatory role of SOX2OT in pluripotency and stemness in ESCC tumorspheres. Our results suggest a potential application of SOX2OT inhibition in combination with docetaxel for ESCC inhibition in vitro.