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Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) provide information about the function of the outer hair cells of the cochlea. In high-income countries, infants undergo OAE tests as part of the screening protocols for hearing. However, the cost of the necessary equipment hinders early screening for hearing in low- and middle-income countries, which disproportionately bear the brunt of disabling hearing loss. Here we report the design and clinical testing of a low-cost probe for OAEs. The device, which has a material cost of approximately US$10, uses an off-the-shelf microphone and off-the-shelf earphones connected to a smartphone through a headphone jack. It sends two pure tones through each of the headphone's earbuds and algorithmically detects the distortion-product OAEs generated by the cochlea and recorded via the microphone. In a clinical study involving 201 paediatric ears across three healthcare sites, the device detected hearing loss with 100% sensitivity and 88.9% specificity, comparable to the performance of a commercial device. Low-cost devices for OAE testing may aid the early detection of hearing loss in resource-constrained settings.

BACKGROUND: The discovery of miRNA/mRNA interactions in several biological samples prompted the researchers to explore new biomarkers in tumors. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the interactions of miRNA/mRNA in response to radiotherapy in the plasma samples of rectal cancer patients. METHODS: Five microarray datasets related to cancerous and non-cancerous individuals were first used to construct networks. The databases of Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were applied to analyze pathway enrichment. The plasma samples were then collected from 55 patients with recently diagnosed rectal cancer and 10 healthy subjects. For radiotherapy courses, the patients have consecutively received 30 sessions of local radiation for six weeks. At last, the expression of selected genes and miRNAs was experimentally measured before and after radiotherapy by qPCR, and the protein levels of the target genes were measured by ELISA assay. We evaluated the therapeutic responses based on the tumor regression grade of the Dworak classification. RESULTS: We identified 5 up-regulated and 5 down-regulated miRNAs and 8 up-regulated and 3 down-regulated genes of the databases. There was a significant increase in tumor suppressor miRNAs, including miR-101-3p, miR-145-5p, miR-26a-5p, miR-34a-5p, and a significant decrease in oncomiRs, including miR-221-3p and miR-17-5p, after radiotherapy compared to the pre-treatment. Moreover, the up-regulated miR-17-5p and miR-221-5p and the down-regulated miR-101-3p and miR-145-5p were directly related to rectal cancer through the interaction with the Wnt, RAS, PI3K, and TGF-β signaling pathways. An analysis of receiver operating characteristics showed that miRNAs 221, 17, and 23 were response-related in locally advanced rectal cancer patients. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that monitoring the miRNA/mRNA interactions during radiotherapy can be an appropriate diagnostic tool to track the recovery process and respond to standard therapies.

Applying a constant electric field on a suspended film of liquid that carries an electric current, either by the transport of ions or surface charges, induces a rotation in the film. This system is known as “liquid film motor”. So far, the effect of permittivity of the liquid on its rotation has been ignored. We showed that the permittivity of the liquid can significantly affect the dynamics of rotation. Using an experimental approach, we studied the liquid film rotation for a broad range of pure liquids with diverse permittivities and surface tensions. We observed two different regimes of rotation depending on the permittivity of the liquids. We also found that there is no correlation between the surface tension of the liquid and the angular velocity of the rotation. We considered a theoretical framework and suggested scenarios to explain our experimental observations. These results help in better understanding the physics of liquid film motors and suggest opportunities for new flow manipulation techniques at small scales.

This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of a spiritual care program (SCP), on the body image and resilience of second-degree burn patients in Iran. In this semi-experimental study, 60 patients with second-degree burns were selected in the Tehran Mottahari Burns Hospital, Iran in 2022. These patients were divided through random allocation into two intervention and control groups. The patients of both groups filled out Beck's self-esteem Test (BSCT) and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) before, immediately, and 3 months after the intervention. In the intervention group, SCP was performed for eight sessions over two weeks. Firstly, the 4D Model of Spiritual Health and Well-Being was examined, then two one-hour sessions were held with each patient about each dimension, with a total of four dimensions including eight sessions, in which these dimensions were examined and discussed. There was no difference in the score of body image (P = 0.326) and resilience (P = 0.597) before intervention in the control and intervention groups. However, the mean of body image score in the intervention group immediately (109.56 ± 4.86) and 3 months after (109.16 ± 6.06) the intervention was significant, respectively. Also, the mean of resilience score in the intervention group was significant immediately (85.86 ± 6.78) and 3 months after the intervention (85.73 ± 6.27). It is suggested for healthcare providers to use the SCP

A liquid film that is under the action of two electric forces, an external electric field parallel to the film and a lateral voltage difference applied to both edges of the film, exhibits a universal rotational flow. In this article, we revisit this phenomena by considering an idealized so-called liquid-film motor and provide a theoretical description of the underlying physical mechanism that is responsible for the rotation. Based on this theory, the external electric field induces a non-uniform distribution of freely moving charges on the film. Then the internal field that is mainly resulted from the lateral voltage difference, will exert forces on induced charges and subsequently will result the rotational flow. We show, how the fields contribute in developing a universal flow pattern.

In this paper, boundary control (BC) laws are designed to find a BC solution for a single-link nonlinear vertical manipulator to suppress the link’s transverse vibrations and control the rigid body...

During Iraq-Iran conflict, chemical weapons, particularly SM gas, were used numerous times, whose aftereffects are still present. This study aimed to compare serum proteome in the chronic ML (n = 10) and HC (n = 10). TMT label-based quantitative proteomics was used to examine serums from two groups. Among total significant proteins, 14 proteins were upregulated (log2 ≥ FC 0.5, p 0.05), and 6 proteins were downregulated (log2 ≤ FC − 0.5, p 0.05). By helping PPI network, and EA, 11 main pathways connected to significantly different protein expression levels were discovered, including inflammatory and cell adhesion signaling pathways. It may be deduced that the wounded organs of exposed individuals experience poor repair cycles of cell degeneration and regeneration because certain repair signals were elevated while other structural and adhesion molecules were downregulated. The systems biology approach can help enhance our basic knowledge of biological processes, and contribute to a deeper understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms, as well as the identification of potential biomarkers of disease.

In the present paper, guided wave propagation along a composite plate was simulated using a 3D Finite Element (FE) model in order to characterize the potential damage due to impact. The wave is induced by a piezoelectric transducer. A pristine composite case and various cases representing different commonly observed impact damage modes were created. The wavefield contour and out-of-plane displacement data at different sensors between the pristine and damage cases were then compared to differentiate type of damage existing within the composite plate. It is found that observed wave propagation pattern and signals had significant difference between delamination cases and pristine one and the maximum amplitude of out-of-plane displacement of the plate during wave propagation increases with increasing delamination size when wave reaches and passes damaged area. The wave propagation in a composite plate with earlier stage damage, i.e., matrix cracks simulated in the present study, however, shows little difference compared to the pristine case for the wavelet frequencies studied herein.

In the 5G-envisioned Internet of vehicles (IoV), a significant volume of data is exchanged through networks between intelligent transport systems (ITS) and clouds or fogs. With the introduction of Software-Defined Networking (SDN), the problems mentioned above are resolved by high-speed flow-based processing of data in network systems. To classify flows of packets in the SDN network, high throughput packet classification systems are needed. Although software packet classifiers are cheaper and more flexible than hardware classifiers, they could only deliver limited performance. A key idea to resolve this problem is parallelizing packet classification on graphical processing units (GPUs). In this paper, we study parallel forms of Tuple Space Search and Pruned Tuple Space Search algorithms for the flow classification suitable for GPUs using CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture). The key idea behind the offered methodology is to transfer the stream of packets from host memory to the global memory of the CUDA device, then assigning each of them to a classifier thread. To evaluate the proposed method, the GPU-based versions of the algorithms were implemented on two different CUDA devices, and two different CPU-based implementations of the algorithms were used as references. Experimental results showed that GPU computing enhances the performance of Pruned Tuple Space Search remarkably more than Tuple Space Search. Moreover, results evinced the computational efficiency of the proposed method for parallelizing packet classification algorithms.

Saffron (dried stigmas of Crocus sativus) is an aromatic crop belonging to Iridaceae family. The microorganisms in soil are main factors affecting the production and quality of Crocus sativus. We have studied the microbial relationships between Saffron rhizosphere and quality indices of Crocus sativus (crocin, picrocrocin, and safranal) using a Metagenomic approach. It was found that despite the similar climatic conditions, the quality of Saffron in a region is higher than other regions. This can be related to different microbes in root zone or rhizosphere layer. The purpose was to investigate and compare soil microbiome rhizosphere compared to other regions, as a result, to identify the microbiome affecting the quality of Saffron. In this research, rhizosphere soil of different regions in Ghayen(Iran), the center of high quality Saffron, was firstly sampled during harvesting time. In the next step, soil DNA was extracted, and the 16srRNA gene sequence of each sample was identified based on the RNA-Seq method; finally, the microbiome of the samples was analyzed. The results indicated that beneficial bacteria such as Kosakonia, Enterobacter, Salmonella, Plesiomonas, Pasteurella, Lactococcus, and Mitsuaria have a significant impact on increasing Saffron quality. Such bacteria, which affect the quality of Crocus sativus, increase carbon source, nitrogen fixation, auxin synthesis, dissolved phosphate production, γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) production, increase the activity of antioxidant enzymes and increase plant growth stimulants; and can improve the quality of Saffron.

Topic detection is the task of determining and tracking hot topics in social media. Twitter is arguably the most popular platform for people to share their ideas with others about different issues. One such prevalent issue is the COVID-19 pandemic. Detecting and tracking topics on these kinds of issues would help governments and healthcare companies deal with this phenomenon. In this paper, we propose a novel, multi-agent, communicative clustering approach, so-called ComStreamClust for clustering sub-topics inside a broader topic, e.g., COVID-19. The proposed approach is parallelizable, and can simultaneously handle several data-point. The LaBSE sentence embedding is used to measure the semantic similarity between two tweets. ComStreamClust has been evaluated on two datasets: the COVID-19 and the FA CUP. The results obtained from ComStreamClust approve the effectiveness of the proposed approach when compared to existing methods., Comment: 11 pages, 6 Figures, 4 Tables

Background: Quinolone resistant Salmonella serotypes have been reported in recent years and have become increasingly widespread worldwide. Objectives: We evaluated the molecular mechanism of quinolone resistance in non-typhoidal Salmonella strains isolated from clinical samples in Tehran, Iran. Methods: The present study included the Salmonella isolates originated from hospitalized individuals and outpatients in Tehran, Iran. Serotyping of nalidixic acid-resistant Salmonella isolates was done by slide agglutination method. Then, the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) of topoisomerase gene gyrA and the plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) determinants were detected using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis was also employed to determine the possible mutation in the gyrA gene of those strains. Mutant strains were detected by enzymatic digestion, and their PCR products were sequenced immediately. Results: Amongst 141 isolates, 60% showed nalidixic acid resistance, whereas none of them were ciprofloxacin-resistant. The commonly prevalent serotypes were S. Enteritidis and S. Infantis. Of 85 nalidixic acid-resistant strains, 17 (20%) isolates harbored the qnrS gene. However, PCR analysis of the quinolone-resistant strains did not detect qnrA and qnrB genes. PCR-RFLP and sequencing analysis of the QRDRs of the gyrA gene indicated that 16 (18.8%) isolates had mutant patterns, and the most common point mutation was serine to phenylalanine at position 83. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that point mutations in gyrA and the existence of plasmid-mediated gene qnrS were important mechanisms of quinolone resistance in non-typhoidal Salmonella strains isolated from human origin. Other alternative mechanisms of resistance, such as alterations in the expression of efflux pumps, should be studied to provide greater insight into the molecular mechanism of quinolone-resistant non-typhoidal Salmonella isolates.

This paper considers the vehicle control process in emergency lane change (ELC). The control method is divided into two parts: before crossing the obstacle and after crossing it. The first part is done by a feed-forward controller inspired by the driver’s behavior pattern in the ELC maneuver. This controller is compensated by a neural network system and two proportional-integral (PI) and proportional-derivative (PD) controllers, which correct the output of the feed-forward controller to follow the path more accurately. The second part consists of two PD controllers responsible for controlling and steering the vehicle in the main path after crossing the obstacle. The main novelty of the proposed method is that the computational burden is low because of using a feed-forward controller, which is the main source of the calculation’s burden. So as a result, the controller system can cover the ELC maneuver in under 2 seconds in various lateral displacements to bypass the obstacle and prevent collisions. The co-simulations are performed in CarSim software and MATLAB/Simulink, which shows that the control system can appropriately steer the vehicle and follow the desired at different speeds, in the presence of road friction and parameter uncertainty.

Aptamers can be regarded as efficient substitutes for monoclonal antibodies in many diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Due to the tedious and prohibitive nature of SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment), the in silico methods have been developed to improve the enrichment processes rate. However, the majority of these methods did not show any effort in designing novel aptamers. Moreover, some target proteins may have not any binding RNA candidates in nature and a reductive mechanism is needed to generate novel aptamer pools among enormous possible combinations of nucleotide acids to be examined in vitro. We have applied a genetic algorithm (GA) with an embedded binding predictor fitness function to in silico design of RNA aptamers. As a case study of this research, all steps were accomplished to generate an aptamer pool against aminopeptidase N (CD13) biomarker. First, the model was developed based on sequential and structural features of known RNA-protein complexes. Then, utilizing RNA sequences involved in complexes with positive prediction results, as the first-generation, novel aptamers were designed and top-ranked sequences were selected. A 76-mer aptamer was identified with the highest fitness value with a 3 to 6 time higher score than parent oligonucleotides. The reliability of obtained sequences was confirmed utilizing docking and molecular dynamic simulation. The proposed method provides an important simplified contribution to the oligonucleotide-aptamer design process. Also, it can be an underlying ground to design novel aptamers against a wide range of biomarkers.

The critical aesthetic theory of Frankfurt school regards art as an independent field and emphasizes its genuineness. According to this theory, success of a work of art depends on irreconcilability to compatibilities and disapproval of them. Ali Ahmad Saeid, a contemporary Arab poet, has been considered as a modernist in Arabic literature, and he has tried to use new language structures to experience new poetry. His critical language shakes the dominant ruling system and reveals the contrasts in the society. He tries to create a society based on justice, freedom and thinking. This research seeks to review Adonis's critical poetry in his anthology based on critical linguistics and the conceptual analysis method. The chapters of his book of poems challenge the events in the society, raise public awareness and awaken the society so as to criticize the current turbulent situation freely. The research gives evidence that the poet not only believes in the independence of poets of the government or certain people but also regards this as a poet’s duty to stand against any force which restricts him.

In the present study, a series of all-atom molecular dynamics simulations were applied to shed light on the molecular mechanism of the activity of CM11, a short cecropin–melittin hybrid peptide obtained through a sequence combination approach, against gram-positive (GP) and gram-negative (GN) bacterial membrane models. In addition, the peptide adsorption mechanism on the surface of the membrane models, the thermodynamic and structural contribution of each residue in the antibacterial activity of the peptide against both GP and GN bacterial membranes were investigated. Our findings showed that the peptide was strongly bound to the GP membrane type in comparison with the GN membrane and was stabilized quickly. These strong bonds are caused by the interactions between basic residues and POPG molecules, which have higher concentrations in GP than GN membranes. Calculation of binding free energies revealed that both electrostatic and van der Waals energy components were desired for the peptide binding and insertion in the membrane. Electrostatic interactions were the main driving force in the adsorption and surface localization of the peptide. Determining the contribution of each residue to the binding free energy indicated that W1, K2, K5, K6 and K9 residues played an important role in the activity of the peptide. These results can be used as a roadmap to provide in-depth insights into the design of appropriate peptides in the fight against multidrug-resistant bacteria.

There are numerous experimentally validated simulations for mono-dispersed systems in the literature based on discrete element method (DEM). In practice, however, most of granular systems consist of polydispersed assemblies of particles. Few studies have considered the effect of polydispersity, and yet fewer have experimentally validated the results. In this study, application of a new experimental method for granular flow analysis is presented, capable of validating the results of an in-house developed GPU-based DEM solver in both monodispersed and polydispersed assemblies. Silo discharge is chosen as the case study in which discharge time, flow pattern and more importantly, the outlet composition variation with time (for polydispersed configurations) have been experimentally evaluated and validated with numerical results. The outlet composition, which is the ratio of fine to coarse particles in the outlet stream, is an essential measure of segregation in polydispersed silos, and its numerical prediction can be correct only if the interactions between fine and coarse particles within the silo are modelled precisely. Measuring this parameter is not possible using conventional experimental methods established in silo discharge studies such as high speed photographing or high-frequency weight measurement of the bed. A new apparatus has been developed which can measure this parameter. The device is a compartmented wheel rotating with a motor which gathers the outlet stream of the silo into different compartments. Due to practical limitations, design and function of the apparatus are not ideal. Forward mixing, distribution of particles with the same resident time in different compartments, is the most critical problem. Non-idealities must be compensated by means of post-processing codes so that comparable results are obtained from experiment and simulation.

One of the most important issues in the national and international arena in recent decades, especially in the present era, is the issue of the drug phenomenon and its harmful effects on human societies. All societies and most governments agree that drugs and crime As a result, it poses a serious threat to the human race. However, you have to think of a solution to this sinister phenomenon. The solutions that have been implemented in recent years have been based on a kind of criminal strictness in punishments. Thus, the main policy of the deterrence view is to threaten or enforce criminal penalties to reduce the motive for the crime; That is, the use of punishment as a deterrent that prevents the offender from repeating the crime and also reduces the motivation of others to commit the same crime in general. In Iran's anti-narcotics criminal law, too, a strict approach has always been taken towards drug offenders and with severe punishments of deprivation of liberty and deprivation of life. However, in recent years, a fundamental question has been raised in this regard, whether the imposition of severe punishments such as execution and life imprisonment, etc., has had the effect of deterring the commission of drug-related crimes? In the present article, which has been done in a descriptive-analytical method, using library resources and texts, with the aim of explaining and explaining the deterrence of severe punishments related to drug crimes, and in this regard, different dimensions of the issue in terms of field, statistics, policy The criminological and sociological studies have concluded that the intensification of punishment does not play a significant role in crime prevention and that recognizing the causes of crime and adopting preventive and corrective approaches is more necessary and effective than necessary. In this article, in addition to brief references to the purposes of punishment, deterrence as one of the most famous and oldest theories of justification of punishment and its types, the subject of this type of application is severely restrained. Punishments do not in principle have the effect of deterring drug-related crimes, and it is better for the legislature to pay more attention to non-criminal methods of prevention.

Gene selection methods are critical in cancer classification, which depends on the expression of a small number of biomarker genes, which have been a significant issue of enormous recent studies. Microarray technology allows generating tumors gene expression datasets. Cancer classification based on these datasets commonly has a kind of small sample size against the number of genes involved and includes multiclass categories. In this paper, grey wolf algorithm was used for extracting notable features in the pre-processing stage, and deep neural network (DNN) was used as deep learning for improving the accuracy degree of cancer detection from three datasets, i.e., STAD (Stomach adenocarcinoma), LUAD (lung adenocarcinoma) and BRCA (breast invasive carcinoma). The proposed method achieved the highest accuracy for these three datasets. The proposed method was able to achieve accuracy close to 100. Furthermore, the proposed method was compared with linear support vector machine classification, RBF, the nearest neighbor, linear regression, one vs. all, Naive Bayes, and decision tree algorithms. The proposed method had 0.57 improvement on the LUAD dataset, 1.11 optimization on the STAD dataset, and 0.78 development on the BRCA dataset.

There are a plenty of templates and styles for the comic genre of writing. One of these templates is karikalamator, a kind of writing stunt from a different point of view to highlight the contradictions of the world and the phenomena in it. Among contemporary Arab comedians, Ahmad Matar is one of the most prolific and famous authors in this field. As a committed poet, in his poems, he recreates his subjects in his poems and presents the spiritual conflicts and inconsistencies of speech and action to his audience. In his caricatures, he uses some tools and strategies like alliteration, personification, simile, allusion, Irony, paradox, antonomasia, and half-truth. In this article using a descriptive-analytical method, first, the samples of his karikalamator are presented in the poems of Ahmad Matar as a master of this technique in the contemporary Arabic literature. Then, the strategies that have been used by the poet are categorized and described. Since Ahmad Matar was a caricature designer, some cartoons and caricature patterns have been attached to his karikalamator to show the visual capability of his karikalamator. The results of the research reveal that Ahmad Matar utilizes karikalamator as a method to show the existing contradictions and differences on the one hand and to unmask the reality of inactive and garrulous governors as well as the indifference and incuriosity of Arab citizens on the other hand. In this regard, he dreams of the ignominy of governors and betterment of the people of his land.

Combustion of heavy fuels is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases, particulate emissions, ashes, NOx and SOx. Gasification is an advanced and environmentally friendly process that generates combustible and clean gas products such as hydrogen. Some entrained flow gasifiers operate with Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) feedstock. In this application, HFO atomization is very important in determining the performance and efficiency of the gasifiers. The atomization characteristics of HFO (Mazut) discharging from a pressure-swirl atomizer (PSA) are studied for different pressures difference (Δp) and temperatures in the atmospheric ambient. The investigated parameters include atomizer mass flow rate ( m ), discharge coefficient (CD), spray cone angle (θ), breakup length (Lb), the unstable wavelength of undulations on the liquid sheet (λs), global and local SMD (sauter mean diameter) and size distribution of droplets. The characteristics of Mazut sheet breakup are deduced from the shadowgraph technique. The experiments on Mazut film breakup were compared with the predictions obtained from the liquid film breakup model. Validity of the theory for predicting maximum unstable wavelength was investigated for HFO (as a highly viscous liquid). A modification on the formulation of maximum unstable wavelength was presented for HFO. SMD decreases by getting far from the atomizer. The measurement for SMD and θ were compared with the available correlations. The comparisons of the available correlations with the measurements of SMD and θ show a good agreement for Ballester and Varde correlations, respectively. The results show that the experimental sizing data could be presented by Rosin-Rammler distributions very well at different pressure difference and temperatures.

BACKGROUND: Considerable evidence supports that SLE could be related to apoptotic cells and EBV infection. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the transcriptional signature of EBV infection in SLE patients for survey of the molecular apoptosis signaling pathways. METHODS: The PBMCs gene expression profiles of healthy control and SLE patients were obtained from GEO. Functional annotation and signaling pathway enrichment were carried out using DAVID, KEGG. To validate bioinformatics analysis the changes in genes expression of some of obtained genes, Real time PCR was performed on PBMCs from 28 SLE patients and 18 controls. RESULTS: We found that mean viral load was 6013 ± 390.1 copy/μg DNA from PBMCs in all patients. QRT-PCR results showed that the expression of the DUSP1 and LAMP3 genes which had most changes in the logFC among 4 candidate genes, increased significantly in comparison with control. The consistent expression of LMP2 as viral latency gene involve in apoptosis signaling pathways was detected in SLE patients with EBV viral load and some controls. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicated that some cellular genes may have an important role in pathogenesis of SLE through apoptosis signaling pathways. Beside, EBV infection as an environmental risk factor for SLE may affect the dysfunction of apoptosis.

In the last century, the emergence of in silico tools has improved the quality of healthcare studies by providing high quality predictions. In the case of COVID-19, these tools have been advantageous for bioinformatics analysis of SARS-CoV-2 structures, studying potential drugs and introducing drug targets, investigating the efficacy of potential natural product components at suppressing COVID-19 infection, designing peptide-mimetic and optimizing their structure to provide a better clinical outcome, and repurposing of the previously known therapeutics. These methods have also helped medical biotechnologists to design various vaccines; such as multi-epitope vaccines using reverse vaccinology and immunoinformatics methods, among which some of them have showed promising results through in vitro, in vivo and clinical trial studies. Moreover, emergence of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms have helped to classify the previously known data and use them to provide precise predictions and make plan for future of the pandemic condition. At this contemporary review, by collecting related information from the collected literature on valuable data sources; such as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, we tried to provide a brief outlook regarding the importance of in silico tools in managing different aspects of COVID-19 pandemic infection and how these methods have been helpful to biomedical researchers.

SARS-CoV-2 is a corona virus that has been the cause for one of the deadliest pandemics of history, started since 2019. Suppressing the activity of the critical enzymes in the SARS-CoV-2 could potentially inhibit a vital step in viral life cycle. Papain-like protease (PLpro) could be regarded as a critical enzyme in viral replication of SARS-CoV-2. In this research, it was aimed to suppress the activity of PLpro enzyme by using potential plant-derived protease inhibitor peptides. For this purpose, 11 plant derived peptides that could potentially inhibit protease activity were selected from literature. The structures of the PLpro and the peptide ligands were acquired from PDB (protein data bank) and after structural optimization, were docked by using HADDOCK 2.4 program. Analyzing the results indicated that VcTI from Veronica hederifolia provides effective molecular interactions at both liable Zn site and classic active site of PLpro, making it a potential inhibitory ligand for this enzyme that could be used for halting the replication of SARS-CoV-2. Molecular dynamic assay confirmed that the selected receptor and ligand complex was stable. Future in vitro and in vivo investigations are required to verify the efficiency of this compound as a potential therapeutic against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10989-021-10331-8.

Background Tympanometry is used as part of a battery of tests for screening of middle ear function and may help diagnose middle ear disorders, but remains available only on expensive test equipment. Methods We report a low-cost smartphone-based tympanometer system that consists of a lightweight and portable attachment to vary air pressure in the ear and measure middle ear function. The smartphone displays a tympanogram and reports peak acoustic admittance in realtime. Our programmable and open-source system operates at 226 Hz and was tested on 50 pediatric patient ears in an audiology clinic in parallel with a commercial tympanometer. Results Our study shows an average agreement of 86 ± 2% between the 100 tympanograms produced by the smartphone and commercial device when five pediatric audiologists classified them into five classes based on the Liden and Jerger classification. Conclusion Given the accessibility and prevalence of budget smartphones in developing countries, our open-source tool may help provide timely and affordable screening of middle ear disorders.

Prenatal screening of different anomalies including chromosomal aneuploidies have become a part of routine pregnancy care in most countries around the world. These tests can help pregnant mothers to have informed decisions. In this study we gathered relevant scientific and governmental/official data about uptake rate of these screenings in different developed countries and Iran. We have tried to use the latest articles and reports, and also consider to the global trend of screening and abortion policies in developed countries. Also, some pitfalls when comparing prenatal screening of different countries will be explained. These data can help to have a better insight about Iran’s prenatal screening status when compared with developed countries to improve public health policies.

Background Different factors have been introduced which influence the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). COPD as an independent factor is involved in the development of lung cancer. Moreover, there are certain resemblances between NSCLC and COPD, such as growth factors, activation of intracellular pathways, as well as epigenetic factors. One of the best approaches to understand the possible shared pathogenesis routes between COPD and NSCLC is to study the biological pathways that are activated. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are critical biomolecules that implicate the regulation of several biological and cellular processes. As such, the main goal of this study was to use a systems biology approach to discover common dysregulated miRNAs between COPD and NSCLC, one that targets most genes within common enriched pathways. Results To reconstruct the miRNA-pathways for each disease, we used the microarray miRNA expression data. Then, we employed “miRNA set enrichment analysis” (MiRSEA) to identify the most significant joint miRNAs between COPD and NSCLC based on the enrichment scores. Overall, our study revealed the involvement of the targets of miRNAs (such as has-miR-15b, hsa-miR-106a, has-miR-17, has-miR-103, and has-miR-107) in the most important common biological pathways. Conclusions According to the promising results of the pathway analysis, the identified miRNAs can be utilized as the new potential signatures for therapy through understanding the molecular mechanisms of both diseases.

Introduction: Integration of rapidly expanding high-throughput omics technologies and electronic health record (EHR) has created an unprecedented advantage in terms of acquiring routine healthcare data to accelerate genetic discovery. In this regard, EHR can also provide several important advantages to omics research if the integration challenges are well handled. The main purpose of the present study was to review available and published knowledge in the related literature and then to classify and discuss stakeholders’ requirements in this domain.Material and Methods: At first, a broad electronic search of all available literature in English was conducted on the topic through a search in the databases of Medline, Web of Science, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Scopus, and Cochrane. Then, stakeholders’ requirements were tabulated, and finally, a word cloud was generated and analyzed to achieve functional and non-functional cases.Results: A total of 81 articles were included in the given analysis. Integration requirements also consisted of nine functional cases including a uniform approach to the interpretation of genetic tests, standardized terminologies and ontologies, structured data entry as much as possible, an integrated online patient portal, multiple data source handling, machine-readable storing and reporting, research-oriented requirements, pharmacogenomics decision support capabilities, and phenotyping algorithms and knowledge base. Besides, there were three non-functional cases comprised of interoperability of multiple systems, ethical, legal, security factor, and big data computations.Conclusion: The main challenges in this way could also have semantic and technical themes. Therefore, system developers could guarantee the success of systems by overcoming the given challenges.

Flow pumping in viscous fluids is of prime importance in micro-fluidic applications. Here we show that a single colloidal particle in front of a soft wall, manipulated by external means like an optical tweezer, can pump the ambient viscous fluid. The particle, moving back and forth parallel to the soft wall, can produce an averaged net flow in a direction perpendicular to the wall. Using a perturbative scheme, we present the results. Analysis show that this flow in terms of capillary number, scales as $${\text {Ca}}^2$$ Ca 2 .

The exaggerated host response to Sars-CoV-2 plays an important role in COVID-19 pathology but provides a therapeutic opportunity until definitive virus targeted therapies and vaccines become available. Given a central role of endothelial dysfunction and systemic inflammation, repurposing ACE inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), statins, and aspirin has been of interest. In this retrospective, single-center study, we evaluated the primary outcomes of mortality and ICU admission in 587 hospitalized patients with documented COVID-19 with or without ACEIs, ARBs, statins, and aspirin. Atorvastatin was associated with reduced mortality, which persisted after adjusting for age, lockdown status, and other medications (OR: 0.18. 95% CI: 0.06-0.49, P = 0.001). ACEIs were also associated with reduced mortality in the crude model (OR: 0.20, CI: 0.06-0.66, P = 0.008), as ACEIs and ARBs were combined as a single group (OR: 0.35, CI: 0.16-0.75, P = 0.007), although ARBs alone did not reach statistical significance. There was no association between any medications and risk of ICU admission. Aspirin only achieved a significant association of reduced mortality in a subgroup of patients with diabetes in the crude model (OR: 0.17, CI: 0.04-0.80, P = 0.02). The reduced mortality observed with atorvastatin is consistent with other literature, and consideration should be given to atorvastatin as a COVID-19 treatment. While there was suggested benefit of ACEIs and ARBs in the present study, other studies are varied and further studies are warranted to recommend employing these medications as a treatment strategy. Nevertheless, this study combined with others continues to give credibility that ACEIs and ARBs are safe to continue in the setting of COVID-19.

Most sciences conduct experiments with a thorough understanding of the accuracy and precision of the instruments used for making measurements. Time is the most frequently used measurement in systems research, yet most of the literature does not consider the precision and accuracy of clocks. In this paper, we argue for the importance of understanding timekeeping and providing precise and accurate time for general systems research.

Spatial modelling of land use change is a technique for understanding changes in terms of the location and amount. In this study, logistic regression and Geomod approaches were used for modelling forest change in Gorgan area in Northern Iran in the time period of 1988-2007. To do this, at first, remotely sensed imagery data of the years 1988, 1998 and 2007 were used to produce land use maps. Land use maps accuracy assessments were achieved using Error matrix method and then the maps were used to implement change detection process in two time periods of 1988-1998 and 1998-2007. Results indicated a reduction in forest areas during the mentioned time period. Next, the independent variables were extracted in order to land use change modeling. The Results of the models implementation showed the ability of both models for forest change modeling in this region. Also, the models were used to predict the future condition of forest area in the years 2016 and 2025. The results revealed that the forest area would be associated with a reduction in the future. Comparison of the results of the models using kappa indices showed the successful implementation of both models for forest change modelling in this region. The results of this research reveal the need for appropriate applications of the proper plans to control land use change in order to preserve the environment and ecological balance of the area. Therefore, careful planning can reduce the land use change and its impacts in the future in this region.

In the present study, the release of zinc (Zn) from polylactic acid/zinc oxid nanoparticles (PLA/ZnO NPs) nanocomposites to three aqueous food simulants (10% ethanol, 20% ethanol and 95% ethanol) was evaluated (during 15 days at 4, 25, and 40 °C) by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The results indicated that temperature and the simulant type affected the migration of Zn and at a constant temperature; the maximum Zn release was observed in the 95% ethanol simulant. Pseudo-Fickian behavior was observed during the diffusion of Zn and diffusion coefficients (D values) of 0.002–6.08 10−11 cm2 s−1 were obtained in different migration conditions. The obtained partition coefficients (K) were between 21.66 and 0.057 μg g−1. The Zn release data were fitted with the Weibull model, and the b and n model parameters had values ranging from 0.008 to 0.07 and 0.24 to 0.49, respectively. The results of the present study indicated that Zn had little migration from PLA films into food simulants (especially in water at 4–40 °C) which was attributed to the high activation energy (Ea) values for Zn diffusion from PLA/ZnO NPs nanocomposites.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between financial distress and transactions with affiliated individuals. In this research financial information of 152 companies accepted in Tehran Stock Exchange during the period of 1391 to 1396 has been investigated. The purpose of this study is applied. In terms of collecting and analyzing data, this research is a descriptive correlation method. From the point of view of information gathering, post-event research is used to analyze the data using descriptive, inferential statistics and multi-variable regression analysis. . This research has been investigated with two hypotheses by ERW software. In this regard, in the initial implementation of the first model, using the printing statistics and Yasmin, the appropriate regression model model (computational or stationary data with random effects) has been determined and using statistics such as ; The novelty of this and Chou's reliability of variables are investigated. Then, in the second run, the classic regression assumptions model, including the normal distribution of variables, the independence of the distribution of errors, the normal distribution of errors, the heterogeneity of variances and the linear relationship between independent and control variables, have been investigated. Finally, the results of the research show that financial distress through transactions with affiliated persons but the size of the auditor is not relevant to transactions with affiliated persons.

Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a subclass of non‐protein coding transcripts that are involved in several regulatory processes and are considered as potential biomarkers for almost all cancer types. This study aims to investigate the prognostic value of lncRNAs for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), the most prevalent subtype of lung cancer. To this end, the processed data of The Cancer Genome Atlas LUAD were retrieved from GEPIA and circlncRNAnet databases, matched with each other and integrated with the analysis results of a non‐small cell lung cancer plasma RNA‐Seq study. Then, the data were filtered in order to separate the differentially expressed lncRNAs that have a prognostic value for LUAD. Finally, the selected lncRNAs were functionally annotated using a bioinformatic and systems biology approach. Accordingly, we identified 19 lncRNAs as the novel LUAD prognostic lncRNAs. Also, based on our results, all 19 lncRNAs might be involved in lung cancer‐related biological processes. Overall, we suggested several novel biomarkers and drug targets which could help early diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of LUAD patients.

Objectives To evaluate efficacy of addition of duloxetine to usual analgesic regimens in management of burn pain. Methods In a 3-week open label randomized controlled trial, burn patients were assigned to the intervention (duloxetine 60 mg/day + usual analgesic regimens) or control group (usual analgesic regimens: morphine ± acetaminophen ± gabapentin). Intensity and quality of background pain and severity of procedural pain were evaluated using neuropathic pain scale (NPS) and visual analog scale (VAS), respectively. The primary outcome measure was “intensity” item of the NPS (evaluating intensity of the background pain). Results Forty six patients (age: 35.5 ± 6.3 years, TBSA: 36.7 ± 15%) (23 per group) completed the study. At baseline, scores of the “intensity” item were 9.13 ± 1.42 and 9.13 ± 1.86 (P = 1) in the intervention and control group, respectively. Comparison of difference in mean changes from baseline to the end of the study showed that addition of duloxetine only significantly reduced the scores of the “intensity” {1.74 (95% CI: 0.61 to 2.86); P = 0.003}, and “hot” {1.39 (95% CI: 0.166 to 2.614) P = 0.02} items and score of the VAS {2.13 (95% CI: 1.476 to 2.784) P Conclusion Addition of duloxetine may increase efficacy of the other analgesics in reduction of the burn pain.

The available SMD (Sauter mean diameter) correlations on pressure-swirl injectors predict droplet sizing very different from each other, especially for heavy fuels. Also there was a lack in the literature for comparing available correlations. So an experimental study was conducted on a heavy fuel oil (HFO) spray, Mazut 380. A pressure swirl injector was designed and fabricated. The experiments for Mazut at 40 °C and 80 °C were compared with the results for water, including spray half cone angle, breakup length and mean droplet diameter, at different injection pressures. Lower spray angle, higher breakup length and larger droplets were observed for lower injection pressures and higher liquid viscosity. SMD was about 75 μm for water and about 87 μm for Mazut at 80 °C. The results for droplet mean diameter were also compared with correlations from previous studies on pressure swirl atomizers. The SMD results show that for water spray, LISA method was in good agreement, also Babu and Ballester correlations were successful when high viscosity fluid was injected.

High energy storage capacity of tin oxide (SnO2) makes it a promising anode material for high capacity lithium (Li)-ion batteries. Previous experiments reported by Nie et al. (2013) and Huang et al. (2010) have shown that SnO2 lithiation occurs in two stages. First, Li diffuses rapidly through distinct narrow stripes along the electrode axis. This is followed by a second stage where the diffusion/amorphization of the nanowire occurs. In order to understand and possibly predict this complex chemo-mechanical phenomenon, a finite element (FE) model is developed in this work. The model captures the formation of the striped diffusion regime and the corresponding expansion of the nanowire during the lithiation of SnO2. The effect of the stress on the Li diffusion is modeled at the macroscopic level by implementing a stress-dependent expression for the diffusion coefficient. The modeling results clearly show the formation of the striped diffusion regime due to the induced stresses, at low concentrations of Li. This results in a small strain of 0.017 within the nanowire followed by a bulk diffusion and expansion at higher Li concentrations. Thus, the model allows for the spatiotemporally resolved analysis of Li diffusion/intercalation and helps predicting its influence on the mechanical performance of the electrode under the realistic operational conditions.

In the current study, the active packaging films based on poly lactic acid (PLA) containing 1.5% w/w zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and varying concentrations (0.5, 1, 1.5% w/w) of Zataria multiflora Boiss. essential oil (ZEO) and Menthe piperita L. essential oil (MEO) were produced. The efficacies of the resulted active films on shelf life extension of Otolithes ruber fish during 16 days of refrigerated storage (4 ± 1 °C) were evaluated. The antibacterial activity of the films was tested against five common food-borne pathogens (Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus) by disc diffusion method. The fillet samples were analyzed periodically for microbiological (aerobic count, Enterobacteriaceae count, Pseudomonas spp., Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) count and H2S-producing bacteria) and chemical (TBARS and TVB-N). PLA/ZnO/ZEO and PLA/ZnO/MEO films showed enhanced antibacterial (691 and 513.33 mm2, repectively, against S. aureus) and antioxidant (69.14 and 49.08%, repectively) activity than control. Based on the microbial count, the active films significantly increased the shelf life of fillets from 8 to 16 days. The lowest TBARS (0.8 mg MA/kg muscle) and TVB-N (21.23 mg/100 g muccle) values were obtained in fillets wrapped with PLA/ZnO containing 1.5% ZEO. Carvacrol and menthone were found to be the main compounds of ZEO and MEO following GC analysis, respectively. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer showed transfer only a minuscule amount of Zn2+ ions to the meat. Overally, the PLA/ZnO films containing the essential oils could be deemed as a potential alternative to the current common technologies for extending the shelf-life of meat products like ‘Otolithes ruber fillets.