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Maria Parvaneh,1,2 Golgis Karimi,1,3 Rosita Jamaluddin,1 Min Hwei Ng,4 Ibrahim Zuriati,1 Sani Ismaila Muhammad5 1Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Malaysia; 2Discipline of Life Science, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Charles Perkin Centre, Sydney, NSW, Australia; 3Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Julius Centre University of Malaya (JCUM), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 4Faculty of Medicine, Tissue Engineering Center, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 5Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Sokoto, Nigeria Purpose: Osteoporosis is one of the major health concerns among the elderly population, especially in postmenopausal women. Many menopausal women over 50 years of age lose their bone density and suffer bone fractures. In addition, many mortality and morbidity cases among the elderly are related to hip fracture. This study aims to investigate the effect of Lactobacillus helveticus (L. helveticus) on bone health status among ovariectomized (OVX) bone loss-induced rats. Methods: The rats were either OVX or sham OVX (sham), then were randomly assigned into three groups, G1: sham, G2: OVX and G3: OVX+L. helveticus (1 mL of 108–109 colony forming units). The supplementation was force-fed to the rats once a day for 16 weeks while control groups were force-fed with demineralized water. Results: L. helveticus upregulated the expression of Runx2 and Bmp2, increased serum osteocalcin, bone volume/total volume and trabecular thickness, and decreased serum C-terminal telopeptide and total porosity percentage. It also altered bone microstructure, as a result increasing bone mineral density and bone strength. Conclusion: Our results indicate that L. helveticus attenuates bone remodeling and consequently improves bone health in OVX rats by increasing bone formation along with bone resorption reduction. This study suggests a potential therapeutic effect of L. helveticus (ATCC 27558) on postmenopausal osteoporosis. Keywords: Lactobacillus helveticus, bone mineral density, bone loss, osteoporosis, ovariectomized rats

The anatomical structure of normal heart was studied in vitro through ultrasonography of 60 healthy hearts of sheep collected following slaughter. After removing the clot or any remained blood in atria and ventricles, the organs were imaged under water immersion at 250C, using a B-mode real time ultrasound scanner fitted with a 3.5 or 5.0 MHz sector transducer. The different cavities of the heart were imaged. The thickness of left ventricle wall (LV), right ventricle wall (RV) and inter-ventricular space (IVS) were measured. All the sizes obtained by ultrasonography were compared with those obtained by ruler. These sizes were quite comparable. Atrio-ventricular valves, semilunar valves and papillary muscles were seen as echogenic masses. The wall of ventricles, atrium and space between them were also echogenic and had homogeneous echotexture. The heart cavities did not show any echo and were observed homogenous. Apex of the heart, the root of the aorta, and pulmonary tract were also distinguishable.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is world-renowned for its nutritional and health benefits and its adaptability to different environments. Despite some research on quinoa cultivation, determining the appropriate planting date and density for different genotypes and regions needs to be studied. The main objective of this study was to determine the effects of planting date and planting density on quinoa seed yield in climatic conditions of Kermanshah. In this regard, field experiments were conducted during two growing seasons (2019-2020) at the research farm of Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. The experiments were conducted as split-plot factorial in randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Three sowing dates (March 15th, April 15th, and May 15th) were assigned to the main plots, two planting densities (40 and 60 plants m-2), and three genotypes including Titicaca, Q29, and Red Carina as subplots. The results showed that the highest seed yield (2179.72 and 2267.39 kg ha-1) were achieved on April 15th, 2019 and May 15th, 2020, respectively. Sowing dates of April 15th in 2019 and May 15th in 2020 with a plant density of 60 plants m-2 and Titicaca genotype had the highest seed yield for quinoa in Kermanshah climatic conditions. The results showed that panicle length and biological yield had a positive and significant correlation with grain yield in all studied planting dates. There was a positive and significant correlation between grain yield and grain weight per plant, 1000-grain weight, and biological yield at both densities. The path analysis revealed that panicle length had the highest positive direct effect on seed yield followed by 1000-seed weight on the first sowing date in 2019 and 2020, while biological yield and panicle length had the highest positive direct effect on seed yield on the second and third sowing dates, respectively. This experiment showed that genotypes and planting dates are the most determining factors affecting quinoa growth, development, and yield compared with planting densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental chemicals and drugs can induce cardiotoxicity, mainly by generating free radicals. Reactive oxygen species play a critical role in the pathogenesis of cardiac tissue injury. This highlights a need for prevention of cardiotoxicity by scavenging free radicals. Melatonin has been shown to act as a protector against various conditions in which free radicals cause molecular and tissue injury. Some of the mechanisms by which melatonin operates as a free radical scavenger and antioxidant have been identified. The importance of endogenous melatonin in cardiovascular health and the benefits of melatonin supplementation in different cardiac pathophysiological disorders have been shown in a variety of model systems. Melatonin continues to attract attention for its potential therapeutic value for cardiovascular toxicity. The therapeutic potential of melatonin in treatment of cardiotoxicities caused by various chemicals along with suggested molecular mechanisms of action for melatonin is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an antineoplastic agent obtained from Streptomyces peucetius. It is utilized in treating different kinds of cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and lung, and breast cancers. The main side effect of DOX is cardiotoxicity. Metformin (MET) is an antihyperglycemic drug used for type 2 diabetes treatment. It is proposed that MET has a protective effect against DOX cardiotoxicity. Our review demonstrated that MET has several possible mechanisms of action, which can prevent or at least reduce DOX cardiotoxicity including a decrease of free radical generation and oxidative stress, 5′ adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase activation, and ferritin heavy chain expression in cardiomyocytes cells. The combination of MET and DOX has been shown to enhance the anticancer activity of DOX by a number of authors. The literature reviewed in the present report supports the hypothesis that MET can reduce the cardiotoxicity that often occurs with DOX treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: G. Karimi, F. Jafarpour, M. Binazadeh, X. Li Water management is one of the most critical issues for high-performance Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells. A flow network model was developed to study the possibility of two-phase flow inception along the gas flow channels in the cathode side of a PEM fuel cell stack. The conventional Darcy-Weisbach equation and homogeneous flow model are used to estimate the pressure distributions in the network. The corresponding species concentrations as well as the thermodynamic quality distributions are also calculated. The simulation results have revealed that under certain operating conditions, the quality is lower than one for parts of the stack. However, the amount of the liquified water in the stack is not significant to cause a major pressure drop or an appreciable change in the O2 concentration. Effects of current density and channel diameter on the system quality are also investigated.

Based on the nonequilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) ballistic transport simulation, an optimized homojunction carbon nanotube (CNT) gate-all-around tunnel field effect transistor (GAA TFET) is proposed in this study. This TFET enhances the ON-state current and suppresses the ambipolarity extensively. By changing the channel diameter, gate length, and insulator thickness along with different values of doping levels and dielectrics of the source/channel/drain regions, a subthreshold swing $({SS})$ equal to ${11} ~\text {mV}/\text {dec}$ with an ON/OFF ratio of 108 is obtained at ${V}_{G}={V}_{D}={0.4}$ V. Source (drain) underlap/overlap with the gate is also considered in reaching an optimum result. Such advantages can be followed on other 1-D TFET devices and are explained in detail on the energy band diagram of the device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background and Objectives: Despite the analgesic effects of morphine, its chronic use leads to tolerance and dependence, and duloxetine can change the rate of dependence and tolerance. This study aimed to investigate the effect of duloxetine on morphine-induced dependence and tolerance to its analgesic effects in mice. Materials and Methods: In the present experimental study, male mice were randomly put in 37 groups of 8. Jumping and diarrhea of the animals, at the time of withdrawal syndrome (naloxone prescription), was evaluated in two development (duloxetine±morphine) and expression (duloxetine prescription before withdrawal syndrome) factors at the 10, 20, and 30 mg/kg/bw doses of duloxetine. Moreover, open field and tail-flick test were utilized to examine the duloxetine effect on locomotor activity and tolerance to the analgesic effects of morphine, respectively. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Dunnett's post hoc test. Results: Duloxetine at the dose of 30 mg/kg/bw decreased jumping and locomotor activity of the animal (p<0.05), and the dose of 20 mg/kg/bw reduced both jumping and diarrhea (p<0.05) in the expression of dependence test. At the same dose, it also reduced the animal's locomotor activity (p<0.01) in the open field. Duloxetine at the dose of 10 mg/kg/bw was just effective in diarrhea in the development of dependence test (p<0.001). Moreover, duloxetine did not exhibit any effect on development of tolerance to analgesic effects of morphine. Conclusion: Duloxetine reduced withdrawal signs in the expression of dependence test, but it did not have any effect on tolerance to analgesic effects of morphine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the development of a BIM model for a stratified historic structure characterized by a complex geometry: Filarete's Ospedale Maggiore ice house, one of the few remaining historic ice houses in Milan (Fig. 1). Filarete, a well-known Renaissance architect and theorist, planned the hospital in the 15th century, but the ice house was built two centuries later with a double-storey irregular octagonal brick structure, half under and half above ground, that enclosed another circular structure called the ice room. The purpose of the double-walled structure was to store ice in the middle and store and preserve perishable food and medicine at the outer side of the ice room. During World War II, major portions of the hospital and the above-ground section of the ice house was bombed and heavily damaged. Later, in 1962, the hospital was restored and rehabilitated into a university, with the plan to conceal the ice house's remaining structure in the courtyard, which ultimately was excavated and incorporated into a new library for the university. A team of engineers, architects and students from Politecnico di Milano and Carleton University conducted two heritage recording surveys in 2015 and 2016 to fully document the existing condition of the ice house, resulting in an inclusive laser scanner and photogrammetric point cloud dataset. The point cloud data was consolidated and imported into two leading parametric modelling software, Autodesk Revit© and Graphisoft ArchiCAD©, with the goal to develop two BIMs in parallel in order to study and compare the software BIM workflow, parametric capabilities, attributes to capture the complex geometry with high accuracy and the duration for parametric modelling. The comparison study of the two software revealed their workflow limitations, leading to integration of the BIM generative process with other pure modelling software such as Rhinoceros©. The integrative BIM process led to the production of a comprehensive BIM model that documented related historic data and the existing physical state of the ice house, to be used as a baseline for preventive maintenance, monitoring and future conservation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]