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This study aimed to find the common inborn errors of metabolism in Iranian patients with autism spectrum disorder.In this cross-sectional multicenter study, 105 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder from six centers in different cities of Iran were enrolled between August, 2019 and October, 2020. Metabolic screening, including measuring plasma levels of amino acids, acylcarnitines, creatine, and guanidinoacetate, and urinary levels of organic acids, purines, and pyrimidines was performed. Other data, including age, parental consanguinity, history of seizure, developmental mile-stones, and physical examination, were also recorded.An inborn error of metabolism was found in 13 (12.4%) patients. Five patients (4.8%) had cerebral creatine deficiency syndrome, four (3.8%) had arginine succinate aciduria, 2 methylbutyryl glycinuria, short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, and combined methylmalonic aciduria/malonic aciduria. There was a strong association between positive metabolic evaluation and parental consanguinity, history of seizures, microcephaly, and delayed development.Our results suggest that metabolic screening should be performed in the cases of autism associated with parental consanguinity, developmental delay, and a history of seizures. The assays to be considered as a screening panel include plasma or blood amino acids, acylcarnitines, creatine and guanidinoacetate, and urinary levels of organic acids.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a highly aggressive extracranial solid tumor in children. Due to its heterogeneity, NB remains a therapeutic challenge. Several oncogenic factors, including the Hippo effectors YAP/TAZ, are associated with NB tumorigenesis. Verteporfin (VPF) is an FDA-approved drug shown to directly inhibit YAP/TAZ activity. Our study aimed to investigate VPF’s potential as a therapeutic agent in NB. We show that VPF selectively and efficiently impairs the viability of YAP/TAZ-expressing NB GI-ME-N and SK-N-AS cells, but not of non-malignant fibroblasts. To investigate whether VPF-mediated NB cell killing is YAP-dependent, we tested VPF potency in CRISPR-mediated YAP/TAZ knock-out GI-ME-N cells, and BE(2)-M17 NB cells (a MYCN-amplified, predominantly YAP-negative NB subtype). Our data shows that VPF-mediated NB cell killing is not dependent on YAP expression. Moreover, we determined that the formation of higher molecular weight (HMW) complexes is an early and shared VPF-induced cytotoxic mechanism in both YAP-positive and YAP-negative NB models. The accumulation of HMW complexes, involving STAT3, GM130 and COX IV proteins, impaired cell homeostasis and triggered cell stress and cell death mechanisms. Altogether, our study shows significant in vitro and in vivo VPF-induced suppression of NB growth, making VPF a potential therapeutic candidate against NB.

Nowadays, laser-welded blanks (LWBs) are an advanced approach for automobile companies to reduce the weight of their products using sheets with different thicknesses, materials, strengths, and coatings, joined by different welding methods. In this current study, experimental and numerical approaches are used to tune the parameter effects and optimize the objective. Here, a 400 W Nd: YAG laser welding machine with a pulse frequency, pulse duration, and pulse energy are set at 20 Hz, 7ms, and 11 J, respectively. Also, pure argon gas with a 20 L/min flow rate was employed for shielding. Five key process parameters such as blank holder force (50000-150000N), friction coefficient (0.1-0.2), weld speed (7.4mm/s-0.75), weld power (100-300 W), material type (ST-14, ST-44 and TPP), and sheet thickness 1 mm, are considered as process parameters. The maximum drawing depth, energy absorption, and minimum weld line displacement are conducted as objective functions. Based on the response surface method (RSM), the optimal weld parameters to produce a cup with higher drawing depth, lower weld line displacement, and higher energy absorption capacity are set at a BHF of 150,000 N, µ of 0.2, weld speed of 10.23 mm/s, and weld power of 100.17 W.

A new palladium(II) complex entitled [Pd(phendione)(8Q)]NO3, (PdPQ), where phendione is N,N-donor heterocyclic 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dion and 8Q is 8-hydroxyquinolinate, has been synthesized and then characterized by molar conductivity, CHN analysis and spectral data (UV–Vis, FT-IR, NMR). DFT/ TDDFT procedures were also performed to determine the electronic structure and the nature of the electronic transitions of PdPQ. Moreover, the affinity and binding properties of DNA to the desired complex have been studied in details using electronic absorption, fluorescence, circular dichroism spectroscopies, and viscosity measurement in combination with molecular docking technique. The obtained results exhibit relatively high DNA binding values with a static quenching mechanism, which suggest that an intercalative mode plays a peridominate role in interaction process concluded by experimental/theoretical measurements. As a result of drug exposure, in vitro cytotoxicity assay demonstrated the antiproliferative activity of the PdPQ against leukemia cancer cell line, K562.

In this study, welding and forming defects in a deep drawing process of laser-welded blanks (LWBs) are investigated both experimentally and numerically. LWB is used to achieve minimum distortion and desirable weld quality. However, some unfavorable residual stresses are added throughout the forming operations, which decrease the lifetime of LWBs. The objective of this study is to estimate the effect of five significant process parameters on forming defects during the welding and forming of LWBs. To this end, the hole-drilling method is utilized to determine experimentally the residual stresses in diverse zones of LWBs. Besides, the laser beam welding and forming processes are simulated by SIMUFACTTM package and ABAQUSTM software, respectively. The validation results show that the proposed model is very promising to estimate residual stresses for LWBs in industrial parts, especially in automobile industries. Studying the effect of varying process factors, it is noticed that the joining quality of the weld region is enhanced by applying the high-level spot size which has an optimum range to prevent the probability of brittle crack.

In the current study, the additive manufacturing of nylon by fused deposition modeling is conducted based on statistical analysis. Besides, the aim of this study is the influence of process parameters, namely layer thickness (0.15 mm-0.35 mm), infill percentage (15-55%), and the number of contours (2-6) on the maximum failure load, parts weight, elongation at break, and build time. The experiment approach was used to optimize process parameters based on the statistical evaluates to reach the best objective function. The minimum value of build time and maximize of the failure load were considered as objective functions. The response surface method is regarded as an optimization process parameter, and optimum conditions were studied by experimental research to evaluate efficiency. Based on the results, the layer thickness is the significant primary variable for all responses. The experimental evaluation showed that the maximum values of failure load and elongation were obtained by changing the layer thickness from the lowest to the highest. By reduction in layer thickness at the same printing speed, the cooling rate increases, which results in greater strength and less elongation. As a result, it could be concluded that by increasing the number of contour layers from 2 to 6, the maximum failure force increased 42%. Increasing the contours due to the similar effect to increasing the infill density, increases the failure force and production time, which is also confirmed by the ANOVA.

Developing and/or modifying fundamental chemical reactions using chemical industry-favorite heterogeneous recoverable catalytic systems in the water solvent is very important. In this paper, we developed convenient, green, and efficient approaches for the chemoselective reduction of nitroarenes, N-acetylation of arylamines, and one-pot reductive acetylation of nitroarenes in the presence of the recoverable heterogeneous carbon-supported palladium (Pd/C) catalytic system in water. The utilize of the simple, effective, and recoverable catalyst and also using of water as an entirely green solvent along with relatively short reaction times and good-to-excellent yields of the desired products are some of the noticeable features of the presented synthetic protocols.

Objectives Extensive applications of peroxidase (POX) have raised the global market demand at a considerable rate during the forecast period of 2020 - 2025. Nonetheless, the large-scale POX preparation still relies on the extraction from agricultural products, while there is an accumulative driving force toward employing biotechnological processes with agricultural hassle free identity. In pursuit of this trend; Results, A novel heme peroxidase was purified to homogeneity (MW of 40 kD) from the callus culture of Ocimum basilicum L. in darkness on Murashige-Skoog medium supplemented by 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (10-6 M) and kinetin (10-5 M). The highest activity of the purified peroxidase (ObPOX) was observed in Tris-base buffer at pH 7.5 and 80 °C. ObPOX showed high stability over pH(s) 5 to 7.5 and temperatures of 15 to 60 °C. ObPOX specific activity was 1245.142 AU mg-1 in the presence of phenol, 4 times higher than that of HRP. ObPOX showed moderate affinity for guaiacol (Km = 21.5 mM), but obtained an exceptionally high specificity constant (kcat/Km = 66743.7 s-1M-1) for GASA (4-[(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) azo]-benzenesulfonic acid), the introduced substrate for determination of blood sugar. Applying ObPOX instead of HRP in glucose measurements of the real samples improved the regression constant of the correlation diagram between the tests and the lab results from 0.958 to 0.981. Conclusion Physicochemical properties of ObPOX as well as the growth rate of basil callus (5.04 g L-1 per day) and the yield of ObPOX production (35 mg per 100 g dry biomass per subculture) designates O. basilicum cell culture for large-scale production of a robust peroxidase.

BACKGROUND: Two-phase anaerobic co-digestion (TAcoD) is a versatile technology for the simultaneous treatment of organic materials and biogas production. However, the produced digestate and supernatant of the system contain heavy metals and organic substances that need to be treated prior to discharge or land application. Therefore, in this study, an innovative TAcoD for organic fertilizer and high supernatant quality achievement was proposed. METHODS: In the conventional TAcoD, mixed sewage sludge (SS) and food waste (FW) were first hydrolyzed in the acidogenic reactor, and then the hydrolyzate substrate was subjected to the methanogenic reactor (TAcoD 1). In the modified TAcoD (TAcoD 2), only FW was fed into the acidogenic reactor, and the produced hydrolyzed solid was directly converted to the organic fertilizer, while the supernatant with high soluble chemical demand (SCOD) concentration was further co-digested with SS in the methanogenic reactor. RESULTS: Although TAcoD 1 produced bio-methane yield and potential energy of 56.18% and 1.6-fold higher than TAcoD 2, the economical valorization of TAcoD 2 was 9-fold of that from TAcoD 1. The supernatant quality of TAcoD 2 was far better than TAcoD 1, since the SCOD, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphor (TP) removal in TAcoD 2 and TAcoD 1 were 94.3%, 79.4%, 90.7%, and 68.9%, 28%, 46%, respectively. In terms of solid waste management, the modified TAcoD converted FW to organic fertilizer and achieved a solid reduction of 43.62% higher than that of conventional TAcoD. CONCLUSIONS: This new modification in two-phase anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge provides a potentially feasible practice for simultaneous bio-methane, organic fertilizer, and high supernatant quality achievement. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40201-020-00603-8.

A new strain of Influenza A Virus (IAV), so-called "H7N9 Avian Influenza", is the first strain of this virus in which a human is infected by transmitting the N9 of influenza virus. Although continuous human-to-human transmission has not been reported, the occurrence of various H7N9-associated epidemics and the lack of production of strong antibodies against H7N9 in humans warn of the potential for H7N9 to become a new pandemic. Therefore, the need for effective vaccination against H7N9 as a life-threatening viral pathogen has become a major concern. The current study reports the design of a multi-epitope vaccine against Hemagglutinin (HA) and Neuraminidase (NA) proteins of H7N9 Influenza A virus by prediction of Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), Helper T lymphocyte (HTL), IFN-γ and B-cell epitopes. Human β-defensin-3 (HβD-3) and pan HLA DR-binding epitope (PADRE) sequence were considered as adjuvant. EAAAK, AAY, GPGPG, HEYGAEALERAG, KK and RVRR linkers were used as a connector for epitopes. The final construct contained 777 amino acids that are expected to be a recombinant protein of about ~ 86.38 kDa with antigenic and non-allergenic properties after expression. Modeled protein analysis based on the tertiary structure validation, docking studies, and molecular dynamics simulations results like Root-mean-square deviation (RMSD), Gyration, Root-mean-square fluctuation (RMSF) and Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM/PBSA) showed that this protein has a stable construct and capable of being in interaction with Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), TLR8 and m826 antibody. Analysis of the obtained data the demonstrates that suggested vaccine has the potential to induce the immune response by stimulating T and Bcells, and may be utilizable for prevention purposes against Avian Influenza A (H7N9).

The Tarz Zn–Pb deposit is located in the Tabas block of the Central Iranian Microcontinent and consists of stratabound orebodies hosted by dolomitic limestone of the Middle Triassic Shotori Formation. Two stages of sphalerite were identified in the Tarz deposit: dark brown sphalerite formed in early stage and light brown sphalerite represented a later stage. The concentrations of minor and trace elements in sphalerite and fluid inclusions within calcite coexisting with the two stages of sphalerite were analyzed to identify the mineralization conditions and the genesis. Early-stage sphalerite compared to late-stage sphalerite has higher Fe, Mn, and Cu contents but lower Cd, Sb, and Ag contents. In addition, trace element concentrations in two types of sphalerite show that the approximate temperature of ore-forming fluids gradually decreases from the early stage to the late stage. This finding is consistent with the results of the microthermometric analyses of the fluid inclusions, which yield homogenization temperatures from 165 to 207 °C in calcite associated to stage I sphalerite and 106 to 173 °C in calcite associated to stage II sphalerite. The low Zn/Cd ratios and high Cd/Fe ratios especially for stage II sphalerite are consistent with Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) ore deposits but are different from deposits related to magmatism such as epithermal, skarn, and volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. Based on ore textures, geochemical compositions of sphalerite, and the results of the microthermometric analyses of the fluid inclusions, the mineralization process in the Tarz deposit was closely related to basin brines and faulting in the Tarz region.

In this research, optimum shape of plate structures is sought to maximize the energy dissipation via structural shape optimization. To achieve this, isogeometric analysis (IGA) is utilized for structural analysis of plates considering elasto-plastic behavior of materials. The von Mises material model is employed for this purpose. Non-uniform rational B-splines basis functions are used for both geometry definition and approximating the unknown deformation field. The optimization problem is to maximize the structural dissipated energy until a prescribed displacement is reached and a fixed amount of material is considered in the design domain. A direct shape sensitivity analysis is performed and a mathematical based approach is employed for the optimization process. To demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm three examples are illustrated. Using the IGA prevents adjusting analysis model during the optimization process, which is time-consuming especially when iterative nonlinear analysis is performed. The results also show that large geometry modifications can be properly managed by the proposed algorithm.

BACKGROUND: Different bulking agents are used in the compost of dewatered sludge (DWS). The aim of this study has been using of indigenous bulking agents (IBA(s)) in the enhancing of the DWS class of municipal wastewater from class B to class A and complementary stabilization of it for production of green manure in Sari city, Iran. METHODS: Three IBAs including the Saccharum Wastes (SW), Citrus Purning Wastes (CPW) and Phragmites Australis (PA) from eight IBAs were selected to be compared with the sawdust (SD) that was as a control bulking agent. Five turned windrow piles were constructed on a full scale and on base of optimal C/N equal 25.All experiments were performed on the base of the standard methods on initial mix and final compost. RESULTS: Among five windrow piles, P5 was been the best pile with a weighting ratio of DWS to IBAs (DWS: SW: CPW: PA) equal 1: 0.2: 0.24: 0.28. Pile P1 with weighting ratio DWS: SW equal 1: 0.6, Pile P3 with weighting ratio DWS: PA equal 1: 0.84, Pile P2 with weighting ratio DWS: CPW equal 1: 0.73 and Pile P4 with weighting ratio DWS: SD equal 1: 0.57 were placed in the next rounds. The results showed that the class of DWS enhanced to Class A for about 80 to 97 days and complementary stabilization of DWS by IBAs was done well and produced green manure in term of organic matter, potassium, germination index, PH, C/N and electrical conductivity had reached to the Grade 1 of Iran’s manure 10716 standard and in term of phosphorus and moisture had reached to the Grade 2 of this standard. Also heavy metals were below the maximum permissible of standards. CONCLUSION: Using of IBAs, had a higher efficiency than the control bulking agent (sawdust) in enhancing sludge class and its stabilization, so that using of them in combination (mix of IBA(s)) had the highest efficiency and respectively, Saccharum Wastes (SW), Phragmites Australis (PA), Citrus pruning wastes (CPW) were placed in the next round, and sawdust was placed after them. By adding suitable IBA(S,) with an optimal ratio in turned windrow method, the class of DWS of sari WWTP enhanced to Class A and complementary stabilization of DWS has been well done and the produced green manure has been reached to agricultural standards and can be safely used in agriculture.

In this study, firstly, CuFe2O4 nanoparticles were prepared by a simple operation. The structure of the mentioned nanoparticles was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry, vibrating sample magnetometer and also Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and Barrett–Joyner–Halenda analyses. The prepared magnetically copper ferrite nanocomposite was successfully applied as a simple, cost-effective, practicable, and recoverable catalyst on the green, highly efficient, fast, base-free, and ligand-free reduction of nitriles and also on the affordable and eco-friendly reduction of nitro compounds with the broad substrate scope to the corresponding amines with NaBH4 in water at reflux in high to excellent yields.

Background This study investigated the feasibility of enhancing anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge with triple, dual, and individual pretreatment of waste activated sludge with heat, alkalinity, and hydrogen peroxide. These pretreatments disrupt sludge flocs, organisms’ cell walls, extracellular polymeric substance, and intracellular organic matter, which increase biodegradability and hydrolysis rate of activate sludge. In addition, the influence of various variables on methane production was analyzed using the response surface methodology with the quadratic model. Eventually, an optimized temperature and chemical concentration for the highest methane production and lowest chemical usage is suggested. Results The highest amount of methane production was obtained from the sludge pretreated with triple pretreatment (heat (90 °C), alkaline (pH = 12), and hydrogen peroxide (30 mg H2O2/g TS)), which had better performance with 96% higher methane production than that of the control sample with temperature of 25 °C approximately and a pH = 8. Response surface methodology with a quadratic model was also used for analyzing the influence of temperature, pH, and hydrogen peroxide concentration on anaerobic digestion efficiency. It was revealed that the optimized temperature, pH, and hydrogen peroxide concentration for maximizing methane production and solubilization of sludge and minimizing thermal energy and chemical additives of the pretreatments are 83.2 °C, pH = 10.6 and 34.8 mg H2O2/g TS, respectively, has the desirability of 0.67. Conclusion This study reveals that triple pretreatment of waste activated sludge performed better than dual and individual pretreatment, respectively, in all desirable output parameters including increasing methane production as the most important output, increasing in COD solubilization, protein and polysaccharide, and decreasing in VSS solubilization.