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Cry genes encoding Cry proteins toxic to Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera species were studied in thirty seven B. thuringiensis strains isolated from twelve naturally infested Heliothis armigera larvae. To further confirm the isolates, two groups of species-indicative biochemical tests were applied while discriminative biochemical tests being employed to figure out the repetitive strains. A PCR experiment was performed using five sets of universal primers for cry1, cry2, cry3, cry4, cry7/8 genes. All strains reacted appropriately, for B. thuringiensis, to the biochemical tests and while the reactions to the discriminative tests being varied. Based upon the results of the discriminative tests, twenty four nonrepetitive strains were selected and employed in the PCR assay. Each of the selected strains presented one cry gene, at least; cry1 being the most frequently detected one (91.7%), followed by cry2 (87.6%), cry3 (50%) and cry4 (42%) but no isolate harbored a coleopteran-active cry7/8 gene. All the strains presented combinations of two or more cry genes: 20% presenting cry1+cry2, 12.5% cry1+cry3, 4% cry2+cry4, 20% cry1+cry2+cry3, 20% cry1+cry2+cry4, 4% cry1+cry3+cry4 and 12.5% carrying all the four cry genes studied and only one strain bearing a single cry gene. The cry1-cry2 combination was common in many strains (72.5%). Genetic characterization of this collection provides an opportunity for selection of strains with improved and multiple insecticidal toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, time dependent exergy analysis of the Fars Combined Power Plant Cycle has been investigated. Exergy analysis has been used for investigating each part of actual combined cycle by considering irreversibility from Apr 2006 to Oct 2010. Performance analysis has been done for each part by evaluating exergy destruction in each month. By using of exergy analysis, aging of each part has been evaluated respect to time duration. In addition, the rate of lost work for each month has been calculated and variation of this parameter has been considered as a function of aging rate. Finally, effects of exergy destruction of each part have been investigated on exergy destruction of whole cycle. Entire analysis has been done for Unit 3 and 4 of gas turbine cycle which combined by Unit B of steam cycle in Fars Combined Power Plant Cycle located in Fars province in Iran.

Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michx.) Small as a perennial species of Polygonaceae family is recorded for the first time from northern regions of Iran. To distinguish this species among other species of this genus, micro morphology of tepal epidermis, leaf epidermis and leaf cross section have been compared with two close species, P.hydropiper L. and P.maculosa Gray. Anatomical structure of leaf blade and micro-morphological studies of leaf and tepal epidermis attest the differences of this taxon from other morphologically related species.

Purpose: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a multifaceted disorder. Recently, interest has grown in prosodic aspects of DLD, but most investigations of possible prosodic causes focus on speech perception tasks. Here, we focus on speech production from a speech amplitude envelope (AE) perspective. Perceptual studies have indicated a role for difficulties in AE processing in DLD related to sensory/neural processing of prosody. We explore possible matching AE difficulties in production., Method: Fifty-seven children with and without DLD completed a computerized imitation task, copying aloud 30 familiar targets such as "alligator." Children with DLD ( n = 20) were compared with typically developing children (age-matched controls [AMC], n = 21) and younger language controls (YLC, n = 16). Similarity of the child's productions to the target in terms of the continuous AE and pitch contour was computed using two similarity metrics, correlation, and mutual information. Both the speech AE and the pitch contour contain important information about stress patterning and intonational information over time., Results: Children with DLD showed significantly reduced imitation for both the AE and pitch contour metrics compared to AMC children. The opportunity to repeat the targets had no impact on performance for any group. Word length effects were similar across groups., Conclusions: The spoken production of multisyllabic words by children with DLD is atypical regarding both the AE and the pitch contour. This is consistent with a theoretical explanation of DLD based on impaired sensory/neural processing of low-frequency (slow) amplitude and frequency modulations, as predicted by the temporal sampling theory., Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.27165690.

Objective: To examine whether the responsiveness of young children to simple sounds was associated with entertainment screen time (EST), opportunities for social interaction, and social and communication skills., Design: Parents completed a questionnaire covering, for years one and two, the number of times the child met with other children; the number of words the child spoke; and the daily amount of EST. Social, attention and communication skills were assessed., Study Sample: Participants were 118 children, aged 15 to 46 months. They were initially assessed behaviourally using simple sounds. Children who responded to such sounds were denoted the Responsive group. Children who did not were assessed using familiar songs and denoted the Unresponsive group., Results: The two groups did not differ significantly in mean age or the number of opportunities to meet other children. The Unresponsive group had significantly fewer words than the Responsive group at 12 and 24 months and had significantly higher EST than the Responsive group for years 1 and 2. The Unresponsive group showed lower social, attention and communication skills than the Responsive group., Conclusions: High EST was associated with poorer auditory and social skills. Hence, it may be wise to limit the EST of young children.

Taurine, a non-essential amino acid produced from cysteine, is abundant in body tissues and blood plasma. It plays vital roles in growth, osmosis, lipid metabolism, and neurohormonal modulation. Taurine has antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, and anti-inflammatory properties, and its deficiency can lead to various diseases including cardiovascular, diabetic, renal, and liver disorders. This report provides a comprehensive review of the functional properties of taurine in counteracting pharmaceutical-induced side effects. A search across databases such as Scopus, PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science yielded 109 articles, of which 75 were included in the study. These results suggest that the protective effects of taurine involve mechanisms such as influencing pathways of Nrf2/OH-1, PI3-kinase/AKT and ERK2, boosting antioxidants (SOD, GPx and CAT), and suppression of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6). Overall, supplementation with taurine along with medications with significant side effects may mitigate these effects and enhance their efficacy. Further investigation of the interactions between taurine and other nutrients or compounds may provide insights into synergistic effects and novel therapeutic approaches., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Recent research has exposed a growing body of proof underscoring the importance of microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in maintaining the physical composition of neurons and influencing cognitive functioning in both standard and atypical circumstances. Extensive research has been conducted on the possible application of miRNAs and lncRNAs as biomarkers for various diseases, with a particular focus on brain disorders, as they possess remarkable durability in cell-free surroundings and can endure repeated freezing and thawing processes. It is intriguing to note that miRNAs and lncRNAs have the ability to function through paracrine mechanisms, thereby playing a role in communication between different organs. Recent research has proposed that the improvement of cognitive abilities through physical exercise in mentally healthy individuals is a valuable method for uncovering potential connections between miRNAs, or microRNAs, and lncRNAs, and human cognitive function. The process of cross-correlating data from disease models and patients with existing data will be crucial in identifying essential miRNAs and lncRNAs, which can potentially act as biomarkers or drug targets in the treatment of cognitive disorders. By combining this method with additional research in animal models, we can determine the function of these molecules and their potential impact on therapy. This article discusses the latest research about the primary miRNAs, lncRNAs, and their exosomes that are affected by physical activity in terms of human cognitive function., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Many types of gynecological cancer (GC) are often silent until they reach an advanced stage, and are therefore often diagnosed too late for effective treatment. Hence, there is a real need for more efficient diagnosis and treatment for patients with GC. During recent years, researchers have increasingly studied the impact of microRNAs cancer development, leading to a number of applications in detection and treatment. MicroRNAs are a particular group of tiny RNA molecules that regulate regular gene expression by affecting the translation process. The downregulation of numerous miRNAs has been observed in human malignancies. Let-7 is an example of a miRNA that controls cellular processes as well as signaling cascades to affect post-transcriptional gene expression. Recent research supports the hypothesis that enhancing let-7 expression in those cancers where it is downregulated may be a potential treatment option. Exosomes are tiny vesicles that move through body fluids and can include components like miRNAs (including let-7) that are important for communication between cells. Studies proved that exosomes are able to enhance tumor growth, angiogenesis, chemoresistance, metastasis, and immune evasion, thus suggesting their importance in GC management., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Curcumin is a strong substance derived from turmeric, a popular spice, renowned for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities. The study delved deeply into a thorough examination of various sources to evaluate the impact of both regular curcumin and nano-formulated curcumin on elements that impact physical performance, including muscular strain, discomfort, swelling, and oxidative tension. While engaging in exercise, the body experiences a rise in reactive oxygen species and inflammation. As a result, it is important to ensure a proper balance between internal and external sources of antioxidants to maintain stability in the skeletal muscle. Without this balance, there is a risk of muscle soreness, damage, and ultimately, a decline in exercise performance. Curcumin possesses the ability to enhance physical performance and reduce the symptoms of muscle fatigue and injury by virtue of its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. Including curcumin supplements appears to have advantageous effects on various aspects of exercise, such as enhancing performance, assisting with recovery, lessening muscle damage and discomfort, and lowering levels of inflammation and oxidative stress. However, a thorough assessment is necessary to precisely gauge the healing advantages of curcumin in enhancing exercise ability and reducing recovery time., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Taurine is a non-proteinogenic amino acid derived from cysteine. It is involved in several phenomena such as the regulation of growth and differentiation, osmoregulation, neurohormonal modulation, and lipid metabolism. Taurine is important because of its high levels in several tissues such as the central nervous system (CNS), heart, skeletal muscles, retinal membranes, and platelets. In this report, we present the functional properties of taurine indicating that it has potential effects on various metal toxicities. Therefore, a comprehensive literature review was performed using the Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. According to the search keywords, 61 articles were included in the study. The results indicate that taurine protects tissues against metal toxicity through enhancement of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity, modulation of oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects, involvement in different molecular pathways, and interference with the activity of various enzymes. Taken together, taurine is a natural supplement that presents antitoxic effects against many types of compounds, especially metals, suggesting public consumption of this amino acid as a prophylactic agent against the incidence of metal toxicity., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background and Purpose: The previous work on koetjapic acid (KA) isolated from Sandoricum koetjape showed its efficacy towards colorectal cancer however KA has poor water solubility which poses the biggest hindrance to its efficacy. In the present paper, an attempt was made to study the anti-colon cancer efficacy of KA's potassium salt i.e . potassium koetjapate (KKA) applying in vitro and in vivo methods., Experimental Approach: KKA was produced by a semi-synthetic method. A human apoptosis proteome profiler array was applied to determine the protein targets responsible for the stimulation of apoptosis. Three doses of KKA were studied in athymic nude mice models to examine the in vivo anti-tumorigenic ability of KKA., Findings/results: The results of this study demonstrated that KKA regulates the activities of various proteins. It downregulates the expression of several antiapoptotic proteins and negative regulators of apoptosis including HSP60, HSP90, Bcl-2, and IGF-1 in HCT 116 cells with consequent upregulation of TRAILR-1 and TRAILR-2, p27, CD40, caspase 3, and caspase 8 proteins. Additionally, KKA showed an in vitro antimetastatic effect against HCT 116 cells. These results are feasibly related to the down-regulation of Notch, Wnt, hypoxia, and MAPK/JNK and MAPK/ERK signalling pathways in HCT 116 cells besides the up-regulation of a transcription factor for cell cycle (pRb-E2F) pathways. In addition, KKA revealed potent inhibition of tumor growth., Conclusion and Implications: In sum, the findings indicate that KKA can be a promising candidate as a chemotherapeutic agent against colorectal cancer., Competing Interests: The authors declared no conflict of interest in this study., (Copyright: © 2024 Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences.)

Objective: Previous studies have reported atypical delta phase in children with dyslexia, and that delta phase modulates the amplitude of the beta-band response via delta-beta phase-amplitude coupling (PAC). Accordingly, the atypical delta-band effects in children with dyslexia may imply related atypical beta-band effects, particularly regarding delta-beta PAC. Our primary objective was to explore beta-band oscillations in children with and without dyslexia, to explore potentially atypical effects in the beta band in dyslexic children., Methods: We collected EEG data during a rhythmic speech paradigm from 51 children (21 control; 30 dyslexia). We then assessed beta-band phase entrainment, beta-band angular velocity, beta-band power responses and delta-beta PAC., Results: We found significant beta-band phase entrainment for control children but not for dyslexic children. Furthermore, children with dyslexia exhibited significantly faster beta-band angular velocity and significantly greater beta-band power. Delta-beta PAC was comparable in both groups., Conclusion: Atypical beta-band effects were observed in children with dyslexia. However, delta-beta PAC was comparable in both dyslexic and control children., Significance: These findings offer further insights into the neurophysiological basis of atypical rhythmic speech processing by children with dyslexia, suggesting the involvement of a wide range of frequency bands., (Copyright © 2024 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Computational models that successfully decode neural activity into speech are increasing in the adult literature, with convolutional neural networks (CNNs), backward linear models, and mutual information (MI) models all being applied to neural data in relation to speech input. This is not the case in the infant literature., New Method: Three different computational models, two novel for infants, were applied to decode low-frequency speech envelope information. Previously-employed backward linear models were compared to novel CNN and MI-based models. Fifty infants provided EEG recordings when aged 4, 7, and 11 months, while listening passively to natural speech (sung or chanted nursery rhymes) presented by video with a female singer., Results: Each model computed speech information for these nursery rhymes in two different low-frequency bands, delta and theta, thought to provide different types of linguistic information. All three models demonstrated significant levels of performance for delta-band neural activity from 4 months of age, with two of three models also showing significant performance for theta-band activity. All models also demonstrated higher accuracy for the delta-band neural responses. None of the models showed developmental (age-related) effects., Comparisons With Existing Methods: The data demonstrate that the choice of algorithm used to decode speech envelope information from neural activity in the infant brain determines the developmental conclusions that can be drawn., Conclusions: The modelling shows that better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each modelling approach is fundamental to improving our understanding of how the human brain builds a language system., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing financial interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The Chear open-set performance test (COPT), which uses a carrier phrase followed by a monosyllabic test word, is intended for clinical assessment of speech recognition, evaluation of hearing-device performance, and the fine-tuning of hearing devices for speakers of British English. This paper assesses practice effects, test-retest reliability, and the variability across lists of the COPT., Method: In experiment 1, 16 normal-hearing participants were tested using an initial version of the COPT, at three speech-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Experiment 2 used revised COPT lists, with items swapped between lists to reduce differences in difficulty across lists. In experiment 3, test-retest repeatability was assessed for stimuli presented in quiet, using 15 participants with sensorineural hearing loss., Results: After administration of a single practice list, no practice effects were evident. The critical difference between scores for two lists was about 2 words (out of 15) or 5 phonemes (out of 50). The mean estimated SNR required for 74% words correct was -0.56 dB, with a standard deviation across lists of 0.16 dB. For the participants with hearing loss tested in quiet, the critical difference between scores for two lists was about 3 words (out of 15) or 6 phonemes (out of 50).

The prevalent "core phonological deficit" model of dyslexia proposes that the reading and spelling difficulties characterizing affected children stem from prior developmental difficulties in processing speech sound structure, for example, perceiving and identifying syllable stress patterns, syllables, rhymes and phonemes. Yet spoken word production appears normal. This suggests an unexpected disconnect between speech input and speech output processes. Here we investigated the output side of this disconnect from a speech rhythm perspective by measuring the speech amplitude envelope (AE) of multisyllabic spoken phrases. The speech AE contains crucial information regarding stress patterns, speech rate, tonal contrasts and intonational information. We created a novel computerized speech copying task in which participants copied aloud familiar spoken targets like "Aladdin." Seventy-five children with and without dyslexia were tested, some of whom were also receiving an oral intervention designed to enhance multi-syllabic processing. Similarity of the child's productions to the target AE was computed using correlation and mutual information metrics. Similarity of pitch contour, another acoustic cue to speech rhythm, was used for control analyses. Children with dyslexia were significantly worse at producing the multi-syllabic targets as indexed by both similarity metrics for computing the AE. However, children with dyslexia were not different from control children in producing pitch contours. Accordingly, the spoken production of multisyllabic phrases by children with dyslexia is atypical regarding the AE. Children with dyslexia may not appear to listeners to exhibit speech production difficulties because their pitch contours are intact. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Speech production of syllable stress patterns is atypical in children with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia are significantly worse at producing the amplitude envelope of multi-syllabic targets compared to both age-matched and reading-level-matched control children. No group differences were found for pitch contour production between children with dyslexia and age-matched control children. It may be difficult to detect speech output problems in dyslexia as pitch contours are relatively accurate., (© 2023 The Authors. Developmental Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Aflatoxins (AFs), an important category of pollutants, are formed in many foods and adversely affect human health. Therefore, their determination is critical to ensuring human food health. An efficient dispersive solid-phase microextraction technique was developed as a simple and straightforward sample preparation technique for determination of four aflatoxins using a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fluorescence detector. A novel efficient, green sorbent for extracting AFs was synthesized based on hydrothermal and chemical strategies. The amounts of three sorbent components were optimized using a mixture design (simplex lattice design), including 14 experiments. The optimal amount of amino-bimetallic Fe/Ni-MIL-53 nanospheres, chitosan, and magnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles as sorbent components was 0.87, 0.67, and 0.47 g, respectively. Also, various factors affecting the process of AF determination were studied and optimized in two successive experimental designs, including the definitive screening design and the Box-Behnken design. Under optimal conditions, the linear ranges for measuring aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1, and aflatoxin G2 were 0.05-82.6, 0.07-86.4, 0.08-85.7, and 0.07-89.5 ng mL -1 , respectively. The relative standard deviations under inter-day and intra-day conditions for measuring AFs at three analyte concentrations were determined in triplicate analysis and were in the ranges of 3.7-4.6% and 4.9-6.1% for water sample analysis, respectively. The qualitative detection limits for determining AFs were between 0.01 and 0.05 ng mL -1 . The pre-concentration factor of the method for measuring AFs ranged from 739.7 to 802.1. The proposed method was used for determining AFs in several real samples, including herbal distillate, black tea, corn, and real water samples. The relative recovery and standard deviation were 87.8-97.8% and 4.10-6.82%, respectively., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Today, it is felt as necessary to promote the psychological empowerment of individuals, especially at the postgraduate level using an appropriate educational approach. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of flipped class (FC) and team-based learning (TBL) in enhancing psychological empowerment., Methods: This semi-experimental study (pretest-posttest model) was conducted on postgraduate students in the Faculty of Medicine. Ninety students were included in the study using census method. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, forty students were divided into two groups of 20 in a non-random way according to their gender and educational level. The workshop teacher randomly selected one of the groups as a TBL and the other as an FC. A two-day workshop was held for each group (12 hours of training in total). The educational method was TBL in one group and FC in another. Spritzer's Psychological Empowerment questionnaire was used for data collection in pre- and post-test (one month apart). This questionnaire includes 12 questions (based on a five-point Likert scale) to assess the 4 aspects of job meaningfulness, feeling to be qualified, feeling to be effective, and feeling to have the freedom of choice. The minimum and maximum scores are 12 and 60, respectively. The experts of the field have confirmed its reliability. Its Cronbach-Alpha values were reported in previous studies at 0.86 and 0.89, respectively. Data were analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS16 and Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney non-parametric tests., Results: The Mann-Whitney U-test indicated no significant difference between the total mean of the two groups (FC: 35.20±1.73, TBL: 34.30±1.26) in the pre-test (P=0.157). However, there was a significant difference between the psychological empowerment scores of the two groups in the post-test (P<0.001). The Wilcoxon test showed a significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores for each group (P<0.05) and the psychological empowerment scores increased in the post-test for the two groups. However, the mean of post-test score in the TBL group (M: 42.55±1.82, P<0.001) was higher than the FC group (M: 38.45±2.64, P>0.001)., Conclusion: Due to the influence of the TBL technique on psychological empowerment at the postgraduate level, it seems that TBL is more useful and practical for enhancing psychological empowerment., Competing Interests: None declared., (Copyright: © Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism.)

With the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing influence of the Internet in critical sectors of industry and society, cyberattacks have not only not declined, but have risen sharply. In the meantime, ransomware is at the forefront of the most devastating threats that have launched the lucrative illegal business. Due to the proliferation and variety of ransomware forays, there is a need for a new theory of categories. The intricacy and multiplicity of components involved in digital extortions entails the construction of a knowledge representation system that is able to organize large volumes of information from heterogeneous sources in a formal structured format and infer new knowledge from it. This paper suggests and develops a dedicated ontology of digital blackmails, called Rantology, with a particular focus on ransomware assaults. The logic coded in this ontology allows to assess the maliciousness of programs based on various factors, including called API functions and their behaviors. The proposed framework can be used to facilitate interoperability between cybersecurity experts and knowledge-based systems, and identify sensitive points for surveillance. The evaluation results based on several criteria confirm the adequacy of the suggested ontology in terms of clarity, modularity, consistency, coverage and inheritance richness., (© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Antidepressants are an important class of drugs to treat various types of depression. The determination of antidepressants is crucial in biological samples to control adverse effects in humans and study pharmacokinetics and bioavailability. Direct measurement of antidepressants in biological and water samples is a considerable challenge for analysts due to their low concentration, the high matrix effects of real samples, and the presence of metabolites of these drugs in biological samples. The challenge leads to using sample preparation processes as a critical step in determining antidepressants. Extraction and microextraction procedures have been widely utilized as sample preparation procedures for these drugs. The purposes of extraction or microextraction methods for antidepressant medications are to preconcentrate the analyte, reduce the matrix effects, increase the selectivity of the procedures, and convert the sample to a suitable format for introducing it into detection systems. In the review, the various extraction and microextraction methods of these drugs in biological, real water, and wastewater samples were investigated. The theory of each technique was briefly addressed to understand the features and factors affecting each method. The extraction and microextraction methods were classified based on their application for antidepressants, and the advantages and disadvantages of each technique were reviewed. The new developments to overcome the limitations of each procedure were discussed. The investigation indicated the number of applications of liquid-phase microextraction for extracting antidepressants has been almost equal to that of solid-phase microextraction.

The amplitude envelope of speech carries crucial low-frequency acoustic information that assists linguistic decoding. The sensory-neural Temporal Sampling (TS) theory of developmental dyslexia proposes atypical encoding of speech envelope information < 10 Hz, leading to atypical phonological representations. Here a backward linear TRF model and story listening were employed to estimate the speech information encoded in the electroencephalogram in the canonical delta, theta and alpha bands by 9-year-old children with and without dyslexia. TRF decoding accuracy provided an estimate of how faithfully the children's brains encoded low-frequency envelope information. Between-group analyses showed that the children with dyslexia exhibited impaired reconstruction of speech information in the delta band. However, when the quality of speech encoding for each child was estimated using child-by-child decoding models, then the dyslexic children did not differ from controls. This suggests that children with dyslexia encode neither "noisy" nor "normal" representations of the speech signal, but different representations., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the design, performance, and characteristics of a low-temperature argon plasma jet with cascading electrode technique (APJCE) are presented. APJCE is designed based on a tip-ring structure with a cascading ring. The effect of plasma jet driven by repetitive high-voltage microsecond pulses in APJCE structure was measured qualitatively in local surface temperature detection system. Then, by applying the generated plasma jet to biological surface and measuring and characterizing the electrical parameters, we obtained a plasma jet, which is electrically and thermally in the cold plasma regime. Simulation of the electric field distribution in the nozzle also yielded similar results to the experimental results. Finally, by cascading electrodes, we guided the plasma column to the nozzle output so that the plasma temperature within four centimeters of the nozzle output is 37 °C. The resulting plasma jets were studied by atomic emission spectroscopy and the intensity of the spectral lines of the atmospheric argon plasma jet spectra was obtained as a final experimental result at the output., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Many environmental pollutants, natural compounds, as well as endogenous chemicals exert their biological/toxicological effects by reacting with the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Previous evidence shed new light on the role of AhR in skin physiology by regulating melanin production. In this study, we investigated the effect of oxidative imbalance induced by AhR ligands on the melanogenesis process in B16 murine melanoma cells. Exposure to 6-formylindolo[3,2-b] carbazole (FICZ) or benzo-α-pyrene (BαP) led to enhanced expression of CTNNB1, MITF, and TYR genes following increased tyrosinase enzyme activity and melanin content in an AhR-dependent manner. Analysis of the presence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as reduced glutathione (GSH) / oxidized glutathione (GSSG) ratio revealed that treatment with AhR ligands is associated with oxidative stress which can be ameliorated with NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) or diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPI). On the other hand, NAC and DPI enhanced melanogenesis induced by AhR ligands by reducing the level of ROS. We have shown for the first time that a cellular redox status is a critical event during AhR ligand-induced melanogenesis., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), a highly diverse disease, is the most widespread pediatric malignancy characterized by cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities such as altered microRNA (miR) expression signatures. MiRs are a class of short noncoding RNAs. Dysregulation in the expression of miRs plays a crucial role in different types of cancers. Vincristine is an antineoplastic drug with a broad spectrum of activity against different hematologic malignancies and is the first-line treatment for B-ALL. Previous studies have proposed miR-17 and miR-181/b as oncomirs and miR-34/a as a tumor suppressor in Nalm6 cells, thus in the current study, we investigated the effects of vincristine treatment on the expression of miR-17, miR-34/a and miR-181/b expression levels. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay was conducted to estimate the optimal concentration of vincristine in the Nalm-6 cell line. Expression of miRs was calculated using real-time PCR. Our results showed significant downregulation of miR-17 (FC = 0.226; P < 0.0004) in Nalm6 cells after vincristine treatment. Conversely, miR-34/a (FC = 4.823; P < 0.0001) was significantly upregulated. Also, the expression of miR-181/b (FC = 0.156; P < 0.3465) was not significantly different between the vincristine treated group and the control group. In conclusion, it is proposed that one of the mechanisms by which vincristine improves B-ALL is by modulating the expression of specific miRs. These specific miRs will serve as good diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

The cement industry is one of the main world industries with exposure to a wide range of hazardous chemical and physical occupational agents that may increase free radicals and lead to disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate oxidative stress, biochemical markers, and psychological parameters among cement plant workers. In this cross-sectional study, 40 workers exposed to cement and 40 office employees were selected as the exposed and non-exposed groups, respectively. Exposure to cement dust, silica, and noise were, respectively, assessed using the NIOSH 0600, NIOSH 7601, and noise dosimetry methods. Oxidative stress biomarkers including malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and biochemical parameters were measured in the serum of all participants. Depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) questionnaire. The results demonstrated that the level of MDA as a marker of oxidative stress was significantly higher in the exposed group. The level of antioxidant enzymes including SOD and CAT were also significantly higher in the exposed group. The level of TAC was lower in the exposed group, but the difference was not statistically significant. The levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate transaminase (AST), and the scores of depression and stress were also significantly higher in the exposed group. According to our results, noise, cement dust, and silica exposure were associated with oxidative stress, and this may be one of the mechanisms in which they adversely affect liver function and mental health.

According to the sensory-neural Temporal Sampling theory of developmental dyslexia, neural sampling of auditory information at slow rates (<10 Hz, related to speech rhythm) is atypical in dyslexic individuals, particularly in the delta band (0.5-4 Hz). Here we examine the underlying neural mechanisms related to atypical sampling using a simple repetitive speech paradigm. Fifty-one children (21 control children [15M, 6F] and 30 children with dyslexia [16M, 14F]) aged 9 years with or without developmental dyslexia watched and listened as a 'talking head' repeated the syllable "ba" every 500 ms, while EEG was recorded. Occasionally a syllable was "out of time", with a temporal delay calibrated individually and adaptively for each child so that it was detected around 79.4% of the time by a button press. Phase consistency in the delta (rate of stimulus delivery), theta (speech-related) and alpha (control) bands was evaluated for each child and each group. Significant phase consistency was found for both groups in the delta and theta bands, demonstrating neural entrainment, but not the alpha band. However, the children with dyslexia showed a different preferred phase and significantly reduced phase consistency compared to control children, in the delta band only. Analysis of pre- and post-stimulus angular velocity of group preferred phases revealed that the children in the dyslexic group showed an atypical response in the delta band only. The delta-band pre-stimulus angular velocity (-130 ms to 0 ms) for the dyslexic group appeared to be significantly faster compared to the control group. It is concluded that neural responding to simple beat-based stimuli may provide a unique neural marker of developmental dyslexia. The automatic nature of this neural response may enable new tools for diagnosis, as well as opening new avenues for remediation., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The subtribe Loliinae is one of the largest subtribes of Poeae with about 600 species. Festuca is a large genus with close relations to other genera as Lolium, Castellia, and Vulpia. The taxonomic history of the Festuca-Lolium species group is very complicated. The polyploidy and hybridization make it more confusing. Due to the morphological similarities between genera identification is very difficult, the aim of the present study is to provide the taxonomic characters for the delimitation of the taxa of subtribe Loliinae. We used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques for the evaluation of the lemma and palea surface micromorphology for 33 species of this subtribe. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to show the species groupings. Factor analysis based on the principal component analysis showed the diagnostic importance of each of the characters. The lemma and palea epidermal patterns of Castellia, Festuca, and Lolium were examined, and results revealed that Lolium and Vulpia sensu lato species made separate groups nested in the Festuca clusters. The length of the long cell of the lemma, prickle in the lemma and palea, the wall shape of long cells of the lemma, wax type, silica bodies of lemma and palea, and the short cells in palea were important diagnostic characters for the species studied. The measured and evaluated set of lemma and palea micromorphological features was unable to provide the delimitation of the Festuca genus as subgeneric or sectional level. Present observations illustrated a heterogeneous assemblage as Festuca that needs further study for delimitation., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

The amyloid beta precursor protein (APP) plays a pathophysiological role in the development of Alzheimer's disease as well as a physiological role in neuronal growth and synaptogenesis. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)/WNT/Catenin Beta 1 (CTNNB1)/Notch signaling pathways stamp in many functions, including development and growth of neurons. However, the regulatory role of AhR-/WNT-/CTNNB1-/Notch-induced APP expression and its influence on hippocampal-dependent learning and memory deficits is not clear. Male BALB/C mice received 6-formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (an AhR agonist), CH223191(an AhR antagonist), DAPT (an inhibitor of Notch signaling), and XAV-939 (a WNT pathway inhibitor) at a single dose of 100 μg/kg, 1, 5 , and 5 mg/kg of body weight, respectively, via intraperitoneal injection alone or in combination. Gene expression analyses and protein assay were performed on the 7th and 29th days. To assess the hippocampal-dependent memory, all six mice also underwent contextual fear conditioning on the 28th day after treatments. Our results showed that endogenous ligand of AhR has a regulatory effect on APP gene. Also, the interaction of AhR/WNT/CTNNB1 has a positive regulatory effect, but Notch has a negative regulatory effect on the mRNA and protein expression of APP, which have a correlation with mice's learning skills and memory., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Dispersive micro solid-phase extraction procedure using a novel and selective sorbent prepared from four components was developed as a sample preparation strategy for extracting five organophosphorus pesticides, including fenitrothion, malathion, ethion, and chlorpyrifos, and diazinon in several vegetables, fruit juices, and cow's milk samples. Due to the high importance of the sorbent in the microextraction process, the percentages of sorbent components, including metal-organic framework (ZIF-67), chitosan, magnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles, and silica nanoparticles, were optimized by a simplex lattice mixture design. After optimizing the sorbent composite, effective parameters on the extraction of organophosphorus pesticides were optimized using a definitive screening design and Box-Behnken design, respectively. A surfactant (Triton X100) as a dispersion agent with a low volume (10 μL) was utilized in the microextraction procedure to reduce the sorbent dispersion time and increase the sorbent dispersion efficiency. Under the optimal conditions, linearity for the determination of fenitrothion, malathion, ethion, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon was in the concentration ranges of 0.13-1100, 0.27-1000, 0.38-1000, 0.21-1200, and 0.11-1100 ng mL -1 with a determination coefficient higher than 0.9906, respectively. The quantitation limits, detection limits, and relative standard deviations (n = 5) were lower than 0.38 ng mL -1 , 0.11 ng mL -1 , and 4.59% for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides. The method application for measuring OPPs on cucumber, carrot, tomato, apple juice, orange juice, and cow's milk indicated the presence of residual amounts of malathion in a cucumber sample, diazinon in a carrot sample, and chlorpyrifos in a tomato sample., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Currently there are no reliable means of identifying infants at-risk for later language disorders. Infant neural responses to rhythmic stimuli may offer a solution, as neural tracking of rhythm is atypical in children with developmental language disorders. However, infant brain recordings are noisy. As a first step to developing accurate neural biomarkers, we investigate whether infant brain responses to rhythmic stimuli can be classified reliably using EEG from 95 eight-week-old infants listening to natural stimuli (repeated syllables or drumbeats). Both Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) approaches were employed. Applied to one infant at a time, the CNN discriminated syllables from drumbeats with a mean AUC of 0.87, against two levels of noise. The SVM classified with AUC 0.95 and 0.86 respectively, showing reduced performance as noise increased. Our proof-of-concept modelling opens the way to the development of clinical biomarkers for language disorders related to rhythmic entrainment., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The preservation of the redox homeostasis is critical for cell survival and functionality. Redox imbalance is an essential inducer of several pathological states. CD4 + /helper T cells are highly dependent on the redox state of their surrounding milieu. The potential of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) engagement in controlling CD4 + T-cell fate during redox alteration is still challenging. C57BL/6 mice were treated with AhR agonist 6-formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (FICZ), AhR antagonist CH223191, an inhibitor of glutathione biosynthesis buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), and the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) alone or in combination. Six days later, splenocytes were evaluated for the expression of the redox-related genes and the possible changes in T-cell subsets. FICZ like BSO significantly elevated the expression of HMOX1, GCLC, and GCLM genes but it failed to increase the expression of the Nrf2 gene. Moreover, FICZ + BSO increased while FICZ + CH223191 or NAC decreased the expression of these genes. FICZ also significantly increased Th1 cell numbers but decreased Tregs in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, a high dose of FICZ + CH223191 + NAC significantly enhanced Th1, Th17, and Treg cells but its low dose in such a situation increased Th2 and Th17 while decreased Treg cells. AhR engagement during redox alteration can determine the fate of CD4 + T cells, so, AhR agonists or antagonists might be useful in assessing immune responses. However, these results need further verifications in vitro and in animal models of various diseases., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Understanding speech in background noise is a difficult task. The tracking of speech rhythms such as the rate of syllables and words by cortical activity has emerged as a key neural mechanism for speech-in-noise comprehension. In particular, recent investigations have used transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) with the envelope of a speech signal to influence the cortical speech tracking, demonstrating that this type of stimulation modulates comprehension and therefore providing evidence of a functional role of the cortical tracking in speech processing. Cortical activity has been found to track the rhythms of a background speaker as well, but the functional significance of this neural response remains unclear. Here we use a speech-comprehension task with a target speaker in the presence of a distractor voice to show that tACS with the speech envelope of the target voice as well as tACS with the envelope of the distractor speaker both modulate the comprehension of the target speech. Because the envelope of the distractor speech does not carry information about the target speech stream, the modulation of speech comprehension through tACS with this envelope provides evidence that the cortical tracking of the background speaker affects the comprehension of the foreground speech signal. The phase dependency of the resulting modulation of speech comprehension is, however, opposite to that obtained from tACS with the envelope of the target speech signal. This suggests that the cortical tracking of the ignored speech stream and that of the attended speech stream may compete for neural resources. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Loud environments such as busy pubs or restaurants can make conversation difficult. However, they also allow us to eavesdrop into other conversations that occur in the background. In particular, we often notice when somebody else mentions our name, even if we have not been listening to that person. However, the neural mechanisms by which background speech is processed remain poorly understood. Here we use transcranial alternating current stimulation, a technique through which neural activity in the cerebral cortex can be influenced, to show that cortical responses to rhythms in the distractor speech modulate the comprehension of the target speaker. Our results provide evidence that the cortical tracking of background speech rhythms plays a functional role in speech processing., (Copyright © 2021 Keshavarzi et al.)

Melanin is a group of natural pigments that determines the human skin color and provides fundamental protection against the harmful impacts of physical and chemical stimuli. The aim of this study was to establish the regulatory role of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) in α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) induced melanogenesis. In the present study, following knockdown of AhR, murine B16F10 cells were treated with α-MSH (200 nM) and tyrosinase activities, cellular melanin content, mRNA levels of several important genes involved in melanogenesis including AhR , CTNNB1 , TYR2 , and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor ( MITF ) were measured as endpoints. Exposure to α-MSH led to elevated expression of AhR , CTNNB1 , MITF , and TYR in accordance with increased tyrosinase enzyme activity as well as a significant rise in the total melanin content. Our results suggest that AhR plays a regulatory role in α-MSH-stimulated melanogenesis.

A deep recurrent neural network (RNN) for reducing transient sounds was developed and its effects on subjective speech intelligibility and listening comfort were investigated. The RNN was trained using sentences spoken with different accents and corrupted by transient sounds, using the clean speech as the target. It was tested using sentences spoken by unseen talkers and corrupted by unseen transient sounds. A paired-comparison procedure was used to compare all possible combinations of three conditions for subjective speech intelligibility and listening comfort for two relative levels of the transients. The conditions were: no processing (NP); processing using the RNN; and processing using a multi-channel transient reduction method (MCTR). Ten participants with normal hearing and ten with mild-to-moderate hearing loss participated. For the latter, frequency-dependent linear amplification was applied to all stimuli to compensate for individual audibility losses. For the normal-hearing participants, processing using the RNN was significantly preferred over that for NP for subjective intelligibility and comfort, processing using the RNN was significantly preferred over that for MCTR for subjective intelligibility, and processing using the MCTR was significantly preferred over that for NP for comfort for the higher transient level only. For the hearing-impaired participants, processing using the RNN was significantly preferred over that for NP for both subjective intelligibility and comfort, processing using the RNN was significantly preferred over that for MCTR for comfort, and processing using the MCTR was significantly preferred over that for NP for comfort.

Background: The use of functional food, such as probiotic products, is important due to their health benefits against various diseases. Phenolic and aromatic compounds originating from medical plants can contribute to the growth of probiotic bacteria., Methods: The ethanolic extract (0.2% and 0.4%) and essential oil (0.01% and 0.03%) of Ferulago angulata (FAEE and FAEO, respectively) were added to probiotic yogurt ( Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum bacteria) to investigate their effects on the survival of probiotic bacteria during storage time (21 days) and assess its physicochemical, protein, and organoleptic properties., Results: Upon increasing the concentration of FAEE and FAEO, the value of total phenol content, acidity, viscosity, and water absorption of yogurt treatments increased, and the pH, syneresis, and solubility of treatments showed a decreasing trend ( p  < .05). Also, adding 0.01% FAEO and 0.2% FAEE improved the organoleptic properties of yogurt ( p  < .05) compared to the control treatment. The survivability of the investigated probiotic bacteria demonstrated a decreased trend during storage in all treatments, but at the end of the study, the number of both probiotic bacteria in all treatments was significantly higher than that of the control samples., Conclusion: Based on the results of protein, physicochemical, microbial, and sensory tests of herbal probiotic yogurts, the addition of 0.03% essential oil is the best way to realize the goals of the research., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (© 2020 The Authors. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) atmospheric cold plasma was evaluated as a tool to increase the extraction rate of total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity from green tea leaves. The effects of nitrogen DBD cold plasma on changes of color and surface morphology were investigated. Optimum conditions of cold plasma treatment (treatment time and generation power) were obtained by response surface methodology. After the nitrogen DBD cold plasma at 15 W of the generation power for 15 min, the TPC and antioxidant activity of green tea increased by 41.14% and 41.06%, respectively. The catechin also increased by 103.12%. The scanning electron microscopy results showed cell ablation and ruptures of the green tea leaf surface after nitrogen DBD cold plasma treatment. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The developed DBD cold plasma source fed by nitrogen gas can be a suitable procedure for green and useful extraction of phenolic compounds from natural sources in the food industries., (© 2020 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Transcranial alternating current stimulation with the speech envelope can modulate the comprehension of speech in noise. The modulation stems from the theta- but not the delta-band portion of the speech envelope, and likely reflects the entrainment of neural activity in the theta frequency band, which may aid the parsing of the speech stream. The influence of the current stimulation on speech comprehension can vary with the time delay between the current waveform and the audio signal. While this effect has been investigated for current stimulation based on the entire speech envelope, it has not yet been measured when the current waveform follows the theta-band portion of the speech envelope. Here, we show that transcranial current stimulation with the speech envelope filtered in the theta frequency band improves speech comprehension as compared to a sham stimulus. The improvement occurs when there is no time delay between the current and the speech stimulus, as well as when the temporal delay is comparatively short, 90 ms. In contrast, longer delays, as well as negative delays, do not impact speech-in-noise comprehension. Moreover, we find that the improvement of speech comprehension at no or small delays of the current stimulation is consistent across participants. Our findings suggest that cortical entrainment to speech is most influenced through current stimulation that follows the speech envelope with at most a small delay. They also open a path to enhancing the perception of speech in noise, an issue that is particularly important for people with hearing impairment., (Copyright © 2020 Keshavarzi and Reichenbach.)

Neurogenesis is a dynamic and physiologic developmental process that affects learning and hippocampal dependent memory. It is regulated by multi-cellular micro-environment and different types of transcription factors. The neurogenesis effects of endogenously activated aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) by its endogenous ligand, 6-formylindolo[3,2-b] carbazole (FICZ), and its interactions with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway were the main purpose of this study. In accordance, learning and hippocampus-dependent memory were examined. Male BALB/C mice received FICZ, CH223191, and XAV-939 in a single dose of 100 μg/kg, 1 mg/kg, and 5 mg/kg of body weight respectively via intraperitoneal (IP) injection. qRT-PCR for gene analyses and protein assay on the 7th and 28th days were performed. To assess the hippocampal dependent memory, they also underwent contextual fear conditioning on the 28th day after treatment. Our results showed that FICZ treatment led to elevation of the proneural transcription factors ASCL1 and Ngn2, immature neural marker DCX, differentiation neurons marker, NeuN, as well as β-catenin at mRNA and protein levels. We also indicated that hippocampal dependent memory and learning task were improved by FICZ treatment and impaired by the AHR and Wnt/ß-catenin inhibition. In this study for the first time, we demonstrated that the endogenous ligand of AHR, FICZ, has a positive effect on short- and long-term memory as well as learning skills. This ability is possibly mediated by the AHR-Wnt/ß-catenin cross-talk.

Auditory cortical activity entrains to speech rhythms and has been proposed as a mechanism for online speech processing. In particular, neural activity in the theta frequency band (4-8 ​Hz) tracks the onset of syllables which may aid the parsing of a speech stream. Similarly, cortical activity in the delta band (1-4 ​Hz) entrains to the onset of words in natural speech and has been found to encode both syntactic as well as semantic information. Such neural entrainment to speech rhythms is not merely an epiphenomenon of other neural processes, but plays a functional role in speech processing: modulating the neural entrainment through transcranial alternating current stimulation influences the speech-related neural activity and modulates the comprehension of degraded speech. However, the distinct functional contributions of the delta- and of the theta-band entrainment to the modulation of speech comprehension have not yet been investigated. Here we use transcranial alternating current stimulation with waveforms derived from the speech envelope and filtered in the delta and theta frequency bands to alter cortical entrainment in both bands separately. We find that transcranial alternating current stimulation in the theta band but not in the delta band impacts speech comprehension. Moreover, we find that transcranial alternating current stimulation with the theta-band portion of the speech envelope can improve speech-in-noise comprehension beyond sham stimulation. Our results show a distinct contribution of the theta- but not of the delta-band stimulation to the modulation of speech comprehension. In addition, our findings open up a potential avenue of enhancing the comprehension of speech in noise., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interests The authors declare no competing financial interests., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Epigenetic alterations are essential for normal mammalian development and regulation of gene expression. In this study, we aimed to determine if an enigmatic endogenous ligand of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), 6-formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (FICZ), and methionine (Meth) have an epigenetic impact on AHR-regulated cytochrome P450 1A1 and B1 (CYP1A1 and CYP1B1) gene expression. Human hepatoma (HepG2-XRE-Luc and huh7) cells were exposed to FICZ in a medium with and without Meth supplementation. Selective and transient silencing of CYP1A1 but not CYP1B1 were seen by FICZ. Here we found that FICZ transiently represses CYP1A1 by targeting DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) and concomitant DNA methylation of the CYP1A1 promoter gene. Treatments with 5-aza-dC augmented CYP1A1 transcription activity. Our results reveal a new mechanism for transient activation of AHR by FICZ that can negatively and positively influence gene expression, and highlight the regulatory role of Meth on the CYP1A1 gene expression., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)