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Background: Water quality is the most important factor for consumers. Therefore, monitoring and controlling water quality is of particular significance in different human communities such as universities. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of drinking water in some universities in Iran. Methods: In this study, the physicochemical parameters and heavy metals including lead, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, and chromium in drinking water were determined in nine Iranian universities. Then, the efficacy of several treatment methods was evaluated in the removal of heavy metals, including boiling process in two stages, 5 min boiling, 5 h boiling, and filtration process. Results: Physicochemical properties of drinking water in all samples were appropriate. Hardness levels were higher than the World Health Organization standards. However, this parameter was lower than the national standard of Iran (500 mg/l caco3). Nevertheless, cadmium content was not detected in any samples, and nickel and chromium content was below the permissible limit. Lead content was equal to the limit in three samples, and arsenic content was equal to the limit in four samples. Water purification methods including boiling and water purifier were satisfactory and significantly reduced pollutants. Conclusion: It is suggested to check drinking water quality in universities randomly

Physical exercise is generally beneficial to all aspects of human and animal health, slowing cognitive ageing and neurodegeneration1. The cognitive benefits of physical exercise are tied to an increased plasticity and reduced inflammation within the hippocampus2-4, yet little is known about the factors and mechanisms that mediate these effects. Here we show that 'runner plasma', collected from voluntarily running mice and infused into sedentary mice, reduces baseline neuroinflammatory gene expression and experimentally induced brain inflammation. Plasma proteomic analysis revealed a concerted increase in complement cascade inhibitors including clusterin (CLU). Intravenously injected CLU binds to brain endothelial cells and reduces neuroinflammatory gene expression in a mouse model of acute brain inflammation and a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Patients with cognitive impairment who participated in structured exercise for 6 months had higher plasma levels of CLU. These findings demonstrate the existence of anti-inflammatory exercise factors that are transferrable, target the cerebrovasculature and benefit the brain, and are present in humans who engage in exercise.

Key Clinical Message Osseous choristoma is a rare entity, mainly found on the posterior tongue. It is described as a nodular or exophytic lesion with firm to hard consistency. Clinicians should consider osseous choristoma when confronting lesions with the same features. Abstract Osseous choristoma is an unusual growth of ectopic bone in the soft tissue. This lesion is extremely rare, with a few cases reported in the literature, and they typically appear in the head and neck region, particularly the posterior tongue. The current report presents a case of osseous choristoma in the palate of a 51‐year‐old female. The patient had slight discomfort, which was resolved after surgical excision of the lesion, and no recurrence was observed. This research presents an instance of osseous choristoma in a less common location and concurrently acts as a review of this rare condition.

This study employed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to investigate various regimes of droplet formation in a square microfluidic cross-junction device. The first part of the study focused on investigating the impact of viscosity ratios ranging from 0.1 to 5 on droplet characteristics under different flow rate ratios. The transition regime between the dripping and jetting exhibited particularly interesting behavior, with droplet volume being proportional to viscosity ratio. However, when conditions were far from the transition regime, the volume of droplets did not vary significantly with respect to viscosity ratios greater than one. The results of the study indicate the feasibility of reducing droplet volume to the appropriate level while minimizing the impact on the continuous phase's flow rate and the risk of transitioning to jetting. Moreover, in the final part of the study, we investigated the potential of shifting the transition boundary between the squeezing and jetting regimes. Our findings indicate that modifying the outflow channel's design can increase the frequency of droplet generation without altering the operating conditions for both the continuous and dispersed phases.

Spherical nano-microcarriers generally perform targeted delivery of drugs to blood vessels with lesions. Recently, some studies have shown the importance of the non-spherical nature of nano-microcarriers in their movement toward the target wall inside blood arteries. Non-spherical particles tend to collide and adhere to the target wall due to their high interaction level with the artery wall. However, detailed kinematic studies have yet to be carried out to optimize nano-microcarriers’ shape based on their delivery rate to the target wall inside the artery. In addition, it is important to note that the flow of fluid in vessels can have diverse patterns that may affect the movement of drug carriers having different shapes. It is therefore necessary to study the impact of fluid flow patterns on drug carriers, refine their shapes and sizes to achieve the desired drug delivery rate, and reduce the risk of toxicity in blood vessels that have disorders. In the present study, we tried to provide optimal delivery of different forms of nano-microcarriers to the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) wall, which is a common and dangerous lesion in the artery, based on the rate of particle impact on the inner wall of the AAA and the rate of their exit from the downstream of the aorta artery. The results showed that the non-spherical shape strongly depends on the interaction of the particles on the inner wall of the AAA and their departure rate from the aorta artery. Different shapes with different shape factors have optimal delivery conditions compared to the size of each nano-microcarrier in the drug delivery aimed at the wall.

Essential oils (EOs) are natural products called volatile oils or aromatic and ethereal oils derived from various parts of plants. They possess antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, which offer natural protection against a variety of pathogens and spoilage microorganisms. Studies conducted in the last decade have demonstrated the unique applications of these compounds in the fields of the food industry, agriculture, and skin health. This systematic article provides a summary of recent data pertaining to the effectiveness of EOs and their constituents in combating fungal pathogens through diverse mechanisms. Antifungal investigations involving EOs were conducted on multiple academic platforms, including Google Scholar, Science Direct, Elsevier, Springer, Scopus, and PubMed, spanning from April 2000 to October 2023. Various combinations of keywords, such as “essential oil,” “volatile oils,” “antifungal,” and “Aspergillus species,” were used in the search. Numerous essential oils have demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo antifungal activity against different species of Aspergillus, including A. niger, A. flavus, A. parasiticus, A. fumigatus, and A. ochraceus. They have also exhibited efficacy against other fungal species, such as Penicillium species, Cladosporium, and Alternaria. The findings of this study offer novel insights into inhibitory pathways and suggest the potential of essential oils as promising agents with antifungal and anti-mycotoxigenic properties. These properties could make them viable alternatives to conventional preservatives, thereby enhancing the shelf life of various food products.

There is growing interest in the effects of sports-related repetitive head impacts (RHIs) on athletes' cognitive capabilities. This study examines the effect of RHIs in data collected from adolescent athletes to estimate the magnitude and longevity of RHIs on sensorimotor and cognitive performance. A non-linear regression model estimated the longevity of RHI effects by adding a half-life parameter embedded in an exponential decay function. A model estimate of this parameter allows the possibility of RHI effects to attenuate over time and introduces a mechanism to study the cumulative effect of RHIs. The posterior distribution of the half-life parameter associated with short-distance headers (

Abstract Introduction Tobacco use is a major health concern worldwide, especially in low/middle-income countries. We aimed to assess the prevalence of cigarette smoking, waterpipe, and pipe use in Tehran, Iran. Methods We used data from 8272 participants of the Tehran Cohort Study recruitment phase. Tobacco use was defined as a positive answer to using cigarettes, waterpipes, or pipes. Participants who did not report tobacco use during the interview but had a previous smoking history were categorized as former users. Age- and sex-weighted prevalence rates were calculated based on the national census data, and characteristics of current and former tobacco users were analyzed. Results Age- and sex-weighted prevalence of current tobacco users, cigarette smokers, waterpipe, and pipe users in Tehran was 19.8%, 14.9%, 6.1%, and 0.5%, respectively. Current tobacco use was higher in younger individuals (35–45 years: 23.4% vs. ≥ 75 years: 10.4%, P 12 years: 19.3% vs. illiterate: 9.7%, P

Arteriovenous malformation of head and neck is a rare vascular anomaly but when present, it is persistent and progressive in nature. It can also represent a lethal benign disease due to massive hemorrhage. There are several indications for treatment including age, location, extension and type of vascular malformation. Endovascular therapy can effectively cure most lesions with limited tissue involvement. Surgery can be used in selected cases in combination with embolization. Here, we present a rare case of arteriovenous malformation of mandible with floating tooth appearance in an 11-year-old boy patient. Given the spectrum of imaging presentations seen and the crossover with other lesions, microscopic histopathological examination is the gold standard for diagnosis.

Abstract Approximately 20 TP53 retrogenes exist in the African and Asian elephant genomes (Loxodonta Africana, Elephas Maximus) in addition to a conserved TP53 gene that encodes a full-length protein. Elephant TP53-RETROGENE 9 (TP53-R9) encodes a p53 protein (p53-R9) that is truncated in the middle of the canonical DNA binding domain. This C-terminally truncated p53 retrogene protein lacks the nuclear localization signals and oligomerization domain of its full-length counterpart. When expressed in human osteosarcoma cells (U2OS), p53-R9 binds to Tid1, the chaperone protein responsible for mitochondrial translocation of human p53 in response to cellular stress. Tid1 expression is required for p53-R9-induced apoptosis. At the mitochondria, p53-R9 binds to the pro-apoptotic BCL-2 family member Bax, which leads to caspase activation, cytochrome c release, and cell death. Our data show, for the first time, that expression of this truncated elephant p53 retrogene protein induces apoptosis in human cancer cells. Understanding the molecular mechanism by which the additional elephant TP53 retrogenes function may provide evolutionary insight that can be utilized for the development of therapeutics to treat human cancers.

We aimed to validate a long and a short version of the popular SDO6 scale for children, by testing their reliability and factorial structure, as well as divergent and criterion validity. Italian fourth- and fifth-graders (N = 271; 49.45% female) were administered the Child SDO6 scale, composed of 16 items, along with a series of personality and intergroup relations measures (using foreigners as the minority group). Paralleling results obtained with adults, findings concerning the short version provided evidence for a two-factorial structure, consisting of an SDO-Dominance and an SDO-Anti-egalitarianism dimension. Both for the long and the short version, greater levels of SDO-Dominance and SDO-Anti-egalitarianism were associated with more neuroticism, attitudinal and stereotypic bias, and with less agreeableness, openness to experience, dispositional and intergroup empathy. In conclusions, the two SDO dimensions as assessed by the short Child SDO6 Scale may be relevant variables to consider when testing intergroup relations processes among children.

Organ-on-a-chip technology tries to mimic the complexity of native tissues in vitro. Important progress has recently been made in using this technology to study the gut with and without microbiota. These in vitro models can serve as an alternative to animal models for studying physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. While these models have greater physiological relevance than two-dimensional (2D) cell systems in vitro, endocrine and immunological functions in gut-on-a-chip models are still poorly represented. Furthermore, the construction of complex models, in which different cell types and structures interact, remains a challenge. Generally, gut-on-a-chip models have the potential to advance our understanding of the basic interactions found within the gut and lay the foundation for future applications in understanding pathophysiology, developing drugs, and personalizing medical treatments.

Animal models and traditional cell cultures are essential tools for drug development. However, these platforms can show striking discrepancies in efficacy and side effects when compared to human trials. These differences can lengthen the drug development process and even lead to drug withdrawal from the market. The establishment of preclinical drug screening platforms that have higher relevancy to physiological conditions is desirable to facilitate drug development. Here, a heart-on-a-chip platform, incorporating microgrooves and electrical pulse stimulations to recapitulate the well-aligned structure and synchronous beating of cardiomyocytes (CMs) for drug screening, is reported. Each chip is made with facile lithographic and laser-cutting processes that can be easily scaled up to high-throughput format. The maturation and phenotypic changes of CMs cultured on the heart-on-a-chip is validated and it can be treated with various drugs to evaluate cardiotoxicity and cardioprotective efficacy. The heart-on-a-chip can provide a high-throughput drug screening platform in preclinical drug development.

COVID-19 is a severe infectious disease that has claimed >150,000 lives and infected millions in the United States thus far, especially the elderly population. Emerging evidence has shown the virus to cause hemorrhagic and immunologic responses, which impact all organs, including lungs, kidneys, and the brain, as well as extremities. SARS-CoV-2 also affects patients', families', and society's mental health at large. There is growing evidence of re-infection in some patients. The goal of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of SARS-CoV-2-induced disease, its mechanism of infection, diagnostics, therapeutics, and treatment strategies, while also focusing on less attended aspects by previous studies, including nutritional support, psychological, and rehabilitation of the pandemic and its management. We performed a systematic review of >1,000 articles and included 425 references from online databases, including, PubMed, Google Scholar, and California Baptist University's library. COVID-19 patients go through acute respiratory distress syndrome, cytokine storm, acute hypercoagulable state, and autonomic dysfunction, which must be managed by a multidisciplinary team including nursing, nutrition, and rehabilitation. The elderly population and those who are suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia related illnesses seem to be at the higher risk. There are 28 vaccines under development, and new treatment strategies/protocols are being investigated. The future management for COVID-19 should include B-cell and T-cell immunotherapy in combination with emerging prophylaxis. The mental health and illness aspect of COVID-19 are among the most important side effects of this pandemic which requires a national plan for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Background: The majority of oral cancers, which make up 25% to 30% of all malignancies in the oral area, are lip cancers (LCs). As far as we are aware, there haven’t been any thorough epidemiologic research on LC. This study’s objective is to look at the trend of tumor prevalence across the whole lip area in Iranians between 2004 and 2016 (Tehran, Iran).Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study, which examined tumor location, age, gender distribution, histological tumor type, metastasis, clinical diagnosis, and recurrence of the lesion, was carried out on the pathology records of patients admitted to the Department of Pathology at the Cancer Institutes of Imam Khomeini hospital and Tajrish hospital between 2004 and 2016. The data was analyzed using the chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test.Results: Out of a total of 237392 biopsy reports filed with the Department of Pathology, 512 instances (0.21%, 92% malignant, and 8% premalignant) involving 385 (75.2%) males and 127 (24.8%) females were discovered to be lip-related. A statistically significant difference between sex and the site of the lesion was found using the chi-square test (P = 0.032). Lower lip and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) were the most typical locations and types, respectively. Recurrence and metastasis were noted in 7.8% and 25.84% of cases, respectively, with males more likely than women to experience these outcomes. Moreover, there was a significant (P = 0.025) correlation between gender and histological tumor type.Conclusion: The chance of developing LC was greater in men over the age of 54. The most typical location for SCC involvement is the lower lip. We discovered that women had an increased frequency of upper lip lesions. These disparities might be the result of gender-specific professional and behavioral differences. Hence, as possible contributors to the occurrence of LCs, variables including occupational and behavioral variations and public knowledge of sun exposure should be carefully evaluated.

Background: Jumping and landing are common activities in soccer that are often reported in connection with anterior cruciate ligament injury. As most injuries occur during fatigue, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of fatigue on the component of time to stability (TTS) during landing between healthy soccer players and soccer players who have undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.Methods: This quasi-experimental study included 24 professional soccer players who were divided into control and experimental groups. Twelve active professional soccer players (control group) and 12 soccer players with 6-24 months of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with hamstring graft (experimental group) participated in this study. Athletes jumped and landed on the obstacle to a height of 7.5 cm. After the fatigue protocol, these movements were repeated. TTS data was collected using force plate. MANOVA test at the significant level of p

Abstract Fabrication of well-ordered and bio-mimetic scaffolds is one of the most important research lines in tissue engineering. Different techniques have been utilized to achieve this goal, however, each method has its own disadvantages. Recently, melt electrowriting (MEW) as a technique for fabrication of well-organized scaffolds has attracted the researchers’ attention due to simultaneous use of principles of additive manufacturing and electrohydrodynamic phenomena. In previous research studies, polycaprolactone (PCL) has been mostly used in MEW process. PCL is a biocompatible polymer with characteristics that make it easy to fabricate well-arranged structures using MEW device. However, the mechanical properties of PCL are not favorable for applications like bone tissue engineering. Furthermore, it is of vital importance to demonstrate the capability of MEW technique for processing a broad range of polymers. To address aforementioned problems, in this study, three ten-layered box-structured well-ordered scaffolds, including neat PLA, neat PCL, and PLA/PCL composite are fabricated using an MEW device. Printing of the composite PLA/PCL scaffold using the MEW device is conducted in this study for the first time. The MEW device used in this study is a commercial fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer which with some changes in its setup and configuration becomes prepared for being used as an MEW device. Since in most of previous studies, a setup has been designed and built for MEW process, the use of the FDM device can be considered as one of the novelties of this research. The printing parameters are adjusted in a way that scaffolds with nearly equal pore sizes in the range of 140 µm to 150 µm are fabricated. However, PCL fibers are mostly narrower (diameters in the range of 5 µm to 15 µm) than PLA fibers with diameters between 15 and 25 µm. Unlike the MEW process of PCL, accurate positioning of PLA fibers is difficult which can be due to higher viscosity of PLA melt compared to PCL melt. The printed composite PLA/PCL scaffold possesses a well-ordered box structure with improved mechanical properties and cell-scaffold interactions compared to both neat PLA and PCL scaffolds. Besides, the composite scaffold exhibits a higher swelling ratio than the neat PCL scaffold which can be related to the presence of less hydrophobic PLA fibers. This scaffold demonstrates an anisotropic behavior during uniaxial tensile test in which its Young’s modulus, ultimate tensile stress, and strain to failure all depend on the direction of the applied tensile force. This anisotropy makes the composite PLA/PCL scaffold an exciting candidate for applications in heart tissue engineering. The results of in-vitro cell viability test using L929 mouse murine fibroblast and human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells demonstrate that all of the printed scaffolds are biocompatible. In particular, the composite scaffold presents the highest cell viability value among the fabricated scaffolds. All in all, the composite PLA/PCL scaffold shows that it can be a promising substitution for neat PCL scaffold used in previous MEW studies.

There is an urgent need for therapeutic approaches that can prevent or limit neuroinflammatory processes and prevent neuronal degeneration. Photobiomodulation (PBM), the therapeutic use of specific wavelengths of light, is a safe approach shown to have anti-inflammatory effects. The current study was aimed at evaluating the effects of PBM on LPS-induced peripheral and central inflammation in mice to assess its potential as an anti-inflammatory treatment. Daily, 30-min treatment of mice with red/NIR light (RL) or RL with a 40 Hz gamma frequency flicker for 10 days prior to LPS challenge showed anti-inflammatory effects in the brain and systemically. PBM downregulated LPS induction of key proinflammatory cytokines associated with inflammasome activation, IL-1β and IL-18, and upregulated the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10. RL provided robust anti-inflammatory effects, and the addition of gamma flicker potentiated these effects. Overall, these results demonstrate the potential of PBM as an anti-inflammatory treatment that acts through cytokine expression modulation.

Abstract The current study presents one of the first investigations in which the simultaneous effect of the curved gold substrates and temperature changes on C60 and C60-wheeled nano-machines’ migration was evaluated. For this aim, the cylindrical and concave substrates with different radii were chosen to attain the size of the most appropriate substrate for nano-machines. Results indicated that the chassis' flexibility substantially affected the nanocar's mobility. Nano-machines' deviation from their desired direction was adequately restricted due to selected substrate geometries (The cylindrical and concave). Besides, for the first time, the effect of the substrate radius changes on nano-machine's motion has been investigated. Our findings revealed that adjusting the value of radius results in a long-range movement for nano-machines as well as a sufficient amount of diffusion coefficient even at low temperatures ( $$75\; \text{K}$$ 75 K or $$150\; \text{K}$$ 150 K ). As a result, the aforementioned substrates could be utilized as the optimized geometries for C60 and nanocar at all temperatures. At the same time, the nanotruck displayed an appropriate performance merely on the small cylindrical substrate ( $$radius=17.5 \; \text{\AA} $$ r a d i u s = 17.5 Å ) at high temperatures ( $$500\; \text{K}$$ 500 K and $$600\; \text{K}$$ 600 K ).

Background and purpose: Increased production of free radicals occurs due to intense and unconventional physical activity. The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of six weeks of high intensity interval training and Matcha green tea on some cellular oxidants (MDA) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) in women. Materials and methods: A quasi-experimental applied research was performed in 48 untrained women aged 25-35 years in Tehran, Iran. They were randomly divided into four groups, including supplement (n=12), exercise (n=12), supplement + exercise (n=12), and placebo (n=12). High intensity interval training was performed for six weeks at 85% - 95% maximum heart rate. The supplement groups consumed two capsules of Matcha tea (500 mg) orally daily. MDA and GPX measurements were done using 5mL of blood sampling from the brachial vein at pre-test and post-test stages. Data analysis was carried out in SPSS V23. Results: In current study, high intensity interval training had no significant effect on MDA and GPX indices in inactive women (P>0.05). But, consumption of Matcha tea alone and with exercise showed significant effects on reducing MDA and increasing GPX in women (P< 0.05). Conclusion: It seems that consuming Matcha green tea alongside high intensity interval training in short term can have effects on oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity.