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Introduction: In this study, the effectiveness of granting facilities to water saving pool projects and developing greenhouse crops in the agricultural sector of Khorasan Razavi province was evaluated. Investment is one of the most important factors for economic growth in the countries. Purposeful banking facilities are one of the most important factors in increasing investment and boosting production and can provide the necessary ground for improving the welfare of the community. Hence, today one of the main goals of the government's economic policy is to push resources and bank credits towards productive and capital activities. Also, one of the most limiting inputs for agricultural sector development in Iran is capital. But, the most important question of the capital market is how effective this facility was? Materials and Methods: This research is based on descriptive-survey and considering that its variables occurred in the past, it is categorized as case-study research. Statistical population of this study contains experts of Agricultural Jihad Organization of Khorasan Razavi province in fields of water saving pool projects and greenhouse crops development, utilizers of agricultural sector who used facilities of water saving pool projects and development of greenhouse crops plans and also supervising experts of those plans. Sample size of utilizations and supervising experts in each of water saving pool and development of greenhouse crops projects is calculated based on Morgan Table sample size calculator. For this purpose, firstly, by using the Delphi technique, the effectiveness indicators of granting facilities to water saving pool projects and developing greenhouse crops in the form of dimensions: program logic, quality of implementation, results of design and effectiveness, were extracted and then the situation Facility grants to the projects were reviewed during 2011-2012. Finally, by structural equations, the effectiveness of the factors influencing the effectiveness of grant facilities to the plans was measured. The results showed that the logic of granting facilities is of high level and among its indicators; the degree of compliance of facilities with upstream documents is the most logic. The quality of performance of the facility is low and among its indicators, the proportionality of the type and amount of bank guarantee, and the rate of interest repayment with the expected rate of return has the lowest performance. Results and Discussion: Results shows that logic of facilities granted to the water saving pool projects and development plans of greenhouse crops performed in high level and equivalent to (73/2 %) and (71/3%) respectively. Also among the logic indicators of program of granting facility to mentioned projects and plans, compliance rate of project facilities with the upstream developing documents is at the highest level of logic. In terms of performance quality, facilities granted to the water saving pool and development of greenhouse crops projects, performed in low level and equivalent to (41/4%) and (38/3%) respectively. Also among the performance quality indicators of granting facilities to mentioned projects, indicators of proportion of type and amount of bank guarantee according to utilization capability, the interest rate proportion of repayment of the facility at the expected rate of return and proportion of repayment amount and utilization capability, respectively had lowest quality of performance and caused disaffection of utilizations. operational results of granting facilities to water saving pools and development of greenhouse crops projects have almost a moderate level and equivalent to (56/5%) and (55/7%) respectively. Also according to indicators of operational performances of mentioned projects, success indicators of granting facilities and compliance rate of project details and operational plans, have the least expected operational performance rate respectively. The results of study also indicated that efficiency of granting facilities to water saving pool as well as development of greenhouse crops projects have almost a mediocre level equivalent to (56/8%) and (55/6%) respectively. Among the efficiency of granting facilities to water saving pool project, indicators of Level of cultivation, increase of production, and increase of sustainable employment, standing in first to third rank respectively. Also product quality improvement index has the least efficiency. Among the indicators of the effectiveness of the granted facilities to the project of development of greenhouse crops, product quality improvement, efficiency increase, value added and performance improvement indicators have the least efficiency. Conclusion: Generally, results of interviews with utilizers and experts shows that facilities granted to examined utilization by agricultural sector of Khorsan Razavi province among these years of Research, have not been effective mostly due to various factors such as unfavorable economic conditions prevailing in the period under study, Changes in rules and regulations, Frostbite, Drought and Finally, the lack of support and assistance from the banking system. Therefore, it is recommended to officials of this section to create a proportion between the returns and the rate of interest repayment, the assistance of banks with the affected operators and, in particular, the development of insurance for agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, application of Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) in forecasting three perspectives (1, 2, and 4 years) ahead of Iran’s agricultural products export was compared with ARIMA as the most common econometrics linear forecasting method. For this purpose, Iran’s agricultural products export revenues related to 1959- 2010, and forecast performance measures such as R2, MAD, and RMSE were used. Results of the models performance evaluation showed that the forecasted test data related to ANFIS designed architects had more correspondence with the real data in comparison with that of ARIMA forecasted out of sample data. Therefore, the non-linear ANFIS model outperformed the linear ARIMA model for all of the considered perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Associations between pathophysiological events and cognitive measures provide insights regarding brain networks affected during the clinical progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we assessed patients' scores in two delayed episodic memory tests, and investigated their associations with regional amyloid deposition and brain metabolism across the clinical spectrum of AD. We assessed the clinical, neuropsychological, structural, and positron emission tomography (PET) baseline measures of participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Subjects were classified as cognitively normal (CN), or with early (EMCI) or late (LMCI) mild cognitive impairment, or AD dementia. The memory outcome measures of interest were logical memory 30 min delayed recall (LM30) and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test 30 min delayed recall (RAVLT30). Voxel-based [ 18 F]florbetapir and [ 18 F]FDG uptake-ratio maps were constructed and correlations between PET images and cognitive scores were calculated. We found that EMCI individuals had LM30 scores negatively correlated with [ 18 F]florbetapir uptake on the right parieto-occipital region. LMCI individuals had LM30 scores positively associated with left lateral temporal lobe [ 18 F]FDG uptake, and RAVLT30 scores positively associated with [ 18 F]FDG uptake in the left parietal lobe and in the right enthorhinal cortex. Additionally, LMCI individuals had LM30 scores negatively correlated with [ 18 F]florbetapir uptake in the right frontal lobe. For the AD group, [ 18 F]FDG uptake was positively correlated with LM30 in the left temporal lobe and with RAVLT30 in the right frontal lobe, and [ 18 F]florbetapir uptake was negatively correlated with LM30 scores in the right parietal and left frontal lobes. The results show that the association between regional brain metabolism and the severity of episodic memory deficits is dependent on the clinical disease stage, suggesting a dynamic relationship between verbal episodic memory deficits, AD pathophysiology, and clinical disease stages.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the brain accumulation of amyloid-β and tau proteins. A growing body of literature suggests that epigenetic dysregulations play a role in the interplay of hallmark proteinopathies with neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. Here, we aim to characterize an epigenetic dysregulation associated with the brain deposition of amyloid-β and tau proteins. Using positron emission tomography (PET) tracers selective for amyloid-β, tau, and class I histone deacetylase (HDAC I isoforms 1-3), we find that HDAC I levels are reduced in patients with AD. HDAC I PET reduction is associated with elevated amyloid-β PET and tau PET concentrations. Notably, HDAC I reduction mediates the deleterious effects of amyloid-β and tau on brain atrophy and cognitive impairment. HDAC I PET reduction is associated with 2-year longitudinal neurodegeneration and cognitive decline. We also find HDAC I reduction in the postmortem brain tissue of patients with AD and in a transgenic rat model expressing human amyloid-β plus tau pathology in the same brain regions identified in vivo using PET. These observations highlight HDAC I reduction as an element associated with AD pathophysiology., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Many rural hospitals and health systems in the USA lack sufficient resources to treat COVID-19. St Lawrence Health (SLH) developed a system for managing inpatient COVID-19 hospital admissions in St Lawrence County, an underserved rural county that is the largest county in New York State., Methods: SLH used a hub-and-spoke system to route COVID-19 patients to its flagship hospital. It further assembled a small clinical team to manage admitted COVID-19 patients and to stay abreast of a quickly changing body of literature and standard of care. A review of clinical data was completed for patients who were treated by SLH's inpatient COVID-19 treatment team between 20 March and 22 May 2020., Results: Twenty COVID-19 patients were identified. Sixteen patients (80%) met National Institutes of Health criteria for severe or critical disease. One patient died. No patients were transferred to other hospitals., Conclusion: During the first 2 months of the pandemic, the authors were able to manage hospitalized COVID-19 patients in their rural community. Development of similar treatment models in other rural areas should be considered.

Objectives: Human T cell leukaemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is associated with adult T cell leukaemia (ATL), a malignant lymphoproliferative disease that infects CD4 T cells. It is not clear why the majority of HTLV-1-infected individuals remain asymptomatic carries (ACs) and a minority develop ATL. Cellular immune response has a critical role in ATL and destroys malignant and HTLV-1-infected cells. Perforin and granzyme have important functional roles in apoptosis and destruction of infected cells. In the present study we examined the role of perforin and granzyme in ATL patients and ACs., Materials and Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from ATL patients and ACs by using Ficoll-hypaque density centrifugation. RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized. A real-time PCR TaqMan method was designed and optimized for evaluation of perforin, granzyme, tax, and HBZ gene expression. HTLV-1 proviral load (PVL) was quantified in patients with ATL and ACs., Results: The mRNA expression of tax and HBZ was significantly higher in ATL patients than ACs ( P =0.011 and P =0.0001,respectively). The HTLV-1 PVL was higher in ATL patients compared to with AC group ( P =0.015). There was a significant increase in perforin gene expression in ACs compared with ATL patients ( P =0.002). Furthermore, the expression of granzyme was also higher in ACs compared with ATL patients, and significant differences were observed between the two groups ( P =0.036)., Conclusion: Low expression of perforin and granzyme in ATL patients seems to influence the efficiency of CTL function and destruction of HTLV-1-infected cells, which might contribute to the disease pathogenesis.

Introduction: Abnormal brain amyloid beta (Aβ) is typically assessed in vivo using global concentrations from cerebrospinal fluid and positron emission tomography (PET). However, it is unknown whether the assessment of the topographical distribution of Aβ pathology can provide additional information to identify, among global Aβ positive individuals, those destined for dementia., Methods: We studied 260 amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects who were Aβ-PET positive with [ 18 F]florbetapir. Using [ 18 F]florbetapir, we assessed the percentage of voxels sowing Aβ abnormality as well as the standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) values across brain regions. Regressions tested the predictive effect of Aβ on progression to dementia over 2 years., Results: Neither global nor regional [ 18 F]florbetapir SUVR concentrations predicted progression to dementia. In contrast, the spatial extent of Aβ pathology in regions comprising the default mode network was highly associated with the development of dementia over 2 years., Discussion: These results highlight that the regional distribution of Aβ abnormality may provide important complementary information at an individual level regarding the likelihood of Aβ positive MCI to progress to dementia., Competing Interests: All authors report no conflicts of interest., (© 2020 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

The link between brain amyloid-β (Aβ), metabolism, and dementia symptoms remains a pressing question in Alzheimer's disease. Here, using positron emission tomography ([ 18 F]florbetapir tracer for Aβ and [ 18 F]FDG tracer for glucose metabolism) with a novel analytical framework, we found that Aβ aggregation within the brain's default mode network leads to regional hypometabolism in distant but functionally connected brain regions. Moreover, we found that an interaction between this hypometabolism with overlapping Aβ aggregation is associated with subsequent cognitive decline. These results were also observed in transgenic Aβ rats that do not form neurofibrillary tangles, which support these findings as an independent mechanism of cognitive deterioration. These results suggest a model in which distant Aβ induces regional metabolic vulnerability, whereas the interaction between local Aβ with a vulnerable environment drives the clinical progression of dementia.

We describe the use of ratio-mixing FISH to visualize simultaneously probe sets specific for chromosomes 13, 18 and 21 as well as both sex chromosomes in uncultured lymphocytes and amniocytes. This method has the advantage of a smaller sample requirement than uni-colour FISH and potential for analysis of a larger number of chromosome aneuploidies using a minimum number of different probe haptenization and detection systems. An unselected series of uncultured lymphocytes and amniocytes was used to investigate the reliability of ratio-mixing FISH for diagnostic applications. The results indicate that the five-colour ratio-mixing FISH is a reliable technique and can be used for simultaneous detection of major aneuploidies. However, as a diagnostic approach, the strategy of using a three-colour ratio-mixing FISH and a dual colour to detect the five clinically important aneuploidies on two slides from the same sample, appears to be simpler and more practical.