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Thyroid hormones play a vital function in the maturation in the course of mind development. Regarding the well-known effects of choline on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the study examined the effects of choline on hippocampal BDNF gene expression in maternal hypothyroidism rats.To induce the hypothyroidism, 6-propyl-2-thiouracil was introduced to the ingesting water from the sixth day of gestation to twenty-first postnatal day (PND). Choline-treatment started twice a day on the first day of gestation until PND 21. On PND28, pups were sacrificed. The expression of BDNF gene was evaluated after the hippocampus was harvested. Our results demonstrated that both male and female pre-pubertal offspring rats' BDNF gene expression was decreased by developmental hypothyroidism. Choline increases the ratio of relative gene expression of BDNF in the hippocampus of males and females in the control/hypothyroidism group, especially in males.It can be concluded that maternal choline supplementation on the first day of gestation until PND 21 improves brain development and cognitive function in pre-pubertal offspring rats regarding control/hypothyroidism groups.

Background Doppler ultrasonography can evaluate vascular and renal parenchymal disorders. In this study, color Doppler patterns in transplanted kidneys were compared with histological diagnosis to develop diagnostic models for transplanted kidney failure. Method 45 kidney transplant patients participated in this prospective study (16 suffered acute tubular necrosis (ATN), and 29 had transplant rejection). All patients had color-Doppler ultrasonography to measure kidney parameters and Doppler indices. Serum creatinine levels also assessed the transplanted kidney's function. Result Ultrasound showed a significant difference between the two groups in iliac and interlobar PSV. The ROC analysis showed a high diagnostic value of the iliac artery PSV, in distinguishing ATN from kidney transplant rejection. Serum creatinine level correlated directly with transplanted kidney volume, renal cortical thickness, and transplanted kidney length, and inversely with interlobar artery PSV and EDV. In graft rejection patients, the only significant inverse correlation was found between serum creatinine level and PSV of the iliac artery and EDV of the intrelobar artery. Discussion and conclusion The iliac artery PSV can differentiate between ATN and rejection after renal transplantation. Evaluation of renal metric parameters along with PSV and EDV of the interlobar artery (in patients with ATN) and iliac artery and interlobar artery (in transplant rejection) help determine renal dysfunction.

This paper focuses on identifying factors affecting the severity of freight train derailment. To examine the train derailment, it is necessary to study the point of derailment and the number of cars derailing. Previous studies have used truncated geometric distributions with two key assumptions: (1) cars in a train get involved in a derailment independently of one another, and (2) probabilities of cars involved in derailments are all the same along the train length. The underlying assumptions are clearly violated in the real world. Therefore, in this study, different classification approaches, including decision tree, random forest, support vector machine, and AdaBoost techniques, have been used to avoid fixed assumptions. The results show that the decision tree is the best classifier to predict the severity of train derailment for the US accident database, and the two-level severity scenario (one car derailed or more) presents better results to classify derailment severity. The research also shows that freight train derailment severity has been affected mainly by (1) train speed, (2) cause of the accident, and (3) train weight-to-train length ratio. Among these features, cause of accident is the most important feature in classifying accident severity; also, the causes of one-car derailments are mostly related to mechanical and electrical failures. In mechanical and electrical failure, train speed plays a significant role in determining the severity of accidents. The factor of train weight to length comes into account when an accident’s cause is related to human factors.

In this article we represent an 18-year-old female with progressive back pain and neurologic symptoms due to a large heterogenous mass centered in posterior elements of lower thoracic vertebrae with prominent soft tissue extension into paravertebral and epidural space and subsequent central cord compression along with severe adjacent inflammatory changes. Considering patient age, lesion location and characteristics, aggressive Osteoblastoma, eosinophilic granuloma, and with lower probability of Ewing sarcoma were included in the differential list, which aggressive Osteoblastoma was confirmed after pathologic examination.

This study examined the effect of melatonin on oxidative stress, expression of pro-apoptotic protein, anti-apoptotic proteins, and the activity of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in the human ovarian cancer cell line (OVCAR3). OVCAR3 cells were treated with cisplatin, melatonin, cisplatin + melatonin, and siRNA Akt. Reactive oxygen species levels were assessed. The expression of the proteins was determined by Western blot. Melatonin administration significantly increased intracellular ROS generation, the cleavage of caspase 3 and decreased phosphorylation of Akt. Combination therapy of cisplatin and melatonin increases apoptosis in the OVCAR-3 cells by inhibiting of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and exacerbating oxidative stress.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused physical, psychological, and functional complications in society, with particular impacts on positive cases. Reduced quality of life (QOL) and sleep quality are among the many problems experienced by COVID-19 patients. Hence, exercise rehabilitation gains further importance after people are afflicted with COVID-19. This study aimed to analyze the effects of resistance training on the QOL and sleep quality in untrained men with a history of COVID-19. Methods Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, purposive sampling was employed to select 34 individuals who were willing to participate in the study. They were then randomly assigned to a resistance training group and a control group (n=17 per group). In order to evaluate the pretest scores of sleep quality and those of QOL, the participants were asked to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36), respectively. Subsequently, the training group received eight weeks of resistance training held three sessions weekly. The participants re-completed the foregoing questionnaires when all training sessions were over to determine their posttest scores. The resultant data were then analyzed in SPSS 27. Results The research findings indicated significant differences between the resistance training group and the control group regarding the QOL and sleep quality after eight weeks of resistance training (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions Given the findings of the current study, one can conclude that resistance training has positive effects on the QOL and sleep quality in untrained men with a history of COVID-19. Hence, resistance training can probably be recommended to rehabilitate patients with COVID-19. Trial registration number IRCT20230221057480N1, 2023-03-04, retrospectively registered.

Tropisetron, an antagonist of 5-HT3 receptor (5-HT3R), has exhibited a number of beneficial effects on the treatment of several diseases; however, its effect on diabetic cardiomyopathy, which is an important causal factor in morbidity and mortality among diabetic patients, remains to be fully elucidated. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect of tropisetron on diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy and the molecular mediators possibly involved. Twenty-four male wistar rats were assigned into three groups, control, diabetic, and tropisetron–treated diabetic groups. After 14 days of treatment, the results revealed a significant increase in calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinaseIIδ (CaMKIIδ) total and isoforms δ2 and δ3 of CaMKIIδ, as well as myosin heavy chain (MHC)-β. Furthermore, it decreased MHC-α gene expression among the diabetic group compared to the control group. Western blot analysis showed a significant increase in Bax and cleaved caspase 3 protein levels and a significant decrease in Bcl-2 contents in heart tissue of diabetic rats in comparison to the control rats. Moreover, the levels of Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), ICAM-1, and CaMKII in heart tissue of diabetic rats were significantly higher than those in the control rats. Significant amelioration of alteration in the genes expression and protein changes along with restoration of the elevated levels of TNF-α, ICAM-1, and CaMKII were found in the tropisetron–treated diabetic group compared to the diabetic group. Collectively, our study provided strong evidence that 5-HT3 antagonist tropisetron was capable of attenuating the development of experimental diabetic cardiomyopathy associated with the reduction of intramyocardial MHCs and CaMKIIδ gene expression, inflammation and cardiac hypertrophy.

Present study has been carried out to analyze the IL-17R gene expression in PBMCs of patients with premature coronary artery disease (CAD) in comparison to normal controls.Premature CAD results in disability and lack of quality of life over the years and consequent mortality. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has global distribution. In 2022, CAD is the leading cause of mortality in the United States and Iran. IL-17 cytokine family plays an important role in promoting inflammation and producing pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and matrix metalloproteinases.Entirely, 60 subjects were entered into this examination. The case group consisted of 30 subjects with CAD as well as the control group which consisted of 30 healthy persons. The real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR assay was used to find out, the relative expression (fold) level of IL-17R gene.Our findings indicated that, the relative expression (fold) level of IL-17R gene in the patients group showed an increased level as compared to the control group. The analysis of findingsobtained in this study showed that the patient group is significantly different from the control group regarding the IL-17R mRNA level (fold) (p = 0.035).It has been concluded that IL-17R plays an important role in the pathogenesis of CAD. It follows that superior understanding of IL-17/IL-17R signaling way will be vital for innovating novel therapeutic targets that will facilitate the designing of new drugs for the management of patients (Ref. 40).

Railway stations are usually considered to be one of the main gathering centers of the city; thus, in the event of any incident, there will be significant casualties. The purpose of this study is to simulate strategies for reducing the evacuation time of the railway station in the event of fire using a safe zone approach with simulation software. To reduce the evacuation time, 18 scenarios were introduced and simulated according to (1) number of gates and exit doors, (2) width of the gates, (3) obstacles, (4) priority of the exit doors, and (5) safe zone. The results show that the best evacuation time occurs by increasing the number of exit doors from two to four and considering a safe zone simultaneously; the evacuation time is reduced by 7 min and 19 s. Using safe zones for emergency evacuation has a significant role in reducing evacuation time and improving service levels. Interestingly, the removal of gates and obstacles would increase the evacuation time of passengers. The proposed model could be used for renovating existing railway stations to decrease the consequences of accidents such as fire.

Background: 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is commonly known as the most famous amphetamine derivative. Objective: To evaluate the influence of zinc on MDMA-induced apoptosis and caspase- 3 gene expression in Leydig cell line (TM3). Materials and Methods: Leydig cells were studied in differenet treatment groups regarding MDMA (0, 0.5, 1, 3, 5 mM) and zinc (0, 4, 8, 16, 32 μM). By the way, the effective concentration was determined to be 5 mM for MDMA and 8 μM for zinc. Then, TM3 cells were cultured in free medium as control (group I), medium containing MDMA (5 mM) (group II), zinc (8 µM) (group III), and zinc (8 µM) prior to MDMA (5 mM) (group IV) as well as in an untreated group (control). Cell viability was assessed at different times after cell culture by MTT assay. The mRNA expression level of caspase-3 was analyzed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: The cellular viability was significantly reduced in TM3 cells after 24 hr and 48 hr exposure time regarding different concentrations of MDMA as well as high concentration of zinc (16 and 32 μM). Cell viability was increased in the group that received zinc (8 µM) before addition of MDMA (5 mM) compared to the control and MDMA groups. The mean ± SE of fold was 22.40 ± 7.5, 0.06 ± 0.02, and 0.009 ± 0.003 in MDMA, zinc, and zinc + MDMA groups, respectively. The mean of caspase-3 mRNA level was significantly increased in the MDMA-treated group (5 mM), while the relative expression of caspase-3 gene was significantly decreased in the zinc (8 µM) + MDMA (5 mM) group compared with the MDMA (5 mM) group (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Dietary intake of zinc has a protective effect against MDMA consumption in mouse.Key words: Zinc, MDMA, Apoptosis, TM3 cells.

Introduction: Cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity may limit the clinical use of this drug. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of the possible renoprotective effect of curcumin in cisplatin nephrotoxicity. Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: 1- control (0.5ml normal saline ip, daily for 10 constitutive days); 2- cisplatin (10mg/kg ip, single dose at the first day); 3- cisplatin + curcumin (10mg/kg ip, dissolved in 5% DMSO, daily for 10 constitutive days); 4- cisplatin + vehicle (5% DMSO, 0.3ml ip) and 5- curcumin (10mg/kg ip). At the end of the study, urine and blood samples were obtained for biochemical (BUN, creatinine, sodium and potassium) analysis. The right kidneys were kept in 10% formalin for H&E and TUNEL staining, and the left kidneys were used for type 2 organic cation transporter (OCT2) and type 3 glutathione peroxidase (GPx3) gene expression and malondialdehyde measurements. Results: Cisplatin significantly increased serum creatinine, BUN, potassium and kidney lipid peroxidation. However, the effect of cisplatin on Gpx3 and OCT2 gene expression was not statistically significant. Curcumin treatment decreased serum creatinine, BUN, and kidney lipid peroxidation, but increased GPx3 and OCT2 gene expression. Moreover, curcumin significantly reversed the cisplatin-induced kidney tissue injury and decreased apoptosis. Conclusion: It is concluded that the ameliorative effect of curcumin in cisplatin nephrotoxicity was assumed to be due to antioxidant effect of this agent. The role of curcumin in mediating uptake of cisplatin is still unclear.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the effect of simultaneous AKT inhibition and cisplatin therapy in changes of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production, apoptosis induction, and cell survival in cisplatin-resistant OVCAR3 cell. METHODS: OVCAR3 cancer cells were treated with cisplatin, Ly 294002 (LY), and cisplatin+Ly to investigate the cytotoxicity effect of the mentioned groups via MTT assay. Then, DCFH-DA (2′, 7′-dichlorodihydro fluorescein diacetate) assay kit is used to assess the potential of treated groups in intracellular ROS generation. Protein expression levels of caspase-3, cleaved caspase 3, PI3K, Akt, p-Akt, XIAP, and Survivin are estimated through immunoblotting assay in all three experimental groups. RESULTS: The results showed that all three treated groups, including cisplatin and Ly alone and co-administration of cisplatin+Ly, could reduce the cell vitality of OVCAR3 cancer cells, induced intracellular production of ROS and increased the expression level of activated caspase 3 and Akt protein, whereas down-regulated the phosphorylation of Akt protein. However, the effect of combination therapy was more tangible compared to single therapy and control groups. In contrast, the expression amount of XIAP, Survivin, and PI3K did not show detectable changes in comparison with the control group. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the AKT inhibition by Ly could sensitize the OVCAR3 cancer cells to the cisplatin and lower the effective dose of cisplatin through hyperactivation of oxidative stress.

COVID‐19 infection may have extrapulmunary manifestations such as blood hypercoagulability that may cause thrombosis in both arterial and venous system. Deep dorsal penile vein thrombosis is very rare, and the most common reason is coagulation disorders. The common observed symptom is penile pain especially during erection and it is diagnosed by ultrasound evaluation of the vein. It is necessary to distinguish deep dorsal penile vein thrombosis from superficial dorsal penile vein thrombosis as it needs anti‐coagulant treatment. In present study, we describe a unique case of the deep dorsal penile vein thrombosis following COVID‐19 infection., COVID‐19 infection can cause hypercoagulopathy, so it can cause thrombosis in deep veins, mostly in lower limbs. But in this paper, we describe a patient with deep dorsal penile vein thrombosis following COVID‐19 infection. This is a very rare condition.

Vitamin B12 production by using propionibacteria and enriching food to produce functional foods is an important subject for researches. Some microorganisms have the potential to produce a wide range of components that are health promoting for human. Among them Propionibacteria has been identified as an effective producer of vitamin B12 and anti-microbial compounds such as propionic acid for decades. In this study at first, the structure, health beneficial effects and properties of vitamin B12 as well as scaled up production of vitamin are mentioned. Then biotechnological strategy is described as a solution to overcome vitamin deficiency and production of functional food. Finally, the specification of propionibacteria and its growth condition as well as bacterium ability to produce some other interesting metabolite in human food as byproduct are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and identify the waste from the unloading station of mineral cars using the lean thinking approach. In this paper, one of the largest steel producers is investigated as a case study. The time information was collected from the database system of the factory and railway company from April to July 2017. The wastes were identified by using the value stream map, and to reduce the waste, ten solutions have been proposed based on the changes in: (a) operation management; (b) purchase of new equipment; and (c) infrastructure development. Implementation of solutions using the Planimate simulator software shows that the best strategy consists of a combination of three operational management solutions without having to purchase new equipment and without any infrastructure development, which can improve station performance by up to 52% with regards to the total time for the unloading process. In addition, the valuable time of the whole process has been increased from 9 to 19%. This improvement will result in an increase of 21% in the annual turnover of cars to the station destination. As a result, each car annually carries on average 450 tons more freight, in which case the railway’s revenues from carrying iron ore would be increased by 24% for this destination.

Background: The present study elucidated the effect of melatonin on oxidative stress status, the expression of pro-apoptotic protein (caspase 3 and cleaved caspase 3), anti-apoptotic proteins (X-linked apoptosis inhibitor protein (XIAP) and Survivin), and the activity of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in human ovarian cancer cell line.Methods: Human ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR3) were treated with cisplatin, melatonin, cisplatin + melatonin, and siRNA Akt. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were assessed using fluorimetric assay in the different groups. Moreover, protein expression of caspase-3, cleaved caspase 3, PI3K, Akt, phosphorylated (p)-Akt, XIAP, and Survivin were determined by Western blotting in all experimental groups.Results: Our results showed that administration of melatonin significantly increased intracellular ROS generation, the cleavage of caspase 3 and phosphorylation of Akt. This effect was more prominent in the combination therapy with cisplatin versus cisplatin alone. Akt siRNA transfection had similar effects on ROS generation, the cleavage of caspase 3, and phosphorylation of Akt. Interestingly, the levels of XIAP, PI3K, and Survivin were not significantly changed by any of these treatments.Conclusions: Taken together, this study suggests that combination therapy of cisplatin and melatonin increases apoptosis in the OVCAR-3 cells by inhibition of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and exacerbation of oxidative stress.

Background: Introduction: Determination of the type of treatment and prognosis of epididymoorchitis is a challenge for clinicians. Objectives: The current study aimed at investigating the relationship between the indexes of vascular resistance index (RI) (%) of the intra-testicular artery by color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS), and its relationship with the treatment and prognosis in patients with epididymo-orchitis. Patients and Methods: The current prospective observational study was conducted on the collected data of 30 patients with epididymo-orchitis. Initial and secondary CDUS (24 hours after admission) were conducted on all patients and RI was calculated from the mean of two intratesticular arteries for all patients. Patients were divided into four groups based on RI through, RI; 70-80%, RI; 80- 90%, RI >90%, and absent of flow. Results: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of the patients’ age was 47.70 ± 15.56 years (ranged 30-79 years). Among 30 patients, 15 (50%) had left epididymo-orchitis, 13 (43.5%) right, and in two subjects (6.71%), it was bilateral. The mean ± SD of RI in the initial and secondary CDUS were 0.8516 ± 0.1022% and 0.7845 ± 0.1235%, respectively (P=0.031). The ROC under area of RI diagnosis power for the types of epididymo-orchitis treatment were 0.904 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.774-1.000] and 0.990 (95%CI: 0.958-1.000) in the initial and second day of CDUS, respectively. Additionally, the mean ± SD of RI in initial CDUS were 0.7633 ± 0.03786%, 0.84400 ± 0.02944%, and 0.7600 ± 0.03162% in patients with a decreased prognosis, atrophy, and parenchymal heterogeneity, which were significantly different (P= 0.011). Accordingly, in the CDUS of 24 hours after admission, the mean ± SD of RI in patients with low prognosis was 0.6600 ± 0.0100%, in patients with atrophy was 0.0170 ± 0.7575%, and in patients with parenchymal heterogeneity was 0.7100 ± 0.04729%. Conclusion: RI of intratesticular artery in CDUS is a useful index to determine and predict the type of treatment and prognosis of patients with epididymo-orchitis.

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the most important causes of death globally. Results of recent studies have indicated that cytokine dysregulation was associated with premature coronary artery disease (P-CAD). The majority of cytokine gene polymorphisms influence the level of cytokine production and secretion. This study aimed to analyse IL-17 gene expression in patients with P-CAD and healty individuals in an Iranian population. This case-control study, conducted in Urmia University of Medical Sciences, compared patients with P-CAD hospitalised for risk of coronary artery stenosis, those admitted for medical cares and healthy normal controls. Thirty patients with P-CAD and 30 healthy individuals entered the study. The tested individulas were selected according to strict criteria such as clinical, echocardiogram, electrocardiogram and coronary angiography findings. Individuals with diabetes type 1 or 2 were excluded from the study. Reducing the diameter of at least one of the coronary arteries with more than 50% obstruction was selected as P-CAD. The qRT-PCR technique was used to determine the level of IL-17 gene expression in the studied groups. IL-17 gene expression was compared between the tested groups using t-test or Mann-Whitney U-test. Subjects’ mean age (±SE) was 45(±5) and 44 (±4) among tested cases and related controls, respectively. The relative mRNA expression was 4.04±2.4 in patients with P-CAD and 2.75±1.3 in controls for IL-17. IL-17 gene expression was not significantly different in the tested groups (P> 0.05). IL-17 is not associated with risk of P-CAD in Iranian Turks.

This research aimed at investigating the cyclosporine A intake impact with/without curcumin on podocyte protein gene expressions and matrix metalloproteins (MMPs) changes in rat kidney.Thirty-two Wistar male rats were assigned to the control, sham, cyclosporine A, and cyclosporine A with curcumin groups.A significant increase was observed in CD2AP, ACTN4, podocin and also MMP9 and 2, cystatin C levels in the cyclosporine A group following treatment for four weeks, whereas a decrease was found in nephrin gene expression than the control group. In addition, a significant reduction was observed in the cyclosporine A group in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), urine creatinine, and increased plasma creatinine levels than the control group. Using curcumin plus cyclosporine A ameliorated gene expression alterations and increased the reduced amount of GFR, urine urea, and creatinine while reducing the increased plasma cystatine C, urea, and creatinine levels compared with the cyclosporine A group.Accordingly, cyclosporine A-induced kidney abnormalities are possibly associated with changes in podocyte intra- and extra-cellular protein gene expression that influence the quality of filtrated fluid via altering the foot process shape and slit diaphragm size. Finally, such impacts are reduced via curcumin as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound.

Seven months after the emergence of SARS-COV-2 virus, there is paucity of data regarding the epidemiology of the virus in hemodialysis patients. We aim to present the results of the screening program implied after outbreak of COVID-19 in a referral hemodialysis ward.We started clinical screening and obligatory mask wearing for dialysis patients and personnel on 20-Feb-2020. However 11 symptomatic COVID-19 patients emerged till day +36. On days +39 and +40 a screening program was implied including measurement of SARS-COV-2 PCR and immunoglobulin G and M (IgG/IgM) and chest computerized tomography (CCT) scan. The results of CCT scan, classified according to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) classification; as with very low (grade 1-normal), low, indeterminate, high, and very high likelihood of COVID-19 (grades 2, 3, 4, and 5; respectively), were used for compartmentalization of patients.Among 178 patients (68.2% male, mean age = 58.7 ± 16.6 years), 11 got COVID-19 before screening, two of whom died. CCT scans were normal in 71.3% and grade 2, 3, 4, and 5 in 7.9%, 4.5%, 5.6%, and 10.7%; respectively. PCR and IgG and/or IgM were positive in 27 and 32 patients. Eighty-three patients had evidence of COVID-19 infection, who were significantly older (62.2 ± 16.6 vs. 56.1 ± 16.02, P.05). There was no difference in the rate of infection considering gender, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and different blood groups.Asymptomatic SARS- COV 2 infection may affect a large number of dialysis patients. We highly recommend a screening strategy whenever the number of patients is increasing.