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The energy released during the bubble collapse process is used for medical and industrial purposes. The present study investigates the effects of electrohydrodynamic force on the collapse phenomenon near the rigid wall and the enhancement of the collapse energy. A solver in the OpenFoam open-source code is developed based on the volume-of-fluid model, in which the effects of compressibility, energy transfer, and electrohydrodynamic force are included. The developed solver is validated against the available experimental data, and a good agreement is seen. The effects of an electric field on the bubble collapse for the range of the electrocapillary number (CaE) of 0–5.76 and normalized wall distance (γ) of 0.8–2.0 are investigated. The results indicate that the bubble is deformed due to the presence of an electric field, and the values obtained for the maximum velocity and pressure are 33 and 35 times the state without the electric field at γ = 2 and CaE = 5.76, respectively. Also, due to the increase in velocity, the maximum shear stress on the rigid wall is increased up to seven times in the absence of the electric field. Therefore, the jet force obtained from the bubble collapse can be enhanced by applying the electric field in the continuous phase fluid. Also, the correlations are proposed to estimate the jet velocity, pressure, and wall shear stress of bubble collapse in the presence of an electric field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The impact of land cover on microclimate and indoor thermal comfort was studied. • Maximum measured UHI in Manchester was 2.3 °C at 4:00. • Maximum cooling impact of the campus park was during the hottest hours of the day. • 17% more trees in the campus improved indoor thermal comfort by up to 20.8%. Abstract Higher air temperatures in large cities like Manchester, UK, reduce human thermal comfort. In this paper, the impact of land cover on microclimate, and consequently on indoor thermal comfort is studied. Through different stages, field measurements and computer modelling were carried out for a heat wave episode in summer 2017 in Manchester: First, the urban heat island (UHI) was measured between the city centre of Manchester and the campus of the University of Salford (between May to October 2017). Maximum detected UHI was 2.3 °C at 4:00, during the hottest day of the year. Parallel measurements within the university campus showed that the park was 0.9 °C cooler than the paved areas (maximum cooling effect was 3.6 °C at 14:45). Finally, the impact of the current land cover of the campus, and a greener land cover (as a renaturing scenario) with more planted trees on indoor thermal comfort of a house within the campus were studied. It was found that by adding 17% more trees to the campus, indoor thermal comfort was improved by 20.8% during the hottest day of 2017 in Manchester. These showed that renaturing cities could be a solution for future warmer climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Investigated heat mitigation strategies at neighborhood scale. • Quantified changes to surface energy balance from heat mitigation. • Additional trees and cool pavements led to largest reductions in air temperature. • Also investigated the effects of spatial scale of heat mitigation adoption. Abstract Heat mitigation strategies can reduce excess heat in urban environments. These strategies, including solar reflective cool roofs and pavements, green vegetative roofs, and street vegetation, alter the surface energy balance to reduce absorption of sunlight at the surface and subsequent transfer to the urban atmosphere. The impacts of heat mitigation strategies on meteorology have been investigated in past work at the mesoscale and global scale. For the first time, we focus on the effect of heat mitigation strategies on the surface energy balance at the neighborhood scale. The neighborhood under investigation is El Monte, located in the eastern Los Angeles basin in Southern California. Using a computational fluid dynamics model to simulate micrometeorology at high spatial resolution, we compare the surface energy balance of the neighborhood assuming current land cover to that with neighborhood-wide deployment of green roof, cool roof, additional trees, and cool pavement as the four heat mitigation strategies. Of the four strategies, adoption of cool pavements led to the largest reductions in net radiation (downward positive) due to the direct impact of increasing pavement albedo on ground level solar absorption. Comparing the effect of each heat mitigation strategy shows that adoption of additional trees and cool pavements led to the largest spatial-maximum air temperature reductions at 14:00 h (1.0 and 2.0 °C, respectively). We also investigate how varying the spatial coverage area of heat mitigation strategies affects the neighborhood-scale impacts on meteorology. Air temperature reductions appear linearly related to the spatial extent of heat mitigation strategy adoption at the spatial scales and baseline meteorology investigated here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Developing the incompressible two-phase solver for modeling the natural convection by Boussinesq approximation. • Investigating the effect of contact angle (ϕ), wall slope (θ), and the Bond number (Bo). • Examine the bubble regimes near the inclined wall's effect. • Studying the role of contact area by comparing the single and pair bubble cases with the same bubble volume. • Providing a correlation for the average Nusselt number based on the Bo and θ. In this numerical study, the bubble injection effect on the heat transfer rate is investigated next to an inclined heated wall. The volume of fluid (VoF) method solver in the OpenFOAM package is extended with an energy equation and Boussinesq approximation to consider the natural convection flow. The solver is validated with several single and multiphase benchmarks, then the effect of various parameters such as wall slope angle (θ), contact angle (ϕ), bubble pair, Bond number (Bo), and bubble regimes are studied. The results show the maximum Nusselt number occurs at θ =60° where a bubble has a higher velocity than θ =[30°, 45°, 90°] and the average Nusselt number boost up 26%. While the Nusselt number is elevated in the higher Bond number (larger bubble), the studies show for the identical gas volume, the bubble pair increases the heat transfer rate more than one single large bubble. The heat transfer reduces about 9% when the contact angle increases from 0° to 120°. The intermittent contact regime has better heat transfer performance than the sliding contact regime and non-contact regime. The Nusselt number enhanced by more than 92% in this regime. The correlation for the Nusselt number based on the present study revealed that the two main influential parameters are wall slope and Bond number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is an autosomal dominant colorectal cancer syndrome that is characterized by the development of multiple adenomas in the colon and rectum with high penetrance rates. This disease has specific features like the occurrence of pathogenic variations in the APC gene and diverse FAP phenotypes due to the occurrence region. In this study we aimed to evaluate pathogenic variants in exons of the APC gene in Iranian patients with FAP. A total of 35 FAP individuals were referred to the gastroenterology ward of Taleghani Hospital. As the aim of the study was to study the germline variations in the participants, the peripheral blood was collected and after the DNA extraction, PCR, and Sanger sequencing processes for the APC gene, the results were evaluated by the ACMG classification guidelines to report their pathogenicity. Accordingly, out of eight specific detected variants, three of them were novel, and the rest were reported previously. These eight variants were all truncating protein and pathogenic, and they were limited to 849-1378 codons. Overall, detected variants revealed discrepancies and parallels with previous reported cases in terms of quantity, occurrence region, and association with demographic and clinicopathological characteristics of patients. The spectrum of detected variants and the patient's phenotype showed distinct characteristics, such as occurrence in specific regions and the absence of extracolonic symptoms like Congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (CHRPE). These findings open the path to comprehending the typical symptoms, their rarity, and their occurrence in the Iranian population and also due to the facts, we found that the studying of the APC gene alone for diagnosing FAP disease is not sufficient, and considering other genes are completely rational in the case of sequencing and studying the variants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the ongoing global warming, heat mitigation strategies are becoming implemented through practice and simulations. These efforts aim to make the cities that are dealing with the urban heat island more livable. The effect of heat mitigation strategies on climate condition and energy consumption have been studied and compared, previously. In this paper, the effect of these strategies on human thermal comfort in urban open spaces is reviewed. Specifically, the review is focused on vegetation (in the form of parks, street trees, green roofs and green walls), and highly reflective materials (on roof and on the ground level) as the most common strategies for improving the thermal conditions in cities. Several studies done by simulation or through field measurement in different countries are described. The most important finding of the review is the fact that although highly reflective materials reduce air temperature in urban open spaces, they increase the re-radiation of sun to the pedestrians. Therefore, vegetation is a better choice for improving thermal comfort in the pedestrian level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the effects of urban design and meteorological parameters on thermal comfort for pedestrians at street level. A comparison of different urban modifications allows an objective assessment of the effectiveness of climate adaptation measures. Because, these results are based on different measurement and modelling methods, they are given in various comfort indicators and studied in a specific urban context, climate and weather condition. This study presents the relative effects of design measures based on identical input parameters and one simulation method using the high resolution three-dimensional model ENVI-met and the thermal comfort index physiological equivalent temperature (PET). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this experiment, at first, waste polyvinyl chloride was used as an additive in an attempt to improve the performance of bitumen and hot mix asphalt (HMA) in order to minimize the amount of rutting. To further these aims, conventional and rheological tests were conducted on bitumen and all HMA specimens were tested by Marshall stability, flow, and repeated load axial tests. After investigating rutting resistance of HMA samples, the results demonstrated that this waste material could improve the rheological properties of bitumen, and the HMA samples, manufactured by this particular type of bitumen, are more resistant to rutting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asphaltene precipitation is introduced as a seriously problematic issue in the petroleum reservoirs that causes filling porosity of rocks and reduction of oil production. Hence, estimating the amount of precipitated asphaltene has huge importance in preventing the deposition of asphaltene. The present study was done to estimate the precipitated asphaltene as a function of temperature, dilution ratio, and molecular weight of different n-alkanes using adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Moreover, another new scaling model was also developed to compare with the ANFIS model. In addition, these two developed models have been compared with previously developed correlations. The obtained values of R2for the ANFIS and scaling models were 0.9912 and 0.9862, respectively. These tools are simple to use and can be used as an accurate approximation of the precipitated asphaltene as a function of temperature, dilution ratio, and molecular weight of different n-alkanes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nowadays, the COVID-19 pandemic has had many harmful effects on the hotel industry. This study aims to identify and prioritize the factors affecting SERVQUAL in the hotel industry and evaluates five-star hotels during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The present study prioritizes the influence factors of SERVQUAL using the stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) method and using the Additive Ratio Assessment (ARAS) method to identify the best hotel among the five hotels in Iran in 2022. In the present study, 22 influence sub-criteria in the hotel industry were studied, and the delivery of service promise sub-criterion was ranked first, which shows its importance among other sub-criteria. Among the hotels studied, A1 hotels ranked first among other hotels. The present study examines and prioritizes the influence factors of SERVQUAL in the hotel industry to help hotel managers to identify the most important influence factors of SERVQUAL in the hotel industry to implement these factors in their hotels and can improve their strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Three heat mitigation strategies were investigated for urban courtyards. [•] E–W direction provided the longest and N–S the shortest sun at the canyons. [•] Increasing the albedo of the facades increased the mean radiant temperature. [•] Using a water pool and urban vegetation cooled the microclimates significantly. [•] ENVI-met was validated for the Netherlands with measurement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: With increased global concerns on climate change, the need for innovative spaces which can provide thermal comfort and energy efficiency is also increasing. This paper analyses the effects of transitional spaces on energy performance and indoor thermal comfort of low-rise dwellings in the Netherlands, at present and projected in 2050. For this analysis the four climate scenarios for 2050 from the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) were used. Including a courtyard within a Dutch terraced dwelling on the one hand showed an increase in annual heating energy demand but on the other hand a decrease in the number of summer discomfort hours. An atrium integrated into a Dutch terraced dwelling reduced the heating demand but increased the number of discomfort hours in summer. Analysing the monthly energy performance, comfort hours and the climate scenarios indicated that using an open courtyard May through October and an atrium, i.e. a covered courtyard, in the rest of the year establishes an optimum balance between energy use and summer comfort for the severest climate scenario. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Single, linear and courtyard urban block layouts are simulated in the Netherlands. [•] Annual heating and lighting energy, and summer thermal comfort are studied. [•] The results demonstrate the importance of the surface-to-volume ratio. [•] The 3-storey courtyard layout uses 22% less energy compared to the one zone layout. [•] The 3-storey courtyard layout has 9% less discomfort hours than the one zone layout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thermal comfort has been discussed since 1930s. There have been two main approaches to thermal comfort: the steady-state model and the adaptive model. The adaptive model is mainly based on the theory of the human body's adapting to its outdoor and indoor climate. In this paper, besides the steady-state model, three adaptive thermal comfort standards are comprehensively reviewed: the American ASHRAE 55-2010 standard, the European EN15251 standard, and the Dutch ATG guideline. Through a case study from the Netherlands, these standards are compared. The main differences discussed between the standards are the equations for upper and lower limits, reference temperatures, acceptable temperature ranges and databases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Over the past decade, several new approaches have emerged to renewable energy education that seek to address the needs of the 21st century for sustainable energy supply systems. In addition, unlike conventional architectural education which does not cover renewable energy issues in its curriculum, these days, renewable energy education has an identity of its own within the discipline of architecture. This paper will clarify academic obstacles that are impeding the development of sustainable architectural education. These obstacles include: ambiguous definitions of sustainable architecture, confusion over the meaning of sustainability, and lack of experts in this field. In the last part of this paper we compare academic architectural education in the field of renewable energy in two countries, Iran as a developing country in Asia and Australia as a developed country in Oceania. Lessons can be drawn from these case studies in regard to the obstacles and progress in the development of sustainable architecture education. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sustainability is a crucial issue for our times and architecture has an important role to play in sustainable development. Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of the total world annual energy consumption. In addition, over the past decade, several new approaches have emerged for the incorporation of sustainability and renewable energy into architectural education. One way of reducing building energy consumption is to educate architects to design buildings that are powered by renewable forms of energy for heating, lighting, cooling, ventilation and hot water supply. A comparison of sustainable architectural education in economically developed and developing countries provides some insights about how to modernise the architectural curriculum to facilitate the process of sustainable development. The key findings of this research are to: (1) include principles of sustainable development in the core content of all architecture courses, including the role of renewable energy, energy efficiency and embodied energy; (2) offer design studio courses in architectural education that involve the practical use of renewable energy technology; (3) offer short courses and flexible courses, which are particularly attractive to busy professional architects who want to keep their knowledge base up to date; and (4) offer online courses to attract foreign students and that are also suitable for disabled students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is a crucial issue for our times and architecture has an important role to play in sustainable development. Buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of the total world annual energy consumption. In addition, over the past decade, several new approaches have emerged for the incorporation of sustainability and renewable energy into architectural education. One way of reducing building energy consumption is to educate architects in the design of buildings which are powered by renewable forms of energy for heating, lighting, cooling and ventilation. A comparison of sustainable architectural education in economically developed countries with that in developing ones provides some insights about how to modernize the architectural curriculum to facilitate the process of sustainable development. The key finding of this research is to offer design studio courses, short courses, and online courses in architectural education including the principles of sustainable development and the role of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and embodied energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased frequency of heat-related mortality and morbidity in urban environments indicates the importance of urban climate studies. As most of the world's population lives in cities, the education of designers, planners and policy makers is crucial to promote urban sustainability This paper, firstly, focuses on the different factors causing the urban heat islands in large cities. Secondly, it considers how these factors are reflected in higher education programmes. Examples are shown from courses in UK higher education, explaining the common software tools used for simulating urban spaces, and student field measurements are drawn on to illustrate how urban climate studies are included in higher education curricula. Urban metabolism is used to conceptualise the main approach to systemic resource-use assessments and as a holistic framework to investigate the main drivers of the urban heat island phenomenon. To sum up, this paper reflects on the importance of training climatically-aware graduates from design schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• NO 2 is one of the main causes of pollution related mortality in the UK; • The dispersion of NO 2 in a microclimate in Manchester was studied; • Air temperature and NO 2 concentration showed a negative correlation; • Hedges and trees with different heights were adopted in the neighbourhood; • Trees facilitated the dispersion, while hedges trapped and increased the pollution. This paper studies the impact of different green barriers on the dispersion of air pollution in a neighbourhood. The study was performed with reference to air quality conditions in Manchester, UK. Manchester experiences a high level of NO 2. Measured results showed that the average annual concentration level in 2018 was very close to the limit defined by European Union legislation. Maximum and minimum NO 2 concentrations occurred during the winter and summer, respectively. Simulations of the dispersion of air pollution in a hypothetical neighbourhood showed that NO 2 level was decreased by the increase of air temperature during the simulated day. In four perturbation scenarios, hedges and trees with different heights were added to the neighbourhood as green barriers. Hedges increased the pollution level near the street at the pedestrian level as a result of the reduced wind speed. The simulations demonstrated that using the trees facilitated the dispersion of pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the motion and interaction of a bubble pair rising in a stationary liquid are simulated in two dimensions using the volume of fluid method (VOF) in the open-source CFD package OpenFOAM. For validation, the single bubble rising for different regimes was simulated. Comparing the present study results and previous numerical and experimental results showed that the results have a good agreement. In the present study, the bubble pair is arranged along a horizontal line, and results showed that in 2D domain four different interactions happen between the bubble pair rising based on the Bond (Bo) and Morton (Mo) numbers which are: coalescence, bouncing, zigzagging, and breakup. The simulations are done at three different slopes of the line connecting the center of two bubbles (θ =[ 0 ° , 45 ° , and 90 ° ]), which shows the different arrangements of bubble pairs. At θ = 90 ° , due to the attraction created by the wake of the leading bubble, the trailing bubble gets a significant acceleration in its motion, and will coalesce in the absence of surfactants. The results showed that the value of the trailing bubble velocity increases with decreasing the separation distance between the bubbles. Also, the rising velocity of the trailing bubble is always greater than the velocity of a single bubble due to the attraction effect of the leading bubble's wake. The drag force of a trailing bubble decreases with decreasing the separation distance between the bubbles. Finally, a general criterion based on dimensionless numbers of Bo and Mo is presented to determine the type of interaction between bubble pair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to understand the effect of urban street greenery type and arrangements on thermal comfort and heat stress in summer. Field measurements and computer simulations were carried out on East-West (E-W) and North-South (N-S) oriented streets in Isfahan, Iran. Through the field measurements in July 2014, 17 different streets were studied, followed by 15 perturbation scenarios (urban design alternatives) simulated by ENVI-met. The study showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between the Sky View Factor (SVF) and the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) values. Comparison of the meteorological parameters within different street orientations showed that the effect of the SVF on the E-W streets was more significant than in N-S streets. Furthermore, greenery arrangement and building heights showed different impacts on the outdoor thermal comfort streets with different orientations. • The effect of different street greenery arrangements on thermal comfort was studied. • A significant positive relationship between SVF and PET was observed. • SVF of more than 0.6 leads to higher heat stress. • The effect of the SVF on the microclimate of E-W streets was more N-S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the analysis of patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS), Serine threonine kinase11 (STK11) is known as a tumor suppressor gene, which is involved in cell polarization, regulation of apoptosis, and DNA damage response. In this case report study, we examined STK11 gene sequencing in a 42-year-old woman with mucocuta neous pigmentation and positive family history. Endoscopy and colonoscopy showed >1000 polyps throughout the stomach/colon (PJ-type hamartomas). The larger polyp in the stomach was resected and the small bowel imaging detected multiple jejunum/ileum small polyps. The data released from the sequencing results revealed five alterations in exons 1 to 5. The major mutation in stop codon was reported as converted to the amino acid tryptophan (TRP) to tyrosine (TER). The TGG codon was converted to TAG by mutation. Finally, another novel mutation in STK11 stop codon as a 'de novo' variant was seen. It is predicted that stop codon mutations make the affected person susceptible to developing colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of KRAS and BRAF mutations is a crucial step for the correct therapeutic approach and predicting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapy resistance of colorectal carcinomas. The concomitant KRAS and BRAF mutations occur rarely in the colorectal cancers (CRCs) with the prevalence of less than 0.001% of the cases. In patients with KRAS-mutant tumors, BRAF mutations should not regularly be tested unless the patient is participating in a clinical trial enriching for the presence of KRAS or BRAF-mutated tumor. The current report demonstrates a case with advanced adenocarcinoma of the colon showing the coexistence of KRAS and BRAF mutations and may have profound clinical implications for disease progression and therapeutic responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bubble interactions with a wall affect many industrial application's performance. The single bubble rising in a stagnant fluid is studied next to an inclined wall. The two phases are incompressible, and the interface between phases is captured with the volume of fluid (VoF) method. The influence of various parameters such as wall slope (θ), contact angle (φ), and dimensionless numbers (Morton and Bond) on the bubble-wall regime is investigated. The numerical results (bubble shape and terminal velocity) are validated with experiments. After comprehensive numerical simulation over a wide range of Bond (1 ≤ B o ≤ 40) and Morton (2.54 × 10 − 11 ≤ M o ≤ 1 × 10 0) for inclined walls (0 ∘ < θ < 90 ∘), three bubble-wall interaction regimes: sliding, intermittent and non-contact are proposed and a regime map is plotted. We recognized two sliding regimes based on Bond numbers at small inclined walls (θ ≤ 30 ∘). In the sticking sliding regime (B o ≤ 5), bubbles remain attached to the inclined wall. They make the wall dry along their path. But at higher Bond in film sliding, bubbles slip over a thin liquid film. Thus, the wall surface is always wet. The film thickness is linearly proportional to bubble diameter. Non-contact regimes occur at steep walls (θ ≥ 70 ∘), where the bubble never touches the wall. In moderate wall slopes (30 ∘ < θ < 70 ∘), a bubble repeatedly impacts on and rebounds from the wall. The intermittent regime is an unstable regime, and it alters to a sliding or a non-contact regime based on Bond and Morton numbers. [Display omitted] • Bubble velocity near an inclined wall is validated with experimental data. • The effect of Bond and Morton numbers on bubble behavior near inclined walls is examined. • The effect of wall wettability and slope is investigated. • The map regime of the bubble along inclined walls is presented. • The map regime is verified with three different experimental cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of intronic polymorphism of the SMAD7 (Mothers Against Decantaplegic Homolog 7) gene (rs2337104) on the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) and clinicopathological features in an Iranian population. Background: SMAD7 has been identified as an antagonist of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-b)-mediating fibrosis, carcinogenesis, and inflammation. Regarding to the recent genome-wide scan, a risk locus for colorectal cancer at 18q21 has been found, which maps to the SMAD7 gene. Patients and methods: This case-control study was performed on 109 CRC patients and 109 healthy controls recruited in Taleghani Hospital. The genotyping of all samples were done by TaqMan assay via an ABI 7500 Real Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems) with DNA from peripheral blood. The association of this polymorphism with the risk of CRC and clinicopathological features was investigated. Results: Our results indicated that there were no significant association between genotypic and allelic frequencies of SMAD7 polymorphism (rs2337104) and CRC risk in our population. Although the T allele is the most frequent one in this population and its frequency was 86.7% in patients compared with 91.7% in controls (OR=1.705, 95% CI= 0.916-3.172). Also, the SMAD7 genotypes were not associated with any clinicopathological characteristics in CRC patients (P>0.05). Conclusion: For the first time, this study results revealed that this SMAD7 polymorphism couldn't be a potential risk factor for CRC or a prognostic biomarker for prediction of clinicopathological features in an Iranian population. A largescale case-control study is needed to validate our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal comfort in cities is an influential factor for citizens' wellbeing and life quality. Urban microclimate studies have gained popularity following increasing urbanization trends and global climate change in recent years. Urban fabric and morphology in traditional cities represent a unique pattern both spatially and climatically. However, few studies have investigated traditional cities' urban thermal comfort conditions. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the thermal comfort in different subspaces of Algiers Casbah's historic urban fabric, which falls in the hot Mediterranean climate (Csa). This research evaluated the human thermal sensation by applying the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) index. The methodology used was a mixed approach, including field measurements, calculations, and a survey questionnaire. The results indicate the presence of a high-stress level during the measurement periods, and notable differences between the subspaces in January (ΔPETMax.Jan = 3.7 °C) and August (ΔPETMax.Aug = 2.2 °C). The highest discomfort was recorded in spaces with collapsed buildings, especially during the hot hours of the day. The findings also highlight a strong impact of the sky view factor on the mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) and the physiological equivalent temperature (PET). The study discusses recommendations and ways to improve the design of outdoor spaces and relieve heat stress in the streets of traditional cities. Finally, this work helps urban managers and heritage conservators in urban rehabilitation policies concerning outdoor microclimate improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impacts of the laminar airflow ventilation system design factors on contaminant removal and thermal comfort condition in an operating room have been investigated by means of Lagrangian-based particle transport using the non-Boussinesq modeling of the buoyancy effects. An operating room including staffs and a patient with realistic human geometries and two surgery lights are included in simulations. The laminar airflow system is placed on the ceiling with a surrounding fixed-height partial wall and the air barrier supply grills. Effects of density change in mixed convection flow regime are included by the non-Boussinesq modeling of the exact air density variation. The predicted mean vote, the age of air, the colony-forming units per cubic meter, the average temperature, the average velocity, the relative humidity, the density distribution, and the positions of particles are calculated to assess the indoor air ventilation quality. A total of 27 simulation cases have been considered to determine the impact of three main design factors including the laminar airflow system area, the supply air, and the air barrier velocities on the performance of the system. It is concluded that for the curtain velocity of 2 m/s, the thermal comfort reduces with increasing the laminar airflow velocity, but for the third staff, the results show that for small laminar airflow areas, the speed of the inlet port should be reduced and for the larger sizes, the inverse of this trend is recommended. Moreover, for all cases the humidity varies within the range of 55%–56%, which agrees well with the suggested standard humidity range between 50% and 60%. It is concluded that the cases of the laminar airflow velocity equal to 0.3 and 0.5 at the curtain velocity of 1 m/s are generally more appropriate than other cases due to less accommodation of particles near the entire body of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the distribution of PIK3CA E545K mutation in Iranian CRC patients and explored its roles in disease prognosis. Background: Deregulation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway contributes to the progression of tumors. The p110a (PIK3CA), a catalytic subunit of PIK3, is mutated in many types of cancers. Exon 9 (E545K) is the most frequently mutated hotspot in PIK3CA in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the prognostic role of PIK3CA E545K mutation needs to be elucidated. Methods: Tumors from 187 CRC patients were retrospectively collected from the Taleghani and Shohada Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, between 2010 and 2017. PIK3CA E545K status was detected in Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues using PCR-RFLP methods, and validated by pyrosequencing. Correlations between PIK3CA E545K mutation clinicopathological features were analyzed. Results: The frequency of PIK3CA E545K gene mutations in CRC patients was 10.7%. Significant correlations were observed in PIK3CA E545K mutation with tumor differentiation and TNM stage (p < 0.042 and p = 0.033, respectively). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a worse prognosis in overall survival (OS) in patients with PIK3CA E545K mutation (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated that PIK3CA E545K mutation was a detrimental factor for OS (HR = 6.497, 95% CI: 2.859-14.768, p < 0.021). Conclusion: A high frequency of PIK3CA E545K mutation was detected in Iranian CRC patients. The results of the present study suggested that PIK3CA E545K mutation may be associated with poor prognosis. These findings require further confirmation via prospective studies with larger samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) gene undergoes various mutations that could alter its activity or respond to the antibody therapies. Cetuximab, a known anti‐EGFR monoclonal antibody (mAB), is widely administered in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) cases. Here we identified mCRC patients who did not respond to cetuximab (500 mg/m2, q2w) after fluoropyrimidine/oxaliplatin regimen failure. Tumor samples were examined with immunohistochemistry for protein distribution, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequencing for mutation detection and real‐time PCR for mRNA expression pattern analysis between cetuximab sensitive and resistance patients. The conformational differences of normal and mutated protein structures were predicted by bioinformatics analysis. The 5‐year survival rates of target groups were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Immunohistochemistry showed that all cases had high level of HER2 protein. No K‐Ras or B‐Raf mutation was observed among the study population; however, cetuximab resistance patients harbored a somatic mutation R784G at the exon 20 region of HER2 coding sequence. According to bioinformatics analysis, this mutation caused a notable misfold in protein conformation. Meanwhile, survival analysis showed R784G mutated mCRC patients had shortened survival rate compared with the mCRC cases with wild‐type HER2. Collectively, these data report a new mechanism of resistance to cetuximab and might be applicable in modifying new therapeutic strategies for HER2 involved cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of microsatellite instability (MSI) on the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) requires more investigation. We assessed the role of MSI status in survival of individuals diagnosed with primary colorectal cancer. In this retrospective cross-sectional study the MSI status was determined in 158 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumors and their matched normal tissues from patients who underwent curative surgery. Cox proportional hazard modeling was performed to assess the clinical prognostic significance. In this study we found that MSI-H tumors were predominantly located in the colon versus rectum (p=0.03), associated with poorer differentiation (p=0.003) and TNM stage II/III of tumors (p=0.02). In CRC patients with stage II, MSI-L cases showed significantly poorer survival compared with patients who had MSI-H or MSS tumors (p=0.04). This study indicates that MSI-L tumors correlate with poorer clinical outcome in patients with stage II tumors (p=0.04) or in tumors located in the colon (p=0.02). MSI-L characterizes a distinct subgroup of CRC patients who have a poorer outcome. This study suggests that MSI status in CRC, as a clinical prognostic marker, is dependent on other factors, such as tumor stage and location. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: We aimed to explore the frequency of BRAFV600E mutation in Iranian patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) as well as its association with clinic pathological characteristic of patients. Background: CRC is the third leading cause of cancer related death. There is a growing body of data showing the association of BRAFV600E mutation with malignant transformation and clinical outcome of different tumors, including CRC. These findings suggest that BRAFV600E mutation can be used as diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker for management of cancer patients. Patients and methods: A total of 85 patients with sporadic tumor were recruited. BRAFV600E mutation was investigated using sequencing of extracted DNAs from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissues. Electropherograms were analyzed using Laser-gene 6 software. Results: More than 95% of patients were in stage I and II and none of them were in stage IV. Patients were mostly below 55 years old and tumors were dominantly located in the distal colon. Of note, no BRAFV600E mutations were detected in our population. Conclusion: Our results showed no V600E mutation in the BRAF gene in stage I and II of CRC patients. Further studies in multi-center settings are warranted to examine the prognostic and/or predictive value of this marker in different stages of colorectal cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the current investigation was to examine the profile of Kras mutations accompanied with MSI (microsattelite instability) status in polyps and colorectal carcinoma tissues in an Iranian population. Background: Kras mutations in colorectal cancer cause resistance to anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). So it can be considered as a 1rue indicator of EGFR pathvvay activation status. Kras mutations can be detected in approximately 30% to 40% ofall patients with colorectal cancer. The most hot spot ofthe gene is located in exons 2 and 3. Patients and methods: In this study we examined exons 2 and 3 Kras gene using polymerase chain reactions and subsequent sequencing of the exons in 95 patients with sporadic colorectal cancer including 48 tumors and 47 polyps. This study was performed using biopsy samples from the patients. We sequenced the Kras gene in a panel of human colorectal tumors and polyps in addition to detecting MSI status using fluorescent technique. Results: We could detect 6 mutations in tumors including 5 mutations in codon 12 and one mutation in codon 13. Moreover, in polyps 2 mutations were determined in codon 13 and one in codon 12. Microsatellite instability assay revealed the presence of 5 and 6 MSI in tumors and polyps, respectively. Among the MSI mononucleotide markers, NR21 marker demonstrated the most frequency (60%) in the both groups. Conclusion: Our findings showed that probably the profile of mutations in tumors is not entirely compatible with the pattern of mutations in polyps .However, just one of the mutations, Gly12Asp, was similar in both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of the current investigation was to examine the profile of Kras mutations accompanied with MSI (microsattelite instability) status in polyps and colorectal carcinoma tissues in an Iranian population. Background: Kras mutations in colorectal cancer cause resistance to anti-Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). So it can be considered as a true indicator of EGFR pathway activation status. Kras mutations can be detected in approximately 30% to 40% of all patients with colorectal cancer. The most hot spot of the gene is located in exons 2 and 3. Patients and methods: In this study we examined exons 2 and 3 Kras gene using polymerase chain reactions and subsequent sequencing of the exons in 95 patients with sporadic colorectal cancer including 48 tumors and 47 polyps. This study was performed using biopsy samples from the patients. We sequenced the Kras gene in a panel of human colorectal tumors and polyps in addition to detecting MSI status using fluorescent technique. Results: We could detect 6 mutations in tumors including 5 mutations in codon 12 and one mutation in codon 13. Moreover, in polyps 2 mutations were determined in codon 13 and one in codon 12. Microsatellite instability assay revealed the presence of 5 and 6 MSI in tumors and polyps, respectively. Among the MSI mononucleotide markers, NR- 21 marker demonstrated the most frequency (60%) in the both groups. Conclusion: Our findings showed that probably the profile of mutations in tumors is not entirely compatible with the pattern of mutations in polyps .However, just one of the mutations, Gly12Asp, was similar in both groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]