Grading of Gliomas by Contrast-Enhanced CT Radiomics Features.

Background: Gliomas, as Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors, are greatly common with 80% of malignancy. Treatment methods for gliomas, such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy depend on the grade, size, location, and the patient's age. Objective: This study aimed to quantify glioma based on the radiomics analysis and classify its grade into High-grade Glioma (HGG) or Low-grade Glioma (LGG) by various machine-learning methods using contrast-enhanced brain Computerized Tomography (CT) scans. Material and Methods: This retrospective study involved acquiring and segmenting data, selecting and extracting features, classifying, analyzing, and evaluating classifiers. The study included a total of 62 patients (31 with LGG and 31 with HGG). The tumors were segmented by an experienced CT-scan technologist with 3D slicer software. A total of 14 shape features, 18 histogram-based features, and 75 texture-based features were computed. The Area Under the Curve (AUC) and Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC) were used to evaluate and compare classification models. Results: A total of 13 out of 107 features were selected to differentiate between LGGs and HGGs and to perform various classifier algorithms with different cross-validations. The best classifier algorithm was linear-discriminant with 93.5% accuracy, 96.77% sensitivity, 90.3% specificity, and 0.98% AUC in the differentiation of LGGs and HGGs. Conclusion: The proposed method can identify LGG and HGG with 93.5% accuracy, 96.77% sensitivity, 90.3% specificity, and 0.98% AUC, leading to the best treatment for glioma patients by using CT scans based on radiomics analysis.

Effects of various disinfectants on surface roughness and color stability of thermoset and 3D-printed acrylic resin.

Denture cleansers are extensively utilized to inhibit the colonization of various Candida species. Currently, additive technology in denture fabrication has become more prevalent. This study aims to assess the impact of disinfectants on the surface roughness and color stability of distinct denture bases. Disc-shaped samples (N=66) were exposed to three different disinfectants: 0.5% sodium hypochlorite, 1% hydrogen peroxide, and 2% chlorhexidine. The samples underwent evaluation via spectrophotometry and profilometry, respectively. Data analysis was conducted utilizing analysis of variance (ANOVA) (p < 0.05). Within the heat-cured group, sodium hypochlorite resulted in the most notable change in surface roughness (0.2 µm), while chlorhexidine exhibited the least impact (0.001 µm), showing a significant difference (p <0.008). The color change (ΔE) for 3D-printed samples immersed in all disinfectants was higher compared to heat-cured samples. Among the heat-cured samples, chlorhexidine induced the highest ΔE (2.76), while sodium hypochlorite resulted in the lowest (ΔE = 1.44), and this difference was statistically significant (p <0.008). Chlorhexidine caused the most significant color alteration among the solutions, while sodium hypochlorite induced the most considerable changes in surface roughness.

No sign of Rotavirus co-infection in COVID-19 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms.

Background and aims: The main goal of the present study is to investigate the incidence of Rotavirus co-infection in COVID-19 patients. Methods and Results: Fecal samples of COVID-19 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms which had positive PCR- were collected from Abadan's hospital, Iran during the period December 2020 to January 2021. Samples were analyzed by RT-PCR to determine the presence of Rotavirus. Finally, the total samples size of 37 were included in this study. The mean age of patients was 48.22 years. Abdominal pain alone was detected in 48.65% of the patients. At least one gastrointestinal symptom was detected in all of the patients. Diarrhea and fever were seen in 13.51% and 59.46% of patients, respectively. Nausea and vomiting were seen in 5.41% of the patients. RT-PCR showed no infection of Rotavirus among the patients. Conclusion: Gastrointestinal symptoms related to COVID-19 are common. More studies is need among these patients groups for investigate co-infection with other fecal viral shedding carries, due to a worse prognosis and its association with disease severity.

Unsupervised deep learning registration model for multimodal brain images.

Multimodal image registration is a key for many clinical image-guided interventions. However, it is a challenging task because of complicated and unknown relationships between different modalities. Currently, deep supervised learning is the state-of-theart method at which the registration is conducted in end-to-end manner and one-shot. Therefore, a huge ground-truth data is required to improve the results of deep neural networks for registration. Moreover, supervised methods may yield models that bias towards annotated structures. Here, to deal with above challenges, an alternative approach is using unsupervised learning models. In this study, we have designed a novel deep unsupervised Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based model based on computer tomography/magnetic resonance (CT/MR) co-registration of brain images in an affine manner. For this purpose, we created a dataset consisting of 1100 pairs of CT/MR slices from the brain of 110 neuropsychic patients with/without tumor. At the next step, 12 landmarks were selected by a well-experienced radiologist and annotated on each slice resulting in the computation of series of metrics evaluation, target registration error (TRE), Dice similarity, Hausdorff, and Jaccard coefficients. The proposed method could register the multimodal images with TRE 9.89, Dice similarity 0.79, Hausdorff 7.15, and Jaccard 0.75 that are appreciable for clinical applications. Moreover, the approach registered the images in an acceptable time 203 ms and can be appreciable for clinical usage due to the short registration time and high accuracy. Here, the results illustrated that our proposed method achieved competitive performance against other related approaches from both reasonable computation time and the metrics evaluation.

Partial sequence conservation of SARS-CoV-2 NSP-2, NSP-12, and Spike in stool samples from Abadan, Iran.

Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the clinical manifestations of the virus have undergone many changes. Recently, there have been many reports on gastrointestinal symptoms in COVID-19 patients. This study is aimed to perform a detailed phylogenetic study and assessment of different SNVs in the RNA genome of viruses isolated from fecal samples of patients with COVID-19 who have gastrointestinal symptoms, which can help better understand viral pathogenesis. In the present study, 20 fecal samples were collected by written consent from COVID-19 patients. According to the manufacturer's protocol, virus nucleic acid was extracted from stool samples and the SARS-CoV-2 genome presence in stool samples was confirmed by RT-PCR assay. Three viral genes, S, nsp12, and nsp2, were amplified using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method and specific primers. Multiple sequencing alignment (MSA) was performed in the CLC word bench, and a phylogenetic tree was generated by MEGA X based on the neighbor-joining method. Of all cases, 11 (55%) were males. The mean age of the patients was 33.6 years. Diabetes (70%) and blood pressure (55%) were the most prevalent comorbidities. All 20 patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection in respiratory samples. Molecular analysis investigation among 20 stool samples revealed that the SARS-CoV-2 genome was found among 10 stool samples; only three samples were used for sequencing. The polymorphism and phylogenetic analysis in SARS-CoV-2 showed great similarity among all of the evaluated genes with the Wuhan reference sequence and all of the current variants of concern (VOCs). The current study represents a great similarity in polymorphism and phylogenetic analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 isolates with the Wuhan reference sequence and all of the current VOC in the particular evaluated partial sequences of S, nsp12, and nsp2.

The role of SARS-CoV-2 accessory proteins in immune evasion.

Many questions on the SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis remain to answer. The SARS-CoV-2 genome encodes some accessory proteins that are essential for infection. Notably, accessory proteins of SARS-CoV-2 play significant roles in affecting immune escape and viral pathogenesis. Therefore SARS-CoV-2 accessory proteins could be considered putative drug targets. IFN-I and IFN-III responses are the primary mechanisms of innate antiviral immunity in infection clearance. Previous research has shown that SARS-CoV-2 suppresses IFN-ß by infecting host cells via ORF3a, ORF3b, ORF6, ORF7a, ORF7b, ORF8, and ORF9b. Furthermore, ORF3a, ORF7a, and ORF7b have a role in blocking IFNα signaling, and ORF8 represses IFNß signaling. The ORF3a, ORF7a, and ORF7b disrupt the STAT1/2 phosphorylation. ORF3a, ORF6, ORF7a, and ORF7b could prevent the ISRE promoter activity. The main SARS-CoV-2 accessory proteins involved in immune evasion are discussed here for comprehensive learning on viral entry, replication, and transmission in vaccines and antiviral development.

State-of-the-art cerium nanoparticles as promising agents against human viral infections.

The world is faces a significant global health challenge in the form of viral infections, particularly the emergence of viral strains that are resistant to effective antiviral therapies. This underscores the urgent need for the development of effective and safe antiviral agents. Nanoscale materials are now being used as novel antiviral agents. Cerium nanoparticles have unique chemical and physical properties that make them particularly promising for viral infections. These particles reduce inflammation and the autoimmune response. Cerium nanoparticles, in addition to their antiviral properties, have many other advantages that are highly sought after for various aspects of biomedical applications. This review focuses on the various properties of cerium nanoparticles as a novel agent against viral infections.

A comparative evaluation of wear resistance of three types of artificial acrylic teeth after removing the glaze layer.

Background: The posterior denture teeth wear faster than the anterior teeth, which can result in occlusal interferences, loss of vertical dimension of occlusion, greater stress accumulation in the anterior region, and higher ridge resorption. This study aimed to compare the wear resistance of three types of artificial acrylic teeth before and after removing the glaze layer. Materials and Methods: This in vitro study compared three types of artificial acrylic teeth, namely, Finex (F), SR Orthotyp DCL (S), and Vita Physiodents (V) in six groups (n = 10). Half of the artificial teeth of each brand underwent 0.5-mm buccal reduction to remove the glaze layer (groups FC, SC, and VC). The teeth were thermocycled and placed in a chewing simulator. The teeth with and without the glaze layer were weighed before and after the wear test. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA (the level of significance was 0.05). Results: The weight reduction (indicative of wear) was 0.03 ± 0.02 and 0.12 ± 0.03 mg in Groups S and SC, 0.03 ± 0.02 and 0.25 ± 0.04 mg in Groups V and VC, and 0.11 ± 0.15 and 0.28 ± 0.1 mg in groups F and FC, respectively. Removing the glaze layer (P < 0.01), type and brand of acrylic tooth (P < 0.01), and the baseline weight of artificial teeth (P < 0.01) had significant effects on wear resistance of artificial teeth. Conclusion: The wear of artificial teeth was greater after removing the glaze layer, and the magnitude of wear was also significantly different among the three brands. The group FC showed maximum wear while the groups S and V showed minimum wear.

How Do Different Physical Stressors' Affect the Mercury Release from Dental Amalgam Fillings and Microleakage? A Systematic Review.

Background: Approximately 50% of dental amalgam is elemental mercury by weight. Accumulating body of evidence now shows that not only static magnetic fields (SMF) but both ionizing and non-ionizing electromagnetic radiations can increase the rate of mercury release from dental amalgam fillings. Iranian scientists firstly addressed this issue in 2008 but more than 10 years later, it became viral worldwide. Objective: This review was aimed at evaluating available data on the magnitude of the effects of different physical stressors (excluding chewing and brushing) on the release of toxic mercury from dental amalgam fillings and microleakage. Material and Methods: The papers reviewed in this study were searched from PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus (up to 1 December 2019). The keywords were identified from our initial research matching them with those existing on the database of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). The non-English papers and other types of articles were not included in this review. Results: Our review shows that exposure to static magnetic fields (SMF) such as those generated by MRI, electromagnetic fields (EMF) such as those produced by mobile phones; ionizing electromagnetic radiations such as X-rays and non- Ionizing electromagnetic radiation such as lasers and light cure devices can significantly increase the release of mercury from dental amalgam restorations and/or cause microleakage. Conclusion: The results of this review show that a wide variety of physical stressors ranging from non-ionizing electromagnetic fields to ionizing radiations can significantly accelerate the release of mercury from amalgam and cause microleakage.

CRISPR-Cas System: A Promising Diagnostic Tool for Covid-19.

More than a year has passed since the beginning of the 2019 novel coronavirus diseases (COVID-19) pandemic which has created massive problems globally affecting all aspects of people's life. Due to the emergence of new strains of the SARS-CoV-2, pandemic risk still remains, despite the start of vaccination. Therefore, rapid diagnostic tests are essential to control infection, improve clinical care and stop the spread of the disease. Recently CRISPR-based diagnostic tools have facilitated rapid diagnostic. Here, we review the diagnostic applications of CRISPR-Cas system in COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and respiratory syncytial virus coinfection in children.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which has infected many people around the world. Children are considered an important target group for SARS-CoV-2, as well as other viral infections such as respiratory syncytial virus infection. Both SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial virus can affect the respiratory tract. Coinfection of SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial virus can pose significant challenges in terms of diagnosis and treatment in children. This review compares the symptoms, diagnostic methods, and treatment of COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus infection in children.

Efficacy of naproxen in the management of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The current study was done to examine the efficacy of naproxen in the management of patients with COVID-19 infection. METHODS: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial was done on hospitalized adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either naproxen (two capsules per day each containing 500 mg naproxen sodium) or placebo (containing starch) for five days along with the routine treatment that was nationally recommended for COVID-19 infection. Clinical symptoms of COVID-19 infection, the time to clinical improvement, blood pressure, laboratory parameters, and death due to COVID-19 infection were considered as the outcome variables in the present study. RESULTS: Treatment with naproxen improved cough and shortness of breath in COVID-19 patients; such that, compared with placebo, naproxen intake was associated with 2.90 (95% CI: 1.10-7.66) and 2.82 (95% CI: 1.05-7.55) times more improvement in cough and shortness of breath, respectively. In addition, naproxen administration resulted in a significant increase in mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and had a preventive effect on the reduction of systolic blood pressure in COVID-19 patients. CONCLUSION: Treatment with naproxen can improve cough and shortness of breath in COVID-19-infected patients. Further studies are required to confirm our findings.

Iranian University students' stressors and coping strategies: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Although a certain amount of stress is essential, excessive stress can adversely influence the physiological and mental health. Hence, this study aims to assess common stressors and coping strategies among university students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted from October to November 2019 in Iran. Twelve students were recruited based on purposeful sampling to participate focus group discussions (FGD). Transcripts of three sessions of FGD were analyzed applying Graneheim and Lundman (2004) approach, and a thematic network was applied to illustrate the findings. RESULTS: The finding emerged 78 codes, 14 subthemes, and 4 main themes. Stressors were classified in two main themes, including individual stressors and the social ones. Behavioral strategies and the cognitive ones were among two categories of coping strategies. According to the thematic network, a full stress student affecting the precious stressors and the social, cultural, and the economic context may manage his/her stress applying the coping strategies. CONCLUSION: The findings revealed that university students experienced different kinds of stress, and usually, they do not apply right coping strategies. It is important to establish stress counseling programs for university students. Besides, it is proposing to provide 1st year university students with workshops about the cause of stress and effective coping strategies.

Wharton jelly stem cells inhibits AGS gastric cancer cells through induction of apoptosis and modification of MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer) GC) is one of the most common cancer with high mortality worldwide. The human Wharton's jelly stem cells (hWJSCs) can inhibit several cancer cells through several molecular pathways. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate anticancer effects of hWJSCs conditioned medium (hWJSC-CM) and cell-free lysate (hWJSC-CL) against of GC cell line AGS and underlying signaling pathways. METHODS: In this study, we evaluated the effects of hWJSC-CM and hWJSC-CL on viability, proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis, and MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways in AGS cells. Moreover, mRNA expression of genes involved in apoptosis (BAX, BCL2, SMAC, and SURVIVIN), as well as expression of proteins involved in NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways were evaluated. RESULTS: The obtained results showed that the hWJSC-CM and hWJSC-CL decreased viability, migration, and invasion of GC cell line AGS in a concentration and time dependent manner. We observed that the hWJSC-CM and hWJSC-CL induced apoptosis pathway through regulation of apoptosis involved genes mRNA expression. In addition, the hWJSC-CM and hWJSC-CL suppressed NF-κB signaling pathways as well as promoted MAPK signaling pathways. CONCLUSION: In general, our study suggested that the hWJSC-CM and hWJSC-CL inhibits proliferation and viability of GC cell line AGS through induction of apoptosis, as well as modification of NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways.

Beyond hierarchical mixed nickel-cobalt hydroxide and ferric oxide formation onto the green carbons for energy storage applications.

To attain superior energy density concurrently with high power density, high-performance supercapacitors have been developed. Herein an innovative strategy has been adopted to fabricate unique binder-free electrodes composed of a unique porous structure of binary metal carbonate hydroxide nanomace-decorated hydrothermal porous carbon spheres (PCSs). Hierarchical nickel-cobalt carbonate hydroxide (NiCOCH) nanomaces, directly grown on PCSs, are used as positive electrodes for supercapacitors fabrication. Furthermore, Fe2O3@PCS composites, having benefits of highly reversible redox reaction in the negative potential window and highly porous structure, are employed as the negative electrode in the fabrication of the asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs). The assembled NiCoCH@PCS// Fe2O3@PCS asymmetric devices with a wide electrochemical potential window not only have the merit of high energy and power densities but also receive benefits from remarkable cycle stability. These encouraging outcomes that are mutually beneficial, make these fabricated ASCs significantly ideal for high-performance electronics.

Biosensor-based methods for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus detection.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a tick-borne disease with high fatality rate that is endemic in some parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. Rapid diagnostics of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is necessary for appropriate clinical management of this disease and also can be useful in preventing of secondary spread from human-to-human, though, common tests which are used to diagnose Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever have some limitations. Here we review 1) common diagnostic tests for CCHF, 2) limitations in laboratories methods of CCHF and 3) biosensor researches for detection of CCHF. It is necessary to design and develop an effective, rapid, and also low-cost tool such as biosensor to detect Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. Based on the key role of rapid detection of CCHF in the control of infection, development of a biosensor as a rapid tool seems very major in the diagnosis of CCHF, though, there are limited studies on this field and more researches are needed in this issue.

Future developments in biosensors for field-ready SARS-CoV-2 virus diagnostics.

According to the evidence, the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is caused by a zoonotic pathogen named respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This virus can spread through personal contact, respiratory droplets, and also through airborne transmission. A rapid, low-cost, and effective biosensor platform is essential to diagnose patients with COVID-19 infection, predominantly the asymptomatic individuals, and prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 via transmission routes. The objective of this review is to provide a comparative view among current diagnostic methods, focusing on recently suggested biosensors for the detection of SARS-CoV2 in clinical samples. A capable SARS-CoV-2 biosensor can be designed by the holistic insights of various biosensor studies.

Developing oncolytic Herpes simplex virus type 1 through UL39 knockout by CRISPR-Cas9.

OBJECTIVES: Oncolytic Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer therapy. However, development of novel oncolytic mutants has remained a major challenge owing to low efficiency of conventional genome editing methods. Recently, CRISPR-Cas9 has revolutionized genome editing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the capability of CRISPR-Cas9 to manipulate the UL39 gene to create oncolytic HSV-1. Herein, three sgRNAs were designed against the UL39 gene and transfected into HEK-293 cell line followed by infection with HSV-1 KOS. RESULTS: After three rounds of plaque purification, several HSV-1 mutants were identified by PCR analysis and sequencing. One of these mutations in which 55 nucleotides were deleted resulted in a frameshift mutation that in turn produced a truncated protein with only 167 amino acids from 1137 amino acids. Functional analysis in Vero and primary fibroblast cells revealed that viral replication was significantly lower and plaque size was smaller in the HSV-1 mutant compared with HSV-1 KOS. Moreover, the relative amount of viral genome present in the supernatants of infected cells (Vero and primary fibroblast cells) with HSV-1 mutant was significantly decreased compared with those of HSV-1 KOS. CONCLUSION: Our data revealed that targeting UL39 with CRISPR-Cas9 could develop oncolytic HSV-1.

In silico functional and structural characterization of hepatitis B virus PreS/S-gene in Iranian patients infected with chronic hepatitis B virus genotype D.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) virus infection is the most prevalent chronic liver disease and has become a serious threat to human health. In this study, we attempted to specify and predict several properties including physicochemical, mutation sites, B-cell epitopes, phosphorylation sites, N-link, O-link glycosylation sites, and protein structures of S protein isolated from Ahvaz. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Initially, hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV DNA) was extracted from five sera samples of untreated chronic hepatitis B patients. The full-length HBV genomes were amplified and then cloned in pTZ57 R/T vector. The full sequences of HBV were registered in the GenBank with accessions numbers (MK355500), (MK355501) and (MK693107-9). PROTSCALE, Expasy's ProtParam, immuneepitope, ABCpred, BcePred, Bepipred, Algpred, VaxiJen, SCRATCH, DiANNA, plus a number of online analytical processing tools were used to analyse and predict the preS/S gene of genotype D sequences. The present study is the first analytical research on samples obtained from Ahvaz. RESULTS: We found major hydrophilic region (MHR) mutations at "a" determining region that included K122R, N131T, F134Y, P142L, and T126N mutations. Moreover, Ahvaz sequences revealed four sites (4, 112, 166, and 309) in the preS/S gene for N-glycosylation that could possibly be a potential target for anti-HBV therapy. CONCLUSION: In the present study, mutations were identified at positions T113S and N131T within the MHR region of S protein; these mutations can potentially decrease the effect of hepatitis B vaccination in vaccine recipients.