Cross-sectional analysis of potential risk factors of the pineal gland calcification.

The Pineal gland (PG) is the site of production of melatonin as an important central hormone in the body. It is not known yet whether PG calcification (PGC) is an age-associated physiological process or a pathologic condition caused by lifestyle-factors and metabolic-dysregulations.Here, we performed a cross-sectional analysis on 586 patients referred to have Computed Tomographic (CT) scans (above 15 years old), in the Ali Ebne Abi Taleb hospital radiology center in 2017-2018. Based on the CT-scans of the brain, the presence of PGC was recorded and a score of scale 0 to 6 (PGC_score) was calculated for its intensity based on the volume and the Hounsfield units of the calcified pineal. Logistic and ordered logistic regression tests were employed to determine potential risk factor of PGC and higher PGC_score, respectively, testing the factors age, sex, history of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, smoking and opioid use. We found male sex (OR: 2.30 (95% CI:1.39-3.82) and smoking cigarettes (OR: 4.47 (95% CI:1.01-19.78)) as the main potential risk factors for the pineal gland calcification. For PGC_score, we found age to be dose-dependently associated with PGC_score only in patients aged below 63 (p-trend < 0.001). Stratifying for age, in patients < 63 years old, we found age, male sex (positive association) and dyslipidemia (negative association) as the main significantly associated factors of PGC_score. On the contrary, in patients aged > = 63, cigarette smoking was the only significantly associated factor of higher PGC_score.In conclusion, our results indicate that at ages below 63, age, male sex and blood lipid are the main associated factors of higher PGC, but at ages above that, the lifestyle factor smoking is significantly associated with higher pineal gland calcification.

The profile of Rafsanjan Cohort Study.

Owning the largest human-made jungle of pistachio, the second largest copper mine, and being located on the trade route of opium transit, distinguish Rafsanjan from many other cities in Iran. The environmental exposures and lifestyle factors associated with these characteristics of Rafsanjan, have raised concern about possible health outcomes for individuals living in and around this city. Thus, local health authorities initiated the Rafsanjan Cohort Study (RCS), as part of the prospective epidemiological research studies in IrAN (PERSIAN). RCS is a population-based prospective cohort of men and women aged 35-70 years, launched in August 2015. Individuals from diverse socioeconomic levels and lifestyles were recruited from four urban and suburban areas of Rafsanjan (participation rate 67.42%). Questionnaire-based interviews regarding demographics, dietary and environmental exposures, medical and occupational history, as well as anthropometric measurements were completed for all participants. Additionally, bio-specimens (blood, urine, hair, and nail) were collected, and dental and eye examinations were performed. The enrollment phase ended in December 2017, and a 15-year follow-up is planned. A total of 9990 individuals were enrolled in RCS (53.41% females). About 26% of men are pistachio farmers. The baseline prevalence of major non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and opium use were 25.45%, 10.02%, and 23.81%, respectively. The mean ± SD of other common risk factors are as follows: body mass index (27.83 ± 4.89 mm Hg), systolic blood pressure (107.18 ± 17.56 mm Hg) diastolic blood pressure (71.13 ± 10.83), fasting blood sugar (113.27 ± 39.11 mg/dL) and plasma cholesterol (198.78 ± 41.89 mg/dL). These results indicate a concerning prevalence of NCD risk factors in Rafsanjan city, warranting further detailed investigations, particularly regarding the association of NDC with agricultural/industrial pollutants and drug abuse.

Successful treatment of aluminium phosphide poisoning by dihydroxyacetone: A two-case report study.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Aluminium phosphide (AlP) is an agricultural fumigant which produces phosphine gas in the presence of moisture. Phosphine inhibits oxidative phosphorylation and causes cell death by inhibiting cytochrome C oxidase. Clinical manifestations of AlP poisoning are refractory hypotension, tachycardia, low oxygen saturation and severe metabolic acidosis. CASE SUMMARY: Two cases received dihydroxyacetone (DHA) in addition to routine management of AlP poisoning. Administration of DHA (7 gr in 50 mL sodium bicarbonate, gavage) 2 times at a 1-hour interval improved the clinical signs. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: This is the first case report to highlight the safe and successful treatment of AlP poisoning with DHA. However, more clinical studies are recommended to determine the precise mechanism of DHA action.

Unraveling salinity stress responses in ancestral and neglected wheat species at early growth stage: A baseline for utilization in future wheat improvement programs.

In this study, we analyzed the behavior of several neglected, ancestral, and domesticated wheat genotypes, including Ae. triuncialis, Ae. neglecta, Ae. caudata, Ae. umbellulata, Ae. tauschii, Ae. speltoides, T. boeoticum, T. urartu, T. durum, and T. aestivum under control and salinity stress to assess the mechanisms involved in salinity tolerance. Physiological and biochemical traits including root/shoot biomasses, root/shoot ion concentrations, activity of antioxidant enzymes APX, SOD, and GXP, and the relative expression of TaHKT1;5, TaSOS1, APX, GXP, and MnSOD genes were measured. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant effects of the salinity treatments and genotypes for all evaluated traits. Salinity stress (350 mM NaCl) significantly decreased root/shoot biomasses, K+ concentration in root/shoot, and root/shoot K+/Na+ ratios. In contrast, salinity stress significantly increased Na+ concentration in root and shoot, activity of antioxidant enzymes (APX, SOD, and GPX) and relative expression of salt tolerance-related genes (TaHKT1;5, TaSOS1, APX, GPX, and MnSOD). Based on heat map and principal component analysis, the relationships among physiological traits and relative expression of salt-responsive genes were investigated. Remarkably, we observed a significant association between the relative expression of TaHKT1;5 with root K+ concentration and K+/Na+ ratio and with TaSOS1. Taken together, our study revealed that two neglected (Ae. triuncialis) and ancestral (Ae. tauschii) wheat genotypes responded better to salinity stress than other genotypes. Further molecular tasks are therefore essential to specify the pathways linked with salinity tolerance in these genotypes.

Socioeconomic gradient in physical activity: findings from the PERSIAN cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The level of socioeconomic-related inequality in physical activity in Iran is largely unknown. This study investigates socioeconomic-related inequality in poor-physical activity (PPA) among Iranian adults. METHODS: A total of 129,257 adult participants enrolled in the PERSIAN (Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies in IrAN) Cohort were included in this study. Physical activity of adults was measured using metabolic equivalent rates (METs). Physical activity less than 41 METs/hour/day was considered PPA. The Concentration index (C) was used to quantify socioeconomic-related inequality in PPA. Moreover, the C was decomposed to identify the relative contribution of explanatory variables to inequality in PPA. RESULTS: There were significant regional variations in physical activity level among Iranian adults (29.8-76.5%). The positive value of C (0.098, 95% CI = 0.092 to 0.104) suggested that the higher concentration of PPA among higher socioeconomic status (SES) adults in Iran which was consistently observed in all cohort sites. CONCLUSIONS: The higher prevalence of PPA among Iranian adults, especially, women and older adults, warrant further public health attention. Since PPA is concentrated more among the high-SES population in Iran, strategies for the promotion of physical activity should focus more on economically well-off population.

AmiR-P3: An AI-based microRNA prediction pipeline in plants.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that play important post-transcriptional regulatory roles in animals and plants. Despite the importance of plant miRNAs, the inherent complexity of miRNA biogenesis in plants hampers the application of standard miRNA prediction tools, which are often optimized for animal sequences. Therefore, computational approaches to predict putative miRNAs (merely) from genomic sequences, regardless of their expression levels or tissue specificity, are of great interest. RESULTS: Here, we present AmiR-P3, a novel ab initio plant miRNA prediction pipeline that leverages the strengths of various utilities for its key computational steps. Users can readily adjust the prediction criteria based on the state-of-the-art biological knowledge of plant miRNA properties. The pipeline starts with finding the potential homologs of the known plant miRNAs in the input sequence(s) and ensures that they do not overlap with protein-coding regions. Then, by computing the secondary structure of the presumed RNA sequence based on the minimum free energy, a deep learning classification model is employed to predict potential pre-miRNA structures. Finally, a set of criteria is used to select the most likely miRNAs from the set of predicted miRNAs. We show that our method yields acceptable predictions in a variety of plant species. CONCLUSION: AmiR-P3 does not (necessarily) require sequencing reads and/or assembled reference genomes, enabling it to identify conserved and novel putative miRNAs from any genomic or transcriptomic sequence. Therefore, AmiR-P3 is suitable for miRNA prediction even in less-studied plants, as it does not require any prior knowledge of the miRNA repertoire of the organism. AmiR-P3 is provided as a docker container, which is a portable and self-contained software package that can be readily installed and run on any platform and is freely available for non-commercial use from: https://hub.docker.com/r/micrornaproject/amir-p3.

The profile of Oral Health Branch of Rafsanjan Cohort Study (OHBRCS) in Rafsanjan City, southeast of Iran.

Oral health status can be affected by some factors including drug abuse, systemic conditions and environmental pollutants. The present study was designed to investigate the most important and prevalent dental and oral conditions in adult population of Rafsanjan with the age of 35-70 years. Dental and oral health cohort center as part of the Rafsanjan Cohort Study (RCS) included in the prospective epidemiological research studies in IrAN was established in 2015. Of 9991 subjects enrolled in the RCS, 8682 people participated in the Oral Health Branch of Rafsanjan Cohort Study (OHBRCS). The OHBRCS included 4021 men and 4661 women with the mean age of 49.94 ± 9.51. The most prevalent of oral lesion in total population was candidiasis and the least was aphthous lesion. The prevalence of candidiasis, white and red lesions, periodontal pocket, dental calculus, CAL and the mean of DMFT were higher in the male group than that of female group (p < 0.05). Candidiasis, herpes, oral cancer, white and red lesions were more prevalent in the older age groups (p < 0.05). The mean of DMFT index in total population was 21.30 and was higher among opium users, men and older age (p < 0.05). Also, the opium users had a higher rate of CAL, periodontal pocket, red and white lesions, and candidiasis but a lower rate of BOP (p < 0.05). Younger people had more decayed and filling teeth compared to other age groups, whereas older people had more missing teeth and a higher DMFT index (p < 0.001).

Perception of Biocontrol Potential of Bacillus inaquosorum KR2-7 against Tomato Fusarium Wilt through Merging Genome Mining with Chemical Analysis.

Tomato Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (Fol), is a destructive disease that threatens the agricultural production of tomatoes. In the present study, the biocontrol potential of strain KR2-7 against Fol was investigated through integrated genome mining and chemical analysis. Strain KR2-7 was identified as B. inaquosorum based on phylogenetic analysis. Through the genome mining of strain KR2-7, we identified nine antifungal and antibacterial compound biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) including fengycin, surfactin and Bacillomycin F, bacillaene, macrolactin, sporulation killing factor (skf), subtilosin A, bacilysin, and bacillibactin. The corresponding compounds were confirmed through MALDI-TOF-MS chemical analysis. The gene/gene clusters involved in plant colonization, plant growth promotion, and induced systemic resistance were also identified in the KR2-7 genome, and their related secondary metabolites were detected. In light of these results, the biocontrol potential of strain KR2-7 against tomato Fusarium wilt was identified. This study highlights the potential to use strain KR2-7 as a plant-growth promotion agent.

Evaluation of chest CT scan finding in the patients with acute respiratory symptoms following positive results of RT-PCR-COVID19.

BACKGROUND: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a standard technique for diagnosing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The parameters for the diagnosis of COVID-19 included the history of exposure to positive COVID-19 patients, clinical signs and symptoms related to the disease, inflammation factors in the blood test or positive antigen-antibody test, and chest computed tomography (CT) findings. The current study evaluated the chest CT scan findings in patients with respiratory problems following positive RT-PCR of COVID 19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 120 patients referred to Ali Ibn-Abi Talib Hospital in Rafsanjan, Kerman Province, Iran, with respiratory symptoms between Dec-2019 to Dec-2020. Two radiologists reviewed the chest CT scans of these patients using the checklist that included parameters such as the types of involvement (consolidation/grand-glass/crazy paving, etc.) and the patterns of involvement (central/peripheral), and the pleural findings. RESULTS: The CT scan was conducted in 107 patients with a typical condition and 11 patients with an atypical form of the disease. The frequency of the typical CT image of COVID-19 in the male group was significantly higher than that in the female group (P=0.004). The frequency of reverse halo sign, septal thickening, cardiomegaly, and crazy paving was significantly higher in males than in females (P≤0.05). Also, there was a significant difference between age groups based on the number of involved lobes (P=0.04). CONCLUSION: Chest CT scan is an important diagnostic method for COVID 19 with high sensitivity. The parameters in the CT scan are beneficial for the diagnosis of COVID 19. In addition, some characters in CT scans in the male gender are more specific.

Fournier's gangrene after missed acute perforated appendicitis: A case report.

Fournier's gangrene (FG) is a rare progressive necrotizing fasciitis (NF) with high mortality rate. This case report describes a young patient with FG with no known history of disease or invasive therapeutic interventions.

Evaluating Pancreatic index in Patients with and without Metabolic Syndrome.

BACKGROUND Metabolic syndrome can be considered as a combination of metabolic disorders that may led to an increased risk of some diseases such type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, myocardial infarction, and is the cause of mortality from coronary artery disease. Its prevalence is particularly high in women. There is evidence that pancreatic fat, as a key factor in non-alcoholic fatty liver and metabolic syndrome, numerates as an early indicator of abnormal fat deposition. METHODS In this study, we enrolled 262 patients, who were admitted to Ali Ibn Abi Talib Hospital in Rafsanjan city, using the non-random-sequential method. Data collection tools were a questionnaire containing demographic characteristics (age, sex, history of diseases, etc.) and a checklist including MetS (based on NCEP/ATP III criteria and Diabetes Committee), pancreatic density (P), and spleen (S) and pancreatic index (P/S). One-way ANOVA and Post-Hoc and Chi-square tests were used for statically analyses. RESULTS The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 34.8%, index of pancreas in the group without and with metabolic syndrome were 0.85 ± 0.11 and 0.74 ± 0.29 Hounsfield Units, respectively. CONCLUSION Compared with the group with at least one criterion and the group with the complete criteria (p = 0.013), pancreas index was higher in the group without metabolic syndrome.

Peripheral eosinophil count and allergy in patients with coronary artery disease.

AIM: to investigate the relationship between peripheral blood eosinophil count and history of allergy with CAD. METHODS: in a case-control study in Ali-ebn-Abitaleb Educational Hospital of Rafsanjan, Iran, 190 individuals(95 with CAD and 95 without CAD) with mean age of 59.4 +/- 12.6 were investigated. Eosinophil count in peripheral blood, eosinophil leukocyte ratio, neutrophil count and neutrophil/leukocyte ratio were measured. A history of allergy was taken from the participants. RESULTS: there were no significant differences in sex and age among two groups. The mean leukocyte count was 8802.6 +/- 253.3 and 3813.7 +/- 351.9 for case and control groups,respectively; that is, a statistically significant difference,(p<0.05). Eosinophil percent was 1.43% and 0.88% in case and control groups, respectively and this parameter was also significantly higher in case group. History of allergy was not different between the 2 groups. Elevated numbers of eosinophils were observed in Iranian patients with CAD. CONCLUSION: the present results support the theory that eosinophils may have a role in the pathogenesis of ischemic heart disease.

Opium can differently alter blood glucose, sodium and potassium in male and female rats.

To determine the effects of opium on serum glucose, potassium and sodium in male and female Wistar rat, opium solution (60 mg/kg) injected intraperitoneally and the same volume of distilled water was used as control (7 rats in each group). Blood samples were collected at 0, 30, 60, 120, 240 and 360 minutes after injection from orbit cavity and the values of serum glucose, sodium (Na(+)) and potassium (K(+)) were measured. The data were then analyzed by the repeated measure ANOVA based on sex and case-control group. P < 0.05 considered as significant difference. Serum glucose increased significantly at 30, 60, 120 and 240 minutes after opium solution injection, in female rats compared to a control group. However, the male rats had this rise at 30, 60 and 120 minutes after opium solution injection compared to control group. While serum glucose in male rats was significantly higher than females at 30, 60 and 120 minutes, this value was higher in the female rats at 360 minutes. Therefore, serum glucose alterations following opium injection was significantly different in groups and in the sexes at different times. Sodium (Na(+)) rose at 60, 240 and 360 minutes significantly in all rats compared to control group. However, sodium alteration following opium injection was significantly different only between treated and control groups but sex-independent at all times. Potassium (K(+)) increased significantly at 60, 120, 240 and 360 minutes in male rats, compared to a control group. In female rats K(+) significantly raised at 30, 120, 240 and 360 minutes. Therefore, the alteration of K(+) in male and female rats was found time dependent and sex independent. According to our results, opium increased serum glucose in male and female rats differently, and it interferes with metabolic pathways differently on a gender dependent basis. Opium raised serum Na(+) and K(+), thus it interfere with water regulation and blood pressure via different mechanism.

Dihydroxyacetone as a definitive treatment for aluminium phosphide poisoning in rats.

Aluminium phosphide (AlP), a very toxic pesticide also known as the rice tablet, releases phosphine gas upon contact with water, moisture, or gastric acid. Its mortality rate in humans is 70-100 % due to cardiogenic shock and refractory hypotension. Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) is a simple ketonic carbohydrate, mainly used for sunless skin tanning. It also plays a beneficial role in the treatment of hypotension and cardiogenic shock by restoring blood volume and cellular respiration. The aim of this study was to investigate the its effect on the haemodynamics and electrocardiogram (ECG) in male rats poisoned with AlP. The animals were divided into the following groups: control (received 1 mL corn oil, orally), AlP (received 15 mg kg-1 AlP solved in corn oil, orally), AlP plus DHA (treated with 50 mg kg-1 of DHA 30 min after receiving AlP), and AlP plus N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) (treated with 200 mg kg-1 of NAC 30 min after receiving AlP). The animals were then anaesthetised and ECG, blood pressure, and heart rate were recorded for 120 min. Treatment with AlP alone and in combination with NAC was associated with progressive hypotension, tachycardia, and ECG disturbances in rats, resulting in 100 % mortality 3 h after poisoning. However, DHA achieved 100 % survival in the poisoned rats and prevented AlP-induced ECG and haemodynamic abnormalities. The main mechanism of DHA in the treatment of AlP poisoning is unclear, but the findings suggest the promising therapeutic potential of DHA against AlP poisoning.

Computational approaches to design a molecular imprinted polymer for high selective extraction of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine from plasma.

In this work, a molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) as a novel selective sorbent for extraction of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) from plasma samples was prepared. For selecting a more suitable monomer and polymerization solvent a methodology based on density functional theory calculations was developed. This computational design is based on the comparison of stabilization energies of the prepolymerization adducts between the template and different functional monomers. The effect of polymerization solvent was studied using of polarizable continuum model (PCM). The computational results revealed that the best suitable monomer and polymerization solvent for preparation of MIP is methacrylic acid (MAA) and chloroform, respectively. Also, another MIP with methacrylic acid (MAA) as monomer in acetonitrile was prepared to evaluate the validity of polarizable continuum model for selection of polymerization solvent. The performance of each polymer was evaluated by using Langmuir-Freundlich (LF) isotherm. As it is expected, the best results were obtained for the MIP which was prepared in chloroform. This MIP was used as a selective sorbent in solid-phase extraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector (MISPE-HPLC-UV) for rapid screening of MDMA in human plasma. For the proposed MISPE-HPLC-UV method, the linearity between responses (peak areas) and concentrations was found over the range of 3.6-11500 ng mL(-1) with a linear regression coefficient of 0.998. The limit of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) in plasma were 1.0 and 3.3 ng mL(-1), respectively. The %RSD (n=5) data for five plasma samples containing 15, 25, 50, and 100 ng mL(-1) of MDMA were 1.02, 1.12, 2.05, 2.54, respectively.