A new molecularly imprinted polymer electrochemical sensor based on CuCo2 O4 /N-doped CNTs/P-doped GO nanocomposite for detection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in serum samples.

25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 as a main circulating metabolite of vitamin D is usually measured in serum to evaluate the vitamin D status of humans. So, developing an accessible, fast response, sensitive, and selective detection method for 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 is highly important. In this study, we designed a sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor based on the modification of glassy carbon electrode by nanocomposite of CuCo2 O4 /nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes and phosphorus-doped graphene oxide. Then 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 -imprinted polypyrrole was coated on the electrode surface through electropolymerization. Moreover, ferricyanide was used as a mediator for the creation of a readable signal, which was considerably decreased after rebinding of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 on the electrode. The proposed sensor successfully detected 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in the range of 0.002-10 µM, with a detection limit of 0.38 nM, which was highly lower than deficiency concentration (20 ng/ml; 49.92 nM). Finally, the proposed sensor was checked for detection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in serum samples with recovery in the range of 80%-106.42%. The results demonstrated the applicability of the designed sensor for the detection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in biological samples.

The impact of education through nurse-led telephone follow-up (telenursing) on the quality of life of COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: The widespread prevalence of COVID-19 has disrupted the social life, physical function, and daily activities of patients, leading to reduced quality of their lives. Because of the nature of this disease and its comprehensive impact on patients' lives, a follow-up based on the conditions of these patients is necessary. This study was conducted to determine the impact of nurse education and telephone follow-up (telenursing) on the quality of life of COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This quasi-experimental study included 120 COVID-19 patients discharged from 22nd-Bahman Hospital in Khaf city and was conducted over 6 months from July 20, 2020, to December 20, 2020. The participants were selected by convenience sampling method and were assigned into two matching groups. The training was delivered through telenursing based on the quality of life criteria for 1 month in the intervention group. The controls did not receive any intervention. Both groups completed the 36-item SF health survey before and 1 month after the intervention. RESULTS: The two groups were not significantly different regarding the quality of life mean scores at baseline (p = 0.61). However, after the intervention, the mean and standard deviation of the total life quality score was significantly different between the control and intervention groups (63.62 ± 3.93 versus 72.62 ± 3.51, p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Telenursing improves the life quality of COVID-19 patients. Through appropriate policies, health managers may put on the agenda the implementation of telenursing for COVID-19 patients.

Implications of CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing Methods in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases.

Today, new methods have been developed to treat or modify the natural course of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including atherosclerosis, by the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) system. Genome-editing tools are CRISPR-related palindromic short iteration systems such as CRISPR-Cas9, a valuable technology for achieving somatic and germinal genomic manipulation in model cells and organisms for various applications, including the creation of deletion alleles. Mutations in genomic deoxyribonucleic acid and new genes' placement have emerged. Based on World Health Organization fact sheets, 17.9 million people die from CVDs each year, an estimated 32% of all deaths worldwide. 85% of all CVD deaths are due to acute coronary events and strokes. This review discusses the applications of CRISPR-Cas9 technology throughout atherosclerotic disease research and the prospects for future in vivo genome editing therapies. We also describe several limitations that must be considered to achieve the full scientific and therapeutic potential of cardiovascular genome editing in the treatment of atherosclerosis.

Non-invasive STEMI-related biomarkers based on meta-analysis and gene prioritization.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Acute ST-Segment Myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a common cardiovascular issue with a considerable burden of the disease. The underlying genetic basis and non-invasive markers were not well-established. METHODS: Here, we implemented a systematic literature review and meta-analyses integration methods on 217 STEMI patients and 72 normal individuals to prioritize and detect the STEMI-related non-invasive markers. Five high-scored genes were experimentally assessed on 10 STEMI patients and 9 healthy controls. Finally, the presence of co-expressed nodes of top-score genes was explored. RESULTS: The differential expression of ARGL, CLEC4E, and EIF3D were significant for Iranian patients. The ROC curve for gene CLEC4E revealed an AUC (95% CI) of 0.786 (0.686-0.886) in the prediction of STEMI. The Cox-PH model was fitted to stratify high/low risk heart failure progression (CI-index = 0.83, Likelihood-Ratio-Test = 3e-10). The SI00AI2 was a common biomarker between STEMI and NSTEMI patients. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the high-scored genes and prognostic model could be applicable for Iranian patients.

Non-coding RNA-based therapeutics in cancer therapy: An emphasis on Wnt/ß-catenin control.

Non-coding RNA transcripts are RNA molecules that have mainly regulatory functions and they do not encode proteins. microRNAs (miRNAs), lncRNAs and circRNAs are major types of this family and these epigenetic factors participate in disease pathogenesis, especially cancer that their abnormal expression may lead to cancer progression. miRNAs and lncRNAs possess a linear structure, whereas circRNAs possess ring structures and high stability. Wnt/ß-catenin is an important factor in cancer with oncogenic function and it can increase growth, invasion and therapy resistance in tumors. Wnt upregulation occurs upon transfer of ß-catenin to nucleus. Interaction of ncRNAs with Wnt/ß-catenin signaling can determine tumorigenesis. Wnt upregulation is observed in cancers and miRNAs are able to bind to 3'-UTR of Wnt to reduce its level. LncRNAs can directly/indirectly regulate Wnt and in indirect manner, lncRNAs sponge miRNAs. CircRNAs are new emerging regulators of Wnt and by its stimulation, they increase tumor progression. CircRNA/miRNA axis can affect Wnt and carcinogenesis. Overall, interaction of ncRNAs with Wnt can determine proliferation rate, migration ability and therapy response of cancers. Furthermore, ncRNA/Wnt/ß-catenin axis can be utilized as biomarker in cancer and for prognostic applications in patients.

mRNA-miRNA bipartite networks reconstruction in different tissues of bladder cancer based on gene co-expression network analysis.

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most important cancers worldwide, and if it is diagnosed early, its progression in humans can be prevented and long-term survival will be achieved accordingly. This study aimed to identify novel micro-RNA (miRNA) and gene-based biomarkers for diagnosing BC. The microarray dataset of BC tissues (GSE13507) listed in the GEO database was analyzed for this purpose. The gene expression data from three BC tissues including 165 primary bladder cancer (PBC), 58 normal looking-bladder mucosae surrounding cancer (NBMSC), and 23 recurrent non-muscle invasive tumor tissues (RNIT) were used to reconstruct gene co-expression networks. After preprocessing and normalization, deferentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained and used to construct the weighted gene co-expression network (WGCNA). Gene co-expression modules and low-preserved modules were extracted among BC tissues using network clustering. Next, the experimentally validated mRNA-miRNA interaction information were used to reconstruct three mRNA-miRNA bipartite networks. Reactome pathway database and Gene ontology (GO) was subsequently performed for the extracted genes of three bipartite networks and miRNAs, respectively. To further analyze the data, ten hub miRNAs (miRNAs with the highest degree) were selected in each bipartite network to reconstruct three bipartite subnetworks. Finally, the obtained biomarkers were comprehensively investigated and discussed in authentic studies. The obtained results from our study indicated a group of genes including PPARD, CST4, CSNK1E, PTPN14, ETV6, and ADRM1 as well as novel miRNAs (e.g., miR-16-5p, miR-335-5p, miR-124-3p, and let-7b-5p) which might be potentially associated with BC and could be a potential biomarker. Afterward, three drug-gene interaction networks were reconstructed to explore candidate drugs for the treatment of BC. The hub miRNAs in the mRNA-miRNA bipartite network played a fundamental role in BC progression; however, these findings need further investigation.

Process and outcome evaluation of directly observed treatment short course (DOTs) in Kerman city, Southeast of Iran.

BACKGROUND: Understanding tuberculosis (TB) treatment programs' process and the outcome is one of the critical strategies to prevent the disease's occurrence and accelerate achieving sustainable development goals to reduce TB cases. The present study aimed to evaluate directly observed treatment short-course (DOTs) for tuberculosis. METHODS: The present cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study extracted information from the tuberculosis surveillance system's recorded data by a researcher-made checklist with questions from patients and health system staff. We analyzed the data by SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The outcome of patients' treatment was 85.39% improved, and the rest were death and failure of treatment and absence from treatment. The mean and standard deviation of the onset of the first symptom and diagnosis and detection of the disease was 117 and 126 days, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the interval between diagnosis and treatment was 5.53 and 8.03 days, respectively. Regarding the treatment length, 95.5% of the cases followed the treatment length, and the rest were not observed. The history of hospitalization was 45.3% among patients, and the rest had no history of hospitalization, and the mean and standard deviation of the day of hospitalization were 6.68 ± 9.50 days. CONCLUSIONS: The existence of an appropriate program for early diagnosis of tuberculosis, observing the length of treatment, training private and public centers to strengthen the care system, and strengthening the DOTs program to control tuberculosis seems to be necessary.

Development of Lateral Flow Assays for Rapid Detection of Troponin I: A Review.

Troponin I as a particular and major biomarker of cardiac failure is released to blood demonstrating hurt of myocardial cells. Unfortunately, troponin I detection in the first hours of acute myocardial infarction usually faces with most negligence. Therefore, developments of point of care devices such as lateral flow strips are highly required for timely diagnosis and prognosis. Lateral flow assays are low-cost paper-based detection platforms relying on specific diagnostic agents such as aptamers and antibodies for a rapid, selective, quantitative and semi-quantitative detection of the analyte in a complex mixture. Moreover, lateral flow assay devices are portable, and their simplicity of use eliminates the need for experts or any complicated equipment to operate and interpret the test results. Additionally, by coupling the lateral flow assay technology with nanotechnology, for labeling and signal amplification, many breakthroughs in the field of diagnostics have been achieved. The present study reviews the use of lateral flow assays in early stage, quantitative, and sensitive detection of cardiac troponin I and mainly focuses on the structure of each type of developed lateral flow assays. Finally, this review summarized the improvements, detection time, and limit of detection of each study as well as the advantages and disadvantages.

Nodes with the highest control power play an important role at the final level of cooperation in directed networks.

Controllability of complex networks aims to seek the lowest number of nodes (the driver nodes) that can control all the nodes by receiving the input signals. The concept of control centrality is used to determine the power of each node to control the network. The more a node controls the nodes through connections in the network, the more it has the power to control. Although the cooperative and free-rider strategies and the final level of cooperation in a population are considered and studied in the public goods game. However, it is yet to determine a solution to indicate the effectiveness of each member in changing the strategies of the other members. In a network, the choice of nodes effective in changing the other nodes' strategies, as free-riders, will lead to lower cooperation and vice versa. This paper uses simulated and real networks to investigate that the nodes with the highest control power are more effective than the hubs, local, and random nodes in changing the strategies of the other nodes and the final level of cooperation. Results indicate that the nodes with the highest control power as free-riders, compared to the other sets being under consideration, can lead to a lower level of cooperation and are, therefore, more effective in changing the strategies of the other nodes. The obtained results can be considered in the treatment of cancer. So that, destroying the tumoral cells with the highest control power should be a priority as these cells have a higher capability to change the strategies of the other cells from cooperators to free-riders (healthy to tumoral).