Prognostic value of red blood cell distribution width and D-Dimer in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The significant role of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and D-Dimer as prognostic factors in patients with some blood malignancies has been reported recently. AIM: We designed and performed a meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic roles of RDW and D-Dimer in subjects with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We systematically reviewed PubMed-Medline, SCOPUS, EMBASE, Web of Science Core Collection, and Google Scholar up to the present to look for publications on prognostic effects of RDW and D-Dimer in DLBCL patients. For investigation of the associations between RDW and D-Dimer with the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of the DLBCL cases, hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was used. RESULTS: We included 13 eligible studies in the present meta-analysis. The results of pooled analysis showed that increased levels of RDW was related to poor OS (HR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.62-2.48, p value <.01, I2 = 0%) and poor PFS (HR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.24-1.85, p value <.01, I2 = 16%) among the DLBCL patients. Similarly, a significant relationship was found between increased D-Dimer and poor OS (HR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.03-5.14, p value <.05, I2 = 95%) of the DLBCL patients as well. In addition, there was no significant heterogeneity in OS (p value H = 0.65) and PFS (p value H = 0.31) related to RDW among studies included in the meta-analysis. CONCLUSION: Our finding clearly confirmed that elevated RDW levels and D-Dimer were associated with adverse OS and PFS in DLBCL.

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) Biochemical Properties, Yield, and Oil Content Affected by 24-Epibrassinosteroid and Genotype under Drought Stress.

The steroid hormones, including brassinosteroids, regulate plant growth under stress. It is hypothesized that 24-epibrassinosteroids (24-EBR) can affect safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) biochemical properties, crop yield, and oil content under drought stress. The objective of our study was to determine the response of three safflower genotypes (Goldasht, Faraman, and Sina) to exogenous 24-EBR (0 and 10-7 M) under drought stress, including 85, 65, and 45% of field capacity in 2015. Stress decreased chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, total chlorophyll, carotenoid, relative water content (RWC), seed yield, and oil percentage. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and proline contents increased in response to either drought stress or 24-EBR. Genotypes behaved significantly different under stress. 24-EBR significantly increased plant chlorophyll contents and oil percentage, and it significantly reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content via increasing the proline and carotenoid contents under stress. 24-EBR can increase safflower oil and seed yield under drought stress.

The Effect of Ferrous Nano-oxide Particles on Physiological Traits and Nutritional Compounds of Soybean ( Glycine max L) Seed

ABSTRACT Soybean (Glycine max L.) seed contains amounts of protein, lipid, carbohydrate and mineral elements, which protein and lipid have been known as a main part for soybean's trade value. In this study, in order to investigate the effect of ferrous nano-oxide particles on nutritional compounds of soybean seed, an experiment with 5 treatments and 3 replications was conducted as a randomized complete block design. Treatments were 5 concentrations of ferrous nano-oxide particles including 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 g L-1 which were sprayed 3 times at 4 and 8 leaves stage and pod initiation. Lipid and protein contents, fatty acids profile, some of mineral elements such as Fe, Mg, Ca and P, chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll content were determined. Results showed that solution containing ferrous nano-oxide particles had significant effect on nutritional compounds of soybean seed (P<0.01) compared to control. The highest content of lipid and protein (25.4 and %33.8, respectively) observed by applying 0.75 g L-1 of ferrous nano-oxide and the lowest content was also in control. Changes in the trends of fatty acids profile (palmitic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids), some of mineral elements (Fe, Mg, Ca and P) and chlorophyll contents were similar to lipid and protein levels which by increasing in concentration of ferrous nano-oxide from 0 to 0.75 g L-1 all measured parameters also increased, but reduction in all parameters was observed in concentration from 0.75 to 1 g L-1. In conclusion, application of 0.75 to 1 g L-1 ferrous nano-oxide had the best effect on the nutrient composition of soybean seed.

Atomistic Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Crude Oil/Brine Displacement in Calcite Mesopores.

Unconventional reservoirs such as hydrocarbon-bearing shale formations and ultratight carbonates generate a large fraction of oil and gas production in North America. The characteristic feature of these reservoirs is their nanoscale porosity that provides significant surface areas between the pore walls and the occupying fluids. To better assess hydrocarbon recovery from these formations, it is crucial to develop an improved insight into the effects of wall-fluid interactions on the interfacial phenomena in these nanoscale confinements. One of the important properties that controls the displacement of fluids inside the pores is the threshold capillary pressure. In this study, we present the results of an integrated series of large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations performed to investigate the effects of wall-fluid interactions on the threshold capillary pressures of oil-water/brine displacements in a calcite nanopore with a square cross section. Fully atomistic models are utilized to represent crude oil, brine, and calcite in order to accommodate electrostatic interactions and H-bonding between the polar molecules and the calcite surface. To this end, we create mixtures of various polar and nonpolar organic molecules to better represent the crude oil. The interfacial tension between oil and water/brine and their contact angle on calcite surface are simulated. We study the effects of oil composition, water salinity, and temperature and pressure conditions on these properties. The threshold capillary pressure values are also obtained from the MD simulations for the calcite nanopore. We then compare the MD results against those generated using the Mayer-Stowe-Princen (MSP) method and explain the differences.