Devil's staircase transition of the electronic structures in CeSb.

Solids with competing interactions often undergo complex phase transitions with a variety of long-periodic modulations. Among such transition, devil's staircase is the most complex phenomenon, and for it, CeSb is the most famous material, where a number of the distinct phases with long-periodic magnetostructures sequentially appear below the Néel temperature. An evolution of the low-energy electronic structure going through the devil's staircase is of special interest, which has, however, been elusive so far despite 40 years of intense research. Here, we use bulk-sensitive angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and reveal the devil's staircase transition of the electronic structures. The magnetic reconstruction dramatically alters the band dispersions at each transition. Moreover, we find that the well-defined band picture largely collapses around the Fermi energy under the long-periodic modulation of the transitional phase, while it recovers at the transition into the lowest-temperature ground state. Our data provide the first direct evidence for a significant reorganization of the electronic structures and spectral functions occurring during the devil's staircase.

The polymorphism of XRCC1 Arg399Gln (rs25487) and male infertility risk: a meta-analysis of 1,407 cases and 974 control studies.

X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) is a scaffold protein and a key element in DNA base excision repair process. Although, the role of XRCC1 polymorphisms in male infertility has been studied broadly, it is still a matter of debate. Hence, in order to shed light on the problem, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the overall effect of XRCC1 polymorphisms in male infertility risk. Databases, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched until September 15, 2018. Afterwards, the genotypes' distribution, genotyping methods, and ethnicity groups were extracted, and overall analyses were conducted. A total number of five researches on 1,407 subjects and 974 controls were found to meet our criteria in this meta-analysis. The XRCC1 Arg399Gln (rs25487) polymorphism was analyzed. This is the first meta-analysis to investigate the association of XRCC1 polymorphisms (codon 399) and male infertility risk. Our results indicated that the XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism was not associated with male infertility risk in the total studied populations (Tab. 2, Fig. 3, Ref. 26). Keywords: meta-analysis; male infertility; polymorphism; XRCC1 Arg399Gln.

Association between interleukin 4 (IL-4) VNTR, gene polymorphism, and breast cancer susceptibility in Iranian population: experimental and web base analysis.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common types of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among women. Epidemiological studies showed that BC is linked to genetic and environmental factors, and inheritance plays a key role in the pathobiology of this disease. Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is a key differentiation cytokine and is produced by Th2 and activates Th2 development. Hence the current study aimed to assess the possible association between interleukin 4 (IL-4) VNTR polymorphism, and BC susceptibility in a sample of Iranian population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: IL-4 VNTR polymorphism was evaluated in 150 women with BC and 150 age-matched healthy women by polymerase chain reaction method. RESULT: Among 3 possible alleles for IL-4 gene, we only observed 2 alleles. Current findings indicate that RP2/RP2 genotypes can be regarded as potent protective factors against breast cancer (OR = 0.929 [95%CI, 0.929-0.995]). CONCLUSION: Our result showed that the RP2/RP2 genotype of the IL-4 VNTR polymorphism could be a protective factor for BC susceptibility (Tab. 2, Fig. 1, Ref. 46).

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii in Small Ruminants in Southwest of Iran.

Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are Apicomplexan intracellular protozoa with global distribution. Small ruminants play an important role as intermediate hosts for N. caninum and T. gondii, parasites of great public health concern. The main goal of the current survey was to evaluate N. caninum and T. gondii infection rate in sheep and goats of Khuzestan Province, southwest of Iran, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In this cross-sectional study during February-April 2016, whole blood samples were taken randomly from 735 animals from 37 herds. The animals were reared under the traditional husbandry system in different parts of the province. Among 550 sheep and 185 goats, 37 (6.8%) sheep and 20 (10.8%) goats were seropositive for N. caninum and 59 (10.8%) sheep and 37 (20%) goats were seropositive for T. gondii. The incidence rates of mixed infection with N. caninum and T. gondii were 3.2% and 5.4% in sheep and goats, respectively. Seroprevalence rate of N. caninum was significantly higher in goats at T. gondii and abortion (18.2%). Also, a significant correlation was detected between seroprevalence of N. caninum and T. gondii and mixed infection in goats with a history of abortion. This is the first report of IgG antibody production against N. caninumand T. gondii co-infection in small ruminants in Iran. Our findings indicated that neosporosis and toxoplasmosis may be responsible for abortion in small ruminants in this region. Therefore, further investigations are needed to improve sanitary strategies in animals’ husbandry and launching control programs.

On the classical vibrational coherence of carbonyl groups in the selectivity filter backbone of the KcsA ion channel.

It has been suggested that quantum coherence in the selectivity filter of ion channel may play a key role in fast conduction and selectivity of ions. However, it has not been clearly elucidated yet why classical coherence is not sufficient for this purpose. In this paper, we investigate the classical vibrational coherence between carbonyl groups oscillations in the selectivity filter of KcsA ion channels based on the data obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that classical coherence plays no effective role in fast ionic conduction.

A prospective research study of anti-glaucoma drugs prescribing, utilization pattern and adverse drug reaction recording in a university hospital.

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to evaluate the drug prescribing, utilization pattern and adverse drug reactions recording associated with drugs prescribed to glaucoma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 50 glaucoma patients were included in the study, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. All the observations were recorded in drug utilization and ADR recording documentation form. RESULTS: Out of 50 patients suffering from glaucoma, 38 patients (76%) were diagnosed open angle glaucoma, 4 patients (8%) closed angle glaucoma and 8 patients (16%) post-operative respectively. There were 19 patients (38%) males and 31 patients (62%) were females. The age range between 41-50 years had the maximum number of patients 15 (30%). A total of 17 patients (34%) had family history of glaucoma. Timolol was prescribed to 34 patients (68%), followed by dorzolamide 18 patients (36%) and acetazolamide 14 patients (28%). A total of 32 patients (64%) were prescribed single drug therapy whereas 18 patients (36%) were on multiple drug therapy. A total of 25 patients (50%) reported ADR. In the present study, latanoprost was associated with maximum number of ADRs 9 patients (18%) followed by acetazolamide 7 patients (14%), dorzolamide 4 patients (8%), then timolol 3 patients (6%) and pilocarpine 2 patients (4%). According to Naranjo scale, in 6 patients (24%) the ADR were unlikely, 12 patients (48%) were given possible score, 3 patients (12%) were given probable score, and 4 patients (16%) were given definite scores. CONCLUSION: In the present study, the maximum patients were in the age group of 41-50 years. The most commonly prescribed drugs were timolol followed by dorzolamide, acetazolamide. Latanoprost was associated with maximum number of ADRs.

[What's new in the treatment of hepatitis B infection?]. / Quoi de neuf pour le traitement de l'hépatite B?

Although the number of available antiviral drugs for hepatitis B infection (VHB) today is higher than ever, treatment of chronic VHB infection is still often managed by specialists because of the complex natural history of this viral infection and of the risk of selecting viral strains that are resistant to therapy. Different clinical and virological aspects need to be considered to establish a correct indication for therapy. Once antiviral therapy has been started, patients need close monitoring to guarantee adequate compliance and to detect promptly the selection of viral variants resisting to therapy.

Hepatitis C virus and glucose and lipid metabolism.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Its spectrum of severity, however, varies widely, as does its rate of progression towards cirrhosis. This depends on several host-related cofactors, such as age, gender, alcohol consumption, over weight and co-infections. The objective of this review is to discuss two of these cofactors: steatosis and insulin resistance. Although both may occur independently of HCV, a direct role of HCV infection in their pathogenesis has been reported. Whereas the virus-induced steatosis does not seem to have major clinical consequences, the so-called 'metabolic' steatosis and underlying insulin resistance may not only modify the clinical and histological course of chronic hepatitis C, but may also influence the response to interferon alpha-based therapy.