Relief Supply Chain Management Using Internet of Things to Address COVID-19 Outbreak.

Nowadays, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the most significant factor to be considered all over the world is to manage this pandemic and especially to address positive cases, efficiently and effectively. This can be achieved by simultaneously utilizing the present network with supply chain settings and also the Internet of Things (IoT). This consideration enables the accurate monitoring of suspected cases in real-time to optimize total service time. Hence, this paper firstly designs two sub-models to minimize distance and traffic while minimizing total response time. Our main contribution in this paper is to develop a dynamic scheme using IoT to deal with suspected cases. We also investigate the proposed methodology on a real case problem in Canada. A comprehensive analysis of the proposed methodology behavior has been conducted and the results showed the managerial decision-making process to address COVID-19 patients. The proposed approach establishes efficient strategies to identify suspicious COVID-19 cases and provide them with medical observance in a short time when utilized with IoT. The obtained results of the considered scenarios show 12% up to 15% improvement in the ambulance response time when using IoT.

Significance of ST-Segment elevation in V4R lead in patients with anterior myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND: There is some evidence of the association between ST-segment elevation in the V4R chest lead and the likelihood of anterior wall myocardial infarction; however, the link of this phenomenon with the location and the severity of the coronary involvements in such patients remains uncertain. We aimed to investigate the ST-segment elevation in V4R leads in patients with anterior myocardial infarction and also its effect on prognosis as well as the detection and prediction of the location of arterial stenosis in coronary angiography. METHODS: Data collection was performed by reviewing the hospital recorded files of 195 patients' suspicion of acute myocardial infarction who have been referred within 2 h of the onset of cardiac symptoms. The patients were then categorized into two groups with and without ST elevation in the V4R chest lead. RESULTS: Comparing two groups showed a significantly higher rate of concurrent ST-segment elevation in V1 lead in those with ST-segment elevation in V4R. Echocardiography on the day after anterior myocardial infarction showed LVEF <40% in 74% and 35.2% of patients with and without ST-segment elevation in V4R, respectively, indicating a significant difference. The lesions on proximal LAD were more common in the group with ST-segment elevation in V4R. CONCLUSION: Our study emphasized a high likelihood of ST-segment elevation in V4R lead concurrently with ST-elevation in V1 lead. Also, the appearance of ST-segment elevation in V4R lead can be accompanied with a lower LVEF, myocardial infarct size, involvement of proximal part of LAD, and Wrap around LAD.

Utilizing IoT to design a relief supply chain network for the SARS-COV-2 pandemic.

The current universally challenging SARS-COV-2 pandemic has transcended all the social, logical, economic, and mortal boundaries regarding global operations. Although myriad global societies tried to address this issue, most of the employed efforts seem superficial and failed to deal with the problem, especially in the healthcare sector. On the other hand, the Internet of Things (IoT) has enabled healthcare system for both better understanding of the patient's condition and appropriate monitoring in a remote fashion. However, there has always been a gap for utilizing this approach on the healthcare system especially in agitated condition of the pandemics. Therefore, in this study, we develop two innovative approaches to design a relief supply chain network is by using IoT to address multiple suspected cases during a pandemic like the SARS-COV-2 outbreak. The first approach (prioritizing approach) minimizes the maximum ambulances response time, while the second approach (allocating approach) minimizes the total critical response time. Each approach is validated and investigated utilizing several test problems and a real case in Iran as well. A set of efficient meta-heuristics and hybrid ones is developed to optimize the proposed models. The proposed approaches have shown their versatility in various harsh SARS-COV-2 pandemic situations being dealt with by managers. Finally, we compare the two proposed approaches in terms of response time and route optimization using a real case study in Iran. Implementing the proposed IoT-based methodology in three consecutive weeks, the results showed 35.54% decrease in the number of confirmed cases.

Effects of exercise training together with tamoxifen in reducing mammary tumor burden in mice: Possible underlying pathway of miR-21.

Exercise training has an anti-tumor effect and can reduce tumor growth; however, the exact underlying mechanisms of its protective effects are still obscure. MicroRNA (miR)-21 is a predictor in cancer survival, and has a potential use as an indicator of therapeutic outcome in breast malignancies. Forty-eight female BALB/c mice were equally divided into six groups to investigate the effects of interval exercise training with tamoxifen on miR-21 expression and its possible assumed mechanisms in an estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer model. ELISA, immunohistochemistry, western blot, qRT-PCR assays were performed at the end of the study. Tumor size was significantly declined in exercise training and tamoxifen groups compared to tumor group (P<0.05). Expression of miR-21 was significantly down-regulated in trained and tamoxifen treated mice in comparison with tumor group (P<0.05). Exercise training was as effective as tamoxifen treatment in decreasing serum estradiol and ER-α expression (P<0.05). Exercise training and tamoxifen reduced tumor IL-6 levels, NF-kB and STAT3 expressions, and up-regulated TPM1 and PDCD4 expressions (P<0.05). Both exercise and tamoxifen had synergistic effects in reducing miR-21 and Bcl-2, and up-regulating PDCD4 expression. Results showed that interval exercise training may reduce mammary tumor burden in mice through possible underlying pathway of miR-21.

Overproduction of valuable methoxylated flavones in induced tetraploid plants of Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss.

BACKGROUND: Ploidy manipulation is considered an efficient method to increase production potential of medicinally important compounds. Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss. is an endangered medicinal plant of Iran. Various concentrations of colchicine (0.05, 0.10, 0.20, and 0.50% w/v) were applied to shoot apical meristems of D. kotschyi seedlings in two and four-leaf stages to induce tetraploidy. RESULTS: According to the results, 0.5% (w/v) of colchicine can be effective for polyploidy induction in D. kotschyi. Putative tetraploids were selected by morphological and microscopic characteristics and their ploidy level was confirmed by flow cytometry analysis and chromosome counting. The chromosome number of original diploid plant was confirmed to be 2n = 2× = 20 whereas that of the tetraploid plant was 2n = 4× = 40. Tetraploid and mixoploid plants showed different morphological, physiological and microscopic characteristics from those of diploid counterparts. The total content of flavonoids was increased from 1583.28 in diploids to 1890.07 (µg/g DW) in stable tetraploids. CONCLUSION: High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Diode-Array Detection (HPLC-DAD) confirmed over accumulation of methoxylated hydroxyflavones in solid tetraploid plants of D. kotschyi.