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Subtle changes in the structure of nanoparticles influence their surface tension and corresponding interaction with cells and proteins. Here, the interaction of the single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) and multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) with different surface tension with tau protein was evaluated using a variety of techniques including far and near circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, Zeta potential, and TEM evaluation. Also the cytotoxicity of SWCNT and MWCNT on the PC12 cell line as a model of nervous system cell line was investigated by the MTT, LDH, acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, flow cytometry, caspase 3 activity, cell and membrane potential assays. It was observed that SWCNT induced more structural changes of tau protein relative to MWCNT/tau protein interaction. It was also revealed that SWCNT and MWCNT impaired the viability and complexity of PC12 cells in different modes of cytotoxicity. Analysis of cellular outcomes indicated that MWCNT in comparison with SWCNT resulted in induction of necrotic modes of cell death, whereas apoptotic modes of cell death were activated in SWCNT-incubated cells. Together these findings suggest that surface tension may be used to determine how nanoparticle structure affects neurotoxicity and protein conformational changes.

There is a pressing need for further studies to categorize and validate circulating microRNAs (miRs) in breast cancer patients that can be one of the novel strategies for cancer screening and monitoring. The present study is aimed to investigate the expression of the circulating candidate microRNAs after the operation, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy in the non-metastatic breast cancer patients. Tumor tissue and plasma samples were collected from the 30 patients with recently diagnosed Luminal A breast cancer. Control plasma samples were collected from the 10 healthy subjects. A panel of four miRs including miR-21, miR-55, miR-10b, and Let-7a were selected and their expression levels were measured before and after the operation, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy by using Real-Time PCR technique. The plasma expression of the miR-21, miR-155, and miR-10b was significantly increased and the Let-7a plasma expression decreased in the breast cancer patients compromised to the control ones. There was a similar expression pattern of the miRs between the tissue and plasma samples. The plasma levels of the miR-21, miR-155, and miR-10b were significantly down-regulated and the Let-7a plasma level was up-regulated after the operation, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy compromised to the pre-treatment. There was a significant difference in the miR-155 plasma level after the operation, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy compromised with each other. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the plasma levels of the miRs after the radiotherapy compromised to the control cases. The operation, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy led to a more reduction in the oncomiRs and an increase in the tumor suppressor-miRs. It seems that monitoring miRs during treatment might be considered as a respectable diagnostic tool for monitoring of breast cancer patients.

Epilepsy, a chronic disease of the central nervous system, is highly prevalent in malaria-endemic regions. Therefore, several studies have evaluated the associations between malaria infection and epilepsy development. A meta-analysis of observational studies published from inception to 10 May 2022 has been conducted to synthesize and pool the existing data on this topic. The relevant publications were systematically searched in PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science database collections. A random-effects meta-analysis model (REM) was utilized to generate the pooled odds ratio (OR) at 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The between-studies heterogeneity was assessed with I2, as well as several subgroups, meta-regression and sensitivity analysis were performed to identify the source of heterogeneity. Overall, 17 eligible studies containing 6285 cases and 13 909 healthy controls were included. The REM showed a significant positive association between malaria infection and epilepsy development (OR 2.36; 95% CI 1.44–3.88). In subgroup analyses, significant positive associations were observed in studies that: epilepsy was the outcome in the follow-up of patients with cerebral malaria (OR 7.10; 95% CI 3.50–14.38); used blood smear to diagnose malaria (OR 4.80; 95% CI 2.36–9.77); included only children (OR 3.92; 95% CI 1.81–8.50); published before 2010 (OR 6.39; 95% CI 4.25–9.62). Our findings indicated that patients with malaria, especially those with cerebral malaria, are at a high risk of epilepsy development; however, further well-designed and controlled studies are needed to verify the strength of the association.

This essay explores the aesthetics of Bertolt Brecht’s compositions of poetry with photography in the so-called photo-epigrams of his 1955 book War Primer. The photo-epigrams have mostly been viewed and appreciated as interventions in photography; but in this essay I aim to show their novelty and efficacy as poetic inventions. To do so, I draw on Karl Marx’s and Walter Benjamin’s views apropos the decline of poetry under modern, industrial capitalism to argue that Brecht, in his photo-epigrams, is responding to—and attempting to counter—a specific problem at the heart of modern poetry: the crisis in perceptibility and accessibility. By coupling poems with photographs—in unique and uniquely politicised ways—Brecht provides a resonant critique of the deadly ideologies of the ruling classes engaged in World War II, as well as a method for addressing the decline in the readability of poetry in the modern era.

Curcumin is a lipophilic molecule with an active ingredient in the herbal remedy and dietary spice turmeric. It is used by different folks for treatment of many diseases. Recent studies have discussed poor bioavailability of curcumin because of poor absorption, rapid metabolism, and rapid systemic elimination. Nanotechnology is an emerging field that is potentially changing the way we can treat diseases through drug delivery with curcumin. The recent investigations established several approaches to improve the bioavailability, to increase the plasma concentration, and to enhance the cellular permeability processes of curcumin. Several types of nanoparticles have been found to be suitable for the encapsulation or loading of curcumin to improve its therapeutic effects in different diseases. Nanoparticles such as liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, micelles, nanogels, niosomes, cyclodextrins, dendrimers, silvers, and solid lipids are emerging as one of the useful alternatives that have been shown to deliver therapeutic concentrations of curcumin. This review shows that curcumin’s therapeutic effects may increase to some extent in the presence of nanotechnology. The presented board of evidence focuses on the valuable special effects of curcumin on different diseases and candidates it for future clinical studies in the realm of these diseases.

In the last decades, environmental crises and increasing energy demand have motivated researchers to investigate the practical techniques for the production of clean fuels through renewable energy resources. It is essential to develop technologies to utilize glycerol as a byproduct derived from biodiesel. Glycerol is known as a sustainable and clean source of energy, which can be an alternative resource for the production of value-added chemicals and hydrogen. The hydrogen production via steam reforming (SR) of glycerol using Ni-based catalysts is one of the promising approaches for the entry of the hydrogen economy. The purpose of this review paper is to highlight the recent trends in hydrogen production over Ni-based catalysts using the SR of glycerol. The intrinsic ability of Ni to disperse easily over variable supports makes it a more viable active phase for the SR catalysts. The optimal reaction conditions have been indicated as 650–900 °C, 1 bar, and 15 wt% Ni in catalysts for high glycerol conversion. In this review paper, the effects of various supports, different promoters (K, Ca, Sr, Ce, La, Cr, Fe), and process conditions on the catalytic performance have been summarized and discussed to provide a better comparison for the future works. It was found that Ce, Mg, and La have a significant effect on catalytic performance as promoters. Moreover, SR of glycerol over hydrotalcite and perovskite-based catalysts have been reviewed as they suggest high catalytic performance in SR of glycerol with improved thermal stability and coke resistance. More specifically, the Ni/LaNi0.9Cu0.1O3 synthesized using perovskite-type supports has shown high glycerol conversion and sufficient hydrogen selectivity at low temperatures. On the other hand, hydrotalcite-like catalysts have shown higher catalytic stability due to high thermal stability and low coke formation. It is vital to notice that the primary concern is developing a high-performance catalyst to utilize crude glycerol efficiently.

In this study, Cu and Co doped Ni/Al 2 O 3 nanocatalyst was synthesized via impregnation and sol–gel methods. The physiochemical properties of nanocatalyst were characterized by XRD, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), particle size distribution, BET, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), TG–DTA and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The samples were employed for CO 2 -reforming of methane in atmospheric pressure, temperature range from 550 to 850 °C, under various mixture of CH 4 /CO 2 and different gas hourly space velocity. XRD patterns besides indicating the decline of the peaks intensity in sol–gel method, proved the potential of this procedure in diminishing the crystal size and preventing the NiAl 2 O 4 spinel formation. Moreover, high surface area might derive of smaller particle size and uniform morphology of sol–gel prepared ones, confirmed by FESEM and BET analysis. TG–DTG analysis as well supported the higher surface area for sol–gel made ones, represented the proper calcination temperature (approximately 600 °C). Also, presence of the active phases and elemental composition of nanocatalysts determine via EDX analysis. Promoting the basicity and the adsorption rate of CO 2 , is attributed to the higher amount of OH groups for sol–gel prepared samples, proved by FTIR. Ni–Co/Al 2 O 3 due to the synergetic effect of sol–gel method and cobalt addition depicted excellent characterization such as higher surface area, smaller particle size, supplying more stable support and enhanced morphology. Therefore, this nanocatalyst represented the best products yield (H 2  = 98.21 and CO = 95.64), H 2 /CO close to unit (0.92–1.05) and stable conversion during 1,440 min stability test. So, Ni–Co/Al 2 O 3 among all of the prepared nanocatalysts demonstrated the best catalytic performance and presented it as a highly efficient catalyst for dry reforming of methane. Despite of the stable yield of Ni–Cu/Al 2 O 3 , it depicted the lower catalytic activity and H 2 /CO ratio than the unprompted nanocatalysts.

Background Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is able to cause infections in immunocompromised patients, and the treatment of this opportunistic pathogen is complicated due to its virulence factors, antibiotic resistance, and the ability of the bacteria to produce biofilm. The main goals of this study were to assess the susceptibility of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) isolates to ethanol and EDTA, and evaluating the synergistic effect of these disinfectants, and also survey the effect of exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of ethanol and EDTA on the expression of biofilm-producing smf-1 , rpfF genes. Results The results showed that EDTA significantly increased the effectiveness of the ethanol and have a synergistic effect. All of the 10 XDR isolates included in the current study harbored smf-1 and rpfF genes and produced biofilm. After exposure to MIC, sub-MIC, synergism, and sub-synergism of ethanol and EDTA, the expression of smf-1 and rpfF genes was repressed significantly. Conclusion In the current study, it was indicated that the expression of biofilm-producing genes was repressed when bacteria are exposed to different concentrations of ethanol and EDTA. Future studies should include more complex microbial communities residing in the hospitals, and more disinfectants use in hospitals. Expression of other virulence genes in different conditions is suggested.

Assessing employee performance is one of the most important issue in healthcare management services. Because of their direct relationship with patients, nurses are also the most influential hospital staff who play a vital role in providing healthcare services. In this paper, a novel Data Envelopment Analysis Matrix (DEAM) approach is proposed for assessing the performance of nurses based on relative efficiency. The proposed model consists of five input variables (including type of employment, work experience, training hours, working hours and overtime hours) and eight output variables (the outputs are amount of hours each nurse spend on each of the eight activities including documentation, medical instructions, wound care and patient drainage, laboratory sampling, assessment and control care, follow-up and counseling and para-clinical measures, attendance during visiting and discharge suction) have been tested on 30 nurses from the heart department of a hospital in Iran. After determining the relative efficiency of each nurse based on the DEA model, the nurses’ performance were evaluated in a DEAM format. As results the nurses were divided into four groups; superstars, potential stars, those who are needed to be trained effectively and question marks. Finally, based on the proposed approach, we have drawn some recommendations to policy makers in order to improve and maintain the performance of each of these groups. The proposed approach provides a practical framework for hospital managers so that they can assess the relative efficiency of nurses, plan and take steps to improve the quality of healthcare delivery.

There is arguing evidence regarding the association between maternal infections during pregnancy and the risk of intellectual disability (ID) in children. This systematic review and meta-analysis are essential to determine and address inconsistent findings between maternal infections during pregnancy and the risk of ID in children. The MOOSE and PRISMA guidelines were followed to perform and report on this study. The Medline/PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched from inception up to March 15, 2023, to identify potentially eligible studies. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, as well as the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the methodological quality of studies included. The included studies were divided into two types based on the participants: (1) ID-based studies, which involved children with ID as cases and healthy children as controls and evaluated maternal infection in these participants; (2) infection-based studies, which assessed the prevalence or incidence of ID in the follow-up of children with or without exposure to maternal infection. We used Random-effects models (REM) to estimate the overall pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The between-studies heterogeneity was assessed with the X.sup.2 -based Q-test and I.sup.2 statistic. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were applied to explore the source of heterogeneity and results consistency. A total of eight studies including 1,375,662 participants (60,479 cases and 1,315,183 controls) met the eligibility criteria. The REM found that maternal infection significantly increased the risk of ID in children (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.21-1.46; I.sup.2 = 64.6). Subgroup analysis showed a significant association for both infection-based (OR, 1.27; 95%CI, 1.15-1.40; I.sup.2 = 51.2) and ID-based (OR, 1.44; 95%CI, 1.19-1.74; I.sup.2 = 77.1) studies. Furthermore, subgroup analysis based on diagnostic criteria revealed a significant association when maternal infection or ID were diagnosed using ICD codes (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.20-1.48; I.sup.2 = 75.8). Our study suggests that maternal infection during pregnancy could be associated with an increased risk of ID in children. This finding is consistent across different types of studies and diagnostic criteria. However, due to the heterogeneity and limitations of the included studies, we recommend further longitudinal studies to confirm the causal relationship and the underlying mechanisms.