The effect of an educational video about healthy diet on metabolic control of patients on hemodialysis: an interventional study with a one-year follow-up.

Background: Adherence to diet is effective for metabolic control in patients on hemodialysis. There are educational pamphlets or booklets to improve patients' knowledge about healthy diets. As video presentation is more desirable than the presentation of readable materials, we designed an educational video on healthy diets in renal failure patients who was played during several sessions of hemodialysis.

Exploring FGFR3 Mutations in the Male Germline: Implications for Clonal Germline Expansions and Paternal Age-Related Dysplasias.

Delayed fatherhood results in a higher risk of inheriting a new germline mutation that might result in a congenital disorder in the offspring. In particular, some FGFR3 mutations increase in frequency with age, but there are still a large number of uncharacterized FGFR3 mutations that could be expanding in the male germline with potentially early- or late-onset effects in the offspring. Here, we used digital polymerase chain reaction to assess the frequency and spatial distribution of 10 different FGFR3 missense substitutions in the sexually mature male germline.

Measurement of FGFR3 signaling at the cell membrane via total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy to compare the activation of FGFR3 mutants.

Fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) initiate signal transduction via the RAS/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway by their tyrosine kinase activation known to determine cell growth, tissue differentiation, and apoptosis. Recently, many missense mutations have been reported for FGFR3, but we only know the functional effect for a handful of them. Some mutations result in aberrant FGFR3 signaling and are associated with various genetic disorders and oncogenic conditions.

Immunomodulatory, Anticancer, and Antimicrobial Effects of Rice Bran Grown in Iraq: An In Vitro and In Vivo Study.

Emerging evidence supports the role of rice bran in cancer prevention. Studies were conducted on multiple rice cultivars. However, limited studies were conducted on rice cultivars in the Middle East.

Combination Anticancer Therapies Using Selected Phytochemicals.

Cancer is still one of the most widespread diseases globally, it is considered a vital health challenge worldwide and one of the main barriers to long life expectancy. Due to the potential toxicity and lack of selectivity of conventional chemotherapeutic agents, discovering alternative treatments is a top priority. Plant-derived natural products have high potential in cancer treatment due to their multiple mechanisms of action, diversity in structure, availability in nature, and relatively low toxicity.

The role of electrolyte imbalances in predicting the severity of COVID-19 in the hospitalized patients: a cross-sectional study.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be fatal in severe cases. Accordingly, predicting the severity and prognosis of the disease is valuable. This study examined the role of electrolyte imbalances in predicting the severity of COVID-19.

Anticancer Effect of Spices Used in Mediterranean Diet: Preventive and Therapeutic Potentials.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with almost 10 million cancer-related deaths worldwide in 2020, so any investigation to prevent or cure this disease is very important. Spices have been studied widely in several countries to treat different diseases. However, studies that summarize the potential anticancer effect of spices used in Mediterranean diet are very limited.

Hematological and histopathological changes of rat's hearts experimentally infected with protoscoleces.

Hydatidosis; is a zoonotic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus and characterized by infiltration of inflammatory cells. This study was investigated the hematological and histopathological changes in the hearts of rats injected with protoscoleces. Rats were injected with protoscoleces collected from either liver of sheep, goats, and cows (from the abattoir of Al-Muthanna province, south of Iraq) or isolated from infected humans from Al-Hussein Teaching Hospital.

Prevalence and seasonal pattern of enteric viruses among hospitalized children with acute gastroenteritis in Samawah, Iraq.

Almost all of the deaths happening under the age of 5 occur in the developed countries of Africa and Asia. This study included children admitted to the surgical care, aged 6 months to 5 years, who suffered from acute gastroenteritis and received treatment at Samawah, Iraq, from December 2018 to December 2019. Test results detected different types of rotaviruses, adenoviruses, astroviruses using ELISA.

Genotypes of ANKK1 and DRD2 genes and risk of metabolic syndrome and its components: A cross-sectional study on Iranian women.

We aimed to investigate the association between polymorphism of DRD2/ANKK1 gene with MetS and its components. Women (n = 531, aged 19-50 years) from the North-west of Iran were included by cluster sampling method. Polymorphisms of ANKK1 and DRD2 genes were defined in the study population.

Optical, third order non-linear optical and electrochemical properties of dipolar, centrosymmetric and C organoimido polyoxometalate derivatives.

A family comprising seven arylimido-polyoxometalate (POM) hybrid chromophores (three of which are new), with linear dipolar, C and linear centrosymmetric geometries have been synthesised and studied by electronic absorption spectroscopy, electrochemistry, Z-scans (two photon absorption, TPA) and computation (DFT/TD-DFT). These reveal that POM acceptor units are an effective basis for TPA materials: the centrosymmetric bis-POM chromophores produce significant cross sections (δ up to 82 GM) from a single aryl bridge, a similar performance to larger dipolar π-systems combining carbazole or diphenylamino donors with the imido-POM acceptor. DFT/TD-DFT calculations indicate strong communication between POM and organic components is responsible for the linear and non-linear optical behaviour of these compounds, while electrochemical measurements reveal class II mixed valence behaviour resulting from an interplay of through-bond and through-space effects.

Diabetes and Cancer: Metabolic Association, Therapeutic Challenges, and the Role of Natural Products.

Cancer is considered the second leading cause of death worldwide and in 2018 it was responsible for approximately 9.6 million deaths. Globally, about one in six deaths are caused by cancer.

Exposure to common pesticides utilized in northern rice fields of Iran affects survival of non-target species, Pelophylax ridibundus (Amphibia: Ranidae).

Amphibians are the most important vulnerable non-target vertebrate group that are affected by pesticides. Most previous studies have confirmed the destructive effects of pesticides. But, so far, no comprehensive studies have been carried out in Iran.

Preconception Alcohol Exposure Increases the Susceptibility to Diabetes in the Offspring.

Heavy alcohol drinking alters glucose metabolism, but the inheritability of this effect of alcohol is not well understood. We used an animal model of preconception alcohol exposure in which adult female rats were given free access to 6.7% alcohol in a liquid diet and water for about 4 weeks, went without alcohol for 3 weeks, and then were bred to generate male and female offspring.

The Impact of Herbal Infusion Consumption on Oxidative Stress and Cancer: The Good, the Bad, the Misunderstood.

The release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress is associated with the development of many ailments, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. The causal link between oxidative stress and cancer is well established and antioxidants are suggested as a protective mechanism against cancer development. Recently, an increase in the consumption of antioxidant supplements was observed globally.

Pathogenic postzygotic mosaicism in the tyrosine receptor kinase pathway: potential unidentified human disease hidden away in a few cells.

Mutations occurring during embryonic development affect only a subset of cells resulting in two or more distinct cell populations that are present at different levels, also known as postzygotic mosaicism (PZM). Although PZM is a common biological phenomenon, it is often overlooked as a source of disease due to the challenges associated with its detection and characterization, especially for very low-frequency variants. Moreover, PZM can cause a different phenotype compared to constitutional mutations.

Immunohistochemical study to detect glucagon and insulin hormones in pancreas of camel and buffalo.

Background And Aim: Glucagon plays a significant role in glucose homeostasis by controlling hepatic glucose output in terms of both hypoglycemic and normoglycemic conditions. This study aimed to determine the amount and intensity of insulin and glucagon in addition to estimating the relationship between α- and β-cells for two animals, camel and buffalo.

Materials And Methods: Twenty fresh pancreas samples were collected from 10 buffalo and 10 camel adults immediately after slaughter from AL-Kut abattoir, Al- Kut, Iraq.

Associations of the ANKK1 and DRD2 gene polymorphisms with overweight, obesity and hedonic hunger among women from the Northwest of Iran.

Background: Pleasure from palatable foods can stimulate hedonic eating and, therefore, might be a major culprit for obesity. Dopamine receptor polymorphisms, especially variants in the genes regulating the D2 receptor, including ANKK1 and DRD2, are the prime candidates for assessing the individual differences in hedonic eating. This study was carried out to investigate the possible associations of the T (rs1800497) and Del (rs1799732) alleles with body mass index (BMI) and hedonic hunger among Iranian Azeri women.

Role of curcumin in regulating p53 in breast cancer: an overview of the mechanism of action.

p53 is a tumor suppressor gene involved in various cellular mechanisms including DNA repair, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest. More than 50% of human cancers have a mutated nonfunctional p53. Breast cancer (BC) is one of the main causes of cancer-related deaths among females.

Ovarian extracellular MicroRNAs as the potential non-invasive biomarkers: An update.

Through the reproductive system, it has been realized that the microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as one of the principal post-transcriptional gene regulators of the diverse developmental processes. The ovary, as a dynamic organ, co-ordinates follicle recruitment, selection, and ovulation, in which miRNAs play the central role almost in its all functions. Deregulation of these developmental procedures in ovary could lead to the ovarian dysfunction, infertility, decrease in the assisted reproductive treatment (ART) outcome, and death in some patients with ovarian cancer.

Fine-tuning polyoxometalate non-linear optical chromophores: a molecular electronic "Goldilocks" effect.

A new aryl-imido polyoxometalate non-linear optical chromophore (POMophore) with a diphenylamino donor group attains the highest β value (196 × 10 esu by Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering, HRS), and best transparency/non-linearity trade off yet for such materials. Stark spectroscopic and DFT investigation of this compound, plus NMe and carbazole analogues, show that its high performance results from a combination of strongly dipolar electronic transitions, and strong electronic communication across the π-system.

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) anesthesia with myrcene: efficacy and physiological responses in comparison with eugenol.

The aim of the present study was to investigate anesthetic efficacy of myrcene in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) along with the fish biochemical response to anesthesia in comparison with eugenol. In the first experiment, 240 fish were stocked in 12 tanks and acclimatized to experimental conditions for 2 weeks. Then, the fish of each tank were subjected to one concentration of either eugenol (12, 20, 30, 50, 80, and 130 μL/L) or myrcene (100, 150, 200, 300, 400, and 500 μL/L) concentrations.