Rapid urbanization, population growth, agricultural practices, and industrial activities have led to widespread groundwater contamination. This study evaluated heavy metal contamination in ...residential drinking water in Shiraz, Iran (2021). The analysis involved 80 groundwater samples collected across wet and dry seasons. Water quality was comprehensively assessed using several indices, including the heavy metals evaluation index (HEI), heavy metal pollution index (HPI), contamination degree (CD), and metal index (MI). Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessments were conducted using deterministic and probabilistic approaches for exposed populations. In the non-carcinogenic risk assessment, the chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard quotient (HQ), and hazard index (HI) are employed. The precision of risk assessment was bolstered through the utilization of Monte Carlo simulation, executed using the R software platform. Based on the results, in both wet and dry seasons, Zinc (Zn) consistently demonstrates the highest mean concentration, followed by Manganese (Mn) and Chromium (Cr). During the wet and dry seasons, 25% and 40% of the regions exhibited high CD, respectively. According to non-carcinogenic risk assessment, Cr presents the highest CDI and HQ in children and adults, followed by Mn, As and HI values, indicating elevated risk for children. The highest carcinogenic risk was for Cr in adults, while the lowest was for Cd in children. The sensitivity analysis found that heavy metal concentration and ingestion rate significantly impact both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks. These findings provide critical insights for shaping policy and allocating resources towards effectively managing heavy metal contamination in residential drinking water.
In this work, Mn
O
/Fe
O
(MFO) was synthesized and used to activate monopersulfate (MPS) for the degradation of ciprofloxacin (CIP). The effect of several parameters was studied on CIP degradation. ...Under the optimum conditions (pH = 6.3 (natural pH), MFO = 300 mg/L and MPS = 2 mM), around 92% of CIP was decomposed. Nitrite, phosphate and bicarbonate ions had a strong inhibitory effect on the MFO/MPS process while the effect of chloride and nitrate ions was neutral. The catalytic activity of MFO was also studied by other chemical oxidants such as peroxydisulfate, periodate, hydrogen peroxide, percarbonate and peracetic acid. Scavenging tests showed that the role of sulfate radicals is more than hydroxyl radicals. MFO exhibited high catalytic activity in four recycling with insignificant leaching of Mn and Fe. During CIP oxidation, 45.5% carbon mineralization occurred and antibacterial activity of treated CIP solution was reduced. Finally, MFO/MPS was applied on actual wastewater (hospital effluent) and the results showed that MFO/MPS can be considered as a practical method for the treatment of contaminated water with emerging pollutants.
Background and aim
Diabetes mellitus has been linked to a lower rate of cancer survival and an increase in the incidence of most malignancies. Investigations showed that diabetes might affect ovarian ...cancer (OC) prognosis and survival. Based on the current information, this study intends to review the risk factors, molecular pathways, and impact of diabetes on OC.
Methods
The data was derived from online databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus. The inclusion criteria were original studies, which included the risk factors, molecular mechanisms, and impact of diabetes on OC. The effect of different antidiabetic drugs was also discussed in this manuscript. All of the clinical, in vivo, and in vitro studies were included in the present study.
Results
The diagnosis of diabetes mellitus negatively affects the survival and prognosis in OC cases. The epidemiologic data shows that the risk of OC increases in patients with diabetes mellitus compared to the healthy population. Insulin-like growth factors family was raised in diabetic patients, which target several mechanisms, including targeting oxidative stress, angiogenesis, and tumor markers. Antidiabetic drugs such as metformin, sitagliptin, and rosiglitazone have a promising effect on elongation of survival and enhancement of prognosis in OC patients.
Conclusions
Diabetes mellitus is a significant risk factor for OC in women, and it negatively impacts survival and prognosis. Molecular mechanisms such as IGF family, oxidative stress, and inflammatory cytokines have been identified to explain this relationship. Antidiabetic drugs like metformin, sitagliptin, and rosiglitazone have shown promise in improving survival and prognosis of OC patients.
Background
COVID-19 was discovered in February in China. Due to the high prevalence of the disease, early detection and rapid isolation of patients are the vital points for controlling the outbreak. ...The purpose of this study was to determine the correct location of chest CT scan in the diagnosis of COVID-19.
Main text
The current study is a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2959 papers were found in all national and international databases. The study has been reported based on the PRISMA checklist. All analyses were done by CMA Ver. 2 software. The statistical analysis results show that the GGO observation level in the available shape was 46% in CT scan results, and the consolidation observation level in the general form was 33% in CT scan results. Pleural effusion was 7%, and linear opacity observation level was 24% in CT scan results in the general form. The CT scan test sensitivity level was gained 94.7%, and PCR test sensitivity level was achieved as 94.8%. This level was 89% in the early stage.
Conclusion
The chest CT has about 24% higher diagnostic sensitivity than the PCR test, in the early stage. GGO revealed a declining process and also indicates that GGO is an early symptom of the disease in CT scan. Linear opacity is the reason behind the initial dyspnea in coronavirus suffering patients referring to the medical centers. The extra-pulmonary lesions increase in the last stage of the disease that makes the patient’s worse.
Background
There are several ways to diagnose coronary artery disease. Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is used for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. One of the practical challenges in ...scan’s interpretation is interfering liver radiotracer uptake with appropriate cardiac visualization. For many years, different approaches were evaluated for conquering this problem. A relatively common method is using fat-containing meals before imaging. Fatty meals may cause some problems for some patients, especially elderly with digestive disorders, as well as an extra cost. We designed a study to compare the efficacy of water and fatty meal as a liver clearing agents to facilitate MPI results interpretation.
Result
Totally, 30 patients (consist of 30 stress phases and 30 rest phases), including 18 women and 12 men, were evaluated. The fatty meal was used before 32 scans and cold water in the other 28 scans. Finally, 40 scans had the suitable quality for reporting by nuclear physicians among 60 scans, which included 20 of 28 scans with water and 20 of 32 scans with a fatty meal.
Conclusions
This comparison showed that scans performed with the water group had similar results with the fatty meal group. Water is better than fatty meals because of its ease of use and lower cost. Therefore, the use of water can be a good alternative for routine use in NM centers.
Aim: Although vermicomposting is rich in nutrients, the virulent microbes and pathogens present in it may be a threat to human health and the environment. Therefore, the objective of this study is to ...investigate the microbial quality of produced vermicompost, including fecal coliform and parasitic eggs, at a pilot scale, and compare it to present standards. Materials and Methods: Three various reactors containing decomposable domestic waste (T1), cow manure (T2), and dewatered sludge (T3) were used to produce vermicompost using Eisenia fetida. According to the standard methods, fecal coliforms, parasitic eggs, and some of the treatment characteristics including organic carbons, nitrogen, temperature, humidity, pH, electrical conductivity and metals were evaluated during the 56-day operation period. Results: According to the results, the number of fecal coliforms in treatments of T1, T2 and T3 reduced from 2.5 × 104, 6 × 105 and 15 × 106 to 1000, 1500 and 1500 MPN/g dw, respectively. All parasite eggs reached zero after the 3rd week. At the end of the study, the average of organic carbon in T1, T2, and T3 were 35.4 ± 6%, 50.7 ± 5%, and 58.4 ± 7%, respectively. This value for total nitrogen were 0.9 ± 0.2%, 1.8 ± 0.7%, and 4.2 ± 1.2%, respectively. Conclusion: Results showed that the worm E. fetida has a great ability to reduce pathogens without the need for an increase in temperature. Furthermore, it can be concluded that vermicompost can improve the quality of compost in 8 weeks. The vermicomposting process can also greatly destroy the fecal coliforms and all parasite eggs.
Ovarian cancer (OC) is a highly fatal gynecologic malignancy, often diagnosed at an advanced stage which presents significant challenges for disease management. The clinical application of ...conventional tissue biopsy methods and serological biomarkers has limitations for the diagnosis and prognosis of OC patients. Liquid biopsy is a novel sampling method that involves analyzing distinctive tumor elements secreted into the peripheral blood. Growing evidence suggests that liquid biopsy methods such as circulating tumor cells, cell-free RNA, circulating tumor DNA, exosomes, and tumor-educated platelets may improve early prognosis and diagnosis of OC, leading to enhanced therapeutic management of the disease. This study reviewed the evidence demonstrating the utility of liquid biopsy components in OC prognosis and diagnosis, and evaluated the current advantages and limitations of these methods. Additionally, the existing obstacles and crucial topics for future studies utilizing liquid biopsy in OC patients were discussed.
Background
There is evidence that low doses or physiological concentrations of certain natural polyphenols enhance the activity of telomerase. However, the precise mechanism by which natural ...polyphenols regulate telomerase activity remains unclear. Recent research indicates that NF-E2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) and silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) are involved in human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) regulation. Thus, in order to better comprehend the mechanism by which polyphenols regulate hTERT, the present study investigated the effects of the natural polyphenols Resveratrol, Gallic acid, and Kuromanin chloride on hTERT, Nrf2, and SIRT1 expression as well as oxidative stress in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma.
Methods
The trypan blue dye exclusion assay was used to assess cell viability. The level of mRNA for hTERT, Nrf2, and SIRT1 was then determined using real-time PCR. A spectrophotometric analysis was conducted to quantify oxidative stress markers.
Results
The results demonstrated that Resveratrol induces the expression of hTERT and the SIRT1/Nrf2 pathway in a dose-dependent manner. Gallic acid at concentrations of 10 and 20 μM also increased the expression of the hTERT and SIRT1/Nrf2 pathway. Furthermore, dose-dependent overexpression of hTERT and Nrf2 was induced by Kuromanin chloride at 10 and 20 µM. Moreover, we found that Resveratrol and Kuromanin chloride ameliorated oxidative stress, whereas Gallic acid exacerbated it.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates that low doses of polyphenols (Resveratrol, Gallic acid, and Kuromanin chloride) upregulate the expression of the hTERT gene in the HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, possibly via induction of the SIRT1/Nrf2 signaling pathway. Therefore, by targeting this pathway or hTERT, the anti-cancer effect of polyphenols can be enhanced.
The present study aimed to investigate the spatial distribution and zoning of nitrate and fluoride concentrations in the drinking water distribution network of Behbahan city and the health risk ...caused by their concentration using sensitivity analysis and the Monte Carlo simulation during 2018 to 2019.In this cross-sectional study, 90 samples were collected from 45 points of the city's drinking water distribution network in the two high-rainy and low-rainy seasons.Nitrate and fluoride concentration was measured byDR 5000 spectrophotometer and its non-carcinogenic impacts were calculated using EDI and HQ.The results showed that the average nitrate concentrations in high and low rainy seasons in the study area were 15.05 and 13.35 mg l
−1
, respectively.Also, the average concentrations of fluoride in high and low-rainy seasons were 0.67 and 0.76 mg L
−1
, respectively.The fluoride concentration in the high-rainy season showed a decreasing trend from north to south.The nitrate concentration decreased from north to south and southwest.The amount of nitrate HQ in the age groups corresponding to children, adolescents, adults and infants were 0.5, 0.4, 0.34, and 0.07, respectively.The fluoride HQ levels in the age groups corresponding to children, adolescents, adults and infants were 0.7, 0.5, 0.05, and 0.1, respectively.These results showed that children were the significant at-risk group due to these ions.According to the Monte Carlo simulator, 95th percentile caused by exposure to nitrate and fluoride ions in all age groups was more than one.Based on the sensitivity analysis, the most efficient factor in the health risk caused by nitrate and fluoride ions was the concentration of these ions in the drinking water distribution network.
•We used in silico studies in order to examine putative ACE2 and main protease inhibitors; a most recent and interesting area of selective ligand binding for ACE2 and main protease inhibition.•An ...attempt has been made for discovery of ACE2 and main protease specific inhibitors through 3D-QSAR pharmacophore modeling, virtual screening, molecular docking, de novo ligand design, molecular dynamics simulation, free energy landscape and QM-MM techniques.•Our data may offer a platform for rational design of specific and potent inhibitor for ACE2 and main protease, with special emphasis on anti-COVID19 properties.
The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and main protease (MPro), are the putative drug candidates for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In this study, we performed 3D-QSAR pharmacophore modeling and screened 1,264,479 ligands gathered from Pubchem and Zinc databases. Following the calculation of the ADMET properties, molecular docking was carried out. Moreover, the de novo ligand design was performed. MD simulation was then applied to survey the behavior of the ligand-protein complexes. Furthermore, MMPBSA has utilized to re-estimate the binding affinities. Then, a free energy landscape was used to find the most stable conformation of the complexes. Finally, the hybrid QM-MM method was carried out for the precise calculation of the energies.
The Hypo1 pharmacophore model was selected as the best model. Our docking results indicate that the compounds ZINC12562757 and 112,260,215 were the best potential inhibitors of the ACE2 and MPro, respectively. Furthermore, the Evo_1 compound enjoys the highest docking energy among the designed de novo ligands. Results of RMSD, RMSF, H-bond, and DSSP analyses have demonstrated that the lead compounds preserve the stability of the complexes’ conformation during the MD simulation. MMPBSA data confirmed the molecular docking results. The results of QM-MM showed that Evo_1 has a stronger potential for specific inhibition of MPro, as compared to the 112,260,215 compound.
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