Aims- Echocardiography-derived strain rate and strain may provide new insights into right ventricular (RV) function in repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) patients in whom evaluation of RV function and functional capacity has an important role in further management.Methods & Results- In 45 rTOF patients with severe pulmonary regurgitation, the routine echocardiography-derived indices for evaluation of RV function (TAPSE, RVOT Excursion and eyeball method) and longitudinal strain rate and strain were acquired from basal, mid and apical segments of RV free wall (RVFW) and interventricular septum; functional capacity was measured by standard Bruce protocol exercise testing. All patients had some degrees of RV dysfunction with no correlations between results of routine indices and functional capacity. Reduced RVFW average systolic strain was correlated directly with reduced functional capacity (r=0.86 [P<0.001]), this was also true for peak systolic strain of basal and mid segments of RVFW. Derivation of ROC curves showed that a cut-off value of 15.8% for average RVFW systolic strain predicts good exercise capacity (³10 METs) with a sensitivity of 91.2% and a specificity of 100%.Conclusion- Although routine echocardiography indices are not accurate tools in rTOF patients, systolic strain of RVFW seems to be reliable in estimation of RV function and functional capacity.

Francisella tularensis is a pathogenic, aerobic gram-negative coccobacillus bacterium. It is the causative agent of tularemia, a rare infectious disease that can attack skin, lungs, eyes, and lymph nodes. The genome of F. tularensis has been sequenced, and ~16% of the proteome is still uncharacterized. Characterizations of these proteins are essential to find new drug targets for better therapeutics. In silico characterization of proteins has become an extremely important approach to determine the functionality of proteins as experimental functional elucidation is unable to keep pace with the current growth of the sequence database. Initially, we have annotated 577 Hypothetical Proteins (HPs) of F. tularensis strain SCHU4 with seven bioinformatics tools which characterized them based on the family, domain and motif. Out of 577 HPs, 119 HPs were annotated by five or more tools and are further screened to predict their virulence properties, subcellular localization, transmembrane helices as well as physicochemical parameters. VirulentPred predicted 66 HPs out of 119 as virulent. These virulent proteins were annotated to find the interacting partner using STRING, and proteins with high confidence interaction scores were used to predict their 3D structures using Phyre2. The three virulent proteins Q5NH99 (phosphoserine phosphatase), Q5NG42 (Cystathionine beta-synthase) and Q5NG83 (Rrf2-type helix turn helix domain) were predicted to involve in modulation of cytoskeletal and innate immunity of host, H2S (hydrogen sulfide) based antibiotic tolerance and nitrite and iron metabolism of bacteria. The above predicted virulent proteins can serve as novel drug targets in the era of antibiotic resistance.

Background and purpose: Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is accompanied by an increase in extracellular matrix (ECM), atrophy, and reduces the muscle power. Resistance training (RT) have potential positive effects on muscle function and morphology in elderly. This research examined the effects of eight week therapeutic resistance training on recovery of pathological changes after 6weeks chronic eccentric contraction.Materials and methods: Eighteen elderly male Wistar rats were divided into three groups (control, RSI-rest, RSI-RT). Two experimental groups underwent 6weeks (5 days/week) of fast velocity submaximal eccentric contractions while the control group was inactive. After two weeks rest, RSI-RT group performed 8 weeks resistance training and RSI-rest group was detrained for 8 weeks. Gastrocnemius muscle response was assessed by isometric force and muscle wet mass. Quantitative histopathological analysis was also done in all groups.Results: Gastrocnemius tissue of injured limbs showed increase in ECM and decrease in myofiber area and isometric force after 6 weeks RSI model in RSI-rest group, but muscle wet mass did not change. RT significantly improved isometric force, myofiber area percent but decreased non-contractile area percentage. However, pathological changes after RSI were not fully recovered by RT.Conclusion: Therapeutic Resistance training with an emphasis on concentric phase, low velocity and adequate rest can attenuate functional and histopathological changes in muscle after chronic strain injury in elderly rats.

Introduction: Neck pain is of the common musculoskeletal disorders. Physical maltreatment may have caused disability and socioeconomic repercussions. However, manual therapy techniques are less costly, with least side effects in treatment of neck pain, but there is a lack of evidence about the efficacy of these methods or a comparison of treatment to suggest the best technique.Materials and Methods: Thirty subjects with neck pain, aged 18-35 years old, were participated in this study. All individuals were randomly classified into two groups. One group received massage therapy and the other strain-counter strain technique. Participants had three therapy sessions every other day. Pain was accessed via pain numerical rating scale (PNRS) and neck disability index (NDI) questionnaire was used to measure the level of functional disability just before and immediately after each technique. Paired and sample t-tests were used to analyze the data.Results: There was a significant improvement in pain intensity and disability level after massage therapy (PNRS=0.001, NDI=0) and strain counter-strain (PNRS=0, NDI=0.03). Nevertheless no significant differences were found just after intervention in NDI between both groups (P>0.050). Differences in NRS between both intervention groups were statistically found (P<0.050).Conclusion: Both massage and Strain-Counter strain alleviate pain and improved function in patients with neck pain, although massage therapy was more effective in these patients.

Background: Uricase or urate oxidase, as a therapeutic enzyme, is extensively applied to oxidize accumulated uric acidin the body to soluble form to treat related illnesses.Objectives: This study was conducted with the aim of searching for potential sources of uricase-producing Streptomycesfrom Eshtehard salt desert in Alborz province, Iran and heterologous expression, purification and functional assay of theenzyme.Materials and Methods: Main screening was conducted by cultivation of the strains on a medium enriched with 0.3 percent (w/v) uric acid. The uricase gene from the most potent strain was then recombinantly expressed in E. coli BL21 (DL3)Results:Out of the tested strains, only seven showed uricase activity. The highest level of native uricase activity (11.5735U.mL-1) belonged to strain 17-1, which had the closest similarity to Streptomyces nigra. A recombinant uricase witha molecular mass of approximately 38 kDa was produced. The purified uricase exhibited a specific activity of about28.29±0.59 U.mg-1, which is among the highest level of uricase activity reported by other studiesConclusions: This enzyme is a promising candidate for further applicable investigations and large-scale production interms of its large volume of soluble expression and selective competitive activity.

To investigate the response of corn to combined application of chemical fertilizers with rhizobacteria plant growth promoting, an experiment was conducted in 2017 at Research farm of Agricultural and Natural Resources Campus of Tehran University, Karaj, Iran, in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Four nutritional treatments including T1 (Control treatment without applying fertilizer), T2 (Just PGPRs), T3 (Use chemical fertilizers based on soil test) and T4 (T3 + PGPRs) were considered. According to the results, the highest total dry weight (3.9 kg/m2), crop growth rate (79.8 g.m-2.day-1), net assimilation rate (15.3 g.m-2.day-1) and grain yield (18.2 ton.ha-1) were observed in T4 treatment and T2 treatment produced the highest  leaf area index (5.3), leaf area duration (205.2) and specific leaf weight (78.5 g.m-2) . Also, the lowest value of all traits was observed in in T1 (control) treatment. The results showed that the presence of rhizobacteria plant growth promotioninduction in the corn nutrition program increased the growth and growth indices of the plant. Combined application of chemical fertilizers with rhizobacteria plant growth promoting resulted in the highest growth and final grain yield of corn.

Green cucumber named Cucumis sativus is one of the most important vegetables. Currently, it has the highest level of cultivation in greenhouses in the country. To increase yields, greenhouse managers use chemical fertilizers at different stages of plant development, which upset the balance of the environment and the soil microbiome. Using growth-promoting bacteria, in addition to maintaining the balance of soil microorganisms, can improve crop quality. In this study, the effects of two bacterial strains of Amycolatopsis sp. strain 1119 and Pseudomonas sp. strain P3-57 on soil microbial population, production rate, and crop quality in commercial cucumber greenhouse were investigated. The use of P3-57 and 1119 strains increased the yield by 4% and 23%, respectively. Qualitative evaluation of the product revealed that both bacteria had a favorable effect on the overall acceptance of the product. Examination of the growth-promoting colonization bacteria showed that strain 1119 is an endophytic bacteria and strain P357 colonized on the root. The 1119 strain increased the number of cultivable fungi in the rhizosphere and decreased the number of bacteria. Treatment with strain P3-57 increased the population of both groups of microorganisms. Using these bacteria in the industry can significantly help protect the environment in the future.