Sharif Digital Repository

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) are inflammatory neuropathies with different clinical courses but similar underlying mechanisms. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) might affect pathogenesis of these conditions. In the current project, we have selected HULC, PVT1, MEG3, SPRY4-IT1, LINC-ROR and DSCAM-AS1 lncRNAs to appraise their transcript levels in the circulation of CIDP and GBS cases versus controls. Expression of HULC was higher in CIDP patients compared with healthy persons (Ratio of mean expression (RME) = 7.62, SE = 0.72, P < 0.001). While expression of this lncRNA was not different between female CIDP cases and female... 

Polar codes are novel and efficient error-correcting codes with low encoding and decoding complexities. These codes have a channel-dependent generator matrix, which is determined by the code dimension, code length and transmission channel parameters. A variant of the McEliece public-key cryptosystem based on polar codes, called the PKC-PC, is studied. Since the structure of the polar codes' generator matrix depends on the parameters of the channel, the authors have used an efficient approach to conceal their generator matrix. The proposed approach is based on a random selection of rows of the matrix by which a random generator matrix is constructed. Using the characteristics of polar codes... 

Coronaviruses (CoV) are a family of viral pathogens that infect both birds and mammals, including humans. Seven human coronaviruses (HCoV) have been recognized so far. HCoV-229E, -OC43, -NL63, and -HKU1 account for one-third of common colds with mild symptoms. The other three members are severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. These viruses are responsible for SARS, MERS, and CoV disease 2019 (COVID-19), respectively. A variety of diagnostic techniques, including chest X-rays, computer tomography (CT) scans, analysis of viral nucleic acids, proteins, or whole virions, and host antibody detection using serological assays have... 

The highly pathogenic, novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has emerged as a once-in-a-century pandemic with poor consequences, urgently calling for new therapeutics, cures, and supportive interventions. It has already affected over 250 million people worldwide; thereby, there is a need for novel therapies to alleviate the related complications. There is a paradigm shift in developing drugs and clinical practices to combat COVID-19. Several clinical trials have been performed or are testing diverse pharmacological interventions to alleviate viral load and complications such as cytokine release storm (CRS). Kinase-inhibitors have appeared as potential antiviral agents for COVID-19... 

In this case–control study, class І and ІІ human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles in Iranian patients with benign and severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADRs) due to aromatic anticonvulsants and antibiotics were evaluated. Patients diagnosed with CADRs (based on clinical and laboratory findings) with a Naranjo score of ≥ 4 underwent blood sampling and HLA-DNA typing. The control group comprised 90 healthy Iranian adults. Alleles with a frequency of more than two were reported. Deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium were not observed. Eighty patients with CADRs including 54 females and 26 males with a mean age of 41.49 ± 16.08 years were enrolled in this study. The culprit drugs... 

Background: Patients who have shoulder pain usually have compensatory or contributory deviation of shoulder motion during arm elevation. In the traditional scapulohumeral rhythm, the share of the acromioclavicular (AC) and the sternoclavicular (SC) joint movements and also the role of AC internal rotation angle are unknown. Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to measure and compare the segmentary scapulohumeral rhythm (SSHR) during scapular arm elevation at a steady rotational speed in athletes with and without impingement syndrome. Patients and Methods: Using a speedometer, the maximum speed of arm elevation was measured in 21 men in each of the involved and uninvolved groups.... 

Strong Designated Verifier Signature (SDVS) provides authentication for the signer and the verifier such that the signer is assured that what s/he has signed, is only verified by the designated verifier. Currently, the security of most of the SDVS schemes is based on hard problems in the number theory. As it is proved that all kinds of cryptosystems which are based on the number theory will not tolerate quantum attacks, here, an SDVS scheme based on hard problems in coding theory is presented. We have proved that the suggested scheme is unforgeable under a chosen message attack in Random Oracle Model. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd  

Humanity's challenges are becoming increasingly difficult, and as these challenges become more advanced, the need for effective and intelligent action becomes more apparent. Meanwhile, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has plagued the world, could be considered as an opportunity to take a step toward the need for atomic engineering, compared to molecular engineering, as well as to accelerate this type of research. This approach, which can be expressed in terms of picotechnology, makes it possible to identify living cell types or in general, chemical and biological surfaces using their atomic arrays, and applied for early diagnosis even treatment of the disease. © 2020... 

Background: Wolfram syndrome (WFS) is characterized by deafness, diabetes mellitus, and diabetes insipidus along with optic atrophy. WFS has an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance and is due to variants in WFS1 and CISD2. Methods: We evaluated the underlying molecular etiology of three affected members of a consanguineous family with hearing impairment, bicuspid aortic valve, diabetes mellitus and insipidus, clinodactyly, and gastrointestinal tract abnormalities via exome sequencing approach. We correlated clinical and imaging data with the genetic findings and their associated phenotypes. Results: We identified a homozygous missense variant p.(Asn1097Lys) in CDK13, a gene previously... 

Acute and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathies (AIDP and CIDP) are two immune-related conditions in the peripheral nervous system. In the current study, we assessed expression levels of Beta-secretase (BACE1), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and their antisense transcripts in the peripheral blood of AIDP and CIDP patients compared with age- and sex-matched controls to assess their potential as biomarkers for these conditions. Expressions of BACE1 and BACE1-AS were down-regulated in CIDP cases compared with controls (Ratios of mean expressions=0.01 and 0.03; P values= 1.07E-08, respectively). On the other hand, expressions of BDNF and BDNF-AS were up-regulated... 

Protein inhibitors of activated STAT (PIAS) are involved in the regulation of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway and have interactions with NF-κB, p73 and p53. These proteins regulate immune responses; therefore dysregulation in their expression leads to several immune-mediated disorders. In the present study, we examined expression of PIAS1-4 in peripheral blood of patients with acute/chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP/CIDP) compared with healthy subjects. We demonstrated down-regulation of all PIAS genes in both AIDP and CIDP cases compared with controls. Similarly, comparisons in gender-based groups revealed down-regulation of these gene0s in patients of each... 

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have crucial roles in the pathogenesis of immune-related disorders. However, their role in the pathobiology of inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathies remains unclear. In the current study, we measured peripheral expression of four lncRNAs, namely TUG1, FAS-AS1, NEAT1, and GAS5, in patients with acute/chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathies (AIDP/CIDP) compared with healthy subjects. Notably, all lncRNAs were over-expressed in patients compared with controls (P < 0.0001 for all lncRNAs). When assessing their expressions in AIDP and CIDP groups separately, TUG1 and NEAT1 were up-regulated in both patient groups compared with... 

The main aim of the present work was to collect and categorize anti-HIV molecules in order to identify general structure-activity relationships. In this respect, a total of 5580 drugs and drug-like molecules was collected from 256 different articles published between 1992 and 2010. An algorithm called genetic algorithm-pattern search counterpropagation artificial neural networks (GPS-CPANN) was proposed for the classification of compounds. In addition, the CART (classification and regression trees) method was used for construction of decision trees and finding the best molecular descriptors. The results revealed that the developed CPANN models and decision tree can correctly classify the... 

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5)... 

Respiratory virus infections are among the most prevalent diseases in humans and contribute to morbidity and mortality in all age groups. Moreover, since they can evolve fast and cross the species barrier, some of these viruses, such as influenza A and coronaviruses, have sometimes caused epidemics or pandemics and were associated with more serious clinical diseases and even mortality. The recently identified Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a Public Health Emergency of International concern and has been associated with rapidly progressive pneumonia. To ensure protection against emerging respiratory tract... 

STUDY DESIGN. A cross-sectional study in pregnancy. OBJECTIVES. To differentiate between pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain (PGP) and low back pain (LBP) in Iranian women, and investigate the prevalence of each syndrome. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA. Most of the information about PGP and LBP has been obtained in Western countries. There are few studies to investigate pregnancy related lumbopelvic pain, and, especially, differentiate between PGP and LBP in non-Western countries, particularly in the Middle East. METHODS. This study included 325 pregnant women, ranging in age from 16 to 42 years. All pregnant women were interviewed using a questionnaire. Two trained physical therapists... 

Background: Wolfram syndrome (WFS) is characterized by deafness, diabetes mellitus, and diabetes insipidus along with optic atrophy. WFS has an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance and is due to variants in WFS1 and CISD2. Methods: We evaluated the underlying molecular etiology of three affected members of a consanguineous family with hearing impairment, bicuspid aortic valve, diabetes mellitus and insipidus, clinodactyly, and gastrointestinal tract abnormalities via exome sequencing approach. We correlated clinical and imaging data with the genetic findings and their associated phenotypes. Results: We identified a homozygous missense variant p.(Asn1097Lys) in CDK13, a gene previously... 

Background: Females are two times more likely to develop patellofemoral pain (PFP) than males. Abnormal trunk and pelvis kinematics are thought to contribute to the pathomechanics of this condition. However, there is a scarcity of evidence investigating proximal segments kinematics in females with PFP. Research question: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether females with PFP demonstrate altered trunk, pelvis, and knee joint kinematics compared with healthy controls during running. Methods: Thirty-four females (17 PFP, 17 controls) underwent a 3-dimensional motion analysis during treadmill running at preferred and fixed speeds, each trial for 30 s. Variables of interest... 

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably affected human beings most of whom are healthcare workers (HCWs) combating the disease in the front line. Methods: This cross-sectional study aims to explore the effects of stress and anxiety caused by COVID-19 on the quality of sleep and life in HCWs, including physicians, nurses, and other healthcare staff. In this global study, we asked 1,210 HCWs (620 and 590 volunteers from Iran and European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy, respectively), who age 21–70, to participate in the test. Several measures of COVID-related stress, anxiety, sleep, and life quality, including the 12-item General Health Questionnaire...