Autophagy,Unfolded Protein Response,and Neuropilin-1 Cross-Talk in SARS-CoV-2 Infection: What Can Be Learned from Other Coronaviruses

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by the 2019–nCoV/SARS-CoV-2 virus. This severe acute respiratory syndrome is currently a global health emergency and needs much effort to generate an urgent practical treatment to reduce COVID-19 complications and mortality in humans. Viral infection activates various cellular responses in infected cells, including cellular stress responses such as unfolded protein response (UPR) and autophagy, following the inhibition of mTOR. Both UPR and autophagy mechanisms are involved in cellular and tissue homeostasis, apoptosis, innate immunity modulation, and clearance of pathogens such as viral particles. However, during an evolutionary arms race, viruses gain the ability to subvert autophagy and UPR for their benefit. SARS-CoV-2 can enter host cells through binding to cell surface receptors, including angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and neuropilin-1 (NRP1). ACE2 blockage increases autophagy through mTOR inhibition, leading to gastrointestinal complications during SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. NRP1 is also regulated by the mTOR pathway. An increased NRP1 can enhance the susceptibility of immune system dendritic cells (DCs) to SARS-CoV-2 and induce cytokine storm, which is related to high COVID-19 mortality. Therefore, signaling pathways such as mTOR, UPR, and autophagy may be potential therapeutic targets for COVID-19. Hence, extensive investigations are required to confirm these potentials. Since there is currently no specific treatment for COVID-19 infection, we sought to review and discuss the important roles of autophagy, UPR, and mTOR mechanisms in the regulation of cellular responses to coronavirus infection to help identify new antiviral modalities against SARS-CoV-2 virus.     

Surface modification of silica-graphene nanohybrid as a novel stabilizer for oil-water emulsion

The surface modification of silica-graphene nanohybrid through treatment with a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid vapors to prepare a novel stabilizer for decalin-water emulsion was investigated. The nanohybrid was prepared through chemical vapor deposition using silica aerogel and acetylene as catalyst and carbon precursor at atmospheric pressure and 600 °C. The physicochemical properties of the modified nanohybrid were characterized by FT-IR, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, and TEM. The surface modification of nanohybrid was at various duration times (24, 48, and 72 hours) to optimize the surface modification conditions. Zeta potential of ?39.9 mV revealed that the surface modification of nanohybrid after 72 hours had an excellent stability in aqueous phase due to the presence of exceptional functional groups. The emulsion average droplet size decreased by increasing the nanohybrid concentration. The negative value of the zeta potential showed the proposed nanohybrid can be applied as an appropriate stabilizer for emulsion.     

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter isolated from retail raw chicken and beef meat, Tehran, Iran

Campylobacter spp. is a leading cause of human diarrhea. The common source of infection is contaminated food, particularly poultry. The veterinary use of antimicrobial drugs has been suggested to be largely responsible for resistance in human isolates of this zoonotic pathogen. From April to October 2004, 241 samples of chicken and beef meat for sale in retail outlets in Tehran (Iran) were analyzed for the presence of Campylobacter. Totally, 88 (36.5%) Campylobacter strains were isolated. Campylobacter was isolated from a significantly larger number of chicken (63%) than beef (10%) meat (P < 0.0001). Susceptibilities of 72 strains were determined for eight antimicrobial drugs using the disk diffusion assay. Resistance to nalidixic acid was the most common finding (75%), followed by resistance to ciprofloxacin (69.4%), tetracycline (45.8%), amoxicillin (11.1%), streptomycin (4.2%), chloramphenicol (2.8%) and gentamicin (1.4%). None of the isolates was resistant to erythromycin. Multidrug resistance was seen in 75% of the Campylobacter strains.     

Effect of cellusoft enzyme treatment on the pilling performance of weft-knitted fabrics using image analysis

Resistance to pilling is one aspect of quality that controls the appearance of the fabrics. Different method has been used for overcoming the pilling problem of fabrics. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of cellusoft enzyme treatment on the pilling performance of fabrics. For this purpose, different sequence of enzyme application in dyeing was conducted. Two commercial reactive dyes with different chemical structures were used. The pilling resistance of fabrics was assessed using Martindale Wear and Abrasion Tester apparatus, according to ASTM D4970 test method. The number and area of pills on the surface of fabrics were measured using image analysis. The results revealed that the sequence of dyeing and enzyme treatments affect the pilling properties of fabrics.     

Application of high hydrostatic pressure to decontaminate green onions from Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7

Consumption of fecally contaminated green onions has been implicated in several major outbreaks of foodborne illness. The objectives of this study were to investigate the survival and growth of Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in green onions during storage and to assess the application of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) to decontaminate green onions from both pathogens. Bacterial strains resistant to nalidixic acid and streptomycin were used to inoculate green onions at low (∼1 log cfu/g) and high (∼2 log cfu/g) inoculum levels which were then kept at 4 or 22 °C for up to 14 days. Both pathogens grew to an average of 5-6 log cfu/g during storage at 22 °C and the bacterial populations were fairly stable during storage at 4 °C. High-pressure processing of inoculated green onions in the un-wetted, wetted (briefly dipped in water) or soaked (immersed in water for 30 min) conditions at 250-500 MPa for 2 min at 20 °C reduced the population of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 by 0.6 to >5 log cfu/g, depending on the pressure level and sample wetness state. The extent of pressure inactivation increased in the order of soaked > wetted > un-wetted state. The pressure sensitivity of the pathogens was also higher at elevated treatment temperatures. Overall, after pressure treatment at 400-450 MPa (soaked) or 450-500 MPa (wetted) for a retention time of 2 min at 20-40 °C, wild-type and antibiotic-resistant mutant strains of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 inoculated on green onions were undetectable immediately after treatment and throughout the 15-day storage at 4 °C. The pressure treatments also had minimal adverse impact on most sensorial characteristics as well as on the instrumental color of chopped green onions. This study highlights the promising applications of HHP to minimally process green onions in order to alleviate the risks of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 infections associated with the consumption of this commodity.     

Exploring the Potential of Drug Response Assays for Precision Medicine in Ovarian Cancer

One of the major challenges in the treatment of cancer are differential responses of patients to existing standard of care anti-cancer drugs. These differential responses may, in part, be due to a diverse range of genomic, epigenomic, proteomic, and metabolic alterations among individuals suffering from the same type of cancer. Precision medicine is an emerging approach in cancer therapeutics that takes into account specific molecular alterations, environmental factors as well as lifestyle of individual patients. This approach allows clinicians and researchers to select or predict treatments that would most likely benefit the patient based on their individual tumor characteristics. One class of precision medicine tools are predictive, in vitro drug-response assays designed to test the sensitivity of patient tumor cells to existing or novel therapies. These assays have the potential to rapidly identify the most effective treatments for cancer patients and thus hold great promise in the field of precision medicine. In this review, we have highlighted several drug-response assays developed in ovarian cancer and discussed the current challenges and future prospects of these assays in the clinical management of this disease.     

Synthesis and characterization of an anticratering agent based on APTES for cathodic electrocoatings

The present study developed an improved aqueous electrocoating containing an anticratering additive that is a reaction product of silane based on amino-propyl-triethoxy-silane and diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A. Structural characterization was performed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), epoxy equivalent weight measurement, particle size analysis and SEM. Number of craters on the electrocoated sample was evaluated according to GM9532p. The final electrocoats containing the new anticratering agent showed far fewer craters.     

Evaluation of the Interface Accuracy for Power Hardware-in-the-Loop Experiments

Selecting an accurate interface algorithm is a primary goal in order to have a successful operation of power hardware-in-the-loop. The purpose of this paper is to utilize the modified damping impedance method for testing the accuracy of the interface algorithm in power hardware-in-the-loop applications in comparison to the traditional damping impedance method and ideal transformer model interfaces. The hardware-in-the-loop test-bed (a power-electronic-based system) is utilized to experimentally analyze and validate the expected advantages of the modified damping impedance method. In addition, to evaluate the power hardware-in-the-loop accuracy, a transfer function perturbation-based approach is considered to validate the results of experimentation analytically and quantitatively.     

Effect of the Spectrum Sensing Period on the TCP Performance Over Cognitive Radio Ad-hoc Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - Modeling of spectrum occupancy by both primary and secondary users in the Cognitive Radio Ad-hoc Network (CRAHN) can be helpful to improve spectrum usage...