Secondary anchor targeted cell release system

The lack of diagnostic tools that can probe individual heterogeneities in patient’s cell receptor expression limits advancement in personalized medicine. These individual differences in receptor quantities can give rise to both intrinsic and acquired resistances to therapeutics, which result in reduced treatment efficacy. In diseases like cancer, where therapeutics have many adverse side effects, noting which drugs have reduced efficacy means the difference between remission and death. Current chemical and physical cell separation methodologies may result in disruption of physiological receptor quantities. These changes in receptor quantities and expression may hide changes that give diagnostic information about tumor progression and environment. Thus separation techniques which hide these changes in receptor expression would be sub-optimal diagnostic tools. Here we describe a functionalization process that facilitates gentle cell capture with subsequent cell release via a secondary, surface-anchoring mechanism. The cellular capture system consists of glass functionalized with APTES, d-desthiobiotin and streptavidin, which when coupled with biotinylated antibodies, such as mCD11b and hIgG, are used to capture mouse macrophages (RAW 264.7) and human breast cancer (MCF7-GFP) cell lines, respectively. Cell release is facilitated through the introduction of biotin, allowing for the enrichment of the cells of interest captured by the surface. This release is done through the targeting of the secondary moiety desthiobiotin, which results in a much more gentle release paradigm. This reduction in harsh reagents and shear forces reduces changes in cellular expression. The functionalized surface captures up to 80% of cells in a single cell mixture and has demonstrated 50% capture in a dual-cell mixture. This engineering advancement is a critical step towards achieving cell isolation platforms for personalized medicine

Iran's eleventh presidential election revisited: the politics of managing change

The election of Hassan Rouhani to the Presidency of the Islamic Republic in 2013 signalled for many a popular rejection of the politics of confrontation endorsed by his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and support for greater liberalism at home and internationalism abroad. With his first term coming to an end and an agreement reached on Iran’s nuclear programme, this paper revisits the 2013 presidential election campaign and argues that the process retained much of the intricate management of previous elections. A willingness to ‘believe the rhetoric’ of the campaign has resulted in a dangerous mismanagement of expectations.1 This paper follows on from an earlier book: Ali Ansari, Iran, Islam and Democracy: The Politics of Managing Change, (London: Chatham House, 2006)

The curious case of the nuclear company of Britain and Iran

In February 1977, on a routine visit to Tehran, Sir Walter Marshall, the chief scientist at the department of Energy and deputy chairman of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, was made a seemingly impromptu “radical proposal” by the then head of the Atomic Energy Organisation, Dr Akbar Etemad for a strategic collaboration between the emergent nuclear industry of Iran and that of the UK which faced an uncertain future. Etemad’s proposal envisioned Iranian capital combining with British expertise in the form of a joint company that would be the salvation of both and mark a definitive new era in British–Iranian relations. Eighteen months of tough negotiations ended, failing to yield the desired commitment. But the encounter, largely ignored by historians sheds important new light on the politics of development in both Iran and the UK, along with the complexities of policy-making, and not least, the subtleties of the British–Iranian relationship in what would turn out to be the twilight of the Pahlavi dynasty.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Predictors of Life Skills Level of Students in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in Southeast of Iran

Background and aims: Life skills involve a big class of socio-psychological and interpersonal skills which help a person to take conscious decisions, communicate effectively and improve self-management skills. Preparing a plan for all the above mentioned programs, need awareness about life skills level of different groups such as students in universities. Present study was aimed to reveal the predictors of life skills level of Students in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in southeast of Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out on 380 medical students of Zahedan in 2015. The subjects were selected using stratified random sampling method. The data were collected using reliable Life Skill Dimensions Score questionnaire. The data were analyzed in Stata.12 software using ANOVA, Independent t-test and multiple linear regression with Hosmer-Lemshow method. Results: The mean of total score regarding life skills score was 280.8±45.8. The linear regression analysis indicated that gender (β=11.15, 95 CI: 5.03-17.27), socioeconomic status (β=6.78, 95 CI: 1.76-11.8) and average grades (β=15.3, 95 CI: 9.11-21.49) were associated with life skills score. However, the life skills score was not associated with the age, semester, residential area, smoking, marital status and school of education (P>0.05). Conclusion: The level of life skills scores of medical students in southeast of Iran is low in all dimensions especially in communication skills. Thus, promoting life skills in university students is too important. However, the life skills training programs should be implemented with respect to socioeconomic status, gender and average grade and male students with low socioeconomic status and average have priority

Taqizadeh and European civilisation

The leading Iranian intellectual and nationalist Hasan Taqizadeh has been roundly condemned by posterity for his call to Iranians to embrace European civilisation in its entirety without qualification or compromise. Taqizadeh himself later conceded that the form of words he had used were injudicious, but he added that his intention had been to galvanise Iranians out of their self-destructive political stupor and it remains a reality that many of Taqizadeh's contemporaries were supportive of his call to arms. This paper reassesses Taqizadeh's position in the context of his historical and intellectual environment, which it is argued drew heavily from a “Whig” reading of the Enlightenment progress. It shows that Taqizadeh was not alone in drawing on this narrative while maintaining an important distinction between the positive aspects of British political thought and the shortcomings of British policy.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

An optimized method for thermal diffusivity measurement of peeled off fruits and vegetables.

The aim of the present work was to find out the most suitable method for thermal diffusivity measurement of peeled off fruits and vegetables. Three methods reported in the literature, have been examined. One of them is finite difference method, which needs temperature-time measurements at three equidistant locations in the food flesh. Another method is the well-known Riedel correlation, which determines thermal diffusivity of food item from its water content. The third method is based on the empirical correlation of the present author and his co-workers and reported earlier. Peeled off fresh potato, cucumber, apple and orange samples were exposed to chilled air blast cooling, and temperature-time records were made at five equidistant locations starting from center and at equal distances of 1/5th the distance between the center and the outer surface. Collected data was used to estimate thermal diffusivity values by the first and the third methods. The second method was also used to calculate thermal diffusivity from measured water content of the produce. After thorough investigations, it was concluded that the third method was most reliable when temperature records at the center were used