Background: The Non-Structural (NS) genomic segment of influenza A virus expresses two proteins (NS1 and NS2) responsible for virulence and pathogenicity. Here, we characterize the NS gene of H1N1 influenza viruses isolated from Iranian patients during the 2015 and 2017 outbreaks. Materials and Methods: Influenza A positive specimens with high viral load were selected for virus amplification on MDCK (Madin-Darby Canine Kidney) cells to obtain sufficient viral RNA for RT-PCR. The NS segments were amplified and sequenced from randomly selected samples. Genetic characterization, phylogenetic, and protein modeling analyses were carried out using Bioedit, MEGA7 software, and Muster, Modweb, Modfold, Tm-align web servers. Reference sequences from other geographic regions were available on GenBank. Results: Phylogenetic analysis on the NS gene of A/H1N1 isolates revealed that all Iranian isolates, except the A/Tehran/SMO08/2015, were close to strains from Continental countries of Asia and North America, with 99% identity. Meanwhile the mentioned exception was clustered with some strains from Iran, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, and Jordan. Overall six substitutions were observed through the deduced Iranian NS1 and NS2 amino acid sequences. One of the mutations (the E96D mutation from the isolate A/Tehran/A7106/2017) was first observed in the present project. Prediction of three-dimensional structure of the Iranian NS1 and NS2 proteins in comparison with counterpart references available in PDB showed a slight deviation in the functional domains. However, the high similarity of the Iranian NS gene with those from other countries indicate no significant changes in the molecular features of the NS genes. Conclusion: The severity of the symptoms does not seem to be caused by the observed mutations. Molecular analysis of other alleles is needed to explain the high pathogenic feature of the 2015 isolates.

The supercoherent states of the RNS string are constructed using the covariant quantization and analogously the light cone quantization formalisms. Keeping intact the original definition of coherent states of harmonic oscillators, we extend the bosonic annihalation operator into the superspace by inclusion of fermionic contribution to oscillator modes thus construct the supercoherent states with supersymetric harmonic oscillator. We analyse the statistics of these states by explicitly calculating the Mandel parameter and obtained interesting results about the nature of distribution of the states.

The objective of the present study was to compare single segment and double segment INTACS rings in the treatment of post-LASIK ectasia. In this interventional study, 26 eyes with post-LASIK ectasia were assessed. Ectasia was defined as progressive myopia regardless of astigmatism, along with topographic evidence of inferior steepening of the cornea after LASIK. We excluded those with a history of intraocular surgery, certain eye conditions and immune disorders, as well as monocular, pregnant and lactating patients. A total of 11 eyes had double ring and 15 eyes had single ring implantation. Visual and refractive outcomes were compared with preoperative values based on the number of implanted INTACS rings. Pre and postoperative spherical equivalent were -3.92 and -2.29 diopter (P=0.007). The spherical equivalent decreased by 1±3.2 diopter in the single-segment group and 2.56±1.58 diopter in the double-segment group (P=0.165). Mean preoperative astigmatism was 2.38±1.93 diopter which decreased to 2.14±1.1 diopter after surgery (P=0.508), 0.87±1.98 diopter decrease in the single-segment group and 0.67±1.2 diopter increase in the double-segment group (P=0.025). Nineteen patients (75%) gained one or two lines, and only three, who were all in the double-segment group, lost one or two lines of best corrected visual acuity. The spherical equivalent and vision significantly decreased in all patients. In these post-LASIK ectasia patients, the spherical equivalent was corrected better with two segments compared to single segment implantation; nonetheless, the level of astigmatism in the single-segment group was significantly better than that in the double-segment group.

Background and Objective: In Bacteria, several small proteins with DNA-binding activity play an important role in shaping the structure of the nucleoid and, simultaneously, in ensuring its flexibility. These so-called nucleoid-associated proteins affect the architecture of the nucleoid by either bending or bridging DNA .A set of these proteins are small, usually basic proteins that bind DNA and are collectively called histone like proteins because their biochemical properties resemble eukaryotic histones .One of the most abundant of these proteins especially in gram negative bacteria is H-NS (15kDa). The histone-like nucleoid structuring protein H-NS is a prominent global regulator of gene expression found in a number of different Gram-negative bacteria. Many Gram-negative bacteria contain multiple members of the H-NS family of proteins .Although H-NS silences the expression of hundreds of genes, it also plays a role in DNA compaction and although traditionally thought of as a nonsequence-specific DNA-binding protein, recent evidence suggests that H-NS binds specific sites on the DNA with high affinity.Materials and methods: Cold perchloric acid 5 %and ammonium sulfate were used for protein extraction procedure in E .Coli (as control) and Halomonas strain. Analysis was done by SDS-PAGE 15.%.Results: In this study, the presence of H-NS protein in a gram negative bacterium that belongs to Halomonas genus was examined by Johns and Yamada methods. The results of running the protein extracts by Yamada method on SDS-PAGE demonstrated a band around 15 kD which was seen in protein extracts of control bacteria.Conclusion :The result of the research supported the hypothesis of the presence of H-NS protein in the studied bacterium and it was shown that the protein could be extracted by Yamada method.