In a worldwide collaborative effort, 19,630 Y-chromosomes were sampled from 129 different populations in 51 countries. These chromosomes were typed for 23 short-tandem repeat (STR) loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385ab, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635, GATAH4, DYS481, DYS533, DYS549, DYS570, DYS576, and DYS643) and using the PowerPlex Y23 System (PPY23, Promega Corporation, Madison, WI). Locus-specific allelic spectra of these markers were determined and a consistently high level of allelic diversity was observed. A considerable number of null, duplicate and off-ladder alleles were revealed. Standard single-locus and haplotype-based parameters were calculated and compared between subsets of Y-STR markers established for forensic casework. The PPY23 marker set provides substantially stronger discriminatory power than other available kits but at the same time reveals the same general patterns of population structure as other marker sets. A strong correlation was observed between the number of Y-STRs included in a marker set and some of the forensic parameters under study. Interestingly a weak but consistent trend toward smaller genetic distances resulting from larger numbers of markers became apparent.

The current pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is accompanied with a rapid increase of reports and papers detailing its neurological effects and symptoms. The virus infection causes respiratory illness named by the world health organization as corona virus 19 (COVID-19).This systematic review aims to study and summarize the different neurological manifestations of this virus. All articles published and indexed via Pubmed, Medline and Google Scholar databases between January 1st 2020 and February 28th 2021 that reported neurological symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 are reviewed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines.We included data from 113 articles: eight prospective studies, 25 retrospective studies and the rest were case reports/series. COVID-19 can present with central nervous system manifestations, such as headache, encephalitis and encephalopathy, peripheral nervous system manifestations, such as anosmia, ageusia and Guillian Barre syndrome, and skeletal muscle manifestations, such as myalgia and myasthenia gravis. Our systematic review showed that COVID-19 can be manifested by a wide spectrum of neurological symptoms reported either in the early stage or within the course of the disease. However, a detailed comprehension of these manifestations is required and more studies are needed in order to improve our scientific knowledge and to develop preventive and therapeutic measures to control this pandemic.

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Chronic cerebral ischemia with a notable long-term cessation of blood supply to the brain tissues leads to sensorimotor defects and short- and long-term memory problems. Neuroprotective agents are used in an attempt to save ischemic neurons from necrosis and apoptosis, such as the antioxidant agent Eucalyptus. Numerous studies have demonstrated the involvement of the renin-angiotensin system in the initiation and progression of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Candesartan is a drug that acts as an angiotensin II receptor 1 blocker. We established a rat model exhibiting sensorimotor and cognitive impairments due to chronic cerebral ischemia induced by the ligation of the right common carotid artery. Wistar male rats were randomly divided into five groups: Sham group, Untreated Ligated group, Ischemic group treated with Eucalyptus (500 mg/kg), Ischemic group treated with Candesartan (0.5 mg/kg), and Ischemic group treated with a combination of Eucalyptus and Candesartan. To evaluate the sensorimotor disorders, we performed the beam balance test, the beam walking test, and the modified sticky test. Moreover, the object recognition test and the Morris water maze test were performed to assess the memory disorders of the rats. The infarct rat brain regions were subsequently stained using the triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining technique. The rats in the Sham group had normal sensorimotor and cognitive functions without the appearance of microscopic ischemic brain lesions. In parallel, the untreated Ischemic group showed severe impaired neurological functions with the presence of considerable brain infarctions. The treatment of the Ischemic group with a combination of both Eucalyptus and Candesartan was more efficient in improving the sensorimotor and cognitive deficits (p < 0.001) than the treatment with Eucalyptus or Candesartan alone (p < 0.05), by the comparison to the non-treated Ischemic group. Our study shows that the combination of Eucalyptus and Candesartan could decrease ischemic brain injury and improve neurological outcomes.