Evaluation of Total Phenolic and Flavonoid Content, Antioxidant Capacity and Resveratrol of Selected Medicinal Plants of Northern Iran

Medicinal plants are source of bioactive molecules with antioxidant activity, which are well-known due to their health effects. Identification and quantitation of these compounds helps to evaluate the therapeutic properties of medicinal herbs. In this study total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant capacity and resveratrol in fourteen species were estimated using Folin-Ciocalteu method, aluminium chloride colorimetric assay, DPPH radical scavenging capacity and liquid chromatography, respectively. Among plant materials the highest total phenolic was observed in Iranian barberry (Berberis integerrima Bunge.) and the highest total flavonoid was recorded in persicaria bistorta (Polygonum bistorta L.), while remarkable high antioxidant capacity was noticed in small-flowered black hawthorn (Crataeagus pyntagyna Waldst. & Kit. ex Willd). Wild grape (Vitis vinifera L. ssp. silvestris) was the richest source of trans-resveratrol (14.0±0.90 mg/100g DW). Further studies of these herbs would help knowing pharmaceutical potential of the northern Iran plants

Spatial Analysis of The Effects of Distributive Justice Indices on Rural Areas Resilience to Drought (Case Study: Rural Areas in West of Urmia Lake)

Due to a better understanding of the status of resilience and optimal management of distribution services, it will be essential to analysis of spatial resilience patterns and examine the spatial relationships between resilience and influencing factors, including distributive justice. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive-analytical study is to investigate distributive justice and its effect on the resilience of villages west of Lake Urmia to drought. The statistical population of the present study was all villages located within 10 km of the shore of Lake Urmia, which were selected 53 villages as a research environment and finally 380 households as the human analysis units using the Cochran's formula and by multi-stage random sampling method. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In this study, the effective factors (distributive justice indices) on the resilience of the studied villages were investigated by geographic weighted regression (GWR). The results of GWR regression showed that the variables entered in the model explain 47.8% of the dependent variable. Also, the results of regression model (OLS) showed that infrastructure, trade-service and economic indicators have the greatest impact on the resilience to drought in the studied villages

The Impact of Health System Reform Plan on NGOs's Activities in Health Sector

Background & Objectives: Reform in health system aimed to improve healthcare, affected all organizations and institutions (in particular, NGOs) operating in health care services. NGOs in health system, are one of the main players to promote healthcare performance and system. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of Health System Reform plan on NGOs which are active in health sector. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was performed during Summer-Autumn 2015. By a stratified-random sampling, 91 health care staffs selected from nine NGOs to fill–in a 27-item questionnaire designed by the researchers. Data analysis was done using structural equation modeling (SEM) and through AMOS Ver22. Results: According to the results, 67.9% of respondents recoded lower patients’ referral, one year after the implementation of the reform plan in healthcare. Financial saving was the main advantage of this plan. In addition, this reform had positive effects on health services development, financing and resource allocation, healthcare equipment providing, prevention and promotion of health literacy in NGOs. Conclusion: Healthcare reform plan had a significant positive effect on NGOs activities. It can get benefit from the present potentials for increasing the chance of success of this reform plan in healthcare system through good interaction of healthcare system authorities and NGOs. Key¬words: Non-Government Organization (NGO), Health System Reform Plan, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). ¬Citation: Bromideh AA, Rezaei AA, Boromand Rad H, Aarabi N. The Impact of Health System Reform Plan on NGOs's Activities in Health Sector. Journal of Health Based Research 2016; 2(4): 355-368

Optimization of fermentative hydrogen production from palm oil mill effluent in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket fixed film bioreactor

AbstractFermentative hydrogen production from palm oil mill effluent (POME) in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket fixed film bioreactor was optimized using response surface methodology with a central composite design. The simultaneous effects of two independent operating variables, i.e. feed flow rate (QF) and up-flow velocity (Vup) on biological hydrogen production was investigated. The operating variables were varied to cover a wide range of organic loading rates from 10 to 60 g COD L−1 d−1. The dependent parameters as multiple responses were evaluated. Experimental results showed the highest value of yield at 0.31 L H2 g−1 COD was obtained at QF and Vup of 1.7 L d−1 and 0.5 m h−1, respectively. The optimum conditions for the fermentative hydrogen production using pre-settled POME were QF = 2.0–3.7 L d−1 and Vup = 1.5–2.3 m h−1. The experimental results agreed very well with the model prediction

Development of information diffusion models based on mathematical models of disease diffusion

Abstract Purpose: Analysis of information diffusion process based on models of spread of epidemics is one of the issues considered by the researchers. Limited studies have addressed investigation and analysis of scientific information diffusion. Current study was conducted aiming at identifying scientific information diffusion process among academic faculty members using mathematical models of spread of diseases during 2016. Methodology: Mathematical models of spread of epidemics including SIS, SI, and SIR models were used for analysis of scientific information diffusion. The study was conducted using semi-experimental method on 147 faculty members in three stages including evaluation of current status at time t0, after implementation of intervention of models including susceptible, infected (informed) and recovered (information saturation). Using statistical methods, chance of disease transmission from each compartment to the next one was measured. Findings: Research findings suggested feasibility of SIS, SI, and SIR models in describing information diffusion process. People who are susceptible to scientific information will not remain in a constant state after receiving information. So that 51.6% of the people remain in a state of informed and 39.1% return to susceptible conditions. Also, only 9.3% of people will switch to saturated and unnecessary conditions. Conclusion: Application of models of epidemics spread and its extension to scientific information diffusion is accurate. In addition, mostly individuals will remain at constant state after receiving scientific information