Materia Medica Used in Jaundice Based on Persian Medicine

Jaundice is recognized by increased bilirubin level of blood and yellow appearance in skin, sclera and mucous membrane. Natural products have been used for treatment of jaundice for a long time and Persian Medicine can be a good source of natural drugs for this purpose. This study was done to find the materia medica used for jaundice based on Persian medicine (PM) texts including The Canon of Medicine (al-qanun), Al Hawi Fi Al Tibb, Tuhfat al-Mu’minin, Hedayat al-Motealemin fi Tibb, Zakhireye Khwarazmshahi, Al-Abniah 'an Haqaeq al-Adwia, Makhzan ul-Adwia and Ikhtiyarat Badie. One hundred eleven materia medica belonging to 51 families were identified as herbal remedies for treating jaundice. Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae, Rosaceae and Zingiberaceae were the most dominant families. The results of this study may be present sources for pharmacological studies and development of new herbal medicines for jaundice. Asparagus, echium, arnebia, chicory, citron and purgative manna could be good candidate Materia Medica for future studies.  <br /

Presenting a Model for Improving Research Ethics along with commercializing academic researches (Case: Islamic Azad university, Ardabil prouince branche).

When it comes to ethics and observance of the ethics of research, it means that research should not only have the appropriate method, but also be morally defensible. The purpose of this study was to provide a model for the promotion of research ethics in the commercialization of academic research of Islamic Azad universities in Ardebil. The research method was applied in terms of purpose and in terms of type of mixed data of exploratory type. The statistical population of the research qualitative section included the experts and academic experts and those with executive posts in the field of commercialization, which had an executive background at decision-making levels, and the researchers had books and articles in this field that, using Purposeful sampling method and saturation principle of ten people were selected as sample size. The second group of the statistical population of this study, which included all faculty members of faculty and academic degree of Islamic Azad University of Ardabil in the year 1395, was 537 people. Using multistage and relative cluster sampling method and Cochran formula, 172 persons were used as volume Sample selected. In this research, the library method, semi-structured interview (qualitative section) and researcher-made questionnaire (quantitative section) were used to collect data. The interview with the experts indicated that the interview was valid, and a reliable method was used to calculate the reliability of the two coders. The results indicated that the interview was valid and valid. In order to evaluate the validity of the questionnaire, face validity, content and construct were used. To determine the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and combined reliability were used. Results indicated that the validity and reliability of the researcher made questionnaire were used. Content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data of the research. In the quantitative part, according to the research questions, descriptive and inferential statistics (structural equation modeling, exploratory factor analysis, and one-sample t-test) were used and analyzed using Spss and Amos software. The results showed that components of research ethics include individual, environmental and organizational components, and commercialization components include individual, environmental and management components. The model presented in the research was fit to fit and the research findings also showed that among components of research ethics, individual and environmental components, and among components of commercialization, individual and managerial components are not in desirable condition. While the organizational component in research ethics and environmental component in commercialization has a relatively favorable status

Antibacterial Activities of Gel Containing 5% Hydroalcoholic Extract of Rhamnus cathartica L. bark

Background and purpose: Acne is a chronic inflammatory disease of the pilosebaceous glands caused by opportunistic microorganisms. The Rhamnus cathartica is known to have biological and antioxidant properties. This research aimed at investigating the in vitro effect of gel containing 5% R. cathartica extract on acne vulgaris. Materials and methods: The gel formulation contained 25g of dried R. cathartica bark extract, 0.5 liters distilled water, glycerin 50g, carbopol 940 5g, methyl paraben 0.75g, and propyl paraben 0.5g. After 24 hours, the formulation was put outside the refrigerator. Then, triethanolamine was added to the formulation under stirring with 500 rpm to solidify the gel. The effect of the product was measured against Cutibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Staphylococcus aureus and MIC and MBC values were also determined. Results: Total phenolic content of R. cathartica was 351.6±4.5 mgGA/g/DW, total flavonoid content was 23.15±1.355 mgCE/g/DW, and total anthraquinone content was 1.85 ± 0.05 mgAE/g/DW. The pH of the product was 5.5-6. The MIC values of R. cathartica 5% gel were 195.3 µg/ml, 24.41 µg/ml, and 97.65 µg/ml against C. acnes, S. epidermidis and S. aureus, respectively. The MBC testing showed 25000 µg/ml, 25000 µg/ml, and 12500 µg/ml against C. acne, S. epidermidis and S.aureus. Conclusion: R. cathartica is believed to contain active ingredients and can act as an antibiotic against acne causing microorganisms

White matter correlates of disease duration in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy: updated review of literature

BACKGROUND: Medial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) has been associated with widespread white mater (WM) alternations in addition to mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS). Herein, we aimed to investigate the correlation between disease duration and WM structural abnormalities in mTLE using diffusion MRI (DMRI) connectometry approach. METHOD: DMRI connectometry was conducted on 24 patients with mTLE. A multiple regression model was used to investigate white matter tracts with microstructural correlates to disease duration, controlling for age and sex. DMRI data were processed in the MNI space using q-space diffeomorphic reconstruction to obtain the spin distribution function (SDF). The SDF values were converted to quantitative anisotropy (QA) and used in further analyses. RESULTS: Connectometry analysis identified impaired white matter QA of the following fibers to be correlated with disease duration: bilateral retrosplenial cingulum, bilateral fornix, right inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), and genu of corpus callosum (CC) (FDR = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Our results were obtained from DMRI connectometry, which indicates the connectivity and the level of diffusion in nerve fibers rather just the direction of diffusion. Compared to previous studies investigating the correlation between duration of epilepsy and white matter integrity in mTLE patients, we detected broader and somewhat different associations in midline structures and component of limbic system. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are required to elucidate previous and current results

Droplet-based microfluidics in biomedical applications.

Droplet-based microfluidic systems have been employed to manipulate discrete fluid volumes with immiscible phases. Creating the fluid droplets at microscale has led to a paradigm shift in mixing, sorting, encapsulation, sensing, and designing high throughput devices for biomedical applications. Droplet microfluidics has opened many opportunities in microparticle synthesis, molecular detection, diagnostics, drug delivery, and cell biology. In the present review, we first introduce standard methods for droplet generation (i.e. passive and active methods) and discuss the latest examples of emulsification and particle synthesis approaches enabled by microfluidic platforms. Then, the applications of droplet-based microfluidics in different biomedical applications are detailed. Finally, a general overview of the latest trends along with the perspectives and future potentials in the field are provided