Antioxidant Activity and Flavonoid Content of Matricaria Chamomilla Extracts from Different Populations of Iran

Matricaria chamomilla is a valuable medicinal plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. Its medicinal and pharmaceutical impacts are correlated to major flavonoid compounds like apigenin. In this investigation, methanolic extracts of M. chamomilla inflorescence gathered from six natural populations were evaluated for their phytochemical content and antioxidant activity. The content of total flavonoid and phenol modified from 3.72 to 7.94 mg g-1 DW and 1.37 to 3.51 mg g-1 DW, respectively. Flavonoid compositions revealed significant differences among six populations, and the highest apigenin (1.27 % (w/w)) and apigenin-7-glucoside (0.86 %(w/w)) contents were recognized in MD populations, respectively. Both PCA and Pearson's correlation analyses revealed total phenol, flavonoid, apigenin and apigenin-7-glucoside were negatively correlated with the IC50 of DPPH activity and EC50 of reducing power. Altitude and precipitation indicated the positive and negative effects on phytochemical contents, respectively. These results can provide a theoretical basis for getting the targeted antioxidant phytochemicals of M. chamomilla for pharmaceutical and food industries, and also give a science for selection of the best population for cell culture and secondary metabolite production in future

Secondary Piggyback Intraocular Lens for Management of Residual Ametropia after Cataract Surgery

Purpose: To investigate the indications, clinical outcomes, and complications of secondary piggyback intraocular lens (IOL) implantation for correcting residual refractive error after cataract surgery. Methods: In this prospective interventional case series, patients who had residual refractive error after cataract surgery and were candidates for secondary piggyback IOL implantation between June 2015 and September 2018 were included. All eyes underwent secondary IOL implantation with the piggyback technique in the ciliary sulcus. The types of IOLs included Sulcoflex and three-piece foldable acrylic lenses. Patients were followed-up for at least one year. Results: Eleven patients were included. Seven patients had hyperopic ametropia, and four patients had residual myopia after cataract surgery. The preoperative mean of absolute residual refractive error was 7.20 ± 7.92, which reached 0.42 ± 1.26 postoperatively (P < 0.001). The postoperative spherical equivalent was within ±1 diopter of target refraction in all patients. The average preoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity was 1.13 ± 0.35 LogMAR, which significantly improved to 0.41 ± 0.24 LogMAR postoperatively (P = 0.008). There were no intraor postoperative complications during the 22.4 ± 9.5 months of follow-up. Conclusion: Secondary piggyback IOL implantation is an effective and safe technique for the correction of residual ametropia following cataract surgery. Three-piece IOLs can be safely placed as secondary piggyback IOLs in situations where specifically designed IOLs are not available

Influence of Near Vision Tasks on Intraocular Pressure in Normal Subjects and Glaucoma Patients

Purpose: To investigate the effect of static accommodative tasks on intraocular pressure (IOP) of glaucomatous and normal eyes. Methods: Four groups of subjects categorized as primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), primary angle-closure suspects (PACS), normal age-matched controls, and normal young adults (NYA; age <40 years) were enrolled. The baseline IOPs were measured after the subjects were looking at a distant target for 15 min. Static accommodation was obtained by execution of near vision tasks (reading at 33 cm in daylight [300 lux] for 60 min). IOPs were measured at 15, 30, 45, and 60 min intervals while accommodating and then measured again after 15 min of relaxing accommodation while looking at a distant target. Results: One-hundred and eighteen eyes of 98 subjects were recruited. The study groups consisted of the following categories: 25 POAG (46 eyes), 24 PACS (47 eyes), 25 matched controls (50 eyes), and 24 NYA (48 eyes). Within all groups, the mean IOP decreased throughout the accommodation period at all time points. Maximum IOP reduction after accommodation was detected at the 30-min time among the POAG subjects, at the 45-min time in the PACS and matched control groups, and at 15 min after the relaxation of accommodation in the NYA group. IOP reduction levels showed no statistically significant difference among POAG, PACS, and the normal matched groups in their response to accommodation. However, NYA had significantly lower IOP and greater IOP reduction after the resting period (relaxation of accommodation). Conclusion: Static accommodative tasks can significantly reduce IOP in normal, POAG, and PACS individuals. Encouraging glaucoma patients to practice periodical near vision tasks could be viewed as an adjunctive measure for glaucoma management

Predicting Preferential Flow and Mitigating Agrochemicals in the Vadose Zone

Nutrients and herbicides leach through drainage tiles to water bodies and degrade their quality. Denitrifying bioreactors reduce the nitrate from these tiles. In this dissertation, the removal of nitrate and atrazine by the denitrifying bioreactors is explored. Additionally, the preferential transport of herbicides in structured soils is examined and simulated. In a 3-year field study, nitrate removal was examined in six bioreactors at three field locations. On average, bioreactors removed 50% of the nitrate. In each site, there was a critical hydraulic retention time (HRT), above which nitrate was removed entirely. Below this critical HRT, there was a linear relationship between nitrate removal and HRT, which varied with temperature and site locations. Next, removal of atrazine by the woodchip (W) and woodchip amended with 50% biochar (WB) was studied in laboratory bioreactors in four HRTs. The first-order rate of the removal of atrazine for W and WB bioreactors were 0.007/h and 0.024/h, respectively. On average, biochar amendment increased atrazine removal by 40%. We determined that removal of atrazine was abiotic and hydroxyatrazine was the main degradation product in the anaerobic bioreactors. In addition, we investigated the effect of biochar on the removal of nitrate by the woodchip bioreactors with 0%, 12.5%, 25%, and 50% biochar amendment. We measured nitrate, nitrite, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide and found that biochar, exposed to atmospheric oxygen, reduced nitrate removal by 9 to 13% while increasing carbon dioxide production. We, thus, concluded that biochar acted as an electron acceptor. Lastly, we tested a parameter efficient preferential flow model (PFM) to estimate the breakthrough of atrazine and 2,4-D in structured soils and compared it with field measurements from multiple samplers. The PFM divides soil profile to the top distribution zone which delivered the chemicals to the conveyance zone below, where several flow paths exist. Using chloride tracer, we estimated hydrological parameters of PEM. Then, by including adsorption and degradation rates, PFM successfully simulated the preferential flow of herbicides with R2 varying from 0.59 to 0.99

Comparison of Proliferative and Multilineage Differentiation Potential of Sheep Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Bone Marrow, Liver, and Adipose Tissue

Abstract Background: Despite major progress in our general knowledge related to the application of adult stem cells, finding alternative sources for bone marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) has remained to be challenged. In this study successful isolation, multilineage differentiation, and proliferation potentials of sheep MSCs derived from bone marrow, adipose tissue, and liver were widely investigated. Methods: The primary cell cultures were prepared form tissue samples obtained from sheep 30-35 day fetus. Passage-3 cells were plated either at varying cell densities or different serum concentrations for a week. The Population Doubling Time (PDT), growth curves, and Colony Forming Unit (CFU) of MSCs was determined. The stemness and trilineage differentiation potential of MSCs were analyzed by using molecullar and cytochemical staining approaches. The data was analyzed through one way ANOVA using SigmaStat (ver. 2). Results: The highest PDT and lowest CFU were observed in adipose tissue group compared with other groups (p<0.001). Comparing different serum concentrations (5, 10, 15, and 20%), irrespective of cell sources, the highest proliferation rate was achieved in the presence of 20% serum (p<0.001). Additionally, there was an inverse relation between cell seeding density at culture initiation and proliferation rate, except for L-MSC at 300 cell seeding density. Conclusion: All three sources of fetal sheep MSCs had the identical trilineage differentiation potential. The proliferative capacity of liver and bone marrow derived MSCs were similar at different cell seeding densities except for th

Choroidal structure investigated by choroidal vascularity index in patients with inherited retinal diseases

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the choroidal structure in patients with inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) by investigating the choroidal vascularity index (CVI). Methods The present study was conducted on 113 IRD patients and 113 sex- and age-matched healthy individuals. Patients’ data was extracted from the Iranian National Registry for IRDs (IRDReg®). Total choroidal area (TCA) was determined between retinal pigment epithelium and choroid-scleral junction,1500 microns on either side of the fovea. Luminal area (LA) was considered as the black area corresponding to the choroidal vascular spaces, following Niblack binarization. CVI was calculated as the ratio of the LA to the TCA. CVI and other parameters were compared among different types of IRD and the control group. Results The IRD diagnosis included retinitis pigmentosa (n = 69), cone-rod dystrophy (n = 15), Usher syndrome (n = 15), Leber congenital amaurosis (n = 9), and Stargardt disease (n = 5). Sixty-one (54.0%) individuals of each of the study and control groups were male. The average CVI was 0.65 ± 0.06 in the IRD patients and 0.70 ± 0.06 in the control group (P < 0.001). Accordingly, the average of TCA and LA were 2.32 ± 0.63 and 1.52 ± 0.44 mm [1] in patients with IRDs, respectively. The measurements for the TCA and the LA were significantly lower in all subtypes of IRD (P-values < 0.05). Conclusion CVI is significantly lower in patients with IRD than in healthy age-matched individuals. Choroidal changes in IRDs may be related to the changes in the lumen of the choroidal vessels rather than the stromal changes

Can pore-clogging by ash explain post-fire runoff?

Ash plays an important role in controlling runoff and erosion processes after wildfire and has frequently been hypothesised to clog soil pores and reduce infiltration. Yet evidence for clogging is incomplete, as research has focussed on identifying the presence of ash in soil; the actual flow processes remain unknown. We conducted laboratory infiltration experiments coupled with microscope observations in pure sands, saturated hydraulic conductivity analysis, and interaction energy calculations, to test whether ash can clog pores (i.e. block pores such that infiltration is hampered and ponding occurs). Although results confirmed previous observations of ash washing into pores, clogging was not observed in the pure sands tested, nor were conditions found for which this does occur. Clogging by means of strong attachment of ash to sand was deemed unlikely given the negative surface charge of the two materials. Ponding due to washing in of ash was also considered improbable given the high saturated conductivity of pure ash and ash-sand mixtures. This first mechanistic step towards analysing ash transport and attachment processes in field soils therefore suggests that pore clogging by ash is unlikely to occur in sands. Discussion is provided on other mechanisms by which ash can affect post-fire hydrology. Journal compilatio

The effect of FTO gene rs9939609 polymorphism on the association between colorectal cancer and different types of dietary fat intake: a case-control study

Abstract Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in the world. Some dietary factors such as fat intake have been identified as the risk factors for CRC. This study aimed to investigate the effect of fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene rs9939609 polymorphism on the association between CRC and different types of dietary fats. Methods This case-control study was performed on 135 CRC cases and 294 healthy controls in Tehran, Iran. Data on demographic factors, anthropometric measurements, physical activity, the intake of different types of dietary fats, and FTO gene rs9939609 polymorphism was collected from all participants. The association between cancer and dietary fat intake in individuals with different FTO genotypes was assessed using different models of logistic regression. Results Oleic acid intake was higher in the case group compared to the control group in both people with TT (7.2±3.46 vs. 5.83±3.06 g/d, P=0.02) and AA/AT genotypes (8.7±6.23 vs. 5.57 ±3.2 g/d, P<0.001). Among carriers of AA/AT genotypes of FTO rs9939609 polymorphism, a positive association was found between CRC and higher intakes of oleic acid (OR=1.12, CI95% 1.03–1.21, P=0.01) and cholesterol (OR=1.01, CI95% 1.00–1.02; P=0.01) after adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, alcohol use, smoking, calorie intake, and body mass index. Conclusion Higher intakes of cholesterol and oleic acid were associated with a higher risk of CRC in FTO-risk allele carriers. The association of CRC and dietary fat may be influenced by the FTO genotype. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm these findings