Epidemiological survey of patients with a carpal tunnel syndrome referred to Sina Hospital in Hamedan during 2014-2016

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common mono-neuropathy with various causes. This study aimed at evaluating the epidemiology of patients with the carpal tunnel syndrome referred to Sina Hospital in Hamedan City, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-cross sectional study, 300 patients (600 hands) suffering from paresthesia, pain and weakness of the first to third finger were studied. Diagnosis and severity of the disease was evaluated according to history, examination and electro-diagnostic studies. Afterall the data were collected. Results: This study was conducted on 230 (76.7) females and 70 (23.3) males with the mean ages of 47.3±17.4 and 49.1±20.2 years, respectively (P=0.224). Sixteen of them were left-handed and the rest were right-handed. Also, 113 of the patients had risk factors such as diabetes with the prevalence of 18.1 and hypothyroidism with 6.4 as the most common ones. The most common occupations were carpet weaving and milking with prevalence rates of 19.4 and 13.3, respectively. In electro-diagnostic findings, 57 of the patients had moderate involvement and 16.6 had severe involvement. The Phalen and Tinel test was positive in 32.2 of the patients and negative in 32.2 of the cases. There was a relationship between the severity of involvement and probability of a positive Phalen and Tinel test. Conclusion: Considering that 76 of the cases were women and among jobs, after housekeeping, carpet weaving and milking are the most common ones, paying more attention to these people and designing the proper work tools (especially carpet weaving and milking tools) as well as training of the housewives are recommended to prevent this syndrome

Effects of Thymus vulgaris and Mentha pulegium on colour, nutrients and peroxidation of meat in heat-stressed broilers

This study was designed to investigate the effects of Thymus vulgaris (thyme) and Mentha pulegium (mentha) powders on meat colour, nutrient composition and malondialdehyde (MDA) where broiler chickens were under heat stress. Two hundred one-day-old male chicks were used in a completely randomized design with four treatments and five replicates each (10 birds per replication). Treatments were the control diet, 0.5% mentha, 0.5% thyme and 0.5% mixture of the two plants. The results showed no effect of dietary supplements on thigh meat redness and yellowness. Both plant products diminished the thigh lightness significantly compared with the control. No significant differences between treatments were observed for the ash, ether extract and crude protein content of the thigh muscle. Supplementation of thyme and mentha separately or together increased the moisture of the thigh muscle significantly, compared with the control. The combination of the plant products resulted in a higher thigh pH and significantly lower malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in the thigh muscle compared with the control. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of thyme and mentha separately or in combination improved the meat quality of broiler chickens under heat stress through decreasing the MDA concentration and increasing the pH and moisture content of the thigh muscl

Effect of Dietary Sodium Nitrate Consumption on Egg Production, Egg Quality Characteristics and Some Blood Indices in Native Hens of West Azarbaijan Province

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of sodium nitrate consumption on egg quality and quantity, and some blood parameters of native breeder hens of West Azerbaijan province. One hundred native hens were used from wk 25 to 32 of age. These birds were divided into two groups. One group was fed the control diet (CD) but the other fed the same diet supplemented with 4.2 g/kg sodium nitrate (ND). After 2 wks of adaptation, eggs were collected daily and egg mass and egg production were measured weekly for five weeks. To assess the egg quality parameters, two eggs from each replicate pen were collected for three consecutive days each week. At the end of experimental period (wk 32 of age), blood samples of 5 birds per replicate were collected from the wing vein into anticoagulant tubes. Dietary sodium nitrate didn’t affect the egg production, shell stiffness, shell thickness and Haugh unit (p>0.05) but it decreased the both egg production and egg mass during the last three weeks (wks 30, 31 and 32) (p0.05). No effect of time or treatment×time were observed for shell stiffness (p>0.05). Over time, shell thickness was decreased while Haugh unit increased (p0.05). Sodium nitrite decreased both the TAC and TC at wk 32 of age (p<0.001). It was concluded that the lower body antioxidant capacity of nitrate fed birds resulted in the lower performance (egg weight, egg production and egg mass)

Short communication. Dietary supplementation effects of zinc acetate and magnesium sulfate on performance and antioxidant status of broilers under continuous heat stress

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different dietary levels of zinc acetate (Zn; 0, 30 and 60 mg kg�1) and of magnesium sulphate (Mg; 0, 300 and 600 mg kg�1) on performance and blood antioxidant status of broilers under continuous heat stress. For this purpose, four hundred and fifty one-day-old male chicks were used in a 3 × 3 factorial experiment from day 1 to day 42 of age. The inclusion of 30 mg Zn kg�1 increased the body weight gain and the average feed intake and declined the feed conversion ratio (FCR). Although there were no differences between the treatments for FCR, the supplementation with 30 and 60 mg Zn kg�1 decreased the FCR regardless the Mg level. The dietary supplementation with 30 mg Zn kg�1 decreased both blood glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities regardless the Mg level. In addition, neither Zn nor Mg influenced the blood total antioxidant capacity content at the end of the experiment. Blood malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased as dietary Zn supplementation increased. The MDA reduction when diet was supplemented with Zn was not obvious at higher Mg level (interaction Zn × Mg, p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary addition of Mg does not significantly influence either the performance or the antioxidant status of broiler at 42 d of age under heat stress but supplementation of 30 mg Zn kg�1 decrease the blood MDA concentration and improves the performance

Dietary Rhus coriaria L. powder reduces the blood cholesterol, VLDL-c and glucose, but increases abdominal fat in broilers

In an experiment, 200 one-day-old broiler chickens (Ross 308) were used to investigate the effects of sumac fruit (Rhus coriaria L.) powder (SFP) on performance, plasma concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL-c), low density lipoprotein (LDL-c), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-c) and plasma fasting blood sugar (FBS), as well as proportional abdominal fat. The chicks were divided into four treatment groups with 5 replicates and 10 birds in each. The birds were fed the basal diet (Z-SFP) or diets supplemented with 2.5 g SFP (L-SFP), 5 g SFP (M-SFP) and 10 g SFP (H-SFP) per kg diet. During the whole experimental period the H-SFP birds had a higher feed intake than the Z-SFP and L-SFP birds, though the H-SFP birds had higher feed conversion ratio compared with birds in the other treatments. No significant differences for body weight gain were recorded between the treatments. The M-SFP and H-SFP birds had lower plasma TC and VLDL-c concentrations than the Z-SFP and L-SFP birds. No significant differences between the treatments were indicated for plasma TG, HDL-c and LDL-c concentrations. Moreover the plasma FBS concentration of the H-SFP birds was lower than the birds in treatments Z-SFP and L-SFP, but no significant differences were observed between the other treatments. Furthermore, significant negative correlations were found between SFP supplementation and plasma TC, VLDL-c and FBS concentrations and a significant positive correlation between SFP supplementation and abdominal fat weight. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of SFP reduces the blood TC, VLDL-c and FBS concentrations, which can be related to decreased activity of HMG-CoA reductase and α-amylase activities. The higher abdominal fat weight of the SFP-fed birds is possibly related to changes of energy storage towards fat deposition.Keywords: Fasting blood sugar, feed conversion ratio, feed intake, performance, sumac frui

Effects of Cinnamon (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum) and Turmeric (Curcuma ‎Longa) Powder on Performance, Enzyme Activity, and Blood Parameters of Broiler Chickens Under Heat Stress

The effect of cinnamon and turmeric powders on performance, and blood parameters of broiler chickens under heat stress were investigated. 200 one-day-old male chicks (Ross 308) were used in a completely randomized design with four treatments and five replicates with 10 birds in each replicate. All birds were treated with heat stress (32οC) and were either fed no any supplement (control), or 0.5% turmeric, 0.5% cinnamon, and a blend of cinnamon and turmeric (0.25% each) when they were 25 to 42 days of age. We found that supplementation of turmeric, cinnamon, and their combination increased feed intake and body weight gain compared to control birds (P < 0.05). Blood uric acid concentration and lactate dehydrogenase activities decreased in the supplemented diets ‎ (P < 0.05). Blood malondialdehyde also decreased in all diets, but had the most striking reduction in the diets containing both turmeric and cinnamon (P < 0.05)‎. Blood aspartate aminotransferase, urea, and creatinine were not affected by the dietary treatments. Similarly, blood sodium, potassium, chlorine, hematocrit and rectal temperature were unchanged by the supplements (P > 0.05). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of cinnamon and turmeric either alone or together improve the performance of broiler chickens under heat stress by reducing lipid peroxidation

Structural analysis modeling of participatory stakeholder management for green space improvement: evidence from Tehran Metropolis

Abstract Encouraging stakeholder participation is now considered an appropriate approach to green space improvement. The main question is how to have people participate in the improvement process. This study aims to propose a participatory stakeholder management model of green space improvement in Tehran Metropolis. Therefore, 190 of Tehran Municipality’s green space experts were selected as the statistical population for in-person and field interviews. The dependent research variable was defined as the green space improvement measured in four dimensions (i.e., green space planning, green space designing, green space implementation, and green space maintenance). However, the independent variable included the aspects of participatory management (i.e., participation in goal-setting, participation in decision-making, participation in organizational change, participation in problem-solving, and organizational culture). The results indicated that only organizational culture and participation in organizational change explained nearly 96% of participatory management variations and improved 67% of the green space