Frequency of Prevalence of Klebsiella pneumoniae in Clinical Samples and the Evaluation of the Role of Efflux Pump in Determining Antibiotic Resistance

In this study 193 Klebsiella pneumoniae were isolated from urinary tract infections, ulcers, sputum and blood. Initially, Mac agar medium was used to isolate the bacterium, and for each suspected isolate, pink and aqueous colonies were stained and biochemical tests of catalase, oxidase, TSI, IMVIC Test and urase were performed. Confirmation of the isolates using 16SrRNA sequencing Some isolates are evaluated. Then all isolates evaluated for sensitivity to antibiotics such as Ampicillin, Amoxicillin clavulanate, Piperacillin, Cefoxitin, Cefuroxime Imipenem, Tetracyclines, Nitrofurantoin, Polymyxin B Colistin, they use disk diffusion test. In the process, the presence of the acr efflux pump gene is confirmed by using an specific primer namely Acr primer, and finally, using phenylalaninearginine- beta naphthylamide inhibitor, the relationship between antibiotic resistance and efflux pump function is evaluated. Overall, 50.2% of the collected samples contained Klebsiella. Thus, 193 of 384 clinical specimens contained Klebsiella. Of the 193 positive samples, the groin lesions had the highest percentage and the abscess had lowest percentage of Klebsiella infection, although Klebsiella was significantly separated from the throat, sputum, catheter and foley. Antibiotics, cefazolin, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, Chloramphenicol, tetracycline had higher antibacterial activity. Results were analyzed by Whonet 5 and SPSS software

Identifying the Content Production Risk Components in Digital Libraries: A Qualitative Study

Risk management is a preventive activity that identifies project risks and technical and non-technical problems for key managers and stakeholders by identifying project risks. The introduction of new digital forms of information not only has created rich and extraordinary opportunities for libraries to expand community access to information and create a positive relationship between libraries and users but poses some degree of risk. The present study employs a qualitative research approach with The Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM). For data collection, a researcher-made questionnaire was used to identify the risks of content production in digital libraries. The FDM was employed for complete analysis using 20 IT experts on a 5-point Likert scale. The study identified 61 sub-components under nine main content production risk components: human, environmental, infrastructure, conservation and maintenance, technical, copyright, integration, evaluations of resource content, and information security risks. The present study addresses the content production risk components so that authorities can assist in planning and decision-making to prevent and resolve content production issues in digital libraries. https://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.20088302.2022.20.1.4.

Effect of Spirulina and Brown Algae and Lead Levels on some Morphophysiological Characteristics of Ornamental Cabbage

Introdaction  Heavy metals are one of the most important environmental contaminants, particularly in soil and water sources. Mining and metal mining activities are major factors in soil contamination and generally surface soil around mines contain high amounts of these metals. Lead (Pb) is one of the heavy metals and important pollutant in arid ecosystem. The use of plants to remove contaminated soil or phytoremediation is an economical method. Today, due to increasing the pollution of soil sources and resultant problems, identification of the resistant plant species against soil pollution is essential. Using lead-contaminated soils requires their decontamination and improvement. There are different methods to remove these pollutions, one of them is the use of phytoremediation to remove pollutants from water and soil or to reduce them. Among the plants that as an ornamental plant can have a covering role in the green space and also perform the work of phytoremediation is the ornamental cabbage plants (Brassica oleracea L.). In this regard, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of lead heavy metals and the use of brown algae (Polycladia indica) and spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) as biofertilizers on ornamental cabbage plants in the direction of plant treatment. In addition, due to the presence of polysaccharide compounds such as carrageenan and alginate in the cell wall, algae (seaweeds) have a higher ability to absorb many heavy metals. Materials and Methods  The experiment was conducted as factorial based on a completely randomized design in 2020 at the research greenhouse of Zanjan University. The studied factors including lead from lead nitrate source Pb(No3)2 with three concentrations (0, 25 and 50 mg/kg) were applied to the potting soil in four replications in two stages with an interval of two weeks. The second factor was included no algae, brown algae (Polycladia indica) and spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), which occurred in four replications. The measured traits included morphological traits: number of leaves, leaf surface index. Wet and dry root weight, and physiological traits included total chlorophyll content, total leaf antioxidant, peroxidase enzyme, glycine betaine, malondialdehyde, and leaf lead and phosphorus content. Data analysis was performed using SAS software and means were compared by LSD method. Results  The results of the variance analysis showed that different levels of lead and the application of algae had a significant effect on the number of leaves per plant, leaf area index, weight, and drying of roots, total chlorophyll, and antioxidants. Moreover, the interaction effect was significant for leaf area, root fresh and dry weight, antioxidants, and leaf lead content. The simple effect of lead at p≤0.01 significantly affected glycine betaine, malondialdehyde, and leaf phosphorus. When comparing the average mutual effects of lead and algae application, it was found that the treatment with no use of lead and spirulina algae resulted in the highest weight and dry weight of the root, with an average of 11.19 and 3.625 grams, respectively. Additionally, despite the decrease in dry weight of the root due to increased lead concentration, using algae, especially for ornamental cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.), increased the dry weight of the root. The presence of natural plant hormones, organic substances, carbohydrates, fiber and amino acids in algae accelerates rooting, reduces stress caused by heavy metals and absorbs more water due to the presence of o developed root system. Also according to the results of comparing the amount of leaf lead with increasing lead, algae as an auxiliary factor can reduce the amount of uptake in the plant. Leaf phosphorus was also significant due to the simple effect of lead and algae. The highest amount of phosphorus with an average of 0.56% was observed in spirulina and the lowest with 0.48% was observed in control. Conclusion  In general, due to the toxicity of lead metal even in low concentrations, sufficient attention should be paid to the sources of this pollutant entering the environment. In this study, the effective parameters on the uptake of heavy metal lead from the soil by spirulina and brown algae were investigated. The findings of this study indicate that the ornamental cabbage plant is capable of sustaining its growth in the presence of lead and has a high resistance to this heavy metal while simultaneously absorbing it from the soil. Furthermore, the addition of algae as an auxiliary factor can improve the growth of ornamental cabbage under adverse conditions. Therefore, it is recommended that this plant be further examined for its potential to absorb other heavy metals

The relationship between ultra processed food consumption and premature coronary artery disease: Iran premature coronary artery disease study (IPAD)

BackgroundUltra-processed foods (UPF) consumption may affect the risk of PCAD through affecting cardio metabolic risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate the association between UPFs consumption and premature coronary artery disease (PCAD).MethodsA case–control study was conducted on 2,354 Iranian adults (≥ 19 years). Dietary intake was assessed using a validated 110-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and foods were classified based on the NOVA system, which groups all foods according to the nature, extent and purposes of the industrial processes they undergo. PCAD was defined as having an stenosis of at least single coronary artery equal and above 75% or left main coronary of equal or more than 50% in women less than 70 and men less than 60 years, determined by angiography. The odds of PCAD across the tertiles of UPFs consumption were assessed by binary logistic regression.ResultsAfter adjustment for potential confounders, participants in the top tertile of UPFs were twice as likely to have PCAD compared with those in the bottom tertile (OR: 2.52; 95% CI: 1.97–3.23). Moreover, those in the highest tertile of the UPFs consumption had more than two times higher risk for having severe PCAD than those in the first tertile (OR: 2.64; 95% CI: 2.16–3.22). In addition, there was a significant upward trend in PCAD risk and PCAD severity as tertiles increased (P-trend < 0.001 for all models).ConclusionHigher consumption of UPFs was related to increased risk of PCAD and higher chance of having severe PCAD in Iranian adults. Although, future cohort studies are needed to confirm the results of this study, these findings indicated the necessity of reducing UPFs intake

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Allelopathic Effect of Yarrow (Achilla wilhelmsii) and Habek Mint (Mentha longifolia) on Seed Germination Indices of Plantain (Plantago major)

In recent years the use of allopathic effects on weed management seems to have attracted many professionals. In order to investigate the effect of aqueous extracts of Yarrow (Achilla wilhelmsii L.) and Habek mint (Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds) medicinal plant on germination indices of plantain, two experiments were conducted in completely randomized design with three replications in 2014 in the laboratory of seed technology of Yasouj university. Treatments consisted of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% concentrations of aqueous extract of Yarrow and Habek mint aerial parts. The results showed that the extract of Yarrow and Habek mint aerial parts on germination percentage, root and shoot length, root and shoot fresh and dry weight and seed vigor was significant. The maximum percentage and rate of germination have belonged to the control treatment (distilled water) and by decreasing the aqueous extract concentrations of each plant, the percentage and rate of germination increased. The minimum percentage and rate of germination have belonged to 100% concentration of aqueous extract that had no significant difference by 75% concentration. Finally, these results showed allelopathic effects of aqueous extract aerial parts of Yarrow and Habek mint, as a bio-herbicide on growth and germination of plantain

Bioremediation of Soils Polluted with Phenanthrene and Anthracene Using Ground Treatment Method and Chicken Manure as a Cosubstrate

Introduction: Bioremediation convertssoils pollutants to safe and non-toxic substance through metabolic activities of microorganisms. This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of bacteria on removal of phenanthrene and anthracene from polluted soils using chicken manure as an auxiliary substrate. Materials and Methods: First, uniformly-graded soils were transferred to the pilots, then activated sludge and chicken manure were added and mixed with the soilin specific ratios of 2:1 and 1: 1. Thereafter, phenanthrene and anthracene were manually added to the soil of each pilotat a rate of 12 mg/kg of soil. Anthracene and phenanthrene were measured using HPLC. Results: The results showed that in control pilots (without chicken manure and sludge), the removal percentage of pollutants (phenanthrene + anthracene) was 15%. Nevertheless, when chicken manure and chicken manure + sludge were used, the removal percentageincreased to 80 and 84%, respectively. Control pilots showed the lowest percentage of COD removal and varied from approximately 7 to 10%. Although the percentage of COD removal was approximately 80%, with the addition of chicken manure + sludge, COD removal rate reached 90% (the highest removal percentage). Conclusion: The use of chicken manure as a cosubstratecanbe considered as an appropriate alternative for increasing the efficiency of bioremediation of oil compounds in soil

pH/redox responsive size‐switchable intelligent nanovehicle for tumor microenvironment targeted DOX release

Abstract Tumor microenvironment (TME) targeted strategy could control the drug release in tumor cells more accurately and creates a new opportunity for enhanced site-specific targeted delivery. In this study, (PAA-b-PCL-S-S-PCL-b-PAA) copolymeric nanoparticles (NPs) with size-switchable ability and dual pH/redox-triggered drug release behavior were designed to significantly promote cancer uptake (cell internalization of around 100% at 30 min) and site-specific targeted doxorubicin (DOX) delivery in MDA-MB-231 tumor cells. NPs surface charge was shifted from − 17.8 to − 2.4 and their size shrunk from 170.3 to 93 nm in TME. The cell cycle results showed that DOX-loaded NPs showed G2/M (68%) arrest, while free DOX showed sub-G1 arrest (22%). Apoptosis tests confirmed that the cells treated with DOX-loaded NPs showed a higher amount of apoptosis (71.6%) than the free DOX (49.8%). Western blot and RT-PCR assays revealed that the apoptotic genes and protein levels were significantly upregulated using the DOX-loaded NPs vs. the free DOX (P value < 0.001). In conclusion, dual pH/redox-responsive and size-switchable DOX-loaded NPs developed here showed outstanding anti-tumoral features compared with free DOX that might present a prospective platform for tumor site-specific accumulation and drug release that suggest further in vivo research

The comparison of the therapeutic effect of ischemic compression on upper trapezius trigger points in neutral and passive stretched positions in computer's operators

Introduction: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is thought by some authors to be the main cause of neck and shoulder pain. MPS is characterized by myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). The aim of this study was to compare effects of ischemic compression (IC) in stretched & neutral position on the trigger points of trapezius muscle. Materials & Methods: Sixty computer’s operators with upper trapezius MTrP participated in this study. Subjects were divided randomly in two groups. Group1 that was treated with the IC in stretched position and group 2 that was treated with IC in neutral position of upper trapezius muscle. The local pain intensity , degree of active cervical lateral flexion ROM  and pain pressure threshold (PPT) were measured before intervention. Outcome measures were repeated within 5min and 3days after treatment. Statistical methods were kolmogorov-smirnov test, repeated measures ANOVA, independent T-test and Chi-square test. Results: The results showed a significant improvement in PPT, active cervical lateral flexion ROM and a significant decrease in the local pain intensity within each group. There was no significant difference between two groups. Conclusion: IC technique in stretched & neutral position was shown to be effective in increasing active cervical lateral flexion ROM, PPT and reducing pain intensity. IC technique in stretched position was more effective but difference between groups was not significant statistically. Key words: ischemic compression, stretching, trigger point, upper trapezius muscl