Impact of different drying methods on the drying time, energy, and quality of green peas

The effect of seven drying methods (freeze (FD), hot air (HA), infrared (IR), microwave (MW), hot air‐infrared (HA‐IR), hot air‐microwave (HA‐MW), and sun drying (SD) methods on the drying time, the physical, qualitative and antioxidant properties, and the extraction of phenolic and flavonoid compounds in green peas was studied. Six mathematical models were also utilized to predict the moisture content of dried green peas. The results showed that the shortest and longest drying times were obtained by the HA‐MW and FD methods, respectively. For all drying methods, the Page model had the best ability in predicting the drying curve. The lowest amount of specific energy consumption was achieved by the MW method. The highest color changes and the lowest amount of shrinkage occurred in the FD method. The lowest rehydration ratio was 1.23 in the SD method. The highest pH value of 6.08 was also obtained in the SD method. The amount of antioxidant capacity changes and the total phenol and flavonoid contents varied between 42.47%–88.28%, 4.52–14.59 mg GAE/gDW, and 244.62–322.44 mg QE/gDW for different methods. The FD method was found to be the best way to preserve the product properties. It was further suggested that the HA‐MW method can be a promising technology for drying the green peas due to the relatively lower energy consumption, shorter drying time, and higher quality

Relationship between Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and Selenium Intake and Disease Severity and Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19: A Retrospective Study

Background and purpose: COVID-19 is a viral respiratory disease that results in high mortality. Evidence suggests that micronutrients affect viral and bacterial infections. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of micronutrients (vitamin D, vitamin C, and selenium) on the disease severity in patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Materials and methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out in patients with diagnosis of COVID-19 in Qaemshahr Razi Hospital, 2020. Medical records were reviewed and 42 were selected. Data of patients that received micronutrients including vitamin D, vitamin C, and selenium and those that did not receive these supplements were compared. Duration of hospitalization, respiratory support, oxygen therapy, requiring invasive/non-invasive mechanical ventilation, and incident of death were investigated. Statistical analysis was done in SPSS V25. Results: Survival rates in the groups receiving vitamin C, D, and selenium were not significantly different from the groups that did not receive these supplements (P= 0.42, 0.63, 0.084, respectively). The study showed no significant relationship between vitamin D, C, and selenium intake and the need for ventilation due to respiratory distress (P= 0.139, 0.2, and 0.8, respectively). Conclusion: No remarkable difference was seen between the recipients of vitamin C, D, and selenium and those who did not receive supplements in terms of survival and the need for mechanical ventilation. So, these supplements did not affect the clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19

Examining the effectiveness of virtual education on clinical medical teaching during COVID-19 pandemic in Razi educational hospital of Ghaemshahr

Introduction: The global health crisis caused by the COVID 19 pandemic that began in 2019 has turned higher education around the world into a challenging issue. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of virtual education on learning of medical students during COVID 19. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed with a census on 145 medical students through a standard questionnaire derived from clinical education standards. In comparison of effectiveness average, we used t-test and one-way ANOVA tests for two and three level and more respectively. All analyses were performed on STATA‌‌/16. Results: During COVID 19 pandemic, virtual education had the most effectiveness (26% variance and 7. 41% specificity) in compare to NAVID system (14% variance and 3. 99% specificity) on medical students learning. Effectiveness of virtual method (morning report, virtual conference, NAVID, text review and journal club) regarding to any level of medical students was significant (P-value=0. 002). Comparison of gender variables and educational department did not indicate any difference. With the exception that the text review domain of the internal training group obtained a lower effectiveness score than the infectious group (p-value = 0. 048). Conclusion: Based on medical students’ comments virtual journal club and NAVID had most and least effectiveness. As a result, students find new content available through up-to-date articles from reputable online and group journals with discussion and exchange more effective than a system set up offline. Therefore, it is recommended to move NAVID to online and interactive approach to make active space accessible for students

Evaluation of the Changes in Thermal, Qualitative, and Antioxidant Properties of Terebinth (Pistacia atlantica) Fruit under Different Drying Methods

This study aims to investigate the effect of different drying methods on the thermal, qualitative, and antioxidant properties and pH of terebinth. To perform the experiments in this study, the hot air (HA), infrared (IR), microwave (MW), hot air–infrared (IR–HA), and hot air–microwave drying (MW–HA) methods were considered. The results showed that the minimum drying time was obtained by the hot air–microwave (MW–HA) method. However, the lowest specific energy consumption (SEC) and the highest energy efficiency (ηe) were obtained by the MW method. Considering the color criteria, the best method was obtained by the MW–HA method. The highest amount of rehydration ratio (RR) and the lowest shrinkage (Sb) of the dried terebinth samples were obtained using the MW dryer compared with other drying methods. The MW and MW–HA methods resulted in higher contents of total phenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and antioxidant capacity (AntiOX) than other methods. According to the results of this study, the most effective drying method for terebinth was determined to be the MW and MW-HA methods

Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Some Aspects of HIV Surveillance in North of Iran

Background and purpose: COVID-19 could potentially disrupt routine care management in health systems. One of such problems is associated with HIV surveillance. The aim of this research was to study the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on HIV care indicators. Materials and methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed using data at individual and aggregate levels obtained from center for disease control and prevention in Mazandaran province affiliated with Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. We modulated upon Poisson regression for analyzing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on HIV incidence, mortality, treatment failure, hospitalization, refer to counselling center, HIV viral load (VL), and CD4 cell count monitoring.  Results: One year after COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of HIV was 0.44 per 100,000 people less compared with one year earlier (P= 0.051). CD4 counting and patients follow up at this time were 0.32 less (P< 0.001) and 1.11 more (P= 0.045) per 100,000 people, respectively compared with those before the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Current study showed that COVID-19 pandemic disrupted HIV care. It seems that despite regular follow up services provided by health center staff, coronaphobia was a huge barrier to care programs in HIV patients

The Efficacy and Safety of Adding Chlorpromazine to Atazanavir/Ritonavir Regimen in the Treatment of Moderate COVID-19 Patients, a Randomized Double-blind Clinical Trial

Background: According to COVID-19 mutation and no defined treatment, it is necessary to find effective treatment. Chlorpromazine, a phenothiazine antipsychotic drug, has been shown in animal studies to have antiviral effects by inhibiting clathrin-mediated endocytosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of adding chlorpromazine to the atazanavir/ritonavir regimen in the treatment of moderate COVID-19 patients. Methods: In this randomized double-blind clinical trial, sixty hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19 confirmed by CT findings or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were enrolled. All patients received atazanavir/ritonavir 300mg/100mg once daily. In two parallel groups, chlorpromazine 25 mg three times a day or a placebo was administered for up to 14 days. Complete blood count with differential, C-reactive protein (CRP), liver enzymes, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate was measured on days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10. The primary outcome was the improvement of oxygen saturation and the secondary outcome was the duration of hospitalization and conversion of PCR test results.  Results: Oxygen saturation during the hospitalization was not different among the two groups. The mean duration of hospitalization in the chlorpromazine group was 7.4±2.7 days and in the placebo was 8.2±3 days (P=0.2). Compared to baseline, both groups showed an increase in white blood cell count (P=0.04) and polymorphonuclear cells (P=0.04) but lymphocyte count decreased. At the end of the study, the PCR test was negative in 100% of patients in the chlorpromazine group and 95% of patients in the placebo group. Conclusion: In adult hospitalized patients with moderate symptomatic COVID-19, adding chlorpromazine to the atazanavir/ritonavir regimen did not improve outcomes

Antibiotic use during the first 6 months of COVID-19 pandemic in Iran : a large-scale multi-centre study

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Although antibiotics are ineffective against viral infections, epidemiological studies have revealed that the COVID‐19 pandemic resulted in the overuse of antibiotics and disruption of antimicrobial stewardship programmes. We investigated the pattern of antibiotic use during the first 6 months of the COVID‐19 pandemic in Iran. METHODS: A multi‐centre retrospective study was designed to investigate the use of 16 broad‐spectrum antibiotics in 12 medical centres. The rate of antibiotic use was calculated and reported based on the Defined Daily Dose (DDD) per 100 hospital bed‐days. The bacterial co‐infection rate was also reported. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Totally, 43,791 hospitalized COVID‐19 patients were recruited in this study. It was found that 121.6 DDD of antibiotics were used per 100 hospital bed‐days, which estimated that each patient received approximately 1.21 DDDs of antibiotics every day. However, the bacterial co‐infections were detected only in 14.4% of the cases. A direct correlation was observed between the rate of antibiotic use and mortality (r[142] = 0.237, p = 0.004). The rate of antibiotic consumption was not significantly different between the ICU and non‐ICU settings (p = 0.15). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: In this study, widespread antibiotic use was detected in the absence of the confirmed bacterial coinfection in COVID‐19 patients. This over‐consumption of broad‐spectrum antibiotics may be associated with increased mortality in hospitalized COVID‐19 patients, which can be an alarming finding