A Case Report of Topiramate-induced Acute Myopia

Acute myopia following use of some drugs is a relatively rare condition. Topiramate prescribed for seizure prophylaxis is one of these drugs. In this paper a case of acute transient myopia after taking topiramate is reported. The reported patient is a 28-year old woman who had no history of any eye disease. Following consumption of topiramate pill for one week, she had found blurred vision since one day prior to the admission. A complete ocular examinations revealed acute bilateral myopia. This disease was resolved about 48 hours after discontinuation of topiromate. Due to the wide spectrum of indications for the administration of Topiramate, neurologists and psychiatrists should be aware of its ocular side effects. In conclusion, ocular complications following this drug should be taken seriously and be subjected to ophthalmic counsaltation. Keywords: Topiramate, Myopia, Drug side effect

Antiglycation Activity of Otostegia persica (Burm.) Boiss

Diabetes mellitus is a common endocrine disorder characterized by hyperglycemia and long-term complications affecting the eyes, nerves, blood vessels, skin and kidneys. Increased glycation of proteins and accumulation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEPs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Glycation and AGEP formation are also accompanied by the formation of free radicals via autoxidation of glucose and glycated proteins. Compounds with combined antiglycation and antioxidant properties may offer therapeutic potential. Since the antioxidant activity of different extracts and fractions of aerial parts of Otostegia persica has been evaluated and this plant is used as an antidiabetic agent in Iranian traditional medicine, we evaluated the antiglycation activity of this species. Here, we report the isolation of known compound 3´, 7-dihydroxy-4´,6,8-trimethoxy-flavone for the antiglycation properties of this plant

Factors Affecting Minor Psychiatric Disorder in Southern Iranian Nurses: A Latent Class Regression Analysis

Background: Mental health is one of the most important dimensions of life and its quality. Minor Psychiatric Disorder as a type of mental health problem is prevalent among health workers. Nursing is considered to be one of the most stressful occupations. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of minor psychiatric disorder and its associated factors among nurses in southern Iran. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 771 nurses working in 20 cities of Bushehr and Fars provinces in southern Iran. Participants were recruited through multi-stage sampling during 2014. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used for screening of minor psychiatric disorder in nurses. Latent Class Regression was used to analyze the data. Results: The prevalence of minor psychiatric disorder among nurses was estimated to be 27.5%. Gender and sleep disorders were significant factors in determining the level of minor psychiatric disorder (P Values of 0.04 and < 0.001, respectively). Female nurses were 20% more likely than males to be classified into the minor psychiatric disorder group. Conclusions: The results of this study provide information about the prevalence of minor psychiatric disorder among nurses, and factors, which affect the prevalence of such disorders. These findings can be used in strategic planning processes to improve nurses’ mental health

Program ROCMAS: introduction and user's guide

This model is for the study of coupled fluid flow and stress in deformable fractured rock masses. The effective mass theory of Biot is used to relate the pressure changes with the displacements of the rock matrix. The deformation of the fracture surfaces in turn affects the fracture flow through the sensitive dependence of permeability on aperture. The code combines techniques of fluid flow modeling and stress-strain analysis. The model is based on general theory which is of fundamental interest and practical importance. The code has the capability of handling a range of complex problems in fluid flow, induced rock mass deformation and soil consolidation. Further developments to couple the fluid flow with heat transfer, or to incorporate dynamic stress analysis, can increase the range of applicability. More extensive application of the code is called for

Predictive ability of genome-assisted statistical models under various forms of gene action

Recent work has suggested that the performance of prediction models for complex traits may depend on the architecture of the target traits. Here we compared several prediction models with respect to their ability of predicting phenotypes under various statistical architectures of gene action: (1) purely additive, (2) additive and dominance, (3) additive, dominance, and two-locus epistasis, and (4) purely epistatic settings. Simulation and a real chicken dataset were used. Fourteen prediction models were compared: BayesA, BayesB, BayesC, Bayesian LASSO, Bayesian ridge regression, elastic net, genomic best linear unbiased prediction, a Gaussian process, LASSO, random forests, reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces regression, ridge regression (best linear unbiased prediction), relevance vector machines, and support vector machines. When the trait was under additive gene action, the parametric prediction models outperformed non-parametric ones. Conversely, when the trait was under epistatic gene action, the non-parametric prediction models provided more accurate predictions. Thus, prediction models must be selected according to the most probably underlying architecture of traits. In the chicken dataset examined, most models had similar prediction performance. Our results corroborate the view that there is no universally best prediction models, and that the development of robust prediction models is an important research objective

Green Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles as Potent Antifungal Agent against Aspergillus terreus Thom

Medicinal plants are composed of a rich pool of biomolecules and have been increasingly recognized for their antimicrobial properties; however, increasing concerns have been put on the bioavailability features. Thus, this study is aimed at exploring the synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles synthesized by Chenopodium album L. leaf extract and assessing the antifungal activity against Aspergillus terreus Thom. Plant extract was prepared in methanol to synthetize silver nanoparticles, which were then characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), UV-Visible spectroscopy, and particle size analysis. UV-Visible analysis indicated maximum absorption at 378 nm, and an average particle size was observed as 25.6 nm. Oval to hexagonal shape was observed by SEM. Antifungal activity of silver nanoparticles (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5%) was addressed against A. terreus biomass. At 3.5%, silver nanoparticles revealed to be highly effective, leading to 92% retardation in fungus growth. In next phase, various organic fractions, viz., chloroform, n-butanol, n-hexane, and ethyl acetate, were obtained from plant methanol extract, and the corresponding silver nanoparticles were prepared. These fractions were also assessed for antifungal activity, and n-hexane fraction led to 64% inhibition in A. terreus biomass. Following gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 18 compounds were identified, namely, 1,3-cyclopentadiene-5-(1 methylethylidene and o-xylene), ethyl benzene, octadecane, nonane, decane, 2-methylheptane, n-hexadecane, 2-methylheptane, and eicosane, along with carbonyl compounds (4,4-dimethyl-3-hexanone) and phenols, like stearic acid, propionic acid hydrazide, and 2,4-di-T-butylphenol. These findings proved that C. album silver nanoparticles are highly effective against A. terreus.N.C.-M. acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Horizon 2020 Program (PTDC/PSI-GER/28076/2017)

Antibacterial activity of some Lamiaceae species against Staphylococcus aureus in yoghurt-based drink (Doogh)

Doogh is a dairy drinkable fermented product, whose shelf-life and quality is mostly affected by bacteria such as Staphylococcus spp. This study investigated the antibacterial activity of essential oils (EOs) from Thymus vulgaris L., Mentha piperita L. and Ziziphora tenuior L., alone or in combination, against Staphylococcus aureus in industrial doogh. A three-level and three-variable face centered central composite design experiment was used. Results showed that EOs significantly inhibited S. aureus growth after 1 and 7 days of storage. According to the model, the maximum inhibition was obtained in the presence of 0.2% of EO, independently of the type, and no synergistic or additive effects were observed. Slightly lower S. aureus survivals were observed at the maximum concentration of Z. tenuior EO. In spite of the antimicrobial activity of these EOs, further research is needed to assess their performance in food matrix and, in particular, in dairy product

Medicinal plants used in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus

Since the beginning of the epidemic, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected around 70 million people worldwide, most of whom reside is sub-Saharan Africa. There have been very promising developments in the treatment of HIV with anti-retroviral drug cocktails. However, drug resistance to anti-HIV drugs is emerging, and many people infected with HIV have adverse reactions or do not have ready access to currently available HIV chemotherapies. Thus, there is a need to discover new anti-HIV agents to supplement our current arsenal of anti-HIV drugs and to provide therapeutic options for populations with limited resources or access to currently efficacious chemotherapies. Plant-derived natural products continue to serve as a reservoir for the discovery of new medicines, including anti-HIV agents. This review presents a survey of plants that have shown anti-HIV activity, both in vitro and in vivo

Increasing cardiovascular medication adherence:A Medical Research Council complex mHealth intervention mixed-methods feasibility study to inform global practice

AimsTo evaluate a mHealth intervention to increase medication adherence among Iranian coronary heart disease patients.DesignQuantitative-dominant mixed-methods study.Data SourceIranian coronary heart disease patients’ responses and most recent clinical documents as well as responses from Iranian cardiac nurses who participated in this study.MethodsThe study was conducted between September 2015–April 2016 drawing on the Medical Research Council's Framework. Phase one comprised of a patients’ survey and focus groups with cardiac nurses. The automated short message service reminder was piloted in phase two. We recruited 78 patients and randomized to receive either 12-week daily reminders or usual care. The primary outcome was the effect on medication adherence; secondary outcomes were self-efficacy, ejection fraction, functional capacity, readmission rate and quality of life.ResultsFeasibility was evidenced by high ownership of mobile phones and high interest in receiving reminders. Participants in the intervention group showed significantly higher medication adherence compared with the control group.ConclusionThe mHealth intervention was well accepted and feasible with early evidence of effectiveness that needs to be confirmed in a fully powered future randomized clinical trial