Changes in essential oil and morpho-physiological traits of tarragon (Artemisia dracuncalus L.) in responses to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, AMF (Glomus intraradices N.C. Schenck & G.S. Sm.) inoculation under salinity

This study aimed to evaluate the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) (Glomus intraradices N.C. Schenck & G.S. Sm.) inoculation and salinity effect on qualitative and quantitative changes in tarragon yield. Treatments included inoculation, and non-inoculation of AMF, and five salinity levels of irrigation water (with the electrical conductivity of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 dS m-1). The results showed the plant height, SPAD value, number of leaves, dry mass of leaves and shoot per plant were reduced under salinity condition. The various levels of salinity decreased the content of tarragon essential oil and some its components consist of α-pinene, limonene, Z-ocimene, E-ocimene, and methyl chavicol while, it increased the content of bornyl acetate, eugenol, methyl eugenol, caryophyllene, germacrene, and α-farnesene. AMF inoculation without salinity had the greatest positive effect on the evaluated traits of tarragon. Also, it improved the morpho-physiological traits under salinity due to alleviation of the harmful effects of salinity. Although the essential oil content was reduced with the AMF inoculation, the methyl chavicol amount was increased by the AMF inoculation under salinity condition

Web-based support for individuals with type 2 diabetes - a feasibility study

BackgroundSelf-care is one of the cornerstones in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Patients with type 2 diabetes struggle to maintain acceptable levels of blood sugar, blood pressure and lipids, the fundamental for the prevention of macro- and microvascular as well as neuropathic complications. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility and describe patients' and caregivers' experiences of using the web- and smartphone-based system Triabetes. The secondary aim was to investigate if the use of the system could improve patients' clinical outcomes.MethodsFeasibility was assessed with describing recruitment rate and the participants views of using the system. Laboratory and anthropometry data were also collected.ResultsThe study showed that recruitment of patients to participate in the intervention was limited and compliance to the study protocol was low. A majority of the patients stated that the system was easy to get an overview of and that the system motivated them and made it easier and fun to handle lifestyle habits. A secondary finding of the study was that there was a significant lowering of LDL values.Conclusions Feasibility in terms of recruitment rate was low. The participants agreed that the application overall was useful but suggested several improvements. Summarized lessons learned from this study are following: (1) we need more knowledge about what motivates a person to use a digital tool for a longer period of time; (2) the tool must be easy and less time consuming to use; (3) the technical structure needs to be improved and automatic recording of data must be improved

Prevalence of Hepatitis G virus (HGV) in High-Risk Groups and Blood Donors in Tehran, Iran

The hepatitis G virus (HGV) is a newly discovered RNA virus, which is associated with acute or chronic hepatitis. A survey was conducted in thalassemic patients, intravenous drug users (IVDU) and blood donors aiming to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis G virus (HGV) infection in these groups in Tehran. The presence of HGV RNA in these populations was determined using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of the 5’ non-coding region (NCR) of the virus. One percent of blood donors, 12.9% of thalassemics and 8.8% of the IVDUs, were infected with HGV. Twenty-five percent of HGV positive cases were also positive for HCV and none were positive for HBV-DNA. The greatest proportion of HCV positive cases were seen in IVDU group (67.4%) being the only HIV positive group (8.8%). In conclusion our study showed that HGV infection occurs with relatively intermediate frequency among thalassemics and IVDUs in Iran and a higher rate of HGV-RNA was observed in older IVDUs