Predicting potential sites of nine drought-tolerant native plant species in urban regions

Drought and water scarcity are serious limiting factors for plant growth and can thus present an obstacle to development of the urban green areas in the cities in particular under climate change. Using native plants is a high-priority option to increase vegetation cover in areas facing global warming and water scarcity. In order to evaluate whether urban areas cover suitable habitats for nine native species in the east of Iran, species distribution models were developed and binary maps were generated. The model output indicated a relatively good performance. Most of the suitable habitats for the plant species are located in north, west and center of the study area. Cercis griffithii had the highest (46.63%) and Acantholimon erinaceum had the lowest (6.29%) proportion of suitable habitats among all studied species in the Khorasan region. Annual precipitation, annual mean temperature, and mean temperature of warmest quarter were the most important environmental variables in determining the potential geographic distribution for these species. Due to similar climateconditions, such as low rainfall, high temperature, low relative humidity and high solar radiation particularly in the summers, our findings showed that Cercis griffithii, Iris songarica and Tamarix ramosissima can be utilized in the development of green areas in the studied regions. According to the output of the species distribution models, planting of Acantholimon erinaceum, Salvia abrotanoides and Rosa canina is not advisable in the South and Razavi Khorasan provinces

تعهدگریزی اخلاقی در پزشکی و پرستاری: مروری روایتی

Background and Aim: Moral disengagement includes the cognitive mechanisms which are formed in the doer’s mind while performing unethical actions or deciding not to perform ethical actions, which influences the occurrence of unethical actions or not performing ethical behaviors. The Present study aims to narratively review the studies that have examined the role of this variable in medical and nursing settings. Methods: Through Google scholar and PubMed databases, besides using the search section of the websites of the journals related to medical and nursing ethics, the keywords moral disengagement, medical ethics and nursing ethics were searched; the articles which had studied moral disengagement in medicine and nursing until 2022 were reviewed. Ethical Considerations: The results of the studies have been mentioned without bias, while observing trustworthiness in reporting the contents of the articles. Results: Moral disengagement was found to be prevalent among the nurses and the physicians. Moral disengagement was accompanied by decreasing moral reasoning, behaviors and traits, as well as increasing unethical and unproductive behaviors among the physicians and the nurses. In addition, these mechanisms increased in the medical environments with higher levels of stress, more perceived injustice and higher power. On the other hand, they decreased in managerial conditions in the form of moral leadership. These mechanisms were more prevalent among the physicians and the nurses who had stress, unstable moods, negative emotions, as well as the desire for power. Conclusion: Considering the modifiability of moral disengagement through certain educational interventions, it is necessary to add some lessons or courses in order to introduce and reduce the mechanisms of moral disengagement in academic programs and the in-service courses of doctors and nurses In addition, considering the role of variables such as job stress, perceived injustice and having uncontrolled power, it can be possible to reduce the aforementioned variables and consequently, moral disengagement through applying certain management reforms such as applying ethical leadership. Please cite this article as: Azimpour A, Karimian N, Azarnioushan M, Johari L. Moral Disengagement in Medicine and Nursing: A Narrative Review. Faṣlnāmah-i akhlāq-i pizishkī, i.e., Quarterly Journal of Medical Ethics. 2022; 16(47): e9.زمینه و هدف: تعهدگریزی اخلاقی شامل سازوکارهایی شناختی است که هنگام انجام اعمال غیر اخلاقی و یا تصمیم به عدم انجام اعمال اخلاقی، در ذهن فرد شکل گرفته و در بروز رفتاهای غیر اخلاقی یا عدم انجام رفتارهای اخلاقی تأثیر دارد. پژوهش حاضر به مرور روایتی تحقیقاتی می‌پردازد که نقش این متغیر در موقعیت‌های پزشکی و پرستاری را بررسی کرده‌اند. روش: از طریق پایگاه‌های داده Google Scholar، Pubmed و همچنین با مراجعه به قسمت جستجوی تارنمای مجلات مرتبط با اخلاق پزشکی و پرستاری، واژه کلیدی Moral Disengagement در کنار Medical Ethics و Nursing Ethics جستجو شد و مقالاتی که تا سال ۲۰۲۲ تعهدگریزی اخلاقی را در پزشکی و پرستاری بررسی کرده بودند، بازبینی شد. ملاحظات اخلاقی: نتایج پژوهش‌ها بدون سوگیری و با رعایت امانتداری در گزارش محتوای مقالات، ذکر شد. یافته‌ها: مرور مطالعات نشان داد تعهدگریزی اخلاقی در بین پزشکان و پرستاران رایج بود. تعهدگریزی اخلاقی با کاهش استدلال‌ها، رفتارها و صفات اخلاقی و افزایش رفتارهای غیر اخلاقی و غیر مولد پزشکان و پرستاران همراه بود، به علاوه این سازوکارها در محیط‌های درمانی با استرس و احساس بی‌عدالتی بیشتر و همچنین قدرت بالاتر افزایش یافته و در شرایط مدیریتی به شکل رهبری اخلاقی کاهش می‌یافت. این سازوکارها در پزشکان و پرستارانی با استرس، نااستواری خلق، عاطفه منفی و همچنین میل به قدرت، بیشتر بود. نتیجه‌گیری: با توجه به قابل اصلاح‌بودن تعهدگریزی اخلاقی از طریق برخی مداخلات آموزشی، لازم است با اضافه‌کردن برخی دروس یا دوره‌های آموزشی به آشناسازی و کاهش سازوکارهای تعهدگریزی اخلاقی در دوره‌های تحصیلی و ضمن خدمت پزشکان و پرستاران مبادرت ورزید، به علاوه با توجه به نقش متغیرهایی چون استرس کاری، بی‌عدالتی ادراک شده و داشتن قدرت بی‌‌حد ‌و حصر، شاید بتوان با اعمال برخی اصلاحات مدیریتی چون اعمال رهبری اخلاقی، متغیرهای فوق و به تبع آن تعهدگریزی اخلاقی را کاهش داد

Frozen embryo transfer: Endometrial preparation by letrozole versus hormone replacement cycle: A randomized clinical trial

Background: The endometrial preparation with stimulating natural cycles for frozen embryo transfer (FET) have benefits like lower cost and ease of use. Objective: Comparing the clinical outcome of letrozole versus hormone replacement (HR) for endometrial preparation in women with normal menstrual cycles for FET in artificial reproduction techniques. Materials and Methods: A total of 167 participants who had frozen embryos and regular ovulatory cycles were randomly divided into two groups for endometrial preparation. One group (82 women) was stimulated with letrozole 5mg/day and the other group (85 women) was hormonally stimulated by oral estradiol valerate (2 mg three times a day). All participants were followed serially by ultrasonography. Any patient who did not reach optimal endometrial thickness was excluded from the study. Implantation, biochemical and clinical pregnancy and abortion rate were reported. Results: There was no significant difference in the mean age, duration, and primary or secondary infertility, cause of the infertility, number, and quality of transferred embryos between the groups. The mean estradiol level on the day of transfer was 643 ± 217 in the HR group and 547 ± 212 in the letrozole group (P = 0.01), which was significantly different. The clinical pregnancy rate was 38.7 in the letrozole group, higher than the HR group (25.3) but not significantly different (P=0.06). Conclusion: For endometrial preparation in women with a normal cycle, letrozole yields higher pregnancy rate although it is not significant; due to its cost, ease in use, and lower side effects, letrozole is a good choice. Key words: Letrozole, Hormone replacement, Endometrial, Preparation, Frozen, Embryo

The Effect of Melatonin on Izumo1 Gene Expression, Sperm Motility and In Vitro Fertilization in Mice

Objective: IZUMO 1 is one of the most important and the most recent known proteins of sperm-oocyte fusion function. The present study aims to investigate the expression of IZUMO1 gene with melatonin injection in in-vitro conditions. Moreover, the sperm-oocyte fusion rate in in vitro fertilization (IVF) condition was examined. Materials and methods: In this study, 30 female and 45 male mice were divided into control and experimental groups. To investigate Izomo1 gene expression and sperm motility, 10 μM melatonin was added to the culture medium in the experimental group for 1 hour and to examine the fertilization rate 10 μM melatonin was added to culture medium in the experimental group for 1 hour. Then, sperms of the control and experimental groups were added to the oocyte collected and the fertilization was examined on embryo formation. Results: Examinations showed a significant increase in IZUMO1 gene expression and sperm motility in the experimental group (receiving melatonin) compared to the control group. Counting formed embryos showed that 83% of the oocytes have evolved to the fetus. Conclusion: We conclude that melatonin may be a good alternative for rising oocyte fertilization success by sperm in IV

Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-Adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2017 : A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study

Importance: Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. Objective: To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. Evidence Review: We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-Adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. Findings: In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). Conclusions and Relevance: The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care. © 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Ranking and Comparison of Insurance Services and Product in order to present E-Insurance in Iran, By Using Silver Modelling

Insurance industry has been changed with development ICT as well as other industries. Studies showed that; using e-insurance has created representation of more effective, direct and cheaper goods and services for insurance companies. Business competitive pressures at insurance industry and changing expectations of customers have necessitated using of IT certainly; evolution of ICT is affected on insurance industry in this century. Affection of this evolution is caused innovation on quality and quantity of services and more important effect on marketing styles and sales of insurance. Moreover very new discussion is expressed particularly in related with e-insurance. In this research, we try to rank the insurance services and products in order to electronic sale. Survey methods are used to gather the data and silver modelling is used to analyze it

Evaluating The Effect of Melatonin on HAS2, and PGR expression, as well as Cumulus Expansion, and Fertility Potential in Mice

Objective Infertility is a worldwide health problem which affects approximately 15% of sexually active couples. One of the factors influencing the fertility is melatonin. Also, protection of oocytes and embryos from oxidative stress inducing chemicals in the culture medium is important. The aim of the present study was to investigate if melatonin could regulate hyaluronan synthase-2 (HAS2 ) and Progesterone receptor (PGR ) expressions in the cumulus cells of mice oocytes and provide an in vitro fertilization (IVF) approach. Materials and Methods In this experimental study, for this purpose, 30 adult female mice and 15 adult male mice were used. The female mice were superovulated using 10 U of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and 24 hours later, 10 U of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) were injected. Next, cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected from the oviducts of the female mice by using a matrix-flushing method. The cumulus cells were cultured with melatonin 10 µM for 6 hours and for real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for evaluation of HAS2 and PGR expression levels. The fertilization rate was evaluated through IVF. All the data were analyzed using a t test. Results The results of this study showed that HAS2 and PGR expressions in the cumulus cells of the mice receiving melatonin increased in comparison to the control groups. Also, IVF results revealed an enhancement in fertilization rate in the experimental groups compared to the control groups. Conclusion To improve the oocyte quality and provide new approaches for infertility treatment, administration of melatonin as an antioxidant, showed promising results. Thus, it is concluded that fertility outcomes can be improved by melatonin it enhances PGR

Diagnostic Value of D-dimer’s Serum Level in Iranian Patients with Cerebral Venous Thrombosis

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a longterm debilitating vascular brain disease with high morbidity and mortality. It may be associated with rise in D-dimer level. The aim of this study was to examine this potential association and identify the critical D-dimer cut-off level corresponding to increase the risk of CVT. This case-control study was conducted on two groups of patients with and without CVT attending the Rasool Akram Hospital (Iran) during 2014 and 2015. D-dimer levels were measured by the rapid sensitive D-dimer assay. Data were analyzed by Spearman’s correlation coefficient test, independent-samples t-test, backward-selection multiple linear regression and multiple binary logistic regression analyses. Sensitivity-specificity tests were used to detect D-dimer cut-off for CVT. Differences between the D-dimer levels of the case and control groups were significant (P<0.001). It showed that each level of increase in the number of symptoms could increase the risk of thrombosis occurrence for about 3.5 times. All symptom types except for headache were associated with D-dimer level, while headache has negative association with D-dimer level. D-dimer cut-off point for CVT diagnosis was estimated at 350 ng/mg. We concluded that D-dimer serum level significantly rises in CVT patients. A rounded cut-off point of 350 ng/mg can be used as a diagnostic criterion for CVT prediction

Organic and inorganic elicitors enhance in vitro regeneration of Rosa canina

Abstract Background Rosa canina is one of the most popular rose species which is widely used as the rootstock for the propagation of rose cultivars. The purpose of the present study is to improve the in vitro propagation efficiency of this valuable plant species using various growth stimulants in a proliferation medium. In this study, in vitro-derived axillary buds of R. canina were inoculated in Vander Salm (VS) medium supplemented with varying levels of organic or inorganic elicitors including casein hydrolysate (200, 400, and 600 mg/l), glutamic acid (2, 4, 8, and 12 mg/l), proline (500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 mg/l), and silver nitrate (25, 50, 75, and 100 mg/l), separately. Benzyl amino purine (BAP) as well as naphthalin acetic acid (NAA) were added to all media at a constant rate to promote shoot proliferation. Results The results indicated that the supplementation of casein hydrolysate to the VS medium markedly stimulated shoot regeneration by 173% in comparison to control. Shoot proliferation was also positively influenced by glutamic acid at all levels, however, at a lesser extent compared to casein hydrolysate. Silver nitrate at 100 mg/l induced the longest shoots (2.52 ± 0.248 cm) and maximum leaf number (8.90 ± 0.276) among all treatments. Although it did not encourage efficient shoot regeneration, the highest quality shoots with maximum growth vigor were observed in this treatment. Conclusion In this study, the promising role of casein hydrolysate in combination with plant growth regulators has been emphasized for the improved efficiency of R. canina regeneration protocol. Moreover, the addition of silver nitrate to the culture medium seems vital for enhancing the quality of regenerated shoots. The results of this study could be beneficial either for the further pharmaceutical or biochemical investigations of R. canina or commercial purposes for mass propagation of this specimen