Study of embryotoxicity of mentha piperita l. during organogenesis in balb/c mice

Mentha piperita (Labiatae), commonly known as peppermint is a native Iranian herb which is used in folk medicine for various purposes. This study was carried out to reveal the teratogenic effect of Mentha piperita on mice fetuses. In this experimental study, pregnant Balb/c mice divided to four groups. Case group received 600 (treatment I) and 1200 (treatment II) mg/kg/day the hydroalcoholic extract of Mentha piperita during 6-15 of gestational days and one control group received normal saline during GD6-GD15 by gavages and other control group did not receive any matter during 6-15 of gestational days. Mice sacrificed at GD18 and embryos were collected. Macroscopic observation was done by stereomicroscope. 20 fetuses of each group were stained by Alizarin red-S and Alcian blue staining method. The Mean weight of fetuses decreased in treatment groups rather than control (P<0.05) but CRL there was no significant difference between treatments and controls groups. In the treatment I (600 mg/kg/day) and treatment II (1200 mg/kg/day), normal saline and control group, no gross congenital malformations were observed in fetuses. Treated fetuses also had no delayed bone ossification as determined by Alizarin red-S and Alcian blue staining method. This study showed that the hydroalcoholic extract of Mentha piperita (600 and 1200 mg/ kg/day) has no teratogenic effect in mice fetuses if used continuously during embryonic period

Investigating the effect of inquiry-based stress reduction on mortality awareness and interpersonal problems among intensive care unit nurses

Introduction Caring for dying patients is one of the job stressors. Nurses in intensive care units are among the medical staff who have a close interaction with dying patients. Studies have shown that psychological interventions are very helpful in improving thinking about death and its problems. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction on mortality awareness and interpersonal problems among intensive care unit nurses in southeastern Iran. Materials and methods This was a Quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design in southeast of Iran in 2021. Nurses were selected using the convenience sampling method and divided into intervention (n = 32) and control (n = 35) groups using the block randomization method. The intervention group received a two-hour Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction counseling session every week for 6 weeks. Data were gathered using Multidimensional Mortality Awareness Measure and Inventory of Interpersonal Problems before, immediately after, and 6 weeks after the intervention. IBM SPSS Statistics software version 25 was used for data analysis. Results In the intervention group, the mean scores of Mortality Awareness before, immediately after, and 6 weeks after the intervention were 130.41 ± 5.91, 164.47 ± 8.66, and 163.91 ± 9.29, respectively. Therefore, in the intervention group, the increase of Mortality Awareness mean score was statistically significant (P < 0.001). In the control group, the mean scores of Mortality Awareness before, immediately after, and 6 weeks after intervention were 129.63 ± 5.59, 135.26 ± 11.14, and 132.66 ± 5.62, respectively. Difference between the two groups was significant (P < 0.001). The results also showed that in the intervention group the mean scores of Interpersonal Problems immediately after and 6 weeks after the intervention were lower than before the intervention (P < 0.001). In the control group, Interpersonal Problems increased over time (P < 0.001). Accordingly, the difference between the two groups in terms of Interpersonal Problems during the study was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion The study results suggest that the Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction is an appropriate intervention method to improve mortality awareness and reduce interpersonal problems in intensive care unit nurses

Tracking Using Continuous Shape Model Learning in the Presence of Occlusion

This paper presents a Bayesian framework for a new model-based learning method, which is able to track nonrigid objects in the presence of occlusions, based on a dynamic shape description in terms of a set of corners. Tracking is done by estimating the new position of the target in a multimodal voting space. However, occlusion events and clutter may affect the model learning, leading to a distraction in the estimation of the new position of the target as well as incorrect updating of the shape model. This method takes advantage of automatic decisions regarding how to learn the model in different environments, by estimating the possible presence of distracters and regulating corner updating on the basis of these estimations. Moreover, by introducing the corner feature vector classification, the method is able to continue learning the model dynamically, even in such situations. Experimental results show a successful tracking along with a more precise estimation of shape and motion during occlusion events

The determinant factors underlying habitat selectivity and preference for Black fish Capoeta capoeta gracilis (Keyserling 1891) in Siyahrud River (a tributary of Sefidrud River basin)

Understanding habitat requirements of aquatic organisms is key factor for sustainable exploitation and biodiversity conservation of riverine ecosystems. The habitat preference in fish has extremely important for the management of fish populations. The habitat requirements of Black fish (Capoeta capoeta gracilis) in Siyahrud River -tributaries of the Sefidrud River in Caspian basin- were studied in 13 stations along the river during October to November 2013. Hydrological characteristics of the river including water velocity, depth and width, slope, altitude, type of substrate materials, and plant coverage were recorded for each station. Ranges of habitat use and habitat selectivity with regard to the availability of habitat units for different variables were measured using HABSEL software. Despite significant correlation between the water velocity and depth, results from multiple regressions showed preference for the depth range of 17 to 38 cm. The results showed that behavioral preference in C. capoeta gracilis for the velocity was between 0.44 and 0.56 m/s. Also, specimens tended to be present in cobble stone substrate. Therefore, the anthropogenic activities over the Siyahrod River changing the river width, depth, substrate and the flow rate may affect the presence and distribution of C. capoeta gracilis in the mentioned river

Habitat suitability index of Barbus cyri (Heckel, 1843) in Tootkabon River, the South Caspian Sea basin, Iran

Knowledge of habitat requirements of aquatic animals plays an important role in fisheries and protection programs of aquatic ecosystems. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate the suitability indexes of habitat use and habitat suitability index (HSI) of Barbus cyri in its distribution range in Tootkabon River. A number of environmental variables, including elevation, water depth, river width, river slope, velocity, substrate type, and average diameter of bed stone, riparian vegetation type and the relative abundance of B. cyri at 13 stations and three replications from the downstream to upstream were examined during November 2013. The results showed that B. cyri mostly selects upper stretches of the river with higher velocity, middle depth, lower width and bed rock substrate i.e.bed with boulder cover and grasslands and also its residential area is of riparian type compared with the available ranges. Habitat selectivity index for B. cyri showed that the elevation is 130-220 m, water depth 18-75 cm, channel width less than 12 m, channel slope 0.5-2.3%, water velocity less than 0.8 m.s-1, bed rock substrate, average diameter of bed stone larger 15-50cm. Presence of these conditions with HSI of 0.798 indicates that Tootkabon River is an excellent habitat for B. cyri

The determinant factors underlying habitat selectivity and preference for Black fish Capoeta capoeta gracilis (Keyserling 1891) in Siyahrud River (a tributary of Sefidrud River basin)

Understanding habitat requirements of aquatic organisms is key factor for sustainable exploitation and biodiversity conservation of riverine ecosystems. The habitat preference in fish has extremely important for the management of fish populations. The habitat requirements of Black fish (Capoeta capoeta gracilis) in Siyahrud River -tributaries of the Sefidrud River in Caspian basin- were studied in 13 stations along the river during October to November 2013. Hydrological characteristics of the river including water velocity, depth and width, slope, altitude, type of substrate materials, and plant coverage were recorded for each station. Ranges of habitat use and habitat selectivity with regard to the availability of habitat units for different variables were measured using HABSEL software. Despite significant correlation between the water velocity and depth, results from multiple regressions showed preference for the depth range of 17 to 38 cm. The results showed that behavioral preference in C. capoeta gracilis for the velocity was between 0.44 and 0.56 m/s. Also, specimens tended to be present in cobble stone substrate. Therefore, the anthropogenic activities over the Siyahrod River changing the river width, depth, substrate and the flow rate may affect the presence and distribution of C. capoeta gracilis in the mentioned river

Antioxidant activity and properties of walnut brown seed coat extract

To date, there are few studies about the properties of walnut brown seed coat. The antioxidant activity and properties of walnut brown seed coat was considered in this study and the amounts of carotenoids, chlorophylla, chlorophyllb, vitamin E were determined. The antioxidant activity was determined by cupric assay, DPPH, and measurement of oxidative stability in sunflower oil against Copper sulfate. Walnut brown seed coat at 1 was effective antioxidant in comparison to BHT in inhibition of lipid peroxidation. This extract presented the highest vitamin E level (1.4± 0.042 mg/g). DPPH assay showed the extract had the high radical scavenging ability. The results of this study showed the walnut brown seed coat possessed strong antioxidant properties in vitro, hence it might be beneficial in human health. © 2009-2016, JGPT

Effect of voicing and articulation manner on aerosol particle emission during human speech.

Previously, we demonstrated a strong correlation between the amplitude of human speech and the emission rate of micron-scale expiratory aerosol particles, which are believed to play a role in respiratory disease transmission. To further those findings, here we systematically investigate the effect of different 'phones' (the basic sound units of speech) on the emission of particles from the human respiratory tract during speech. We measured the respiratory particle emission rates of 56 healthy human volunteers voicing specific phones, both in isolation and in the context of a standard spoken text. We found that certain phones are associated with significantly higher particle production; for example, the vowel /i/ ("need," "sea") produces more particles than /ɑ/ ("saw," "hot") or /u/ ("blue," "mood"), while disyllabic words including voiced plosive consonants (e.g., /d/, /b/, /g/) yield more particles than words with voiceless fricatives (e.g., /s/, /h/, /f/). These trends for discrete phones and words were corroborated by the time-resolved particle emission rates as volunteers read aloud from a standard text passage that incorporates a broad range of the phones present in spoken English. Our measurements showed that particle emission rates were positively correlated with the vowel content of a phrase; conversely, particle emission decreased during phrases with a high fraction of voiceless fricatives. Our particle emission data is broadly consistent with prior measurements of the egressive airflow rate associated with the vocalization of various phones that differ in voicing and articulation. These results suggest that airborne transmission of respiratory pathogens via speech aerosol particles could be modulated by specific phonetic characteristics of the language spoken by a given human population, along with other, more frequently considered epidemiological variables