Change in several Antioxidant Enzymes Activity and Seed Yield by Water Deficit Stress in Soybean (Glycine max L.) Cultivars

Drought stress is one of several environmental factors greatly limiting crop production. In order to study the effect of water deficit on antioxidant enzymes activity and seed yield of five soybean cultivars, an experiment was conducted in two growing seasons in 2008 and 2009. The experimental design was randomized complete block in a split plot arrangement with four replications. Irrigation treatments were (S1, 50; S2, 100 and S3, 150 mm evaporation from the Class “A pan” evaporation) and cultivars were (‘L17’, ‘Clean’, ‘T.M.S.’, ‘Williams*Chippewa’ and ‘M9’). The results showed that, water deficit stress increased antioxidants content [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX)] significantly, but content of them were more at mild than high water deficit stress (S2>S3>S1). Furthermore, water deficit stress, decreased total chlorophyll content, number of pods per plant, thousand seed weight, seed yield and harvest index in all of cultivars. Among cultivars, ‘L17’ and ‘Williams*Chippewa’ produced the highest seed yield at the optimum condition of irrigation and both water deficit stress levels, respectively. Assessment of correlation results indicated that, there was a positive and significant correlation among SOD and seed yield in both water deficit stress levels, too

Effect of Training Preparation for Childbirth on Fear of Normal Vaginal Delivery and Choosing the Type of Delivery Among Pregnant Women in Hamadan, Iran: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: To examine effect of an educational program on pregnant women’s fear of normal vaginal delivery. Fear of natural childbirth during pregnancy may increase the risk of caesarean section. Educational programs may be effective in reducing women fear of natural childbirth. Materials and methods: This randomized controlled trial conducted from September 2012 to January 2013 in Hamadan, Iran. One hundred fifty eligible women were randomly assigned to group "A" (Intervention group, n = 75) or group "B" (Control group, n = 75). Women in group A, participated in an antenatal educations program for physiologic childbirth in 8 two-hour sessions. A self-designed questionnaire was used to examine women's fear of natural childbirth. Data were analyzed with SPSS.16 software. Results: Baseline characteristics of women were similar in both groups. After intervention the mean fear score in group A compared to group B was significantly reduced (51.7 ± 22.4 vs. 58.7 ± 21.7) (p = 0.007). Physiologic delivery was the first choice of type of child birth after training in pregnant women in group A (58.7%). But delivery in physiologic form had lowest rate in group A (8%). Conclusion: Results of present study showed that educational program could be serving as an important tool in reducing women fear from natural childbirth and in choosing of physiologic birth. And for delivery as a physiological, education and counseling of pregnant women, doctors and midwives are required

Larval therapy vs conventional silver dressings for full-thickness burns: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background This is the first clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of maggot debridement therapy (MDT) for full-thickness burn injuries in comparison to conventional silver dressings. Methods Thirty-one cases with full-thickness (grade III based on ICD-10 classifications version 2019) burns were assigned into larval therapy (15 cases) and conventional treatment (16 cases) groups. Participants in the MDT group have received loose larvae on days 0, 2, 4, and 6, while controls received a conventional regimen comprised of sharp debridement, silver sulfadiazine, antibiotic therapy, and offloading every day. The primary and secondary outcomes were defined as the time to debridement (from admission to skin autograft) and time to healing (from admission to complete healing post-skin autograft). Patients in two groups were also compared in terms of necrosis resolution, granulation, and granulation/necrosis (g/n) ratio during study time periods. Results Participants who received larvae had significantly decreased necrosis on days 2 (p = 0.028) and 4 (p = 0.023) compared to those who received control treatment. Significant differences (p  50%) revealed a significant improvement (p < 0.001) for MDT compared to the control treatment. There were also significant differences (p < 0.001) for the time to debridement and time to healing between the two groups. However, bacterial contamination did not show significant changes between the two treatment regimens. Conclusions Our findings revealed that MDT has a favorable superiority over conventional regimen for the treatment of grade-III burns, and thus further clinical trials with larger sample size are warranted to confirm these results