Proton modified Pt zeolite fuel cell electrocatalysts

NaY Zeolite is selected as a suitable material to host 1.5 wt% Platinum (Pt) loading on zeolite using ion exchange method (a) Pt(NH3)4(NO3)2 without excess NH4NO3 nitrate and (b) Pt(NH3)4(NO3)2 with excess NH4NO3 nitrate. The structure/reactivity relationship of Pt nanoparticle has been experimentally studied via Nafion@ bound electrodes to investigate the interaction nature of Pt with zeolite and electron transfer using the extended X-ray adsorption fine structure (EXAFS) and Pt particle was predicted at 0.7 – 1.5 (nm). Pt oxides can be electrochemically reduced via a hydrogen ‘spillover’ phenomenon. A highly dispersed small Pt particle distribution can be achieved with excessive H+ ions on zeolite acidic sites

Developing a Questionnaire for Iranian Women's Attitude on Medical Ethics in Vaginal Childbirth

Background: Vaginal delivery is one of the challenging issues in medical ethics. It is important to use an appropriate instrument to assess medical ethics attitudes in normal delivery, but the lack of tool for this purpose is clear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and validate a questionnaire for the assessment of women’s attitude on medical ethics application in normal vaginal delivery. Patients and Methods: This methodological study was carried out in Iran in 2013 - 2014. Medical ethics attitude in vaginal delivery questionnaire (MEAVDQ) was developed using the findings of a qualitative data obtained from a grounded theory research conducted on 20 women who had vaginal childbirth, in the first phase. Then, the validation criteria of this tool were tested by content and face validity in the second phase. Exploratory factor analysis was used for construct validity and reliability was also tested by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient in the third phase of this study. SPSS version 13 was used in this study. The sample size for construct validity was 250 females who had normal vaginal childbirth. Results: In the first phase of this study (tool development), by the use of four obtained categories and nine subcategories from grounded theory and literature review, three parts (98-items) of this tool were obtained (A, B and J). Part A explained the first principle of medical ethics, part B pointed to the second and third principles of medical ethics, and part J explained the fourth principle of medical ethics. After evaluating and confirming its face and content validity, 75 items remained in the questionnaire. In construct validity, by the employment of exploratory factor analysis, in parts A, B and J, 3, 7 and 3 factors were formed, respectively; and 62.8%, 64% and 51% of the total variances were explained by the obtained factors in parts A, B and J, respectively. The names of these factors in the three parts were achieved by consideration of the loading factor and medical ethics principles. The subscales of MEAVDQ showed significant reliability. In parts A, B and J, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.76, 0.72 and 0.68, respectively and for the total questionnaire, it was 0.72. The results of the test–retest were satisfactory for all the items (ICC = 0.60 - 0.95). Conclusions: The present study showed that the 59-item MEAVDQ was a valid and reliable questionnaire for the assessment of women’s attitudes toward medical ethics application in vaginal childbirth. This tool might assist specialists in making a judgment and plan appropriate for women in vaginal delivery management

Wound healing with alginate/chitosan hydrogel containing hesperidin in rat model

Skin damages have always been considered as one of the most common physical injuries. Therefore, many researches have been conducted to find an efficient method for wound healing. Since hydrogels have suitable characteristics, they are widely used for this purpose. In this study, based on the high efficiency of alginate and chitosan hydrogels in the wound healing, different concentrations of hesperidin were loaded to alginate and chitosan hydrogels followed by evaluating their morphology, swelling properties, release, weight loss, hemo- and cytocompatibility, antibacterial and toxicity properties. Finally, the therapeutic function of the prepared hydrogels was evaluated in the full-thickness dermal wound in a rat model. Our results indicated that the hydrogels have appropriate porosity (91.2 ± 5.33) with the interconnected pores. Biodegradability of the prepared hydrogel was confirmed with weight loss assessment (almost 80 after 14 days). Moreover, the time-kill assay showed the antibacterial properties of hydrogels, and MTT assay revealed the positive effect of hydrogels on cell proliferation, and they have no toxicity effect on cells. Also, the in vivo results indicated that the prepared hydrogels had better wound closure than the gauze-treated wound (the control group), and the highest wound closure percentage was observed for the alginate/chitosan/10 hesperidin group. All in all, this study shows that alginate/chitosan hydrogels loaded with 10 of hesperidin can be used to treat skin injuries in humans. © 2019 Elsevier B.V

Elevation of Urate in Saliva and Serum of Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (knee OA) is the most common joint disease and the leading cause of disability and has a considerable financial burden on the healthcare system. Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate urate in saliva and serum of knee OA. Methods: Serum and saliva urate levels of 30 knee OA and 30 healthy controls were evaluated in a cross-sectional study. Data were analysed by Student's t test, Pearson correlation test, and receiver operating characteristic. Results: The mean serum and both stimulated and unstimulated saliva urate levels were higher in the knee OA than that of the healthy group. WOMAC score positively correlated with serum (r = 0.485; p = 0.004), unstimulated saliva (r = 0.575; p = 0.001) and stimulated saliva (r = 0.453; p = 0.009) levels of urate. The serum level of urate significantly correlated with unstimulated (r = 0.442; p < 0.001) and stimulated (r = 0.563; p < 0.001) saliva urate levels. Serum and saliva urate had significant cutoff values (6.4, 4.9, and 3.3 mg/dL in serum, stimulated, and unstimulated saliva, respectively). Conclusion: In this study, urate in serum and saliva was increased in patients with knee OA and positively correlated with WOMAC. © 202

Oral glucose tolerance test in unstimulated saliva of healthy individuals

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in unstimulated whole saliva as a diagnostic specimen in clinical practice for detection of diabetes mellitus (DM). Materials and Methods: An interventional study was carried out in 30 apparently healthy individuals aged 24-59 years. Serum and saliva samples were obtained in fasting, 1 h and 2 h after glucose intake (75 g). Glucose concentration was determined by enzymatic colorimetric glucose oxidase-prostatic acid phosphatase assay. Statistical analysis of the repeated ANOVA (followed Bonferroni post-hoc test) and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. Results: The mean serum glucose concentration was significantly higher 1 h after glucose intake (152.32 ± 31.06) than both fasting state (106.38 ± 41.08; P < 0.001) and 2 h after glucose intake (125.21 ± 51.71; P < 0.001). Saliva glucose was also significantly higher 1 h after glucose intake (5.46 ± 2.41) than both fasting state (2.84 ± 1.46; P < 0.001) and 2 h after glucose intake (4.01 ± 1.91; P < 0.001). There were significant positive correlation between saliva and serum glucose concentration in fasting state (r = 0.502; P = 0.044), 1 h (r = 0.756; P = 0.0001), and 2 h (r = 0.543; P = 0.023) after oral glucose intake. Conclusion: It seems that unstimulated saliva can be used as an alternative to serum for diagnosis of DM in OGTT

Serum and saliva total tau protein as a marker for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is considered as motor and sensory function loss, which results from demyelination and following axonal lesion. Tau protein interferes in the construction and stabilization of microtubules that are needed for axonal transport. We hypothesize that the level of tau protein alters in MS, so we examined the level of total tau protein in serum, stimulated and unstimulated saliva as a suitable biomarker for detecting of relapsing-remitting MS. A case-control study was carried out in 30 healthy women and 30 who suffer MS and were hospitalized in Imam Reza hospital, Tehran, Iran. Total tau protein level was assayed in serum and stimulated and unstimulated whole saliva. Total tau protein was expressed at a lower level in serum of MS patients compared to control groups. The serum total tau protein level negatively correlated with EDSS. There was no significant difference in saliva total tau protein between MS and healthy individuals. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between saliva and serum total tau protein and between saliva total tau protein and EDSS. The serum level of tau protein is lower in MS and it may be considered as a potential biomarker in Multiple sclerosis. However, it seems that tau protein in the saliva isn't a suitable biomarker for detection of MS. © 201

Effect of probiotics in poultry diet on microbial hazards of poultry meat

Probiotics are products from microbial cells that have useful influence on health and tranquility of humans. According to numerous studies, many valuable properties such as anti-mutagenic, anti-carcinogenic, boosting body immunity and resistance against enteric pathogens have been attributed to probiotics. Therefore the aim of this study is to specify the effect of probiotics use in the diet of broilers on microbial hazards of poultry meat. For this purpose, two groups of treatment and control each containing 40 broiler chicks were chosen and edible probiotic were given to the treatment group throughout the whole 55 days of the rearing period under the same conditions and following slaughter 100 grams of skin and breast meat samples were collected from each carcass and transferred to food hygiene laboratory of the veterinary faculty under sterile conditions. Total microbial count,    Staphylococcus aureous, fecal Streptococci, Clostridium perferingens, Coliforms counts and detection of Salmonella and E.coli were performedon the samples according to standard approaches of Iran. The results were analyzed using independent t-Test and Chi-square test. Comparison of the means of total microbial count, coliform, enteric streptococci and meat staphylococcus counts in the control and treatment group using independent t-Test showed a significant reduction (

Effect of warm-smoking on total microbial count of meat products

The frankfurters are amongst the most famous and popular sausages in the world and beef and poultry meat are used in Iran for their preparation. The techniques of warm smoking at 42°c for two hours and then hot smoking together with steam cooking at 8°c for one hour are utilized in proportion of this product. In spite of its carcinogenic properties, smoke is used to create color, flavor and odor and to improve the preservative qualities of sausages. In this study, 14 sausage samples were taken from each of the stages of frankfurter production line including pre-smoking, post- warm smoking and post-hot smoking, their total microbial counts (aerobic mesophiles) determined and the means of the three stages compared using the ANOVA statistical test. The results indicated that the total microbial count increased significantly (

Study on the effect of dextrose, valine, glycine, thiamine and different temperatures on growth rate of Bifidobacterium bifidum in milk

The first step in utilizing appropriate microorganisms to produce probiotic milk products is to recognize their growth conditions in milk and the factors influencing them. In this research, the effect of dextrose, valine, glycine, thiamine and different temperatures on growth rate of Bifidobacterium bifidum in milk has been studied and for this purpose, fermented milk by B. bifidum has been used as stock culture in order to inoculate the milk samples. First 28, 35, 42, 49 and then 35, 38, 41 and 44°C incubators were used to choose the suitable incubation temperature for growth of the microorganisms and the acidity of milk samples were measured as a growth index of the microorganisms prior to and during incubation. Concentrations of 0 (control), 5, 10 and 15 ppm of thiamine; 0(control), 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1% of dextrose; 0(control), 30, 60, 90 and 120 ppm of glycine and valine were used to evaluate their effects on the growth rate of B. bifidum and acidity of milk samples were measured before incubation and after 2, 4, 6 and 8 hours of incubation at 42°C. The rate of increase of acidity at 44°C and 41°C was significantly higher than the other temperatures (