Isolation of keratinophilic fungi and aerobic actinomycetes from park soils in Gorgan, North of Iran

Background: Keratinophilic fungi are a group of fungi that colonize in various keratinous substrates and degrade them to the components with low molecular weight. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of keratinophilic fungi and aerobic Actinomycetes in soil of city parks in Gorgan. Objectives: In this study, we surveyed the city park soils of Gorgan (a northern province of Iran) to determine the identities and diversity of soil aerobic Actinomycetes, keratinophilic and non-keratinophilic fungi. Materials and Methods: A total of 244 soil samples were collected from 22 diferent parks of Gorgan, North of Iran. The samples were collected from the superfcial layer with depth not exceeding than 0-10 cm in sterile polyethylene bags. We used hair bait technique for isolation keratinophilic fungi. The colonies identifed by macroscopic and microscopic characterization after slide culturing. Actinomycetes were isolated by antibiotic dilution methods and detected by using physiological tests such as Lysozyme, Casein, Xanthine, Hypoxanthine, Gelatin, Urea Broth, and modifed acid-fast stain. Results: Totally, 75 isolates of aerobic Actinomycetes were detected that Actinomadura madurae and Nocardia asteroides were the most prevalent strains, with 14.66 and 28% prevalence respectively. Microsporum gypseum was more frequent than other keratinophilic fungi (22.96%) and Aspergillus spp. was the most species of saprophyte fungi (15.92%). Conclusions: This study showed that the collected soil from studied areas was rich of keratinophilic fungi and Actinomycetes, therefore hygiene protocol should be taken to prevent the spread of pathogenic and saprophytes fungi in the environment of susceptible person. © 2013, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

Lorentz-violating dimension-five operator contribution to the black body radiation

We investigate the thermodynamics of a photon gas in an effective field theory model that describes Lorentz violations through dimension-five operators and Horava-Lifshitz theory. We explore the electrodynamics of the model which includes higher order derivatives in the Lagrangian that can modify the dispersion relation for the propagation of the photons. We shall focus on the deformed black body radiation spectrum and modified Stefan-Boltzmann law to address the allowed bounds on the Lorentz-violating parameter.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures. Version published in PL

Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Mood States of Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Background: Mood and negative emotional states and their regulation in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder have family, social and employment problems. Practices that could be helpful in this area are highly important. Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the influence of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in improving mood state of combat veterans. Patients and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial study, participants were selected from the patients referring to the counseling center of the veterans. The participants had post-traumatic stress disorder according to diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition, text review (DSM-IV-TR). Sixty- two patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups: (31 for MBSR and 31 for the control group). Results: Analysis showed that there were no significant differences between the groups at baseline (P < 0.05). Comparison of the results between the two groups before the two-step test showed that anger and vitality scales between the two groups have no significant differences, but on the other scales (depression, dizziness, fatigue and tension), differences between pre and post-test groups were significant in the two groups. Conclusions: It was concluded that mindfulness-based stress reduction is a useful method to regulate the mood state in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who have difficulties in mood and emotions in Kashan

The Relationship of Behavioral Activation and Inhibition Systems (BAS/BIS), Difficulty of Emotional Regulation and Shyness with Social Anxiety Disorder in Normal Adolescents

ز زمینه و هدف: اختلال های اضطرابی یکی از شایع ترین اختلال های دوران نوجوانی هستند و از مهم ترین انواع این اختلال ها می توان به اختلال اضطراب اجتماعی اشاره کرد. هدف این پژوهش، پیش بینی اضطراب اجتماعی، از طریق سه عامل سیستم های فعال ساز و بازداری رفتاری ، دشواری در تنظیم هیجانی و کمرویی بود. روش بررسی: روش پژوهش حاضر غیر آزمایشی و طرح آن از نوع همبستگی می باشد. جامعه آماری شامل کلیه دانش آموزان دختر و پسر پایه اول دبیرستان های شهرکرد در سال تحصیلی 94- 1393 بود که با روش نمونه گیری خوشه ای از میان آن ها نمونه ای به حجم1000نفر (500 پسر و500 دختر) بر اساس جدول کرجسی و مورگان انتخاب شد. جمع آوری داده های پژوهش با استفاده از پرسشنامه های سیستم فعال ساز و بازداری رفتاری(BIS/BAS)، تنظیم هیجانی(ERS) ، اضطراب اجتماعی(SPIN) و کمرویی انجام گرفت. داده ها با استفاده از آمار توصیفی(میانگین و انحراف معیار) و استنباطی(ضریب همبستگی پیرسون و رگرسیون چندگانه به روش گام به گام) با نرم افزار SPSS-20 مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفتند. یافته ها: یافته ها نشان دادند، بین اختلال اضطراب اجتماعی با سیستم بازداری رفتاری(05/0&gt;P) ، با دشواری در تنظیم هیجانی(05/0&gt;P) و با کمرویی(05/0&gt;P) ارتباط مثبت معنی دار وجود دارد. ولی بین سیستم فعال ساز رفتاری با اختلال اضطراب اجتماعی ارتباط معنی داری یافت نشد(05/

Comparing Cognitive Failures and Metacognitive Beliefs in Mild Traumatic Brain Injured Patients and Normal Controls in Kashan

Background: Head trauma is associated with multiple destructive cognitive symptoms and cognitive failure. Cognitive failures include problems with memory, attention and operation. Cognitive failures are considered as a process associated with metacognition. Objectives: This study aimed to compare cognitive failures and metacognitive beliefs in mild Traumatic Brain Injured (TBI) patients and normal controls in Kashan. Patients and Methods: The study was performed on 40 TBI patients referred to the Shahid Beheshti Hospital of Kashan city and 40 normal controls in Kashan. Traumatic brain injured patients and normal controls were selected by convenience sampling. Two groups filled out the demographic sheet, Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) and Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire 30 (MCQ-30). The data were analyzed by the SPSS-19 software with multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The results of this study showed that there were no significant differences between TBI and controls in total scores and subscales of CFQ and MCQ (F = 0.801, P = 0.61). Conclusions: Based on these findings, it seems that mild brain injuries don't make significant metacognitive problems and cognitive failures