In vitro inhibition of Helicobacter pylori urease with non and semi fermented Camellia sinensis

Purpose: Helicobacter pylori is the etiological agent in duodenal and peptic ulcers. The growing problem of antibiotic resistance by the organism demands the search for novel compounds, especially from natural sources. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Camellia sinensis extracts on the urease enzyme that is a major colonization factor for H. pylori. Methods: Minimum inhibitory concentrations of nonfermented and semifermented C. sinensis methanol: water extracts were assessed by broth dilution method. Examination of the urease function was performed by Mc Laren method, and urease production was detected on 12% SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis from whole cell and membrane bound proteins. Results: Both extracts had inhibitory effects against H. pylori and urease production. At a concentration of 2.5 mg/ml of nonfermented extract and 3.5 mg/ml of semifermented extract the production of Ure A and Ure B subunits of the urease enzyme were inhibited completely. A concentration of 4 mg/ml of nonfermented and 5.5 mg/ml of semifermented extract were bactericidal for H. pylori. Conclusions: C. sinensis extracts, especially the nonfermented, could reduce H. pylori population and inhibit urease production at lower concentrations. The superior effect of nonfermented extract is due to its rich polyphenolic compounds and catechin contents

Simultaneous Determination of Nitrite and Nitrate in Milk Samples by Ion Chromatography Method and Estimation of Dietary Intake

The presence of nitrate and nitrite in foods may be considered hazardous after ingestion in the gastrointestinal tract due to their reaction with naturally occurred secondary amines to form potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines. Due to this fact, a new method was developed in this study for the simultaneous determination of nitrite and nitrate in milk samples using by ion chromatography. Proposed mobile phase composed of sodium hydrogen carbonate and sodium carbonate (1.0 and 3.2 mmol/L) with a flow rate of 0.7 ml/min. The average recoveries for nitrate and nitrite were higher than 86 and 88, respectively. The limit of detection for nitrate and nitrite were 0.24 and 0.09 mg/L, respectively. The results of 102 real milk samples showed nitrate was found in all of the samples (100) with a mean of 34 ± 11 mg/L, while nitrite was found in none of the samples. The mean intake of nitrate in all age groups was lower than World Health Organization guideline. The present assessment concludes that the maximum contaminant level was equal to 82.8 mg/L nitrate. This method was fast, sensitive and accurate and is capable of being an alternative method in food control laboratories for investigation of nitrite and nitrate content. This is the first study of the determination and survey of nitrite and nitrate and exposure assessment of the Iranian population to nitrite and nitrate level in milk, which was widely used in infants and adolescents as one of the basic food components. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Phase cascade lattice rectifier array: an exactly solvable nonlinear network circuit

An exact analysis of a 2-D lattice network consisting of N × N sites with rectifier and AC source elements with controllable phases reveals a method for generating ripple-free DC power without the use of any filtering circuit elements. A phase cascade configuration is described in which the current ripple in a load resistor goes to zero in the large N limit, enhancing the rectification efficiency without requiring any additional capacitor or inductor based filters. The integrated modular configuration is qualitatively different from conventional rectenna arrays in which the source, rectifier and filter systems are physically disjoint. Nonlinear networks in the large N limit of source-rectifier arrays are potentially of interest to a fast evolving field of distributed power networks.MNacknowledges support from a Graduate Fellowship in the ECE department at Boston University. We thank CMaedler, R Averitt, and members of the Photonics Center staff for assistance. JC acknowledges support from the Boston University RISE summer program. (Graduate Fellowship in the ECE department at Boston University; Boston University RISE summer program)Published versio

Identification of different fish species in Kargan-Rood River (in Guilan province, 1994)

Kargan-rood is one of the most important rivers in the west of Guilan province. Identification of fish species of this river was carried out in 1995-96. Ten stations were selected for sampling and samples were collected monthly by using castnet, beach-seine and hook. The 12 species belong to 5 families were identified in which family of Cyprinidae with 6 species (and 6 different genus) were the most dominant family. The identified species were: Rutilus frisii kutum, Chalcalburnus chalcoides, Capoeta capoeta gracilis, Barbus Alburnus eichwaldi, Leuciscus cephalus, Caspiomyzon wagneri, Cobitis caspia eichwaldi, Gobius kessleri, Salmo trutta caspius, Salmo trutta fario, Syngnathus abaster

Effectiveness of light pressure stroking massage on pain and fatigue of patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery-A randomized clinical trial

زمینه و هدف: درد و خستگی از مشکلات شایع بعد از عمل بیماران تحت جراحی پیوند عروق کرونر می باشد. هدف از این مطالعه تعیین تأثیر ماساژ درمانی بر شدت درد و خستگی بعد از عمل بیماران تحت جراحی پیوند عروق کرونر بوده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه کارآزمایی بالینی تصادفی سازی شده، تعداد 72 نفر بیمار تحت عمل جراحی قرارگرفته عروق کرونر در بیمارستان شهید چمران شهر اصفهان، انتخاب شدند و بطور تصادفی در دو گروه مداخله و شاهد قرار گرفتند. بیماران گروه مداخله (36 نفر)، ماساژ استروک سطحی 20 دقیقه ای به مدت 4 جلسه در 4 روز پیاپی در روزهای 3 تا 6 بعد از عمل جراحی دریافت کردند و بیماران گروه شاهد تنها مراقبت های روتین را دریافت نمودند. متغیرهای درد و خستگی قبل و بعد از مداخله با استفاده از مقیاس قیاسی دیداری ثبت شدند. یافته ها: نتایج نشان داد که اختلاف معنی داری بین شدت درد و خستگی در دو گروه مداخله و شاهد بعد از انجام مداخله وجود داشته است (0/001>P). بطوریکه کاهش میانگین شدت درد و خستگی از روز اول تا چهارم بعد از عمل در گروه مداخله بیشتر از گروه شاهد بود. نتیجه گیری: استفاده از ماساژ استروک سطحی می تواند باعث کاهش درد و خستگی بعد از عمل بیماران تحت جراحی پیوند عروق کرونر شود و با توجه به سادگی و کم هزینه بودن این روش، شاید بتواند به عنوان مکمل مناسبی برای دارودرمانی و مداخلات بعد از عمل در این بیماران مورد استفاده قرار گیرد