109 research outputs found
The short form endometriosis health profile (EHP-5): translation and validation study of the Iranian version
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-5) is a valid instrument to measure health-related quality of life in endometriosis. This study was conducted to culturally adapt and validate the EHP-5 in Iran.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using a standard "forward-backward' translation procedure, the English language version of the questionnaire was translated into Persian (Iranian language). Then a sample of 199 women aged 18-50 years completed the questionnaire. To test reliability the internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Validity was evaluated using known groups comparison.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean age of respondents was 31.4 (SD = 5.4) years. Reliability analysis showed satisfactory result (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = 0.71). The questionnaire discriminated well between sub-groups of women differing in infertility and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in the expected direction.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This preliminary validation study of the Iranian version of the EHP-5 proved that it is an acceptable, reliable and valid measure of quality of life in endometriosis patients.</p
Plasma leptin and adiponectin concentrations in postmenopausal women with breast cancer following aerobic exercise
Abstract Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in postmenopausal women. Exercise affects breast cancer risk and outcomes, but little is known about the mechanisms through which this effect may be mediated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 weeks aerobic exercise on plasma leptin and adiponectin in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Material & Methods: Nineteen postmenopausal women with breast cancer (aged: 55±2.7 years;±SD) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were randomly 38 M. Moghadasi, et al assigned to training group (n=11) or control group (n=8). Subjects in the experimental group performed 12 weeks of an exercise program which consisted of 25 to 45 minutes of walking with an intensity of 45-65% of target heart rate, three times a week. Results: Body mass and BMI decreased (P<0.05) after 12 weeks exercise training compared to the control group, while no significant change in body fat percent and WHR were found. Plasma leptin decreased (P<0.05) and plasma adiponectin increased (P<0.05) in response to 12 weeks aerobic exercise training compared to the control group, while insulin resistance determined by HOMA-IR did not change in the training group. Conclusions: In summary, 12 weeks aerobic exercise increase plasma adiponectin and decrease plasma leptin in postmenopausal women with breast cancer
Interfacial Molecular Imprinting in Nanoparticle-Stabilized Emulsions
A new interfacial nano and molecular imprinting approach is developed to prepare spherical molecularly imprinted polymers with well-controlled hierarchical structures. This method is based on Pickering emulsion polymerization using template-modified colloidal particles. The interfacial imprinting is carried out in particle-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions, where the molecular template is presented on the surface of silica nanoparticles during the polymerization of the monomer phase. After polymerization, the template-modified silica nanoparticles are removed from the new spherical particles to leave tiny indentations decorated with molecularly imprinted sites. The imprinted microspheres prepared using the new interfacial nano and molecular imprinting have very interesting features: a well-controlled hierarchical structure composed of large pores decorated with easily accessible molecular binding sites, group selectivity toward a series of chemicals having a common structural moiety (epitopes), and a hydrophilic surface that enables the MIPs to be used under aqueous conditions
Modelling the Effects of Al2O3-SiO2 Nanocomposite Additive in Biodiesel–Diesel Fuel on Diesel Engine Performance Using Hybrid ANN-ABC
Yearly, large amounts of waste cooking oil are produced, which are discharged to urban sewage system. However, majority of them is recyclable and can be re-used as biodiesel fuel. When using biodiesel fuels, one way to improve the engine performance is to use nano additives. This study investigates the biodiesel fuel with different ratios of Al2O3-SiO2 nanocomposite additive (Al0%-Si100%, Al25%-Si75%, Al50%-Si50%, Al75%-Si25% and Al100%-Si0%) at full load and four different nanocomposite concentrations (30, 60, 90 and 120 ppm). The Hybrid ANN-ABC modelling was conducted for two cases: a) finding and applying the most effective properties as network inputs; and b) total properties as inputs showed that the most effective properties have higher performance. The fuels B5Al60Si60 and B5Al9Si21 showed the highest brake power; the fuels B5Al0Si60 and B5Al120Si0 showed the lowest brake power, indicating that the interactions of nanoparticles in the composite mode had positive effects on brake power. The performance improvement using nano-composite additive was more than that of the nanoparticles individually
Preparation of cinnamon essential oil emulsion by bacterial cellulose nanocrystals and fish gelatin
This study was aimed at preparing nanoemulsions with bacterial cellulose nanocrystals (BCNCs) and cinnamon essential oil (CEO) with and without fish gelatin. The effect of CEO concentration (0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.57, 2.34 and 3.1% v/w) and pH (3.5 and 5) on the droplet size, \u3b6-potential, morphology, and encapsulation efficiency (EE) of CEO/BCNC emulsions was investigated. It was observed that \u3b6-potential was approximately 1225 mV for the BCNC emulsions, whereas it changed to positive values (from approximately 4 mV\u201312 mV) in the systems containing gelatin (3% w/w). In addition, in the presence of gelatin, emulsions exhibited larger droplets (450\u20131000 nm) than did the CEO/BCNC emulsions (350\u2013550 nm), as demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy. TEM analysis also revealed the surfactant activity of gelatin, which displaced between the hydrophobic CEO nanodroplets and the more polar BCNCs. The effect of pH on EE was significant for the emulsions in the presence of gelatin in that EE was higher at pH 5 than at pH 3.5 up to a CEO concentration of 0.24% w/v. Finally, a direct relationship was established between CEO concentration and EE for emulsions with and without gelatin
Robust and selective nano cavities for protein separation : An interpenetrating polymer network modified hierarchically protein imprinted hydrogel
In the present work, we report a novel method for the reinforcement of hierarchically structured molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for the separation of human serum albumin (HSA) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) proteins under pressure driven flow conditions. The template proteins (HSA or IgG) were first physically adsorbed at their isoelectric point on the surface of wide pore silica particles. Thereafter, the pore system was filled with a monomer solution and polymerized to form a lightly crosslinked polyacrylamide network covering the protein template. In order to enhance the rigidity of the hydrogels, different type of crosslinkers such as ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine (DA) and methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBA), at least partially interpenetrated into the initially made acrylamide base hydrogel leading to formation of an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN). Then the silica matrix was removed to leave highly porous and reinforced MIP. TGA together with FT-IR and TEM analysis supported the interpenetration of the secondary crosslinkers in the initially formed polymer matrix. The compression property of the modified hydrogels as a function of degree of swelling was in the following order: DA>EGDMA>MBA-IPN-modified hydrogel. Batch binding assay verified the capability of the IPN modified MIPs to capture the target proteins. Moreover, solid phase extraction, HPLC and SDS-PAGE revealed that the EGDMA modified MIP could selectively capture and separate the proteins from human serum or fermentation brot
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