Changes of the body weight, fat mass and aerobic capacity and energy intake, following the skipped meal in young women

زمینه و هدف: یکی از روش های معمول کنترل وزن بویژه در بین زنان جوان محدودیت دسترسی غذایی است. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی تغییرات وزن بدن و سایر شاخص های فیزیولوژیک از جمله نمایه توده بدن (BMI)، توده چربی (Fat mass) و ظرفیت هوازی (VO2 max) در زنان جوان به دنبال حذف یک وعده اصلی غذایی روزانه انجام شد. روش بررسی: طی یک مطالعه نیمه تجربی 40 دانشجوی دختر داوطلب به صورت در دسترس از دانشکده علوم تغذیه و صنایع غذایی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی شهید بهشتی وارد مطالعه شدند. وزن و قد توده چربی، ظرفیت هوازی (VO2 max) و انرژی دریافتی در شروع (شرایط معمولی) و پس از چهار هفته (محدودیت دریافت باحذف یک وعده غذایی) اندازه گیری شد. از نرم افزار تغذیه ای NutritionIII برای آنالیز یادآمد خوراک استفاده شد. نتایج بدست آمده از طریق آزمون t زوج مقایسه گردید. یافته ها: به ترتیب در شروع وچهار هفته بعد میانگین وزن 5/8±4/57 و 4/8±3/57 کیلوگرم، میانگین نمایه توده بدنی 4/2±9/21 و 3/2±8/21 کیلوگرم بر متر مربع، میانگین ضخامت چربی 6/5±3/20 و 2/5±8/19 میلی لیتر و ظرفیت هوازی (VO2 max) 0/8±6/52 و 7/8±3/52 میلی لیتر به کیلوگرم بر دقیقه بود (05/0P>). همچنین میانگین دریافت انرژی در قبل و یک ماه بعد به ترتیب 319±1973 و 443±1951 کیلوکالری در روز بود (05/0P>). نتیجه گیری: حذف یک وعده غذایی اصلی روزانه با کم نشدن میزان انرژی دریافتی تاثیری بر کنترل وزن نداشته و به نظر می رسد افراد مورد بررسی با ایجاد تعادل بین دریافت و مصرف انرژی در برابر محدودیت دسترسی به غذا، تطابق فیزیولوژیکی برقرار کرده اند. پایش مستمر دریافت غذا و دریافت انرژی برای کنترل و ثبات وزن بدن ضروری به نظر می رسد. 27

Essays in empirical asset pricing

The first chapter investigates how household income risk influences mutual fund managers’ portfolio decisions. I provide novel empirical evidence that state-level local income shocks affect capital flows to retail mutual funds. By analyzing portfolio holdings data, I find that active fund managers hedge local income shocks by tilting their portfolios away from high local income beta stocks. I also show that the trade-off between income hedging and local bias can help explain the local bias puzzle. In the second chapter, we study which asset pricing model firm managers use. Since firms time the stock market through equity net issuance, the direction of net issuance reveals the firm’s net present value calculation and an asset pricing model most likely to be used in the calculation. Based on this insight, we develop a test that infers an asset pricing model most likely used by firms from the net issuance decision. We find that the CAPM explains the decision better than other factor models or market multiples. Our results are not driven by issuance due to external financing needs and are true even for firms with an extreme size or value characteristic. The third chapter, I present a novel approach for estimating the intrinsic value of stocks. Specifically, I construct an exponentially affine stochastic discount factor (SDF) model that captures the term structure of interest rates. This method enables me to systematically integrate macroeconomic data on sources of risk into the valuation model. By comparing the performance of the estimated value-to-price ratio to traditional market multiples, I demonstrate its superior predictive power for short-term market returns in both in-sample and out-of-sample tests

The Potential Role of Lipopeptide Biosurfactant Generated by Acinetobacter junii B6 on Leishmania Tropica: The Synergy of Lipopeptide Biosurfactant and Glucantime

An in vitro investigation was carried out to assess how the lipopeptide biosurfactant (LPB) produced by Acinetobacter junii B6 affects Leishmania tropica infection and the associated cytokine gene expression in macrophages infected with L. tropica. Glucantime® (meglumine antimoniate, MA) and LPB were investigated for their leishmanicidal effect, alone and in combination (LPB + MA), using a colorimetric test and a macrophage model. Immunomodulatory impact was also evaluated through analysis of Th1 and Th2 cytokine gene expression in infected macrophages after treatment with MA and LPB, individually and in combination. The MA/LPB combination showed higher inhibitory impacts on L. tropica amastigotes and promastigotes than each alone. Cytokine gene expression confirmed LPB’s affinity to IFN-γ, affirming the elevated IL-12p40 and IFN- γ concentrations in addition to a reduction in the secretion of IL-10 in a dose-dependent manner, particularly in combined treatment. The results indicated higher effectiveness of LPB along with MA in the reduction of the parasite growth and promoting the immune reaction level, which may be considered as a possible therapeutic strategy to treat those with anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis

Mothers' views and beliefs about the role of complementary feeding in children under the age of two in Damavand: a qualitative study.

Background: Inappropriate feeding is one of the major causes of malnutrition in children. This study was carried out to get an insight into mothers’ views and beliefs about the role of complementary feeding in children under the age of two. Materials and Methods: In this qualitative study, data were collected through 11 focus-group discussions (FGDs) with mothers, who had children under the age of two, in urban and rural areas of Damavand in 2007. Each FGD was held in the presence of a moderator, two note takers, and an observer. At the end of field work, all notes were collected and coded according to the objectives of the study. Then the subgroups for each objective were obtained, and emerging themes were extracted and reported. Results: In the study, six general themes were identified:(1) The mothers viewed complementary feeding as simple, soft, light foods which are especially made for children; (2) the best time for introducing complementary feeding was 6 months of age; (3) there were no complementary local foods in Damavand; (4) for children under the age of one, a different type of food was separately prepared; (5) home-made complementary food was preferred over the ready made type, and (6) children were fed with table food from the first year of life. Conclusion: Despite their sufficient knowledge about the advantages of complementary feeding, the majority of mothers, due to some socio-cultural limitations, had a weak performance. In this regard, in addition to making revisions in current training programs and protocols, providing effective and goal-oriented educational programs for mothers and others who take care of children is strongly recommended

Comparison of cytotoxicity of Miltefosine and its niosomal form on chick embryo model

© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Various drugs have been used for the treatment of leishmaniasis, but they often have adverse effects on the body's organs. In this study, we aimed to explore the effects of one type of drug, Miltefosine (MIL), and its analogue or modifier, liposomal Miltefosine (NMIL), on several fetal organs using both in silico analysis and practical tests on chicken embryos. Our in silico approach involved predicting the affinities of MIL and NMIL to critical proteins involved in leishmaniasis, including Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A), the Kinase insert domain receptor (KDR1), and apoptotic-regulator proteins (Bcl-2-associate). We then validated and supported these predictions through in vivo investigations, analyzing gene expression and pathological changes in angiogenesis and apoptotic mediators in MIL- and NMIL-treated chicken embryos. The results showed that NMIL had a more effective action towards VEGF-A and KDR1 in leishmaniasis, making it a better candidate for potential operative treatment during pregnancy than MIL alone. In vivo, studies also showed that chicken embryos under MIL treatment displayed less vascular mass and more degenerative and apoptotic changes than those treated with NMIL. These results suggest that NMIL could be a better treatment option for leishmaniasis during pregnancy.Peer reviewe

The inhibitory effect of 6-gingerol and cisplatin on ovarian cancer and antitumor activity: In silico, in vitro, and in vivo

© 2023 Salari, Khosravi, Pourkhandani, Molaakbari, Salarkia, Keyhani, Sharifi, Tavakkoli, Sohbati, Dabiri, Ren and Shafie’ei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Background: Epithelial ovarian cancer is very common in women and causes hundreds of deaths per year worldwide. Chemotherapy drugs including cisplatin have adverse effects on patients’ health. Complementary treatments and the use of herbal medicines can help improve the performance of medicine. 6-Gingerol is the major pharmacologically active component of ginger. In this study, we compared the effects of 6-gingerol, cisplatin, and their combination in apoptotic and angiogenetic activities in silico, in test tubes, and in in vivo assays against two ovarian cancer cell lines: OVCAR-3 and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Methods: The drug-treated cell lines were evaluated for their cytotoxicity, cell cycle, and apoptotic and angiogenetic gene expression changes. Results: The proportion of apoptosis treated by 6-gingerol coupled with cisplatin was significantly high. In the evaluation of the cell cycle, the combination therapy also showed a significant promotion of a higher extent of the S sequence. The expression of p53 level, Caspase-8, Bax, and Apaf1 genes was amplified again with combination therapy. Conversely, in both cell lines, the cumulative drug concentrations reduced the expression of VEGF, FLT1, KDR, and Bcl-2 genes. Similarly, in the control group, combination treatment significantly decreased the expression of VEGF, FLT1, KDR, and Bcl-2 genes in comparison to cisplatin alone. Conclusions: The findings of the present study demonstrated that the cisplatin and 6-gingerol combination is more effective in inducing apoptosis and suppressing the angiogenesis of ovarian cancer cells than using each drug alone.Peer reviewe

Synthesis of some new 3,7–disubstituted thiazolo[3,2-c]pyrimidin-5-one

694-69