Standardization of aqueous extract from Malva sylvestris and preparation an oral colon specific formulation for treatment of Ulcerative Colitis

Introduction: Malva sylvestris is one of medicinal plants from Malvaceae family. According to some important Iranian traditional medicine’s references (ITMR) all parts of this plant can be used for treatment of “Zahir” that this disease has similar signs and symptoms to Ulcerative Colitis (UC). UC is one of the common types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) which mostly affects distal colon and rectum in many new cases each year. Because of low efficacy and high adverse effect of today’s drugs, many refers of ITMRs, high frequency in Iran and our team’s previous study of several extraction from this plant on UC induction in mice, we decided to use aqueous extraction to prepare an oral colon specific formulation. Methods and Results: The fresh plant was collected from North of Fars province. Hydro extraction was done with maceration route in the refrigerator and out of light and then the concentrated extraction was lyophilized. Polysaccharides extraction was done with absolute acetone and poly phenolic compounds were extracted with n-hexane and ethyl acetate. For all of total sugar evaluated with Phenol-Sulfuric acid method. Also Gallic acid and Folin-Ciocalteu reagents were used for determination of total phenolic compounds. Twelve formulations prepared and in vitro evaluations were done based on US Pharmacopoeia. Disintegration time test, dissolution time test, hardness, weight variation, content uniformity and release test were performed on tablets. Yield of total extraction and polysaccharides extraction were 10.83% and 9.6% W/W. Be calculated 0.18 mg poly phenolic compounds in each 1 g of lyophilized extraction. Other Pharmacognosy’s tests (Linearity, intra and inter day accuracy and precision) and pharmaceutical tests (Hardness, weight variation and content uniformity of tablets) were in the acceptable range. Tablets coated with Eudragit S100 (E) 2% solution exhibited 7.3% release after 2 hours, 42.33% after 6 hours and 96.21% after 10 hours. Conclusions:Tablets that used Malva sylvestris as active pharmaceutical ingredient and prepared by direct compression method and coated with E 2% solution, showed the most suitable results for clinical trials in UC cases

Effect of Foeniculum Vulgare Aqueous and Alcoholic Seed Extract against Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

BACKGROUND፡ Cutaneous leishmaniasis is considered one of the major neglected tropical diseases. Drug resistance, limitary efficacy, and severe side effects remain a challenge for treatment. Foeniculum vulgare is known as a medicinal plant belonging to the Apiaceae, and anti-microbial properties of this plant have already been confirmed.METHOD: The F.vulgare sterile aqueous and alcoholic extracts were prepared. In vitro has used RAW 264.7 cell line and L. major parasite (MRHO/IR/75/ER). Cytotoxicity assay on macrophages (CC50), cytotoxicity assay on promastigotes (IC50), and cytotoxicity assay on infected macrophages (EC50) were accomplished with both extracts by MTT and light microscopy methods. Four in vivo were allocated in four groups and five BALB/c mice each group. Stationary phase promastigotes were inoculated into the base of mice tails subcutaneously (SC).Measurement of the body weight, lesion size, parasite burden of the lesion, and spleen after 4 weeks for evaluation effects of the alcoholic extract on CL was done.RESULTS: The results of in vitro revealed that the optimal concentrations of both extracts reducing the promastigotes and amastigotes growth. Alcoholic extract no harmful side effects for the host macrophages, while were indicated has a potent action against L. major. In vivo results after 4 weeks did not show any variation in lesion size and body weight. Also, lesion size and spleen parasite burden decreased in comparison to no treatment group.CONCLUSION: The alcoholic extract could be a new alternative treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis. However this extract needs more investigation for novel herbal drugs against CL.&nbsp

A Review on Anti Dermatophytosis Potential of Medicinal Plants: In-Vitro, In-Vivo and Important Components

Background and Aim: Dermatophytosis refers to superficial fungal infection of keratinised tissues that increase remarkable costs several plants were used as traditional medicine to treat fungal diseases. The current review aimed to provide an update on several plants used as antidermatophytosis agents and investigate the action mechanism of each plant. Materials and Methods: This systematic review was conducted on the literatures available in databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Science Direct using the search engine Google Scholar, and the following search terms: Dermatophytosis and Herbal/Herbal Medicine and Dermatophytosis treatment. Results: Forty plants were identified and information on their scientific and common name, family, parts, preparation, extraction method, fractions, solvents, phytochemical categories, compounds, dermatophyte species and inhibitory concentrations was provided from multiple in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies Conclusion: Herbals are the most effective agents on dermatophytosis which have antidermatophytosis effects due to their essential compounds

On neural network modeling to maximize the power output of PEMFCs

Article number 136345Optimum operating conditions of a fuel cell will provide its maximum efficiency and the operating cost will be minimized. Thus, operation optimization of the fuel cell is essential. Neural networks can simulate systems without using simplifying assumptions. Therefore, the neural network can be used to simulate complex systems. This paper investigates the effects of important parameters, i.e., temperature, relative humidity in the cathode and anode, stoichiometry on the cathode and anode sides, on the po larization curve of a PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) having MPL (Micro Porous Layer) by ANN (artificial neural network). For this purpose, an analytical model validated using laboratory data is applied for prediction of the operating conditions providing maximum (and/or minimum) output power of a PEM fuel cell for arbitrary values of the current. The mean absolute relative error was calculated to 1.95%, indicating that the network results represented the laboratory data very accurately. The results show 23.6% and 28.9% increase of the power by the model and the network, respectively, when comparing the maximum and minimum power outputs

A social work study on detecting organizational and job related factors creating stress: A case study of hydro power employees

The study investigates different factors influencing people to have more stress in a hydropower unit located in city of Esfahan, Iran. Since there were only 81 people working for customer service section of this company and the proposed study tries to focus only on this part of the firm we have decided to distribute questionnaires among all of them. The questionnaire consists of two parts, in the first part, we gather all private information such as age, gender, education, job experience, etc. through seven important questions. In the second part of the survey, there are 66 questions, which include all the important factors influencing employees' stress. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.946, which is well above the minimum acceptable level. The results of our ANOVA tests shows that among different factors, difficulty of working condition as well as work pressure are two most important factors increasing stress among employees. The other findings indicate that there is not a significant difference on work stress among different groups of employees in terms of their job title, educational level, employment type and gender (P>0.05). The other finding indicates that there is a meaningful difference between different groups of people with various ages, marital status and job experience (P>0.05)

Prevalence of Vascular Trauma and Related Factors in Iran: A Systematic Review

Background: Managing patients with Vascular Trauma (VT) is essential. This study aimed todetermine the prevalence of VT and its related factors in Iran.Methods: This systematic review was performed by two skilled researchers. To access all thePersian and English articles on VT and its influencing factors (from 2000 to August 2019),in addition to Google Scholar search engine, other international databases, such as PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Web of Science (ISI), anddomestic databases, such as Magiran, IranDoc, National Library of Iran Organization, SID,and Barakatkns were used. Data analysis was conducted by MA (CMA) software.Results: The incidence of lower Lower Vascular Trauma (LVI) trauma was equal to 58.4(95%CI: 41.1-73.8) (I2= 94.67, Q=112.57, P<0.001); the prevalence of upper LVI trauma wasmeasured to be 31.5 (95%CI: 17.7-49.7) (I2=94.48, Q=108.70, P<0.001); the prevalence ofpenetrating trauma was calculated as 61.3 (95% CI: 49.5-71.9); the prevalence of ulnar nerveinjury equaled 9.8 (95%CI: 2.8-28.6); the prevalence of radial nerve trauma was equal to 7.7(95%CI: 1.2-35.4); the prevalence of death cases was reported as 12.3 (95%CI: 5.1-26.9);the prevalence of amputation rate was observed as 8.8 (95%CI: 5.7-13.4); the prevalenceof fasciotomy rate was equal to 22.2 (95%CI: 13.2-34.5); the prevalence of complete arterycutting equaled 55.7 (95% CI: 35.4-74.3),and the prevalence of incomplete artery cutting wasmeasured as 25.5 (95%CI: 12.1-45.9).Conclusion: According to the study results, VT has led to various complications in patients;thus, it is critical to provide the necessary conditions to preserve the patient’s life and preventlife-threatening complications. Such goals could be achieved by preventing this type of traumaand its related complications

Global, regional, and national burden of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.

BACKGROUND: The number of individuals living with dementia is increasing, negatively affecting families, communities, and health-care systems around the world. A successful response to these challenges requires an accurate understanding of the dementia disease burden. We aimed to present the first detailed analysis of the global prevalence, mortality, and overall burden of dementia as captured by the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study 2016, and highlight the most important messages for clinicians and neurologists. METHODS: GBD 2016 obtained data on dementia from vital registration systems, published scientific literature and surveys, and data from health-service encounters on deaths, excess mortality, prevalence, and incidence from 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016, through systematic review and additional data-seeking efforts. To correct for differences in cause of death coding across time and locations, we modelled mortality due to dementia using prevalence data and estimates of excess mortality derived from countries that were most likely to code deaths to dementia relative to prevalence. Data were analysed by standardised methods to estimate deaths, prevalence, years of life lost (YLLs), years of life lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs; computed as the sum of YLLs and YLDs), and the fractions of these metrics that were attributable to four risk factors that met GBD criteria for assessment (high body-mass index [BMI], high fasting plasma glucose, smoking, and a diet high in sugar-sweetened beverages). FINDINGS: In 2016, the global number of individuals who lived with dementia was 43·8 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 37·8-51·0), increased from 20.2 million (17·4-23·5) in 1990. This increase of 117% (95% UI 114-121) contrasted with a minor increase in age-standardised prevalence of 1·7% (1·0-2·4), from 701 cases (95% UI 602-815) per 100 000 population in 1990 to 712 cases (614-828) per 100 000 population in 2016. More women than men had dementia in 2016 (27·0 million, 95% UI 23·3-31·4, vs 16.8 million, 14.4-19.6), and dementia was the fifth leading cause of death globally, accounting for 2·4 million (95% UI 2·1-2·8) deaths. Overall, 28·8 million (95% UI 24·5-34·0) DALYs were attributed to dementia; 6·4 million (95% UI 3·4-10·5) of these could be attributed to the modifiable GBD risk factors of high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, smoking, and a high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages. INTERPRETATION: The global number of people living with dementia more than doubled from 1990 to 2016, mainly due to increases in population ageing and growth. Although differences in coding for causes of death and the heterogeneity in case-ascertainment methods constitute major challenges to the estimation of the burden of dementia, future analyses should improve on the methods for the correction of these biases. Until breakthroughs are made in prevention or curative treatment, dementia will constitute an increasing challenge to health-care systems worldwide

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations