PHYTOTHERAPY IN FUNGI AND FUNGAL DISEASE: A REVIEW OF EFFECTIVE MEDICINAL PLANTS ON IMPORTANT FUNGAL STRAINS AND DISEASES

Infectious diseases are among the most important common diseases worldwide that bring stupendous costs for human community. Medicinal plants are considered a rich source of antimicrobial agents and therefore can be used as antimicrobial remedies because of producing secondary metabolites. This article was designed to review the effective medicinal plants on fungi and fungal disease. In this study, the relevant articles published in Persian and English languages were searched for in the databases Magiran, Iranmedex, Irandoc, PubMed, Scopus, SID, Web of Science, and Science Direct using the search engine Google Scholar. To maximize the comprehensiveness of the search, the general terms antimicrobial, dermatophyte, mycotic, Iran, and anti-Candida as well as their Persian equivalents were used. AND and OR were used for combining searches. Medicinal herbs such as Zataria multiflora, Thymus vulgaris, Thymus kotschyanus, Punicagranatum L., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Matricaria chamomilla L., Urtica dioica L., Mentha piperita L. and Salvia officinalis L., Thymus vulgaris, Salvia officinalis, Eucalyptus globulus, Myentha piperita, Oliveria decumbens, Echinophora Platyloba, Thymus eriocalyx and Thymus X-porlock, Achillea millefolium, Artemisia sieberi, Cuminum cyminum, Nigella sativa, Heracleum persicum, Hyssopus officinalis, Matricaria recutital, Menta spicata, Foeniculum vulgare, Pimpinella anisum, Plargonium graveolens, Rosmarinus officinalis, Saturia hortensis, Zataria multiflora, Thymus kotschyanus, Zataria multiflora, Ziziphora clinopodioides, Mentha piperita L., Physalis alkekengi L., Hymenocrater longiflorus Benth and are the most important Medicinal herbs effective on fungal diseases. Medicinal herbs mentioned in this study due to phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities have antifungal effects

Factors affecting nurses� perceived organizational commitment: A qualitative study

Objective: Nurses� organizational commitment is one of the most important factors that facilitates their professional evolution and influences the method of care provision, quality of care, and patients� satisfaction. The aim of this study was identified the factors that affect nurses� perceived organizational commitment. Material and Methods: This qualitative study, conducted on 16 clinical nurses employed in Social Security Hospital of Khorramabad, Iran, during five months from May to September 2015, used deep semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling method was used for the selection of nurses and the data were analyzed using conventional qualitative content analysis. Lincoln & Guba�s criteria were used to secure data accuracy and stability. Results: Sixteen subcategories, five categories, and three themes were distilled during content analysis process. The abstracted themes included �organizational factors�, �occupational challenges�, and �contributory management�. Conclusion: Our findings showed that numerous factors present in nurses� profession and work environment may influence the rate of nurses� interest and commitment in the hospital and the related organization. Hence, nurse managers can foster the promotion of nurses� organizational commitment through creating the required suitable conditions. © 2019, Ibn Sina Trust. All rights reserved

Paraoxonase phenotype distribution in a healthy Iranian population

Human serum paraoxonase (PON1) is a high-density lipoprotein-associated esterase that protects against organophosphate neurotoxicity, and is proposed to play a role in lipid metabolism and the onset of cardiovascular disease. In the present study, paraoxonase activities and phenotype distribution in serum of 132 healthy Iranian individuals aged 17-68 years were assessed using dual substrate method. In the study population, a wide interindividual variability (up to 15-fold) of paraoxonase activity was found. The mean of basal, salt-stimulated paraoxonase and arylesterase activities were 81.8 ± 57 U/ml, 153.1 ± 117.5 U/ml and 80.7 ± 12.8 kU/l, respectively. The ratio of salt-stimulated paraoxonase activity to arylesterase activity was used for definition of phenotypes. Based on the observed ratios, three distinct phenotypes AA (low activity), AB (intermediate activity) and BB (high activity) were determined. The PON1 ratio varied from 0.5 to 6.8. The paraoxonase phenotype frequencies were approximately 48 (AA), 41 (AB) and 11 (BB). In this work, serum triglycerides had significant positive correlation (r = 0.334, P < 0.05) with paraoxonase activity, whereas high-density lipoprotein did not. No significant decrease in paraoxonase activity by smoking was observed. Age and sex had no influences on PON1 activities. In conclusion, the distribution of paraoxonase phenotypes in this Iranian population was trimodal and comparable to that of Caucasians from North America; however, overall enzyme activity was lower than that reported for Caucasians. © 2007 The Authors

Frequency of paraoxonase 192/55 polymorphism in an Iranian population

Paraoxonase (PON1) is a serum enzyme that plays an important role in prevention of atherosclerosis and also protects against organophosphate-induced neurotoxicity. PON1 displays a high variablility in human populations. In this study, PON1-192 and -55 polymorphisms and correlation to serum PON1 activity were investigated in 132 healthy Iranian individuals from Isfahan province. The genotype frequencies for PON1-192 were approximately 48 (QQ), 42. (QR), and 10 (RR) and for PON1-55 17 (MM), 48 (ML), and 35 (LL). Thus, the frequencies of alleles R and L were 0.31 and 0.59, respectively. PON1 activity toward paraoxon was markedly affected in both polymorphic populations in the following order QQ < QR < RR genotype for PON1-192 and MM < ML < LL genotype for PON1-55. Neither polymorphism significantly affected PON1 activity toward phenylacetate. The RR/LL individuals had the highest PON1 activity and QQ/MM individuals the least. The QR/ML haplotype was the most frequent seen in Iranians, and the RR/MM and QR/MM haplotypes were absent in this population. In conclusion, the frequencies of PON1-192 and -55 polymorphisms in this Iranian population were different from those seen in other Asian populations from Japan and China but similar to those for European Caucasians. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Udział rolników w Stowarzyszeniu Użytkowników Wody w zachodnim Iranie

One of the main challenges of water scarcity is the water consumption in the agriculture sector. Therefore, optimizing water consumption and applying an optimal management in the agriculture sector is necessary. The implementation of a participatory management of water resources in the rural areas and the creation of Water User Association (WUA) can be a successful approach towards this management. That requires the continuity of the management, the comprehensive participation of farmers, and the exploitation of water resources; however, this action needs to understand the factors affecting the behavior of consumers. Thus identifying the factors influencing farmers’ intentions towards participation in WUA is essential. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting farmers' intentions towards participation in water user association, by theory of planned behavior (TPB). There are 21 agriculture water pumping stations active in Lorestan Province. Farmers at each agriculture water pumping stations make up a Water User Association. The population of this study consisted of all WUAs in western Iran (N = 1990), and through a proportional stratified random sampling technique farmers were selected (N = 133) from the population. Moreover, the validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated at pre-test stage for different parts of the questionnaire ranging from 0.83 until 0.91. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20 software. The results revealed that there were effective variables including subjective norm, attitude, and extension training courses which contributed to the importance of participation in the water management, and that the educational level of farmer was a controlled variable that could affect farmers' attitudes towards participating in Water User Association; these factors could explain 53% of farmers' participation totally.Zużycie wody w sektorze rolniczym w warunkach jej deficytu stanowi główne wyzwanie. Konieczna jest zatem optymalizacja zużycia wody i właściwe gospodarowanie wodą w rolnictwie. Wdrożenie partycypacyjnego gospodarowania zasobami wody na obszarach wiejskich i tworzenie stowarzyszeń użytkowników wody może przynieść korzystne efekty. Wymaga to ciągłości gospodarowania, wszechstronnego udziału rolników i eksploatacji zasobów wody. Takie działanie wymaga jednak zrozumienia czynników wpływających na zachowanie konsumentów. Ważna jest więc identyfikacja czynników, które powodują zaangażowanie rolników w stowarzyszeniach. Celem tych badań było określenie czynników skłaniających rolników do udziału w stowarzyszeniach użytkowników wody z użyciem teorii planowanego zachowania (TPB). W prowincji Lorestan w Iranie istnieje 21 czynnych stacji pomp. Rolnicy skupieni wokół każdej z tych stacji tworzą Stowarzyszenie Użytkowników Wody. Populacja poddana badaniu obejmowała członków wszystkich stowarzyszeń w zachodnim Iranie (N = 1990). Wykorzystując technikę proporcjonalnego stratyfikowanego i losowego wyboru, wybrano z tej populacji 133 rolników. Poprawność stosowanej ankiety została potwierdzona przez panel ekspertów. Wiarygodność ankiety obliczana na wstępnym etapie badań dla różnych jej części wynosiła od 0,83 do 0,91. Uzyskane dane były analizowane za pomocą programu SPSS 20. Wyniki świadczą, że istnieją efektywne czynniki, takie jak subiektywne normy, nastawienie czy poszerzone szkolenia, które zwiększają znaczenie udziału w gospodarce wodnej oraz że poziom wykształcenia rolnika jest decydującym czynnikiem, który wpływa na jego stosunek względem udziału w stowarzyszeniu. Wymienione czynniki objaśniały 53% udziału rolników w stowarzyszeniach