The Predictive Role of Preoperative Leukocytosis, Anemia and Thrombocytosis with the Severity of Epithelial Ovarian Tumors

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Ovarian cancer is the sixth common cancer among women in the world. Preoperative blood cell count can be a biomarker that predicts the severity of different types of cancer and determine the type of surgery. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the predictive role of the three blood markers of anemia, leukocytosis and thrombocytosis in the stage and grade of epithelial ovarian cancer before the operation. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the data of 60 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer were evaluated. Demographic data, hemoglobin, white blood cell count and platelets were statistically compared based on the stage of disease and the grade of mass differentiation as good, moderate and undifferentiated. FINDINGS: 61.1% of patients with thrombocytosis were in stage 3 and 33.3% of patients with leukocytosis were in stage 2 (p≤0.05), while 20.5% of the patients with anemia were in stage 3 (p>0.05). Moreover, 52.4% of patients with leukocytosis and 61.1% of patients with thrombocytosis had grade 3 tumor (p≤0.05), but only 34.1% of patients with anemia were in this group (p>0.05). Based on the evaluation of the ROC curve, cut-off point of the white blood cell was calculated to be 9050/ml with a sensitivity of 64% and specificity of 65% and platelet count was calculated to be 266000/ml with a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 53%. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, preoperative leukocytosis and thrombocytosis were correlated with stage and grade of epithelial ovarian cancer and had a predictive role

Plants used to treat hyperpigmentation in Iranian traditional medicine: a review

Skin hyperpigmentation is characterized as increased production and accumulation of melanin, which could be aesthetically unfavorable and develops serious skin diseases. There is a need to find new depigmenting agents, since many current natural and synthetic products present undesired side effects. In Iranian traditional medicine (ITM), plants have been used for the treatment of skin diseases such as hyperpigmentation. In this study, topical herbal medicines, for the treatment of hyperpigmentation were searched in ITM references, and their scientific names were identified, using different comprehensive glossaries. Thereafter, depigmenting mechanisms of these genera were reviewed in recent scientific literatures. Seventy-nine plants were made known as herbal remedies for skin hyperpigmentation. Furthermore, modern literatures have shown depigmenting effect of about 40% of these plants or their isolated compounds, with different melanogenesis inhibitory mechanisms with tyrosinase inhibition as the most revealed method. Regarding the new approach to medicinal plants in recent years, a large number of medicinal herbs that were mentioned in ITM references would be good candidates for exploring new herbal medicines for skin hyperpigmentation disorders

Effect Of Fenton Process (H2O2 / Fe2+) On Removal Of Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate Using Central Composite

This study investigates the degradation of Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS) in aqueous solution using Fenton’s process in a batch reactor (at pH = 3 and 25°C). Experiments were carried out to survey the effects of the amounts of ferrous sulfate (FeSO4.7H2O) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the LAS and COD removal. Central composite design and response surface methods were used to optimize the Fenton oxidation process through examination of three independent operating variables namely oxidant dose (H2O2), catalyst dose (Fe+2) and reaction time., hydrogen peroxide dose ranging from 150 to 750 mg /L and Fe+2 concentration in the range of 10 –130 mg /L were selected to be examined at different reaction times between 20 and 80 minutes. Models were developed and results shows that the oxidation capacities of H2O2 /Fe+2 were highly dependent on the concentration of H2O2 and Fe+2. Satisfactory decay rates of LAS to lock up biodegradable concentration level were obtained, and in the case for oxidation of 200 mg /L LAS, the optimum values were achieved at 600 and 130 mg/L for H2O2 and Fe+2, respectively

Development of a honey based tonic syrup for cancer-related fatigue

Background and objectives: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is the most common and distressing symptom that affects overall quality of life of cancer patients. Due to the multi-factorial etiology, there is currently no “gold standard” for treatment of CRF. Considering the growing importance of national traditional medicines, natural remedies are viewed as playing distinctive role. “Jollab” is a natural syrup prescribed by Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) scholars as tonic especially for the cardiovascular system. “Jollab” can consist of several ingredients although almost all traditional recipes include saffron and rose water as well as sugar or honey. The aim of this research was to develop a honey based “Jollab” and evaluate hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a product of fructose decomposition, as an indicator of heating effect on honey. Methods: Several “Jollab” formulations with different proportions of honey and rose water were prepared using deslagging procedure through direct or indirect heating. The HMF content of the formulation was measured according to International Honey Commission (IHC) method. Results: “Jollab” was formulated with saffron (0.1%), honey (57.1%) and rose water (42.8%). Two-thirds of the rose water was evaporated during deslagging procedure through direct heating (up to 95 °C) and the remaining was added to the honey at the end of the process. Moreover, the HMF content of the prepared Jollab was 64.47±5.49 mg/kg which meets ICH standards. Conclusion: The developed honey based Jollab could be considered as a safe formulation for further studies in the field of CRF due to the acceptable HMF content

Formulation and quality control of a topical gel product for treatment of melasmaFormulation and quality control of a topical gel product for treatment of melasma

Background and objectives: Melasma is one of the most common pigmentary disorders. It has a considerable impact on quality of life. The treatment of melasma has still remained a challenge because the efficient treatment has not been proven until now and there is still a need to find new depigmenting products.Allium cepa L. and Cucumis melo L. seeds as well as tragacanth have been introduced in Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) as depigmenting agents. Moreover, modern studies have shown their antioxidant and inhibitory mushroom tyrosinase effect.In this study, a topical gel containing Allium cepa L. and Cucumis melo L. seeds extract was prepared with tragacanth and quality control evaluations have been accomplished. Method: After performing quality control of plants seeds and tragacanth according to pharmacopoeia, the ethanol extract of A. cepa and hydroalcoholic extract of C. melo seeds were prepared. An appropriate gel formulation was selected on the base of suitable viscosity. The gel product was formulated using 5% of each plant extracts in tragacanth gel base. In addition, the herbal gel was evaluated using pharmaceutical behavior such as physical appearance, pH, viscosity, spreadability as well as phenolics content. Results: The herbal gel product showed acceptable pharmaceutical behavior as well as considerable phenolic content (1.43±0.01 mg/g). Conclusion: The prepared topical gel product could be a good natural formulation candidate for clinical studies in the field of hyperpigmentation. Moreover, phenolic content of the product could be considered as an indicator for its quality control

Preparation of a topical herbal formulation for hyperpigmentation

Background and objectives: Skin hyperpigmentation usually indicates an increase in production and accumulation of melanin. Hyperpigmentary disorders are characterized by the appearance of melasma, freckles and lentigo on the skin surface which can cause psychological disturbances. Herbal products could be extensively preferable due to their widespread accessibility and the vast experiential data retrieved from traditional medicine since many current products present undesired side effects. Rheum palmatum L. and. Rosa canina L. are two herbal remedies proposed by Iranian traditional medicine for hyperpigmentation whose tyrosinase inhibitory effect have been revealed in modern literatures. The aim of this research was to prepare a topical cream formulation from R. palmatum rhizome and R. canina fruit extracts and study its physicochemical characteristics.  Methods: Subsequent to performing the plants quality control tests and extraction, several formulations with different oily phase components were tested for selecting an appropriate cream base. In addition to physical characteristics and accelerated stability studies, total phenolics content of the herbal formulation was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent.  Results: Herbal o/w cream containing 2.5% of each hydroalcoholic extract of R. palmatum and R. canina was prepared using almond oil, eucerrin and stearyl alcohol as the oil phase components. The herbal cream showed acceptable pharmaceutical behavior as well as considerable phenolic content (8.81±0.78 mg/g). Conclusion: The prepared herbal topical cream could be introduced as a natural formulation for further studies in the field of hyperpigmention. Moreover, phenolics content of the product could be considered as an indicator for its quality control

Evaluation of Landscape Structure in Eram Park Using GIS

The method of sampling unit was applied according to the importance of the park in urban landscape structure with the initial purpose of planning method to maximize environmental sustainability and recognizing the structural elements within the park. SWOT technique has been applied to analyze collected data and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of affected areas. We used Geographical Information System (GIS) tools to apply neighborhood functions for extracting correspondent data in structural elements of landscape. The results of present study show that the volume of green spaces decreases in the surrounding area due to construction and farmlands activities

Performance of a Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) Augmented Activated Sludge Process Treating Semi-Aerobic Leachate

Semi-aerobic leachate is characterized by organic matter (COD, BOD) which is relatively low in concentration and difficult to biodegrade. In conventional treatment systems, the low biodegradability is attributed to partial stabilization of leachate at the landfill. Biological treatment of leachate in Malaysia is not well established and any important data for the treatment process is not available. The behavior of microbes is unknown for semi aerobic leachate. This research was conducted to establish some of the important data in the biological treatment of semi-aerobic leachate with and without the influence of powdered activated carbon (PAC). For the present study, semi aerobic leachate was collected from Pulau Burung Landfill Site (PBLS), Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia. The experiment involved operating two 16 L laboratory-scale activated sludge reactors in parallel at room temperature and adjusted to pH of 6.5±0.5. One of the reactors was supplemented with powdered activated carbon (PAC) of 75-150 μm size to observe its effect on leachate biodegradation. The results showed enhanced reactor performance due to PAC addition COD, NH4- N, NO3-N, TKN, BOD and colour removals was higher