Effects of different soil management styles and cropping practices on the yield and quality of fava bean (Vicia faba L.)

This research aimed to determine the effects of various soil tillage techniques and the use of organic and chemical fertilizers on the overall yield and quality of fava beans. The study emphasized the significance of fertilizer types and their interaction with soil tillage methods. Although the quantity of grains per pod was notably influenced by the choice of fertilizers, the impact of soil tillage alone was found to be insignificant. Moreover, this study demonstrated that the yield index of fava beans was significantly influenced by fertilizer sources, emphasizing the importance of proper nitrogen managements. These findings provide valuable insights for enhancing crop production and quality through optimized soil tillage practices and the use of organic and chemical fertilizers. Through an examination of both the measurable and qualitative elements of fava bean cultivation, this study offers valuable knowledge on how to optimize the application of nitrogen fertilizers and effectively utilize mycorrhizal inoculation to improve grain yield and seed quality. These findings have implications for sustainable agriculture practices and guide farmers and researchers in making informed decisions regarding soil management strategies in fava bean cultivation

Dominant and Absent Types of Application of Information Technology in Medical Education and its Challenges

Background & Objective: The aim of this article was to explore the use of new information and communication technology (ICT) in medical education in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, as a single case study. Methods: The research method was descriptive. The study population consisted of students and faculty member of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Stratified sampling was used to investigate information technology in academic environments. To investigate the ideal situation a random sampling method was applied. Questionnaires, observation, survey, and other methods were used to study ICT in higher education. Results: There was a significant difference, significantly higher than the mean, between ICT use and the ideal condition in some cases and lower than the mean in others (P < 0.01). In some cases the difference was not significant, which showed the moderate use of ICT. The use of ICT is mainly in areas such as Word. However, its other possibilities, like communication, are not used. Both groups had a positive attitude toward ICT and assessed their skills as moderate (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Results indicated a significant positive relationship between these three variables in both groups (P < 0.01). The ideal situation, according to teachers and students, included ICT training, online library, and improving infrastructure, particularly internet speed. They believed the main challenges to be their lack of skills, educational policy, and financial, managerial, cultural, and infrastructural issues. Keywords Information technology Medical education Challenges Desirable situatio

Conceptual Explanation of Spatial Mismatch Fields of Job and Residence in urban spaces with emphasis on Iran

Spatial Mismatch theory is one of the theories that examine poverty and inequality in the social-Spatial structure of cities. The aim of the present study was to "conceptually explain the grounds for Spatial Mismatch of work and residence", especially in the cities of developing countries and Iran. This research is theoretical-applied in nature and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. In addition, discourse analysis has been used to explain the fields of formation and the lack of Spatial Mismatch. According to the findings of the present study, Spatial Mismatches in the Great Fields (global and Inclusive changes such as the expansion of Ford-Keynesian and neoliberal , Post Fordism) and its most objective layer (the inequality between access to Appropriate work and access to housing in urban structure and space), are similar.However, geographically, the focus of Spatial Mismatch in developing countries, in contrast to the US, is mostly on the suburb of cities.While Spatial Mismatch in the United States is influenced by unequal racial-ethnic contexts, development of transportation technology, suburbanization, industrialization, and the establishment of industries and factories, in developing countries it is mainly due to its "unequal structure of international economic relations," "implementation." External development strategies include "unequal socio-spatial construction", "getting caught up in the traps of development traps" (political instability, selling natural resources, spreading the consequences of neighborly instability, inefficient governance), and “traps of poverty and corruption" and “unstable pattern of urban development"

Health literacy and self-care in patients

Self-care is a process in which a patient uses his knowledge and skills to perform recommended behaviors. Therefore, patients should not only be able to obtain sufficient information about their illness and how to take care of them, they must also be able to use their knowledge in different situations and situations. In fact, patients for self-care and disease management, need to receive accurate and authoritative information to understand their condition as well as to collaborate on self-care programs [1]. Although doctors have historically been the most important source for health and medical information, but today, with the spread of media and the rapid dissemination of information through the internet, access to other resources is easy for the public. Therefore, patients' skills to achieve, accurate understanding and apply this information will have a significant effect on their health and well-being. These skills have recently been highly regarded as "health literacy" (HL) [2]. HL is defined as the level of individual capacity for gaining, interpreting, understanding basic information and health services that is necessary for a proper decision-making, and is divided into three levels of functional, communication, and critical [3]. In a meta-analysis study that summarizes the results of 85 different studies, the percentage of inadequate and marginal HL in the United States is estimated to be 25% and 20%, respectively

Effect of CO2 Laser on the Prevention of White Spot Lesions During Fixed Orthodontic Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective:This study aimed to assess the effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) laser on prevention of white spot lesions (WSLs) associated with fixed orthodontic treatment.Methods:In this parallel controlled trial, 554 maxillary anterior teeth in 95 patients with age range of 12-30 years were included. The samples were randomly divided in two groups: 1) CO2 laser (n=278) and 2) control (n=276) groups. Following bracket attachment, the teeth in the laser group were exposed to CO2 laser (0.4 mw, 10.6 μm, 5 Hz) for 20 s, and the control group received placebo light. Incidence, severity, and extent of the lesions were assessed in four surface regions (gingival, incisal, mesial, and distal) at baseline and 6 months post-irradiation. The inter-group comparison was performed by the Mann-Whitney U test and McNemar analysis.Results:A significant difference regarding WSLs incidence in all teeth was observed between the two study groups (p<0.001). The two study groups illustrated a significant difference in lesion extent and incidence in incisal, mesial, and distal regions (p<0.05). The WSLs were significantly different in terms of severity in the incisal and mesial sites (p<0.05).Conclusion:The CO2 laser irradiation seemed to effectively prevent incidence of WSLs. In addition, its effectiveness varied depending on the surface region

Promjene u RF-amidu srodnom peptidu-3 hipotalamusa i ekspresijama gena Kiss1 tijekom spermatogeneze kod štakora u uvjetima kroničnog stresa.

The effects were evaluated of chronic stress and the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist (RU486) on mRNA expressions of RF-amide related peptide-3 (RFRP-3) in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH) and Kiss1 in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) of male rats. Twenty-four male rats were allocated to four equal sized groups: the stress, RU486, stress/RU486, and control groups. In the stress group the rats were restrained 1 hour/day for 12 days. In the RU486 group, the rats were injected with RU486 for 12 days. In the stress/RU486 group, the rats were injected with RU486 1 hour before the stress process for 12 days. Relative expressions of RFRP-3 and Kiss1 mRNAs were determined using real-time PCR. The relative expression of RFRP-3 mRNA in the stress group was higher than that in the RU486 and control rats. The relative expression of RFRP-3 mRNA did not differ between the stress group and the stress/RU486 rats. Furthermore, the relative expressions of Kiss1 mRNA in the stress, RU486, and stress/RU486 groups were less than that of the control rats. The relative expression of Kiss1 mRNA did not differ between the stress, RU486, and stress/RU486 groups. In conclusion, dysfunction in male rat fertility caused by the chronic stress may be the result of the increase in REFP-3 and the decrease in Kiss1 mRNA expression.Istražen je učinak kroničnog stresa i antagonista glukokortikoidnog receptora (RU486) na ekspresiju mRNA RF-amidu srodnog peptida-3 (RFRP-3) u dorzomedijalnoj jezgri hipotalamusa (DMH), te na ekspresije gena Kiss1 u arkuatnom nukleusu (ARC) štakora. Dvadeset i četiri štakora bila su raspodijeljena u četiri jednake skupine: stresna skupina, RU486 skupina, stresna/RU486 skupina i kontrolna skupina. U stresnoj skupini štakori su 12 dana bili obuzdani tijekom jednog sata dnevno. U skupini RU486, štakorima je tijekom 12 dana bio primijenjivan RU486. U skupini stres/RU486, štakorima je tijekom 12 dana apliciran RU486 jedan sat prije postupka obuzdavanja. Relativne ekspresije RFRP-3 i Kiss1 mRNA određene su lančanom reakcijom polimerazom u stvarnom vremenu. Relativna ekspresija RFRP-3 mRNA u stresnoj skupini bila je veća nego u skupini RU486 i kontrolnoj skupini. Relativna ekspresija RFRP-3 mRNA nije bila različita između stresne skupine i stres/RU486 skupine. Nadalje, relativne ekspresije Kiss1 mRNA u stresnoj skupini, skupini RU486, i stresnoj skupini/RU486 bile su manje u odnosu na kontrolnu skupinu. Relativna ekspresija Kiss1 mRNA nije se razlikovala između stresne skupine, skupineRU486 i stresne skupine/RU486. Zaključno, disfunkcija plodnosti kod štakora izloženih kroničnom stresu može biti uzrokovana putem povećane ekspresije RFRP-3 i smanjene ekspresije Kiss1 mRNA

Potential Therapeutic Uses of Thalidomide for Pulmonary Fibrosis

Thalidomide was widely used to avoid morning sickness in pregnant women, but was recalled due to its teratogenic effects and malformations in thousands of children. However, potential beneficial effects such as anti-inflammatory, system regulatory activities and the anti-angiogenic effect of thalidomide have been reported. As the studies about thalidomide continued, its new effects and applications made researchers more interested in it and became a promising agent in the treatment of a variety of clinical situations where standard treatments have failed. To make this purpose more achievable, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed were searched. After obtaining and reviewing articles related to thalidomide and its indications, different therapeutic uses of thalidomide for pulmonary diseases are classified on mechanisms. In recent years, thalidomide has been an effective agent in treating cough associated with pulmonary fibrosis and the main suggested mechanism refers to regulation production of inflammatory mediators, including cytokines and chemokines, which trigger Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). The mechanism of EMT is related to the inhibition of Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β1)-mediated signaling pathways, Smad2 (Suppressor of Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 2) / 3, Akt / Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β), and Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Thalidomide is also involved in paraquat-induced and bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Also, Thalidomide gained attention as a suitable agent for the treatment of cough associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and for severe pulmonary damage cause by severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the global pandemic in 2020, due to its anti-inflammatory-anti-angiogenesis and pro-apoptotic properties

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

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019 : A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) involves all people receiving the health services they need, of high quality, without experiencing financial hardship. Making progress towards UHC is a policy priority for both countries and global institutions, as highlighted by the agenda of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13). Measuring effective coverage at the health-system level is important for understanding whether health services are aligned with countries' health profiles and are of sufficient quality to produce health gains for populations of all ages. Methods Based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, we assessed UHC effective coverage for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Drawing from a measurement framework developed through WHO's GPW13 consultation, we mapped 23 effective coverage indicators to a matrix representing health service types (eg, promotion, prevention, and treatment) and five population-age groups spanning from reproductive and newborn to older adults (≥65 years). Effective coverage indicators were based on intervention coverage or outcome-based measures such as mortality-to-incidence ratios to approximate access to quality care; outcome-based measures were transformed to values on a scale of 0–100 based on the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile of location-year values. We constructed the UHC effective coverage index by weighting each effective coverage indicator relative to its associated potential health gains, as measured by disability-adjusted life-years for each location-year and population-age group. For three tests of validity (content, known-groups, and convergent), UHC effective coverage index performance was generally better than that of other UHC service coverage indices from WHO (ie, the current metric for SDG indicator 3.8.1 on UHC service coverage), the World Bank, and GBD 2017. We quantified frontiers of UHC effective coverage performance on the basis of pooled health spending per capita, representing UHC effective coverage index levels achieved in 2019 relative to country-level government health spending, prepaid private expenditures, and development assistance for health. To assess current trajectories towards the GPW13 UHC billion target—1 billion more people benefiting from UHC by 2023—we estimated additional population equivalents with UHC effective coverage from 2018 to 2023. Findings Globally, performance on the UHC effective coverage index improved from 45·8 (95% uncertainty interval 44·2–47·5) in 1990 to 60·3 (58·7–61·9) in 2019, yet country-level UHC effective coverage in 2019 still spanned from 95 or higher in Japan and Iceland to lower than 25 in Somalia and the Central African Republic. Since 2010, sub-Saharan Africa showed accelerated gains on the UHC effective coverage index (at an average increase of 2·6% [1·9–3·3] per year up to 2019); by contrast, most other GBD super-regions had slowed rates of progress in 2010–2019 relative to 1990–2010. Many countries showed lagging performance on effective coverage indicators for non-communicable diseases relative to those for communicable diseases and maternal and child health, despite non-communicable diseases accounting for a greater proportion of potential health gains in 2019, suggesting that many health systems are not keeping pace with the rising non-communicable disease burden and associated population health needs. In 2019, the UHC effective coverage index was associated with pooled health spending per capita (r=0·79), although countries across the development spectrum had much lower UHC effective coverage than is potentially achievable relative to their health spending. Under maximum efficiency of translating health spending into UHC effective coverage performance, countries would need to reach $1398 pooled health spending per capita (US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity) in order to achieve 80 on the UHC effective coverage index. From 2018 to 2023, an estimated 388·9 million (358·6–421·3) more population equivalents would have UHC effective coverage, falling well short of the GPW13 target of 1 billion more people benefiting from UHC during this time. Current projections point to an estimated 3·1 billion (3·0–3·2) population equivalents still lacking UHC effective coverage in 2023, with nearly a third (968·1 million [903·5–1040·3]) residing in south Asia. Interpretation The present study demonstrates the utility of measuring effective coverage and its role in supporting improved health outcomes for all people—the ultimate goal of UHC and its achievement. Global ambitions to accelerate progress on UHC service coverage are increasingly unlikely unless concerted action on non-communicable diseases occurs and countries can better translate health spending into improved performance. Focusing on effective coverage and accounting for the world's evolving health needs lays the groundwork for better understanding how close—or how far—all populations are in benefiting from UHC