Herbal therapy for hemorrhoids: An Overview of Medicinal Plants Affecting Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are one of the most common rectal diseases that affect millions of people in the world and cause many medical and socio-economic problems. The resulting pain is very severe and incurs exorbitant costs for the patient and the government. This study aimed to review the medicinal plants that affect hemorrhoids. Complete databases searched for in those articles were Google Scholar, SID, Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, and WOS search engines. The search was done for articles published that included the search term containing, medicinal plants and hemorrhoids in their title. This study focused on published articles and papers from 1991 to 2022.The results showed medicinal plants Aloe vera, Trigonella foenum-graecum L, Nigella sativa L, Curcuma longa L, Cocos nucifera L, Solanum nigrum L., Alhagi persarum Boiss & Buhse, Plantago lanceolata L, Achillea santolina, Malva neglecta Wallr,  Rubus fruticosus L  have effects like anti-bleeding, analgesic, anti-inflammatory,  and wound-healing, and with hemorrhoid-healing effect. Generally, the investigated traditional Iranian edible plants are rich in different types of chemical compounds and have special benefits in the prevention and treatment of diseases.Keywords: Medicinal plants; Hemorrhoids; Diseases; Remedy Drugs 

Moderating role of compassion in the link between fear of Coronavirus disease and mental health among undergraduate students

"Background The societal challenges presented by fear related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic may present unique challenges for an individual's mental health. However, the moderating role of compassion in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health has not been well-studied. The present study aimed to explore the association between fear of COVID-19 and mental health, as well as test the buffering role of compassion in this relationship. Methods The participants in this study were 325 Iranian undergraduate students (228 females), aged 18–25 years, who completed questionnaires posted on social networks via a web-based platform. Results The results showed that fear of COVID-19 was positively related with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The results also showed that compassion was negatively associated with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The interaction-moderation analysis revealed that compassion moderated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and subscale of mental health. Conclusion Results highlight the important role of compassion in diminishing the effect of fear of COVID-19 on the mental health (physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms) of undergraduate students.

Leukocyte telomere length and obesity in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Several studies have revealed the negative effects of adiposity on telomere length shortening. However, the results of the studies assessing the negative relationship between obesity and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) are not consistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis are aimed to pool the results of articles assessing the relationship between obesity and LTL among children and adolescents.Methods: To retrieve the related studies, four online databases including PubMed, Embase, ProQuest, and Scopus were searched until May 2022. Observational studies evaluating the relationship between obesity and LTL among apparently healthy children and adolescents (aged ≤18 years) were included in the study. We considered the studies that had reported a mean ± standard deviation of LTL. The random-effects model was used to assess the pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) and a 95% confidence interval (CI).Results: The search yielded seven studies from an initial 3,403 records identified. According to the results of seven articles with 4,546 participants, obesity was associated with LTL shortening among children and adolescents (WMD = −0.081; 95% CI: −0.137 to −0.026; p = 0.004; I2 = 99.9%). Also, no publication bias was observed. According to the results of subgrouping, significant results were only attributed to the studies conducted in Europe, with high quality scores, among overweight and obese adolescents, with a baseline LTL lower than 1, and performed in community-based school settings. Also, according to the subgrouping and meta-regression results, the obesity definition criteria and baseline LTL were the possible sources of between-study heterogeneity.Conclusion: We observed shorter LTL among overweight and obese children and adolescents. To obtain more reliable results, further longitudinal prospective studies with large sample sizes and more consistent and accurate definitions of obesity are required

Moderating role of compassion in the link between fear of Coronavirus disease and mental health among undergraduate students

"Background The societal challenges presented by fear related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic may present unique challenges for an individual's mental health. However, the moderating role of compassion in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health has not been well-studied. The present study aimed to explore the association between fear of COVID-19 and mental health, as well as test the buffering role of compassion in this relationship. Methods The participants in this study were 325 Iranian undergraduate students (228 females), aged 18–25 years, who completed questionnaires posted on social networks via a web-based platform. Results The results showed that fear of COVID-19 was positively related with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The results also showed that compassion was negatively associated with physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The interaction-moderation analysis revealed that compassion moderated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and subscale of mental health. Conclusion Results highlight the important role of compassion in diminishing the effect of fear of COVID-19 on the mental health (physical symptoms, social function, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms) of undergraduate students.

Electrospun Ta-MOF/PEBA Nanohybrids and Their CH4 Adsorption Application

For the first time, biocompatible and biodegradable Ta-metal organic framework (MOF)/polyether block amide (PEBA) fibrous polymeric nanostructures were synthesized by ultrasonic and electrospinning routes in this study. The XRD peaks of products were wider, which is due to the significant effect of the ultrasonic and electrospinning methods on the final product. The adsorption/desorption behavior of the nanostructures is similar to that of the third type of isotherm series, which showed mesoporous behavior for the products. The sample has uniform morphology without any evidence of agglomeration. Since the adsorption and trapping of gaseous pollutants are very important, the application of the final Ta-MOF/PEBA fibrous polymeric nanostructures was investigated for CH4 adsorption. In order to achieve the optimal conditions of experiments and also systematic studies of the parameters, fractional factorial design was used. The results showed that by selecting temperature 40°C, time duration 35 min, and pressure 3 bar, the CH4 gas adsorption rate was near 4 mmol/g. Ultrasonic and electrospinning routes as well as immobilization of Ta-MOF in the PEBA fibrous network affect the performance of the final products for CH4 gas adsorption

Dietary Dracocephalum Kotschyi Essential Oil Improved Growth, Haematology, Immunity and Resistance to Aeromonas Hydrophila in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss)

In the present study, the effect of Dracocephalum kotschyi essential oil (DKE) was investigated on growth, haematology, immune and antioxidant defence system and resistance of rainbow trout juveniles to bacterial infection (Aeromonas hydrophila). For this purpose, the fish were fed a diet containing different concentrations of DKE including 0 (control), 0.2, 0.25 and 0.3 mg/kg diet in three replicates for 60 days. After feeding trial, the fish were challenged with a pathogenic dose of A. hydrophila. Based on the results, immune components in plasma (alternative complement activity [ACH50], IgM content, lysozyme activity, total protein and total albumin) and mucus (protease activity, IgM content and lysozyme activity) significantly elevated in fish fed diet containing 0.2 and 0.25 mg DKE/kg diet compared with other groups (p < 0.01). The plasma bactericidal activity increased in all DKE-supplemented fish. Supplementation of fish with 0.3 mg DKE/kg diet depressed the mucosal lysozyme activity and IgM content. The liver antioxidant enzymes, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) showed increased activity in response to 0.25 and 0.3 mg DKE/kg diet compared with other experimental diets (p < 0.01). Dietary DKE changed the haematology of the fish. The haematocrit, red blood cell count (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), haemoglobin content and mean erythrocyte cell haemoglobin content (MCHC) increased in response to DKE. In contrast, the mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) decreased in fish fed 0.2 and 0.25 mg DKE/kg diet compared with other diets (p < 0.01). The supplementation of fish with 0.2 and 0.25 mg DKE/kg diet decreased the expression of cytokine-related genes, TNF-α and IL-8. In contrast, the DKE up-regulated the expression of the immune-related genes, C3 and lysozyme. DKE at concentration of 0.3 mg/kg diet depressed the C3 and lysozyme gene expressions. The DKE supplementation decreased the mortality rate of the fish after bacterial challengecompared with non-supplemented ones (p < 0.01). In conclusion, the findings of this study revealed the immune-stimulating effects of DKE at optimized dietary concentrations. In addition, DKE decreased the mortality induced by A. hydrophila infection

Vibration analysis of size dependent micro FML cylindrical shell reinforced by CNTs based on modified couple stress theory

In this manuscript, the sequel of agglomeration on the vibration of fiber metal laminated (FML) cylindrical shell in the micro phase using developed couple stress theory (MCST). Hamilton’s principle has been carried out for deriving the non-classical equations of motion of size dependent thin micro cylindrical shell on the basis of Love’s first approximation theory. Mori Tanaka and extended rule of mixture are utilized to estimate the mechanical attributes of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and equivalent fiber, respectively. These four phases CNTs/fiber/polymer/metal laminated (CNTFPML) micro cylindrical shell is analyzed applying beam modal function model for several boundary limitations. Then, an investigation is performed to study the impacts of differing input parameters namely material length scale parameter, agglomeration, the distributions of agglomerated CNTs, the mass fraction of equivalent fiber and the volume fraction of CNTs on the frequency response of micro agglomerated CNTFPML cylindrical shell. The main output illustrated that the growth of frequencies is directly dependent to the increase of material length scale parameter for this agglomerated CNTFPML cylindrical shell so that through increasing the values of agglomeration parameters g and l and material length scale parameter l altogether, the frequencies of this cylindrical shell gro

Folate-Targeted Curcumin-Loaded Niosomes for Site-Specific Delivery in Breast Cancer Treatment: In Silico and In Vitro Study

As the most common cancer in women, efforts have been made to develop novel nanomedicine-based therapeutics for breast cancer. In the present study, the in silico curcumin (Cur) properties were investigated, and we found some important drawbacks of Cur. To enhance cancer therapeutics of Cur, three different nonionic surfactants (span 20, 60, and 80) were used to prepare various Cur-loaded niosomes (Nio-Cur). Then, fabricated Nio-Cur were decorated with folic acid (FA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) for breast cancer suppression. For PEG-FA@Nio-Cur, the gene expression levels of Bax and p53 were higher compared to free drug and Nio-Cur. With PEG-FA-decorated Nio-Cur, levels of Bcl2 were lower than the free drug and Nio-Cur. When MCF7 and 4T1 cell uptake tests of PEG-FA@Nio-Cur and Nio-Cur were investigated, the results showed that the PEG-FA-modified niosomes exhibited the most preponderant endocytosis. In vitro experiments demonstrate that PEG-FA@Nio-Cur is a promising strategy for the delivery of Cur in breast cancer therapy. Breast cancer cells absorbed the prepared nanoformulations and exhibited sustained drug release characteristics

An investigation of the effect of smoking, alcohol, and drug use on male infertility

Background: Infertility in men has increased in recent years. Numerous physical, chemical, biological, and social factors are known to play a role in reducing semen quality, in between, there are high-risk behaviors that affect the quality of semen. In this paper, the effects of three factors: smoking, alcohol consumption, and drugs have been investigated. Methods: This case-control study was performed from June to September 2021 on 500 people, 250 people with normal semen quality and 250 people with defective semen quality. The data collection tool was a questionnaire made by researchers and semen test results. Finally, the collected data were analyzed by descriptive method with SPSS software. For quantitative variables, mean and standard deviation (SD) were used, while frequency and percentage reports were used for qualitative variables. Results: Drug use had a significant relationship with the shape and motility of sperm (B = -0.675, P = 0.005). The chance of natural semen decreases by 0.506 times with an increase of one drug use unit; moreover, the older the age of onset of drug use, the more the semen disorders (B = 0.514, P = 0.002).. Conclusion: Smoking and alcohol consumption were not identified as factors affecting semen quality, but there was a significant relationship between drug use and age of onset and semen disorders