Effect of parasite infection with Posthodiplostomum cuticola (Nordmann, 1832) on fish growth rate in Zaringol Stream in Golestan Province

This study investigated the effect of parasite infection with Posthodiplostomum cuticola on fish growth rate in Zaringol Stream in Golestan Province. A total number of 447 fish specimens (173 Capoeta capoeta gracilis, 111 Alburnoides eichwaldii, 131 Paracobitis malapterura, 32 Neogobius fluviatilis) were captured by electrofishing during December 2009 to September 2010. Total number of parasite on fish body was counted by investigating internal organ and surface of skin and branch. Results showed that slope of regression curves and condition factor were significantly lower in infected C. c. gracilis. N. fluviatilis was the most abundant infected fish in Zarringol Stream. It seems that it's feeding dependence on benthos makes this fish more susceptible to infection by parasite

Effects of curcumin on body weight, glycemic control and serum lipids in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of curcumin on body weight, glycemic control and serum lipids in women suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods: The current randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial was performed on 60 subjects with PCOS, aged 18�40 years old. Subjects were randomly allocated to take 500 mg/day curcumin (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 12 weeks. Glycemic control and serum lipids were measured at baseline and after the 12-week intervention. Using RT-PCR method, gene expression related to insulin and lipid metabolism was evaluated. Results: Curcumin significantly decreased weight (�0.8 ± 0.9 vs. �0.2 ± 0.8 kg, P = 0.03) and BMI (�0.3 ± 0.4 vs. �0.1 ± 0.3 kg/m2, P = 0.03). Curcumin, compared with the placebo, significantly reduced fasting glucose (β �2.63 mg/dL; 95 CI, �4.21, �1.05; P = 0.002), serum insulin (β �1.16 μIU/mL; 95 CI, �2.12, �0.19; P = 0.02), insulin resistance (β �0.26; 95 CI, �0.48, �0.03; P = 0.02), and significantly increased insulin sensitivity (β 0.006; 95 CI, 0.001, 0.01; P = 0.02). In addition, taking curcumin was associated with a significant reduction in total cholesterol (β �15.86 mg/dL; 95 CI, �24.48, �7.24; P = 0.001), LDL-cholesterol (β �16.09 mg/dL; 95 CI, �25.11, �7.06; P = 0.001) and total-/HDL-cholesterol ratio (β �0.62; 95 CI, �0.93, �0.30; P < 0.001), and a significant increase in HDL-cholesterol levels (β 2.14 mg/dL; 95 CI, 0.36, 3.92; P = 0.01) compared with the placebo. Additionally, curcumin administration up-regulated gene expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) (P = 0.03) and low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) (P < 0.001) compared with the placebo. Conclusions: Overall, curcumin administration for 12 weeks to women with PCOS had beneficial effects on body weight, glycemic control, serum lipids except triglycerides and VLDL-cholesterol levels, and gene expression of PPAR-γ and LDLR. Registered under Clinical Trials.gov Identifier no. http://www.irct.ir: IRCT20170513033941N50. © 2020 European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolis

Effect of Listeria monocytogenes inoculation, sodium acetate and nisin on microbiological and chemical quality of grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella during refrigeration storage

In this study, the microbiological quality and lipid oxidation of the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) fillets treated by dipping in sodium acetate (0, 1 and 3%), nisin (0, 0.1 and 0.2%) or their combination were evaluated during 16 days of refrigeration storage. Antilisterial effect of nisin was enhanced with the increased concentration of sodium acetate. With increasing the concentrations of sodium acetate, mesophilic counts were lower but regarding nisin, better results were obtained by applying 0.1% nisin. Greater inhibition of mesophile bacteria was observed when combination treatment was used. The number of lactobacillus was lower when higher concentrations of sodium acetate and nisin were used. Peroxide, TBA and total viable base nitrogen (TVB-N) values were lower in the samples treated with both nisin and sodium acetate and higher results were obtained in the combination treatments.Key words: Listeria monocytogenes, nisin, sodium acetate, microbial quality, chemical quality, grass carp

Diagnostic and Therapeutic Costs of Patients With a Diagnosis of Or Suspected of Coronavirus Disease in Iran

Objectives: To understand the social and individual effects of the disease and make decisions on the allocation of health resources, it is necessary to understand the economic burden of coronavirus disease (COVID-19); however, there are limited data in this field. This study aimed to estimate diagnostic and therapeutic costs of patients with a diagnosis of or suspected of COVID-19 disease admitted to hospitals in northeast Iran. Methods: This descriptive and analytical research was conducted as a retrospective study using the data collected from 2980 patients admitted to 30 hospitals from February to April 2020 in Iran. For data collection, an appropriate data capture tool was designed to record detailed resource use. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to examine the association between the treatment costs and sociodemographic, disease severity, and underlying diseases. Data were analyzed using Excel 2017 (Microsoft, Redmond, WA) and SPSS version 21 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). Results: The inpatient costs per patient were Int$416, of which 74% were paid by social health insurance systems, 19% by the government, and 7% by the patients. The largest cost components were hoteling (37%) and medicine (36%). The 4 subscales of age, sex, underlying disease, and severity predicted 48.6% of the cost variance. Conclusion: Understanding the economic consequences of diseases can help policymakers to make plans to reduce out-of-pocket payments and make plans for funding. Since COVID-19 is a newly emerging disease and there is no definitive cure for the disease, the discovery of an effective medicine may alter medical costs and reduce the hospital length of stay, therefore significantly reducing treatment costs

The nature and rationale of the robotic curriculum in elementary school

Background and Objective:As widespread changes have occurred in the community, the use of technology has also expanded. To effectively prepare for and cope with evolving of this century we need to design and develop special curricula. Educational robotics is an advanced technology that requires special attention. In the past few decades, robotics has attracted the attention of researchers and teachers as a valuable tool in developing cognitive / social skills of students and in supporting the learning of subjects in science, mathematics, language, and technology. There are several important reasons why young students should be exposed to robotics. As our world becomes more and more technologically advanced, students need to early experience so that to feel comfortable with and be aware of technology. In addition, the inclusion of robotics in the school curriculum will help prepare students to enter the job market with technological literacy. Robotics is an attractive approach to technology training due to its interdisciplinary nature, which requires expertise in a wide range of fields from mathematics to aesthetics. This can attract the interest and engagement of students who have not been successful in traditional subject matters. The purpose of this paper is to explain the philosophical orientation and educational robotics foundations at the primary school level so that policymakers, engineers and curriculum developers can formulate curriculum models for implementation. Methods: In this research, educational robotics was analyzed and synthesized using the synthesis research method. Valid documents and research from the last four decades have been selected and categorized using a criterion-based purposive sampling technique. Findings: Synthesis findings indicate that robotics in schools work in two ways as an independent subject and as an educational enabler serving other topics. Logical justification of it is based on constructivist, including epistemological (personal and multidisciplinary), psychological (attention to motivation, creativity and etc.) and sociological foundations (interaction, predictability and etc.). Conclusion: In order to design a curriculum, a planner must first pay attention to the nature of the subject or knowledge and then proceed to develop a plan based on the orientations of the curriculum. Because the subject is robotics training in elementary school, the planner must pay attention to its nature first. The findings of this synthesis showed that robotics can serve in schools at all levels as an independent subject or as an educational enabler in the service of other subjects. Therefore, it is necessary to differentiate between the concepts of robotic training and training robotics. In robotics training, the subject is robot training; but in educational robotics, the robot is considered as a method, tool or technique that is used to teach other subjects.   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

Effects of predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors on self-care behaviors of the patients with diabetes mellitus in the Minoodasht city, Iran

Background: To control diabetes mellitus (DM) it is necessary to make overall changes in the life style of the patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors on self-care behaviors of the patients with DM in the Minoodasht city, Iran in 2012.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 78 people with DM were selected by convenience sampling method. In the first stage of study, the educational program was compiled and executed on six information sessions. To present the informative content, a video projector and different lecturing methods including questions and answers, dynamic group discussion and different educational materials such as pamphlets and CDs were employed. After one month, the efficiency of the educational program was determined by using the same questioner. Data were analyzed using paired sample T-test and McNemar test. Results: The mean age of participants was 49 (SD: 3.27.) years old, 87.2 were married, and 19.2 were illiterate. The results showed that the enabling factors like adopting to go on a diet and the educational classes facilitated by the staff had significant effects on health care behavior of the patients. Furthermore 69.2 of the participants adopted to go on a diet before the educational sessions; that figure increased to 94.9 after the educational sessions. According to the results the mean scores for the knowledge, attitude, and behavior, reinforcement factors and enabling factors increased significantly after of the educational intervention (p- value >0.001).Conclusion: Predisposing, enabling and reinforcement factors affected in taking self-care behavior in the patient with DM. © 2015 Borhani et al.; licensee BioMed Central

Efficacy of biological agents and fillers seed coating in improving drought stress in anise

Many plants, including anise, have tiny, non-uniform seeds with low and light nutrient reserves. The seeds also show a weak establishment, especially under stressful conditions where their accurate planting in the soil and optimal yield are tough. This study sought to improve anise seeds' physical and physiological characteristics under drought stress. To this end, two factorial experiments under laboratory and greenhouse conditions were performed in a completely randomized design with 4 and 3 replications, respectively. Five levels of seed inoculation (inoculation with T36 and T43 of Trichoderma harzianum, and CHA0 and B52 of Pseudomonas fluorescent, and non-inoculation which means that control seeds were not treated with microbial inoculant), three levels of coating (K10P20, K10P10V5, and non-coating), and three levels of drought stress (0, -3, and -6 bars) were considered as the factorial experiment [vermiculite (V), kaolin (K), and perlite (P) numbers refer to the amount of material used in grams]. The laboratory experiment revealed that the combined treatments of bio-agents with coating increased the physical and germination characteristics of anise seeds compared to the control treatment. The greenhouse experiment showed that drought stress reduced the initial growth indices. Still, the combination treatments of biological agents and coating (fillers) could alleviate the destructive effects of drought stress to some extent and improve these indices. The best treatment was provided by T36 and K10P20 in both experiments, which significantly increased morphological indices.Peer reviewe

Level of Familiarity and Attitude of the Covered Population Regarding the Criteria and Requirements of Iranś Urban Family Physician Program

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In the health care system, if the service recipients are familiar with the provided services and the defined criteria and gain a positive attitude, they can help the health team to improve the effectiveness of health interventions while having all the provided benefits in the shortest time possible. The present study was conducted to determine the level of familiarity and attitude of the covered population regarding the criteria and requirements of urban family physician program. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in winter 2016 among the population covered by the urban family physician program who were randomly selected through cluster sampling. There were 10 households in each cluster, and in each household one person over 20 years of age was questioned. The data were collected and evaluated using a researcher-made questionnaire including two parts of individual variables, and familiarity with the program's criteria and requirements using 34 open-ended and closed-ended questions. FINDINGS: Of 1769 surveyed people, the level of familiarity with the urban family physician program in 551 people (31.1%) was low, in 695 people (39.3%) was moderate, and in 523 people (29.6%) was high. 846 people (56.1%) had a positive attitude and 663 people (43.9%) had a negative attitude toward the criteria and requirements of the program. Eight personal and social variables were effective in the level of familiarity and six variables were effective in the attitude level of individuals (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that more than 50% of the covered population had familiarity and positive attitude toward the family physician program, while some of the individual and social variables were also effective

Mesenchymal stem cell-conditioned medium reduces disease severity and immune responses in inflammatory arthritis

We evaluated the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cell-conditioned medium (CM-MSC) as an alternative to cell therapy in an antigen-induced model of arthritis (AIA). Disease severity and cartilage loss were evaluated by histopathological analysis of arthritic knee joints and immunostaining of aggrecan neoepitopes. Cell proliferation was assessed for activated and naïve CD4+ T cells from healthy mice following culture with CM-MSC or co-culture with MSCs. T cell polarization was analysed in CD4+ T cells isolated from spleens and lymph nodes of arthritic mice treated with CM-MSC or MSCs. CM-MSC treatment significantly reduced knee-joint swelling, histopathological signs of AIA, cartilage loss and suppressed TNFα induction. Proliferation of CD4+ cells from spleens of healthy mice was not affected by CM-MSC but reduced when cells were co-cultured with MSCs. In the presence of CM-MSC or MSCs, increases in IL-10 concentration were observed in culture medium. Finally, CD4+ T cells from arthritic mice treated with CM-MSC showed increases in FOXP3 and IL-4 expression and positively affected the Treg:Th17 balance in the tissue. CM-MSC treatment reduces cartilage damage and suppresses immune responses by reducing aggrecan cleavage, enhancing Treg function and adjusting the Treg:Th17 ratio. CM-MSC may provide an effective cell-free therapy for inflammatory arthritis