Anti-angiogenesis effect of biogenic silver nanoparticles synthesized using Saliva officinalis on chick chorioalantoic membrane (CAM)

Angiogenesis, which is required for physiological events, plays a crucial role in several pathological conditions, such as tumor growth and metastasis. The use of plant extracts is a cost effective and eco-friendly way to synthesize nanoparticles. In the present study, we investigated the anti-angiogenesis properties of silver nanoparticles synthesized using Saliva officinalis extract on chick chorioalantoic membrane. The production of nanoparticles was confirmed by the color change from yellow to brown observed after approximately 3 h at 37 °C. Then, the nanoparticles were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, FTIR, and TEM. The UV-visible spectroscopy results showed that the surface plasmon resonance band for AgNPs was around 430 nm. The intensity of the AgNP-specific absorption peak improved with an increase of 0.5 mL of extract into 10 mL of AgNO3 (2.5 mM). The FTIR results showed good interaction between the plant extracts and AgNPs. The TEM images of the samples revealed that the NPs varied in morphology and size from 1 to 40 nm; the average was recorded at 16.5 ± 1.2 nm. Forty Ross fertilized eggs were divided into four groups; the control and three experimental groups. On the 8th day, gelatin sponges containing albumin were placed on the chorioalantoic membrane and soaked with different concentrations of NPs. On the 12th day, all the cases were photographed using a photostereomicroscope. The number and the lengths of the vessels were measured using Image J software. The crown rump (CR) and weight of the embryo were also recorded. Then the hemoglobin content was measured using Drabkin’s reagent kit for quantification of the blood vessel formation. According to the data analysis, the number and length of the blood vessels, as well as the CR and weight of the embryos reduced significantly compared to the control (p < 0.05), dose dependently. The total hemoglobin was quantified as an indicator of the blood vessel formation. The hemoglobin content in the treated samples with AgNPs decreased, which showed its inhibitory effect on angiogenesis

Optical coherence tomography angiography in intermediate uveitis-related cystoid macular edema

Background: Cystoid macular edema (CME) is the leading cause of permanent visual impairment in patients with uveitis, particularly in patients with intermediate uveitis (IU). This study was aimed at comparing the changes in the macular microvasculature in patients with IU with uveitic non-responsive CME and without macular edema. Methods: In this case-control study, 55 eyes of patients with IU were assessed for macular microvascular structures, including vascular density, foveal avascular zone (FAZ) measurement, and vascular morphological changes, using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) with the AngioVue OCT-A system. We divided patients into the following two groups: the case group, including 30 eyes with IU-related non-responsive CME, and the control group, including 25 eyes with IU without macular edema. Results: Participants in the case and control groups had comparable age (P = 0.753) and sex (P = 0.124) distributions. Superficial capillary plexus vessel density in the case group was significantly decreased in the whole image (P = 0.027) and the parafoveal area (P &nbsp;= 0.001) compared to the control group. However, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of foveal superficial vessel density, deep capillary plexus vessel density, FAZ area, FAZ perimeter, FAZ acircularity index, or foveal vessel density in a 300-µm-wide annulus around the FAZ (all P &gt; 0.05). Vascular morphological changes, such as the capillary tuft, telangiectatic vessels, or micro-aneurism, were not different in the overview images of the OCT-A printout between the two groups. Conclusions: The mean superficial capillary plexus vessel density was lower in eyes with IU-related nonresponsive CME than in those without macular edema. We observed more cystoid spaces in SCP than in DCP. Microcystic changes in the inner retina and ischemia may be the underlying cause in eyes with nonresponsive CME. Future prospective longitudinal studies with healthy, matched controls are warranted to confirm our findings

Underexpression of hsa-miR-449 family and their promoter hypermethylation in infertile men: A case-control study

Background: Post-transcriptional microRNAs (miRNAs) have an important pattern in the spermatogenesis process. Objective: Study of the expression and methylation of hsa-miR-449 family in sperm samples of infertile men. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, we recruited 74 infertile men (with asthenozoospermia, teratozoospermia, asthenoteratozoospermia, and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia) and 30 control samples. Methylation-specific PCR (MSP) method was used for methylation evaluation of hsa-miR-449 a, b, c promoter. By Real time PCR (qRT-PCR) method,we showed downregulation of hsa-miR-449 a, b, c in the sperm samples of infertile men and compared it to their fertile counterparts. Results: There was significant underexperssion, in hsa-miR-449-b in oligoasthenoteratospermic samples (p = 0.0001, F = 2.9). About the methylation pattern, infertile men showed high frequency of methylation in the promoter of hsa-miR-449 a, b, c in comparison to controls (60.8% vs 23.3%), the highest amount of methylation was observed in oligoasthenoteratospermia samples (81.2%). Conclusion: In this study, low expression and high methylation of hsa-miR-449-b were observed in infertile men in compared to control samples, which can be one of the causes of defective spermatogenesis. Key words: Spermatogenesis, miR-449, Expression, Epigenetic

Cultural Memory Studies and the Idea of Literature: A Cosmopolitan Critique

This essay examines the implications of a turn to cosmopolitanism in humanities and social sciences for cultural memory studies. The essentialistculturalist assumptions of cultural memory studies regarding identity and belonging are criticized from a cosmopolitan perspective. Contrasting the provincialism and parochialism of cultural memory studies with a universalist orientation in cosmopolitanism is expected to bring to light some of the possible ways in which an interdisciplinary dialogue can be established between the two

Pattern and Visual Prognostic Factors of Behcet’s Uveitis in Northwest Iran

Purpose: To investigate the pattern of ocular involvement in Behcet’s disease (BD) with predictors of patients’ final state of vision. Methods: This historical cohort encompassed the clinical records of 200 patients diagnosed according to the International Criteria for BD (ICBD), over a period of 17 years between 2004 and 2021. Results: The prevalence of Behcet’s uveitis (BU) was more common in females and patients in the fourth decade of life. Ninety-five patients (47.5%) had evidence of ocular involvement in the initial ophthalmologic evaluation, and 171 patients (85.5%) manifested evidence of BU during the follow-up visits of which bilateral non-granulomatous panuveitis was the most common anatomical pattern of involvement (32.9%) followed by posterior (27.6%), anterior (26.5%), and intermediate (13.8%) uveitis. The prevalent accompanying signs were oral aphthous (67%), skin lesions (29%), and genital ulcers (19.5%). Cystoid macular edema (CME) was the most frequent ocular complication (62%), followed by cataract (57.5%) and epiretinal membranes (ERM) (36.5%). Univariate analysis showed the following determinants: male gender, younger age at onset, panuveitis, posterior uveitis, retinal vasculitis, and longer duration of uveitis as poorer visual prognostic factors of the disease. Multivariate analysis demonstrated a higher chance of poor visual prognosis of BD in patients with panuveitis, posterior uveitis, retinal vasculitis, and longer duration of uveitis. Conclusion: This cohort study demonstrated an overview on epidemiological patterns of BU along with the visual prognostic factors in Iranian patients

Clinical Course of Uveitis in Children in a Tertiary Ophthalmology Center in Northwest Iran

Objective: In the present research, the clinical course of pediatric uveitis was studied by examining the demographic characteristics of afflicted children, the results of clinical examinations, and uveitis complications. Materials and Methods: The present research was a retrospective study in which the medical records of 243 children who had been visited and diagnosed as uveitis in the uveitis clinic of Nikookari Eye hospital of Tabriz in 2003-2015, were reviewed. The data were statistically analyzed by descriptive statistics and mean comparison tests in IBM-SPSS 23 and the significance level of P<0.05. Results:According to the results, 73 (30%), 146 (60.1%), 12 (4.9%), and 12 (4.9%) eyes diagnosed with uveitis had anterior, intermediate, posterior, and panuveitis type, respectively. In addition, 73 cases of uveitis (30%) were acute and 170 cases (70%) were chronic. Based on the LogMAR chart, the mean visual acuity before and after treatment was 0.39 and 0.15 for the right eye and 0.4 and 0.09 for the left eye, which suggests a significant difference. The most common complications observed in this study were macular edema (32.5%) and cataract (22.6%). Conclusion: This study indicates that intermediate uveitis is the most common type of pediatric uveitis, while anterior uveitis is the second. Posterior and panuveitis are less common in our study. The prevalence of chronic uveitis is significantly high in pediatric group which could justify the higher rate of complications in this age group

An assessment of health research impact in Iran

Background: In recent years, Iran has made significant developments in the field of health sciences. However, the question is whether this considerable increase has affected public health. The research budget has always been negligible and unsustainable in developing countries. Hence, using the Payback Framework, we conducted this study to evaluate the impact of health research in Iran. Methods: By using a cross-sectional method and two-stage stratified cluster sampling, the projects were randomly selected from six medical universities. A questionnaire was designed according to the Payback Framework and completed by the principle investigators of the randomly selected projects. Results: The response rate was 70.4%. Ten point twenty-four percent (10.24%) of the studies had been ordered by a knowledge user organization. The average number of articles published in journals per project was 0.96, and half of the studies had no articles published in Scopus. The results of 12% of the studies had been used in systematic review articles and the same proportion had been utilized in clinical or public health guidelines. The results of 5.3% of the studies had been implemented in the Health Ministry’s policymaking. 62% of the studies were expected to affect health directly, 38% of them had been implemented, and among the latter 60% had achieved the expected results. Concerning the economic impacts, the most common expected impact was the reduction of ‘days of work missed because of illness or disability’ and impact on personal and health system costs. About 36% of these studies had been implemented, and 61% had achieved the expected impact. Conclusion: In most aspects, the status of research impact needs improvement. A comparison of Iran’s ranking of knowledge creation and knowledge impact in the Global Innovation Index confirms these findings. The most important problems identified were, not conducting research based on national needs, and the lack of implementation of research results. Keywords: Research impact assessment, Payback, Health research syste

Investigation of the Relationship between Perfectionism withPost-Cesarean Pain and Anxiety

Background and Objectives: Post-cesarean pain and anxiety is associated with several complications and it is very important for maternal and neonatal health care and breastfeeding. Some Studies are indicative of a relationship between psychological factors and pain. The aim of this research was to investigate the relationship between perfectionism and post-cesarean pain and anxiety.   Methods: This correlational descriptive analytical study was carried out on 70 eligible pregnant women who referred to Omolbanin hospital of Mashhad city for elective cesarean section. Sampling was performed using consecutive method. Data were collected using Ahvaz Perfectionism Questionnaire (APS) and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (2-3 hours before cesarean section). Two hours after cesarean section, Spielberger questionnaire was used and to assess the patients’ pain, short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ), was used. Data were analyzed by Chi-square, Spearman, and Pearson correlation tests at the significance level of p<0.05.   Results: In this study, there was a significant correlations between perfectionism score and trait anxiety (r=0.51, p<0.001) and state anxiety before (r=0.41, p=0.001) and after (r=0.43, p=0.001) the cesarean section. Although there was significant correlation between perfectionism score and sensory dimension of SF-MPQ (r=0.31, p=0.017), no significant correlation was observed with emotional dimension of SF-MPQ (r=0.14, p=0.319(.   Conclusion: The results of this study showed that perfectionism is associated with anxiety and pain after cesarean section; therefore, cognitive behavioral counseling is recommended for perfectionists during pregnancy

ASSESSMENT OF SOME ATHEROSCLEROSIS RISK FACTORS IN CHILDREN OF PATIENTS WITH YOUNG STROKE

AbstractINTRODUCTION: Cerebral strokes below the age of 45 account for up to 3% of allstrokes. Given that atherosclerotic thrombotic factors are the most frequent etiology ofcerebrovascular accidents (CVA) second to cardioembolic causes, and that children offamilies with sequels of premature atherosclerosis are considered to be at risk, weassessed atherosclerosis risk factors and antiphospholipid antibody (APL-Ab) levels inchildren of patients with young stroke (YS) and without cardioembolic causes incomparison to controls.METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 27 children of patients withYS due to non-cardiac causes (case group) and 2 control groups, one with 52 children ofpatients with stroke after the age of 50, and the other with 55 children without the historyof stroke in their parents. Findings were analyzed with SPSS using ANOVA test.RESULTS: The mean values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, LDL-C andApoB100 in the case group were significantly higher and mean HDL-C and ApoA1 weresignificantly lower in the case group. The number of APL-Ab-positive cases was larger inthe case group. The other assessed variables were not different between the two controlgroups.CONCLUSIONS: Atherosclerotic thrombotic risk factors were more prevalent in childrenof patients with atherosclerotic thrombotic cerebral YS than in controls. Primordial andprimary prevention of these risk factors should be considered in children of thesefamilies.Key Words: Young stroke, risk factors, children, prevention