Molecular and genetic analysis of resistance to METI-I acaricides in Iranian populations of the citrus red mite Panonychus citri

The citrus red mite, Panonychus citri, is a major pest on citrus all around the world. Mitochondrial Electron Transport Inhibitors of complex I (METI-I) acaricides such as fenpyroximate have been used extensively to control P. citri populations, which resulted in multiple reports of METI-I resistant populations in the field. In this study, biochemical and molecular mechanisms of fenpyroximate resistance were investigated in P. citri. Seven populations were collected from Northern provinces of Iran. Resistance ratios were determined and reached up to 75-fold in comparison to a fenpyroximate susceptible population. Cross-resistance to two additional METI-I acaricides, pyridaben and tebufenpyrad, was detected. PBO synergism experiments, in vivo enzyme assays and gene expression analysis suggest a minor involvement of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases in fenpyroximate resistance, which is in contrast with many reported cases for the closely related Tetranychus urticae. Next, we determined the frequency of a well-known mutation in the target-site of METI-Is, the PSST subunit, associated with METI-I resistance. Indeed, the H92R substitution was detected in a highly fenpyroximate resistant P. citri population. Additionally, a new amino acid substitution at a conserved site in the PSST subunit was detected, A94V, with higher allele frequencies in a moderately resistant population. Marker-assisted back-crossing in a susceptible background confirmed the potential involvement of the newly discovered A94V mutation in fenpyroximate resistance. However, introduction of the A94V mutation in the PSST homologue of D. melanogaster using CRISPR-Cas9 did not result in fenpyroximate resistant flies. In addition, differences in binding curves between METI-Is and complex I measured directly, in isolated transgenic and wildtype mitochondria preparations, could not be found

Usability Evaluation of a Mobile-Based Application to Provide Home Health Services Using Heuristic Method

Introduction: Considering the importance of Mobile Health (mHealth) in improving the quality of health services, evaluating the performance of applications that provide these services seems necessary. One of the dimensions of assessing applications is usability evaluation. This study aimed to evaluate the usability of a home health services mobile application (30Teb) using the heuristic evaluation method. Method: The present study was an applied cross-sectional one. The usability of the user interface of the 30Teb home health services mobile application to provide health services in Kerman was evaluated using a heuristic evaluation checklist. In this study, three evaluators independently evaluated the user interface of the 30Teb mobile app. Results: A total of 241 problems were identified by three evaluators. After deleting duplicates and then summarizing them, 69 problems remained in the final list. The highest number of identified problems was related to the “identification instead of reminder” and “skills” components, and the lowest number was related to the “privacy” component. Moreover, the highest severity of the identified problems was related to the component of “user freedom and control of the system,” and the lowest severity was related to the “privacy” component. Conclusion: Although the problems identified in the 30Teb app were not very severe, paying attention to them in different design and implementation stages and solving these problems can lead to better user interaction and more effective use of a mobile application

Design and Evaluation of an Anesthesia Decision Support Mobile Application

Introduction: Anesthesia is one of the processes in which medication error is common. One of the most frequent medication errors in anesthesia is the error in calculating the dose of drugs. Decision support systems are one of the available solutions to reduce these errors. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate an anesthesia decision support mobile application to assist anesthesiologists to choose the right and timely prescription of drugs. Method: This practical cross-sectional study was conducted in three stages including needs assessment, design, and evaluation. The needs assessment of this mobile app was performed using semi-structured interviews with physicians. After drawing the initial design, the mobile app was developed for the Android operating system, and in the end, it was evaluated based on accuracy and speed of calculation indicators. Results: The output of the interviews was classified into three categories including physicians’ views on the need to develop the app, the expected facilities and capabilities of the app, and the information content of the app. The evaluation results of this app showed that in all groups, except the expert group, the calculation time required by physicians was longer than the one by the mobile app. Moreover, the highest number of correct answers was given by the app user group and then the fourth-year resident group. Conclusion: An anesthesia decision support mobile app for physicians can significantly increase the accuracy and speed of physicians’ medication calculations. So far, no anesthesia mobile app has been developed in Iran according to valid international guidelines. Therefore, the results of this study can be taken into consideration by health service providers

Fenpyroximate resistance in Iranian populations of the European red mite Panonychus ulmi (Acari: Tetranychidae)

The European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch), is one of the most important apple orchard pests worldwide. Fenpyroximate, a mitochondrial electron transport inhibitor of complex I (METI-I), is a commonly used acaricide to control this pest. In this study, we determined fenpyroximate resistance levels for 11 P. ulmi populations from Iran and a spirodiclofen-resistant strain from Germany (PSR-TK). The LC50 values ranged between 121.8 and 5713.9 mg a.i. L-1 and the highest resistance ratio (RR) was 47-fold for the Padena population. PBO, TPP and DEM synergist ratios (SRs) were the highest for the PSR-TK (SR = 6.7), Shahin Dej (SR = 6.1) and Semirom3 (SR = 3.6) populations, respectively. In vitro enzyme activity measurements also showed that there was a higher glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) activity in the PSR-TK and Shahin Dej population compared to the most susceptible populations, whereas the esterase and P450 monooxygenase activity were not significantly higher in the resistant populations. Last, we screened all populations for the presence of two mutations previously associated with METI-I resistance in spider mites but none of these mutations could be detected. To conclude, moderate to high levels of fenpyroximate resistance were observed in P. ulmi populations from Iran, with increased detoxification most likely underlying fenpyroximate resistance

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Patterns of Participation in Daily Physical and Play Activities

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) indicates several neurodevelopmental impairments which may end in impairments in motor or physical activities. Daily physical activity involvement was investigated in a total of 83 children (52 boys and 31 girls) with ASD aged 6–15 years. Results indicated that only 10 (12%) of children with ASD were physically active. Children were predominantly engaged in solitary play rather than social play activities. Gender, family income, and household structure were found to be associated with activity scores. Financial burden and lack of opportunities were noted as the leading barriers to physical activities. In conclusion, findings indicated a low rate of physical activity participation in children with ASD that is closely associated with sociodemographic variables

The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy on Pain in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Background: Most people who suffer from chronic pain are exposed to major physical and mental problems and general health disorders throughout their lives. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment group therapy (ACT) based on pain in patients with chronic low back pain. Methods: This study was a clinical trial and statistical population included 116 patients with chronic low back pain who referred to pain clinic. The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) was used for data collection with the aim of assessing people's perception of different dimensions (sensory perception of pain, emotional perception of pain, perception of pain assessment, and various pains). 28 out of 116 patients who had the inclusion citeria were selected and randomly divided into a test group and a control group, each with 14 members. Intervention based on ACT was done on test group for eight 1.5-hour sessions. Finally, data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative tests for descriptive variables and Mann-Whitney test, chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test, and Wilcoxon test with significant level of P < 0.05. Findings: A high percentage of both groups were women with average age of 40.80 ± 25.10. There was not any significant statistical difference between two groups in terms of pain score and its various dimensions before the intervention. The results of pain score in terms of sensory perception, pain assessment perception, and in general, before and after the intervention in the test group (P = 0.039) and the overall score between the two groups (P = 0.035) were statistically significant. However, there were not any significant statistical changes in pain score and its different dimensions before, after, and three months after intervention in experimental group. Conclusion: It seems that ACT has been able to affect sensory perception, pain assessment, and total score, and it may represent new horizons in clinical treatment and can be used as an effective intervention method

99 mTc-MIBI washout as a complementary factor in the evaluation of idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) using myocardial perfusion imaging

Rapid technetium-99 m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (99 mTc-MIBI) washout has been shown to occur in impairedmyocardia. This study is based on the hypothesis that scintigraphy can be applied to calculate the myocardial 99 mTc-MIBI washout rate (WR) to diagnose and evaluate heart failure severity and other left ventricular functional parameters specifically in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) patients. Patients with IDCMP (n = 17; 52.65 ± 11.47 years) and normal subjects (n = 6; 49.67 ± 10.15 years)were intravenously administered 99 mTc-hexakis-2-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (99 mTc-MIBI). Next, early and delayed planar data were acquired (at 3.5-h intervals), and electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed. The 99 mTc-MIBI WR was calculated using early and delayed planar images. Left ventricular functional parameters were also analyzed using quantitative gated SPECT (QGS) data. In target group, myocardial WRs (29.13 ± 6.68%) were significantly higher than those of control subjects (14.17 ± 3.31%; P\0.001). The 99 mTc-MIBI WR increased with the increasing severity of the NYHA functional class (23.16 ± 1.72% for class I, 30.25 ± 0.95%for class II, 32.60 ± 6.73%for class III, and 37.50 ± 7.77% for class IV; P = 0.02). The WR was positively correlated with the end-diastolic volume (EDV) index (r2 = 0.216; b = 0.464; P = 0.02 [ml/m2], the end-systolic volume (ESV) index (r2 = 0.234; b = 0.484; P = 0.01 [ml/m2]), the summed motion score (SMS) (r2 = 0.544; b = 0.738; P = 0.00), and the summed thickening score (STS) (r2 = 0.656; b = 0.810; P = 0.00); it was negatively correlated with the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (r2 = 0.679; b = –0.824; P = 0.00). It can be concluded that 99 mTc-MIBI scintigraphy might be a valuable molecular imaging tool for the diagnosis and evaluation of myocardial damage or dysfunction severity