Biodiversity, life forms and chorotypes of threatend medicinal plants in Tehran watershed, Iran

This research was carried out to identify and introduce the threatened medicinal plants, life form, and chorotypes of them in Tehran watershed. Initially after distributed species identification on the watershed based on the fieldwork, each of the species was compared with the red list and finalized. Results showed that in Tehran watershed there are 51 threatend medicinal plants belonging to 21 families and 43 genera. The families with the high number of red species include, Rosaceae (8 species) and Lamiaceae (7 species), and the main genera was Ferula (3 species). 43 species isd Endemic in Iran, 3 species are in Data Deficient (DD), 20 species in Vulnerable (VU) and 26 in Low Risk (LR) status. Two species Ferula persica Willd. and Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss. are in Endangered (EN) status Because of low distribution and overuse of those. The dominant life forms of the identified species using Raunkiaer's method were: Hemicryptophytes (He) with 41.18% (21 species) and Phanerophytes (Ph) with 39.22% (20 species). From the choryotype perspective, the most of the identified species belongs to Irano-Turanean, and then Europe-Siberian- Irano-Turanean regions

Antiviral activity of monoterpenes thymol, carvacrol and p-cymene against herpes simplex virus in vitro

Introduction: In recent years, with increased prevalence of viral infections and having no specific treatment  and also the continuous appearance of resistant viral strains, finding of novel antiviral agents is necessary.  Methods and Results: In this study, monoterpenes of thymol, carvacrol and p-cymene were screened for their inhibitory effect against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in vitro on Vero cell line CCL-81-ATCC using a plaque reduction assay. The antiviral activity of three monoterpenes (thymol, carvacrol and p-cymene) were evaluated by cytotoxicity assay, direct plaque test. In addition, the modes of antiviral action of these compounds were investigated during the viral infection cycle. Results showed that the inhibitory concentrations (IC50) were determined at 0.002%, 0.037% and >0.1%, for thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene, respectively. A manifestly dose-dependent virucidal activity against HSV-1 could be exhibited for compounds tested. In order to determine the mode of the inhibitory effect, compounds were added at different stages during the viral infection cycle. At maximum non-cytotoxic concentrations of the compounds, plaque formation was significantly reduced by more than 80% when HSV-1 was pre incubated with p-cymene. However, no inhibitory effect could be observed when the compounds were added to the cells prior to infection with HSV-1 or after the adsorption period. Conclusions: These results indicate that compounds affected HSV-1 mostly before adsorption and might interact with the viral envelope. Thymol exhibited a high selectivity index and seems to be a promising candidate for topical therapeutic application as antiviral agent for treatment of herpetic infections

Phytochemical compositions and biological activities of essential oil from Eremurus persicus (Joub. & Spach) Boiss.

Introduction: The genus Eremurus is native to Eastern Europe and temperate Asia. Particularly, Eremurus persicus (Joub. & Spach) Boiss. is highly valued in traditional foods and medicine. Scientific knowledge about E. persicus chemical composition and bioactivity is required.  Methods and Results: The present study is aimed to determine the volatile composition of E. persicus essential oil (EO) by means of gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization/mass spectrometry detector. Moreover, the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of the EO were tested. Interestingly, the anti-dermatophyte potency was close to that of the drug griseofulvin, with minimum fungicidal concentration ranging between 0.7 and 4.5% depending on the fungi strain. The EO was also effective against hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep-G2) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) human cancer cell lines in a concentration (200-1500 ng/mL)-dependent manner, with a decrease of the cell viability up to 65% and 52%, respectively. The E. persicus EO was rich in terpenes and oxygenated terpene derivatives. Individually, limonene (16.25%), geranylgeraniol (15.23%), n-nonanal (9.48%), geranyl acetone (9.12%), benzene acetaldehyde (8.51%), linalool (7.93%), α-pinene (6.89%), and 1,8-cineol (5.22%) were the most abundant volatile compounds and could be chosen as analytical markers of this essential oil. Conclusions: In conclusion, our results suggested that this EO possesses a wide range of bioactive properties that could be useful in nutraceutical, functional foods and cosmeceutical formulations

An evaluation of role of the informational components in decision-making process of health systems’ managers based on World Health Organization’s standards

Background:Objective of current study was to enhance the effectiveness of the organization its goals, health system managers must possess sufficient knowledge about health information systems which are regarded as the basis of decision-making at different managerial levels. The present research tried to explore the extent of meeting the information management components and evaluate its role in decision-making of health systems' managers.Methods:Descriptive-analytical in nature, this study intended to examine the urban and rural health centers as well as health system. Data were collected through a self-designed checklist produced based on the World Health Organization’s standards which include the information presentation (6 components), information interpretation (5 components) and using information in decision-making process (1 component) for urban and rural health centers. The checklist designed for health system included needs-analysis and information collection, presentation, processing and interpretation components. The gathered data were then put into SPSS version of 13 and analyzed using independent t-test.Results:The findings of the study revealed that compared to urban centers, the rural health centers had a higher level in meeting the components in 3 main areas i.e. information presentation, information interpretation and information use in decision-making process (P <0.05). As far as sub-measures were concerned, the rural health centers gained a higher mean score for data presentation in the health system and other interpretation-related components (P <0.05). The level of meeting data presentation components revealed that the mean score for using data for decision-making purposes was high while the mean score for data processing was found to be low.  Conclusion: Proper processing and appropriate use of data in the decision-making by the managers and public policy-makers are the missing requirements which must be taken into account.

Magnetite Nanoparticles Fe3O4for Preconcentration and Determination of Trace Amount of Tamsulosine hydrochloride in Human Plasma

Abstract In the present study, magnetite nanoparticles Fe3O4modified with Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was successfully prepared and their application as a sorbent in the magnetic-dispersive solid phase extraction(M-dSPE)mode to preconcentration and determination of Tamsulosinhydrochloride (TMS) in human plasma was investigated by coupling with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV).The influence of sorbent amount, pH of sample solution, extraction and desorption conditions were studied. The maximum adsorption capacity, and qmax, was obtained from Langmuir’s model.The structure, morphology and magnetic properties of adsorbent were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Introduction: TMSbelongs to a class of drug called alpha-1(α1) adrenergic receptor antagonists. Since TMS is widely used as an effective α1 blocker, the development and validation of analytical methods for its determination in biological fluids are essential. Many of these methods are however, expensive,toxic, requiring a derivatization step and specific solvent extraction. Based on magnetite nano Fe3O4, a simple, fast and inexpensive, nontoxic M-dSPE method was established. Methods and Results:First the Fe3O4 nanoparticles were synthesized via co-precipitation.Then Fe3O4(3mg) and CTAB 0.02- 4 mL of 0.1 %(w/v) were dispersed into phosphate buffer(pH=7.0) and added to the sample solution.The suspension was vigorously shaken to reach adsorption equilibrium, and the sorbent was subsequently isolated with a strong magnet. After that, the sorbent was eluted with buffer solution of pH 10.0 (100 µL) as the eluent solvent .Finally, the eluate was isolated from the sorbent by a strong magnet, and the supernatant was filtered and 20 μL of filtrate was injected into the HPLC-UV system for analysis in triplicate for each concentration. Conclusions:In this work a magnetite nanoFe3O4- based M-dSPE clean up combined with HPLC-UV developed as a new approach for the efficient determination of trace amount of TMS in plasma samples.This method provided effectively clean extracts and removed interfering peaks from the plasma. Furthermore this method was very fast,convenient,cost effective, nontoxic and with a very low consumption of solvent.Key words: Magnetite Nano Fe3O4, TMS, Human Plasma,M-dSPE. &nbsp

An Examination of Family Physicians Plan Implementation in Rural Areas from Perspectives of Managers, Personnel and Clients in Context of Health System: Strengths and Weaknesses

Background: Family physician plan (FPP) and referral system (RS) is one of the major plans in Iran’s health system with the aim of increasing the accountability in the health market, enhancing the public’s access to the health services, lowering the unnecessary costs and equitable distribution of health across the society. Aim: Taking these into consideration, this study assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the Family Physician Plan in the Iranian villages based on the perspectives of the family physicians, managers, employees and clients in the health system in 2014. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive-applied and cross-sectional design was used for this study. Its statistical population consisted of two groups: the first group included all the family physicians and the managers, employees practicing in the health system of Borujen town (n=62 subjects) who, using 2-round consensus Delphi technique, were asked what are 4 main strengths and 4 weaknesses of the Family Physician Plan implemented during the past few years. This was done using an open questionnaire. The second group included village households and clients. The size of the second group was 400 heads of the households. Similarly, using SERVQUAL questionnaire, their ideas regarding 4 strengths and 4 weaknesses observed for the Family Physician Plan were asked. Subsequently, their given responses were compared and similar ideas were merged into one and for prioritization, the second questionnaire was prepared. But, it was just given to the employees. The responses to the questionnaire were ranked according to Likert scale. Finally, the collected data were put into SPSS software 13 to be analyzed. Results: As the results indicated, among the strengths reported in the implementation of the Family Physician Plan by the respondents the following ones had the highest frequency: the timely follow-up care of the patients with mental disorders, blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes (55.4%), permanent caring for the patients from the start of the disease stage to the treatment or death stage (54.3%), elderly care (45.7%), equal enjoyment of the right to health expenditure per capita by all the society members and implementing the principle of justice in the health-care and the presence of physician in all villages (44.6%). On the contrary, the following weaknesses had the highest frequency: lack of provision of transportation needs for the Family Physician Plan’s employees (53.2%), insufficient funding (48.4%), the high workload for the physician (46.8%).Conclusion: To enhance the public’s accessibility to the health services and enable their just utilization from such services, the Family Physician Plan must be assessed by the respective health care organization. In this way, it will be possible to identify its shortcomings paving the path to more effective measures towards promoting the quality of the medical-related activities.Keywords: Family Physician, Health system, Assessment, Employee

Applying an Ethical Framework to Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicines make a vital contribution to healthcare globally, but from production through to practice, there are ethical challenges that require attention. Ethical challenges are often analysed through application of an ethical framework because this can facilitate a consistent and structured approach. In healthcare, the most commonly used framework over recent decades has been that of the four principles: beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice. However, for various reasons that are explained, this approach to ethical analysis is not the most fitting for the global phenomenon of herbal medicine. In this paper, a relatively new moral framework that is based upon the globally accepted values of care, respect, honesty, and fairness is explored in relation to herbal medicine for the first time. Through application of this framework, the ethical challenges and actions needed to address them become clear, thus resulting in practical recommendations for enhancing ethical standards in herbal medicine

Assessment of effectiveness expenditures of pharmacy information system in medication-related services in hospitals of Iran

Background: On average, 40% of the gross income of each country is devoted to the health care with medication expenditures accounting for 19% of the total expenses. Less than ¼ of the medication expenditures is allocated to the inpatients department. The measures taken regarding the management of expenditures when selecting and implementing the strategies for managing medication expenditures have made the pharmacists to take the quality issues as well as the safety of the patients into account. Methods: The present research intends to explore the expenditures of effectiveness of Pharmacy Information System (PIS) for the medication services as far as effectiveness of delivered services is concerned in some selected hospitals in the city of Isfahan, Iran. The present research of applied and descriptive-analytical nature was conducted in the hospitals in the City of Isfahan, Iran. Instruments used for collecting data included self designed checklist conforming to the guidelines of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) the validity of which was assessed based on the viewpoints of the expert professors. The data gathered by interview and observation methods. Then, they were analyzed using non-parametric tests of Mann-Whitney and the Wilcoxon tests and SPSS software (11.5 version). Results: The highest rate of the expenditures of the effectiveness of the pharmacy information system belonged to the teaching hospitals with a mean score of 48.5%, while the lowest rate was found to be for private hospitals with a mean score of 28.1%. Based on the findings of the Wilcoxon test, no statistically significant difference was observed among the hospitals in terms of effectiveness-related expenditures. Conclusions: Given the results of the study, it can be noted that a successful plan for managing the medication-related expenditures must be information-based

Assessment of effectiveness expenditures of pharmacy information system in medication-related services in hospitals of Iran

Background: On average, 40% of the gross income of each country is devoted to the health care with medication expenditures accounting for 19% of the total expenses. Less than ¼ of the medication expenditures is allocated to the inpatients department. The measures taken regarding the management of expenditures when selecting and implementing the strategies for managing medication expenditures have made the pharmacists to take the quality issues as well as the safety of the patients into account.Methods: The present research intends to explore the expenditures of effectiveness of Pharmacy Information System (PIS) for the medication services as far as effectiveness of delivered services is concerned in some selected hospitals in the city of Isfahan, Iran. The present research of applied and descriptive-analytical nature was conducted in the hospitals in the City of Isfahan, Iran. Instruments used for collecting data included self designed checklist conforming to the guidelines of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) the validity of which was assessed based on the viewpoints of the expert professors. The data gathered by interview and observation methods. Then, they were analyzed using non-parametric tests of Mann-Whitney and the Wilcoxon tests and SPSS software (11.5 version).Results: The highest rate of the expenditures of the effectiveness of the pharmacy information system belonged to the teaching hospitals with a mean score of 48.5%, while the lowest rate was found to be for private hospitals with a mean score of 28.1%. Based on the findings of the Wilcoxon test, no statistically significant difference was observed among the hospitals in terms of effectiveness-related expenditures.Conclusions: Given the results of the study, it can be noted that a successful plan for managing the medication-related expenditures must be information-based

Assessing the performance of the radiology information systems in use in the teaching hospitals of Isfahan city based on the Great Britain’s royal college of radiologists’ guidelines

Background: Radiology Information System (RIS) coordinates the organizational processes and administrative based on information. The present study was an attempt towards a performance assessment of the RISs used in general Isfahan hospitals.  Methods: This study was descriptive cross-sectional in nature. Its statistical population consisted of the general teaching hospitals of Isfahan city (Iran). Due to the limitedness of the population of study, the sample size was the same as the population size. The data were collected using a self-designed checklist produced based on the royal college of radiologists’ guidelines, i.e. input components (13 items), process components (10 items) and output components (8 items). The researcher collected the data through observation and interview. The validity of the checklist was assessed by the health information system field’s valid authorities. Finally, the gathered data were put into SPSS 16 software and analyzed using descriptive statistics.  Results: Among the RIS in the hospitals, Kashani, Isa Ibn Maryam and Nour & Ali Asghar had the highest rank for input components (mean score = 30.79%). As for process components, Al-zahra, Kashani and Isa Ibn Maryam gained the highest position (mean score = 38.9%). Finally, Al-zahra and Kashani hospitals with a mean score of 66.66% enjoyed the highest rank for output components.  Conclusion: RIS must be capable of satisfying a number of requirements including satisfying the medical needs of the patients, producing the reports, image and report processing, patients’ appointment scheduling, the procedures for receiving and administrating the orders and other radiology procedures.