Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:22 Issue: 4, Oct 2020

 The relationship between bipolar disorder (BD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is investigated in several studies. According to the reports, the comorbidity of these two-disorders is more than the general population.

 The current study aimed to compare the severity of OCD in different episodes of BD.

 This cross-sectional (descriptive-analytic) study included 90 patients referred to Baharan Psychiatric Center affiliated to the Zahedan University of Medical Science in 2019 with a primary diagnosis of BD according to Semi-structured interview (SCID). The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive scale was used to measure the severity of OCD symptoms in different episodes of BD.

 The severity of OCD symptoms in the depression group was significantly higher than the manic (P < 0.01) and remission groups (P < 0.01).

 Mood state influences the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Since the course of disorder in the comorbidity of these two disorders become chronic and diagnosis, and the OCD is difficult in the manic episode; it is necessary to be aware when diagnosing BD or OCD.

 Although the detrimental effects of advancing maternal age on fertility and reproduction have been recognized, there is a controversy regarding the impact of paternal age on male fertility.

 This study aimed to evaluate the effect of paternal age on assisted reproductive outcomes in infertile couples with different male infertility factors.

 It was a cross-sectional study on 285 couples at Alzahra Hospital from 2017 to 2019. The exclusion criteria were couples with female factor infertility. Patients were divided into four groups of normozoospermia, oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia based on the World Health Organization criteria. To evaluate the effect of age, another grouping was done according to the paternal age (< 25, 25 - 35, 35 - 45, and > 45 y).

 Our study showed that the negative effect of advancing age on male fertility can be seen in infertility factors of oligozoospermia and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia. A declined fertilization rate associated with aging was seen in all four groups, but the low embryo development rate was significant only in the oligozoospermia group (P = 0.01). The poor embryo quality related to advancing paternal age was observed in oligozoospermia (grade C; P = 0.001 and grade D; P = 0.005) and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (grade D; P = 0.01) groups. Additionally, the success rate of biochemical and clinical pregnancy decreased in the oligozoospermia (P = 0.01) and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (P = 0.02) groups with advancing male age.

 Our findings showed a declining likelihood of fertility in men with advancing age. Specifically, we observed the detrimental effect of age on fertilization, embryo quality, and biochemical and clinical pregnancy rate in oligozoospermia and oligoasthenoteratozoospermia groups during intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles.

Monitoring and evaluating physical growth in children is an important way to determine their nutritional and health status. Health personnel can diagnose growth impairment and malnutrition in children by growth monitoring from growth indices.

This study aimed to determine the cut-off points of body mass index (BMI) in children and adolescents and compare them with the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) standards.

In this cross-sectional study, 4,320 students (6 - 11 years old) were selected by cluster sampling in 24 primary schools. A class (a cluster) was randomly selected from each base in each school. Then, 30 students from each class were randomly selected. The height and weight of students were measured, and then BMI was calculated for students. After data collection, height, weight, and BMI tables were calculated based on age and sex and compared with the WHO standards using the LMSchartmaker Pro software 2.3.

The results showed that height, weight, and BMI percentiles in both gender were close to NCHS standards features in all ages, but some percentiles were higher in children in Yazd than NCHS standardsNCHS standards, including the 97th percentile of height for boys, the 97th percentile of BMI for both gender, the 97th percentile of weight for boys, the 75th percentile of weight for boys aged 9 and 10 years, and the same percentile in girls ages 7 - 11 and 9 - 11 years, respectively.

According to the results, the researchers recommend using the indices of the present study according to the differences observed between height, weight, and BMI in children studied with NCHS standards.

 It is generally believed that physical activity can lead to increased food intake, whereas some studies state that exercise can have inhibitory effects on appetite and calorie intake.

 The purpose of this study was to examine the changes in the level of gastric and serum ghrelin, body weight, and serum IGF-1 after a period of progressive aerobic training (PAT) in female rats.

 After one week of familiarization with treadmill running, 16 adult female rats were randomly assigned to two groups: control (n = 8) and aerobic exercise (n = 8). The exercise protocol consisted of progressive aerobic running on the treadmill for three months (5 days a week). Forty-eight hours after the last exercise session, the animals were sacrificed. Serum levels of ghrelin, IGF-1, and ghrelin content in the gastric tissue were measured using the ELISA method. An Independent t-test was used for comparison of data between the two groups.

 The results indicated that three months of PAT had no significant effect on gastric (P = 0.51) and serum acylated ghrelin (P = 0.15), weight changes (P = 0.42), and serum IGF-1 (P = 0.56) compared to the control group.

 Three months of PAT in female animals had no effects on ghrelin level, food intake and weight loss, and serum IGF-1 level. It seems that there are sex-specific hormonal and appetite responses to progressive aerobic training.

 Acinetobacter baumannii is considered a dangerous and drug-resistant hospital-acquired infection. Nowadays, there has been an increasing interest in the use of herbal drugs.

 This in vitro study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial effects of Rumex acetosella L. and Cucurbita maxima L. on Acinetobacter baumannii in comparison with popular antibiotics.

 In this experimental study, after extraction, the antibacterial effects of extracts were determined based on MIC and MBC using broth microdilution. The effects of different concentrations of the extracts on A. baumannii growth were also investigated by the disk diffusion method. The results were compared with choice antibiotics.

 The results of the study indicated that in broth microdilution, the MIC and MBC of the hydroalcoholic extract of C. maxima and the aqueous extract of R. acetosella were equal (64 and 128 µg/mL, respectively). The MIC and MBC of the hydroalcoholic extract of R. acetosella and the aqueous extract of C. maxima were 128 and 256 µg/mL, respectively, which indicated the weaker effects of these extracts. In the disk diffusion method, the greatest mean diameter of inhibition zone was obtained for R. acetosella extracts (24.83 ± 0.29 and 21.83 ± 0.29 mm for hydroalcoholic and aqueous extracts, respectively). Also, the lowest mean diameter was obtained for C. maxima extracts (10.33 ± 0.58 and 8 mm for hydroalcoholic and aqueous extracts, respectively).

 This study showed the potent antibacterial effects of R. acetosella and C. maxima. They were even more potent than commonly used antibiotics. Therefore, the plants can be used as antimicrobial agents, as well as pharmaceutical supplements and alternative therapies.

 Maintaining patients’ safety is a basic professional role of radiographers. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the technical, protective, and technological operation of interventional radiologists.

 The current study aimed to determine the protective and technical performance of radiographers and their knowledge and expertise.

 In this descriptive-analytical study, 60 radiographers working in radiology wards of hospitals affiliated to the Zahedan University are included. A checklist whose reliability and validity were previously established was used to collect data. For the radiography staff, 17 technical and 12 protective items were checked and recorded during three work shifts. Data were analyzed by SPSS.

 The performance score of 27 males (45%) and 33 females (65%) was assessed. Seven factors of radiology staff, including gender, employment status, age, work experience, number of shifts, Work Shift, and Education, were evaluated, and that number of shifts was statistically significant.

 The radiographers’ awareness of technical and protective principles was at a medium level. Increasing attention to the quality of academic training and continuous education is necessary.

 Hysterosalpingography (HSG) is a common diagnostic method that has therapeutic effects on fertility success.

 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of HSG on the biochemical pregnancy rate of women with primary and secondary infertility in patients referring to Ali-ibn Abitalib Hospital in Zahedan.

 A descriptive-analytical study was performed on 100 women with primary and secondary infertility referred to Ali-ibn Abitalib Hospital of Zahedan for performing HSG. Following performing the examinations, initial tests, and procedures, as well as ruling out acute pelvic infection by the expert gynecologist, the patients were referred to the radiologist for HSG. All patients in the study underwent HSG. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 software.

 The mean age of patients in the study was 30.36 ± 5.25 years, and the mean duration of infertility was 4.81 ± 2.31 years. There was no significant relationship between the type of pregnancy and the outcome of pregnancy. There was no statistical relationship between age, abdominal surgery history, and HSG in both groups of women with spontaneous pregnancy or ovulation induction. There was a significant relationship between the mean duration of infertility and spontaneous pregnancy.

 The use of HSG as a therapeutic approach is not effective, but it could have therapeutic effects as a diagnostic method in women with early infertility.

 Herbals are rich in effective compounds such as phenolic and antioxidant. Various methods are developed to extract these compounds, including Soxhlet, maceration, microwave, and ultrasound. The extraction method affects the quantity and quality of materials.

 The current study aimed to investigate the effect of ultrasound in phenolic and antioxidants compounds extraction from Caper roots.

 Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box-Behnken design were used to optimize the two extraction parameters, including extraction time (10, 25, and 40 min) and ultrasound power (40%, 70%, 100 %) by aqueous and alcoholic solvents.

 Based on the results, ultrasound power was more effective than the extraction time. A direct association was observed between ultrasound power and the extraction time with the total extraction. The optimum aqueous and alcoholic extraction condition for phenolic and antioxidant compounds extraction were as follow: extraction time 36 min and ultrasound power 91 percent. Total phenolic content was obtained 14.96 mg/g with aqueous solvent and 17.24 mg/g with alcoholic solvent, and IC50 was 52.17 µg/mg with aqueous solvent and 40.20 µg/mg with alcoholic solvent.

 Overall, alcoholic extracts had more phenolic and antioxidant compounds than aqueous extracts.