آرزو رضایی

Obesity is a complex metabolic disorder characterized by an imbalance in energy hemostasis and abnormal increases of adipose tissue. Obesity is directly related to cardiovascular risk factors, including dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. Body weight loss can significantly reduce the risk of developing obesity-related complications. However, long-term maintanance of weight loss is difficult. This study aimed at comparing the effect of diet along with liraglutide drug injection and exercise training on weight loss, body composition, weight loss and maintenance in obese women.

For this purepose, 234 women with BMI>30 kg/m2 and average age of 34±9 years old were divided into four groups: diet (n=75), exercise+diet (n=48), liraglutide+diet (n=56), and liraglutide+exercise+diet (n=55). Body composition and anthropometric variables were measured before and after 12 weeks intervention. All groups had a low-calorie diet (caloric deficit of 500-600 kcal daily). Two groups of exercise training with and without liraglutide performed combined exercises (180-220 minutes of aerobic training plus two days of resistance training per week). In two liraglutide groups, the medicine was administered by subcutaneous injection. The initial dose was 0.6 mg daily and increased to 1.2 mg in the second week, and 1.8 mg in the third week until the twelfth week. Body composition variables were measured before, and after 12 weeks period. The subjects' weight was measured one year after the start of the intervention. Data were analyzed using variance analysis with repeated measurements at a significant level (P < 0.05) with SPSS26 statistical software.

Within-group comparisons showed that there is a significant difference between the pre- and post-test measurements for all variables (p<0.01). Moreover,  between-group comparisons revealed significant differences among the study groups for weight, BMI, waist circumference and WHtR (p<0.05). The follow-up test showed more weight loss in the groups of liraglutide (-6.7 kg), liraglutide and exercise training (-8.7 kg) and exercise training (-6.5 kg) compared to diet (-3.8 kg). Weight measurement after one year showed that the trend of weight loss continued in the exercise training (-4.13 kg), liraglutide +exercise training (-2.22 kg) and diet (-2.73 kg) groups, whereas, in the liraglutide group there was a weight maintenance with no significant changes. Waist circumference decreased by 8 and 7 cm in the exercise training+liraglutide, and exercise training groups, respectively, and by 5 cm in the diet+liraglutide groups.

Physical activity, diet and liraglutide injection led to weight loss and reductions in body mass index. The combination of modified lifestyle and drug injection enhanced long-term maintanance ofweight loss.

DNA-based techniques are more interesting for the taxonomic study of medicinal plants than the classical methods. DNA isolation from medicinal plants due to the higher secondary metabolites is faced with some difficulties. In this study, five protocols, including the original Doyle and Doyle method, two modified Doyle and Doyle methods in which 2-mercaptoethanol or ammonium acetate were removed, modified Murray and Thompson method, and Gene All kit were assayed to select an appropriate method for the DNA extraction of fresh and herbarium leaves of Echium amoenum Fisch. & C.A. Mey. The quality and quantity of the DNA were examined by gel electrophoresis and spectrophotometric analysis. The applicability of the purified DNA was checked by the PCR of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence. Compared to the original Doyle and Doyle method, the elimination of 2-mercaptoethanol or ammonium acetate had no significant effects (p-value > 0.05) on the quantity and quality of the extracted DNA from fresh and herbarium E. amoenum. Although the highest DNA concentration was obtained by the modified Murray and Thompson method from herbarium leaves, the ITS region was not amplified in this sample. The expected PCR products of the ITS region were amplified from the other DNA samples. In conclusion, the easier modified Doyle and Doyle method by eliminating 2-mercaptoethanol or ammonium acetate is beneficial for DNA extraction from both fresh and herbarium leaves of E. amoenum. This modification does not negatively effect on the following PCR step.

Vaginismus is one of the most common GenitoPelvic Pain/Penetration Disorders, which is classified as either lifelong (primary) or acquired (secondary). The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on women with lifelong vaginismus. During a single-case experimental trial of multiple-baseline type, four women were included and diagnosed with lifelong vaginismus by a psychiatrist in a psychosexual clinic in Ahvaz. Full intercourse was evaluated daily based on the self-reports of participants. Secondary outcome measures (i.e.catastrophic cognitions, tightening, helplessness, sexual adjustment, avoidance, and penetration motivation were assessed in participants by a multidimensional vaginal penetration disorder questionnaire at baseline and after intervention. The subjects were entered into an eightweek Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program. The decreasing curve is compared with the baseline for each variable and considered the recovery index. After the treatment, all participants reported successful intercourse without pain and fear. The findings investigated that catastrophic cognitions, tightening, helplessness, sexual adjustment, avoidance, penetration motivation, sexual information, hypervigilance, optimism, and thoughts about genital incompatibility significantly improved by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in all participants(P < 0.05). Based on the results, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be considered an effective treatment for LLV. In addition, this study can enhance our knowledge about the fear-avoidance essence of vaginismus and develop treatment options for women with lifelong vaginismus. Future studies are recommended with larger sample sizes and control groups.

The protection of genetic resources is crucial for safeguarding national assets as natural resources face various threats such as climate change and changing land use. To conserve endangered species such as Astragalus fridae, an endemic species of gypsum soils of Semnan province (Iran) which is on the brink of extinction due to limited distribution and habitat destruction, establishing a gene bank is essential. To ensure the survival of this species, it is necessary to extract high-quality and high-quantity DNA. The present survey, has evaluated five genome extraction methods including Protocol A (main CTAB), Protocol B (CTAB without β-mercaptoethanol), Protocol C (CTAB without ammonium acetate), Protocol D (the modified Murray & Thompson method), and Protocol E (GeneAll Plant Kit), to determine their ability to extract DNA from fresh and herbarium leaves of A. fridae. The quality and quantity of DNA were assessed using gel electrophoresis, spectrophotometry, and usability of the purified DNA tested by PCR of the ITS region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. Protocol D yielded the highest quality of the extracted genome from fresh leaves, and Protocol A, extracted the highest DNA concentration from fresh leaves. Although Protocols B and C extracted a reasonable amount of genome of acceptable quality with dry leaves, the ITS region was not amplified in these samples, rendering them unsuitable for DNA extraction of A. fridae.

The influence of mathematics on the existence and aspects of human life is impressive and extensive. Mathematics and mathematicians, directly or indirectly, have been important contributors to scientific revolutions and have helped human wisdom to be recognized as the most efficient tool to reach the truth. Scientists and researchers in many scientific fields, including biological and medical sciences, grapple with issues that they cannot adequately address without mathematical knowledge, they lack the abbility to formulate problems, propose appropriate solutions, and analyze the results obtained. Mathematics knowledge and mathematical perspective can add new life and momentum to knowledge. Beyond that, just as mathematicians were able to overcome superstition through science, they can free civilization from its sufferings and discontents and continue to shine light on the dark world of human ignorance. It is not unreasonable to say that mathematics has helped wisdom and kindness become the most enduring skills and legacies of human civilization.

This research attempts to determine the status of the University of Tehran’s central library to establish the maker movement.

For so doing, both a library study method is used to prepare a checklist, and a survey method is done. By a purposive sampling, an interview with the Head of Central Library and Documentation Center of the Tehran University was carried out and a questionnaire was distributed among the librarians.

The findings indicate that the central library’s condition in terms of human resources, finances, and infrastructure is not proper for the current makerspace.

The results show that a high level of education and work experience has a positive effect on librarians' familiarity, skill and interest. For librarians, funding from the parent organization is greater than funding from library funding and other sources. Male librarians are less interested in establishing a maker movement, despite being more familiar with the makerspace and skillful in performing activities related to the makerspace. The organizing and cataloging department is more interested in creating a makerspace. The level of education and high work experience has a positive effect on the level of familiarity, skill and interest of librarians with activities related to the creative construction space, which can be used in the field of guiding, training and controlling related activities. For most librarians, there is enough time and space in the central library for makerspace. Undesirable hardware and software equipment in the library and lack of knowledge about digitalization laboratory equipment affect the level of knowledge of librarians.

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of respecting pregnant women and factors related to their hospitalization in Besat Hospital in    Sanandaj (2019) Respecting mothers by health care providers includes three dimensions of quality of care, safety, and observance of mothers' rights, which ultimately leads to their positive experience of childbirth. The aim of this study was to determine the status of the respecting pregnant women and the factors related to their hospitalization in Besat Hospital in Sanandaj 2019.

This cross-sectional, correlational study was performed in the postpartum ward of Besat hospital in Sanandaj from January to May (2018). The study population consisted of all the women who gave birth in the postpartum ward. The sample size was estimated to be 345 individuals. Data were collected using a four-part questionnaire including 1-demographic characteristics (7 questions), 2- midwifery (12 questions), 3- delivery characteristics (15 questions), and 4- the Mothers on Respect (MOR) index (14 questions). After finishing the sampling, the data were analyzed using SPSS 20 software. In this study, Descriptive statistics and T-test, analysis of variance were used (P <0.05 0 was considered significant).

The results of this study indicated an average total respect score of 64.4 ± 9.6 and it was medium. The results also showed that there was a statistically significant correlation between respectful maternity care with income (P<0.018), type of health insurance (P<0.046), childbirth method (P<0.02), responsible for birth (P<0.014), and breathing techniques for pain relief during childbirth (P<0.034).

This study showed that respectful maternity care has a direct relationship in respectful maternity care and childbirth method, responsible for birth, and breathing techniques during labor and childbirth.

Behavioral disorders among children and adolescents are common and incapacitating which cause many problems for the families and the patient themselves and associated with high prevalence of negative social consequences. This study was done to evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in Gorgon, north of Iran (2019).

This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 1025 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years in Gorgan, north of Iran (2019). Subjects were selected by Multistage Cluster Sampling. Digital version of K-SADS test was studied for 24 types of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders. Sampling was done by trained psychologists, among general population and by referring to the house of people. Psychiatric disorders included mood disorders, behavioral disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, substance abuse disorders, and elimination disorders.

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents was 13.2%. This prevalence was 14.3 % and 12.1% in males and females, respectively. According to age groups, The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was common in 6 to 9 years olds with 17.8% which in comparison with other age groups was significant (P<0.05). Eliminatory disorder with 6.1% was the most common illness followed by behavior (6%), tension disorders (4.8%) and neurodevelopmental disorders (3.3%).

The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents in this area is in a median range compared to other domestic and overseas.

 Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a most common liver malignancy and TLR9 (Toll-like receptor) is essential for CpG DNA-induced immune responses. The aim of this study was to assess the anti-metastatic effects of combined administration of silibinin and CpG-ODN2006 on human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG-2 cell line model.    Inhibitory effects of various different concentrations of silibinin and CpG-ODN2006 on HepG-2 cells growth and detection of best dosages for simultaneously treatment were assessed by MTT method. Expression of MMP2 and TLR9 genes was analyzed by real- time PCR. Gelatin zymography was used to determine the activity of MMP2.  Inhibitory effects of determined concentrations of silibinin (100 μM) and CpG-ODN2006 (100 nM) on HepG-2 cells growth was significant (p<0.05). Real-Time PCR showed no significant differences between Ct of the genes expression analyses.   Collectively, the data in this study supports the idea of combined silibinin-CpG administration in hepatic cancer customized therapeutic modalities. However, more investigations to assess immunomodulatory effects and safety analyses would be very informative steps in advance of randomized clinical trials.

Iran, a great country with a rich valuable history, has a unique herbal coverage for its special climate. Iranian scientists had a great role in the development of science before and after the advent of Islam such that even Western scientists and researchers in their efforts to introduce Greece and Western world as the cradle of civilization and science could not disregard the great role of Iranian scientists. Persian medicine dates back to many centuries before Christ and based on western documents of the history of science, it is of founders of Greek medicine. Investigation of the situation of traditional Iranian medicine and its history in the Iranian herbal research is the aim of present article.
Some sources on the scientific history of Iran were studied. Valid scientific data sourced such as PubMed, Scopus and Wiley were also searched limited to Iran. All Iranian herbal research were collected and reviewed.
Findings: Although some noteworthy efforts have been made to introduce the history of Persian traditional medicine and Iranian herbal medicine, it seems that these issues have not been adequately respected. For instance, there is no international and Iranian data bank for the vegetation or herbal medicines of Iran. Furthermore, it hasn’t been found any book on endemic plants to Iran or to a province of Iran.
The properly recognition and understanding of Iranian traditional medicine as an independent medicine to the international community needs national management and planning, as well as efforts and notions of respected Iranian scientists and researchers to the historical background of Persian medicine and to the identification and introduction of medicinal herbs endemic to Iran.

Background and The occurrence of autism spectrum disorder causes severe deficits in social skills, cognitive and psychological functions of children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of emotional regulation training on social cognition and executive functions in children with autism spectrum disorder.
The research method was experimental with pre-test-post-test design with control group. The statistical population of the study included all children with autism spectrum in Isfahan in 2016. For this purpose, 30 children with autism were selected by convenient sampling and assigned into two experimental and control groups randomly (each group 15). The experimental group received emotion regulation training in 9 sessions (Every week 2 sessions for 60 minutes), while the control group did not receive training. All subjects completed Nero psychological test (Abedi and Malekpour, 2010) and the task set of the theory of mind (Hutchins, Prelock & Chace, 2008) before and after the training. To analyze the data, covariance analysis was used.
The analysis of the data showed that emotional regulation training resulted in a significant increase in the components of social cognition and executive functions (score, time and error) in children with autism spectrum disorder (p According to the findings of this study, emotional regulation can be used to improve social cognitive and metacognitive skills of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder، that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a natural disaster، serious accident or other life-threatening events. It''s most important characteristics are memory disorders and hippocampus is one of the essential structure in this relation. Traumatic events cause apoptosis and alter the expression of neurotrophic factors in hippocampus. Therefore، the aim of this study was the examination of the fear memory and evaluation the effects of multiple β- Estradiol injections on behavioral responses in the rat hippocampus، after induction of PTSD. Moreover، we evaluated، the biochemical and histological mechanisms of β-Estradiol on hippocampus.

We used single prolonged stress (SPS)، for PTSD induction. One day after SPS، rats received electrical foot shock within shock chamber. To test the conditioned fear responses one week later، rats were placed back in the chamber without any shock، and freezing behavior was defined. Another fear test was done 4 days after the first test. Animals received multiple subcutaneous injections of β-estradiol (45μg/kg) or sesame oil، immediately after shock and in these 7 days، between shock and test. Bcl-2 and BAX were detected by immunohistochemistry.

Main findings of the present study are: Exaggerated fear response was seen in PTSD group as compared with control group. Moreover، Β-estradiol administration reduced behavioral responses، caused by PTSD induction. SPS decreased the Bcl2/BAX ratio and apoptosis induced by SPS in hippocampus. This effects reversed by β-estradiol injections.

β-estradiol could be useful for treating the memory disorders in PTSD.