فاطمه هادی

This study aims to investigate the attitude towards medication, medication adherence, and quality of life (QoL) in outpatients with neurotic disorders referred for the first time to the psychiatric clinic of Tehran Psychiatric Institute in Iran.

In this study, participants were adult outpatients with neurotic disorders referred to the psychiatric clinic of Tehran Psychiatric Institute for the first time, who had met the inclusion criteria (age 18-60 years, having a neurotic disorder diagnosed by the psychiatrist, and consent to participate in the study). At baseline and in one and six months after the first visit, they completed a demographic form, the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and the drug attitude inventory (DAI-10). Their medication adherence was assessed using the medication possession ratio.

Of 100 participants, 76 were females and had a mean age of 35.9 years. Favorable medication adherence significantly increased in the sixth month compared to the first month, and the number of patients with favorable medication adherence increased from 38 to 63. In comparing the overall score of QoL, a significant improvement was observed in the 1st and 6th months compared to baseline and in the sixth month compared to the first month (P<0.001). Regarding the domains of the QoL, mental health and general health in the first and sixth months were significantly increased compared to the baseline (P<0.001). Physical health domain was significantly increased in the sixth month compared to the first month (P<0.001). Social relationships domain was significantly increased in the first month compared to the baseline (P= 0.001). Environmental health domain was significantly increased in the first month compared to the baseline (P=0.019). Comparison of the QoL score between patients with favorable and unfavorable medication adherence showed no significant difference (P=0.6). Attitude towards medication was significantly improved from baseline to the sixth month (P<0.001).

The QoL and its some domains as well as medication adherence and attitude towards medication in outpatients with neurotic disorders seem to be improved after six months of follow-up. There is no significant difference in QoL between outpatients with favorable and unfavorable medication adherence.

Cognitive reserve has been created to explain individual differences in vulnerability to brain changes and differences in the occurrence of clinical symptoms. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a tool to measure the cognitive reserve of the elderly and compare it in two healthy and mild cognitive impairment groups.

The research method was survey and causal-comparative. After studying the theoretical foundations of cognitive reserve and available tools, the desired scale was created and its face and content validity were reviewed and approved by four geriatricians. This scale was performed on 100 elderly people (female=53, male=47) with a mean age of (68.23±6.30) selected by the available sampling method in 2019. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the retest method. Validity was tested by concurrent validity (correlation) and diagnostic validity (discriminant analysis). The correlations of subscales with each other and with the total score were also calculated. Finally, the difference between the two groups (independent t-test) and the prediction of cognitive status (multiple regression) were also examined.

The results showed the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of α=0.623, retest reliability of 0.839, concurrent validity of 0.616 with cognitive reserve index questionnaire, diagnostic validity of 0.432, the cut-off point of 44, sensitivity of 61.2, and specificity of 62.7. The correlations of subscales with the total score were significant (r=0.654 for educational achievement, r=0.54 for job complexity, and r=0.947 for leisure activities (p<0.01)). The mean of cognitive reserve in the healthy group compared to mild cognitive impairment was higher (p<0.001) and regression analysis was significant for two variables of age and cognitive reserve (p<0.01).

The findings indicate the optimal validity and reliability of the elderly cognitive reserve scale. Due to the limitations of foreign tools and the design of the elderly cognitive reserve scale by Iranian culture, it is recommended for research in the fields of cognitive science and aging.

Synthetic cannabinoids (SC) are a heterogeneous group of substances with a high affinity for cannabinoid receptors. Unlike Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), synthetic cannabinoids are incredibly potent, highly productive, have more affinity for the Cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), and Cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2), and are designed to accelerate the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol. Also, there is experimental evidence that SCs acts on non-cannabinoid receptors, such as the 5-HT2B receptor or dopaminergic receptors. (1, 2).

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is one of the effective and efficient adsorbents of strontium ions in aqueous solutions. Considering this fact, the current study put its main focus on investigating the structure of hydroxyapatite after strontium adsorption to better understand the mechanism of this process. Nanostructured hydroxyapatite was prepared using a wet chemical method used for the adsorption of strontium ions with various initial concentrations after calcination. The structure of hydroxyapatite was well characterized after adsorption based on X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) analyses. The micro-strain of the structure was also investigated based on fitting the XRD patterns by Voigt function and Williamson-Hall analysis. The crystallite size and degree of anisotropy in the presence of Sr were measured. Interpreting the obtained data and comparing it with different existing adsorption mechanisms suggested dissolution-precipitation as an effective mechanism for strontium adsorption by hydroxyapatite. The SEM images and EDS results also confirmed this mechanism.

Satureja sahendica, a perennial plant and endemic in Iran is belonge to Lamiaceae family is one of the most important medicinal plants. In this study due to importance of Satureja sahendica in traditional medicine and endemism of this plant in Iran, morphological traits of plant, essential oils content and components of this medicinal plant was evaluated and identified. For this purpose, the morphological traits measured in situ and then aerial parts including leaves and flowers were collected from five natural habitats of Satureja in Bostan-Abad from east Azebaijan province and then dried materials were used for essential oils extraction. Data in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) were analyzed. Chemical composition of essential oils identified by using Gas Chromatograph (GC) and Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (GC- MS) instruments. Based on the results the average essential oils content of plants aerial parts with three replications according to the dried weights of herbal substance varied from 0.46 to 1.44 Percent of dry weight in Atbatan and Abriz habitat respectively. The results showed that there was variation in some of the morphological traits of the studied habitats. Therefore, it is possible to identify the populations with the desired characteristics in terms of breeding programs of this plant using morphological traits to some extent. Overall, 34 compounds were identified from different habitats essential oil samples. According to the major constituents of the essential oils can be pointed to four chemotypes: 1. Pulegone–Piperitone, 2. Pulegone-1, 8-Cineole, 3. Thymol-Pulegone-Borneol and 4. Pulegone-γ-terpinene chemotypes from Abriz, Atbatan, Janbehan and Chinibulaghi habitats, respectively.  The highest correlation (0.99) was found between leaf length / width ratio and essential oil percentage.