فهرست مطالب fatemeh shahriari

A flat foot is associated with complications, such as pain, fatigue, and balance decline. The present study investigated the effect of 8 weeks of foot reflexology massage on balance, foot arch, and pain in girls aged 14 to 18 years with flat feet. 

In this quasi-experimental research, 30 girls with flat feet (mean age: 15.1±1.1 years, mean height: 156.1±2.2, and mean weight: 47.3±2.2 kg) voluntarily and conveniently were selected and randomly divided into two equal experimental and control groups. The massage program consisted of eight weeks (three sessions per week) of foot reflexology massage on the entire sole of both feet, in which two to three relaxation techniques were used in each session, according to the subject’s condition, for six minutes. Twenty-four hours before and 24 hours after the end of the massage therapy protocol, foot arch, dynamic balance, static balance, and pain intensity were assessed using the index of navicular drop test, star excursion balance test, balance error scoring system, and visual analog scale, respectively. Data analysis was done with an analysis of covariance at a significance level of 0.05.

The results showed that reflexology massage significantly affects static balance (P=0.0001) and pain intensity (P=0.0001) of young girls with flat feet. However, no significant effect was observed on the arch of the foot (P=0.38) and the dynamic balance (P=0.36).

Reflexology massage improves the proprioceptive information of the skin. Accordingly, it has improved static balance and reduced the pain intensity of girls with flat feet.

The Genital self-image is one of the important components of sexual health, which means women's attitude, feelings and beliefs about their genital organs, which is associated with sexual satisfaction and all aspects of women's sexual performance. Therefore, considering the importance of genital self-image in women's sexual health, this study was conducted with the aim of reviewing effective interventions on women's genital self-image.
To conduct this scoping  review, search was done in the databases Scopus, SID, PubMed, Magiran, Library of Cochrane, Web of Science and Google scholar search engine with keywords Genital Body image, genital self-image, Genital appearance, genital self-perception, Women, Female, Intervention and Method. Data were extracted from studies that were consistent with the objectives of the study. The quality of the articles was evaluated based on the Cochrane Risk of bias assessment tool.
Out of a total of 418 searched studies, 11 studies matched the study criteria. Based on the results, the effective interventions on genital self-image of women are divided into three categories. The first class  includes educational interventions (Psychosexual Education, Sexual Assertiveness Training, Brief Educational Video, Sex Education, sexual skills training, Self-Encouragement Skills Training, effects of exposure to pictures of natural vulvas), the second class includes exercise interventions (Qigong exercise, water Pilates), and the third class includes counseling interventions (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy).
By using appropriate approaches in different ways, such as educational, exercise and counseling interventions, it is possible to improve women's genital self-image and sexual skills and correct their sexual beliefs and attitudes. It is suggested that in order to improve sexual health, special attention should be given to improving the genital self-image of women. However, more culture-based research is still needed to adopt the best interventions and drive policy change.

Breast cancer is the major cause of death from cancer among women around the world. Given the drug resistance in the treatment of this disease, it is very important to identify new therapies and anticancer drugs. Many studies demonstrated that hypericin could induce apoptosis in different cancer cell lines; however, the underlying mechanism is not well understood yet. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the anticancer effect of hypericin in two breast cancer cell lines, one with wild type P53 and the other with mutant P53. In this study, the MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-175-VII cell lines were treated with different concentrations of hypericin for 24 and 48 hours. The measurement of cell death was performed by MTT assay. The cell apoptosis rate was measured using annexin V/propidium iodide assay through flow cytometry. The level of expression in P21 and P53 genes was evaluated by real time PCR. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) analysis was performed for P21 (direct target for P53 protein) to confirm the results. The results showed that hypericin could have dose-dependent cytotoxic effects on the MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-175- VII cell lines, and its cytotoxicity is much higher in the latter cells. According to flow cytometry results, 86% of MDA-MB-175-VII cells underwent apoptosis with IC50 dose of hypericin for MDA-MB-231 cells after 24 hours. Moreover, after 24 hours of exposure to hypericin with MDA- MB-231 IC50 concentration, the expression of P53 and P21 genes upregulated in MDA-MB-175-VII much more than MDA-MB-231 when both cell lines were treated with 24 hours IC50 dose of MDA-MB-231. The ICC analysis on P21 confirmed that by treating both cell lines with MDA-MB-231 IC50 dose of hypericin for 24 hours, this protein is overexpressed much more in MDA-MB-175-VII cells. The results of this study demonstrated that hypericin’s apoptotic and cytotoxic effects on cancer cells may be mediated via P53 overexpression, cell cycle arrest and the subsequent apoptosis. Therefore, it is of great importance to consider that hypericin would have better impact on cells or tumors with wild type P53.

One of the most important factors in food industry is the formation of microbial biofilm which can be the potential source of food products contamination with food spoilage and foodborne pathogenic bacteria. This study was conducted to evaluate the inhibitory effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on biofilm formation of some foodborne bacterial pathogens.
This research was carried out in 2015. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of zinc oxide nanoparticles for E. coli (ATCC 35218), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), Salmonella typhimurium (ATCC 14028) and Bacillus cereus (ATCC 14579) was determined by using 96-well microplate and resazurin reduction method. Biofilm formation inhibition was assessed with microtiter plate method based on crystal violet staining and measurement of optical density using microplate reader.
MIC of zinc oxide nanoparticles for the above mentioned bacteria was respectively 1, ≤ 0.5, 1 and 2 mg/mL. The inhibition percentages of biofilm formation at the MIC of the nanoparticles were 90.20, 85.69, 83.65 and 61.96, respectively.
In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticle showed the ability to inhibit the formation of biofilm even in sub inhibitory concentrations or Sub-MICs. No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in the biofilm inhibitory effects of ZnO nanoparticles at MIC and 1/2×MIC between E. coli and S. aureus. Results of this study showed the inhibitory effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on biofilm formation of the studied foodborne bacterial pathogens. According to the importance of these bacteria in public health, ZnO nanoparticle can be used as a cleaning agent for the surfaces, apparatus and production lines in food plants in order to prevent foodborne bacterial biofilm formation.