فهرست مطالب s. esmaeili

Brucellosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases caused by Gram-negative bacteria belonging to the genus Brucella. Detection of Brucella species in different countries is of utmost importance.

This study aimed to detect Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis in domestic ruminant blood samples and their ticks in western Iran.

Sampling was conducted on ruminants from August to September 2020 in four different counties of Kurdistan Province, including Divandareh, Marivan, Baneh, and Sanandaj. Totally, 250 blood samples were collected from 250 small ruminants. There were no ticks on the skin of six (2.4%) ruminants, and 244 ticks were isolated from 244 animals. After genomic DNA extraction from all the collected samples, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was performed to detect IS711 gene.

Based on qPCR results, Brucella genus was detected in two blood samples (0.8%) from female sheep and four ticks (1.6%) from male sheep, including three Dermacentor marginatus (1.22%) and one Rhipicephalus turanicus (0.4%). Although B. melitensis was not detected in any tick or blood sample, one tick sample (D. marginatus) was positive for B. abortus.

Considering the positivity of ticks for brucellosis in this study, there is a possibility of Brucella transmission from infected ticks to humans and animals through tick bites, nevertheless, in order to identify the Brucella transmission relationship between ticks and animals, serological tests should be used in future studies.

The purpose of this study is a better understanding of the encapsulation and interaction two azomethines (FUR and TIO) into BN nanotube [BNNT(6,6-8)]. The electronic and adsorption properties of the molecules FUR and TIO over the BNNT were theoretically investigated in the solvent water with the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory. With the non-bonded interaction of two azomethines, the electronic properties of the BN nanotube can be significantly changed. The electronic spectra of the molecules FUR, TIO and complexes FUR/BNNT and TIO/BNNT were calculated by TD-DFT method for the study of adsorption effects. According to the NBO results, the molecules FUR, TIO and BNNT(6,6-8) play as both electron donor and acceptor at the complexes FUR/BNNT and TIO/BNNT. On the other hand, the charge transfer is occurred between the bonding, antibonding or nonbonding orbitals in the molecules azomethine and BNNT(6,6-8). As a consequence, BNNT(6,6-8) can be considered as a delivery or absorbent system.

In this paper, to fabricate a pin-shaped bipolar plate for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, the deformation behavior of a thin 8111 aluminum alloy sheet by the hot metal gas forming (HMGF) process was investigated. The effect of gas pressure, forming time, pin diameter, pin height, and die fillet radius on the specimen profiles, as well as the thickness distribution were analyzed by finite element method using ABAQUS 6.10 software. In addition, experimental tests were performed to validate numerical outputs. The results indicated that the sheet thinning rate grew sharply by the gas pressure exceeding 4 MPa. The specimens were cracked following decreasing the die fillet radius to 0.1 mm. Furthermore, the die filling rate was high at the beginning of forming time and then diminished gradually after 1000 sec. Moreover, the thickness reduced sharply by augmenting the ratio of pin height to diameter to over 0.4. Finally, perfect specimens were produced in experiments, which verified the feasibility of fabricating a pin-shaped bipolar plate out of a thin AA8111 sheet by the HMGF process.

In the present study, the effect of the inclination angle and geometric parameters of aluminum metal foam on heat transfer free convection is investigated numerically. Heat transfer and fluid flow in metal foam based on volume averaging theory and considering the thermal non-equilibrium condition for the energy equation, and the nonlinear Darcy-Brinkman-Forchheimer equation for the momentum equation is expressed in the porous region, microscopic equations in the pure fluid region and macroscopic equations in the porous region are solved. The finite element method has been used to solve numerical of momentum and energy equations in the porous region and pure fluid. In this study, influence of the inclination angle parameters of the metal foam heat sink, base temperature, and also geometric parameters of foam includes porosity, pore density, and foam height on the thermal performance of metal foam has been investigated. Numerical results show good agreement with the empirical results of otherschr('39') works. Numerical results indicate that at the same temperature, the average Nusselt number of the metal foam heat sink in the horizontal position is 62.6% higher than the horizontal flat plate. Horizontal metal foam has the highest average Nusselt number compared to other angles; For metal foam with a pore density of 5ppi and a porosity of 0.92 in the horizontal position, the average Nusselt number is 22.3% higher than in the vertical position. Besides, in the upward horizontal position, the average Nusselt number is 29.5% higher than in the downward horizontal position.

The Egyptian vulture, Neophron percnopterus, as a globally endangered species, is significantly affected by conflicts with human, leading to the decline of this species population. Availability of food resources is known as one of the most important factors affecting the distribution of the Egyptian vulture. In this study, we employed an ensemble modelling approach to predict the  suitability of the  foraging habitat for the Egyptian vulture based on seven distribution modelling algorithms. According to our results, suitable foraging habitats for this bird accounted for about 4.19% (1021.40 km2) of the study area, of which only approximately 31.92% (326 km2) was covered by the conservation areas. Livestock density (31.82%), the presence of wild ungulates (15.36%), distance to dump sites (14.77%), landcover (12.46%) and elevation (11.85%) made the highest contribution to the ensemble model of this species. Our results indicated that Egyptian vultures mainly rely on dump sites, nomadic areas and livestock farming sites, thereby reflecting the vulture's tendency to livestock carcasses. Thus, it is important to develop effective strategies for proper monitoring and managing human activities in these areas.

Due to lack of physical, emotional and psychological preparation, premature birth may cause a lot of stress for parents and may have consequences for both parents and infants. Since some parents have difficulty participating in face-to-face training programs, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a training program based on virtual participation on stress and anxiety of parents with premature infants

This quasi-experimental study was performed among 80 parents of premature infants admitted to Amirkola Children's Hospital and Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, who were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups with 40 participants in each group. The parents of the intervention group received the content of the virtual participation training program asynchronously in the form of Telegram groups within four days. The control group received no intervention other than the usual methods and support of the ward. Then, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (score 40-160) and the Parental Stress Scale (score 31-155) were completed and compared on the third and seventh days for both groups and on 13th day for the intervention group.

Results showed that parental stress score decreased from (97.118±21.68) to (86.27±00.27) (p<0.001) in the intervention group. In the control group, it changed from (76.103±30.44) to (91.99±31.82), which was not significant. In investigation of the effect of time on parental stress subscales, the mean scores of the questionnaires showed a significant difference from day 3 to day 13 in regard with the components of stressful parental experiences, relationship with the infant and parental role, parental experiences about behavior, appearance and treatment of the infant, and environmental stress (p<0.001). The parental state anxiety score in the intervention group changed from (45.68±4.63) to (46.63±3.54) and in the control group from (46.25±6.38) to (46.83±5.21), and the parental trait anxiety score in the intervention group changed from (43.88±5.91) to (43.97±5.59) and in the control group from (43.18±5.62) to (42.17±6.63), which was not significant.

The results of the study showed that training program based on virtual participation reduces the stress of parents with premature infants.

There are several methods to assess the in vitro capability of heme inhibitory activity of antimalarial compounds; most of them require some specific equipment or toxic substances and sometimes the needed materials are not accessible. Regarding the necessity and importance of optimizing and standardizing experimental conditions, the present study has intended to improve the in vitro assessment conditions of the β-hematin formation inhibitory activity for screening herbal samples.

Hemin, tween 20, and samples (9:9:2) were incubated in different conditions including: hemin concentration (30, 60, and 120 µg/mL), duration (4, 24, 48, and 72 h), pH of buffer (3.6, 4, 4.4, 4.8, and 5), and temperature (37 and 60 °C) in 96-well plates. Also, a total of 165 plant extracts and fractions were tested in the most suitable conditions.

The reaction time and the incubation temperature were determined as the critical factors. The effective conditions for β-hematin formation were found to be 60 °C after 24 h incubation. In this method, proper correlations with respect to negative (69%) and positive (67%) predictive values were obtained in comparison with the anti-plasmodial assay. Antimalarial activities of Pistacia atlantica, Myrtus communis, Pterocarya fraxinifolia, and Satureja mutica were found to correlate significantly with inhibition of the heme detoxification assay.

These results support a rapid, simple and reliable approach for selecting and identifying a number of herbs for further related antimalaria investigations.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder. Nowadays, many investigations are performed to find new drugs for AD and medicinal plants are considered as one of the most important sources for developing new drugs. According to the role of oxidant agents and acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) in AD, plants with antioxidant and AChE inhibition properties could be good candidates for AD studies. In the present investigation, acetylcholinesterase inhibition (AChEI) and antioxidant effects of some plants from Kohgiluye va Boyerahmad province of Iran have been determined.

The plants collected from Kohgiluyeh va Boyerahmad province (56 species) were extracted with methanol by using maceration method. AChEI activity of the extracts was determined using Ellman method in 96-well microplates. Antioxidant activity was determined using DPPH and FRAP methods.

The results showed that aerial parts of Amygdalus scoparia had the highest AChEI effect (50% inhibition in concentration of 300 µg/mL). The plant also demonstrated suitable antioxidant effects. Epilobium minutiflorum found to be the most potent species for DPPH inhibition and reduction of ferric-TPTZ complex (IC50 3.6 µg/mL and FRAP value 335.0 mmol FeSO4.7H2O/100g Extract).

Our results confirmed that almost all species with AChEI activity showed to be effective as potent antioxidant agents.

Medicinal plants are widely used by people in the treatment of various diseases. These resources are usually regarded as part of cultural traditional knowledge. The aim of this study was to identify the information about the medicinal plants used by indigenous people of some regions of Hamedan province, Iran.

The present ethnobotanical study was conducted in the Alvand mountainous area of Hamedan and Tuyserkan. Interviews were done in 27 villages and totally 53 informants were interviewed. Ethnobotanical indices like relative frequency of citation (RFC) and cultural importance index (CI) were calculated.

Our study reports 80 traditionally used plant species, belonging to 31 plant families. Asteraceae with 12 species was the most used family in this area. The most used parts were aerial parts (18.57%), leaves (21.42%), and flowers (17.14%), respectively. The most treated ailments were digestive problems. The highest number of ethnobotanical indices RFC and CI were observed in Stachys lavandulifolia   Vahl. and Thymus lancifolius  Celak., respectively.

Hamedan provincepossesses considerable knowledge about medicinal plants for treating common health problems.

Many people in ethnic groups of the world have trusted in plants for disease management and cure. Medicinal plants have always played a great role in the lives of Iranian people in the past and present and with no doubt in the future. Healers in different regions of Iran have been using medicinal herbs and one rich source for these cures is located in south-west of Iran, Kohgiluyeh va Boyer Ahmad province. Some species from this province have been selected for the present study and their cytotoxic activity has been evaluated.

The methanol extracts of the 26 species were obtained by maceration and the extracts were investigated for cytotoxic activity in MTT assay.

The results revealed that four out of twenty six plants were toxic to MCF-7, A-549, HepG-2 and HT-29 cells.

The findings of the present study specially the species with lower IC50 values (Eryngium billardieri and Nerium indicum) are suggested for further investigations in cancer studies.

Dry skin is a common problem which affects wound healing, severity of other skin diseases and quality of life of people. One of its undesirable effects is fissure that is a cutaneous condition in which there is a linear loss of epidermis and dermis with sharply defined, nearly vertical walls. In the present study, we have investigated the etiology of the disease and its treatments in conventional medicine and Iranian Traditional Medicine (ITM). Two traditional medicine references, current scientific data bases and medicinal texts were explored with the selected keywords such as "sheqaq-e-poosti", "skin fissure" and "dry skin" to find the etiology and treatment of skin fissure. From the view point of both conventional medicine and ITM, dry skin is the cause of skin fissure and some causes of dry skin are similar. In conventional medicine, moisturizers are mainly used for treatment of dry skin; while in ITM some herbs, oils and other natural remedies have been used. A topical dosage form which was called "qeirooti", a mixture of wax and oil, was used to treat skin fissure in ITM. It comprised of oily ingredients that acted as occlusives and also some herbal components that directly improved dry skin (similar to moisturizers). Components efficacy of traditional dosage forms for treatment of dry skin lead us to study about formulation of “qeirooti” for treatment of dry skin.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age dependent disorder. AD is associated with decrease of brain acetylcholine level. Nowadays, one of the methods for progression inhibition of AD is using acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Rosaceae is a large plant family. Different biological effects of some species of this family have been reported. The aim of the present study was to assess the acetylcholinesterase inhibitory (AChEI) activity of the selected plants belonging to Rosaceae family.

AChEI activity of six species from Rosaceae including Cotoneaster nummularia, Cerasus microcarpa, Amygdalus scoparia, Agrimonia eupatoria, Rosa canina and Rosa damascena were evaluated based on Ellman’s method in concentration of 300 µg/mL using total extracts and methanol fractions which were obtained by maceration.

The results showed that the total extract and methanol fraction of the aerial parts of A. eupatoria demonstrated significant AChEI activity with 46.5% and 56.2% inhibition of the enzyme, respectively.

According to the results of the AChEI activity of the methanol fraction of A. eupatoria, it seems that the polar components of the species such as flavonoids may be responsible for its effectiveness.

Angiogenesis is essential for tumor survival. Inhibiting angiogenesis could be a mechanism for hindering tumor development. Numerous studies have now been focused on agiogenesis inhibitors and many of such studies have targeted plant materials. In the present study, Crocus pallasii subsp. haussknechtii has been evaluated for anti-angiogenesis properties.

Anti-angiogenesis activity of the plant extracts and fractions has been investigated through wound healing assay in HUV-EC-C cells. The cytotoxic activity has also been evaluated by MTT assay.

The methanol extract and the methanol fraction of the corm along with the chloroform fraction of the aerial parts demonstrated to be cytotoxic to HUV-EC-C cells with IC50 values of 27.2, 74.1 and 60.0 μg/mL, respectively while the chloroform fraction of the corm showed the most considerable anti-angiogenesis property among the samples in wound healing assay.

Regarding the results of the present study, Crocus pallasii subsp. haussknechtii is suggested for further studies in cancer research evaluations.

Iran owns a rich and prestigious heritage of medicinal herbs but the majority of these plants have not yet undergone chemical, pharmacological and toxicological studies. In the present study some species form northern parts of Iran were evaluated for cytotoxicity.

Sixteen medicinal plants were extracted with methanol and screened for their cytotoxic activities. The inhibition of cell growth for these extracts was evaluated against MCF-7, WEHI-164, HepG-2 and MDBK cell lines. Their 50% inhibitions of growth (IC50) were determined by MTT assay. Moreover, cytotoxic evaluation of different fractions of the most potent species was performed.

Among examined samples, the IC50 values of methanol extract of Centaurea bruguierana (DC.) Hand.-Mzt. on mentioned cell lines were found 47.30-87.40 µg/mL. In addition, the chloroform fraction of the species was cytotoxic with IC50 values 17.00-23.03 µg/mL.

It was concluded that the chloroform fraction of C. bruguierana was the best candidate for identification and isolation of active principles with cytotoxic effects. These results recommend further studies about this species.

Cancer is a public health problem all over the world. Herbal medicines have a vital role in the prevention and treatment of cancer and large numbers of plants and their isolated constituents have shown potential anticancer activity.

Twenty seven medicinal plants from southern Iran provinces have been extracted with methanol and screened for their cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, WEHI-164, HepG-2, MDBK and A-549 cell lines by MTT assay.

The methanol extracts of two species, Calotropis procera andJuniperus excelsa, demonstrated to be more effective compared to other extracts.

The above species are proper candidates for further cancer studies.

There is a growing trend towards investigating natural products as sources of compounds with biological effects and many researches have been carried out in order to find effective medications against many diseases. Cancer is no exception and studies focusing on evaluating the effects of different materials on DNA, give valuable information in cancer researches and carcinogenicity studies; thus the present study was focused on evaluating the impact of medicinal plants from  Kohgiluyeh va Boyerahmad province, Iran on DNA.

Thirty five plant species collected have been investigated for prophage induction ability in Escherichia coli K-12(λ)throughinductest.

The assay demonstrated that 8 plants were able to affect DNA.

The results confirm the role of natural resources for biologic effects and what’s more, potential drug candidates in new drug discovery.

A notable amount of medicinal plants grow in Iran and local communities in different parts of the country have developed a deep knowledge of various uses of plants during their old history. Several ethnobotanical studies have been conducted by the Traditional Medicine and Material Medica Research Center (TMRC) to investigate the use of medicinal plants by local people. Some of these studies have been carried out in Kohgiluye va Boyer Ahmad, Azarbayjan-e-Sharghi and Golestan provinces. These ethnobotanical data have been collected by semi-structured interviews. In the present study, two villages of Hamedan province were investigated and eleven informants were interviewed. Our results have presented 45 traditionally used plant species, belonging to 23 plant families and 39 genera. Asteraceae and Fabaceae were the dominant locally used families. The plants were used both for medicinal and non-medicinal purposes and the most treated problems were digestive disorders and infections.

Improving the solubility of non-soluble herbal materials is an issue of interest in cell culture based experiments. Evaluating the biological activity of these materials could become possible with the aid of cosolvents/surfactants which obviously should have little or no cytotoxic activity. In the present study, the cytotoxic activity of six cosolvents/surfactants: ethanol, methanol, Tween 20 and 80, propylene glycol (PG) and poly ethylene glycol 400 (PEG) which are usually helpful in dissolving non-soluble herbal extracts, has been evaluated against HepG-2, MCF-7 and HT-29 cells by MTT assay. Among the investigated cosolvents/surfactants, Tween 20 and 80 demonstrated the highest and ethanol and methanol the lowest cytotoxicity to the evaluated cell lines, suggesting the two latter as proper aids for improving solubility in biological experiments.

The Zinnia (Zinnia elegans J.) flower has many applications in landscape design، whereas lack of adequate conditions and nutritions in some cases can reduce the quality and number of flowers. Therefore، control of growth conditions is very important related to nutrition and application of growth regulators to improve the quality and quantity of flowers. Flower''s morphology and longevity are two main factors that are used to evaluate the quality of flowers. Application methods that could increase the vase life، is important. A research conducted to investigate the effects of calcium chloride، gibberellin and Benzyladenin on zinnia quantitative and qualitative characteristics in 2010. Experiment carried out in a factorial in randomized complete block design with four replications at the Sharekord University''s research farm. Treatments consisted calcium chloride (0، 0. 5 and 1 gram per liter)، Gibberellin (0، 75 and 150 mg per liter) and benzyladenine (0، 75 and 150 mg per liter) to be sprayed on plant two times in 10 days interval. The result showed that calcium chloride increased stem diameter، number of lateral shoots and flowers and storage vase life. Gibberellin reduced flower and stem diameter، number of axillary shoots and flower. Gibberellins also reduced the beginning of flowering time from transplanting and increased the vase life of the flower on plant and storage. Furthermore، benzyladenine significantly increased the quality and quantity of plant except the flowering period.

Iran has 1260 km of coastline that borders the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea in the northwest Indian Ocean. Marine algae are one of the natural resources in the marine ecosystem which produce a wide range of new secondary metabolites with various biological activities that play an important role in the pharmaceutical care. In this study the cytotoxic activity of 28 marine algae of Chabahar coast was assessed against 5 cell lines including MCF-7, HepG-2, A-549, HT-29 and MDBK, through MTT assay. The methanol extract of the algae did not show cytotoxicity against any of the tested cell lines up to 100 μg/mL concentration, except for Jania adhaerens (IC50 85.03 µg/mL) against MCF-7 cells.

Casein possesses important physiological and biological properties with regard to promotion of health, as well as prevention of diseases. Anticarcinogenic activities, reduction in the risk factors of cardiovascular disease and anticariogenic features have been associated with casein. In addition, casein is known as a source of bioactive peptides. Casein-derived peptides have been found to have a variety of specific properties, such as antihypertensive and ACE inhibitor activity, antimicrobial, opioid, immunomodulatory traits. In this article some health- related aspects of casein are reviewed. Pubmed, Science direct, Springer and Google scholar databases were searched in order to achieve the desired articles. Cellular, animal as well as human studies that have been conducted from 1980 till 2012, were recruited in this investigation Researches indicate the biological benefits of casein and casein-derived peptides on health- related aspects. Several studies demonstrate impacts of casein on prevention of tumor incidence and growth as well as inhibition of carcinogenesis. Casein and casein hydrolysate products also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease via the reduction of blood cholesterol level and prevention of hypertension. Furthermore, Casein and its bioactive peptides prevent from dental caries by inhibiting the activity of cariogenic bacteria, stabilizing the amorphous calcium phosphate as well as reducing the hydroxyapatite dissolution. In addition, casein derived peptides regulate the immune responses through the regulation of proliferation and activity of immune cells. Collectively, with regard to the broad biological functions of casein in association with health conditions as well as prevention and treatment of diseases, consumption of these proteins in healthy subjects and patients could be beneficial. More human studies about health benefits of casein are necessary to achieve to substantial evidences.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide and Iran and According to the Ministry of Health more than 40000 people in Iran are now suffering from this disease. Obesity, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, hormone therapy and diet are factors that have a significant role in breast cancer incidence. Studies show that the active form of vitamin D promotes cell differentiation and inhibits proliferation and have the potential to modify cancer risk. The results of some studies confirm an inverse association between dietary vitamin D intake and serum vitamin D concentration with the risk of breast cancer. Research results indicate a reduced risk of breast cancer with higher intake of vitamin D. Studies show that there is a significant inverse association between plasma calcidiol concentration and also exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation with the risk of breast cancer. Measurement of serum calcidiol long before cancer diagnosis leads to no significant relationship. Results of the studies suggest a protective effect of vitamin D intake from diet and supplements and exposure to ultraviolet rays of the sun against breast cancer incidence, especially in premenopausal women. On the other hand, based on measurement of plasma calcidiol concentration, the high prevalence of vitamin D in patients with breast cancer have been reported. Before achieving decisive results, adequate intake of vitamin D (600 IU/d for women younger than 71 years and 800 IU/d for women 71 and older) and maintenance of plasma calcidiol in the range of 30-49 ng / ml seems logical.

Flavonoids as a group of polyphenolic compounds, have recently gained considerable attention because of their potential beneficial effects on human health. A number of studies have indicated chemopreventive effects of flavonoids on cancer cells via suppression of PI3K/Akt pathway. Deregulation of PI3-Kinase/Akt pathway trigger a cascade of responses, from cell growth and proliferation to survival and motility, that drive tumor progression. In this article the anti carcinogenic features of flavonoids through involvement of PI3K/Akt pathway have been reviewed. Pubmed, Sciencedirect, Springer and Google scholar databases were searched in order to achieve the desired articles. Cellular and animal studies that have been conducted from 1995 till 2012 were recruited in this investigation. Researches indicate the anticancer effects of flavonoids through suppression of PI3k activity and subsequent inhibition of Akt activity. Inactivation of this pathway leads to subsequent inhibition of other signaling pathway such as mTOR and NF-kB. The suppression of mTOR and NF-kB cause to decrease of proliferation and cell growth as well as inhibit cell invasion and metastasise. Apoptosis Also increase via upregulation of proapoptotic proteins and downregulation of antiapoptotic proteins. Furthermore, repression of PI3K/ Akt pathway in endothelial cells blocks angiogenesis. Taken together, flavonoids as potent chemopreventive agents, through downregulation of PI3k/Akt signaling pathway, can possess effective role in cancer prevention and treatment. So, application of flavonoids as supplementary treatment with medicine therapy is suggested, but more researches in cellular and animal model are necessary.