Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences
Year:2020 | Volume:18 | Issue:12 |Papers Count:11

Background and Objectives Nowadays, the application of Low Frequency Stimulations (LFS) has been considered as an alternative treatment in drug-resistant epileptic patients. So, the aim of this study was to determine the coadministration effects of LFS and carbamazepine (CBZ) during epileptogenesis in dorsal hippocampus using electrical Kindling method on seizure scales in adult male rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 56 adult male wistar rats were randomly divided into 8 equal groups including: Kindled (KND), KLFS, MCK, CBZ20K, CBZ40K, CBZ20KLFS, CBZ40KLFS, and MCKLFS. Animals in the Kindled group received daily stimulation of kindling. In the KLFS group, LFS were applied daily after the termination of kindling stimulation. In the MCK group, before induction of kindling stimulation, the amount of 0. 2 ml of %0. 5 methyl cellulose was injected, and CBZ20K and CBZ40K groups received CBZ20 and 40mg / kg. In the CBZ20KLFS, CBZ40KLFS, and MCKLFS groups in addition to receiving drug or solvent, LFS was applied at the end of kindling stimulation. Animal behavioral seizure scales (seizure severity, afterdischarge duration and seizure duration) were recorded. Finally, data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’ s post hoc test. Results: The results showed that the combination therapy of LFS and the effective and ineffective amounts of CBZ significantly reduced the seizure scales in CBZ20KLFS and CBZ40KLFS groups compared with the other experimental groups (p=0. 035). Conclusion: It seems that combination therapy of CBZ and LFS is an appropriate method to reduce seizure scales during kindling in rats.

Background and Objectives: Alcohol addiction imposes heavy costs on health systems. Resilience is considered as a protective factor in the rate of alcohol consumption in sensation-seeking people. The purpose of this study was to determine how resilience mediates the relationship between sensation-seeking and alcohol consumption among people aged 24-40 years old in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted using a two-step cluster sampling in Tehran in 2017. 410 people aged 24 to 40 years old were selected through convenience sampling according to the entrance and exit criteria. The study assessments included Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Zuckerman’ s Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS), and Conner and Davidson’ s Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), which were completed by the participants. Data were analyzed using Pearson’ s correlation and structural equation modeling. Results: The findings showed that there was a significant positive correlation between alcohol use and sensationseeking and there was a significant negative correlation between resiliency and alcohol use. Also a significant negative association was found between sensation-seeking and resiliency and all its components. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that sensation-seeking and resilience affect the amount of alcohol use by people. Therefore, it is possible to control high sensation-seeking through increasing resilience, thereby prevent alcohol use among youth.

Background and Objectives: Synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using plant extract is cost effective, while, one of the applications of AgNPs is its antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-biofilm activity of synthesized AgNPs using A. dendroides against antibiotic resistant and biofilm forming clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Materials and Methods: In this laboratory study, the AgNPs were first synthesized using Asphodelus dendroides extract and their size and structural characteristics were determined using various physico-chemical methods. Subsequently, the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activities of synthesized AgNPs on antibiotic resistant and biofilm forming clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae were investigated via minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Real Time PCR, respectively. Results: The results of the UV-vis test showed that the synthesized AgNPs had a maximum absorbance at 420 nm. The SEM (scanning electron microscope), TEM (transmission electron microscopy) and XRD (X-ray powder diffraction) results showed that the synthesized AgNPs had a spherical structure with a mean size of 30. 41± 22 nm. Also, AgNPs had significant antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activities against K. pneumoniae strains, so that the AgNPs down-regulated the expression of biofilm coding gene (mrkA) in K. pneumonia strains (p<0. 001). Conclusion: The results of this study showed the antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activities of AgNPs against K. pneumoniae strains. According to the results, with further studies, the synthesized AgNPs may be used as biofilm inhibitors in future.

Background and Objectives: Cadmium is a heavy metal, which has high toxicity and high accumulation properties in living tissue. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficiency of iron oxide nanoparticles in the adsorption of cadmium from aqueous media. Materials and Methods: This laboratory study was performed in the summer of 2018. XRD (X-ray powder diffraction) and SEM (scanning electron microscope) were used to characterize the adsorbent properties and FTIR (fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) analysis was performed to investigate the adsorbent functional groups. Various factors in cadmium removal were investigated such as pH, cadmium concentration, contact time and adsorbent dose. Langmuir and Freundlich absorption isotherms were used to describe absorption data. For data processing, a completely randomized block design was used. Results: Adsorption rate was fixed after 20 minutes (61%, p=0. 032). The highest adsorption was achieved at pH=7 (99%, p=0. 043) and the lowest adsorption was observed with a significant difference at pH=3 (68%, p=0. 048). The adsorption rate of metal, significantly different compared to the others, was the most in the concentration of 20 mg / L and the lowest in the concentration of 90 mg / L (97% and 70. 5%, p=0. 039). In relation to the effect of iron oxide adsorption, the highest adsorption was observed at 2 grams per liter and the lowest adsorption percentage was at 0. 5 grams per liter (97. 96% and 75%, p=0. 047). The adsorption of cadmium by iron oxide was consistent with the Langmuir model (R2=0. 4888). Conclusion: According to the results, it is recommended to use nanoparticle coatings to increase the cadmium uptake efficiency, and it can be considered as an effective way to remove cadmium.

Background and Objectives: Support vector machine (SVM) is a robust and effective statistical method for the diagnosis and prediction of clinical outcomes based on combinations of predictor variables. The aim of this study was to use SVM to detect the functional limitations in the diabetic patients and evaluate the accuracy of this diagnosis. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 378 diabetic patients referred to the diabetic centers of Ardabil and Tabriz in 2014-2015. To classify the diabetic patients in terms of functional limitation, based on the demographic and clinical variables, SVM was used with RBF (radial basis function) kernel and the training and test validation method. Evaluation was performed based on diagnostic indices including sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and area under the ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve. Results: The results of SVM method showed that the classification accuracy, sensitivity, specificity of the SVM method in differentiating and correct diagnosis of functional limitations in the diabetic patients were 99%, 100% and 97%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve as the detection performance analysis of this model was 0. 98. Conclusion: In this study, SVM was used to classify the functional limitation status of the diabetic patients, and the results showed that the model had an acceptable performance. Considering the importance of classifying the medical outcomes correctly based on the combinations of predictor variables, the use of the methods such as SVM that are able to find optimal combinations could be helpful.

Background and Objectives: Conservative treatments for patients with tennis elbow syndrome include a set of nonsurgical methods to cure the inflammation of lateral epicondyle of humerus. The purpose of this article was to evaluate the effects of conservative treatments on pain, function and grip strength among patients with tennis elbow syndrome. Materials and Methods: In an evidence-based systematic review and according to PICO (Patient, Intervention, Comparision, Out come) method, scientific databases including PubMed, ISI Web of Science and Scopus were searched for articles published during 2000 to 2017. Then titles and abstracts of the retrieved articles were reviewed and intervened according to the including criteria. Results: Among 76 preliminary articles, 18 articles had the including criteria. 15 articles included physiotherapy methods and 3 articles included splints. 4 articles were about laser, 4 articles about shockwave therapy, 2 articles about acupuncture, 3 articles about combined conservative treatment methods, 3 articles about braces, 1 article was about transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and 1 article about taping. Conclusion: All treatment modalities are effective to cure tennis elbow. Combined methods are more preferable in comparison with single method treatments. There is no report of definite preference among different treatments. There were no mentions of side effects in any of the articles.

Background and Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the barriers to general medicine dissertation implementation in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences from the perspective of faculty members in 2017. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed among 100 faculty members of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences using census method and 80 questionnaires were completed. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test. Results: 49 (62. 7%) of supervisors presented inadequate education of students in literature review, 32 (41. 8%) lack of sufficient information about research priorities of the country, 29 (32. 8%) lack of student guidance in theses writing (p=0. 018) and 39 (46. 3%) the statistical analysis of the results and their misunderstanding by the student as the main problems. Conclusion: The results showed that the most important obstacle for faculty members was inadequate education of the students in the review of literature and articles. In this regard, holding research methodology workshops can be effective.

Using small groups in teaching and learning has a long history. Evidence suggests that by applying some defined guidelines, it would be possible to reinforce the effectiveness of the small groups teaching. One of these guidelines is related to ice-breaker activities which would be applied by the facilitators at the start of the session, which are noticeably significant. The aim of the present article is to introduce some of these activities and their general rules for application.