Ardabil University of Medical Sciences
ArUMS Digital Repository (سامانه اطلاعات زیست پزشکی و سلامت)Not a member yet
7752 research outputs found
Sort by
Designing and making of silicone bismuth nanoparticle breast shields for chest CT scan
Get PDFIntroduction: The utility of nanoparticles in medicine, especially in the field of radiation protection, was a major breakthrough. As reported, X-ray shields manufactured using nanoparticles, have important role in reducing radiation dose. Therefore, they could be used as radiation shields to protect radiosensitive superficial organs (e.g. breast) exposed directly in CT examinations.
In this regard, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a homemade nano-bismuth oxide shield in reducing the breast dose irradiated in chest CT scan.
Materials and methods: Bismuth oxide nanoparticles were prepared and synthesized in the Chemistry Laboratory by of Tabriz University. SEM, TEM, XRD, DLS tests were used to evaluate the properties of nanoparticles. Then, nano-bismuth oxide shields were designed and manufactured with 10% and 15% ratios in 0.5 to 1 mm thicknesses of silicon matrix. The dosimetry process was performed by TLD dosimeters in the skin layers and the fourth layers of large and normal breasts with and without shields in the chest CT scan. Dosimetry was also performed for CTDI phantom at the position of 12:00 o’clock. Signals and noises of the images obtained without and with the presence of shields were evaluated to study the effects of shield on image quality. Statistical data analysis was performed using t-test with SPSS version 16.
Results: Nano bismuth oxide shields reduced dose valued 9% and 15% in the skin layer and 8% and 14% in the breast fourth layer of female chest phantom, for 10% and 15% bismuth ratio (0.5 mm thickness), respectively. Also, by increasing shields thickness to 1 mm, the dose of skin layer reduced by 18% and 24% and dose of fourth layer decreased by 16% and 22, for 10% and 15% bismuth ratio, respectively. In addition, applying 10% nano-bismuth oxide shield with thickness of 0.5 and 1 mm decreased the CTDI dose value by 7% and 14%, separately.
The comparison between shielded and unshielded CT images showed 10% and 18% increase in noise for 10% and 15% bismuth shields, respectively.
Conclusion: The results showed that the use of nano-bismuth oxide shields with different bismuth ratios and thicknesses can reduce the received dose in breast with no appreciable loss in diagnostic ability of chest CT scans
Caution in Using High Sensitive Differential Scanning Calorimetry
Get PDFThe analysis and interpretation of data obtained from high-sensitive (HS) differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments is a creative art and great skill. In this research, we have analyzed and compared the DSC results from two different types of HS-DSC equipment. Our results showed an additional peak in the native lines that differ among DSC instruments which may lead to a drastic inaccuracy in the interpretation of DSC profiles. Literature survey on the articles in which these instruments were used showed the same disturbance in the native lines. Disturbances in the native line can be revealed by repeating the experiments and by comparing the results from different instruments. It is recommended to have good experiences and knowing the characteristic disturbances in the DSC profiles to eliminate the false interpretation
Factors influencing the use of contraceptives through the lens of teenage women: A qualitative study in Iran
Get PDFBackground: One out of seven teenage girls in developing countries marry before the age of fifteen. While the fertility rate among teenage girls is high, the rate of contraceptive use remains low. Therefore, they are vulnerable with regard to the provision of reproductive healthcare. This study aimed to explore factors influencing the use of contraceptives from teenage women’s perspectives in Iran.
Material & Methods: This qualitative study was conducted with 14 teenage married women aged between 13-19 years old. They referred to urban-rural healthcare centers in Ardabil province, Iran. The eligible women were recruited using purposive sampling and were invited to take part in individual, face to face in-depth semi-structured interviews. The duration of the interview sessions varied from 45 to 90 minutes with an average of 55 minutes. The sampling process was continued until data saturation was reached and no new data was obtained. Each interview was tape-recorded after obtaining the participants’ permission, transcribed verbatim and analyzed for identifying categories and themes using the conventional content analysis method.
Results: Three themes and eight subthemes were developed. The themes were as follow: ‘insufficient familiarity with contraceptive methods’, ‘wanted-forced pregnancy’ and ‘misconceptions’.
Conclusion: In spite of the high prevalence of early marriage in the Iranian society, the teenage women were not empowered and prepared for marriage and birth control. Sexual and reproductive healthcare services to teenage women should be improved for meeting their needs.
Key words: Contraceptives, Teenage women, Qualitative stud
miR‐124 promotes neural differentiation in mouse bulge stem cells by repressing Ptbp1 and Sox9
No full textHair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) are able to differentiate into neurons and glial cells. Distinct microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate the proliferation and differentiation of HFSCs. However, the exact role of miR‐124 in the neural differentiation of HFSCs has not been elucidated. HFSCs were isolated from mouse whisker follicles. miR‐9, let‐7b, and miR‐124, Ptbp1 , and Sox9 expression levels were detected by real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). The influence of miR‐124 transfection was evaluated using immunostaining. We demonstrated that miR‐124 and let‐7b expression levels were significantly increased after the neural differentiation. Sox9 and Ptbp1 were identified as the target of miR‐124 in the HFSCs. During neural differentiation and miR‐124 mimicking, Ptbp1 and Sox9 levels were decreased. Moreover, the miR‐124 overexpression increased MAP2 (58.43 ± 11.26) and NeuN (48.34 ± 11.15) proteins expression. The results demonstrated that miR‐124 may promote the differentiation of HFSCs into neuronal cells by targeting Sox9 and Ptbp1
Comparing the efficiency of UV/ZrO2 and UV/H2O2/ZrO2 photocatalytic processes in furfural removal from aqueous solution
No full textFurfural is a toxic chemical compound that is widely applied as a solvent in a great many of industries, and it can cause many problems to the human beings and environment. Various methods of removing furfural from the wastewaters have been studied. AOPs methods are utilized for the elimination of a vast majority of the pollutants due to their high efficiency as well as for their lack of creating secondary contamination. Therefore, the present study aims at comparing the efficiency of UV/ZrO2 and UV/H2O2/ZrO2 photocatalytic processes in removing furfural from aqueous solutions. The solution’s initial pH, furfural’s concentration, zirconium catalyst dosage and time were investigated as the parameters influencing the removal efficiency by the two foresaid processes, and the effect of H2O2 addition in various concentrations into UV/H2O2/ZrO2 process was also evaluated. Spectrophotometer device was employed to assay the concentration of the residual furfural. The results indicated that the pH of the environment, the amount of the nanoparticle and H2O2 input concentration largely influence the furfural omission. The optimal condition for the removal of furfural in UV/ZrO2 process in an initial concentration of 20 mg/L, a pH equal to 3, a catalyst dose of 0.25 g/L during a period of 60-min time was 81.6%, and it was 99% for UV/H2O2/ZrO2 process in a pH equal to 7 with the addition of H2O2 for a concentration of 0.75 mL/L under the same conditions. Generally, it can be concluded that UV/H2O2/ZrO2 and UV/ZrO2 photocatalytic processes can effectively be applied to remove furfural from the aqueous solutions, especially in lower concentrations
Removal of BPA from Aqueous Solutions by Electrocoagulation Using iron Electrodes and Optimization
Get PDFBackground and Objectives: Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the toxic environmental pollutants that can be entered into aquatic ecosystems by raw wastewaters. In the current study, electrocoagulation used in the treatment of water and wastewater in a wide range was investigated for the removal of BPA.
Materials and Methods: All the experiments were conducted in a batch system. The effect of operating parameters such as pH, BPA concentration, electrolyte concentration, distance between electrodes, current intensity, and reaction time were evaluated. Experiments were carried out at laboratory temperature (25 °C), potential difference 30 V.
Results: According to the results, the optimal condition were follows: BPA concentration 10 mg/L, current intensity 1500 mA, pH=7, and distance between electrodes 0.5 cm. The removal efficiency was ranged 60 to 90 percent.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that the electrocoagulation process using iron electrodes in the optimal condition can acceptably remove BPA from aqueous solutions
The study on effects of antiepileptic drugs such as phenytoin, phenobarbital, topiramate, valproate on nerve conduction velocity in children under treatment of AEDs
Get PDFBackground & Objective: Anticonvulsants such as phenytoin, phenobarbital, topiramate, valproate are an important step in the treatment of epilepsy, which are more likely to be used due to their beneficial effects and economic benefits from new drugs, but these old anti-seizure drugs are not harmless and have dangerous and sometimes safe and reversible side effects. reduction of the nervous conduction velocity is the common side effect among anticonvulsants drugs. If this complication is severe, it is of great clinical significance. Especially in children who need attention in clinical use by the therapist. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the effect of each anticonvulsant drug on the neurotransmission rate and compare them.
Methods: 125 known patients with seizure were randomly categorized into 5 groups of 25, and each group received phenytoin, phenobarbital, topiramate, valproate and carbamazepine. We used a group of 25 patients with febrile convulsion as a control group. Sensory and motor neural conduction velocity were recorded from each measured patient.
Results: Anticonvulsant drugs all reduced the sensory nervous conduction velocity in patients and compared with drugs, the general drugs had a similar effect, but phenobarbital lowered the neurotransmission rate than the rest, and phenotypine had neuropathic complications more than other drugs. The changes mentioned were not related to the age and gender of the patients.
Conclusion: anticonvulsants such as phenytoin, phenobarbital, topiramate, valproate reduced the sensory neural conduction velocity in patients. The changes mentioned were not related to the age and gender of the patient
Assessment of diagnostic ability of auditory version of MCMI in illiterate and low literate patients with borderline personality disorder in 2018
Get PDFBackground & Objective: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is the most common personality disorder in clinical settings. It is a disabling and chronic psychiatric disorder ,that has a prevalence of 2.7 to 5.9 in the general population. The disorder imposes a lot of cost to the healthcare system. Identifying and diagnosing BPD is one of the most controversial topics in psychiatry. This study was conducted to help identify low-literate and illiterate persons with borderline personality who can not use pencil- paper diagnostic tools.
Methods: 60 individuals with borderline personality disorder and 60 normal people with less than 3rd grade education were selected from individuals referred to the psychiatric clinic of Fatemi Hospital in Ardebil. People studied were first evaluated by SCID-II and then by auditory MCMI-III by psychiatrist. The results of both tests were analyzed statistically by SPSS software. The diagnostic power of the auditory MCMI-III test was compared with the SCID-II test with using statistical methods.
Result: In this study 120 people were studied. Sex distribution was 50.8% male and 49.2% female. The average age was 24/99. The distribution of the subjects according to the level of education was 13.33% illiterate and 86.66% had elementary education. In this study, the specificity, sensitivity, total power, negative predictive power, positive predictive power of auditory MCMI-III were calculated 92, 59, 75, 66, 90%, respectively. In the present study, the correlation coefficient between auditory MCMI-III and SCID-II and internal consistency or Cronbach alpha was calculated 19.6% and 82%, respectively.
Conclusion: According to the values obtained for the ability to differentiate, specificity, sensitivity, internal consistency, and compare it with other valid MCMI-III versions and the SCID-II test and the global correlation for these values, the auditory MCMI test is a valid test, and it can be used to identify people with low literacy and illiteracy personality disorder
Survey of the Status of Wastes Generated in Healthcare Centers of Kohgiluyeh Va Boyerahmad Province in 2015
Get PDFBackground: Increase in amount and variety of healthcare wastes is one of the most important problem affecting
human health and environment. Due to the infectious effects of the waste, accurate management of them in the
healthcare centers is essential. The aim of this study was to determine the quantity and quality of the wastes
generated in the healthcare centers of Kohgiluyeh va Boyerahmad province in 2015.
Methods: This is a sectional-descriptive study that conducted in Kohgiluyeh va Boyerahmad province. Samples
were taken from 432 healthcare centers in the province. All samples were collected according to census method.
Three samples were taken from the affiliated units of Yasuj University of Medical Science in one year and the
average weight of them was considered as final weight. Data were analyzed using SPSS (ANOVA) and Excel
software (2007).
Findings: Total wastes generated in the affiliated units of Yasuj University of Medical Science were 1186.26 kg/day.
ordinary waste, sharp waste, infectious waste, chemical waste, radiological waste, and pathological waste were
80.86%, 1.5%, 16.09% ,0.71%, 0.36% and 0.44% respectively. Healthcare in Boyerahmad and Choram County had
the highest and the lowest amount of infectious and sharp waste respectively.
Conclusion: Due to the relatively high volume of infectious wastes in the provincial centers (more than 16%), it is
essential to equip the centers with devices which treat the infectious and sharp wastes.
Keywords: Infectious Waste, Health care centers, Kohgiluyeh va Boyerahmad, Sharp wast
The relationship between arterial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) and Endtidal CO2 (PECO2) during hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)
Get PDFBackground: Physicians have always wanted to perform exact medical tests in non-invasive ways. During a cardiac surgery, after the onset of cardiopulmonary bypass, the patient’s ventilation along with the patient’s heart rate could stop, and the task of the two vital organs is transferred to the pulmonary heart system, which acts to ensure the patient’s ventilation at defined intervals in the patient’s arterial gas analysis. This study was done to determine the relationship between PaCO2 and PECO2 in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Methodology: In a cross-sectional study, a total of 30 patients referring to the heart surgery department of Ardabil City Hospital, who would undergo coronary artery bypass grafting without other illness, were included in the study. Arterial blood samples were taken, and the result was reported through the arterial blood gas device in the operating room. The PaCO2 was compared with PECO2. Data were analyzed by statistical methods in SPSS version 22. Results: Of all patients, 17 (56.67%) were males and 13 (43.33%) were females. The mean age of patients was 60 ± 11 years with an age range of 35–78 years. The mean of PaCO2 was 36.5 ± 4.13 mmHg and the mean of PECO2 was 31 ± 6.4 mmHg. The fresh gas flow (FGF) was 1.9 ± 0.7. There was a positive and significant correlation between FGF and PaCO2 and also between FGF and PECO2. Conclusion: Results showed that there was a significant relation between arterial PCO2 and oxygenator exhausted PCO2 during hypothermic CPB