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Arash Babaei-Ghazani,1 Bijan Forogh,1 Gholam Reza Raissi,1 Tannaz Ahadi,1 Bina Eftekharsadat,2 Naseh Yousefi,1 Shahram Rahimi-Dehgolan,3 Katayoun Moradi1 1Neuromusculoskeletal Research Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran; 2Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Research Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 3Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, IKHC Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, IranCorrespondence: Shahram Rahimi-DehgolanPhysical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, IKHC Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, IranEmail shahram.rahimi.dehgolan@gmail.comKatayoun MoradiNeuromusculoskeletal Research Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, IranEmail katayoun-moradi69@gmail.comPurpose: To compare two common approaches for ultrasonography (US)-guided injection.Patients and Methods: Sixty patients with mild-to-moderate CTS were included in this double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT). They received a single shot of corticosteroid injection through either the US-guided in-plane approach: radial or ulnar side. Participants were evaluated using Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) and visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, as well as electrodiagnosis (EDX) and US parameters before the intervention, and within 12 weeks of follow-up.Results: In both groups, all outcomes, except for the electrodiagnostic measures, significantly improved within the follow-up. Pain-VAS and both subscales of BCTQ questionnaire, as our main subjective outcomes, revealed dramatic improvement, with the largest amount of changes in VAS (70%; comparing to baseline value), and about 37% for both of BQSS and BQFS scales, all indicating superiority of radial to ulnar in-plane approach. During the first follow-up, we did not detect any remarkable preference between the groups in either subjective or electrodiagnostic variables. However, there was a significant difference at next follow-up time-points in terms of VAS for pain and BQFS favoring radial approach (Table 3). Furthermore, US-measured parameters including nerve-circumference and CSA improved only in the radial in-plane group.Conclusion: The current data proved that radial in-plane approach for CTS injection could be at least as effective as the more common ulnar in-plane method. Even the pain-relief effect was longer for the radial in-plane approach. Also, patients’ functional status and objective variables all revealed better outcomes via the new approach.Keywords: electromyography, corticosteroid injection, Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire, BCTQ, carpal tunnel syndrome, CTS

Background and Objectives: Heavy metals have an important role on organism life and their high concentration may be a great threat for humans and other organisms’ lives. Up to now, various methods have been used for the removal of these metals, which include the adsorption process. The aim of this study was the recovery of municipal disposals, and using as absorbent for lead & cadmium removal from aqueous solutions.Methods: Adsorption of lead & cadmium on dry activated sludge was investigated. Activated sludge was obtained from diary industry (Tehran). All experiments were performed in batch system on 202 synthetic samples to investigate the effects of pH, contact time initial concentration lead & cadmium and adsorbent dose. The most conventional adsorption and kinetic models were applied to describe metal adsorption and dynamic reaction.Results: The results showed that with increasing of adsorbent doses, contact time and pH solution, lead & cadmium removal efficiency increased. The maximum lead & cadmium adsorption was obtained at pH: 6 and an equivalent time of 180 min. With increasing initial concentration of lead & cadmium, removal efficiency decreased. The obtained results in this study were matched with langmuir 2 isotherm (R2>0.99) and interparticle diffusion kinetic (R2>0.94). Maximum adsorption capacity of lead & cadmium on dry activated sludge was obtained to be 2.66 and 1.66mg/g, respectively. Maximum constant rate of lead & cadmium was 0.045 and 0.041mg/g.min0.5, respectively.Conclusion: According to the results, dry activated sludge is recommended as a low cost and available adsorbent to remove lead & cadmium from aqueous solutions.

Various industrial activities contribute heavy metals to the soil environment directly or indirectly through the release of solid wastes, waste gases, and wastewater. Phytoremediation can be potentially used to remedy metal-contaminated sites. A major step towards the development of phytoremediation of heavy metal-impacted soils is the discovery of the heavy metal hyperaccumulation in plants. This study evaluated the potential of 7 species growing on a contaminated site in an industrial area. Several established criteria to define a hyperaccumulator plant were applied. The case study was represented by an industrial town in the Hamedan province in the central-western part of Iran. This study showed that most of the sampled species were able to grow in heavily metal-contaminated soils and were also able to accumulate extraordinarily high concentrations of some metals such as Pb, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn. Based on the obtained results and using the most common criteria, Camphorosma monospeliacum for Pb and Fe, and Salsola soda and Circium arvense for Pb can be classified as hyperaccumulators and, therefore, they have suitable potential for the phytoremediation of contaminated soils.

Background: Recent studies have raised the issue of an increased incidence of polycystic ovaries (PCO) and menstrual disturbances in women with epilepsy treated with valproate (VPA). It seems that antiepileptic drugs, especially valproate, may have a functional role in altering the endocrine system of child-bearing women with epilepsy. We conducted this study to investigate the association of VPA and ovarian structural/menstrual disorders in epileptic women.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we compared a total of 64 epileptic patients, aged 16-45 years, 32 of whom had been taking VPA alone and 32 were on other antiepileptic drugs for a minimum duration of six months. Ovarian sonography was performed and body mass index (BMI) calculated for all subjects. We also recorded the presence of menstrual disturbances in both groups.Results: Fifteen (46%) of the VPA subjects had PCO compared to 7 (21.9%) of the other group. In the VPA group, four (12.5%) had oligomenorrhea, one (3.1%) amenorrhea and 13 (40.6%) had irregular menstrual cycles. However, from the other group, two (6.3%) subjects had oligomenorrhea and seven (21.9%) had irregular menstrual cycles; amenorrhea was not present in the non-VPA treated patients. Mean BMI was 22.5 kg/m2 among the VPA subjects and 20.1 kg/m2 in the non-VPA subjects.Conclusions: This study supports the association of PCO and high BMI with VPA treatment. The frequency of menstrual disturbances did not differ significantly between the two groups.

Background: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (C-JD) is a rare disorder characterized with rapidly progressive mental decline, myoclonic jerk and finally death. The transmissible pathogen for this disease is a proteinaceous infectious particle termed prion. The prion protein is encoded by a gene (designated as PRNP) on the short arm chromosome 20.This disorder is diagnosed based on clinical findings, course of disease, EEG, MRI and confirmed with brain biopsy. Case report: A 56- year- old woman presented with confusion, disorientation, hyper somnolence, psychiatric problems such as hallucination, progressive mental deterioration and myoclonic jerks. She had history of several times phlebotomy with traditional and non sterile methods in two past years. She had no past history of other disease. Her illness was diagnosed based on clinical findings, course of her illness, typical MRI, EEG and rule out other dementing disease. She died after one month. Conclusion: in any patients with psychiatric disorders, rapidly progressive mental deterioration and myoclonic jerks C-JD should be considered as an important diagnosis. Treatable dementing disease should be considered and ruled out at first. The significance of phlebotomy in C-JD has yet to be determined.

Distyly, a floral dimorphism that promotes outcrossing, is controlled by a hemizygous genomic region known as the S‐locus. Disruptions of genes within the S‐locus are responsible for the loss of distyly and the emergence of homostyly, a floral monomorphism that favors selfing. Using whole‐genome resequencing data of distylous and homostylous individuals from populations of Primula vulgaris and leveraging high‐quality reference genomes of Primula we tested, for the first time, predictions about the evolutionary consequences of transitions to selfing on S‐genes. Our results reveal a previously undetected structural rearrangement in CYPᵀ associated with the shift to homostyly and confirm previously reported, homostyle‐specific, loss‐of‐function mutations in the exons of the S‐gene CYPᵀ. We also discovered that the promoter and intronic regions of CYPᵀ in distylous and homostylous individuals are conserved, suggesting that down‐regulation of CYPᵀ via mutations in its promoter and intronic regions is not a cause of the shift to homostyly. Furthermore, we found that hemizygosity is associated with reduced genetic diversity in S‐genes compared with their paralogs outside the S‐locus. Additionally, the shift to homostyly lowers genetic diversity in both the S‐genes and their paralogs, as expected in primarily selfing plants. Finally, we tested, for the first time, long‐standing theoretical models of changes in S‐locus genotypes during early stages of the transition to homostyly, supporting the assumption that two copies of the S‐locus might reduce homostyle fitness. Here, we focus the transition from distyly to homostyly in the common primroses to study the causes and consequences of mating‐system transitions. Using whole‐genome resequencing data, we find that loss‐of‐functions mutations in the CYPT gene is associated with multiple independent transitions to homostyly and that this transitions has consequences in the so‐called distyly S‐locus. Finally, we tested, for the first time, long‐standing theoretical models of changes in S‐locus genotypes during early stages of the transition to homostyly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic decomposition of organic compounds in landfills is responsible for generation of greenhouse gases. The present study aimed to determine the total gas and methane emission from a landfill located in Hamedan (west of Iran) from 2011 to 2030. LandGEM 3.02 model was used to estimate the gas emission with the volumetric methane percent of 60%, production potential of 107, and methane generation rate of 0.2. Spatial distribution of annual methane and total landfill gas emission rate in the study area at three decades were provided through ArcGIS software. The results showed that organic and food wastes had the maximum amounts in the solid waste stream (over 75%). The results showed that 4.371×108 m3 methane would be produced after 20 years, mostly (4.053×106m3) in the first year. In addition, methane production capacity in Hamedan landfill site was 107 m3/Mg. According to the results, the maximum and minimum gas generation rates are in summer (the hottest season) and winter (the coldest season) respectively. The results of the LandGEM model represented that the total gas and methane generation rates will be significant in the first 10 years. The potential of rapidly degradable organic compounds for gas emission will be higher than that of slowly degradable organic compounds. The results obtained in the present study can be beneficially used in planning for energy production and other applications in landfill sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to optimize the conditions of the Basic Blue 41 (BB41) adsorption on NaOH-modified rice husk (NaOH–RH) using response surface methodology based on Box–Behnken design. The three-level factors considered were pH (4, 7, and 10), initial concentration of BB41 (50, 75, and 100 mg L−1), and adsorbent dose (0.025, 0.0875, and 0.15 g L−1). Statistical analysis of result has shown that the predicted values for BB41 adsorption were close to the experimental values and were in a good agreement, on the other hand, theF-value (40.48),p-value (0.0004), andR2(0.9865) indicated that the regression is able to give a good prediction of response for the adsorption process in the range studied. According to the results, when the response was set in maximize and all the three factors were set in a range, the optimized values for BB41 adsorption were predicted as follows: pH value of 8.47, and BB41 initial concentration of 67.9 mg L−1and adsorbent dose of 0.12 g L−1for removal efficiency of 97.65%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]