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Arid regions are especially vulnerable to climate change and land use. More than one-third of Earth's population relies on these ecosystems. Modern observations lack the temporal depth to determine vegetation responses to climate and human activity, but paleoecological and archaeological records can be used to investigate these relationships. Decreasing rainfall across the Late Holocene provides a case study for vegetation response to changing hydroclimate. Rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) middens preserve paleoenvironmental indicators in arid environments where traditional archives are unavailable. Pollen from modern middens collected in Dhofar, Oman, demonstrates the reliability of this archive. Pollen, stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N), and microcharcoal data from fossil middens reveal changes in vegetation, relative moisture, and fire from 4000 cal yr BP to the present. Trees limited to moister areas (e.g., Terminalia) today existed farther inland at ~3100 cal yr BP. After ~2900 cal yr BP, taxa with more xeric affiliations (e.g., Senegalia) had increased. Coprophilous fungal spores (Sporormiella) and grazing indicator pollen revealed an amplified signal of domesticate grazing at ~1000 cal yr BP. This indicates that trees associated with semiarid environments were maintained in the interior desert during ~3000–4000 yr of decreasing rainfall and that impacts of human activity intensified after the transition to a drier environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Comparison of natural orifice specimen extraction (NOSE) and transabdominal specimen extraction (TASE) in colorectal surgery remains controversial. Herein, we aimed to perform a retrospective analysis on surgical outcomes of NOSE and TASE at three hospitals in east of Iran. Method: Consecutive locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery using either NOSE or TASE from 2011 to 2017 were recruited. These patients were followed-up till 2020. Data, including postoperative complications, long-term overall and recurrence-free survival were analyzed retrospectively. Results: 239 eligible patients were included in this study. 169 (70.71%) patients underwent NOSE, and 70 (29.29%) patients underwent TASE. Although this study has achieved similar outcomes in terms of overall and recurrence-free survival, metastasis, circumferential margin involvement as well as complications of intra-operative bleeding, obstruction, anastomosis-fail, rectovaginal-fistula in women and pelvic collection/abscess in both groups, we observed higher rates of locoregional recurrence, incontinency, stenosis and the close distal margins involvement in NOSE group and also obstructed defecation syndrome in TASE cases. Conclusion: According to our findings, NOSE laparoscopic surgery showed significantly higher incontinency, impotency, stenosis and involvement of the close distal margins rates. Nevertheless, considering the similarity of long-term overall and recurrence-free survival, metastasis, circumferential margin involvement, NOSE procedure is still could be considered as a second choice for lower rectal adenocarcinoma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effect of interval training and resveratrol consumption on the regulatory and executive factors of hepatocyte apoptosis in male rats with diabetes. Methods: Frothy-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into healthy control, diabetic, saline diabetic, resveratrol supplement, intermittent exercise, and resveratrol+intermittent exercise groups. The interval training program consisted of 8 weeks of training with an intensity of 50%-70% of the maximum oxygen consumption. Resveratrol was injected in two training groups with resveratrol supplement and resveratrol+supplement at a dose of 20 mg. Results: The concentrations of caspase-3 and BAX in diabetic saline and diabetic groups were significantly higher than in control groups (P=0.001). On the other hand, Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) levels in diabetic saline and diabetic were significantly lower than in the control groups (P=0.001). The concentration of the BAX/Bcl-2 ratio in diabetic and diabetic saline was significantly higher compared to control groups (P=0.001) The effect of interval training, administration of resveratrol alone, or especially with interval training caused a significant decrease in the concentration of BAX and caspase-3 (P=0.001), a significant increase in the mean Bcl-2 concentration (P=0.001), and a significant decrease in the mean BAX/Bcl-2 ratio (P=0.001) in male rats with diabetes compared with the diabetic and diabetic groups. Conclusion: The combined effect of eight-week resveratrol supplementation and interval training decreased apoptosis markers, while it increased the concentration of Bcl-2 in male rats with type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dynamic establishment and optimal continuity of the educational system is strongly influenced by the quality and quantity of planning. However, planning teaching and learning activities is the most important one. The aim of this study was to evaluate students’ satisfaction with the teaching assistant method and determine factors affecting it in Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences. Method: In this cross-sectional study, 49 undergraduate nursing (29 students) and public health (20 students) students with nonexperience of teaching assistant method were selected through simple random sampling method. Data were collected with a modified questionnaire and its validity and reliability was measured. Results: The mean score of satisfaction was 33.70±1.04 from 48 total scores. There was a significant relationship between gender and field of study variables with satisfaction variable (P < 0.05). Public health students and male students were more satisfied with the teaching assistant method. The mean scores of satisfactions in public health (mean score =36.30) and male students (mean score =35.50) were higher than nursing (mean score =31.17) and female students (mean score =32.59) respectively. Conclusion: Evaluation of the students' satisfaction showed that students' satisfaction with the teaching assistant method is higher than average and using this method can be effective in improving the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common type of domestic violence often used by men against their wives. Due to the destructive and widespread social and health consequences of IPV, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence and related factors of IPV among married women in Garmsar, Iran. Methods: Using multi-stage clusters sampling method, this cross-sectional study included 400 married women in Garmsar, Iran. The data collection process was conducted during October and December 2019 using a researcher-made questionnaire. The content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed using content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) indicators (0.85 and 0.88, respectively). Also, the reliability was confirmed by examining the internal consistency and obtaining a score of 0.93 for Cronbach's alpha. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed using t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey's post-hoc test. Results: Most participants were in the age range of 20-40 years (mean age: 34.9 years). The overall exposure of women to IPV was 56.11%. In addition, the most prevalent types of IPV included legal (24%), social (24%), financial (22%), verbal (16%), physical (13%), emotional (12%), and sexual (11%). The effective factors on the prevalence of IPV included number of children, education level, occupation, and age (P less than 0.05). Conclusions: We witnessed that women living in Garmsar faced different types of IPV and their overall exposure to this phenomenon was higher than the national and global average. To resolve the problem, the following measurements are recommended: a careful investigation of the reasons for the spread of IPV, implementing interventions based on reliable evidence, and serious cooperation of the experts and relevant governmental and non-governmental institutions, particularly citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Musculoskeletal pain caused by trauma is one of the common complaints of patients referred to the emergency department. Due to the lack of a proper pain control protocol, doctors and nurses do not pay attention to pain, and physicians may tend to request too many radiographs, many of which will be unnecessary. We aimed to study the effect of pain management by fentanyl in reducing the number of radiographs, reducing hospital costs and increasing satisfaction in the patients on patients with isolated trauma in limbs and spine causing musculoskeletal pain. Patients and methods A cohort of patients who were referred to the fast-track emergency department with isolated trauma of the upper and lower limbs or spine and triage levels 3, 4 and 5, were visited twice by an emergency medicine resident – before and after application of a pain management protocol using intravenous fentanyl as the principle analgesic. The primary outcome measure was the reduction in the number of radiographs requested; secondary outcomes included alterations in pain levels and patient satisfaction. Results A total of 158 patients were included in the study. The median age was 27.5 years, three quarters were male and 20.88% had a positive history of opium addiction. The number and costs of diagnostic radiography significantly decreased after the administration of fentanyl (P < 0.0001), as did pain levels measured on visual analogue scale with a consequent increase in patient satisfaction. There were only six complications resulting from fentanyl administration which were mild and transient. Follow-up after 24–72 h, revealed no missed fractures. Conclusions The administration of fentanyl as a strong analgesic as part of an emergency department pain management protocol for trauma patients can be performed with limited minor complications; it can reduce the number of unnecessary X-rays performed, exposure to ionizing radiation and hospital costs as well as improving patient satisfaction without missing fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]