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Recently, bacterial cellulose-based wound dressings have gained lots of attention, and many studies have tried to improve the efficacy of these membranes with incorporation of different natural materials to fabricate an all-natural wound dressing with significant antibacterial and wound healing properties. In the present study, bacterial cellulose (BC) is produced from Gluconacetobacter xylinus to fabricate BC-based membranes. Then, chitosan (CS) and cinnamon extract (CE) are incorporated into the BC membranes to prepare an all-natural wound dressing. The obtained composite membrane (BC/CS/CE) is characterized according to chemical properties, surface morphology, mechanical properties, water absorptivity, water retention, CE release, antibacterial activity, biocompatibility, in vivo wound healing activity, and compared with BC and BC/CS membranes. The BC/CS/CE membrane is able to maintain appropriate moisture content for an acceptable period of time. Although the tensile strength and elongation at break values of the BC/CS/CE are slightly lower than the BC membrane, they are still in ideal ranges. The BC/CS/CE membrane exhibits significantly more antibacterial effects against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in comparison with the BC and BC/CS which can be related to the sustained released profile of CE. In addition, BC/CS/CE is more biocompatible with L929 normal skin fibroblast cells in comparison with the BC and BC/CS membranes. Also, the BC/CS/CE membrane can meaningfully promote the wound healing progress compared with other membranes at the Wistar rats full-thickness skin wound model. The BC/CS/CE membrane-treated wounds have more developed dermis layer in comparison with other groups according to histopathological analyses. Taking together, the CS and CE enriched BC membranes can be a promising wound dressing with desirable properties.

Background: Working memory is one of the essential cognitive functions. Achieving the highest cognitive performance is especially important in critical jobs such as military and crisis management-related jobs. The thermal environment can cognitive functions. Humans have different thermal sensations in the same fixed temperature environments. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the effect of thermal environment and thermal sensation on working memory. Methods: Each of 20 male adult participants, physically and mentally healthy aged 19 - 29 years, experienced seven thermal conditions (office room climate: 14°C, 17°C, 20°C, 23°C, 26°C, 29°C, and 32°C) over four months. Before the test, they waited 40 minutes in the room for adaptation. The thermal sensation questions were asked from them, and working memory was measured with the n-back test. Results: In this experiment, 140 working memory data were collected. The relationship between air temperature and working memory was significant in two of six conditions. The relationship between thermal sensation and working memory was significant in all six conditions. Participants had various thermal sensations in the same fixed thermal environment. Conclusions: Thermal sensation significantly affected the working memory of the environment users. Working memory was more related to changes in people’s thermal sensation than changes in ambient temperature. Adjusting the ambient temperature based on the user’s thermal sensation increases cognitive performance and prevents working memory loss.

To study the effect of four interventions on lower back pain (LBP) alongside time and to identify whether changes in nutrition and doing traditional Persian remedies (massage and rubbing white Lily oil) could relieve the LBP using a short-time treatment. The population of this study consisted of 89 subjects with chronic LBP collected in traditional Persian medicine clinics. The outcomes were two indices for LBP, Oswestry disability index (ODI), and numerical rating scale (NRS), measured three times with an interval of four weeks. Age was not an effective variable in both LBP indices. Effective interventions for both indices are almost the same. For ODI, sex (= male), nutrition, massage, using White Lily oil, and time had decreasing effects on ODI, but interactions of sex with nutrition and massage had increasing effects on ODI. For NRS, sex (= female), using White Lily oil, time, and interactions of sex with massage and nutrition had decreasing effects, but nutrition, massage, and interactions of sex with White Lily oil had increasing effects on NRS.

Background and Objectives: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is one the frequent musculoskeletal issues among adults mostly without a specific etiology. In this study, we investigated a traditional Persian remedy for back pain which is based on topical application of a mixture of sesame oil (SO) and white lily (LSM). Materials and Methods: The chemical profile, phenol content, and antioxidant activity of the herbal samples were determined using GC-MS, total phenol content (TPC) assay, and DPPH assay, respectively. Clinical efficacy of the herbal samples by a double-blind placebo was examined. Results: TPC of SO and LSM was 45 ± 5.7 and 68.3 ± 11.2 mg GAE/g oil mixture, respectively. The SO could inhibit 59.7% of free radicals, whereas LSM showed a radical inhibition rate of 74.7% in DPPH assay. LSM could reduce the pain feeling and obtained the lowest pain scores (Oswestry disability index and numeric rating scale) in weeks 4 and 8 of therapy in comparison to other treatment groups (diclofenac gel and SO) and placebo control (Vaseline). Conclusions: The results implicate the LSM as a novel therapeutic alternative for the therapy of the CLBP.

Introduction and goal: Increasing resistance to cold weather conditions is very important for military forces located in these areas, mountain climbers and people living in these areas. One of the most useful methods is to benefit from traditional medicine and the consumption of medicinal plants that are of warm quality and can improve the resistance to cold. In this research, we tried to study the effect of medicinal plants oil of Nerium Oleander, Ginger and Chamomile on the rates’ cold resistance. Materials and methods: In this research, rats were our animal model. They were divided into seven experimental groups and the effect of the oils of olive, sesame, chamomile, ginger, and oleander were studied using experimental induction of frostbite through cold water immersion method. Results: According to the results, the average times of resistance to cold are significant in the presence of oils and without oil. Among the oils used in this research, Ginger produced the highest cold resistance in rat. Conclusion: The results of this research showed that the use of oil from plants that have a warm and dry quality such as ginger can increase the resistance to cold.

Fatigue is a common problem in modern-day life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Delphinium denudatum (Jadwar) on fatigue.This study was a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial between healthy normal university students. In each group, participants were given one capsule of either WEACURE® (containing 500 mg of Jadwar root powder) or placebo for 15 consecutive days. Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) questionnaire was used before and after the intervention to evaluate different aspects of fatigue.A total number of 64 participants completed the study. Data analysis showed decrease in the scores of all five domains of fatigue in Jadwar group (13.31 ± 3.05-7.75 ± 2.66, 12.31 ± 3.55-7.63 ± 2.62, 12.22 ± 4.26-6.97 ± 2.06, 11.56 ± 4.21 to 7.28 ± 2.37, 12.91 ± 3.09-7.34 ± 2.13 in general fatigue, physical fatigue, reduced activity, reduced motivation, and mental fatigue domains, respectively) which was statistically significant (P value0.0001). This situation was significantly superior to the placebo group. Prescribed dosage of WEACURE® capsule was well tolerated.As a complementary tonic agent, Jadwar have a potential to reduce fatigue in normal population. However, objective evaluation of its anti-fatigue effect should be further evaluated.

Context: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a functional gastro-intestinal disorder with high prevalence. Among various treatment options, treatment by complementary and alternative medicines especially herbal remedies also practiced. Traditional Iranian medicine (TIM), a valuable resource of valid applied studies of ancient Iranian scholars, recommends numerous medicinal plants to treat dyspepsia symptoms. In this study, through investigation of TIM references, we aimed to identify medicinal plants for treatment of digestion insufficiency. Evidence Acquisition: In this qualitative study, dyspepsia symptoms including fullness, early satiety, bloating, nausea, and belching were checked under reliable sources of traditional medicine. Then medicinal plants recommended for the treatment of the symptoms were extracted from the books. Likewise, for investigating the pharmacological properties of medicinal plants used for the relieving of dyspepsia symptoms, electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and some Iranian databases like SID and IranMedex were employed. Results: The study yielded 105 plants from 37 families which could treat various dyspepsia symptoms; fifty-seven plants, mainly from Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, Amaryllidaceae and Zingiberaceae had digestive effects. In this research, based on the information in TIM reference texts, we obtained 58 plants effective for bloating, 40 for nausea, 37 for appetite loss and 7 for belching. In human clinical trials conducted on medicinal plants effective for FD symptoms, 7 single plants were used. Conclusions: Finding the medicinal plants effective on digestion insufficiency based on TIM could suggest a better strategy for the relieving of dyspepsia symptoms. Traditional Iranian medicine prescribes medicinal plants based on each patient’s personal characteristics and practices multiple target therapies.