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Meisam Saberi,1 Zahra Ramazani,1 Homeira Rashidi,2 Alihossein Saberi3 1Department of Medical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Ahvaz Jundishpur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 2Diabetic Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishpur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 3Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IranCorrespondence: Alihossein SaberiDepartment of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IranTel +98-9161133488Fax +98-6133332036Email saberi-a@ajums.ac.irAim: Type 2 diabetes (T2D), as a major cause of morbidity and mortality, is predicted to have a prevalence of 629 million by 2045. As diabetic patients show considerable inter-individual variation in response to antidiabetic treatment, this study aimed to investigate the gene polymorphism of cytochrome P450 as well as the effectiveness and safety of glibenclamide and gliclazide for different genotypes of CYP2C9. Besides, the chronic side effects of T2D including retinal microvasculature complications or retinopathy and renal dysfunction due to nephropathy in different genotypes were considered.Patients and Methods: The participants including 80 T2D patients treated with glibenclamide or gliclazide were recruited from university hospitals of Ahvaz Jundishpur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, in the southwest of Iran. Blood samples were collected from the patients at 2.5h after the morning dose of glibenclamide and 12h after the last dose of gliclazide. Genotyping from the extracted DNA was, then, performed using PCR-RFLP. The plasma level of glibenclamide and gliclazide was, in turn, measured by the reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography.Results: The results showed that the wild-type allele, i.e., CYP2C9*1, occurred in the highest frequency (0.8), while the frequency rates of the mutant allele, i.e., CYP2C9*2 and CYP2C9*3, were 0.15 and 0.05, respectively. Moreover, no significant association was found between any of the genotypes as well as the clinical and biochemical characteristics of the patients. The findings also showed that the plasma level of sulfonylureas (i.e., glibenclamide and gliclazide) was the highest in the patients with the CYP2C9*3 allele. It was also found that 75.9% of the patients with variant genotypes had experienced hypoglycemia events. Furthermore, in the absence of wild type allele, a significant increase was observed in retinopathy (p=0.039) and nephropathy (p=0.05).Conclusion: The findings can provide guidelines for the optimal management of the treatment protocols with sulfonylurea intended to control the T2D complications.Keywords: CYP2C9, glibenclamide, gliclazide, retinopathy, nephropathy

Ahmad Zare Javid1,2, Hadi Bazyar2,3, Hasan Gholinezhad2, Mehran Rahimlou2, Homeira Rashidi4, Parvin Salehi5, Mohammad Hosein Haghighi-zadeh6 1Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 2Department of Nutrition, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 3Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 4Health Research Institute, Diabetes Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 5Department of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 6Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, IranCorrespondence: Hadi BazyarDepartment of Nutrition, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Golestan Boulevard, Ahvaz, Iran, 78531-67465 Tel +98 9136659629Email hadibazyar2015@gmail.comBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ginger supplementation on inflammatory, antioxidant, and periodontal parameters in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with chronic periodontitis (CP) under non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT).Material and methods: In this double-blind clinical trial study, 46 T2DM patients with CP were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups and received either 4 tablets 500 mg (2 g) ginger or placebo twice a day for 8 weeks. All patients were treated with NSPT during the intervention period. Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), hs-C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), periodontal indices including clinical attachment loss (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), pocket depth (PD), and plaque index were evaluated in all subjects pre- and post-intervention.Results: Following 8 weeks of ginger treatment with NSPT, significant reductions were observed in the mean levels of IL-6 (p=0.001), hs-CRP (p=0.03), TNF-α (p=0.007), CAL, and PD (p

Objective (s): In order to find out the frequency rates of domestic and wild animal bites as well as the evaluation of the prevalence rates of rabies disease in human population in Kerman Province (South-East of Iran), a retrospective study was designed to analyze data for this project. Methods: Data were collected from March 21st 1993 to March, 21st 2003 in all of the ten cities including the rural areas of the Kerman Province. Results: The mortality of human rabies were 10 persons (8 males and 2 females). Of these half (50%) were bitten by dogs and the others (50%) by foxes. The reported data indicated that animals bit 22860 persons during 11 years. The mean age of the people who were bitten by dogs was 24.80 years (SD= 14.6), while the mean age of the people who were bitten by foxes was 57.25 years (S.D. =1.50). There was a significant difference between the mean ages of these two groups of the people. The most frequency of injured people was reported in the age group of 10-19 years old and the frequency of males (76 %) was more than females (24 %). The most incidence rate of animal bites was reported from Baft region (166 individuals/100000) and the least incidence was from Zarand region (63 cases). About 60% of all persons that were bitten by animals were from rural areas and 40% of them were from urban areas (P

Scorpion stings pose a significant public health concern in Iran, resulting in approximately 45,000-50,000 cases and 19 deaths annually. The Khuzestan and Hormozgan provinces have the highest reported incidence rates, with an estimated 36,000 cases each year. This study focused on modeling the time series data of scorpion stings, specifically in Shoushtar City, from 2017 to 2022. Our objective was to investigate the presence of seasonality and long-term trends in the incidence of scorpion stings by utilizing advanced analytical techniques, such as the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model. We applied the seasonal ARIMA model to fit a univariate time series of scorpion sting incidence. This study revealed a significant seasonal trend and an overall increase and decrease in scorpion sting cases during the study period. The best-fitting model for the available data was a seasonal ARIMA model in the form of ARIMA(0,0,1)(1,1,1)12. This model can forecast the frequency of scorpion sting cases in Southwestern Iran over the next two years. As a result, time series analysis can provide valuable insights into the patterns and trends of scorpion sting incidents, allowing for better planning and allocation of healthcare resources. By understanding the seasonal variations, proactive measures can be implemented to address the growing issue of scorpion stings in Iran effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Globally, overweight and obesity affect over one-third of the global population and it is projected that by 2030 obesity will affect more than half of the world population. The current burden of overweight and obesity is attributed to high rates of unhealthy eating and physical inactivity as it had also been revealed in Tanzania. The substantially increased prevalence of malnutrition at young ages is associated with a high incidence of non-communicable diseases in the young population and ultimately increased premature deaths. Objectives: This study aimed to assess eating habits, physical exercise patterns, and the overweight/obesity status among undergraduate students at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS). Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2022 by employing a stratified sampling technique to recruit 232 undergraduate nursing students. A selfadministered questionnaire and anthropometric measurements were used to obtain data which were finally analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 20.2%. Approximately 43% of the participants were physically inactive, with a higher proportion among females compared to males p=0.001. Male participants were more likely to perform physical exercises for a longer duration (≥ 30 minutes per day) compared to female participants, p=0.008. The consumption of more than three meals per day was associated with an increased odds of being overweight/obese than the consumption of three meals or less per day (OR: 3.11; 95%CI: 1.11-8.73). Similarly, the average long duration of sleeping per day (eight hours or more) was associated with an increased odds of being overweight/obese than sleeping less than eight hours per day (OR: 2.08; 95%CI: 1.06-4.11). Conclusions: The findings revealed high rates of unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity patterns and a significant prevalence of overweight/obesity. This indicates a need for developing actionable interventions and national health programs to promote healthy eating habits and physical activity, particularly among university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Denote by pn, the largest prime among the primitive prime divisors of 22n+1 − 1 and 2²(4n+2) − 1, where n ∈ N. In this paper, we prove that if q = 22n+1 ≥ 8 and α ≤ pn, then the direct product of α copies of Sz(q) is uniquely determined by its complex group algebra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Antenatal care (ANC) is crucial for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality, especially in low-resource settings. During antenatal care, women are provided with resources for enhancing their dietary diversity, like nutrition education and counseling. Improved nutrition knowledge influences positive nutritional behavior change, like women’s improved dietary diversity, which may increase the likelihood of a healthier pregnancy and delivery experience. Objective This study aim was to assess dietary diversity and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care in the Coast region of Tanzania. Methods The descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to assess dietary diversity and associated factors among 338 pregnant women. A semi-structured questionnaire collected information from pregnant women on social demographic characteristics, nutrition knowledge and dietary diversity. Women were classified as having a varied diet if they had consumed at least five of the ten food groups over the previous twenty-four hours. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify predictors of dietary diversity in pregnant women. Results Only 28% (95% CI: 23.5–33.1) (n = 95) of pregnant women met the minimum dietary diversity, and 18% (95% CI: 13.8–21.9) (n = 59) were considered to have a high level of nutrition knowledge. Living near a health facility (AOR = 1.77, CI 1.02, 3.06), having high nutrition knowledge (AOR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.36, 4.89), and being pregnant for the first time (AOR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.09, 5.44) were associated with adequate dietary diversity. Conclusion Pregnant women in the study were found to have low knowledge about nutrition and inadequate dietary diversity intake. The findings underscore the need to improve nutrition knowledge provision in antenatal clinics by emphasizing the importance of a diversified and high-quality diet. Healthcare providers in antenatal care clinics should consistently provide nutrition education and counseling to pregnant women and promote their diversified food consumption. Such knowledge may eventually promote healthier pregnancy and child development by curbing the nutritional deficiencies experienced during pregnancy.

Background and Objectives: Applications and systems software that are running constantly become obsolete due to the accumulation of error conditions or the depletion of resources like physical memory or performance degradation. In this regard, software rejuvenation has been proposed to deal with such a phenomenon and prevent software failure in the future. This paper proposes a multiple objective of software rejuvenation models with several policies. The purpose is to identify the right rejuvenation policy in practical situations. Methods: We model software system with four policies using the Markov process. These policies are: (a) Software system without rejuvenation; (b) Software system with partial rejuvenation; (c) Software system with partial and full rejuvenation; and (d) Software system with four different types of rejuvenation. In the models and each policy, we consider assigning the level of performance on which the availability and operating costs are calculated. Results: To evaluate the models with the four policies, many numerical experiments were performed. For each policy, we evaluated and compared three objectives, namely performance, availability and operating costs. The experimental results states that for Software System with the policy of four different type of rejuvenation have about 18 and 16 percent improvement in performance and availability, respectively, compared with those other policies. Moreover, the operating cost of the software system with partial rejuvenation policy is lower and more efficient than other policies. Conclusion: According to the calculated objectives and the results of the policies, it can be concluded that in systems with lower operational costs, the most appropriate policy is the software system with four different types of rejuvenation because this policy bring the maximum possible value for the performance and availability. The result of this study showed that the combined method is not always a suitable method because its operating cost is higher than other methods and in systems that are more important in terms of cost, this policy is not appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an increasing interest in Gluten-Free (GF) products as the prevalence of celiac disease. Sorghum, millet, and rice flours are the most suitable cereal flours for GF products. The objective of this study was to optimize mixtures of Sorghum Flour (SF), Rice Flour (RF), and Millet Flour (MF) for production of GF bread based on D-optimal mixture design approach. The characteristics of flours including moisture, proteins, fat, ash, fiber, and pH were measured. GF bread quality parameters such as specific volume, hardness, crumb structure, image characteristics and organoleptic evaluation were also analyzed. Our results revealed that three flour blends (SF, RF, and MF) had remarkable effect on physical and organoleptic properties of GF bread. Increasing MF and SF together with decreasing RF increased specific volume and mean cell area and produced GF breads with a softer texture. Color and taste improved with incorporation of RF, SF, and MF at high levels. The organoleptic evaluation of texture was correlated to instrumental texture analysis. The optimum formulation obtained according to organoleptic evaluation, specific volume, hardness, and crumb structure contained 67.18% SF, 17.82% RF and 15% MF with combined desirability equals to 0.791. In general, the results of the present study indicate that RF, SF, and MF can be used as a substitute for wheat flour in producing high quality GF bread. The data presented in this study could be useful in producing GF bread for celiac patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women’s satisfaction has been found to be a good indicator of quality of care and is associated with the utilization of healthcare services. Women’s needs and satisfaction could be improved through the provision of high-quality antenatal care services. This study assessed women’s expectations of and satisfaction with antenatal care and their associated factors in a semiurban setting in Tanzania. A cross-sectional survey using the Expectations and Satisfaction with the Prenatal Care Questionnaire (PESPC) was used to measure pregnant women’s expectations of and satisfaction with antenatal care in the two districts of Kibaha and Bagamoyo, involving 338 pregnant women. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 26. In the expectation subscale, women had high expectations for personalized care (78.4%), other services (from a social worker and nutritionist) (68.8%), and complete care (being taken care of on time, receiving excellent care, and receiving information without prompting) (60.9%), while expectations for continuity of care were the lowest (38.9%). In the satisfaction subscale, women were highly satisfied with providers’ care (being cared for with respect, healthcare provision, the way they were made to feel, and the ability to ask questions) (88.9%), while the least satisfying aspect was system characteristics (e.g., waiting times, scheduling, parking, tests and examinations, and facilities) (63.4%). Distance from a health facility was a significant predictor of both women’s expectations of and satisfaction with antenatal care services, while age and number of pregnancies were also significant predictors of antenatal care expectations. To meet expectations for quality antenatal care services and improve satisfaction with antenatal care, policymakers should improve system characteristics, including the availability of human resources and medical supplies, increased consultation time, flexible schedules, and reduced waiting time. Additionally, ensuring the accessibility of evidence-based health information is important for increasing health literacy among pregnant women.

The use of hydrocolloid is a method for suspension stabilization and solid particle suspending in drinks. In this study, the effects of adding three different hydrocolloids including gellan, tragacanth and high-methoxy pectin at three levels: 0.02, 0.05 and 0.08 of the binary combination on the stability, rheological properties, zeta potential and the activation energy were examined. The results showed that the addition of all hydrocolloids increased the stability and prevented the serum separation and also precipitation of protein. All the treatment prevented the serum separation significantly (p < 0.05). The least serum separation and the best sensory properties were gained by the formulations containing 0.02-0.08% (pectin-tragacanth) and 0.02-0.08% (tragacanth-gellan), respectively. Power law was the suitable mathematical model to predict the flow behavior of stabilized doogh. Zeta potential and activation energy were determined in the range of 9.10 to -16.6 mV and 9.37 to 18.34 kJ/ mol, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]