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The study of insect morphology has recently benefited greatly from the emergence of new digital imaging and analysis technologies such as X-ray Micro-computed tomography (μ-CT), digital 3D reconstruction, and animation. Through interactive gaming and virtual reality, the external morphology of insects can be studied by a broad audience of both entomologists and non-specialists. EntomonVR is a serious game designed to investigate the external morphology of insects with adequate quality for the virtual reality platform. In this research, we discuss the advantages of virtual reality, introduce the EntomonVR new educational game, and conclude about future perspectives, validations, and cost-effectiveness. We tested this game on 25 participants with an entomological background for assessment and improved it based on their feedback. This study demonstrates the efficacy of virtual reality technology for an experimental learning environment in teaching the morphology of insects and the crucial need for advancing an efficient and interactive educational program.

Mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) syndromes are a group of heterogeneous genetic disorders in terms of genetic basis and clinical manifestations, ranging from mild to fatal forms. There are a number of applied or prospective treatment modalities for MPS, including bone marrow transplantation, enzyme replacement therapy, targeted gene therapy and substrate reduction therapy. Recently, CRISPR/Cas9 technology has emerged as a novel tool for several metabolic disorders, such as MPS. This review concentrates on the application of this technique in the treatment of MPS, particularly MPS I, and modeling of disease-causing mutations.

Derivative is one of the most important topics in calculus that has many applications in various sciences. However, according to the research, students do not have a deep understanding of the concept of derivative and they often have misconceptions. The present study aimed to investigate undergraduate basic sciences and engineering students' understanding of the concept of derivative at Tehran universities on based the framework of Zandieh. The method was descriptive-survey. The population included all undergraduate students of Tehran universities who passed Calculus I. The sample included 604 students being selected through multi-stage random cluster sampling. The measurement tool was a researcher-made test for which the reliability coefficient was obtained using Cronbach's alpha (r=0.88). Inspired by Hähkiöniemi's research, nine tasks on derivative learning were given to the students. The students' responses were evaluated using a five-point Likert scale and analyzed using descriptive responses. The results indicated that students have no appropriate understanding of the basic concepts of derivatives in numerical, physical, verbal, and graphical contexts. Basic sciences students performed meaningfully were better in understanding the tangent line slope compared to engineering students, while engineering students performed meaningfully were better than basic sciences students in the rate of change.

Aim and Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of emotional schema therapy on emotion regulation and reduction of high-risk behaviors in female adolescents. Methods and Materials: This was a semi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and control group .in which 30 people, as a sample, were randomly selected from 14- to 18-year-old junior high school girls in Mashhad who had high-risk behaviors and problems in Emotion regulation and have been referred to the Education Counseling Center of Khorasan Razavi Province, and were randomly divided into experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. In this study, the clinical interview form of children and adolescents, the Grass Emotion Regulation Strategies Questionnaire (ERQ) and the Iranian Adolescents Risk Scale (IARS) were used. Findings: The results of multivariate analysis of covariance showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in all components of high-risk behaviors except tendency to violence, so that the mean post-test scores of the experimental group were significantly less than that of the control group. In addition, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in emotion regulation strategies, so that in the reappraisal strategy, the mean scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than that of the control group, and in the suppression strategy, the mean scores of the experimental group were significantly less than that of the control group. Conclusions: In conclusion, emotional schema therapy was effective in regulating emotions and reducing high-risk behaviors in female adolescents.

Introduction Since heat treatments and special standards are not used in the production of traditional (homemade) tomato paste, fungal and bacterial spoilage in the product occurs extensively during storage in the refrigerator (4°C). Astaxanthin extracted from aquatics has antimicrobial activity and color similar to tomato and can probably be effective in preventing spoilage of tomato paste. In addition, astaxanthin has other properties in the field of preventing and controlling diseases and maintaining human health, which justifies its use in food formulations as an enrichment. Since heat, enzyme, acid, etc. treatments are practiced during the production of tomato paste, these factors may change the structure and thus the function of astaxanthin. For this reason, astaxanthin nanoencapsulation is necessary for its use in tomato paste formulation. Materials and Methods In this research, first, astaxanthin was extracted from Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae using the acid-acetone combined method. Then, this pigment was nanoencapsulated using maltodextrin-sodium caseinate coating and the resulting nanocapsules were used together with the pure form of astaxanthin in the formulation of tomato paste. The research treatments were control, tomato pastes containing 3 and 6% astaxanthin (A and B, respectively) and also 3, 6 and 9% nanocapsules carrying the pigment (C, D and E, respectively). These treatments were kept at refrigerator for 28 days and were evaluated (on days 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28) in terms of the total number of fungi, Howard's number (HMC), pH, fungal flora, total bacteria count, amount of lactic acid bacteria and sensory properties. This research was conducted in a completely randomized design. Data were analyzed by One-way Anova and the difference between the means was evaluated by Duncan's test at 95% confidence level. Results and Discussion The results showed that the fungi proliferation, total count and lactic acid bacteria were slower than the control during the storage period in the treatments containing astaxanthin and its carrying nanocapsules, and the minimum number of the mentioned microorganisms and Howard's number were related to treatments D and E (p>0.05). Treatments C, B and A were ranked next in this respect (p0.05) treatments (p0.05) was higher than the three mentioned treatments and lower than the control (p0.05). On the 28th day, the mentioned sensory indices only in the two treatments D and E were not significantly different from the 0 day, but they changed negatively in the other treatments (p

This study investigates the skills of junior high school students in posing problems in the field of proportional reasoning. This study, by considering purpose and implementation consecutively, is applied and descriptive (survey type) in nature. The sample of this study was 442 of Qazvin City’s junior high school students, who were chosen based on randomized cluster sampling. The measurement tool was a questionnaire with five problem-posing tasks related to proportional reasoning witch its content and face validity were examined by some of the mathematics professors and mathematics education professors. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the questionnaire was $0.83$. Data analysis was done using SPSS26 software and descriptive and inferential statistics methods. The analysis of the results showed that the student’s problem-posing skill was generally evaluated significantly at the level of ``replacement" from the theoretical framework of the study. Also, the analysis of data showed that there is a significant difference between the performance of students in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades in problem-posing in the field of proportional reasoning, and with the increasing educational grade, their problem-posing skills will be increased. On the other hand, by studying the effect of students' gender on problem-posing performance, it was found that there was no significant difference between boy and girl students in problem-posing. Also, it was observed that the school type is not an effective factor in problem-posing in proportional reasoning problems and there is no significant difference between the performance of ordinary and gifted school students. The results of this study can be used in teacher Training and textbook authoring. 1- IntroductionProportional reasoning is the cornerstone of high school mathematics and is known as the high goal of elementary mathematics [1,2]. Proportional reasoning including ratio, proportion, rate, and fraction are among the important concepts of school mathematics that learning is necessary for students but it is difficult for teachers to teach them [4,5,2]. Proportional reasoning is a special mathematical topic in mathematics education research because many subjects need knowledge and understanding in mathematics curriculum (e.g. scale, probability, percentage, rate, calculus, algebra, geometry) [16] and science (density, molarity, speed, force) [17,13].Problem posing is one of the most important aspects of pure and applied mathematics and can be a part of the modeling cycle that is required in modeling real-world phenomena. Based on Leung [43], problem posing is the new organization of the given problem. In this research, according to the part of the literature review (Vistro-Yu model and Leung model) and evaluation and modification of them, we observed that in the Vistro-Yu model, the incorrect problems were not been considered and in the Leung model, a suitable classifier was proposed for incorrect problem posing in this study, we have proposed a suitable classifier for incorrect classification. therefore, by choosing the three levels of the five levels of the Leung model that were related to incorrect responses and applying some small changes in it and also levels of Vistro-Yu levels, a combination framework composed of 9 levels was formed and the ability of the junior high school students was studied. In this framework, after reviewing and analyzing project issues, first, the performance of the students is divided into two categories correct problem posing and incorrect problem posing. Incorrect problem posing is classified in three levels and the correct problem posing is classified in six levels. The reason for choosing this combination is that the frameworks used in it were complementary and supported each other, and by combining them, a complete classification was achieved that covers the wide range of students ' problem-posing. 2- Main ResultsIn this research, five questions related to the concepts need to be provided to the students with different formats and include a specific goal. These five questions were selected as selection criteria and were selected for use in the study to cover all objectives of the study and the extracted data from them were adapted and adapted with the research framework. Therefore, the students' responses to test questions after careful examination and extraction of the results from each of the levels of the proportional problem-posing framework and then the data obtained, led the researchers to the secondary goals of this research, the effect of educational grades, gender, and school type on the performance of students in proportional reasoning. For this purpose, the test questions the target, and the answers provided by students to test questions were analyzed. In general, according to the results of the analysis of students' responses to test questions, the performance of the students in posing proportional problems is fairly good. However, most of the students responded to test questions and posed a new problem by changing the variables, numbers, and numerical relationships of the problem and their performance was evaluated mainly at the level of substitution. in addition, a considerable portion of the answers were related to the questions that were posed incorrectly and different factors can have caused this matter such as lack of accuracy to problem assumptions, problem posing with rely on intuition and without reasoning, insufficient understanding of rate concept, incorrect comparison of fractions, misunderstanding in the concept of percent and how to use it and so on. On the other hand, a major part of the incorrect responses is related to the lack of understanding of the nature of the problem, because understanding the nature of a problem is the first step in the solution of the problem [37]. As it was observed a considerable portion of the students with collective strategy and vice versa. After careful examination and analysis, the responses of students to test questions were categorized according to their collective or multiplicative understanding and their proportional reasoning and their proportional reasoning and achieve their goal in each of the nine levels of the theoretical framework of the study. Students’ Correct responses were classified in levels of 4 to 9, (replacement level to reformatting level) and similarly incorrect responses at levels of 1 to 3, (proposition level to the impossible problem level). The results showed that most of the answers were in level 4 (replacement). In conclusion, according to the distribution of students' responses to levels of the research framework, it can be concluded that the performance of students in posing problems related to proportional reasoning is placed at the replacement level. the outcome of the study is that the percent of the answers to the research questions at the second level (irrelevant problem) can be attributed to the inability of students to distinguish between proportional and non-proportional problems and inappropriate use of proportional reasoning in collective and multiplicative situations, which according to [55,5,7] is one of the most important weaknesses of the junior high school students in dealing with proportional reasoning. The root of this issue can be considered the lack of understanding of the existing multiplicative or multiplicative relations between the variables and insufficient understanding of concepts such as ratios, fractions, rates, and proportions. According to the results obtained from the study of the frequency of correct and false responses to research questions, it can be found that $86.1\%$ were correct and the rest of the answers, $13.9\%$, were incorrect indicating that most of the students were able to pose problems related to proportional reasoning. the results of the chi-square test and Spearman correlation coefficient at a $95\%$ confidence level showed that there is a direct and significant relationship between the performance of junior high school students in posing problems related to proportional reasoning and their educational grade with increasing the educational grade of students their problem posing skills in proportional reasoning problems increases too. in general, it makes the development of understanding proportional reasoning abilities. It was also observed that there is no significant relationship between students gender and their performance in posing problems related to proportional reasoning. Despite observing the general differences in the performance of students in gifted and general schools, this difference is not significant in terms of inferential statistics and chi-square correlation coefficients. 3- ConclusionsAccording to the results of the analysis of students' responses to test questions, it is observed that students in response to test and problem posing displayed a variety of functional levels. Some of them did not understand the concept of the problem. Some posed a new problem by only changing the variables, names, numbers, etc. in the problem. Some added a new variable. Also, it can be noted that the fundamental changes in the problem, Contextualizing the problem and making the problem near to the real world, reversing and shifting of demand and data exchanged with each other. Among the causes of low success and low performance in problem posing in proportional reasoning situations, we can mention the lack of accuracy to the problem assumptions, insufficient understanding of rate concept, incorrect comparison of fractions, misunderstanding of the concept of percent and how to use it, etc. The results showed that more than half of the posed problems were in level five (replacement). Although a considerable portion of the responses was in level two (irrelevant problem). Also, educational grade and school type influence the performance of students' problem-posing problems with proportional reasoning, and at the $95\%$ confidence level, there was a significant difference between students' problem-posing ability and their educational grades. But there was no significant difference between boy and girl students and also students in general and gifted schools.

Introduction Phycocyanin is one of the pigments used in the food industry due to its antioxidant and antibacterial as well as coloring properties. This pigment is commercially produced from Spirulina platensis microalgae, in the form of photoautotrophic cultures and in open environments in large ponds or pools in tropical or subtropical areas at the edges of oceans. Different techniques are used in order to extract phycocyanin from spirulina microalgae.. Each technique has its own advantages and disadvantages besides different efficiency. These methods include freezing-defrosting, enzymatic, ultrasound, high hydrostatic pressure, ultracentrifuge, ultra homogenization, extraction using water and various solvents. Of course recently, the production of recombinant phycocyanin has been considered as a suitable option for the production of heterotrophic phycocyanin. The purpose of the current research was to cultivate Spirulina platensis, evaluation of the microalgae growth process, and comparison of the efficiency of different methods in the extraction of phycocyanin pigment. Materials and Methods The pure sample of Spirulina platensis microalgae was prepared from Algaeology Laboratory, Biology Department of Tarbiat Modares University. For the cultivation of spirulina, Zarrouk culture medium with different compositions was used, and after cultivation in smaller scales (100 and 500 ml), the final cultivation was carried out in volumes of 5 and 50 liters. After cultivating the microalgae and exposing them to fluorescent light with appropriate light lux intensity (3500 to 8000) and a period of 12 hours of darkness and 12 hours of light, the samples were placed at 29 °C for 16 days. In order to evaluate the growth process of the algal mass, the absorbance of the solution containing the algal cells was read at a wavelength of 540 nm. After preparing the dry mass of spirulina microalgae, four methods of ultrasound, freezing-defrosting, enzymatic and mineral solvent technique were used to extract phycocyanin. In the next steps, the efficiency of each method was evaluated by measuring the concentration and purity of phycocyanin. In addition, the effect of applying the purification process by ammonium sulfate on the concentration and purity of the extracted pigment was also evaluated. This research was conducted in a completely randomized design and SPSS and EXCEL softwares were used for statistical analysis and drawing of diagram, respectively. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and the difference between the means was evaluated by Duncan's test at 95% confidence level. Results and Discussion The results showed that microalgae growth from day 0 to 14 had an upward trend and the resulting changes were significant at all times, except days 14 and 16 (p0.05) and was at a higher level than the other two methods (p

Abstract Signal processing over the molecular domain is critical for analysing, modifying, and synthesising chemical signals in molecular communication systems. However, the lack of chemical signal processing blocks and the wide use of electronic devices to process electrical signals in existing molecular communication platforms can hardly meet the biocompatible, non-invasive, and size-miniaturised requirements of applications in various fields, e.g., medicine, biology, and environment sciences. To tackle this, here we design and construct a liquid-based microfluidic molecular communication platform for performing chemical concentration signal processing and digital signal transmission over distances. By specifically designing chemical reactions and microfluidic geometry, the transmitter of our platform is capable of shaping the emitted signals, and the receiver is able to threshold, amplify, and detect the chemical signals after propagation. By encoding bit information into the concentration of sodium hydroxide, we demonstrate that our platform can achieve molecular signal modulation and demodulation functionalities, and reliably transmit text messages over long distances. This platform is further optimised to maximise data rate while minimising communication error. The presented methodology for real-time chemical signal processing can enable the implementation of signal processing units in biological settings and then unleash its potential for interdisciplinary applications.

Mathematical objects are the outcomes of human discourse and come to life through the process of objectification. Primary and concrete discursive objects (d-objects) play an important role in this process, forming different realizations through the objectification process. In the present study, we analyze the written discourses about the derivative at a point in fourteen Year 11 and Year 12 Iranian calculus textbooks over 42 years (1979-2020) in terms of primary objects, concrete d-objects, and the realizations used in them, here based on Sfard's commognitive theory. The research method is a qualitative content analysis in which the analysis units were texts, examples, activities, and exercises in the textbooks. The results show that out of the 14 textbooks, only five included primary and concrete d-objects. The other textbooks only used abstract objects in their written discourse about the derivative. The pictures (visual mediators) that were used as primary objects gradually changed from schematic to real colored photos, and locally developed technologies and cultural elements were included in the new textbook editions. Additionally, the number of concrete d-objects increased in the new editions. In terms of the realizations, the number of roots also increased over time; however, none of the textbooks had all five main realizations (i.e., symbolic, graphical, verbal, numerical, and physical) for the derivative at a point. The realization tree developed as part of this study can be used as an analytical framework to analyze calculus textbooks in other contexts and can be used by teachers and lecturers to help students have explorative participation in discourse on the derivative.

Background: Husband attendance during labor provides psychological support for her, and may also affect the duration of childbirth. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of the husband attendance in delivery ward on duration of labor and mode of delivery of primigravid women. Methods: The present study is a field trial study that was performed on 57 couple in Kalaleh hospital in 2021 of primigravid women. The samples were assigned to two groups using a quadratic block method. The intervention group husbands attended beside their wife for at least two hours during active phase and control group received routine care. Data were collected using information form and checklist and analyzed using Mann-Whitney, Chi-square and Fisher's exact test. Results: The mean of husband attendance during labor in minute was 152.32±32.25 in the intervention group. The mean of active phase in minute was 279.43±169.78 in the intervention and 345.69±167.94 in the control groups, despite the difference of 66.26 minutes in the averages, it was not statistically significant (p>0.05). In addition, there was no significant difference in the mode of delivery in the two groups. Conclusion: There was no difference in the duration and mode of delivery in the two groups under investigation, thus 2 hours husbands' attendance in delivery ward did not affect time and mode of delivery.

AbstractThe concept map becomes meaningful with the connection between the new concepts and the existing concepts in the cognitive structure. Using the concept map, the learners combine the contents and realize the internal connection between the concepts. In this sense, statistics is important as they help people interpret important information. The purpose of the effectiveness of the concept map is to identify misconceptions in the field of mathematics education from graphic literacy. The current research method is an interpretation of two quantitative and qualitative methods. The statistical population was all preservice mathematics teachers (PMT), 18 undergraduate PMTs and 15 master's PMTs were selected as the purposive sample. The PMTs of each level were divided into three groups. The PMTs of the first group completed the concept map and then answer the questions of the written exam and the second group first answer the questions of the written exam and then completed the concept map and the third group only answer the questions of the written exam. The PMTs of group 1 and 2 did not have the opportunity to return to the exam questions they did first and correct their answers. In order to evaluate the effect of using concept maps on PMTs' learning, all PMTs of the three groups answered one question called the total exam. To analyze the data, the one-way analysis of variance test was used for each group and as an average for all groups, as well as comparing the difference of the average scores of the groups in the written exam with Tukey’s post-test method. In the end, with the help of the concept map tool, PMTs' misconceptions were identified and classified into 4 categories, failure to correctly recognize the names of graphs, incorrect drawing of statistical graphs, failure to correctly recognize the type of variable and recognition of the appropriate graph for a data set. The research findings showed that the concept map identified the misconceptions of preservice teachers with better results than the results of the written exam. PMTs can use this method to teach different subjects, especially statistics in school, and improve the teaching-learning process and strengthen meaningful learning. 1. IntroductionStatistical graphics are important because they help people interpret a lot of important information. View statistical graphics as a powerful tool, giving people a summary of quantitative data and even categorical data. Humans interpret various findings about sports games, medical reports, health statistics, etc [3]. with the help of Statistical graphics; Therefore, Statistical graphics play a very important role in our human lives. In this research, concept map is used as a valuable tool to evaluate PMTs' understanding of statistical literacy and to identify PMTs' misconceptionss of this concept. A concept map leads to meaningful learning by making connections between new concepts and existing concepts in the cognitive structure. By using the concept map, the learners combine many contents and realize the internal connection between the concepts. The purpose of the research is the effectiveness of the use of concept maps on identifying the misconceptions of PMTs about graphic literacy [19]. The present research method is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The statistical population was all PMTs, 18 undergraduate PMTs and 15 master's PMTs in secondary school were selected as a purposive sample. The PMTs of each level were divided into three groups. The PMTs of the first group completed the concept map and then answer the questions of the written exam and the second group first answer the questions of the written exam and then completed the concept map and the third group only answer the questions of the written exam. The PMTs of group 1 and 2 did not have the opportunity to return to the exam questions they did first and correct their answers. In order to evaluate the effect of using concept maps on PMTs' learning, all PMTs of the three groups answered one question called the total exam. In the second stage, all PMTs in all three groups answered one question called the total exam. In the third stage, regarding the total exam, deeper investigations were conducted using the results of the interviews conducted with PMTs and qualitative analysis methods. To analyze the data, the one-way analysis of variance test was used for each group and as an average for all groups, as well as comparing the difference of the average scores of the groups in the written exam with Tukey's post-test method. In the end, with the help of the concept map tool, PMTs' misconceptions were identified and classified into 4 categories: Failure to correctly recognize the names of graphs, incorrect drawing of statistical graphs, failure to correctly identify the type of variable and recognition of the appropriate graph for a data set. 2. Main ResaltsThe results indicate that using concept maps as an evaluation tool improves PMTs' learning and identifies their misconceptions. The use of concept maps in evaluation is supported by the idea of changing approaches in evaluation in order to use different tools in addition to written exams. The research findings showed that the concept map identified the misconceptions of PMTs with better results than the results of the written exam. The first misconception identified in the research was about the lack of recognition of different charts such as curve graph, histogram and bar graph. The PMTs did not know the characteristics of these charts correctly and were confused in distinguishing between charts and their drawing. Some PMTs used a bar graph instead of a histogram. Most of the PMTs had problems in drawing the histogram and did not use the right and left limits of the graph for drawing. But this misconception was not clearly visible in the concept map and it was revealed in the exam. Therefore, it cannot be said that concept maps show us comprehensive evidence of people's knowledge. Therefore, it seems that the concept map cannot completely replace the written exam. Some PMTs had confusion and misconception in identifying the variable type of each of the statistical charts. A number of PMTs considered bar graphs to be related to discrete variables or did not correctly identify the type of histogram graph variable. These misconceptions could be recognized and evaluated with the help of concept map. The results of the present study are in line with the findings of Reyhani [32] and Novak's [19] studies in the science course. It is also in line with the results of Barwells [44], Williams [40] and Smita's [45] research in mathematics course, in the sense that concept maps are used in the assessment of mathematics course, it helps PMTs in the field of graphic literacy in recognizing the misconceptions. 3. ConclusionThe results of this study show that teaching through a concept map can make the learning process more meaningful. Therefore, evaluation through concept map gives us a better possibility to identify misconceptions and the level of understanding of the audience, so that PMTs can improve the teaching-learning process and strengthen meaningful learning. PMTs can use this method to teach different subjects, especially statistics in school. We need more research in this field. Issues such as how to use concept maps in teaching other concepts of mathematics and statistics in secondary and even higher education can be considered in future researches. It can also be suggested that PMTs can use different methods of presenting pre-prepared concept maps as an educational strategy in their future teaching in schools at different stages of education. In this context, PMTs can also be encouraged to use it as a teaching-learning strategy by preparing concept maps of the subject matter.

Statement of the Problem: Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is one of the most important microorganisms in the evaluation of the antibacterial effects of intra-canal medications due to its ability to penetrate dentinal tubules and form biofilms. Calcium hydroxide, as the most common intra-canal medication, has little effect on this bacterial species. In contrast, it is hypothesized that nano scale hydroxide particles are more effective due to their smaller size and higher surface-to-volume ratio.Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial effect of nano-calcium hydroxide on the four- and six-week-old intra-canal E. faecalis biofilms.Materials and Method: In this in vitro study, seventy maxillary single-canal premolar teeth were used. After cleaning and preparing the root canals, the samples were placed in vials containing E. faecalis solution in which the culture medium was changed daily. Each group was divided into three subgroups (n=20) in terms of the antimicrobial material used as the intra-canal medication including subgroup 1: nano-calcium hydroxide, subgroup 2: calcium hydroxide, and subgroup 3: phosphate-buffered saline solution (control group). The antimicrobial property was measured by counting colony-forming units (CFU). The data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Statistical significance was set at p< 0.05.Results: The mean CFU in the six-week-old biofilm group was significantly higher than that in the four-week-old biofilm (p= 0.003). A comparison between the subgroups showed a significant decrease in CFU in the six-week-old biofilm in the nano-calcium hydroxide subgroup compared to that in the calcium hydroxide subgroup (p= 0.002). However, the decrease was not significant in the four-week-old biofilm group (p= 0.06).Conclusion: Under the limitations of the present study, the antimicrobial properties of nano-calcium hydroxide were higher than conventional calcium hydroxide on mature biofilm, whereas the antimicrobial properties were not clinically and significantly different on immature biofilm.

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women. Contracting this cancer is an experience accompanied by extreme mental stress. Therefore, when they know about their disease, they experience high levels of disappointment and weakness in adapting to it in their personal and family lives. Like any other type of cancer, it endangers various aspects of mental health, including the marital relation. Breast cancer diagnosis is a crisis in a women's life. In this respect, mastectomy (i.e., breast removal surgery) is eliminating a part of the body that symbolizes gender, femininity, and maternal dimensions. Regarding the importance of the breast in forming a woman's sexual identity, the reaction to the disease by women may involve fear, anxiety, and depression. Hence, the contraction of breast cancer may damage the married life of these women. The present study was conducted to explore the relationship between mental adjustment to cancer (MAC) and marital relationship quality (MRQ) in women with breast cancer. Materials and method: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on a sample size of 135. Sampling was performed through the accessible sampling method on women with breast cancer referred to two clinics in Gorgan City during 2020–2021. The data-collection tool comprised the demographic data blank, the Mini-Mac mental-adjustment-to-cancer questionnaire, and the Perceived Relationship Quality Component (PRQC) inventory. The data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation index, multivariable regression model, and the SPSS software ver. 18. Results: The mean scores for MAC and MRQ domains in women with breast cancer were 81.15 ± 19.78 and 93.19 ± 95.17, respectively. There was a direct and significant relation between the MAC score in women with breast cancer and the perceived MRQ in them (r = 0.341; p = 0.001), such that with increasing the psychological MAC, the perceived quality of the marital relationship was significantly higher. Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, it is inferred that with an increase in the MAC, MRQ domains improve accordingly. Concerning the major role of the MRQ in the mental health of couples, the authorities must prepare a service package to improve the MRQ and mental health of breast cancer patients.

IntroductionOne of the synthetic and harmful preservatives used in sausage formulation is sodium nitrite. This compound helps to increase the shelf life and marketability of meat products by preventing the growth of anaerobic bacteria, especially clostridium, exerting an antioxidant effect, stabilizing the red color of meat and improving the taste. Despite these benefits, sodium nitrite is very dangerous for health and it can cause malignant diseases. For this reason, it is necessary to replace this substance using a natural preservative. Pigments extracted from aquatics such as astaxanthin due to having antioxidant activity, antimicrobial properties and pink color may be a good substitute for sodium nitrite. However, these pigments must be nanoencapsulated at first due to their sensitivity to food processing conditions, including high temperatures. The aim of the current research at the first was to extract astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis microalgae using the acid-acetone method and pigment nanoencapsulation using maltodextrin-sodium caseinate combined coating. Then, sodium nitrite in the sausage formulation was replaced by the carrier nanocapsules with different proportions and oxidative and microbial spoilage tests, color and sensory evaluations were performed for different treatments. Materials and MethodsAt first, astaxanthin pigment was extracted from Haematococcus pluvialis using the acid-acetone technique. Then, the extracted pigment was nanoencapsulated using maltodextrin-sodium caseinate combined coating and the resulting (carrier) nanocapsules in the form of treatments A (120 mg/kg sodium nitrite), B (120 mg/kg nanocapsules carrying astaxanthin), C (90 mg/kg sodium nitrite+30 mg/kg nanocapsules carrying astaxanthin), D (60 mg/kg sodium nitrite+60 mg/kg nanocapsules carrying astaxanthin) and E (30 mg/kg sodium nitrite+90 mg/kg nanocapsules carrying astaxanthin) were replaced sodium nitrite in the sausage formulation. These treatments were evaluated in terms of oxidative and microbial spoilage, color indices and sensory properties during 28 days of storage at refrigerator along with the control (without sodium nitrite and carrier nanocapsules). This research was conducted in a completely randomized design. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and the difference between the means was evaluated by Duncan's test at 95% confidence level. Results and DiscussionAccording to the results, the lowest levels of thiobarbituric acid and peroxide value during the storage period were related to treatments B, E and D (p>0.05). Treatments A and C had no significant difference in terms of thiobarbituric acid and peroxide value until day 14 (p>0.05), but with increasing storage time, this difference became significant and treatment A showed higher values (p0.05) during the storage period (p0.05) were ranked next (p