Effect of Achillea santolina on mice spermatogenesis

Achillea santolina, a common variety of Achillea in Golestan province of Iran has been used in traditional medicine for its anti - inflammatory properties. The effect of hydroalcoholic extract (300 mg/kg/day Intraperitoneally, for 20 days) of Achillea santolina on the spermatogenesis of mice was studied by the evaluation of morphologic characteristics by light microscope. The alterations observed were disorganized germ epithelium, exfoliation of immature germ cells, germ cell necrosis and increased number of metaphasfis in germinal epithelium of seminiferous tubules. We concluded that hydroalcoholic extract of Achillea santolina 300 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally for 20 days as a different variety of Achillea has antispermatogenic effect similar to Achillea millefolium on mice

Precise U-Pb ages for the cogenetic alkaline Mount LaTour and peraluminous Mount Elizabeth granites of the South Nepisiguit River Plutonic Suite, northern New Brunswick, Canada

The South Nepisiguit River Plutonic Suite consists of various phases of felsic to mafic plutonic rocks of early Devonian age in northern New Brunswick. The felsic portion of this intrusive suite includes a large pluton of homogeneous, peraluminous biotite granite (the Mount Elizabeth Granite), which is flanked on its western side by the alkaline Mount LaTour Granite. New in situ and mineral separate U-Pb Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectro-metry analyses of monazite and zircon grains from both sides of the suite define a crystallization age of 417.3 ± 0.96 Ma for the Mount Elizabeth Granite and 417.7 ± 4.4 Ma for the Mount LaTour Granite. The new data confirm previous geochronological work and indicate a close temporal relationship between these felsic phases of this plutonic suite

Synthesis of macrocyclic receptors with intrinsic fluorescence featuring quinizarin moieties

An unprecedented class of macrocycles with intrinsic fluorescence consisting of phenolic trimers and quinizarin is developed. Though they are lacking strong hydrogen bonds as observed in calixarenes, the two examples introduced here each adopt a vase-like conformation with all four aromatic units pointing in one direction (syn orientation). This “cone” conformation has been confirmed by NMR spectroscopy, molecular modeling, and X-ray crystallography. The laminar, electron-rich fluorophore as part of the macrocycle allows additional contacts to enclosed guest molecules

Effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Eating Plan on Cardiovascular Risks Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A randomized crossover clinical trial

Objective: To determine the effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating pattern on cardiometabolic risks in type 2 diabetic patients. Research design and methods: A randomized crossover clinical trial was undertaken in 31 type 2 diabetic patients. For 8 weeks, participants were randomly assigned to a control diet or the DASH eating pattern. Results: After following the DASH eating pattern, body weight (P = 0.007) and waist circumference (P = 0.002) reduced significantly. Fasting blood glucose levels and A1C decreased after adoption of the DASH diet (−29.4 ± 6.3 mg/dl; P = 0.04 and −1.7 ± 0.1%; P = 0.04, respectively). After the DASH diet, the mean change for HDL cholesterol levels was higher (4.3 ± 0.9 mg/dl; P = 0.001) and LDL cholesterol was reduced (−17.2 ± 3.5 mg/dl; P = 0.02). Additionally, DASH had beneficial effects on systolic (−13.6 ± 3.5 vs. −3.1 ± 2.7 mmHg; P = 0.02) and diastolic blood pressure (−9.5 ± 2.6 vs. −0.7 ± 3.3 mmHg; P = 0.04). Conclusions: Among diabetic patients, the DASH diet had beneficial effects on cardiometabolic risks

The association of maternal plant-based diets and the growth of breastfed infants

Background: Studies are needed to further understand how different plant-based dietary patterns of mothers relate to infant growth. Thus, we investigated the association between maternal plant-based diets and infant growth in breastfed infants during the first 4 months of life. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 290 Iranian mothers and infants. Maternal dietary intake was assessed using a 168-question validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Three plant-based diet indices (PDIs) were then created to evaluate dietary intakes. Eighteen food groups were classified in three main categories by scoring method: whole plant diet, healthy plant diet, and animal and unhealthy plant diet. Results: Participants in the top tertile of unhealthy PDI (uPDI) had a lower intake of potassium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium, calcium, folate and vitamin C, B1, B2, and B3. The upper tertile of uPDI was associated with stunting at 4-month in infants (uPDI: odds ratio OR = 3.27, 95% CI= 1.32, 8.10). There were no significant associations between plant-based diet scores and anthropometric indices, including weight, weight status and head circumference (P > 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, higher adherence to uPDI may be associated with stunting among Iranian infants. Other PDIs were not associated with anthropometric measures. Future studies are needed to further understand the association between plant-based diets and infant growth

Developing and Assessing the Validity and Reliability of an Iranian Food Security Questionnaire

Background: Food insecurity has a considerable impact on the social, physical, and psychological well-being of people and there is no food security assessment tool specific for Iranians. This study aimed to develop and assess the validity and reliability of an Iranian-specific food security questionnaire. Methods: The food security questionnaire was developed by five food security specialists by evaluating all available questionnaires (not specific to Iranians) in terms of applicability to Iranians. Furthermore, questions were developed from interviews conducted with ten families who were below the poverty threshold to understand how they described their food status. This questionnaire was administered to 200 households from different parts of Isfahan, Iran. Households were selected by multi-stage cluster randomized sampling. Households were categorized into 4 groups based on their score on the questionnaire; food secure (total score 0), mildly (total score 1-2), moderately (total score 3-7) and severely food insecure (total score 8-18). In the second stage of the study, 25 households were selected from each food security status group to evaluate the reliability and validity of the questionnaire by assessing sociodemographic, anthropometric, nutritional and biochemical parameters. Results: The prevalence of food security and mildly, moderately and severely food insecure were 24, 33, 27 and 16, respectively. Content and face validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by experts, and latent class analysis confirmed construct validity. The developed questionnaire had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.91) and showed significant differences in hypothesized directions in food security status for sociodemographic factors. The prevalence of mothers, but not fathers or children, who had hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and hematocrit less than the normal ranges increased (P = 0.04, P = 0.02, P = 0.02; respectively) with food insecurity. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that the developed questionnaire was a valid and reliable instrument to measure household food insecurity of Iranian families

Deep Learning De-Noising Improves CT Perfusion Image Quality in the Setting of Lower Contrast Dosing: A Feasibility Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Considering recent iodinated contrast shortages and a focus on reducing waste, developing protocols with lower contrast dosing while maintaining image quality through artificial intelligence is needed. This study compared reduced iodinated contrast media and standard dose CTP acquisitions, and the impact of deep learning denoising on CTP image quality in preclinical and clinical studies. The effect of reduced X-ray mAs dose was also investigated in preclinical studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve swine underwent 9 CTP examinations each, performed at combinations of 3 different x-ray (37, 67, and 127 mAs) and iodinated contrast media doses (10, 15, and 20 mL). Clinical CTP acquisitions performed before and during the iodinated contrast media shortage and protocol change (from 40 to 30 mL) were retrospectively included. Eleven patients with reduced iodinated contrast media dosages and 11 propensity-score-matched controls with the standard iodinated contrast media dosages were included. A residual encoder-decoder convolutional neural network (RED-CNN) was trained for CTP denoising using k-space-weighted image average filtered CTP images as the target. The standard, RED-CNN-denoised, and k-space-weighted image average noise-filtered images for animal and human studies were compared for quantitative SNR and qualitative image evaluation. RESULTS: The SNR of animal CTP images decreased with reductions in iodinated contrast media and milliampere-second doses. Contrast dose reduction had a greater effect on SNR than milliampere-second reduction. Noise-filtering by k-space-weighted image average and RED-CNN denoising progressively improved the SNR of CTP maps, with RED-CNN resulting in the highest SNR. The SNR of clinical CTP images was generally lower with a reduced iodinated contrast media dose, which was improved by the k-space-weighted image average and RED-CNN denoising (P < .05). Qualitative readings consistently rated RED-CNN denoised CTP as the best quality, followed by k-space-weighted image average and then standard CTP images. CONCLUSIONS: Deep learning-denoising can improve image quality for low iodinated contrast media CTP protocols, and could approximate standard iodinated contrast media dose CTP, in addition to potentially improving image quality for low milliampere-second acquisitions

The level-1 trigger for the SuperCDMS experiment at SNOLAB

The SuperCDMS SNOLAB dark matter search experiment aims to be sensitive to energy depositions down to Script O(1 eV). This imposes requirements on the resolution, signal efficiency, and noise rejection of the trigger system. To accomplish this, the SuperCDMS level-1 trigger system is implemented in an FPGA on a custom PCB. A time-domain optimal filter algorithm realized as a finite impulse response filter provides a baseline resolution of 0.38 times the standard deviation of the noise, $σ_{n}$, and a 99.9% trigger efficiency for signal amplitudes of 1.1 $σ_{n}$ in typical noise conditions. Embedded in a modular architecture, flexible trigger logic enables reliable triggering and vetoing in a dead-time-free manner for a variety of purposes and run conditions. The trigger architecture and performance are detailed in this article

Search for low-mass dark matter via bremsstrahlung radiation and the Migdal effect in SuperCDMS

We present a new analysis of previously published SuperCDMS data using a profile likelihood framework to search for sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles through two inelastic scattering channels: bremsstrahlung radiation and the Migdal effect. By considering these possible inelastic scattering channels, experimental sensitivity can be extended to DM masses that are undetectable through the DM-nucleon elastic scattering channel, given the energy threshold of current experiments. We exclude DM masses down to 220 MeV/c2 at 2.7×10-30 cm2 via the bremsstrahlung channel. The Migdal channel search provides overall considerably more stringent limits and excludes DM masses down to 30 MeV/c2 at 5.0×10-30 cm2