javad momeni

Alzheimer's disease (AD), one of the most common forms of dementia, has become a significant public health challenge. Given the rising prevalence of this disease, innovative research is exploring complex connections that could lead to a better understanding and treatment of AD. One such research area involves examining the impact of the gut microbiome on brain health, particularly its influence on AD. Recent studies have demonstrated a strong connection between the gut microbiome and AD, highlighting the potential for significant advancements in prevention and treatment.

Recent studies suggest that changes in the composition of the gut microbiome may be associated with the progression of AD. Particularly, several investigations indicate that probiotics and certain diets can reduce brain inflammation and improve cognitive functioning in AD patients. These findings point to the importance of further investigating the relationship between the microbiome and AD. This could lead to the development of novel prevention and treatment methods.

Every year, nearly 700,000 people worldwide lose their lives to suicide, a tragedy that affects individuals of all ages, cultures, and social groups. This alarming statistic has made suicide a critical global public health issue, prompting the World Health Organization to include the reduction of suicide rates in their sustainable development and long-term health goals. In response, the WHO has developed comprehensive guidelines to support countries in implementing evidence-based suicide prevention strategies. These strategies focus on four key areas: restricting access to suicide means, promoting responsible media coverage, enhancing life skills, and ensuring the early identification, assessment, management, and continuous care of individuals at risk.

Suicide prevention and the management of high-risk behaviors require a holistic approach, encompassing public policies at the macro level, the identification of at-risk individuals, assessment of the severity of the threat, appropriate psychological and pharmacological interventions, social, emotional, and spiritual support, and, ultimately, long-term follow-up care.

The current and ongoing conflict imposed in Gaza has led to severe environmental challenges in Gaza, resulting in a health crisis that demands immediate attention and intervention. A comprehensive study has evaluated the pressing mental health, water and sanitation, access to healthcare, and infectious disease challenges plaguing the region. Mental health issues, particularly among children and adolescents, have surged in the wake of the conflict, with trauma-related symptoms expected to persist. The water and sanitation crises pose severe public health hazards, with an overwhelming majority of water unfit for consumption and escalating infectious diseases. Shortages of medicines, fuel, and breakdowns have profoundly affected access to healthcare in healthcare facilities, significantly impacting women and girls. The academic society is responsible for conducting research, providing education, and training, and advocating for policy changes. At the same time, the united nation’s (UN) role is vital in providing aid, advocating for policy changes, and monitoring human rights and health situations. Urgent action is imperative to stabilize the environmental and health impacts and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to alleviate the severe health problems. This study underlines the critical need for international support and intervention to address the multifaceted health crises in Gaza and prevent further deterioration.

In late 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The SARS-COV-2 pandemic is causing psychological impacts such as stress, anxiety, and depression. Concerning this situation, improvement in internet-based mental health services is necessary. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Internet-based Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (IMBSR) with the Online Counseling Guidelines of the Ministry of Health (OCGMH) in the reduction of depression, anxiety, and stress during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic.

 A quasi-experimental study with a two-group randomized controlled, pretest-posttest questioner was designed. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 84 participants were enrolled in the study that had contact with Ferdowsi University of Mashhad's Psychology and Counseling Clinic through online networks to complain about anxiety and distress caused by the coronavirus. Data analysis was performed using Independent sample t-test. both internet-based interventions (i.e., IMBSR and OCGMH) were executed by clinical psychologists.

The mean scores for stress, anxiety, and depression were significantly improved after both internet interventions (i.e., IMBSR and OCGMH). Further analysis showed that stress and anxiety significantly decreased in the IMBSR group compared to the OCGMH group (P<0.05). however, participants in the OCGMH group had a lower score of the depression index than that of the IMBSR group (P<0.05).

To summarize, IMBSR intervention improved the stress and anxiety during the quarantine of SARS-COV-2. Together these results provide important insights into internet-based interventions during pandemic situations. As a suggestion, advances in internet-based mental health services are necessary during the quarantine of diseases.

Comparing the nanostructure of multiple scaffolds for tissue engineering using electron microscopy poses significant challenges in terms of time and cost. To overcome this, we have developed a novel method that enables the assessment of two different scaffolds on a single slide in scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

The Pura Matrix scaffold was used to study this method. Firstly, each scaffold was positioned at the bottom of a well, ensuring that every sample was placed on one specific side of the well. Then, each sample was washed with PBS and fixed with glutaraldehyde. After the scaffolds were fixed, they were washed three times with PBS and finally dried overnight at room temperature. After 24 hours, the samples were coated in gold and then observed using SEM. 

In this study, we utilized this method successfully to investigate the structures of different self-assembling peptides. Our split-well approach not only saves time for researchers and reduces confounding variables but also minimizes the cost of services by allowing simultaneous evaluation of two scaffolds. 

Our findings demonstrate that researchers can achieve precise comparisons using similar magnifications. Overall, the split-well approach proves to be a cost-effective and accurate method for comparing different scaffolds in tissue engineering.

The detection of protein expression in tissues and nerve cells is necessary for the modern neuroscience research laboratory and laboratories making diagnostic approaches. To this point, we collected a comprehensive review article on steps and troubleshooting of Western blotting (WB). WB provides good qualitative results for determining a sample containing a target protein and is particularly useful for analyzing insoluble proteins. This process basically can be divided into five steps: (I) the protein extraction, (II) electrophoresis, (III) membrane transfer, (IV) immunodetection, and (V) visualization and analysis. These processes involve the transfer of protein patterns from gel to microporous membrane. Protein transfer with subsequent immunodetection is a great tool to identify a multitude of proteins, especially those proteins that are of low abundance. The efficient transfer of proteins from a gel to a solid membrane and specific immunodetection depend greatly on different parameters.

For reducing the troubleshooting and enhancing awareness of the new developments in WB, this review summaries a representative of methods, reagents, and devices in the WB procedure.

Psychoneuroimmunology researchers have focused on experimental and clinical investigations to figure out how stressors and their negative emotions can affect the physiological alterations and impact on health. Clinical investigations show that the central nervous system interacts with the endocrine and immune systems in a bidirectional manner. Stress-induced immune dysregulation is occurred by the humoral and cellular immune responses. Furthermore, chronic stress can promote the production of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6, which leads to an increase of a variety of chronic diseases.

Given the impact of stress on health outcomes, it is necessary to improve our knowledge on the implicated pathways in which stress affects immune functioning, as well as the psychological factors that may impair or improve the effects of stress on immune responses. The aim of this study was to review the recent investigations on the role of stress on immune system and the psychological factors that may regulate this effect.

In late 2019, novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has become pandemic and countries are advised to use strict quarantine procedures for people during this outbreak. The mortality rate of COVID-19 has estimated about 3.4% by the World Health Organization (WHO). The experience of loss is natural and necessary in human life and can lead to a grief reaction. Disruption and interruption in the grief process can result in a debilitating mental symptom known as complicated grief. During the strict COVID-19 quarantine around the world, social supports in funerals and related religious and cultural ceremonies have changed.

Major textbooks in the field of Grief as well as the scientific databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases using by "grief" AND "coplicated" AND "COVID-19” OR " Post-traumatic Stress Disorder " keywords were searched.

during COVID-19 pandemic, complicated grief will be increased. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and treat those people who suffered from complicated grief.

Due to quarantine conditions, communication and social supports were decreased. Therefore, it is suggested that providing internet-based mental health services can be a useful way to treat and help patients with complicated grief.

 Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide which is still highly prevalent despite dramatic medical advances. According to the statistics provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014, CVD-related mortality rate in Iran is 46%. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on quality of life (QOL) in patients with CVDs.

 This was a single-blind randomized controlled trial. In total, 60 patients with CVDs were recruited. Patients were allocated to the MBSR and CBT groups. Patients in the MBSR and CBT groups received intervention in 8, 2.5-hour sessions. The main outcome was QOL which was measured by the MacNew Quality of Life after Myocardial Infarction (QLMI) questionnaire. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS software.

 ANCOVA revealed a significant difference between the MBSR group and CBT group regarding the post-test values of QOL (P = 0.001).

 This study revealed that MBSR and CBT are effective in reducing the QOL of patients with CVDs.