مجله مطالعات علوم پزشکی
سال سی و سوم شماره 12 (اسفند 1401)

Background & Aims:

 Copper-61 (61Cu) is a radioisotope with a half-life of 3.33 hours which decays to nickel-61 isotope byβ+  emission (61%) or electron capture (39%). This radioisotope can be used in the evaluation of the blood supply of the heart and low-oxygen cancer tissues imaging with PET. 61Cu is mainly produced by bombarding zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co) targets in medium cyclotrons. The aim of this study was to investigate the 61Cu production yield via the reactions of 64Zn(p,α)61Cu, natZn(p,x)61Cu, 61Ni(p,n)61Cu, and natNi(p,x)61Cu in hospital cyclotrons.

Materials & Methods:

In this experimental study, the excitation functions of these reactions were calculated by TALYS-1/96 and EMPIRE-3-2-2 codes, and the best energy with highest reaction cross-section and lowest impurity was determined. The stopping power and target thickness at the selected energy were calculated by SRIM-2013 code. 61Cu production yield was obtained by integrating the production yield formula in MATLAB environment, and compared with the results of MCNPX-2/6 simulation and experimental works.

The maximum yield of the TALYS code for 64Zn(p,α)61Cu, natZn(p,x)61Cu, 61Ni(p,n)61Cu, and natNi(p,x)61Cu at 14, 14, 9 and 20 MeV were 113/29, 55/07, 498/51 and 46/51 MBq/µAh, respectively. The maximum yield of the EMPIRE code for 64Zn(p,α)61Cu and 61Ni(p,n)61Cu at 14 and 9 MeV were 183/24 and 497/21 MBq/µAh, respectively. The maximum yield of MCNPX code for 64Zn(p,α)61Cu and 61Ni(p,n)61Cu at 14 and 9 MeV were 90/73 and 470/26 MBq/µAh, respectively. The maximum experimental yield of 64Zn(p,α)61Cu and 61Ni(p,n)61Cu at 14 and 9 MeV were 155 and 461/32 MBq/µAh, respectively.

It could be concluded from the comparison of simulation and experimental results that these results are in concurrence with 61Ni(p,n)61Cu at 9 MeV, and this reaction in this energy is the best reaction for producing 61Cu in hospital cyclotrons.

Background & Aims:

 Controlling significant bleeding caused by accidents or battlefields is one of the main issues with emergency injuries. The current research was designed with the aim of investigating the binding performance of alginate, gelatin and alginate-gelatin superabsorbents in order to solve the aforementioned challenges.

Materials & Methods:

 In this experimental study, superabsorbents were prepared through crosslinking with calcium chloride and then freeze-drying. Physical properties of the synthesized superabsorbents were evaluated using FE-SEM analysis as well as porosity percentage and swelling ratio tests. Cell compatibility of superabsorbents was assessed using the MTT assay. Hemolysis, Blood Coagulation Index (BCI), RBC attachment, and platelet adhesion tests were utilized to evaluate the in vitro hemolytic activity of superabsorbents. Further, in vivo femoral artery surgery studies on rats were performed to investigate the hemostatic efficiency of the synthesized superabsorbents.

In vitro hemostatic ability results verified that synthetic sponges have better hemostatic properties than commercial ones. The results of cytotoxicity test revealed that alginate, gelatin, and alginate-gelatin superabsorbents are fully non-toxic, and h due to having a survival percentage more than 89%, they have significant cellular compatibility. Finally, in vivo hemostatic tests showed that the synthesized superabsorbents performed better than commercial samples in terms of bleeding control and decreasing coagulation time, as the amount of blood loss and coagulation time for optimum alginate-gelatin superabsorbent decreased respectively by 1.71 and 1.96 times compared to ChitoCell and 1.37 and 1.55 times compared to Gelita.

According to the results of the current study, the optimum alginate-gelatin superabsorbent has substantial in vitro and in vivo hemostatic efficacy. These results show the potential of this superabsorbent to enter the stage of clinical studies.

Background & Aims:

Molnupiravir is an oral antiviral drug which is used in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and safety of molnupiravir in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

Materials & Methods:

A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Trip database from 2019 to 2022. In addition, a manual search was performed in the sources of primary review and key studies. No restrictions were considered for the language of the studies. Evaluation of the quality of studies was done with Jadad and Newcastle scoring systems. Data analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3 software.

Ten studies with total population of 24221 patients were included in the study. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the risk ratio (RR) between the two groups of molnupiravir and control for the outcome of the mortality rate was 0.67 (0.30-1.49) (P=0.33), for the hospitalization rate was 1.40 (2.50-0.78) (P=0.26), for hospitalization or death was 1.09 (2.69-0.44) (P=0.85), for mechanical ventilation was 0.61 (1.33-0.12) (P=0.11), and for side effects was 0.93 (0.82-1.06) (P=0.29); the difference between means for these outcomes were not significant.

The findings of this study showed that molnupiravir has no effect on reducing mortality rate, hospitalization rate, hospitalization or death, and mechanical ventilation of the patients, although it was safe in the patients.

Background & Aims: 

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the most common liver disease that affects a quarter of global population. NAFLD is associated with metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of FTO (fat mass and obesity associated) rs17817449 gene polymorphism with insulin resistance and obesity in the people with NAFLD.

Materials & Methods:

This case-control study was conducted on 80 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and 80 participants as controls. Insulin concentration was measured by ELISA kit and the other variables were determined by standard methods. Genotyping was done by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software at significance level below 0.05.

The results showed that all the variables except LDL, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and cholesterol had significant association between control and NAFLD group (P<0.05). However, no associations were found between rs17817449 polymorphism with Body Mass Index and HOMA, and genotype frequencies of rs17817449 was not significantly different between obese and normal subjects, as well as between insulin-resistant and insulin-sensitive groups (P>0.05).

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with Body Mass Index and insulin resistance. The FTO rs17817449 polymorphism is not associated with obesity and insulin resistance.

Background & Aims:

Training with theraband has been considered as an effective method, so that it is used to increase the strength and stability of the body position, and effective results have been obtained.
Also, hydrotherapy in a shallow pool has physiological and biomechanical advantages. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hydrotherapy and theraband on ground reaction forces and electrical activity during running in people with pronitis.

Materials & Methods:

The current research was of semi-experimental and laboratory type. The sample included 45 male students with peronitis with an age range of 18-25, which were chosen purposefully and voluntarily. Subjects were randomly divided into three groups of water exercises, theraband exercises, and control groups. Before and after training in water and training by traband, ground reaction force variables were measured using a force plate device. Two-way analysis of variance and t-test at a significance level of 0.05 were used for statistical analysis of the data.

There was a statistically significant difference before and after training in water and training with the band between the effect of time on the peak component of the anterior-posterior force when the heel leaves the ground (P=0.019; d=0.124) and the time it reaches the peak of the anterior-posterior force when the heel leaves the ground (P=0/023; d=0.116). There was also a statistically significant difference before and after training in water and training with the band on the effect of the group factor in the peak anterior-posterior force component during heel contact with the ground (P=0.029; d=0.159) and peak vertical force during heel contact with the ground (P=0.037; d=0.145), The interaction effect of time*group in the internal-external force component during the contact of the heel with the ground before and after the exercises in the water and the training with the band showed a statistically significant difference (P=0.001; d=0.268). Also there was a statistically significant difference the interaction effect of time*group in the component of the time to reach the peak of anterior-posterior force before and after the exercises in the water and the training with the band (P=0.008; d=0.205).

The findings of the present study showed that the effect of exercises in water and theraband on the ground reaction force during running has a significant effect on the rehabilitation of people with peronitis, although the exercises in the water are more effective compared to the exercises with traband.

Background & Aims:

This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of teaching protective and preventive behaviors against COVID-19 on perceived and behavioral responses of students of Islamic Azad University, Sari Branch, Iran.

Materials & Methods:

 The current research method was a semi-experimental pre-test and post-test type with experimental and control groups. The statistical research population included all the students of Islamic Azad University, Sari Branch, Iran. 24 people were selected among them using the voluntary sampling method and were then randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The research tool was a scale based on the protection motivation theory of Leidy and Ermord (2001). The protective and preventive behaviors of training was measured in 8 sessions of 90 minutes for the experimental group. The data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software version 26 and using one-way analysis of variance and covariance analysis to check the equality of means at the significance level of below 0.05.

The results of the covariance showed that training COVID-19 protective and preventive behaviors was significantly effective on the perceived and behavioral responses of the students of Islamic Azad University, Sari Branch (P < 0.001).

Teaching protective and preventive behaviors against Covid-19 is effective in motivating protection, especially for the variables of perceived responses and meaningful behavioral responses. Considering the effectiveness of this method, its results can be used in future researches.