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A combination of microwave digestion and three-phase hollow fiber electromembrane extraction (HF-EME) with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was designed to determine carcinogenic heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in steak samples. The recorded fingers of merit (LOD: 1.4-1.6 ng/g, LOQ: 4.5-5.2 ng/g, RSD: 6.1-7.2 %, recovery: 91-95 % and EF: 107-112) underlines the adequacy of the proposed technique. The total of 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f] quinoline (IQ), 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo [4,5-f] quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2-amino-3,4 dimethylimidazo[4,5-f] quinoline (MeIQ) and 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4'5-b] pyridine (PhIP) in steak samples were 93.46 ± 4.93-174.52 ± 10.91 ng/g, 31.65 ± 1.87-877.97 ± 56.19 ng/g, 10.08 ± 1.01-535.73 ± 18.93 ng/g, and 62.56 ± 1.89-341.23 ± 41.45 ng/g, respectively. Lamb steak contain highest amount of MeIQx (877.97 ± 56.19 ng/g) and beef steak showed lowest concentration of MeIQ (10.08 ± 1.07 ng/g). In conclusion, several interesting features such as great recovery, suitable enrichment factor, very low sample amount and organic solvent requirement and short extraction time make this novel method appropriate for the analysis of the negligible levels of HAAs in complex food matrices., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Volatile N-nitrosamines (VNAs) are probably and possibly carcinogenic compounds to humans and widely found in processed meat products. In this study, the dietary exposure distribution and probabilistic cancer risk for main VNAs (N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosomethylethylamine, N-nitrosopiperidine, N-nitrosodibutylamine, and N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine) were calculated by Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). The lowest and highest mean concentrations of these six NAs were related to NDBA and NDEA as 0.350 and 2.655 μg/kg, respectively. In the 95th percentile, chronic daily intake of total VNAs for children (3-14 years) and adults (15-70 years) were calculated to be 2.83 × 10 -4 and 5.90 × 10 -5 mg/kg bw/day, respectively. The cancer risk caused by the consumption of chicken sausages was less than 10 -4 , indicating low concern for the Iranian population. According to principal component analysis and heat map results, NDEA, NPIP and frying showed a positive correlation, highlighting that the variables follow a similar trend.

Several epidemiological studies have reported a positive association between the consumption of processed meats containing N-nitrosamines (NAs) and the incidence of hepatocellular and colon cancer. The health risk assessment in this investigation was based on the concentration of six volatile N-nitrosamines (VNAs) (N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosomethylethylamine, N-nitrosopiperidine, N-nitrosodibutylamine, and N-nitrosodi-n-propylamine) found in processed meat products (sausage and kielbasa) in the Iranian market. Direct supported liquid membrane two-phase hollow fiber electromembrane extraction coupled to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to analyse six VNAs. The mean concentration of the six VNAs in sausages and kielbasa was 38.677 ± 27.56 and 48.383 ± 35.76 μg/kg, respectively. The 95th percentile for the chronic daily intake of total VNAs for children (3-14 years) and adults (15-70 years) were calculated to be 5.06 × 10 -4 and 1.09 × 10 -4  mg/kg bw/day, respectively. The cancer risk assessment showed that the risk associated with NDEA was the highest among the other VNAs studied in Iranian processed meat, with a 95th percentile for the child and adult groups. Based on an incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) value of ≤10 -4 for the carcinogenic effects of exposure to a total of six VNAs, it indicates low concern for all age groups., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Excessive dietary polyamines (PAs), including putrescine (PUT), spermine (SPM), and spermidine (SPD), have become a worldwide concern due to their carcinogenicity and reduced shelf life. A modern miniaturized on-chip electromembrane extraction (EME) has been applied to extract these compounds from chicken breast samples. This method is based fundamentally on ionic compounds' electrostatic attraction, diffusion, and solubility in the acceptor phase. The chemical structure of polyamines enables their efficient extraction using an electric driving force on a microchip device. HCl solution (0.1 mol L -1 ) was applied as an aqueous acceptor solvent. Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction was performed after EME to facilitate joining three-phase EME to GC-MS and improve the merit figures. The total ranges of 3.77-7.89 μg g -1 , 3.48-7.02 μg g -1 , and 0.78-2.20 μg g -1 were acquired as PUT, SPM and SPD concentrations in chicken breast, respectively. The results demonstrate that the level of PAs in fresh chicken breast samples is not concerning, but it may reduce the quality of chicken meat over time. This novel analytical technique has several advantages: high recovery, substantial quickness, remarkable selectivity, and good enrichment factors. This emerging method could be generalized to other studies to analyze different foodstuffs.

Purpose: This study investigated the barriers, challenges, and facilitators in receiving prosthetic services in people with lower limb amputation during Covid-19 pandemic., Materials and Methods: In this qualitative study, we conducted in-depth semistructured face-to-face interviews with individuals with lower limb amputation who needed prosthetic services during Covid-19 pandemic. We discussed about challenges and barriers that the participants had encountered during this period. The collected data were analyzed using a conceptual framework., Results: Six broad themes of availability, accessibility, acceptability, affordability, accommodation, and awareness emerged from the analysis. Staff shortage, lack of remote services, accommodation, insurance and governmental support, and cost of services were the main concerns. Moreover, long waiting lists, postponed referrals, noncompliance with Covid-19 protocols and preventive measures, and lockdowns were the other important concerns that were noted. In addition, unsatisfactory services in hometown, distance to capital, transportation permit in lockdowns, traffic jam, and public transport problems were other reasons of service not being accessible. The positive aspects were the facilitators such as having home visits, social work and charity, and using private drive services., Conclusion: It seems that after the beginning of Covid-19 pandemic, people with lower limb amputation have faced more drastic challenges in accessing and receiving prosthetic services than in the prepandemic situations., (Copyright © 2023 International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics.)

Hybridization of Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with unique abilities is now considered to improve AMPs' function as promising therapeutic candidates. In the current research, Lasioglossin (LL-III) with a high antimicrobial effect on Acinetobacter (A.) baumanni and Melittin with a high antimicrobial effect against Staphylococcus (S.) aureus were selected for designing a hybrid peptide with modified properties. In the present study, a hybrid peptide with modified properties was designed. Molecular dynamic (MD) and coarse-grained (CG) simulations were done to evaluate the stability and interaction of the hybrid peptide with related membrane models. In this study, a truncated Melittin peptide (11 amino acids) was fused to an LL-III peptide (15 amino acids) to raise the antimicrobial activity. A new hybrid peptide analog (LM1) was selected by replacing the arginine with isoleucine in the fifth position of truncated Melittin to raise the antimicrobial rate of the peptide. The potential for binding of the LM1 to lipid membrane (D factor) was increased from 2.02 related to Melittin to 3.62. Based on VMD results, the N-terminal of LM1 peptide related to LL-III was the alpha helix during 200 ns. However, the C-terminal region related to the Melittin peptide only at 50 ns was in alpha helix form. The RMSD of the LM1 peptide was in the range of 0.2 to 0.8, which, after 160 ns, reached stability. RMSD and RMSF results indicated no unwanted fluctuations during the 200 ns MD simulation. A significant movement of LM1 peptide inside the S. aureus membrane(4.76 nm) and A. baumanni membrane (3.2 nm) was observed by CG simulation. Our findings highlight the high stability of the designed hybrid peptide and its antimicrobial potential to halter A. baumanii and S. aureus bacteria.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

The potent two-phase hollow fiber electromembrane extraction technique coupled to gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HF-EME/GC-MS) was proposed for the determination of six types of carcinogen nitrosamines in sausages samples. Two steps of sample digestion were accomplished for the complete removal of fat globules and efficient release of target analytes. The extraction principle was based on electro-migration of target analytes via specific fiber to extraction solvent. 2-Nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE) was dexterously employed as both supported liquid membrane and extraction solvent, which is compatible with GC-MS. After the extraction process, the NPOE containing nitrosamines was directly injected to GC-MS without extra steps requirement to reduce analysis time. The consequences revealed that N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) as the most potent carcinogen has the highest concentration in fried and oven-cooked sausages with 70% of red meat. The meat type and amount and also cooking process could significantly effect on nitrosamines formation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: One of the most important indicators of the effectiveness of teaching can be the academic achievement of learners, which can be influenced by different factors such as learning methods and individual motivations. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of predicting academic achievement based on learning motivation strategies and outcome expectations based on a theoretical model., Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted with the participation of 380 male and female students of nine faculties of medical sciences of Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran. Multi-stage sampling along with the questionnaire of motivational strategies for learning and student outcome expectation scale were used for data collection. The college grade point average (CGPA) of students' past grades was considered as the academic performance variable. Data analysis was performed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in AMOS software., Results: The mean score of the structure of learning strategies, motivational strategies, outcome expectations, and students' GPA did not show significant statistical differences in terms of gender, marital status, residence location, field of study, and educational level. There was a direct and significant relationship between the motivational strategies' structures (R = 0.193, p < 0.001) as well as learning strategies (R = 0.243, p < 0.001) and the CGPA, while there was no relationship between outcome expectations and CGPA. Path analysis revealed that self-regulating learning strategies and motivational strategies can predict the academic achievement of these students., Conclusions: Considering the importance of active and independent learning among medical students, it is necessary for lecturers to use interactive and student-oriented patterns of teaching. Also, students should become familiar with self-regulating learning skills to better understand the information they receive.

Background: There are numerous reports regarding increasing childhood and adolescent mental health problems. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Hamadan Province, west of Iran from July 2016 to May 2017., Study Design: A cross-sectional study., Methods: The sample included 1025 Hamadan residents selected using multistage cluster sampling. Psychiatric disorders were assessed by semi-structured psychiatric interview Kiddie-Sads-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. We used the multivariable logistic regression to predict the Odds Ratios (ORs)., Results: The prevalence of total psychiatric disorder was 8.6%. Psychiatric disorders in boys were higher than girls (12.6% and 4.9%, respectively). The psychiatric disorders were most prevalent in 6-9 yr old age group (11%). The prevalence of behavioral disorder was 3.8% with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as the most prevalent case (2.0%). The prevalence of anxiety disorder was 2.8% in which the highest prevalence belonged to separation anxiety disorder (SAD) (1.1%). The prevalence of neurodevelopment disorder was 1.5% with the highest prevalence of 1% observed in epilepsy. The prevalence of mood disorder was 1.1% with the depressive disorder as the most prevalent one (1.0%). The prevalence of enuresis was 2.7%. The most common comorbidities were anxiety and mood disorders 5(50.0%)., Conclusion: The prevalence of these disorders in Hamadan was less than the prevalence in other cities of Iran. These findings can be helpful for large-scale planning for children and adolescents.

The prevalence of aflatoxins (AFs) B 1 , B 2 , G 1 , and G 2 in Iranian edible oils were assessed by immunoaffinity column cleanup and HPLC equipped with a fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Ninety-seven samples including sunflower, canola, refined olive, unrefined olive, frying, and blend oils were collected from eight provinces (n = 15 samples of refined olive oil, n = 15 samples of unrefined olive oil, n = 15 samples of sunflower oil, n = 15 samples of canola oil, n = 17 samples of frying oil, and n = 20 samples of blend oil). Also, cancer risk of aflatoxins in the adults and children due to ingestion of edible oils was estimated via margin of exposure (MOE) estimation in the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) model. Considering the limit of detection (LOD) of the current study, two unrefined olive oil samples from Zanjan Province were contaminated with AFB 2 in the concentrations of 0.2 and 0.4 ng/g while other samples were free from AFB 1 , AFB 2 , AFG 1 , and AFG 2 . This study revealed that about 98% of the collected samples were free from AFs and the concentrations of AFs in the polluted samples were within the standard range suggested by European Commission regulation (20 μg/kg). However, health risk assessment indicated that both adult and children in the Zanjan Province are at considerable liver cancer risk (percentile 95% of MOE < 10,000 value). Therefore, national plan to address this issue and strict inspection of edible oil products by the regulatory bodies are suggested.

Osteopontin (OPN) is a chemokine-like glycoprotein that has a prominent role in regulating inflammation and immunity. OPN polymorphisms and elevated OPN levels are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in several populations. The aim of present study was to evaluate the association between the OPN rs1126616 polymorphism and OPN level with SLE susceptibility. A total of 163 SLE patients and 180 age-, gender- and ethnically matched controls were genotyped for the rs1126616 polymorphism by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Serum OPN levels were assayed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. There was no association between the OPN rs1126616 C/T polymorphism and SLE. The frequency of the OPN rs1126616 CT genotype was significantly higher in SLE patients with nephritis compared to SLE patients without nephritis and controls. Additionally, the frequency of TT genotypes was higher in SLE patients with nephritis compared to controls. The serum OPN levels were significantly higher in SLE patients compared to controls (50.6±22 vs. 35.6±15.8 ng/ml, P<0.001). Increased serum OPN levels were observed in SLE patients with lupus nephritis and joint symptoms. There was no correlation between OPN levels and the OPN rs1126616 polymorphism. The present data suggest that the CT and TT genotypes of the OPN rs1126616 polymorphism could be a risk factor for lupus nephritis. The OPN level is associated with SLE and certain SLE manifestations. However, there was no association between the OPN rs1126616 C/T polymorphism and SLE susceptibility.