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The present study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of an educational intervention via mobile cells on foot care knowledge and foot care practices in patients with type 2 diabetes. This is an interventional quasi-experimental study carried out in 4 community health centers in Andimeshk City in Iran in 2017. Of 160 patients 80 cases were randomly assigned as intervention group and 80 patients as the control one. A three-section questionnaire completed by a face-to-face interviewing used for data collection before and after the intervention and three months after the education. Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS) and Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) tests were done for both groups in a single laboratory before and three months after training. The mean age of patients in intervention group was 48.11 ± 9.7 and control group was 47.3 ± 7.9 years. The awareness of the patients related to diabetes foot care, in the intervention group after the training significantly improved (P < 0.001). The mean scores of preventive behaviors of diabetic foot significantly increased in the intervention group (P < 0.001). The findings indicate that educational intervention based on short message service (SMS), resulting in improve foot care knowledge, foot care practices and metabolic control in patients with diabetes type 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Determination of the nickel (Ni) distribution in tissues of hyperaccumulator plants aids in understanding the strategies and mechanisms used by these plants to take up Ni from soils. Commonly used methods for measuring Ni distribution in plant tissues require expensive equipment and complex sample preparation. We tested a suite of staining methods consisting of dimethylglyoxime (DMG) dissolved in a range of solvents for the mapping of Ni distribution in the Ni hyperaccumulator Berkheya coddii Roessler. The best solution was DMG (10gl−1) dissolved in borax (25mM) and KOH (30mM). Plant tissue cross-sections were imaged under a microscope immediately after DMG application. A Karhunen–Loeve transformation was applied to the images to minimize interference from colours of other origin, e.g. from chlorophyll. The distribution of Ni could be determined at the cellular level and consistent patterns were obtained for replicates. Staining of Ni dissolved in agar at various concentrations was used to calibrate the method. Concentrations as low as 50mgkg−1 (fresh weight) could be detected. Averaged over several cross-sections the DMG method systematically gave lower concentrations than ICP-OES analysis of the respective plant part, indicating that not all Ni in the tissue reacted with DMG, but only Ni that is readily available. The DMG method may be used in conjunction with spectroscopic methods to resolve biologically active Ni. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Quantitative studies of the distribution pattern of metals in plant tissues provide important information on the potential of metal-accumulator plants for remediation and amelioration of contaminated soils. We used laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) as well as staining with dimethylglyoxime (DMG) to investigate the distribution pattern of nickel (Ni) in root cross-sections of the Ni-hyperaccumulator plant Berkheya coddii Rossler. Plants were grown in rhizoboxes containing soil with 125mgkg−1 Ni. Roots were embedded in resin and cut into sections for LA-ICP-MS analysis. For DMG-staining analysis, fresh root cross-sections were prepared using a microtome. LA-ICP-MS revealed higher Ni concentrations in the cortex (374±66mgkg−1) than in the stele (210±48mgkg−1) of the investigated roots. The distribution pattern agreed well with those found by DMG-staining. Higher concentrations of Ni were found in the stele compared to the cortex of roots of the control plants not exposed to elevated soil Ni using both techniques. Our results indicate that an active uptake or ion selection mechanism exists for B. coddii in the absence of available Ni in the rhizosphere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We compared root responses of the Ni-hyperaccumulator plant Berkheya coddii Rossler with the non-accumulator plant Cicer arietinum L. to Ni heterogeneity in soil. We grew plants in growth containers filled with control soil, homogeneously spiked, and heterogeneously spiked soil with Ni concentrations of 62 and 125 mg kg¿1. Neutron radiography (NR) was used to observe the root distribution and the obtained images were analysed to reveal the root volumes in the spiked and unspiked segments of the growth container. There was no significant difference in root distribution pattern of B. coddii among different concentrations of Ni. Unlike B. coddii, the roots of C. arietinum initially grew into the spiked segments. However, the later developing roots did not penetrate the spiked segment suggesting an avoidance strategy. Our results indicate that, B. coddii does not forage towards the Ni-rich patches, although presence of Ni in soil changes its root morphology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Mine tailings are an environmental problem in Southern Spain because wind and water erosion of bare surfaces results in the dispersal of toxic metals over nearby urban or agricultural areas. Revegetation with tolerant native species may reduce this risk. We grew two grasses, Lygeum spartum and Piptatherum miliaceum, and the crop species Cicer arietinum (chickpea) under controlled conditions in pots containing a mine tailings mixed into non-polluted soil to give treatments of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% mine tailings. We tested a neutral (pH 7.4) mine tailings which contained high concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn. Water-extractable metal concentrations increased in proportion to the amount of tailings added. The biomass of the two grasses decreased in proportion to the rate of neutral mine-tailing addition, while the biomass of C. arietinum only decreased in relation to the control treatment. Neutron radiography revealed that root development of C. arietinum was perturbed in soil amended with the neutral tailings compared to those of the control treatment, despite a lack of toxicity symptoms in the shoots. In all treatments and for all metals, the plants accumulated higher concentrations in the roots than in shoots. The highest concentrations occurred in the roots of P. miliaceum (2500mgkg−1 Pb, 146mgkg−1 Cd, 185mgkg−1 Cu, 2700mgkg−1 Zn). C. arietinum seeds had normal concentrations of Zn (70–90mgkg−1) and Cu (6–9mgkg−1). However, the Cd concentration in this species was ∼1mgkg−1 in the seeds and 14.5mgkg−1 in shoots. Consumption of these plant species by cattle and wild fauna may present a risk of toxic metals entering the food chain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper studies the problem of planning UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) access network. The aim is to determine the optimal number and location of radio network controllers (RNCs) and to find the connections of minimal cost between RNCs and radio base stations (RBSs) satisfying all the topological constraints. As the problem is NP-hard we propose a hybrid ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm to tackle it heuristically. The main characteristic of the ACO algorithm is to perturb a saving-based greedy heuristic in its solution construction. We then use decomposition ants (D-ants) to enhance the efficiency of the algorithm. This is achieved by decomposing the master problem and solving only the much smaller sub-problems resulting from decomposition. Comparing with the previous results we will demonstrate through a number of test cases that our algorithms improve best previous results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper we address the Min-Power Broadcast problem in wireless ad hoc networks. Given a network with an identified source node w, the Min-Power Broadcast (MPB) problem is to assign transmission range to each node such that communication from w to other nodes is possible and the total energy consumption is minimized. As the problem is NP-Hard we first propose a simulated annealing algorithm for the MPB problem. Utilizing a special node selection mechanism in its neighborhood structure the algorithm is designed in a way enabling an efficient power consumption evaluation and search for neighboring solutions. We then combine the algorithm with a decomposition approach to enhance its performance. This is achieved by decomposing the master problem and performing metropolis chain of the simulated annealing only on the much smaller subproblems resulting from decomposition. Results from a comprehensive computational study indicate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]