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Mehdi Shirazi,1,2 Salar Safavi,1,3 Alireza Makarem,1 Leila Malekmakan3 1Department of Urology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; 2Histomorphometry and Stereology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; 3Shiraz Nephro-Urology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranCorrespondence: Salar SafaviDepartment of Urology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranTel/Fax +98-713-2326645Email dr.salarsafavi@gmail.comBackground: Undescended testis (UDT) is a common congenital urogenital anomaly that is treated by orchiopexy. We aimed to introduce patent processus vaginalis (PPV) sac tightening (PVST) technique and compare it to the conventional technique.Methods: We retrospectively studied all the operated UDT patients during 10 years. In the conventional technique, it was necessary to ligate PPV sac after being peeled off from the spermatic cord. PVST was dissected longitudinally from the two sides of where the PPV sac wall was attached to the spermatic cord till the proximal part, and only a narrow thin layer sticking to the spermatic cord was left and the proximal PVV sac opening was tightened as much as possible with vicryl suture at the internal inguinal ring level. The significance level was < 0.05.Results: Of 821 orchiopexy (mean age 24.5± 24.2 months), 36.3% were done by conventional and 63.7% by PVST technique. Hematoma, edema, hydrocele, and wound infection were lower in the PVST technique, but it was not significant (p> 0.05). Testicular atrophy and operation time were significantly lower in the PVST than the conventional technique (p< 0.001).Conclusion: The orchiopexy PVST technique has lower complications and seems to be easier, faster and safer than the conventional technique.Keywords: UDT, orchiopexy, testis atrophy, hernia, PVST technique

Mehdi Shirazi,1 Ali Akbar Mohammadi,2 Iman Shamohammadi,3 Amirhassan Mahboubi,4 Alireza Makarem3 1Department of Urology, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran; 2Burn & Wound Healing Research Center, Division of Plastic & Reconstruction Surgery, Department of Surgery, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran; 3Resident of Urology, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran; 4Professor of Urology, Fellowship in Pediatric Urology, Department of Urology, Tehran Children’s Hospital, Tehran, IranCorrespondence: Iman ShamohammadiDepartment of Urology, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, IranEmail imanshamohammadi@yahoo.comBackground: Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital disorders of the urogenital system that is repaired by surgical method. Literature review shows that silicone gel is effective in preventing and improving hypertrophic scars after surgery. Thus, we conducted this study to evaluate the effect of silicone gel on scar reduction after surgical repair of hypospadias.Materials and methods: In this randomized double-blind clinical trial, 64 patients who had undergone surgical repair of hypospadias were divided into two groups: 32 patients in the intervention group (silicone gel) and 32 in the control group (placebo). Then, the patients in the silicone gel treatment group were treated twice per day for two months on the site of surgical wound, and the patients in the control group were treated with Vaseline twice per day for two months on the site of surgical wound, too. Scar characteristics (pigmentation, vascularity, pliability, and height) were recorded based on Vancouver’s scars scale. Finally, the results of the two treatments on reduction of scars after surgical repair were compared between the two groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS-24.Results: There were significant differences between the two groups in scar characteristics after surgical repair of hypospadias, such as vascularity, pliability, and height (P˂0.05); however, there was no significant difference in pigmentation (P>0.05).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that silicone gel had considerable effects on reduction of scars after surgical repair of hypospadias. However, further studies with larger sample size are recommended to confirm our conclusion.Keywords: hypospadias, silicone gel, scar

Evaluating the susceptibility of regional climates to climate change provides a framework for realistically analyzing potential future climate changes. This paper investigates the impact of human activities on variations in extreme precipitation in Iran by evaluating data provided from 286 rain-gauge stations during 1967-2010 and general circulation simulation results of the CanESM2 model. This investigation was based on six forcing factors, including natural external factors (volcanic aerosols, solar radiation), anthropogenic and a combination of them, Green House Gases (GHGs), changes in land use, and anthropogenic aerosols. Seven precipitation indices, namely Rx1day (annual maximum 1-day precipitation), Rx5day (annual maximum 5-day precipitation), R10mm (annual count of days with daily precipitation exceeding 10 mm), R20mm (annual count of days with daily precipitation exceeding 20 mm), CDD (consecutive dry days), CWD (consecutive wet days), and PRCPTOT (annual total wet day precipitation), have been analyzed via the optimal fingerprint method. The results revealed that Rx1day, Rx5day and CWD increased, while R10mm, R20mm, CDD, and PRCPTOT decreased among which CDD and Rx1day indices showed significant variations, with values of 18.4% and 10.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the obtained results implied that only the impact of anthropogenic forcing, with a value of 1.4, was detected and attributed to variations in CDD. Additionally, anthropogenic forcing caused an increase in the return period of a 20-year event by 1.9 years for CDD. Although human-induced forcing factors presented marked trends in some cases, their effects were not generally detected and attributed to the change in the observations, apart from one exception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Radiation therapy is among the most conventional cancer therapeutic modalities with effective local tumor control. However, due to the development of radio-resistance, tumor recurrence and metastasis often occur following radiation therapy. In recent years, combination of radiotherapy and gene therapy has been suggested to overcome this problem. The aim of the current study was to explore the potential synergistic effects of N-Myc Downstream-Regulated Gene 2 (NDRG2) overexpression, a newly identified candidate tumor suppressor gene, with radiotherapy against proliferation of prostate LNCaP cell line. Materials and Methods: In this study, LNCaP cells were exposed to X-ray radiation in the presence or absence of NDRG2 overexpression using plasmid PSES- pAdenoVator-PSA-NDRG2-IRES-GFP. The effects of NDRG2 overexpression, X-ray radiation or combination of both on the cell proliferation and apoptosis of LNCaP cells were then analyzed using MTT assay and flow cytometery, respectively. Results: Results of MTT assay showed that NDRG2 overexpression and X-ray radiation had a synergistic effect against proliferation of LNCaP cells. Moreover, NDRG2 overexpression increased apoptotic effect of X-ray radiation in LNCaP cells synergistically. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that NDRG2 overexpression in combination with radiotherapy may be an effective therapeutic option against prostate cancer.

Background: Over the past few years, the rapid use of high frequency electromagnetic fields like mobile phones has raised global concerns about the negative health effects of its use. Adaptive response is the ability of a cell or tissue to better resist stress damage by prior exposure to a lesser amount of stress. This study aimed to assess whether radiofrequency radiation can induce adaptive response by changing the antioxidant balance. Materials and Methods: In order to assess RF-induced adaptive response in tissues, we evaluated the level of GSH and the activity of GR in liver. 50 rats were divided into 5 groups. Three groups were pre-exposed to 915 MHz RF radiation, 4 hours per day for one week at different powers, as low, medium and high. 24 hours after the last exposure to radiation, they were exposed to 4 Gy sublethal dose of gamma radiation and then sacrificed after 5 hours. Their livers were removed, washed and were kept at -80o C until used. Results: Our finding showed that pre-exposure to 915 MHz radiofrequency radiation with specific power could induce adaptive response in liver by inducing changes in the activity and level of antioxidant enzymes. Conclusion: It can be concluded that pre-exposure to microwave radiation could increase the level of GSH and the activity of GR enzyme, although these increases were seen just in low power group, and the GR activity was indicated in medium power group. This increase protects tissue from oxidative damage induced by sublethal dose of gamma radiation.

Introduction: Oral intake of vitamins which present antioxidant characteristics can protect living organisms against oxidative damage caused by exposure to ionizing radiation. It was previously reported that administration of high levels of vitamin C can lead to increased DNA damage through production of hydroxyl radicals from hydrogen peroxide by the Fenton reaction. However, our early experiments did not confirm this hypothesis. The main goal of this study was to determine if high doses of Vit C can show life-saving radioprotective effects. Materials and Methods: Phase I: Seventy two male Balb/c mice weighing 20-25g were randomly divided into six groups of 12 animals each. Group I; Vit E for five days, Groups II and III; Vit C and Vit A. Group 4; all three vitamins. Group V; an over-the-counter multivitamin. Group VI; none of the above. Phase II: 120 male BALB/c mice weighing 20-25g were randomly divided into 12 groups of 10 each. Group I; Vit A for five days. Groups II-IV; Vit C 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, 800 mg/kg, respectively. Group V-VII; Vit E at daily doses of 200 iu/kg, 400 iu/kg, 800 iu/kg, respectively. Group VIII and IX; all three vitamins at low and high doses, respectively. Group X; an over-the-counter multivitamin. Group XI; controls group and Group XII; received pure olive oil. All animals (Phases I and II) were exposed to a lethal dose of gamma rays and the survival rates of the animals were monitored and recorded continuously for 16 days after exposure. Results: Phase I: 14 days after irradiation the survival rate for control group was 33.33%, while the survival rates for the 1st to 5th groups were 45.45%, 81.81%, 50%, 57.14%, and 9.09% , respectively. Phase II: The survival rates in the control group and the group that only received pure olive oil, were 50% and 60%, respectively. Survival rate in the animals received Vit C at daily doses of 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, 800 mg/kg, were 90%, 90% and 90%, respectively. Log rank (Mantel-Cox) test showed statistically significant differences between the survival rates in control irradiated mice (no vitamins) and mice received Vit C at daily doses of 200 mg/kg (P=0.042), 400 mg/kg (P=0.042) and 800 mg/kg (P=0.042). Conclusion: Altogether, findings of this study showed that even high doses of Vit C can show life-saving radioprotective effects. The significant radioprotective effect of Vit C at doses used in this study, opens new horizons in developing non-toxic, cost effective, easily available radioprotectors in life-threatening situations such as exposure to lethal doses of ionizing radiation. The radioprotective effect of Vit A and Vit E seem to be less efficient compared to that of Vit C.

Over the last three decades, there has been a general tendency for changing research methods on soil resource management from conventional and mainly qualitative methods to quantitative ones based on spatial correlation models, which are called Digital Soil Mapping (DSM). The present study was carried out in Shabankareh Plain (15,000 ha) with different physiographic units, in Bushehr Province, southern Iran. The target sites (172 points) were selected for soil sampling at depths of 0-30 cm. Soil texture classes DSM was produced by two methods. The first method was Conventional DSM, in which data of soil particles was obtained from laboratory analysis for each sampling point along with their geographical location. Also, the study area boundary was added to ArcGIS software in UTM format and was analyzed by operating Kriging or IDW estimators. The map produced by this method was a low quality digital map containing extra and scattered texture classes with unrealistically sharp boundaries. The second method used CoKriging of L8 multispectral imagery data (OLI bands) and soil samples analysis was operated. Results showed that using B1 band (0.433-0.453 µm) of Landsat 8 satellite imageries of the study area in April 2020 produced high quality digital maps. In this method, soil textures were the same as the ones in the study area. Salt accumulation and water content of surface soil were possible reasons indicating why satellite imageries in the other periods of year were not suitable for DSM. The highest and the lowest ranges of influence among soil texture parameters were 684 meters and 388 meter for clay and sand particles, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]