While rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in Iran are alarming, little is known about preventive sexual behaviors. The purpose of this article was to assess the effect of a mobile-based educational program to promote preventive behaviors regarding STIs in Iranian women. Using Roger’s protection motivation theory, the following measures were developed as the study’s conceptual framework: STI knowledge, STI vulnerability, STI prevention self-efficacy and STI prevention intentions. These variables were measured by the Persian version of a valid Korean four-scale tool. Data from 76 women were analyzed: 37 women in the smartphone application (Experimental) group and 39 in the control group. Health Education Sexually Tran

There are limitations in current medications of articular cartilage injuries. Injectable bioactive hydrogels are promising options; however, they suffer from low biomechanical performance. Few solutions have been proposed to overcome these challenges, yet there are many considerations that need to be taken into account. In this study, an injectable composite hydrogel was made from chitosan and human acellular cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) particles. In order to enhance the mechanical properties of the hydrogel, it was reinforced with microporous microspheres composed of the same materials as the structural building blocks of the scaffold. Articular cartilage was obtained from human donors and decellularized by a combinatorial physica

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of probiotic bacteria and trypsin enzyme on the physicochemical, microbial and sensory properties of dough. For this purpose, bioactive peptides of 1.5 and 3 mg/100 ml were added to the probiotic dough formulation, which were inoculated separately with 10 8 cfu/ml of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Lactobacillus helveticus. PH tests, mold and yeast counts, coliform counting, probiotic bacterial survival, antioxidant activity evaluation, gamma amino butyric acid measurement and sensory evaluation were performed on dough. The results showed that the use of probiotic bacteria with trypsin enzyme and increasing its concentration was maintained viability increase, probiotic bacteria, antioxidant

Heavy metal pollution in water sources is a great environmental issue worldwide. In this line, Cd (II) is considered to be one of the top toxic heavy metals because it is a threat not only to plants, but also to humans. Accordingly, development of new strategies for removal of Cd (II) is of great importance for scientists. This study could be divided into three overall sections: 1) synthesis and characterization of fibrous mesoporous silica KCC-1, 2) surface modification and characterization of triamine-functionalized KCC-1(TA-KCC-1), 3) investigation of the applicability of TA-KCC-1 as an adsorbent for the removal of Cd (II) from aqueous solution via adsorption method. Synthesized materials were analyzed and investigated by FTIR, FESEM, an

Cisplatin is a common agent which is used to treat Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (EOC), but cisplatin resistance is a major obstacle in successful treatment of ovarian cancer. Aberration in epigenetic changes play an important role in disregulation of gene expression. MiR-152 and miR-148a are frequently down-regulated in EOC due to promoter hyper-methylation. DNA methyltransferase1 (DNMT1), the main enzyme in maintenance of the pattern of DNA methylation, is one of the targets of miR-152 and miR-148a. Aberrantly up-regulation of DNMT1 is responsible for silencing of tumor suppressor genes in carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that re-expression of miR-152 and miR-148a and consequently down-regulation of DNMT1 may resensitize cancerous cells to che