Cultural-Religious Approach: An Effective Community-Based Disaster Management Strategy for Reducing the Mortality and Morbidity of the Fourth Wave of Coronavirus Pandemic Caused by the Lineage B.1.1.7 (the British Variant) in Iran (Spring 2021).

Lineage B.1.1.7 (the British variant) is a new variant of SARS-CoV-2. The virus was first identified in the UK in October 2020. Since Iran is one of the most disaster risk countries in the world, disaster management is one of the most important issues. One of the effective approaches of this field is community-based disaster management (CBDM). Altogether, planning and policy-making through using various cultural-religious role models with emphasis on the cultural points can be useful to reduce the mortality and morbidity rate caused by the fourth wave of coronavirus in Iran.

Preparation, characterization, and in vivo evaluation of perphenazine-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers for oral bioavailability improvement.

OBJECTIVE: The main scope of the present investigation was to improve the bioavailability of perphenazine (PPZ) by incorporating it into the nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs). SIGNIFICANCE: As a result of lipophilic nature and poor aqueous solubility, as well as extensive hepatic metabolism, PPZ has low systemic bioavailability via the oral route. NLCs have shown potentials to surmount the oral delivery drawbacks of poorly water-soluble drugs. METHODS: The PPZ-NLCs were prepared by the emulsification-solvent evaporation method and subjected for particle size, zeta potential, and entrapment efficiency (EE) analysis. The optimized NLCs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and powder X-ray diffractometry (PXRD). Besides, in vitro release behavior, storage stability, and pharmacokinetic studies followed by a single-dose oral administration in rats were performed. RESULTS: Optimized PPZ-NLCs showed a particle size of less than 180 nm with appropriate EE of more than 95%. Microscopic images captured with SEM and TEM exhibited that NLCs were approximately spherical in shape. DSC and PXRD analysis confirmed reduced crystallinity of PPZ after incorporation in NLCs. FTIR spectra demonstrated no chemical interactions between PPZ and NLC components. In vitro release studies confirmed the extended-release properties of NLC formulations. PPZ-NLCs exhibited good stability at 4 °C within three months. The oral bioavailability of NLC-6 and NLC-12 was enhanced about 3.12- and 2.49-fold, respectively, compared to the plain drug suspension. CONCLUSION: NLC can be designated as an effective nanocarrier for oral delivery of PPZ.

Evaluating the rancidity and quality of discarded oils in fast food restaurants.

This cross-sectional study attempts to determine the rancidity and quality of discarded oils in fast food restaurants. Samples of the discarded frying oils were collected randomly from 50 fast food restaurants in Tehran, Iran. Their physicochemical properties were assessed and compared to the standard values. The means (±SD) of the physicochemical indicators of the rancidity in the discarded oils were as follows: peroxide value, 3.06 (0.51) (mEq/kg); free fatty acids content, 1.52 (2.26) (%); p-anisidine value, 57.63 (4.02) (mEq/kg); total oxidation value, 64.53 (4.15); total polar compounds (TPC), 20.19 (1.02) (%); viscosity, 107.87 (2.35) (cp); and red color, 9.64 (0.84). Positive correlations were found between the TPC, viscosity, and red color (p ≤ 0.01) of the oil samples. The majority of discarded oil from fast food restaurants were overdegraded containing hazardous secondary oxidative products, and also, the consumption of nonstandard frying oil has increased in fast food restaurants. Policymakers should develop guidelines to determine whether and when frying oils should be discarded and consider the consumption of overdegraded oils as a public health hazard.

Application of supercritical fluids in cholesterol extraction from foodstuffs: a review.

Various innovations have so far been devised to extract cholesterol from foods. Achieving a supercritical fluid is perhaps one of the greatest human successes in the field of extraction from foodstuffs in last 2 decades. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) offers a rapid, environment-friendly and selective method for extracting cholesterol from foods. This review aims at investigating the application of supercritical fluids in extraction of cholesterol. Various factors affecting the SFE, collection systems, examples of cholesterol extraction and SFE benefits are some of the issues discussed in this study.

Mapping the Iranian Research Literature in the Field of Traditional Medicine in Scopus Database 2010-2014.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to provide research and collaboration overview of Iranian research efforts in the field of traditional medicine during 2010-2014. METHODS: This is a bibliometric study using the Scopus database as data source, using search affiliation address relevant to traditional medicine and Iran as the search strategy. Subject and geographical overlay maps were also applied to visualize the network activities of the Iranian authors. Highly cited articles (citations >10) were further explored to highlight the impact of research domains more specifically. RESULTS: About 3,683 articles were published by Iranian authors in Scopus database. The compound annual growth rate of Iranian publications was 0.14% during 2010-2014. Tehran University of Medical Sciences (932 articles), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (404 articles) and Tabriz Islamic Medical University (391 articles), were the leading institutions in the field of traditional medicine. Medicinal plants (72%), digestive system's disease (21%), basics of traditional medicine (13%), mental disorders (8%) were the major research topics. United States (7%), Netherlands (3%), and Canada (2.6%) were the most important collaborators of Iranian authors. CONCLUSION: Iranian research efforts in the field of traditional medicine have been increased slightly over the last years. Yet, joint multi-disciplinary collaborations are needed to cover inadequately described areas of traditional medicine in the country.