Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in the older population and characterized by progressive memory and cognitive impairment. Cyperus rotundus, a traditional medicinal herb, has analgesic, sedative, and anti-inflammatory effects and also used to increase memory in Islamic traditional medicine. This study was designed to consider the effects of C. rotundus extract on memory impairment and neurogenesis in the Beta-Amyloid rats' model. Materials and Methods: Forty-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups (n = 7) for the evaluation of baseline training performance in the Morris water maze test. Then, amyloid-beta (Aβ1-42) was injected in animal hippocampal CA1 bilaterally in four groups. The first probe trial was performed 21 days after Aβ injection. Then, 250, 500, and 750 mg/kg of C. rotundus extract were administered to three Aβ-injected groups for 1 month; after that, the second probe trial was performed, and rats were sacrificed after 28 days of the second probe trial. The neurogenesis was detected in the hippocampus, by immunohistochemical staining. Results: This study showed that spatial memory increased in the behavioral test in AD treated group with C. rotundus extract, compared with the AD group (P = 0.02). Immunohistochemical staining revealed that neuronal differentiation has been occurred in the hippocampus in the AD-treated group with C. rotundus extract compared with the AD group (P = 0.01). Conclusions: This study showed that C. rotundus extract, repaired spatial memory impairment in the Aβ rats, through increased neurogenesis in the hippocampus, which could be related to the flavonoid components in the extract.

Background: Anelloviridae is a viral family which is considered as a constant component of human virome. Given the ubiquitous nature of the virus infection and the long-standing relationship between the virus and the host, in the present study, we aimed at investigating the presence of Anelloviruses in the urine samples of children in a cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: The urine samples of 50 children who were referred to Hazrat Ali Asghar Children's Hospital, affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, were obtained. Three TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) were carried out for Anellovirus detection. A phylogenetic tree was drawn for positive products after PCR amplification, purification, and nucleotide sequencing. SPSS, version 20, was used for statistical analyses. Results: Children's mean age ± standard deviation was 4.30 ± 1.47 years and 56% (28/50) were female. Real-time PCR revealed that Anellovirus was positive in 12% (6/50). Furthermore, PCR-sequencing results showed that torque teno virus was detected in 83.3% (5/6) and SEN virus in 16.6% (1/6) of the Anellovirus positive samples. In addition, 86% (5/6) of the children with positive samples were female. No significant difference was detected between any of the demographic characteristics and Anellovirus positivity (P > 0.05). Conclusion: According to our preliminary study, the presence of Anelloviruses in the urine samples of asymptomatic children in Iran is striking, although limited sample size and age range limitations might have affected the comprehensive results of our study.

Background: This study aims to compare the efficacy and toxicity of povidone-iodine (PI) 5%, polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) 0.02%, and chlorhexidine 0.02% in patients undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Materials and Methods: This single-center, randomized study was done on 330 patients who referred to Feiz hospital in Isfahan and scheduled for cataract surgery. They were assigned randomly to 1 of 3 groups of 110 eyes who received 1 drop of PI 5% in group 1, 1 drop of PHMB 0.02% in group 2 and 1 drop of chlorhexidine 0.02% in group 3. Pre-operative Cultures samples were obtained without any topical application and it was repeated 5 min after use of antiseptic solutions. Cultures were obtained from the inferior conjunctival fornix, using sterile culture swabs while avoiding contact to the eyelids and lashes. Results: The numbers of colony-forming units (CFUs) did not differ significantly among the three groups (P = 0.149 and P = 0.260, respectively). After the intervention, CFUs numbers in the three groups were decreased with a significant difference in both blood and chocolate agars (P = 0.304 and P = 0.136, respectively). Of the 317 eyes, 108 (34.1%) showed no bacterial growth in the pre-preparation period, which was similar in the three groups. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common isolated bacteria. Conjunctival injection was significantly different among studied groups (P = 0.0001), five patients in iodine group had severe conjunctival injection and no one in the other group. SPE was significantly fewer in chlorhexidine group than PHMB and iodine groups (P = 0.0001). Conclusion: Pretreatment with 5% Povidone-Iodine (PVI) for at least 15 min or repeated applications over 10 min is effective in the reduction of conjunctival organisms, and results in less postoperative endophthalmitis.

Background: Calcium-phosphate product is associated with mortality among patients with end-stage kidney disease on dialysis. However, clinical evidence among hospitalized patients is limited. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between admission calcium-phosphate product and 1-year mortality in hospitalized patients. Materials and Methods: All adult patients admitted to a tertiary referral hospital in 2009–2013 were studied. Patients who had both available serum calcium and phosphate measurement within 24 h of hospital admission were included. Admission calcium-phosphate product (calcium × phosphate) was stratified based on its distribution into six groups: <21, 21–<27, 27–<33, 33–<39, 39–<45, and ≥45 mg²/dL². Multivariate cox proportional hazard analysis was performed to evaluate the association between admission calcium-phosphate product and 1-year mortality, using the calcium-phosphate product of 33–<39 mg²/dL² as the reference group. Results: A total of 14,772 patients were included in this study. The mean admission calcium-phosphate product was 34.4 ± 11.3 mg²/dL². Of these patients, 3194 (22%) died within 1 year of hospital admission. In adjusted analysis, admission calcium-phosphate product of ≥45 mg²/dL² was significantly associated with increased 1-year mortality with hazard ratio of 1.41 (95% 95% confidence interval 1.25–1.67), whereas lower admission calcium-phosphate product was not significantly associated with 1-year mortality. Conclusion: Elevated calcium-phosphate product was significantly associated with increased 1-year mortality in hospitalized patients.

Background: Several researchers have investigated the clinical outcomes in patients with rotator cuff tear who compared open and arthroscopic surgeries; however, there are limited studies that have compared the outcomes of arthroscopic and open rotator cuff repair. This study was aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of the patients who underwent rotator cuff repair using either arthroscopic or open repair techniques. Materials and Methods: This is a prospective cohort study in which 51 patients who underwent either open or arthroscopic rotator cuff repair were studied. Twenty-six patients underwent open repair, and 25 patients had an arthroscopic repair. Patients were followed for 6–36 months. The outcome of the two groups was evaluated using the Universal California Los Angles (UCLA) score. Results: The mean tear size was 4.93 ± 2.3 cm² in the open surgery group and 4.99 ± 2.3 cm² in the arthroscopic group (P = 0.93). All patients showed significant improvement in their scores for pain, active forward flexion, active abduction, and function at the time of follow-up. Improvement in scores within each group was significant, but the comparison of the two techniques was not statistically significant in pain, active abduction, active forward flexion, and UCLA, but in function, the open surgery group was superior (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed that short-term outcomes for arthroscopic and open cuff repair are similar, except in function, which was significantly better in the open surgery.