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IntroductionIn recent decades, several studies have been carried out regarding the transport of materials, particularly precious metal particles in the nano regime. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) show special properties that are great scientific achievements in nanotechnology. Their use is widespread as they are produced in different ways depending on the type of material and its applications. Nanoparticles are among the most common elements in science and nanotech- Abstract Background: Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major characteristics of infectious agents. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been introduced as novel antibacterial agents in accordance with the traditional treatments. Our purpose of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of AgNPs on the Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) that are resistant to antibiotics. Methods: During a cross-sectional study, we tried to evaluate 20 strains of P. aeruginosa isolated from the urine cultures of patients admitted to the hospital due to urinary tract infections. The AgNPs were commercially purchased. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AgNPs in different concentrations was determined by the dilution in wells on bacteria. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of P. aeruginosa was evaluated by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion standard. Results: Current study indicated that P. aeruginosa were resistant to four types of agents including ampicillin (85%), nitrofurantoin (65%), nalidixic acid (65%), and ciprofloxacin (15%) and result of nanosilver indicated that the most MIC was 100 ppm concentration, and six strains of P. aeruginosa were inhibited by it. Conclusion: Our study presented a new type of silver nanoparticle and indicated that they can be embedded in bone cement to prevent infections once synthetic conditions are tailored for such applications.

Introduction: Evidence indicates that the associations between coronary slow flow (CSF), cystatin C (Cys C), and body mass index (BMI) are unclear. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to determine the association among the above-mentioned parameters in female patients. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study and the participants were those who were referred to the Shohada Cardiovascular Center of Urmia in 2015-2016. The participants were measured by a quantitative method under angiography (corrected TIMI frame count, CTFC) for CSF assessment, followed by evaluating physiological indices and the serum Cys C by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Finally, Pearson correlation coefficient test was used to analyze the correlations among CTFC, Cys C, and BMI, and a significance level of P < 0.05 was used for this test. Results: Sixty-six female patients (mean age: 57.01±8.25 years) took part in this study. The correlations among Cys C with CTFC, and BMI (r=-0.189, P=0.128 and r=0.044, P=0.724, respectively) and BMI with CTFC (r=-0.178, P=0.153) were not meaningful in female patients’ who were candidates for angiography. Conclusion: In general, the results suggested that serum Cys C cannot be considered as a predictive biomarker for the prognostic stratification of CSF and BMI in female patients aged 34-73 years who were candidates for angiography.

Background: Coronary slow-flow phenomenon (CSFP), characterized by delayed distal vessel opacification of contrast, in the absence of significant epicardial coronary stenosis, has effects on exercise capacity and clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the systolic and diastolic function of patients with CSFP and to compare it with a group of controls with normal coronary anatomy and flow. Materials and Methods: In this case–control study, 45 consecutive CSFP patients and 45 age-, body mass index-, and presentation season-matched controls with normal coronary arteries and normal coronary flows were enrolled from Seyyedoshohada Heart Center from March 2015 to March 2016. A transthoracic echocardiography was done by a blinded echocardiographer using both conventional and tissue Doppler imaging techniques. Results: Patients with CSFP were more likely to be male ( P = 0.006) and smoker ( P = 0.02) compared to controls. Other risk factors were not different between the two groups. There were no differences between groups in terms of the peak early (E) and late (A) diastolic velocities, deceleration time, early (E’) and late (A’) peak diastolic velocities at the mitral annulus, and the systolic mitral annular velocity (S’). Global longitudinal strain and peak systolic strain rates was lower in patients with CSFP compared to controls (−16.7% ±2.4% vs. −18.9% ±1.6%, P < 0.001 and 1.10 ± 0.1 vs. 1.24 ± 0.3, P = 0.008, respectively). Conclusion: Patients with CSFP showed signs of the left ventricular systolic dysfunction in tissue Doppler echocardiography, which underlines the importance of close follow-up in these patients. Patients with CSFP should be screened for ventricular function preferably by tissue Doppler echocardiography.

Introduction: It is still unclear whether platelet count can predict the outcomes of acute myocardial infarction. In this study, we assessed the relationship between the initial platelet count on the degree of ST-segment depression and coronary flow rate among patients with MI who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: In this study, a total of 218 patients suffering from MI, who underwent primary PCI during 2016-2017 (Seyed-Shohada hospital, Urmia, Iran) were selected by consensus method. Demographic information and past medical history such as diabetes mellitus (DM), cigarette smoking, using Integrilin, and door-to-balloon (DTB) time were recorded. All patients were investigated in terms of cell blood count. Serial electrocardiogram (ECG) was also performed and the degree of ST-segment elevation was measured. Results: The mean (SD) age of participants was 58.67 (11.44) years. The initial platelet count was similar between patients with and without improvement in the ST-segment (P = 0.275). There was no significant difference regarding thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) between patients with and without improved ST-segment (P = 0.380). Conclusion: According to our results, the initial platelet count in patients who underwent angioplasty was not associated with coronary flow and echocardiographic responses to treatment.