In the present study, a modified standardized sexual function questionnaire, along with a test of knowledge about and attitude toward sexuality, was administered to 300 healthy women, ages 16 through 53, who sought services at family planing centers in Tehran, Iran. All participants were married. The greatest percentages had two children (35%) and were housewives (69%). Some 72% were well educated, and 1% were illiterate; 74% of the women had moderate knowledge about sexuality, and 53% had a conservative attitude toward sexuality. The study revealed the prevalence of inhibited desire (15%), inhibited orgasm (26%), lack of lubrication (15%), vaginismus (8%), and dyspareunia (10%); 38% of the women had at least one sexual dysfunction. The most common sexual difficulties reported were "too little foreplay before intercourse" and "partner chooses inconvenient time" (8% each). Despite these difficulties, 51% of the sample reported that their overall sexual relationship was satisfactory. Knowledge about sexuality was significantly correlated with orgasm experience, higher knowledge being associated with more orgasm experience. There were significant correlations between attitude toward sexuality and sexual function (orgasm, desire, lubrication); a conservative attitude was associated with more sexual dysfunction. Spousal sexual dysfunction had a significant negative correlation with sexual function in the woman.

Copper oxide nanoparticle-loaded activated carbon (CuO-NP-AC) was synthesized and characterized using different techniques such as FE-SEM, XRD and FT-IR. It was successfully applied for the ultrasound-assisted simultaneous removal of Pb ions and malachite green (MG) dye in binary system from aqueous solution. The effect of important parameters was modeled and optimized by artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface methodology (RSM). Maximum simultaneous removal percentages (>99.0%) were found at 25mgL, 20mgL, 0.02g, 5min and 6.0 corresponding to initial Pb concentration, initial MG concentration, CuO-NP-AC amount, ultrasonication time and pH, respectively. The precision of the equation obtained by RSM was confirmed by the analysis of variance and calculation of correlation coefficient relating the predicted and the experimental values of ultrasound-assisted simultaneous removal of the analytes. A good agreement between experimental and predicted values was observed. A feed-forward neural network with a topology optimized by response surface methodology was successfully applied for the prediction of ultrasound-assisted simultaneous removal of Pb ions and MG dye in binary system by CuO-NPs-AC. The number of hidden neurons, MSE, R, number of epochs and error histogram were chosen for ANN modeling. Then, Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and D-R isothermal models were applied for fitting the experimental data. It was found that the Langmuir model well describes the isotherm data with a maximum adsorption capacity of 98.328 and 87.719mgg for Pb and MG, respectively. Kinetic studies at optimum condition showed that maximum Pb and MG adsorption is achieved within 5min of the start of most experiments. The combination of pseudo-second-order rate equation and intraparticle diffusion model was applicable to explain the experimental data of ultrasound-assisted simultaneous removal of Pb and MG at optimum condition obtained from RSM.

A fluorescent aptasensor for detection of oxytetracycline (OTC) was presented based on fluorescence quenching of DNA aptamer-templated silver nanoclusters (AgNCs). The specific DNA scaffolds with two different nucleotides fragments were used: one was enriched with a cytosine sequence fragment (C12) that could produce DNA-AgNCs via a chemical reduction method, and another was the OTC aptamer fragment that could selectively bind to the OTC antibiotic. Thus, the as-prepared AgNCs could exhibit quenched fluorescence after binding to the target OTC. The fluorescence ratio of the DNA-AgNCs was quenched in a linearly proportional manner to the concentration of the target in the range of 0.5 nM to 100 nM with a detection limit of 0.1 nM. This proposed nanobiosensor was demonstrated to be sensitive, selective, and simple, introducing a viable alternative for rapid determination of toxin OTC in honey and water samples. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background:The predictive roles of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) and antral follicle count (AFC) as ovarian reserve markers in women with different age groups are not established well.Objective:This study compares the value of FSH, AMH and AFC at the time of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment in different age groups. Materials and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 103 women aged 20-43 years candidates for IVF/ICSI cycle were recruited. FSH, AMH and AFC on day 3 of menstrual cycle were measured. The relationship of these measured markers with outcome variables (oocytes number, number of frozen/fresh embryo and chemical and clinical pregnancy) was assessed in different age groups (i.e. 20-32, 33-37 and 38-43 years).Results:our results show that age was correlated with clinical pregnancy, oocyte count and fresh and frozen embryo (p<0.001). AMH, AFC and FSH were not correlated with clinical or chemical pregnancy at total population or age subgroups except the significant correlation of AFC with clinical pregnancy at 33-37 years old group. AFC was correlated with oocyte count and the number of fresh and frozen embryos in the ages group 20-32 years. In this age group, AMH was correlated with fresh and frozen embryos. AMH, AFC and FSH were correlated with oocyte count and the number of fresh embryos in age group 33-37 years. AMH was correlated with oocyte count and the number of fresh embryos in 38-43 years old group.Conclusion:We concluded that the age is the superior predictor of IVF outcome and AMH and AFC are variable predicting markers of ovarian reserve in different age groups.