Nanotechnology has become in recent years a topic of great interest to scientists and engineers, and is now established as prioritized research area in many countries. The reduction of the size to the nanometer range brings an array of new possibilities in terms of material properties, in particular with respect to achievable surface to volume ratios. Electrospinning of natural fibers is a novel process for producing superfine fibers by forcing a solution through a spinneret with an electric field. An experimental study on this technique has been made in this paper and the effect of systematic parameters on electrospun nanofibers were critically analyzed. Based on this study, the key process parameters have been identified according to our experimental observations. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Ovarian cancer is known as a serious malignancy that affects women’s reproductive tract and can considerably threat their health. A wide range of molecular mechanisms and genetic modifications have been involved in ovarian cancer pathogenesis making it difficult to develop effective therapeutic platforms. Hence, discovery and developing new therapeutic approaches are required. Medicinal plants, as a new source of drugs, could potentially be used alone or in combination with other medicines in the treatment of various cancers such as ovarian cancer. Among various natural compounds, quercetin has shown great anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. In vitro and in vivo experiments have revealed that quercetin possesses a cytotoxic impact on ovarian cancer cells. Despite obtaining good results both in vitro and in vivo, few clinical studies have assessed the anti-cancer effects of quercetin particularly in the ovarian cancer. Therefore, it seems that further clinical studies may introduce quercetin as therapeutic agent alone or in combination with other chemotherapy drugs to the clinical setting. Here, we not only summarize the anti-cancer effects of quercetin but also highlight the therapeutic effects of quercetin in the ovarian cancer.

Ionic liquids, as a special class of organic compounds, have attracted ever‐growing interest in recent years. They have been employed in many organic transformations as a green alternative to volatile organic solvents and as a catalyst to modify catalytic activity and recyclability. Recent developments have demonstrated that ionic liquids might also have many benefits in asymmetric reactions. In this review, we survey the use of ionic liquids in asymmetric transformations, including the use of ionic liquids as reaction media in asymmetric reactions, ionic‐liquid‐tagged chiral catalysts for use in asymmetric synthesis, and supported ionic liquid catalysts in asymmetric transformations.

A novel halloysite-hydrochar nanocomposite has been prepared and applied for the immobilization of Pd NPs to furnish an efficient catalyst for the hydrogenation of nitroarenes. It was confirmed that use of a catalytic amount of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) could improve the yield of the reaction significantly. With the aim of investigation of the effect of combination of Hal and Char, Char surface modification, and the way of use of β-CD on the catalytic activity, several control catalysts were prepared and their catalytic activities were compared with that of the catalyst. It was confirmed that the use of Hal-Char as a support was more effective than the use of each component individually. Moreover, the use of β-CD in its free form was more efficient than incorporating it to the framework of the catalyst or as a capping agent. It was also found that Char in its unmodified form was more efficient than modified ones. To justify the results, a precise study was carried out by comparing the

Background: Colorectal cancers, including colon, rectum and anus, are relatively prevalent in Iran. Use of opium and its derivatives is also considerably prevalent in some areas in Iran. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the association between use of opium and its derivatives, and incidence of lower gastrointestinal (LGI) cancers. Methods: This study was a matched case-control study in Shiraz (south of Iran). Cases were the new colorectal cancers from cancer registry center of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and controls were selected from healthy volunteers of cases' neighbors matched for age and gender (2 controls per 1 case). Data related to consumption of opium and its derivatives, smoking, alcohol use and diet status were collected through a structured questionnaire. The conditional logistic regression models were used to assess all associations. Results: 160 cases and 320 controls participated in the present study with non-response rate less than 9 %. Opium use was associated with increased risk of colorectal cancer (adjusted OR = 4.4; 95% CI: 2.2 -8.8). Also, a dose-response association was observed between cumulative consumption of opium and the colorectal cancer incidence (OR = 3.8; 95% CI: 1.5 -9.1), and (OR = 4.6; 95% CI: 1.7 -12.0) for low and high use, respectively. Also, the significant dose-response association was observed for low (OR = 3.4; 95% CI: 1.2 -9.2) and high (OR = 7.7; 95% CI: 1.5 -38.6) opium use with presence of colon cancer. Conclusions:The results of this study showed that opium use can be an important risk factor for colorectal cancer in Iran.