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Adherence to preventive recommendations improves clinical outcomes and is compulsory for long-term prevention in urolithiasis patients. Service quality can affect patients’ adherence to treatment and care. The purpose of this paper is to compare perceived service quality, using the SERVQUAL model, between urolithiasis patients who were nonadherent to their follow-up visits and those who were adherent, in a stone prevention clinic, Tehran, Iran.

This was a cross-sectional study on patients with urolithiasis referred to the Shahid-Labbafinejad Hospital stone prevention clinic between 2010 and 2014. All patients withdrawing from follow-up visits were selected as the nonadherent group. Patients with follow-up visits were randomly selected and appointed as the adherent group. Data included demographic, service quality (assessed using the SERVQUAL) and a questionnaire about the reason for withdrawal from follow-up visits. Man–Whitney U test, χ² and binary logistic regression were used for data analyses.

In total, 531 nonadherent and 51 adherent patients entered the study. SERVQUAL results revealed that patients’ expectations were significantly higher than their perceptions in all five service quality dimensions in both groups. The adherent group had better-quality scores. Responsibility, assurance and empathy scores significantly increased patient adherence odds.

Uni-center design; missing data, such as socioeconomic status and disease severity, which may influence treatment adherence; and missing data regarding adherence to medication and dietary advice were limitations.

Service quality needs to be improved in all dimensions.

Since responsiveness, assurance and empathy dimensions determined patients’ adherence, giving special attention to these dimensions could improve patient adherence.

Mushrooms have always been treasured and appreciated, thanks to their nutritional as well as medicinal properties. The purpose of this paper is to reveal these properties such as antioxidant activities and enzyme inhibition potentials of three mushroom species from Ordu, Turkey. Furthermore, phenolic profiles which are believed to be source of these properties are investigated.

The assays followed to determine total phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant contents, antioxidative and enzyme inhibition activities are spectrophotometric methods. Phenolic profiles of mushroom samples were investigated by using the HPLC system.

The highest phenolic content was found for Lactarius deliciosus. Pyrogallol was the major phenolics in all three samples. Total phenolic content values supported that finding. But, total flavonoid content was the maximum for Cantharellus cibarius. The magnitude of the antioxidant activities revealed by the different tests varied between species. Furthermore, inhibition potential degrees on acetylcholinesterase, butrylcholinesterase, tyrosinase and urease activities were worth mentioning. Lactarius pyrogalus had anti-tyrosinase activity with a 26.229 percent inhibition rate. IC₅₀ values for urease inhibition effect of mushroom samples were in the range of 0.37–0.90 mg/mL.

Enzyme inhibitory potentials for L. pyrogalus was revealed first time. On the other hand, studies on anti-tyrosinase activity of mushrooms are very rare, while almost no studies have been conducted on anti-urease activity. So, the results of present study are very valuable. Thus, the obtained data not only increase the ecological importance of the region but also provide significant contributions to the literature in terms of new sources rich in antioxidants.

Green leafy vegetables (GLVs) are important components of a balanced diet especially in developing countries where the major requirements of micronutrients are met. However, GLVs also contain significant amounts of oxalate, nitrate and nitrites, whose role in the human diet is constantly changing. The current study explored the behavior of nitrate, nitrites and oxalate in lactic-fermented GLVs with an intention to develop functional foods based on them.

Selected strains of beneficial lactic acid bacteria were used for the controlled fermentation of GLV, while an identical portion was subjected to spontaneous fermentation. The nitrate and nitrites were monitored spectrophotometrically, while oxalate contents were quantified by both titrimetric and by high-performance liquid chromatography throughout the duration of fermentation.

More than 90 per cent of individual constituents studied remained intact in the GLVs paste after the six-day controlled fermentation period. However, there was significant difference between the controlled and spontaneously fermented samples in terms of oxalate, nitrate and nitrite contents.

Controlled lactic fermentation although superior in all other aspects may not be able to lower the anti-nutrients present. The advantages of spontaneous fermentation vis-à-vis controlled fermentation are discussed. The work will bring out the importance of the beneficial effects of GLVs and the effect of lactic fermentation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between pH of water or other daily fluid intake and risk of kidney stones in adult men.

This case–control study included 120 adult men with kidney stones and 240 healthy controls matched by age. Participants were selected from the Urmia Imam Khomeini Educational Hospital in the northwest of Iran by the available sampling method between 2017 and 2018. The mean total daily fluid intake of the subjects over the past one year period was collected using a validated 139-item Food Frequency Questionnaire, and the pH of drinking water samples consumed over the past six months was determined using an electrochemical pH meter. Information on physical activity level and socio-demographic characteristics of all participants was collected.

The mean pH of daily water consumption was 7.1 ± 250.3 and 7.4%± 250.3 in case and control groups, respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analysis after adjusting for the covariates 25 a significant relationship was detected between the pH of drinking water (not for other fluid intake26) and kidney stone disease (OR = 0.15, CI 0.06–0.4, P > 1. Moreover, no association was found between the volume of total fluid intake and risk of kidney stones.

These findings support potential protective effects of drinking water intake with higher pH level on preventing kidney stones.

The purpose of this paper is to describe staff experiences in an on-going improvement project regarding patients with ureteral stones.

A qualitative descriptive study based on eight group interviews and 48 narratives, was performed. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Trustworthiness was ensured by using a well-documented improvement process method during six months.

The results formed three categories: an absent comprehensive view; complexity; and vulnerability within the organisation. A holistic perspective regarding urological care at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels is needed to improve planning and caring processes.

This study includes one team (six members, different health professionals) within the same urology department.

Results show that staff need information, such as guidelines and support throughout the improvement work to deliver high-quality care. Moreover, there is a need for evidence-based guidelines at national level to support improvement work.

Healthcare staff need to pay attention to all team member needs to improve urological care. Organisational and managerial aspect are needed to support clear and common goals regarding healthcare improvement work.

Urological improvement projects, generally, are lacking, which is why this study is important to improve nephrolithiasis patient care.

This paper aims to describe a numerical approach to the fragmentation of kidney stones by direct impact.

The numerical approach consists of a Lagrangian finite element formulation with dynamic insertion of cohesive‐free surfaces. Cohesive free surfaces are governed by a damage constitutive model whereas the continuum part of the mesh remains linear elastic. The impact of the metallic probe of the medical device is modeled with a displacement control of the nodes inside the area of impact on the stone.

The results show the relation between the total energy transmitted during the impact with the damage and the fragmentation (number of fragments and number of microcrack clusters) of the kidney stone. The paper establishes the existence of both, an activation and saturation energy level, that delimit a range optimum working energy transmitted during the impact. In particular, the computations show that, for the calcium oxalate monohydrate stone, the maximum energy supplied by the medical device (Lithoclast) coincides with the saturation energy level.

In medical investigations, the experimentation is always restricted to the availability of patients or specimens. In the particular case of the elimination of renal calculi, the literature exhibits an extensive number of works reporting the practical experience of medical doctors. However, there is still a lack of information that might help to understand and to improve the comminution of kidney stones.

Although black tea is commonly consumed in Iran, within the last years the popularity of green tea, especially green tea bags, has dramatically increased due to all scientific papers reporting that green tea has benefit impacts on human health. Considering the postulated role of increased dietary oxalate intake on calcium oxalate stone formation, this paper aimed to study the oxalate content of most popular green and black tea bags consumed in Iran.

Five green tea samples and ten black tea samples were purchased from various markets in Tabriz, Iran. The oxalate content of each sample after infusion for five minutes was measured in triplicate using an enzymatic assay. Statistical analysis used: the ANOVA with Tukey's post‐hoc test, and also an independent t‐test were used for statistical analysis.

The oxalate concentration in different brands of green tea bags ranged from 0.73 to 1.75 and from 3.69 to 6.31 mg/240 ml for black tea bags. There were significant differences in oxalate content of different brands, both in green and black tea bags (P<0.001). The mean oxalate content of green and black tea samples also differed significantly from each other (P<0.001).

From the oxalate point of view, consumption of green and black tea bags infusions several times per day may not pose significant health risks in kidney stone patients and susceptible individuals.

This paper aims to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of ethanol, methanol and aqueous extracts of the jujube fruit.

The fruit samples were harvested from Ziziphus lotus L. in three regions of Morocco: Aïn Chifae (Immouzer), Saiss (Fez) and Guercif. The fruit extracts were obtained by Soxhlet method using ethanol, methanol and water, and then a phytochemical screening was done for each extract. Total phenolic and total flavonoids contents were also determined. Afterward, the antimicrobial activity of the studied extracts was evaluated using the broth microdilution method. To estimate the total antioxidant effect of these extracts, the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) scavenging and phosphomolybdate tests were performed.

Results showed that the highest content of polyphenols and flavonoids was found for ethanol and methanol extracts, while the lowest content was found in the aqueous extracts for all populations studied. Thus, results showed that the highest content of phenolic compounds was recorded in the population of Fez. Methanol extract of this population was the richest in polyphenols (30.36 mg/g) and in flavonoids (13.03 mg/g). The antimicrobial tests showed that Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the most sensitive (6.25 mg/ml), compared to the other tested strains. Based on the minimal bactericidal concentrations/minimal fungicidal concentration or MFC/MIC ratio, it seems that ethanol extracts showed a bactericidal effect against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtillis, and a bacteriostatic effect against Enterococcus faecalis. On the other hand, the methanol extract showed bacteriostatic effect against Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In addition, methanol extracts of Ziziphus lotus have significant antioxidant potent.

Methanol and ethanol extracts of Ziziphus lotus fruit have demonstrated strong antimicrobial effect. Moreover, the authors were able to show that the extract of Ziziphus lotus fruit has a very important antioxidant power.

The purpose of this paper is to describe activities used to initiate health promotion in the school setting.

Description of successful pilot Health Promoting School (HPS) initiatives in Canada and Uganda and the validated measures central to each program. Evaluation methodologies: quantitative data from the tools used complimented by descriptive/qualitative methods.

Previously validated tools/methodologies used include: The World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts for comparison of children ' s height, weight, head circumference, and BMI against multi-ethnic standards; a 24-h dietary recall instrument to assess dietary diversity as a proxy measure of nutritional adequacy; urine analysis to evaluate baseline renal function and the effect of supplemental hydration; “photo-voice” to aid discussion of personal and community issues of concern; “role play” to promote dialogue and promote social competence; and fitness training. Each activity can combine the “curriculum content” and “healthy practices” components central to HPS concepts. All activities engaged more than 95 percent of pupils enrolled, generated positive responses, and had the potential to impact behaviors and promote health.

All the activities are inexpensive and straightforward to initiate, offer schools interested in health-promotion-driven education a broad range of potential “entry points” that can be matched to the interests/challenges of individual communities, and use validated methodologies aiding objective evaluation.

These activities foster a community empowerment (“bottom up”) approach, but are also relevant for policy makers exploring HPS to address disease prevention through lifestyle change (“top down” approach). Engagement of communities and ultimately their “ownership” of the HPS initiative have been achieved with these entry point activities.

This paper aims to review the shape sensing techniques using large area flexible electronics (LAFE). Shape perception of humanoid robots using tactile data is mainly focused.

Research papers on different shape sensing methodologies of objects with large area, published in the past 15 years, are reviewed with emphasis on contact-based shape sensors. Fiber optics based shape sensing methodology is discussed for comparison purpose.

LAFE-based shape sensors of humanoid robots incorporating advanced computational data handling techniques such as neural networks and machine learning (ML) algorithms are observed to give results with best resolution in 3D shape reconstruction.

The literature review is limited to shape sensing application either two- or three-dimensional (3D) LAFE. Optical shape sensing is briefly discussed which is widely used for small area. Optical scanners provide the best 3D shape reconstruction in the noncontact-based shape sensing; here this paper focuses only on contact-based shape sensing.

Contact-based shape sensing using polymer nanocomposites is a very economical solution as compared to optical 3D scanners. Although optical 3D scanners can provide a high resolution and fast scan of the 3D shape of the object, they require line of sight and complex image reconstruction algorithms. Using LAFE larger objects can be scanned with ML and basic electronic circuitory, which reduces the price hugely.

LAFE can be used as a wearable sensor to monitor critical biological parameters. They can be used to detect shape of large body parts and aid in designing prosthetic devices. Tactile sensing in humanoid robots is accomplished by electronic skin of the robot which is a prime example of human–machine interface at workplace.

This paper reviews a unique feature of LAFE in shape sensing of large area objects. It provides insights from mechanical, electrical, hardware and software perspective in the sensor design. The most suitable approach for large object shape sensing using LAFE is also suggested.