Background and Objective: Gestational diabetes is one of the most common metabolic disorders during pregnancy. In order to find out a simple and cost effective method with acceptable sensitivity and specificity, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and one hour 50-g glucose challenge test (OGCT) were compared in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study, pregnant women without preexisting diabetes underwent FPG and OGCT tests between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation. If the OGCT threshold values exceeded ≥ 130 mg/dl, the 100g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was performed using Carpenter and Coustan criteria. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the two tests. Results: GDM was diagnosed in 7.3% and impaired glucose tolerance in 3.2%. The best cut-off points for GCT and FPG were 134mg/dl(sensitivity: 99.24%, specificity: 76.57%) and 87mg/dl(sensitivity: 80.15%, specificity: 85.62%).By using GCT, an optimal cut-off values of GCT<135mg/dl (sensitivity: 96.95%) to rule out GDM and values ≥ 165mg/dl (specifity: 96.10%) to rule in GDM, would eliminate the need for the OGTT in 80.1% women (misclassification rate: 3.83%). By using FPG, an optimal cut-off values of <76mg/dl (sensitivity: 95.42%) to rule out GDM and values ≥ 91mg/dl (specifity: 95.56%) to rule in GDM, would eliminate the need for the OGTT in 51% women (misclassification rate: 4.43%). Conclusion: The results showed that the best test for predicting macrosomia, preterm delivery and caesarian section is OGCT and for preeclampsia and respiratory distress is FPG. As OGCT can decrease the necessity of OGTT performance with lower misclassification rate comparing to FPG, OGCT would be the best screening test for GDM in Iran.

Background and Objective: Anopheles maculipennis is one of the most important species of mosquito that can cause serious public health problems worldwide and applying insecticides and synthetic repellents are the current methods used for its control. The continuous application of these chemicals increases the probability of resistance, reduces insecticide efficiency and causes environmental problems. Therefore, introducing alternative substances (especially natural repellents) to control programs is necessary. The aim of this study was to compare the repellency effect of Ziziphoratenuior essential oil (EO) with DEET.
Materials and Methods: Ziziphoratenuior was collected from Zanjan and its EO was extracted from dried leaves via a hydro-distillation process. The chief components of the essential oil were identified through the GC-mass method and serial dilutions of the essential oil and DEET were prepared. Adult An. Maculipennis’ were collected and kept in a laboratory. Contact bioassays were conducted by 9 volunteers, through a single-blind study where their arms were impregnated with repellent solutions. Non-blood fed female mosquitoes were exposed to different doses of repellents. The effective doses of 50% (ED₅₀) and 90% (ED₉₀) and duration of repellency were determined for each repellent.
Results: Thymol, geraniol and carvacrol are the chief components of Ziziphora EO and form 36.2%, 11.16% and 4.9% of it, respectively. The ED50 and ED90 for this EO against An. Maculipennis were 1.7 and 3.67 mg/cm², respectively. A 30% Ziziphorasolution prevented biting for 240 minutes. The response of An. Maculipennis to Ziziphora EO in high doses was similar to that of DEET, however, this response differed in doses lower than 1 mg/cm².
Conclusion: Ziziphora essential oil 30% solution has similar repellency effect to DEET and can prevent biting of An. Maculipennis for 240 minutes. Synergists could be added to increase its effectiveness and electrophysiologic studies could determine the mechanism of action of thymol and carvacrol at molecular levels.