Bone mineral density and muscle mass in adults with developmental skeletal discrepancies.

BACKGROUND: It was aimed to investigate the musculoskeletal status in individuals diagnosed with skeletal discrepancies. METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 35 patients with developmental skeletal discrepancies listed for orthognathic surgery as a case group and 33 patients who were nominated for wisdom tooth removal as a control group. All participants were aged 18-40 years and the research was carried out in the period between May 2018 and May 2019. Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was used to assess bone mass density at three bone sites: total hip, femoral neck, and the spinal lumbar vertebrae (L1-L4). The appendicular muscle mass index (ASMI) was measured based on the four limbs from the DEXA scan. RESULTS: Our data showed that 45.7% (16) of the case group were osteopenic or osteoporotic while in the control group only 21.2% (7) were osteopenic in at least one region (total hip, femoral neck, or lumbar) (p-value = 0.03). Regarding muscle mass, there was significantly lower SMI in subjects with skeletal discrepancies (case group) compared with the control group (median (IQR) 5.9 (2.5) vs. 6.8 (2.9) (kg/m2), respectively, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: There is an essential need for more studies to understand the exact interrelationship between musculoskeletal status and skeletal jaw discrepancies.

Toxicity Effects of Engineered Iron Nanoparticles (Fe3O4) on the Growth, Cell Density, and Pigment Content of Chlorella vulgaris.

This study investigated the effects of Fe3O4 nanoparticles released from synthesized thiourea catalyst on the biological aspects of Chlorella vulgaris. Fe3O4 concentrations (0, 10, 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 mg L-1) were used for the exposure tests. Biological parameters of C. vulgaris, including cell density, cell viability, and pigment content, were assessed. Bioconcentration and bioaccumulation factors were evaluated for contaminated microalgae. Non-carcinogenic risks were then assessed using target hazard quotient (THQ) for potential risks in human consumptions. Findings showed that C. vulgaris cell number increased from 0 to 500 mg L-1 of Fe3O4 concentration. Chlorophyll a represented a time-dependent response, and greatest values were detected in 250 and 500 mg L-1 Fe3O4 at 4.2 and 4 mg/g, respectively. Chlorophyll b content showed a time-related manner in exposure to Fe3O4 with the highest values recorded at 250 mg L-1 after 96 h. Moreover, bioaccumulation displayed a dose-dependent response at 15,000 µg/g dw in 1000 mg L-1, whereas the lowest concentration was in the control group at 1700 µg/g dw. The bioconcentration factor showed a concentration-relevant decrease in all iron treatments and 10 mg L-1 of Fe3O4 represented the greatest BCF at 327.3611. Non-carcinogenic risks illustrated negligible hazard (THQ < 1) and the largest EDI and THQ were calculated in 1000 mg L-1 at 7.4332E-07 (mg kg-1 day-1) and 1.06189E-09, respectively. Together, iron is an essential trace element for biological purposes in aquatic systems, but in exceeding concentrations could impose toxicity effects to C. vulgaris populations.

A review of the molecular pathways mediating the improvement in diabetes mellitus following caloric restriction.

Lifestyle modification is the cornerstone of diabetes prevention and treatment. Weight loss through caloric restriction (CR) is effective in improving glycemic control, though it is difficult for patients to follow in practice, and remains critical to achieve optimal glucose homeostasis. In this review, we look at what is known about the molecular pathways involved in CR-induced insulin sensitivity and improved insulin resistance.

Microfunnel-filter-based emulsification microextraction followed by gas chromatography for simple determination of organophosphorus pesticides in environmental water samples.

A simple and fast method named microfunnel-filter-based emulsification microextraction is introduced for an efficient determination of some organophosphorus pesticides including diazinon, malathion, and chlorpyrifos in the environmental samples including the river, sea, and well water. This method is based upon the dispersion of a low-toxicity organic solvent (dihexyl ether), as the extractant, in a high volume of an aqueous sample solution (45 mL). It is implemented without a centrifugation step, and using a syringe filter and a micro-funnel, the phase separation and transfer of the enriched analytes to the gas chromatograph are simply achieved. By filtration of the extractant phase, a suitable sample clean-up is obtained, and the total extraction time is just a few minutes. The factors influencing the extraction efficiency are optimized, and under the optimal conditions, the proposed method provides a good linearity (in the range of 15-1500 ng/mL (R2  > 0.996). A high enrichment factor is obtained (in the range of 306-342), and the method provides low limits of detection and quantification (in the ranges of 4-8 and 15-25 ng/mL, respectively).

Solvent-vapor-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction: A novel method for the determination of phthalate esters in aqueous samples using GC-MS.

A novel liquid-liquid microextraction method, namely, solvent-vapor-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction for the determination of dimethyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate in the aqueous samples using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry was developed. In the proposed method, extracting solvent was heated, and solvent vapor as the extracting phase was injected into the sample solution. As a result of the low temperature of the sample solution and higher density of the extracting phase than the aqueous medium, solvent vapor was condensed and an organic-phase drop formed in the bottom of sample tube. Because of the gas status of the extracting solvent, the surface area between the extracting solvent and the aqueous sample was remarkably high. Under the optimized conditions, tetrachloride carbon was used as an extracting solvent. The method shows high coefficient of determination (R2 ) values in the range of 0.5-200 and 1.0-200 ng/mL for the target analytes. Enrichment factors and limits of detection for the studied phthalates are obtained in the ranges of 2800-3000 and 0.15-0.3 ng/mL, respectively. Recoveries and relative standard deviations were in the range of 80.0-100.0 and 2.2-7.8%, respectively. The proposed method successfully used for analysis of several aqueous samples.

The effect of synbiotic supplementation on hypothyroidism: A randomized double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: We hypothesize that synbiotic supplementation could modulate the intestinal microbiota and subsequently, improve the condition of hypothyroid patients. METHODS: Fifty-six adult hypothyroid patients were recruited to this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. The intervention was 10 weeks of synbiotic (500 mg of 109 CFU/g probiotics plus fructo-oligosaccharide, n = 28) compared to placebo (lactose, magnesium stearate, talc, and silicon dioxide, n = 28). Randomization and allocation to trial groups were carried out using random number sequences drawn from https://sealedenvelope.com/. Primary outcomes were serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4), and secondary outcomes were depression, quality of life, and blood pressure (BP). P-values< 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Analysis on 51 patients who completed the trial showed that TSH and depression (p> 0.05) did not change significantly, while serum FT4 significantly increased in both groups (p = 0.03 and p = 0.02 in symbiotic and placebo respectively). A significant decrease in systolic BP occurred only in the synbiotic group (p = 0.05). Significant improvements occurred regarding different domains and areas of quality of life in the crude and adjusted analysis, including perceived mental health (p = 0.02), bodily pain (p = 0.02), general health perception (p = 0.002), and wellbeing (p = 0.002), which were significantly higher in the synbiotic group. CONCLUSIONS: Ten-week supplementation with synbiotic had no favorable effect on depression and TSH, but it improved blood pressure and quality of life in patients with hypothyroidism. More trials are needed to support or reject these findings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: IRCT20210926052583N1, Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT), registered October 1st, 2021.

The effect of synbiotic supplementation on thyroid hormones, blood pressure, depression and quality of life in hypothyroid patients: A study protocol for a randomized double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of hypothyroidism is increasing worldwide. Emerging evidence suggests that modulating the gut microbiota in patients with hypothyroidism through prebiotic and probiotic supplementation may have beneficial health effects. We hypothesize that selective modulation of the intestinal microbiota by synbiotic supplementation could improve metabolic status, mood, and quality of life in hypothyroid patients. METHODS: Fifty-six patients with immune and non-immune-related hypothyroidism will be recruited to this double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial with a parallel design. Eligible patients will be selected according to the inclusion criteria through a random sampling method, and will be randomly allocated to 10 weeks of synbiotic therapy or placebo. The primary outcome will be serum thyroid hormones including FT4 and TSH. Secondary outcomes will be systolic & diastolic blood pressure, depression, and quality of life. The data will be compared within and between groups using statistical methods via STATA software (version 14). This study will be conducted at Baqiyatallah hospital, Tehran, Iran. DISCUSSION: Preliminary studies indicate that synbiotic therapy may be a promising, tolerable, and cost-efficient therapy for lowering serum concentrations of thyroid hormones and complications of hypothyroidism. We hope the results of the present trial, positive or negative, will provide high quality proof-of-concept data to elucidate the possible efficacy of this innocuous nutritional therapy in hypothyroidism, and the results could be translated into clinical benefit. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The research is a registered clinical trial (Registration number: IRCT20210926052583N1, Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT), registered October 11, 2019.

Computational investigation on the geometry and electronic structures and absorption spectra of metal-porphyrin-oligo- phenyleneethynylenes-[60] fullerene triads.

In this work, we focus our attention on the influence of 2nd-row transition metals on the structural geometries, electronic structures, and absorption characteristics of porphyrin linked with the C60 fullerene with oligo-p-phenyleneethynylenes (MP-C60-oligo-PPEs) compounds. The DFT/B3PW91-D3 and CAM-B3LYP-D3/6-31G (d) calculations revealed that various metals embedded within the porphyrin moiety give different bridge conformations and different HOMO-LUMO energy levels. We calculate the UV-Vis spectra and absorption parameters using the time-dependent ZINDO/S approach. Our findings indicate that all the compounds have enhanced absorptions in the visible light range, and their molecular orbital energies adopt the condition of sensitizers. However, all of the complexes except down spin states exhibit considerably charge spatial separation. The results suggest that the ZnP-C60-oligo-PPEs triad can meet the necessary conditions of the sensitizer of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) in comparison with other counterparts and could be an optimum triad compound for potential application in photovoltaic devices.

Knowledge Graph-Enabled Text-Based Automatic Personality Prediction.

How people think, feel, and behave primarily is a representation of their personality characteristics. By being conscious of the personality characteristics of individuals whom we are dealing with or deciding to deal with, one can competently ameliorate the relationship, regardless of its type. With the rise of Internet-based communication infrastructures (social networks, forums, etc.), a considerable amount of human communications takes place there. The most prominent tool in such communications is the language in written and spoken form that adroitly encodes all those essential personality characteristics of individuals. Text-based Automatic Personality Prediction (APP) is the automated forecasting of the personality of individuals based on the generated/exchanged text contents. This paper presents a novel knowledge graph-enabled approach to text-based APP that relies on the Big Five personality traits. To this end, given a text, a knowledge graph, which is a set of interlinked descriptions of concepts, was built by matching the input text's concepts with DBpedia knowledge base entries. Then, due to achieving a more powerful representation, the graph was enriched with the DBpedia ontology, NRC Emotion Intensity Lexicon, and MRC psycholinguistic database information. Afterwards, the knowledge graph, which is now a knowledgeable alternative for the input text, was embedded to yield an embedding matrix. Finally, to perform personality predictions, the resulting embedding matrix was fed to four suggested deep learning models independently, which are based on convolutional neural network (CNN), simple recurrent neural network (RNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM). The results indicated considerable improvements in prediction accuracies in all of the suggested classifiers.

Text-based automatic personality prediction using KGrAt-Net: a knowledge graph attention network classifier.

Nowadays, a tremendous amount of human communications occur on Internet-based communication infrastructures, like social networks, email, forums, organizational communication platforms, etc. Indeed, the automatic prediction or assessment of individuals' personalities through their written or exchanged text would be advantageous to ameliorate their relationships. To this end, this paper aims to propose KGrAt-Net, which is a Knowledge Graph Attention Network text classifier. For the first time, it applies the knowledge graph attention network to perform Automatic Personality Prediction (APP), according to the Big Five personality traits. After performing some preprocessing activities, it first tries to acquire a knowing-full representation of the knowledge behind the concepts in the input text by building its equivalent knowledge graph. A knowledge graph collects interlinked descriptions of concepts, entities, and relationships in a machine-readable form. Practically, it provides a machine-readable cognitive understanding of concepts and semantic relationships among them. Then, applying the attention mechanism, it attempts to pay attention to the most relevant parts of the graph to predict the personality traits of the input text. We used 2467 essays from the Essays Dataset. The results demonstrated that KGrAt-Net considerably improved personality prediction accuracies (up to 70.26% on average). Furthermore, KGrAt-Net also uses knowledge graph embedding to enrich the classification, which makes it even more accurate (on average, 72.41%) in APP.

A model to measure the spread power of rumors.

With technologies that have democratized the production and reproduction of information, a significant portion of daily interacted posts in social media has been infected by rumors. Despite the extensive research on rumor detection and verification, so far, the problem of calculating the spread power of rumors has not been considered. To address this research gap, the present study seeks a model to calculate the Spread Power of Rumor (SPR) as the function of content-based features in two categories: False Rumor (FR) and True Rumor (TR). For this purpose, the theory of Allport and Postman will be adopted, which it claims that importance and ambiguity are the key variables in rumor-mongering and the power of rumor. Totally 42 content features in two categories "importance" (28 features) and "ambiguity" (14 features) are introduced to compute SPR. The proposed model is evaluated on two datasets, Twitter and Telegram. The results showed that (i) the spread power of False Rumor documents is rarely more than True Rumors. (ii) there is a significant difference between the SPR means of two groups False Rumor and True Rumor. (iii) SPR as a criterion can have a positive impact on distinguishing False Rumors and True Rumors.

The glycocalyx, a novel key in understanding of mechanism of diabetic nephropathy: a commentary.

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease that usually causes disrupts the function of the body's organs and can eventually lead to cardiomyopathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, and neuropathy. Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most common cause of chronic kidney disease and causes chronic structural changes in different parts of the affected kidney. Glycocalyx layer is one of the most important components of the vascular base found in the endothelium throughout the body's arteries and it has been shown that glycocalyx is also damaged during diabetic nephropathy. Our goal is to conduct this systematic review study is to find the cause-and-effect relationship between glycocalyx and diabetic nephropathy and also to clarify the role of the endothelial renal glycocalyx in understanding of mechanism of the course of diabetic nephropathy, and to provide an accurate background for further important studies. METHODS: All databases included MEDLINE (PubMed), Science Direct, Scopus, Ovid and Google Scholar were systematically searched for related published articles. In all databases, the following search strategy was implemented and these key words (in the title/abstract) were used: "diabetes" AND "glycocalyx" OR "diabetic nephropathy" AND "glycocalyx". RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 19 articles were retrieved from all databases using search strategy. After screening based on the title and abstract, number of 17 of them selected for full text assessment. Finally, after extracting the key points and making connections between the articles, we came up with new points to consider. It can be said that diabetes with the action of reactive oxygen species through oxidative stress, increases ICAM-1 and TNF-α and decreases heparanase enzyme, it affects the glomerular endothelium and eventually leads to albuminuria and destruction of the Glx layer. CONCLUSION: Diabetes causes super-structural changes in the kidney nephrons at the glomerular level. The glomerular filter barrier, which includes the epithelial cell called the podocyte, endothelial pore cells, and basal membrane of the glomerulus, plays a major role in stabilizing the selective glomerular function in healthy individuals. Diabetic nephropathy also causes changes in endothelial glycocalyx.

Investigating the demographic characteristics and pathological manifestations of thyroid Cancer during the last two decades (1997-2017) in patients referred to Baqiyatallah hospital, Tehran, Iran.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Thyroid cancer is among the most common endocrine cancers, and its incidence in our country is in progress over the past decades. This aggravates the necessity to evaluate the changes in thyroid cancer. MATERIALS & METHODS: Through accessing the information of the records of all patients with a diagnosis of thyroid cancer between 1996 and 2017, the present study was conducted at Baqiyatallah Hospital (Tehran, Iran) according to scientific criteria. After the diagnosis, most of them also underwent surgery and were evaluated in terms of the rate of the involvement and the type of thyroid cancer, and the pathology report was recorded in their records. Information about the intended patients such as age, gender, pathologic type of cancer, associated with the patient (except thyroid cancer), and history of radiation to the patient were recorded in a standard form and subjected to statistical analysis. Demographic changes and pathological manifestations of cancers in the two decades (1997-2007) and (2007-2017) were compared. But comparisons have been made over five years. RESULTS: The incidence of thyroid cancer, especially papillary thyroid cancer type, was increasing at an early age, and the incidence of tumor size measuring 2-4 cm was rising. But the incidence of tumor sizes less than one centimeter declined. The amount of vascular and capsule involvement was about 3 times, and lymph node involvement was nearly 2 times. The increasing incidence of 2-4 cm tumor size in the age group of 20-50 years was more than other age groups. CONCLUSION: The incidence of thyroid cancer was increasing at an early age, and the enhancement of papillary thyroid type was higher than other types. As well as, in this study, it was found that the incidence of 2-4 cm tumor sizes was rising.

Isoniazid-functionalized Fe3O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles as a Green and Efficient Catalyst for the Synthesis of 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones and their Sulfur Derivatives.

BACKGROUND: A wide variety of dihydropyrimidins (DHPMs) exhibit pharmacological and biological activities. Herein, an efficient one-pot synthesis of some 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one derivatives is reported using Fe3O4 @SiO2-Pr-INH. OBJECTIVE: Recently, several catalysts have been used to improve the Biginellis-reaction. However, some of these catalysts have imperfections. Herein, a convenient method for the synthesis of 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin- 2(1H)-ones and their sulfur derivatives using Fe3O4 @SiO2-Pr-INH is reported. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Firstly, the catalyst was synthesized through a simple four-step method. The Fe3O4 MNPs were synthesized using the chemical co-precipitation method, coated with a layer of silica using TEOS, and then functionalized with CPTMS. Subsequently, a nucleophilic substitution of Cl by isoniazid resulted in the formation of the magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2-Pr-INH. After the preparation and characterization of Fe3O4@SiO2-Pr-INH, its catalytic activity was studied in the synthesis of 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one derivatives. Following the optimization of the reaction conditions, several 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one derivatives were synthesized by the reaction of ethyl acetoacetate or acetylacetone, thiourea or urea and aromatic aldehydes at 80 °C under solvent-free conditions. RESULTS: Isoniazid-functionalized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2-Pr-INH) were prepared using Fe3O4 with silica layer and their surface was modified with isoniazid. They were characterized successfully by infrared spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and were used for the synthesis of some 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one derivatives as catalysts. Aromatic aldehydes with electron-donating or electron-withdrawing groups afforded 3, 4- dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones and their sulfur derivatives in good to excellent yields in short reaction times. CONCLUSION: Isoniazid-functionalized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2-Pr-INH) were used as an efficient catalyst for Biginelli-type synthesis of 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones and 3, 4-dihydropyrimidin- 2(1H)-thiones in good to excellent yields and short reaction times. It is noteworthy that this method has several advantages such as simple experimental procedures, the absence of solvent, environmentally benign process, stability and reusability of the catalyst.

Choroidal Thickness and Hemoglobin A1c Levels in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the correlation of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels with choroidal thickness in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS: In this prospective case series, 180 eyes from 90 patients with type 2 DM were classified into three study groups based on HbA1c values: group 1 included patients with good glycemic control (HbA1c ≤ 7%), group 2 included patients with moderate glycemic control (HbA1c between 7% and 8%), and group 3 included patients with poor glycemic control (HbA1c ≥ 8%). Additionally, 50 eyes from 25 non-diabetic subjects were enrolled to group 4 as a control group. Sub-foveal, nasal, and temporal choroidal thickness were measured and compared. RESULTS: Mean central, nasal, and temporal choroidal thicknesses in diabetic patients (247.80, 238.63, and 239.30 µ m) were significantly less than non-diabetic healthy subjects (277.56, 262.92, and 266.32 µ m). Additionally, mean central, nasal, and temporal choroidal thickness values in group 4 (277.56, 262.92, and 266.32 µ m) were significantly greater than the corresponding values in group 2 (248.34, 237.55, and 236.45 µ m) and group 3 (239.81, 234.62, and 233.94 µ m), but was not significantly different from corresponding values in group 1 (259.46, 246.12, and 251.00 µ m). CONCLUSION: HbA1c values have a significant correlation with choroidal thickness in diabetic patients, and better glycemic control with HbA1c ≤ 7% may prevent choroidal thinning.

Simultaneous removal of Pb(II), Cd(II) and bacteria from aqueous solution using amino-functionalized Fe3O4/NaP zeolite nanocomposite.

Fe3O4/NaP nanocomposite was synthesized and modified using 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (3-APTS)-functionalization. Fe3O4/NaP/NH2 was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, elemental analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, vibrating sample magnetometer, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and thermogravimetric analysis techniques. Batch adsorption studies of Pb(II) and Cd(II) on Fe3O4/NaP/NH2 were investigated. The effect of experimental parameters (including pH, adsorbent dose, heavy metals' concentration, adsorption time and temperature) was studied. The results indicated that Fe3O4/NaP/NH2 have a high removal percent for Pb(II) and Cd(II) (more than 95%). The metal-loaded Fe3O4/NaP/NH2 nanocomposite could be recovered from the aqueous solution by magnetic separation and regenerated easily by acid treatment. The experimental data were fitted to Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Kaganer-Radushkevich (DKR) isotherm models. The Langmuir equation showed a better correlation with the experimental data than the other two models. The adsorption kinetics data were found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic model for Pb(II) and pseudo-first-order for Cd(II). The thermodynamic parameters (ΔG, ΔH and ΔS) were measured and the negative value of Gibbs energy indicated that the adsorption process was spontaneous in nature. The in vitro antibacterial activity of Fe3O4/NaP/NH2 composites before and after removal of metals show good inhibition on bacterial growth against Bacillus subtilis (as Gram-positive bacteria) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (as Gram-negative bacteria), and the antibacterial activity of it comparison with standard drugs.

Simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of mercury and palladium with Thio-Michler's Ketone using partial least squares regression and orthogonal signal correction.

A simple, novel and sensitive spectrophotometric method was described for simultaneous determination of mercury and palladium. The method is based on the complex formation of mercury and palladium with Thio-Michler's Ketone (TMK) at pH 3.5. All factors affecting on the sensitivity were optimized and the linear dynamic range for determination of mercury and palladium found. The simultaneous determination of mercury and palladium mixtures by using spectrophotometric method is a difficult problem, due to spectral interferences. By multivariate calibration methods such as partial least squares (PLS), it is possible to obtain a model adjusted to the concentration values of the mixtures used in the calibration range. Orthogonal signal correction (OSC) is a preprocessing technique used for removing the information unrelated to the target variables based on constrained principal component analysis. OSC is a suitable preprocessing method for PLS calibration of mixtures without loss of prediction capacity using spectrophotometric method. In this study, the calibration model is based on absorption spectra in the 360-660 nm range for 25 different mixtures of mercury and palladium. Calibration matrices were containing 0.025-1.60 and 0.05-0.50 microg mL(-1) of mercury and palladium, respectively. The RMSEP for mercury and palladium with OSC and without OSC were 0.013, 0.006 and 0.048, 0.030, respectively. This procedure allows the simultaneous determination of mercury and palladium in synthetic and real matrix samples good reliability of the determination.

Negative correlation of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and bone mineral density in postmenopausal Iranian women with vitamin D deficiency.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the association between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and bone status taking into account serum vitamin D levels in postmenopausal Iranian women. METHODS: During January 2015 and February 2016, a total of 488 postmenopausal Iranian women participated in this cross-sectional study, all of whom were not taking osteoporosis medication and were not suffering from any chronic disorder. Dual X-ray absorptiometry was used to assess bone mineral density (BMD) of the total hip, femoral neck, and lumbar vertebrae (L2-L4). Each person was categorized based on the World Health Organization osteoporosis criteria in at least one skeletal region. At the end of the data collection, lipid profiles and vitamin D levels were measured for all participants. Vitamin D serum levels less than 30 ng/mL were defined as vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency. RESULTS: 27.9% of all participants displayed osteoporosis. Osteoporotic participants tended to be older with higher HDL serum levels (P < 0.001). No significant difference was seen in low-density of lipoprotein, total triglyceride, and total cholesterol levels among participants (P > 0.05). In a univariate model, after adjusting for age, menopausal age, obesity, physical activity, and use of antihyperlipidemic drugs (statins), there were significant negative associations among HDL levels and BMD values and T-score in the three regions (P < 0.004). Interestingly, after classification of participants based on vitamin D levels and adjustment for confounding factors, these significant negative associations between HDL levels and BMD values as well as T-score were observed only in participants with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, in the three regions (P < 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that in postmenopausal women with vitamin D deficiency, serum levels of HDL have negative correlation with bone status.

Epigenetic Alterations and Exposure to Air Pollutants: Protocol for a Birth Cohort Study to Evaluate the Association Between Adverse Birth Outcomes and Global DNA Methylation.

BACKGROUND: Prenatal exposure to air pollutants can increase the risk of adverse birth outcomes and susceptibility to a number of complex disorders later in life. Despite this general understanding, the molecular and cellular responses to air pollution exposure during early life are not completely clear. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study are to test the association between air pollution and adverse pregnancy outcomes, and to determine whether the levels of maternal and cord blood and of placental DNA methylation during pregnancy predict adverse birth outcomes in polluted areas. METHODS: This is a birth cohort study. We will enroll pregnant healthy women attending prenatal care clinics in Tehran, Iran, who are resident in selected polluted and unpolluted regions before the 14th week of pregnancy. We will calculate the regional background levels of fine particulate matter (particles with a diameter between 2.5 and 10 µm) and nitrogen dioxide for all regions of by using data from the Tehran Air Quality Control Company. Then, we will select 2 regions as the polluted and unpolluted areas of interest. Healthy mothers living in the selected polluted and non polluted regions will be enrolled in this study. A maternal health history questionnaire will be completed at each trimester. During the first and second trimester, we will draw mothers' blood for biochemical and DNA methylation analyses. At the time of delivery time, we will collect maternal and cord blood for biochemical, gene expression, and DNA methylation analyses. We will also record birth outcomes (the newborn's sex, birth date, birth weight and length, gestational age, Apgar score, and level of neonatal care required). RESULTS: The project was funded in March 2016 and enrollment will be completed in August 2017. Data analysis is under way, and the first results are expected to be submitted for publication in November 2017. CONCLUSIONS: We supposed that prenatal exposures to air pollutants can influence fetal reprogramming by epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation. This could explain the association between air pollution and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Impact of air pollution on vitamin D deficiency and bone health in adolescents.

The association between air pollution and bone health was evaluated in adolescents in the city of Tehran. This study is essentially ecological. Vitamin D deficiency among adolescents has been reported at higher rates in polluted areas than in non-polluted areas. Additionally, residence in polluted areas is associated with lower levels of bone alkaline phosphatase. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between ambient air pollution and bone turnover in adolescents and to compare the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency between polluted and non-polluted areas of Tehran. METHODS: This cross-sectional population-based study was conducted on 325 middle- and high-school students (both girls and boys) in Tehran in the winter. During the study period, detailed daily data on air pollution were obtained from archived data collected by Tehran Air Quality Control Company (AQCC). Serum levels of calcium, phosphorus, parathyroid hormone (PTH), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, 25(OH) vitamin D, osteocalcin, cross-linked C-telopeptide (CTX), total protein, albumin, and creatinine were obtained from the study group. RESULTS: Vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent in polluted areas than in non-polluted areas. After adjustment for age and sex, residence in the polluted area showed a statistically significant positive association with vitamin D deficiency and a statistically significant negative association with bone turnover. Interestingly, high calcium intake (>5000 mg/week) protects against the effects of air pollution on bone turnover. CONCLUSIONS: Air pollution is a chief factor determining the amount of solar UVB that reaches the earth's surface. Thus, atmospheric pollution may play a significant independent role in the development of vitamin D deficiency.