Relationship of thyroid dysfunction and its manifestations in diabetes mellitus patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: Both diabetes mellitus (DM) and thyroid dysfunction (TD) are endocrinopathies that are frequently inclined to coexist in patients. Most studies avoid explicitly supporting or opposing testing thyroid function for diabetic patients as a baseline. The association between hypothyroidism and diabetes is considerable when assessing thyroid functions in diabetic individuals based on clinical suspicion. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the relationship between thyroid dysfunction and its manifestations in DM patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study included 301 DM subjects. A questionnaire divided into two sections was administered to all participants. The first section involved questions about diabetes control, monitoring, and disease severity. The second section included questions about thyroid disease and the 14-item Hypothyroidism Clinical Prediction (HCP) score we created for our research. The HCP score was obtained by summing up all discrete scores for different symptoms of hypothyroidism. ROC curve analysis was used to assess the predicted hypothyroidism cases based on the most precise cut-off point for the HCP overall score (highest sensitivity and specificity). HCP discriminant ability for detecting hypothyroid cases was assessed considering the Area Under the Curve (AUC) as a measurement. RESULTS: Almost 53 (17.6%) diabetes mellitus subjects were previously diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Comparatively, regarding the given cut-off point, the total number of predicted hypothyroidism cases using the HCP score was 149 (49.5%). The most reported symptoms included tiredness (75%), followed by irritability (72%), and difficulty in losing weight (65%). Hypothyroidism was detected/predicted among 60.1% of female diabetics vs. 44.2% of males with recorded statistical significance (p=.006). CONCLUSIONS: This study further proves a significant association between diabetes and hypothyroidism in Saudi Arabia. We recommend periodic screening for thyroid dysfunction in the diabetic population in specific cases; since some patients with diabetes are more likely to have hypothyroidism based on their clinical presentation.

On the predictability of short-lived particulate matter around a cement plant in Kerman, Iran: machine learning analysis.

One of the greatest environmental risks in the cement industry is particulate matter emission (i.e., PM2.5 and PM10). This paper aims to develop descriptive-analytical solutions for increasing the accuracy of predicting particulate matter emissions using resample data of Kerman cement plant. Photometer instruments DUST TRAK and BS-EN-12341 method were used to determine concentration of PM2.5 and PM10. Sampling was performed on 4 environmental stations of Kerman cement plant in the four seasons. In order to accurate assessment of particulate matter concentration, a new model was proposed to resample cement plant time series data using Pandas in Python. The effect of meteorological parameters including wind speed, relative humidity, air temperature and rainfall on the particulate matter concentration was investigated through statistical analysis. The results indicated that the maximum annual average of 24-h of PM2.5 belonged to the east side (opposite the clinker depot) in 2019 (31.50 µg m-3) and west side (in front of the mine) in 2020 (31.00 µg m-3). Also, maximum annual average of 24-h of PM10 belonged to the west side (in front of the mine) in 2020 (121.00 µg m-3) and east side (opposite the clinker depot) in 2020 (120.75 µg m-3). The PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations are more than the allowable limit. The results demonstrate that particulate matter concentration increases with increasing relative humidity and rainfall. Finally, the SARIMA model was used to predict the particulate matter concentration. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13762-022-04645-3.

Relationship between air pollution and pre-eclampsia in pregnant women: a case-control study.

Pre-eclampsia is the main cause of maternal and fetal death and disability worldwide. Its incidence in the Islamic Republic of Iran is 5%-12%. Air pollution has been reported to be one of the causative factors, and this case-control study determined its effect on pre-eclampsia in 195 pregnant women (65 with pre-eclampsia and 130 without) admitted to hospitals in Tehran. Women were divided into high and low exposure groups according to the mean density of exposure to pollutants during pregnancy. There was no statistically significant relationship between exposure to air pollutants including CO, particulate matter, SO2, NO2 and O3 and pre-eclampsia. The combined effect was also not significant. Air pollution is one of the problems of modern society and its avoidance is almost impossible for pregnant women. This study should reduce concern about pregnant women living in polluted cities.

[How long to wait with operations for necrotizing pancreatitis?]. / Ako dlho cakat' s operáciou pre nekrotizujúcu pankreatitídu?

INTRODUCTION: Severe acute pancreatitis (pancreatitis with local and systemic complications) remains a therapeutical problem. Even more complicated is ESAP (Early Severe Acute Pancreatitis), which presents itself as a fulminant form (FAP--fulminant acute pancreatitis) and subfulminant form (SFAP--subfulminant acute pancreatitis). Severity of acute pancreatitis can be assessed with help of prognostic markers. Intensive conservative treatment as a part of "pancreatic unit" dominates the therapy. Couple things remain frequently discussed. First, indications for operative treatment, of which infectious complications of the necrosis and local intraabdominal complications are generally accepted. Second, optimal time of surgical intervention remains an issue discussed. Based on recommendations, patients should not be operated on in first two weeks of disease. AIM: Aim of the authors was to evaluate their own group of patients in terms of indication and timing of the surgical intervention. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Authors analyse group of patients with acute pancreatitis, hospitalised on IVth surgical clinic of Comenius University, Bratislava in years 2006-2007. There were 125 patients in this group, 47 of these were classified as SAP (severe acute pancreatitis). RESULTS: 13 patients were operated on, 12 for retroperitoneal abscessus, ACS (abdominal compartment syndrome) and septic state, one patient for FAP. Patients were operated on between 17th and 80th day with average 28.8 days after onset. Overall mortality was 9.6%, mortality for SAP 21.2% and 15.4% in operated patients. CONCLUSION: Authors conclude, that correctly timed surgical intervention does not aggravate mortality of patients with SAP, and ambition is to shift operation to time of necrosis and infection demarcation. Early indication in setting of failure of conservative treatment of ESAP remains discussed.