The effects of positive psychology and physical activity on depression, anxiety, and stress among students with premenstrual syndrome: a single-blind, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Premenstrual syndrome affects many women in their reproductive years and often disrupts their social connections and work. This study aimed to compare the effects of positive psychology and physical activity on depression, anxiety, and stress among students with premenstrual syndrome. METHODS: In this four-group parallel clinical trial with blinded data analysis, 120 eligible students who experienced premenstrual syndrome were recruited based on inclusion/exclusion criteria and randomly allocated to four groups (n = 30) including three experiment groups as positive psychology, physical activity, and positive psychology, physical activity, and control group, using a simple randomization method. All four groups completed premenstrual syndrome screening and the DASS-21 questionnaire before the intervention. Then, the positive psychology intervention group received eight sessions of 70-90 min weekly intervention, the second group received eight weeks of aerobic physical activity intervention, and the third group received positive psychology and physical activity intervention for eight weeks. The control group did not receive any interventions. The DASS-21 was completed immediately after the intervention and two months later by all four groups. In this study, the participants and investigators were not blinded; however, the analysts were. The recruitment process took place from September 2018 to March 2019. One hundred twenty participants fulfilled the study. The Data were collected and analyzed using SPSS (v18). RESULTS: Before and immediately after the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in depression, anxiety, and stress mean scores among the positive psychology, physical activity, positive psychology, and physical activity and control groups (p ≥ 0.05). However, two months after the intervention, a significant difference was observed between the four groups so there was a difference between the scores of the three intervention groups and the control group (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between positive psychology, and physical activity groups. No significant adverse events or side effects were observed. CONCLUSION: Our findings supported the use of aerobic physical activity and educational interventions based on positive psychology as non-pharmacologic interventions to reduce anxiety, depression, and stress. This research should be replicated in different settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION CLINICAL TRIALS: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials; https://irct.behdasht.gov.ir/trial/32363 (IRCT20130812014333N97), registered (11/08/2018).

Effect of casein bioactive peptides on performance, nutrient digestibility, enzyme activity and intestinal microbial population in broiler chickens.

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of bioactive peptides derived from casein on performance, nutrient digestibility, enzyme activity and intestinal microbial population in broiler chickens. In this study, 350 1-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks were distributed among 35 pens in a completely randomized design with seven treatments, five replicates and 10 chicks in each replicate. The experimental treatments included: basal diet without any additives (control), basal diet + Avilamycin antibiotic, basal diet + 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1000 mg of peptides per kg of diet. Results showed no significant effects of the experimental treatments on weight gain and feed conversion ratio during the starter period, but there was a significant improvement in weight gain in grower, finisher and whole periods in chicks fed with diet containing 1000 mg/kg peptides (p < 0.05). Adding peptides improved intestinal morphology (in duodenum and ileum) (p < 0.05). Supplementation of casein peptides significantly reduced thiobarbituric acid reactive substances concentration in breast and thigh meat. The activity of amylase, lipase and protease enzymes improved in treatments containing 800 and 1000 mg peptides in comparison to the control treatment. The use of casein-peptides increased intestinal Lactobacillus and decreased Coliform populations.

Effect of monosodium glutamate supplementation in diet on fatty acid profiles, genes expression related to lipid metabolism and egg yolk cholesterol in late phase of production in laying hens.

In an experiment with four treatments and five replicates, the effects of adding monosodium glutamate (MSG) to the diet in late phase of egg production was studied on performance, and lipid metabolism in laying hens. Dietary treatments included the control basal diet without MSG and the other treatments adding 0.4%, 0.8% and 1.2% MSG in the control diet respectively. The effect of supplementation of MSG on egg weight, egg production, feed conversion ratio and egg mass was insignificant (p < 0.05). Adding MSG to the diet significantly increased feed intake and blood polyunsaturated fatty acids concentration (p < 0.05). Intake of 0.8% and 1.2% MSG in the diet up regulated the mRNA expression of acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase, fatty acid synthase and lipoprotein lipase in the abdominal and liver tissues in comparison to the control group. Blood very low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides and cholesterol concentration were increased in treatment fed with a diet containing 0.8% MSG compared to the control group (p < 0.05). The effect of MSG on total egg yolk cholesterol concentration was not significant. In conclusion, the results of the present experiment indicated that adding MSG increased feed intake and blood polyunsaturated fatty acid concentration.

The effect of interventions in alleviating fear of childbirth in pregnant women: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The Fear of Childbirth (FOC) is regarded as a general problem, which affects women's health and well-being, justifying demanding caesarean section. Several primary studies have been performed in relation to the interventions performed to reduce the fear of childbirth, which show contradictions between the results of these studies. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to provide a comprehensive review of the different types of interventions used to reduce the fear of childbirth in pregnant mothers. METHODS: In this study, systematic review of study information related to the effect of different therapies on reducing the fear of childbirth using subject-related keywords and validated with MeSH in SID, MagIran, IranMedex, IranDoc, Embase, ProQuest, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science (ISI) databases and Google Scholar Search Engine were extracted without any time limit until February 2021. RESULTS: After removing duplicates and irrelevant works from among the 5396 articles found, 63 articles remained in the study. The participants in these 63 articles were 5415 cases and 5770 controls. In addition, three studies were on epidural anesthesia, 33 on the effects of psychotherapy, 19 on the effects of education, and eight on the influence of other interventions on alleviating FOC. As shown by the results, psychotherapy intervention and education decreased FOC significantly. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, to prevent the fear of childbirth, pregnancy training and prenatal preparation courses are recommended to empower pregnant women. It also seems beneficial to use psychotherapy approaches for women who are afraid of childbirth.

Comparison of attitude of nurses and nursing students toward euthanasia.

BACKGROUND: Euthanasia is a controversial issue in many countries. However, there is little evidence about attitudes of nurses and nursing students toward euthanasia. RESEARCH AIMS: The present study aimed to compare nurses and nursing students' attitudes toward euthanasia. RESEARCH DESIGN: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT: Using census sampling, 390 nurses and 125 nursing students were enrolled in this study. METHODS: Data were collected using a socio-demographic questionnaire and Euthanasia Attitude Scale that included 20 items that sought to record participants' level of agreement with euthanasia based on a Likert-type scale. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS: Objectives of the study were stated for all samples, and emphasized the confidentiality of their specifics and responses, and informed written consent was obtained from all participants. FINDINGS: The mean score of nurses and nursing students' attitudes about euthanasia was 3.14 ± 0.26 and 3.22 ± 0.24 out of 5, respectively. The majority of nurses (n = 250, 65.78%) and nursing students (n = 97, 80.83%) had a positive attitude toward euthanasia. There was a significant statistical difference between the attitudes of nurses and nursing students to euthanasia (p = .005). DISCUSSION: The results indicated that the majority of students and nurses had a positive attitude regarding euthanasia. CONCLUSION: It was recommended to conduct more studies on euthanasia in Iran.

Effects of acid-hydrolyzed soybean meal on growth performance, jejunal morphology, digestive enzyme activities, nutrient utilization, and intestinal microbial population in broiler chickens.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of soybean meal (SBM) treated with acetic or citric acids on growth performance, microbial population, digestive enzyme activities, nutrient digestibility, and jejunal morphology in broiler chickens. A total of 350 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly distributed into 7 experimental groups with 5 replicates per each. Experimental treatments were diets containing untreated SBM (control) and SBM treated with two acid sources and their concentrations including 5, 10, and 15% acetic acid (A1, A2, and A3) or 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75% citric acid (C1, C2, and C3). Results showed that trypsin inhibitors and lectins as the main SBM anti-nutrients significantly reduced in acid-treated SBM compared with untreated SBM (P < 0.05). During 1-24 days, body weight gain increased in chicks fed the C2 diet (P < 0.05). Feeding of the C2 diet increased feed intake compared with A1, A2, and C3 groups (P < 0.05). Feed conversion ratio improved in chicks fed with C2, C3, and A2 diets compared with the control group (P < 0.05). The greatest villus length, villus length to crypt depth ratio, and villus surface area were observed in the C2 diet (P < 0.05). A significant increase in protease and lipase activity was found in broilers which received a C2 diet compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Broiler chickens fed with the C2 diet had a higher organic matter and crude protein digestibility than the chicks which received the control diet (P < 0.05) and dry matter digestibility was the lowest in broilers fed with the A3 diet (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the acid hydrolyzing process had a beneficial effect on the nutritional value of SBM. In addition, data showed that acid-hydrolyzed SBM had the potential to exert positive influences on growth performance, jejunal morphology, and nutrient utilization in broiler chickens.

Comparing length of hospital stay during COVID-19 pandemic in the USA, Italy and Germany.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is the most informative pandemic in history. These unprecedented recorded data give rise to some novel concepts, discussions and models. Macroscopic modeling of the period of hospitalization is one of these new issues. METHODS: Modeling of the lag between diagnosis and death is done by using two classes of macroscopic analytical methods: the correlation-based methods based on Pearson, Spearman and Kendall correlation coefficients, and the logarithmic methods of two types. Also, we apply eight weighted average methods to smooth the time series before calculating the distance. We consider five lags with the least distance. All the computations are conducted on Matlab R2015b. RESULTS: The length of hospitalization for the fatal cases in the USA, Italy and Germany are 2-10, 1-6 and 5-19 days, respectively. Overall, this length in the USA is 2 days more than that in Italy and 5 days less than that in Germany. CONCLUSION: We take the distance between the diagnosis and death as the length of hospitalization. There is a negative association between the length of hospitalization and the case fatality rate. Therefore, the estimation of the length of hospitalization by using these macroscopic mathematical methods can be introduced as an indicator to scale the success of the countries fighting the ongoing pandemic.

Co-expression of Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA1 and viral latent membrane protein 1 in osteosarcoma: A novel insight of predictive markers.

Epstein-Barr virus is an etiologic agent of several malignancies. In this study, we explored the association of Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA1 and Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 co-expression with osteosarcoma. Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA1 expression in tumor cells was quantified using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization and Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 expression was measured using immunohistochemistry staining. There was a statistically significant association between Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 and Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA1 co-expression and characteristics of osteosarcoma such as nodal stage (p < 0.04), metastasis (p < 0.04), Ki67 index (p < 0.03), and tumor stage (p < 0.05). Co-expression of Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA1 and Epstein-Barr virus latent membrane protein 1 in tumors correlated with advanced osteosarcoma and indicated the aggressiveness of bone sarcoma.

CD8+ T-cell lymphocytes infiltration predict clinical outcomes in Wilms' tumor.

The abundance and location of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes demonstrate important facets of the anticancer immune response. CD8-expressing lymphocytes have been used in immunotherapy for multiple cancers. This study aims to determine the association between the abundance and localization of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and clinical outcomes of Wilms' tumor. This retrospective study employed 42 pediatric patients diagnosed with Wilms' tumor. CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte counts were calculated based on the mean percentage of stroma occupied by CD8+ lymphocytes at the center and the invasive border of the tumor using immunohistochemistry. CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte counts were significantly higher in the center and the invasive border of the early-stage tumor samples. CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in the invasive border and tumor center positively correlated with tumor invasion, regional lymph node invasion, histological type, metastasis, and stage of the tumor. A high CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte scores at the invasive margin of the tumor correlated with low tumor recurrence. Low CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte scores in the two tumor regions correlated with poor prognosis and shorter disease-free survival. Overall, these findings show that patients with high CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are associated with better clinical outcomes. Therefore, measuring the abundance of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes may be useful in predicting response to cancer immunotherapies.

Modeling the risk factors for dyslipidemia and blood lipid indices: Ravansar cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Lipid disorder is one of the most important risk factors for chronic diseases. Identifying the factors affecting the development of lipid disorders helps reduce chronic diseases, especially Chronic Heart Disease (CHD). The aim of this study was to model the risk factors for dyslipidemia and blood lipid indices. METHODS: This study was conducted based on the data collected in the initial phase of Ravansar cohort study (2014-16). At the beginning, all the 453 available variables were examined in 33 stages of sensitivity analysis by perceptron Artificial Neural Network (ANN) data mining model. In each stage, the variables that were more important in the diagnosis of dyslipidemia were identified. The relationship among the variables was investigated using stepwise regression. The data obtained were analyzed in SPSS software version 25, at 0.05 level of significance. RESULTS: Forty percent of the subjects were diagnosed with lipid disorder. ANN identified 12 predictor variables for dyslipidemia related to nutrition and physical status. Alkaline phosphatase, Fat Free Mass (FFM) index, and Hemoglobin (HGB) had a significant relationship with all the seven blood lipid markers. The Waist Hip Ratio was the most effective variable that showed a stronger correlation with cholesterol and Low-Density Lipid (LDL). The FFM index had the greatest effect on triglyceride, High-Density Lipid (HDL), cholesterol/HDL, triglyceride/HDL, and LDL/HDL. The greatest coefficients of determination pertained to the triglyceride/HDL (0.203) and cholesterol/HDL (0.188) model with nine variables and the LDL/HDL (0.180) model with eight variables. CONCLUSION: According to the results, alkaline phosphatase, FFM index, and HGB were three common predictor variables for all the blood lipid markers. Specialists should focus on controlling these factors in order to gain greater control over blood lipid markers.

The effects of exposure to different noise frequency patterns on blood pressure components and hypertension.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies have indicated a significant association between exposure to noise and blood pressure. However, the effects of exposure to different noise frequency patterns on blood pressure components and hypertension (HTN) have been unknown. METHODS: We recruited a total of 518 eligible workers in this study. According to types of work (office and production-line), overall A-weighted equivalent sound pressure levels (8-h LAeq), and total 8-h LAeq at low (31.5, 63, and 125 Hz), medium (250, 500, and 1000 Hz), and high ( 2, 4, and 8 kHz) frequencies, we classified subjects into four categories, involving office workers (n = 214) exposed to overall 8-h LAeq < 65 dB and production-line workers, including medium noise exposure group (n = 81) exposed to overall 8-h LAeq < 78 dB that difference between the medium and high frequencies was less than 1 dB, high_A noise exposure group (n = 86) encountered to overall 8-h LAeq > 90 dB that the difference between the medium and high frequencies was less than 1 dB, and high B noise exposure group (n = 137) exposed to overall 8-h LAeq > 90 dB that the levels of noise at the high frequency were 10 dBA more than the medium frequency. The high A and high B groups were a little difference in total 8-h LAeq at the low and medium frequencies (≤ 3 dBA) and a wide difference at the high frequency (more than 10 dBA). The logistic regression models were applied to determine the odds of HTN among study groups. RESULTS: The significant difference was observed among study groups in the average of systolic blood pressure (SBP), pulse pressure (PP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and the frequency of HTN (P < 0.05). Also, we found a significant difference in diastolic blood pressure DBP but at the levels of P < 0.10. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of HTN according to the full adjusted model in the medium, high A, and high B groups compared with the office workers were estimated at 1.66(0.45, 6.10), 2.34(0.80, 6.89), and 4.02(1.63, 9.96), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study indicates noise frequency patterns may play a significant role in the association between noise and blood pressure. More studies are warranted to confirm our findings.

Short chain fatty acids may improve hepatic mitochondrial energy efficiency in heat stressed-broilers.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of four dietary fat types and two environmental temperatures on the hepatic mitochondrial energetic in male broilers exposed to heat stress. The birds were kept in two separate rooms at 24 °C or 36 °C from 32 to 42 d of age with four experimental groups in each room. The birds fed on the diets supplemented containing rich sources of long-chain saturated fatty acids (beef tallow), middle-length-chain saturated FA (coconut oil), monounsaturated FA (olive oil), or polyunsaturated FA (soybean oil) for ten days. At 36 °C, the highest body weight and lowest feed conversion ratio were recorded in the birds fed on the diets supplemented with coconut oil or beef tallow. Temperature and fat type significantly affected the activities of the mitochondrial electron transport chain complexes (P < 0.01). There was a significant interaction between the temperature and fat type (P < 0.01). Generally, electron transport chain complexes I-V enzymatic activities were decreased at 36 °C. The coconut oil-fed birds showed the highest complex I activity at both temperatures. The beef tallow-fed broilers showed the lowest complex II activity at 24 °C. In birds exposed to 36 °C, complex II activity was higher for birds fed saturated coconut oil or beef tallow than those feeding the unsaturated olive oil or soybean oil-supplemented diets. At 24 °C, the highest and lowest complex III activities were recorded for the coconut oil- and beef tallow-supplemented diets, respectively. At 36 °C, the activity of complex III was coconut oil > beef tallow > olive oil > soybean oil. At 24 °C, complex IV activity was highest in coconut oil- or soybean oil-fed broilers; and at 36 °C, complex IV showed the lowest activity in soybean oil-fed birds. The highest complex IV activity was observed in coconut oil-fed chickens followed by olive oil-fed and beef tallow-fed birds, respectively. At 24 or 36 °C, the highest and lowest complex V activity was observed in coconut oil-fed and soybean oil-fed chickens, respectively. ATP concentration and mitochondrial membrane potential were in the order of coconut oil > beef tallow > olive oil > soybean oil at both temperatures. Temperature and fat type significantly affected the avANT mRNA concentration. Exposure of broilers to 36 °C generally decreased the mRNA expression of avANT, with beef tallow- or coconut oil-supplemented birds showing a lower avANT mRNA expression than those receiving olive oil- or soybean oil-supplemented diets. These findings provide further information on the use of fat sources in the diet of heat stressed-broilers.

Saturated fatty acids may ameliorate environmental heat stress in broiler birds by affecting mitochondrial energetics and related genes.

Heat stress decreases performance of poultry. The novel strategies to maintain production level, or at least minimizing the decrease in productivity during hot days need to be elucidated. This study was conducted to determine the effect of four fat types on mitochondrial energetics in heat-stressed broilers. In experiment 1, nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) content of four supplemental fat sources, including olive oil, soybean oil, coconut oil and beef tallow, all supplemented at 3%, 6%, and 9% in the basal diet, was evaluated. The AMEn values of fats were determined as 9738.0 ± 137.9, 8949.0 ± 159.9, 7844.0 ±â€¯91.7, and 7368.0 ±â€¯190.3 kcal/kg for olive oil, soybean oil, coconut oil and beef tallow, respectively. In experiment 2, birds were kept in two separated rooms under 24 °C or 36 °C from 32 to 42 d of age. Each room consisted of four experimental groups. Birds in the experimental groups were fed on beef tallow-, coconut oil-, olive oil- or soybean oil-supplemented diets (factorial arrangement with two factors of fat types and environmental temperatures). The birds reared under 24 °C had higher final body weight (P < 0.01), weight gain (P < 0.01), feed intake (P < 0.05) and lower feed conversion ratio (P < 0.01) than the birds grown under 36 °C. There was a temperature by fat type interaction effect on mitochondrial attributes. At 36 °C, in birds fed on coconut oil- or beef tallow-supplemented diets, the expression levels of avUCP and avANT mRNA were lower (P < 0.05) but that of HSP70 mRNA was higher (P < 0.01) in comparison with the birds feeding on the olive oil- or soy oil-supplemented diets. An interaction effect was recorded between the temperature and fat type for ATP concentration and mitochondrial membrane potential (P < 0.01); with significant differences between birds receiving the coconut oil- or beef tallow-supplemented diets and the birds feeding on the soy oil- or olive oil-supplemented diets. It was also found that unsaturated fatty acids had a more significant effect on avUCP and avANT mRNA expression. It can be concluded that when using fat in the diet of heat stressed-broilers, it is advisable to choose a type, which has a lower effect on the expression of avUCP and avANT, and hence reduces the metabolic heat load in the bird.

Determining and Comparing Predictive and Intensity Value of Severity Scores - "Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score," "Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation 4," and "Poisoning Severity Score" - in Short-Term Clinical Outcome of Patients with Poisoning in an ICU.

INTRODUCTION: Today, poisoning is one of the problems of society and it is always one of the ten leading causes of death among youth. This study aimed to determine and compare the predictive and intensity value of three standard criteria of "Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score," "Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) 4," and "Poisoning Severity Score (PSS)" in short-term clinical outcome of poisoned patients. METHODS: The prospective study conducted on 120 patients of critical care units. Data were collected using a demographic form and three criteria forms. The researcher was visiting the critical care unit daily and was filling out the demographic form of each patient in the first 24 h of hospital admission. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. RESULTS: The results showed the mean age of patients was 35.73 ± 18.46 years with the most frequency among male patients (66.7%). The mean of criteria scores of "SOFA score," "APACHE 4," and "PSS" was 7.3 ± 2.97, P = 0.009; 62.43 ± 12.48, P = 0.58; and 2.4 ± 0.5, P = 0.001, respectively. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and area under the curve of "SOFA score," "APACHE 4," and "PSS" were 86.2, 70.6, 94.4, 98.6, 36.2, 0.897; 83.5, 90.2, 44.4, 90.2, 44.4, 0.808; and 16.7, 100, 2, 100, 15.3, 0.786, respectively. Predicted mortality rate in "SOFA score" and "APACHE 4" was 18.7% ±20.2% and 2.63% ±2.6%, respectively. Real mortality rate, predictive duration of hospitalization by APACHE 4 criteria, and real duration of hospitalization were 15%, 1.79 ± 1.35, and 4.04 ± 4.08, respectively. CONCLUSION: The study showed that "SOFA score" was more predictive in clinical outcomes due to poisoning and it is recommended to poisoning centers as effective criteria.

Comparison of support vector machine based on genetic algorithm with logistic regression to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosing of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an important subject in medicine. This study aimed to compare the performance of two data mining techniques, support vector machine (SVM), and logistic regression (LR), in diagnosing OSA. The best-fit model was used as a substitute for polysomnography (PSG), which is the gold standard for diagnosing this disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 250 patients with sleep problems complaints and whose disease had been diagnosed by PSG and referred to the Sleep Disorders Research Center of Farabi Hospital, Kermanshah, between 2012 and 2015 were recruited in this study. To fit the best LR model, a model was first fitted with all variables and then compared with a model made from the significant variables using Akaike's information criterion (AIC). The SVM model and radial basis function (RBF) kernel, whose parameters had been optimized by genetic algorithm, were used to diagnose OSA. RESULTS: Based on AIC, the best LR model obtained from this study was a model fitted with all variables. The performance of final LR model was compared with SVM model, revealing the accuracy 0.797 versus 0.729, sensitivity 0.714 versus 0.777, and specificity 0.847 vs. 0.702, respectively. CONCLUSION: Both models were found to have an appropriate performance. However, considering accuracy as an important criterion for comparing the performance of models in this domain, it can be argued that SVM could have a better efficiency than LR in diagnosing OSA in patients.

Induction, consolidation, and maintenance therapies with arsenic as a single agent for acute promyelocytic leukaemia in a 11-year follow-up.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of arsenic trioxide as a single agent in acute promyelocytic leukaemia cases for induction, consolidation, and maintenance therapy in a long-term, 11-year follow-up. We studied 60 patients with acute promyelocytic leukaemia. Sixty percent of the patients were aged between 12 and 24 years. Arsenic trioxide was infused at a 0.15 mg/kg daily dose until complete remission was achieved. After 2 weeks of rest, arsenic trioxide was infused daily for 28 days as a consolidation therapy. Then, arsenic infusions were given every 3-4 months for 14 days for 2 years, and the patients were followed until relapse or death. The rates of complete remission, disease-free survival, overall survival, and drug toxicity were evaluated. The morphologic complete remission was observed in 55 out of the 60 patients. The most common causes of a remission failure were early mortality because of the APL differentiation syndrome and the lack of response to arsenic treatment. The mean follow-up was 90 months. The primary outcomes for males and females were a mean disease-free survival of 101 and 97 months, respectively, and a mean overall survival of 103 and 101 months, respectively. From the 55 cases with remission, three patients died (late mortality). Of the 60 patients, 85% are still alive. Arsenic trioxide was generally well tolerated. The long-term follow-up of patients with APL, treated with arsenic alone as induction, consolidation, and maintenance therapy, shows high cure rates and excellent outcomes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The comparison between the serum level of interleukin-6 in women with acute ovarian torsion and other causes of lower abdominal pain.

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of serum Interleukin-6 (IL-6) as a predictive value to make decision for surgical interventions when ovarian torsion (OT) is suspected. This study was performed on 284 women with lower abdominal pain. IL-6 levels were compared between OT (n = 67, 23.6%) and control groups (n = 217, 76.4%). For the purpose of diagnosis of OT, sensitivity and specificity of IL-6 at the cut-off point of 9.6 pg/ml were 41.79 and 82.49%, respectively. Patients with ovarian masses on ultrasound and IL-6 >9.6 pg/ml were found to be 24 times more likely to develop OT. Patients with serum IL-6 >9.6 pg/ml who lacked blood flow in ovarian Doppler ultrasound had 40.75 times higher risk of developing OT. It seems that simultaneous use of Doppler ultrasound and serum IL-6 levels can be helpful for early diagnosis of OT and making decision for surgical intervention.

Optimization of a methodology for the simultaneous determination of deltamethrin, permethrin and malathion in stored wheat samples using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction with solidification of floating organic drop and HPLC-UV.

The purpose of this study was to investigate common pesticides in stored wheat at Kermanshah province's silos in Iran. A simple, inexpensive, reliable and environmentally friendly method based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction with solidification of floating organic drop was developed. The analytical characteristics of the method were determined. Also, various parameters such as the materials of the silos, types of ownerships of the silos, geographic orientation of silo locations and climatic conditions of silo locations on pesticide residues in studied wheat samples were investigated. Among all the studied parameters, the climatic conditions of silo locations showed the highest influence on pesticide residues in wheat samples. Generally, 61.2% of the samples had pesticide levels below the method detection limits and 38.8% of the total samples had at least one of the understudied pesticides. Also, 13.9% of the samples had deltamethrin residues, 16.7% of the samples had permethrin, 22.2% of the samples had malathion, 11.1% of the samples had both permethrin and malathion and 2.8% of the samples had both deltamethrin and malathion. The results revealed that the residues of deltamethrin and malathion were lower than the standard level announced by European Union regulation and only three samples contained permethrin higher than Europe standard level.

Modeling birth weight neonates and associated factors.

BACKGROUND: Neonate with abnormal weight is at risk of increased mortality and morbidity. Many factors affect pregnancy outcome. Because of the importance and vital role in birth weight, in this study, some of the factors associated with birth weight in a sample of Iranians neonates were investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 245 newborns in a sample of Iranians neonates in the year 2013 were selected, and characteristics of neonate and their mothers were derived. Birth weights were registered by the neonatal scale. To identify the direct and indirect factors affecting birth weight, we used path analysis (PA) and IBM AMOS and SPSS software. RESULTS: The mean ± standard deviation of weight in girls (3200 ± 421) g less than boys (3310 ± 444) g significantly (P = 0.04). Gestational age (P < 0.001), birth rank (P = 0.012), distance from a previous pregnancy (P = 0.028), and mother weight (P = 0.04) had a statistical significant relationship with birth weight. In the final PA model, gestational age has a highest total effect, type of delivery with gestational age-mediated had the highest indirect effect and type of delivery, and gestational age had the greatest total impact on the birth weight. CONCLUSION: Gestational age, sex, distance from a previous pregnancy, maternal weight, type of delivery, number of abortion, and birth rank were related with birth weight. Due to the termination of pregnancy and avoid unnecessary deliveries through cesarean section and other related factors should be further consideration by childbirth experts. In addition, factors affecting these variables are carefully identified and prevented as much as possible.

Meta-analysis of studies comparing adjuvant dexamethasone to glycerol to improve clinical outcome of bacterial meningitis.

BACKGROUND: Neurological complications are a problematic factor in acute bacterial meningitis; hence, its prevention is the key to ensure the success of meningitis treatment. Glycerol and dexamethasone are both applied in this regard. Oral glycerol is an appropriate alternative instead of intravenous dexamethasone because it does not have problems related to intravenous injection, the high cost, and drug complications. The main objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of adjuvant dexamethasone versus glycerol in order to improve the clinical outcome of bacterial meningitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a search on the available resources including PubMed, Ovid, Elsevier, Cochrane, and another search engines such as Google till 2014. All clinical trials that were performed in the field of comparing the effectiveness of the two drugs and met the inclusion criteria were gathered and after extraction the relative risk (RR) values, the pooled RR was calculated. The main outcome was neurological complications. Meta-analysis of the data was performed in Stata version 11.2 using both fixed and random effect models, weighting each study by inverse of variance. RESULTS: In 5 comparative studies (1,340 patients), the rate of neurological complications of glycerol compared to that of dexamethasone was 1.02 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.98 compared to 1.12]. The rate of neurological complications of dexamethasone compared to dexamethasone + glycerol was 1 (95% CI, 0.97 compared to 1.03), dexamethasone compared to placebo was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.97 compared to 1.03), glycerol compared to glycerol + dexamethasone was 0.98 (95% CI, 0.94 compared to 1.02), and glycerol compared to placebo was 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94 compared to 1.01). In these studies, no difference was reported between dexamethasone and glycerol in terms of reducing neurological complications. CONCLUSION: Although there were some weak evidences for the nonstatistical significant effect of glycerol in the prevention of neurologic complication after meningitis, there was no difference between glycerol and dexamethasone.