A Western dietary pattern is associated with elevated level of high sensitive C-reactive protein among adolescent girls.

BACKGROUND: Serum high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), is an indicator of low-grade inflammation, and is associated with several non-communicable diseases. The effects of diet on inflammation have not been extensively investigated, particularly among adolescents. We aimed to examine the association between major dietary patterns and elevated serum level of hs-CRP among Iranian adolescent girls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 670 adolescent girls were recruited from several schools in different areas of Mashhad and Sabzevar cities, Iran. The dietary intakes of study participants were collected using a 147-item food frequency questionnaire. To identify major dietary patterns based on the 40 food groups, we used principal component analysis. Serum concentration of hs-CRP was measured using commercial kits and the BT-3000 auto-analyser. To investigate the association between dietary patterns and elevated serum level of hs-CRP, we used logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Three specific dietary patterns were identified: (i) healthy, (ii) traditional and (iii) western dietary patterns. A significant association was found between more adherence to Western dietary pattern and elevated serum level of hs-CRP (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.02-2.42, P-trend = .03); these association remained significant after adjustment for potential confounders. However, there was no significant relationship between healthy and traditional dietary patterns and elevated serum level of hs-CRP. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that there is a significant positive association between more adherence to Western dietary pattern and higher serum levels of hs-CRP among Iranian adolescent girls. Further studies, particularly longitudinal intervention studies may be required to clarify these relationships.

Health care-associated infections, including device-associated infections, and antimicrobial resistance in Iran: The national update for 2018.

Introduction: Surveillance of health care-associated infections (HAIs) is an essential part of an efficient healthcare system. This study is an update on incidence and mortality rates of HAIs in Iran in 2018. Methods: Almost all hospitals across the country (940 hospitals) entered the data of HAIs and denominators to the Iranian Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (INIS) software. Statistics were derived from INIS. Results: From 9,607,213 hospitalized patients, 127,953 suffered from HAI, 15.65% of whom died. The incidence rate of HAI was calculated as 4.2 per 1000 patient-days. Considering relative frequencies among HAIs, Pneumonia (29.1%) and UTIs (25.6%) were the most common types of infection. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) was the most frequent device-associated infection (DAI) 25.66 per 1000 ventilator-days, and had the highest mortality rate (43.08%). Incidence density of other DAIs was 5.43 for catheter-associated UTI and 2.86 for catheter-associated BSI per 1000 device-days. Medical ICUs had the highest incidence and percentage of deaths (15.35% and 37.63%, respectively). The most causative organisms were Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Klebsiella pneumonia. The rate of methicillin-resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), and Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing bacteria was about 49%, 57%, and 58% respectively. Conclusion: This study provided an overview of HAIs in Iran and indicated that HAIs required special attention both in detection/reporting and in infection control measures. Future studies could be done on adherence rate of DAIs' preventive bundles, interventions via multimodal strategies, evaluating the effect of training, and effect of antibiotic stewardship programs.

Comparison of beam hardening effect of physical and enhanced dynamic wedges at bladder inhomogeneity using EBT3 film dosimeter.

INTRODUCTION: Using physical wedges (PWs) to modify dose distribution and more homogeneous target coverage is a well-established technique. However, there are many problems with PWs known as beam hardening, which made them problematic. This can be overcome by dynamic wedges which do not filter beam. Comparison of physical properties of physical and enhanced dynamic wedges (EDWs) restricted to homogeneous medium. Hence, the main aim of this study is to compare dosimetric properties of physical and EDWs at bladder inhomogeneous phantom as a most common case implementing wedges. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An inhomogeneous pelvic phantom with homogeneities of uterus, femur, soft tissue, rectum, and bladder was designed. Eclipse treatment planning system with the aim of bladder target was used for calculations. All dose distributions were measured with EBT3 films. RESULTS: Comparison between beam profiles of physical and EDWs at wedged and nonwedged directions shows a greater difference at near inhomogeneous soft tissue interface and also at heel side of wedges. CONCLUSION: Little difference observed between dose distribution of physical and EDWs shows neglectable effect of beam hardening produced by PW compared to EDW at inhomogeneous medium. Furthermore, EBT3 films present good feature to measure dose distributions at EDW fields.

Effect of Oral Supplementation of Biogenic Selenium Nanoparticles on White Blood Cell Profile of BALB/c Mice and Mice Exposed to X-ray Radiation.

BACKGROUND: Radiation therapy is an effective method used for treatment of many types of cancers. However, this method can cause unwanted side effects such as bone marrow suppression. In this study, the effect of oral administration of biogenic selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) on total and differentiated white cells profile of BALB/c mice exposed to X-ray radiation was investigated and compared with non-irradiated mice. METHODS: Sixty female BALB/c mice between six to eight weeks olds were divided into 4 test and control groups in two categories of normal and irradiated mice. In normal mice SeNPs administration was started from the day 0 and followed for a month. Irradiated mice were divided into three groups and were exposed to doses of 2, 4 and 8 Gy. After 72 hr of irradiation, the SeNPs treatment was started and continued for a month. Total and differentiated blood cells counts of both irradiated and non-irradiated groups were monitored during 30 days and the obtained results were compared. Also, the deposition of Se in different tissues and blood serum of normal mice was determined in normal mice after 30 days period of supplementation. RESULTS: In normal mice an increase in the count of neutrophils was observed after 30 days of supplementation. In irradiated mice, SeNPs supplementation led to increase in both lymphocytes and neutrophils counts especially in mice exposed to 2 and 4 Gys radiation. CONCLUSION: Radiotherapy is categorized as an invasive method which can cause tissue damage and suppress the host immune defense. A restore of lymphocytes which was observed after SeNPs supplementation in irradiated mice can be highly interesting and provide cellular immunity against malignant diseases or other bacterial or fungal infections after radiotherapy.