Validity of naked eye single tube red cell osmotic fragility test (NESTROFT) in screening of beta-thalassemia trait

زمینه و هدف: تالاسمی متداولترین اختلال تک ژنی است که رهایی از آن از طریق درمان قطعی ممکن نبوده و مستلزم پیشگیری از طریق به کارگیری یک روش قابل اعتماد و کم هزینه برای غربالگری ناقلین و در مرحله بعد ارایه آموزش، مشاوره ژنتیک، تشخیص قبل از تولد و خاتمه انتخابی به زندگی جنین های مبتلا به این اختلال است. هدف از این مطالعه ارزیابی تست اسموتیک تک لوله ای چشمی گلبول های قرمز (NESTROFT) به عنوان یک تست غربالگری در راستای کشف مبتلایان به بتاتالاسمی مینور بود. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی- تحلیلی، تست NESTROFT بر روی 158 نفر متشکل از 51 نفر فرزندان والدینی که حداقل یکی از بچه های آنها دارای بتا تالاسمی ماژور بود، 51 فرد طبیعی و 56 فرد از مبتلایان به فقر آهن انجام شد. داده های حاصل به کمک آزمون های آماری آنالیز واریانس یک راهه و آزمون تعقیبی دانت تجزیه و تحلیل گردید. یافته ها: بر اساس نتایج، حساسیت و ارزش اخباری منفی تست NESTROFT 100 بوده و با توجه به 14 مورد نتیجه مثبت کاذب ناشی از فقر آهن، ویژگی آن 9/86 و ارزش اخباری مثبت تست 5/78 می باشد. نتیجه گیری: تست NESTROFTدر عین کم هزینه بودن و سهولت انجام، حساسیت بالایی برای کشف بتا تالاسمی مینور داشته و می توان از آن در کشورهای در حال توسعه با منابع اقتصادی و تکنیکی محدود از قبیل ایران در مقیاس وسیع جهت غربالگری توده ای استفاده نمود

The upper normal limit of serum alanine aminotransferase in Golestan Province, Northeast Iran

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the upper normal limit of serum alanine aminotransferase level in a population-based study in Golestan Province, northeast Iran. Methods: From the randomly invited individuals (2,292), 698 out of the 916 males and 1,351 out of the 1,376 females participated in the study (participation rate: 76.2 and 98.1, respectively). One hundred and twenty-one participants were excluded due to positive hepatitis B surface antigen or hepatitis C virus antibody and/or drinking more than 20 grams of alcohol per day. A total of 1,928 participants (1300 females) were included. The upper normal limit of serum alanine aminotransferase level was defined as the 95th percentile. Results: The upper normal limit of serum alanine aminotransferase level in normal weight and nondiabetics was significantly lower than the total study group (36 versus 45 U/L). Serum alanine aminotransferase level was independently associated with male gender, body mass index, and diabetes mellitus (OR=2.05; 95Cl: 1.44 - 2.94, OR=2.76; 95Cl: 1.84 - 4.13, and OR=2.96; 95Cl: 1.56-5.61, respectively). Conclusion: Considering the lower calculated upper normal limit in normal weight nondiabetic participants in this study, we recommend setting new upper normal limit for serum alanine aminotransferase level, It seems reasonable to set upper normal limit for serum alanine aminotransferase level in males and females separately

The upper normal limit of serum alanine aminotransferase in Golestan Province, Northeast Iran

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the upper normal limit of serum alanine aminotransferase level in a population-based study in Golestan Province, northeast Iran. Methods: From the randomly invited individuals (2,292), 698 out of the 916 males and 1,351 out of the 1,376 females participated in the study (participation rate: 76.2 and 98.1, respectively). One hundred and twenty-one participants were excluded due to positive hepatitis B surface antigen or hepatitis C virus antibody and/or drinking more than 20 grams of alcohol per day. A total of 1,928 participants (1300 females) were included. The upper normal limit of serum alanine aminotransferase level was defined as the 95th percentile. Results: The upper normal limit of serum alanine aminotransferase level in normal weight and nondiabetics was significantly lower than the total study group (36 versus 45 U/L). Serum alanine aminotransferase level was independently associated with male gender, body mass index, and diabetes mellitus (OR=2.05; 95Cl: 1.44 - 2.94, OR=2.76; 95Cl: 1.84 - 4.13, and OR=2.96; 95Cl: 1.56-5.61, respectively). Conclusion: Considering the lower calculated upper normal limit in normal weight nondiabetic participants in this study, we recommend setting new upper normal limit for serum alanine aminotransferase level, It seems reasonable to set upper normal limit for serum alanine aminotransferase level in males and females separately

The potential of small mountain river systems for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in drylands - an example from the Binaloud Mountains in Northeastern Iran

Fluvial sediments are valuable paleoenvironmental archives of the Quaternary. Since besides environmental factors they are also affected by local tectonics or intrinsic processes, large instead of small catchments should be studied. In drylands covering ca. 45% of the global terrestrial surface large river systems are generally missing, and most river systems are small rivers originating from mountain ranges. Their sediments are potentially interesting paleoenvironmental archives, but are often affected by intensive tectonics. During this study, to obtain a robust regional paleoenvironmental signal a small river system in the southwestern Binaloud Mountains in semi-arid NE Iran was exemplarily studied with a combined approach that encompassed both alluvial fan and catchment. By using geomorphological mapping and numerical dating, fluvial aggradation followed by incision was independently identified in larger areas or in different parts of the river system ca. 95–88 ka, 40 ka, 20 ka, around/after the Pleistocene/Holocene transition and possibly ca. 2.6 ka. These could be linked with regional and over-regional paleoenvironmental data. Furthermore, large boulders on the alluvial fan suggest anthropogenic destabilisation of the catchment during the last decades. Despite strong local tectonics the fluvial dynamics was mostly controlled by paleoenvironmental changes and human activity. This indicates that despite their small size, such river systems form valuable paleoenvironmental archives in drylands where other archive types are largely missing

Quantum communication between trapped ions through a dissipative environment

We study two trapped ions coupled to the axial phonon modes of a one-dimensional Coulomb crystal. This system is formally equivalent to the "two spin-boson" model. We propose a scheme to dynamically generate a maximally entangled state of two ions within a decoherence-free subspace. Here the phononic environment of the trapped ions, whatever its temperature and number of modes, serves as the entangling bus. The efficient production of the pure singlet state can be exploited to perform short-ranged quantum communication which is essential in building up a large-scale quantum computer.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Comparison of technetium-99m IgG with technetium-99m red blood cells labeling in cardiac blood-pool scintigraphy: A preliminary study

This first clinical prospective study was conducted to use of technetium-99m immunoglobulin G (99mTc-IgG) as compared with autologous 99mTc-red blood cells (RBC) in gated blood pool ventriculography. We studied 12 patients who referred to us for a possible diagnosis of liver hemangioma or infection. Six patients underwent gated planar blood pool (GPBP) acquisition using 99mTc-RBC and 6 GPBP acquisition using 99mTc-IgG. The use of 99mTc-IgG in cardiac blood pool studies provided comparable images to 99mTc-RBC. In conclusion, 99mTc-IgG, which is readily available and needs only a single injection, may be an attractive alternative to 99mTc-RBC for the estimation of various cardiac function parameters like left ventricular function