Early feeding and growth pattern in infants: Using a three-variate longitudinal model derived from Gaussian copula function

Background: The Gaussian copula model was used to generate joint distributions for continuous longitudinal variables on infant types of feeding and longitudinal measures of height, weight and head circumference  Methods: The study was performed longitudinally in rural areas of southern part of Iran, on children from birth to 9 months of age. Out of 319 infants with serial anthropometric measurements from birth, and 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 months old, 120 were included. Infants were divided into three groups (breast fed, formula fed and both milk types). A three-variate longitudinal model including Copula function was used to estimate the effect of feeding on growth pattern. All the analyses were performed using SAS version 9.4 (Proc NLmix).  Results: Ninety infants (75%) were breastfed, sixteen (13.3%) were formula fed and fourteen (11.7%) had combined feeding. Copula model showed that, breast fed children had a better weight gain (β=0.627 95% CI 0.217-1.038 P = 0.003), height (β=2.603 95% CI 1.023-4.183 P = 0.001) and head circumference (β=0.8 95% CI 0.069- 1.531 P = 0.0) as compared to formula fed children. R2 for Copula model was (wt=0.52, ht=0.96, hc=0.84).  Conclusions: Implication of Copula model was easy to perform. Estimation of the parameters in copula model indicated that, breast milk consumption had a positive effect on the growth of infants.&nbsp

Early feeding and growth pattern in infants:Using a three-variate longitudinal model derived from Gaussian copula function

Background: The Gaussian copula model was used to generate joint distributions for continuous longitudinal variables on infant types of feeding and longitudinal measures of height, weight and head circumference  Methods: The study was performed longitudinally in rural areas of southern part of Iran, on children from birth to 9 months of age. Out of 319 infants with serial anthropometric measurements from birth, and 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 months old, 120 were included. Infants were divided into three groups (breast fed, formula fed and both milk types). A three-variate longitudinal model including Copula function was used to estimate the effect of feeding on growth pattern. All the analyses were performed using SAS version 9.4 (Proc NLmix).  Results: Ninety infants (75%) were breastfed, sixteen (13.3%) were formula fed and fourteen (11.7%) had combined feeding. Copula model showed that, breast fed children had a better weight gain (β=0.627 95% CI 0.217-1.038 P = 0.003), height (β=2.603 95% CI 1.023-4.183 P = 0.001) and head circumference (β=0.8 95% CI 0.069- 1.531 P = 0.0) as compared to formula fed children. R2 for Copula model was (wt=0.52, ht=0.96, hc=0.84).  Conclusions: Implication of Copula model was easy to perform. Estimation of the parameters in copula model indicated that, breast milk consumption had a positive effect on the growth of infants

Developing Concept of Water-energy Productivity to Evaluate Dez Dam Operation

The “concept of productivity” in the context of WEN (water-energy nexus) is a new outlook to evaluate dam and power plant operation policies. Understanding and modeling the complicated nature of water-energy nexus (WEN) are essential to increase productivity. The performance of dams and hydropower plants is mostly evaluated by the amount of energy generated and/or meeting downstream demands. The present study investigates the historical operation efficiency of Dez dam and hydropower plant from 1972 to 2018 by defining the productivity indices of water footprint (WF) of electricity, energy economics, water-energy performance, WEN, and energy sustainability. Then, the correlation between the obtained results and Streamflow Drought Index (SDI) is evaluated. The results indicated that wet years, despite generating more energy, do not show necessarily the highest productivities, since two years with moderate drought and almost similar discharges (i.e., 2007-2008 and 2010-2011) showed the highest and lowest productivities during the operation period of Dez Dam, respectively. Such difference arises from overlooking full supply levels (FSL) in from 2008 to2017. The FSL of water years in 2007-2008 was calculated to be 325.13 masl while it was 350.91 masl for water years of 2010-2011. One can, therefore, conclude that maximum productivity can be achieved even during droughts by adopting an optimal operation policy

Evaluation of the Effects of Geology and Agricultural Development State on the Quality of Surface Water Resources Affected by Constructing Reservoir Dams (Case Study: Marun - Jarahi Basin)

The statistical tests such as T-test and Kruskall-Wallis test were used to study and analyze the difference between the quantitative parameters before and after constructing dams and the effect of different factors on water quality. The results of statistical tests showed that the values of the investigated water quality parameters (except EC value) before constructing (pre) dams were significantly different from the values after constructing dams in reservoir downstream stations. Sulfate (SO2-4) concentration in downstream stations of Marun Dam (Behbahan and Cham Nezam) reduced by 30 and 23 percent, respectively, and Cl- concentration increased 21 and 12 percent, respectively. Similarly, the difference between the values before and after constructing Jarreh dam at Mashin station was a 106% reduction in the concentration of sulfate ion (SO2-4) and a 78% increase in the concentration of chlorine ion (Cl-). The reason for this increase is probably due to the effect of river flows on the Formation and the relationship between the reservoir and the Formations where water has a long residence time and then reduced due to the exposure to the Geological Formations as well as the existence of agricultural activities downstream and before quality monitoring stations could be another reason for this claim. In addition, in the reservoir system, the concentration of soluble salt may be diluted by runoff from winter snowmelt and spring rains. Therefore, it can be concluded that water quality characteristics of Marun and Roudzard rivers in the studied basin has been affected by the constructed reservoir dams

Evaluation of risk factors associated with endometriosis in infertile women

Background: Endometriosis affects women�s physical and mental wellbeing. Symptoms include dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, pelvic pain, and infertility. The purpose of this study is to assess the correlation between some relevant factors and symptoms and risk of an endometriosis diagnosis in infertile women. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 1282 surgical patients in an infertility Institute, Iran between 2011 and 2013 were evaluated by laparoscopy. Of these, there were 341 infertile women with endometriosis (cases) and 332 infertile women with a normal pelvis (comparison group). Chi-square and t tests were used to compare these two groups. Logistic regression was done to build a prediction model for an endometriosis diagnosis. Results: Gravidity odds ratio (OR): 0.8, confidence interval (CI): 0.6-0.9, P=0.01, parity (OR: 0.7, CI: 0.6-0.9, P=0.01), family history of endometriosis (OR: 4.9, CI: 2.1-11.3, P0.05). Fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, pelvic pain and premenstrual spotting were more significant among late-stage endometriosis patients than in those with early-stage endometriosis and more prevalent among patients with endometriosis than that of the comparison group. In the logistic regression model, gravidity, family history of endometriosis, history of galactorrhea, history of pelvic surgery, dysmenorrhoea, pelvic pain, dysparaunia, premenstrual spotting, fatigue, and diarrhea were significantly associated with endometriosis. However, the number of pregnancies was negatively related to endometriosis. Conclusion: Endometriosis is a considerable public health issue because it affects many women and is associated with the significant morbidity. In this study, we built a prediction model which can be used to predict the risk of endometriosis in infertile women. © 2016, Royan Institute (ACECR). All rights reserved

Determining the Uncertainty of Evaporation from Reservoir by Considering the Climate Change Conditions (Case Study: Dez Dam Reservoir)

Human activities have led to increased greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere area and it caused internal climate changes. These influences are effective on the climate parameters, which increases the temperature rate and, consequently, elevates the rate of evaporation from the free surfaces. The reservoirs of dams are influenced directly by this temperature rise as the main place of water storage, causing the annual loss of a large amount of water in them due to the evaporation phenomenon. In this research, the effect of climate change on the evaporation from Dez dam reservoir was studied considering the uncertainty of climate change scenarios. Also, the changes occurring in temperature ranges and evaporation rates in future periods were examined under climate change scenarios. The results suggested that in the coming period of 2020-2044, the annual evaporation rate will increase in all three greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, and with a probability of occurrence of 90%, the highest evaporation rate would occur in May under the A1 scenario

Determination of the effective factors on the water balance of Urmia Lake basin with a focus on precipitation trends.

Prevention of water loss for the Urmia Lake due to the drought is environmentally crucial for the lake basin and it seems that, the analysis of the historical process of factors governing the water mass balance equation for the catchment leading to the lake can provide insights on what has to be done. In order to do that, statistical significance for potential breaking points and rate of changes over time points of precipitation and runoff for 25 hydrological basin stations based on the data regarding Annual precipitation and Annual runoff related to the whole span of the lake basin from 1977 to 2019 has been studied and surveyed using Mann-kendall test, Petit test and Sen’s Slope Estimator. For all hydrological basinstations breaking points have been observed in the water discharge time points from 1993 to 2005 and the decline of water discharge. Significant increase in precipitation in the entire Urmia catchment area of about 0.16 mm at a indicates its stability during the study period. The annual runoff of the studied basins into Lake Urmia in the two time periods before and after the discharge drop were estimated at 4.671 and 1.885 billion cubic meters per year, respectively, indicating volume reduction of 2.786 billion cubic meters (59.6%). Looking at the Lake Urmia sub-basins annual discharge reduction data, it can be seen that Zarrinehroud with the largest share of 34.5% and Mahparishai with smallest share of 0.2%, and the rest in between, contribute to the occurrence of draught for Lake Urmia

Impact of the endometrioma on ovarian response and pregnancy rate in in Vitro fertilization cycles

Background: Our objective was to evaluate the effect of ovarian endometrioma on ovarian stimulation outcomes in in vitro fertilization cycles (IVF). Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we followed 103 patients who underwent intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedures over a 24-months period. The study group consisted of 47 infertile women with either unilateral or bilateral ovarian endometrial cysts of less than 3 cm. The control group consisting of 57 patients with mild male factor infertility was candidate for ICSI treatment during the same time period as the study groups. Both groups were compared for number of oocytes retrieved, grades of oocytes, as well as embryo quantity and quality. Results: Our results showed similar follicle numbers, good embryo grades (A or B) and pregnancy rates in the compared groups. However, patients with endometrioma had higher gonadotropin consumption than the control group. The mean number of retrieved oocytes in patients with endometrioma was significantly lower than control group (6.6 ± 3.74 vs. 10.4 ± 5.25) (p<0.001). In addition, patients with endometrioma had significantly lower numbers of metaphase II (MII) oocytes (5 ± 3.21) than controls (8.2 ± 5.4) (p<0.001). In patients with unilateral endometrioma, there were no significant differences in main outcome measures between normal and involved ovaries in the patients with endometrioma. Conclusion: Patients with ovarian endometrioma had poor outcome. They showed poor ovarian response with lower total numbers of retrieved oocytes and lower MII oocytes during the stimulation phase; however, it does not affect the total number of embryos transferred per patient, quality of embryos, and pregnancy rate per patient

Is coasting valuable in all patients with any cause of infertility?

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the influence of coasting duration on the number and quality of oocytes and fertilization rate in male factor infertile women and those with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods: In this prospective observational follow-up study, 114 patients undergoing coasting (53 women with male factor infertility and 61 women with PCOS) were evaluated at the Royan Institute Research Center, Iran, between 2010 and 2012. Results: The results were analyzed according to the coasting periods of 1�4 days. In normal females, the number of oocytes retrieved was significantly reduced after the second day (p = 0.004). In addition, a statistically significant drop was observed in the number of metaphase II oocytes and fertilization rate after the third day (p = 0.006 and p = 0.006, respectively). No significant differences were observed in the number and quality of oocytes retrieved and fertilization rate with regard to coasting days in PCOS patients. Conclusion: Coasting with duration of more than three days should be performed with caution in normal females who are at risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. © 2016, Oman Medical Specialty Board. All Rights Reserved

Association of thrombophilia and polycystic ovarian syndrome in women with history of recurrent pregnancy loss

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of thrombophilic disorders in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) women with history of recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Materials and methods: This study was carried out in 184 women with history of RPL, of which 92 of them were diagnosed with PCOS and 92 patients were without known PCOS. The prevalence of thrombophilic disorders was compared between the two mentioned groups. Results: According to the findings, 70.7% of PCOS women with history of RPL had thrombophilic disorders. The prevalence of protein C deficiency was significantly higher in PCOS group compared to the non-PCOS group (21.7% vs. 10.9%, p = 0.04). There was a trend toward higher prevalence of protein S deficiency in PCOS group compared to the control group, but the difference did not reach statistical significance (23.9% vs. 13%, p = 0.05). The prevalence of other thrombophilic disorders such as antithrombin III deficiency, homocysteine elevation, antiphospholipid antibody and Factor V Leiden was comparable between groups. Conclusion: The prevalence of thrombophilic disorders was more common in PCOS women than the normal group. The protein C deficiency is associated with PCOS in women with history of RPL. There was a trend toward higher prevalence of protein S deficiency in PCOS women, which needs further study