People awareness about diabetes disease and its complications among aged 18 years and older in Bushehr port inhabitants (Iran)

Introduction: One of the most prevalent metabolic disease is diabetes and it can lead to enormous medical as well as socio-economic consequences. The Iranian diabetes population is estimated to be around 1.5 million. Studies show that approximately half of the people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are undiagnosed and thus unaware that they have the disease. This lack of awareness can lead to presentation with complications and its consequences. The aim of this survey was to determine the level of population awareness in Bushehr port, based on the available education programs. Material and methods: The cross-sectional study was assessed upon 719 subjects aged over 18 years old, without diabetes and inhabitant in Bushehr port in 2005. Multistage random simple sampling was used in this study. A questionnaire was prepared with validity checked by researchers in Yazd Diabetes Research Center and reliability alpha-cronbach = 75%. The questionnaire was included 39 questions: demographics indices, fundamentals about diabetes, its presenting signs and symptoms, the early and late complications, means of management as well as looked into the source of the information. The data was analyzed with independent t-test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, ANOVA and multiple-regression models by SPSS package ver. 10.05. Results: In this study, 719 subjects (417 male and 302 female) that mean age was 40.13 � 11.48 years (40.8 � 12.93 for male and 39.19 � 9.03 for female) were assessed. The male awareness rate was more than of female (P = 0.001). There was indirect relation between subjects’ awareness and their age (r = �0.203, P = 0.001). There was direct relation between awareness and the level of education of subjects (P = 0.01, r = 0.07). The mean of awareness scores of subjects was not same between singles and married (P = 0.042). Studies population awareness about fundamental diabetes disease, primary symptoms, early complications, delay complications, diet awareness was low and about controlling methods of diabetes was high. Conclusion: The results indicate that most subjects’ awareness about fundamental and complications of diabetes disease were low, so the people need more education about diabetes

The Use of Nanoaccelerator in Cement Slurries in Low Temperature Well Conditions

It has long been known that temperature during circulation and after cement placement is one of the most important parameters for slurry design and the success in cement production. Conventional cements and low density cement slurries usually take a long time to set and cannot provide significant compressive strength. Therefore, it is important to design appropriate low density cement slurries for low temperature conditions during surface casing cementation. In well cementing procedures, the slurry must be fluid for a sufficient time to allow the task to be completed. One of the problems that frequently happens in cementing a low temperature formation is a long setting time, in which the cement is influenced by low temperatures and the thickening time increases. To solve this problem, a unique cement system, which contains nanosilica, hollow spherical material, and class-G oil well cement, was developed for the first time. For this purpose, some additives such as; dispersants and fluid loss control agents were used in the cement system. The laboratory tests show that this slurry has a low density, excellent fluid loss control, no free fluid, right-angle-set, and a short thickening time (47 minutes) at low temperatures. The experimental results presented herein can help resolving problems in surface casing cementing</span

The Performance Evaluation of The Random Forest Algorithm for A Gene Selection in Identifying Genes Associated with Resectable Pancreatic Cancer in Microarray Dataset: A Retrospective Study

Objective: In microarray datasets, hundreds and thousands of genes are measured in a small number of samples,and sometimes due to problems that occur during the experiment, the expression value of some genes is recorded asmissing. It is a difficult task to determine the genes that cause disease or cancer from a large number of genes. Thisstudy aimed to find effective genes in pancreatic cancer (PC). First, the K-nearest neighbor (KNN) imputation methodwas used to solve the problem of missing values (MVs) of gene expression. Then, the random forest algorithm wasused to identify the genes associated with PC.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 24 samples from the GSE14245 dataset were examined. Twelvesamples were from patients with PC, and 12 samples were from healthy control. After preprocessing and applying thefold-change technique, 29482 genes were used. We used the KNN imputation method to impute when a particulargene had MVs. Then, the genes most strongly associated with PC were selected using the random forest algorithm. Weclassified the dataset using support vector machine (SVM) and naïve bayes (NB) classifiers, and F-score and Jaccardindices were reported.Results: Out of the 29482 genes, 1185 genes with fold-changes greater than 3 were selected. After selecting the mostassociated genes, 21 genes with the most important value were identified. S100P and GPX3 had the highest andlowest importance values, respectively. The F-score and Jaccard value of the SVM and NB classifiers were 95.5, 93,92, and 92 percent, respectively.Conclusion: This study is based on the application of the fold change technique, imputation method, and randomforest algorithm and could find the most associated genes that were not identified in many studies. We thereforesuggest researchers use the random forest algorithm to detect the related genes within the disease of interest

Effects of TiO2-Coated Stainless Steel Orthodontic Wires on Streptococcus mutans Bacteria: A Clinical Study

Introduction: The aim of this study was to clinically evaluate Streptococcus mutans adhesion on titanium dioxide-coated stainless steel orthodontic wires to decrease white-spot formation. Methods: In this study, four groups of 17 patients each (n=68) aged 12-25 years participated. A titanium dioxide coating layer was deposited on 0.4572 mm stainless steel orthodontic wires using physical vapor deposition. The coated wires were randomly assigned to one jaw, and the opposite jaw received an uncoated wire as control. Patients were divided into groups according to the duration that wires were in their mouths: A) 1 week, B) 2 weeks, C) 3 weeks, and D) 4 weeks. Block randomization was used to assign patients to each group. At the end of the experiment, 20 mm of each wire (canine-to-canine area) was cut and cultured in S. mutans-specific medium. The culture plates were placed in an incubator containing 5% CO2 for 72 hours at 37 degrees C, and then colonies were counted. MTT was used to test the biocompatibility of the coated and uncoated wires. To evaluate the stability of the coated titanium dioxide layer on the wires, titanium concentration on the saliva was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Results: The Kruskal-Wallis test showed that there was no significant difference in colony counts among the coated wires during 1-4 weeks (p&lt;0.48). In the uncoated-wire groups, colonys count at week 1 were higher than weeks 24 -(p&lt;0.022). Wilcoxon\u27s test showed that the number of colonies was significantly different in groups A and C, but there was no significant difference in groups B or D. MTT-assay results showed that there was not a significant difference between cell viability in the coated-wire group and the control. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed that there was no significant difference in titanium concentration in the studied groups (p&lt;0.834). Conclusion: Application of titanium dioxide coating is effective in reducing bacterial adhesion at wire insertion

Influence of adjuvant clonidine on mania, sleep disturbances and cognitive performance - Results from a double-blind and placebo-controlled randomized study in individuals with bipolar I disorder during their manic phase

Background: While the favorable effect of adjuvant clonidine in the treatment of acute mania has been observed already about 40 years ago, this line of treatment has not been further investigated. Here, we resumed this topic, and we tested the effect of adjuvant clonidine, an antihypertensive stimulating the alpha-2 central adrenergic receptor, on symptoms of mania, cognitive performance, and subjective sleep. To this end, we performed a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trial among inpatients with bipolar disorder I during their acute phase of mania. Methods: A total of 70 inpatients (mean age: 37.40 years; 15.7% females) with diagnosed bipolar disorder I and during their acute manic phase were randomly assigned either to the adjuvant clonidine (0.2 mg/d to a maximum of 0.6 mg/d) or to the placebo condition. Standard medication was lithium at therapeutic dosages. At baseline, participants completed a series of self-rating questionnaires covering sociodemographic information and subjective sleep. Subjective sleep was re-assessed 24 days later at the end of the study. Experts rated participants' acute state of mania with the Young Mania Rating Scale at baseline and at day 12 and day 24. Participants' cognitive performance was assessed at baseline and at day 24 at the end of the study. Results: Over time, mania scores significantly decreased (large effect size), but more so in the clonidine condition, compared to the placebo condition (medium effect size). Likewise, over time, subjective sleep improved (large effect size), but more so in the clonidine, compared to the placebo condition (medium effect size). Over time, cognitive performance improved (medium effect size), irrespective from the study condition. Conclusions: Compared to placebo, adjuvant clonidine to lithium improved symptoms of mania, as rated by experts', and subjective sleep quality. Adjuvant clonidine had no further favorable (or detrimental) impact on cognitive performance. Keywords: Bipolar disorder; Clonidine; Cognitive performance; Mania; Subjective sleep quality; alpha(2) central adrenergic receptors

Influence of adjuvant clonidine on mania, sleep disturbances and cognitive performance – Results from a double-blind and placebo-controlled randomized study in individuals with bipolar I disorder during their manic phase

Background: While the favorable effect of adjuvant clonidine in the treatment of acute mania has been observed already about 40 years ago, this line of treatment has not been further investigated. Here, we resumed this topic, and we tested the effect of adjuvant clonidine, an antihypertensive stimulating the alpha-2 central adrenergic receptor, on symptoms of mania, cognitive performance, and subjective sleep. To this end, we performed a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled clinical trial among inpatients with bipolar disorder I during their acute phase of mania. Methods: A total of 70 inpatients (mean age: 37.40 years; 15.7% females) with diagnosed bipolar disorder I and during their acute manic phase were randomly assigned either to the adjuvant clonidine (0.2 mg/d to a maximum of 0.6 mg/d) or to the placebo condition. Standard medication was lithium at therapeutic dosages. At baseline, participants completed a series of self-rating questionnaires covering sociodemographic information and subjective sleep. Subjective sleep was re-assessed 24 days later at the end of the study. Experts rated participants' acute state of mania with the Young Mania Rating Scale at baseline and at day 12 and day 24. Participants' cognitive performance was assessed at baseline and at day 24 at the end of the study. Results: Over time, mania scores significantly decreased (large effect size), but more so in the clonidine condition, compared to the placebo condition (medium effect size). Likewise, over time, subjective sleep improved (large effect size), but more so in the clonidine, compared to the placebo condition (medium effect size). Over time, cognitive performance improved (medium effect size), irrespective from the study condition. Conclusions: Compared to placebo, adjuvant clonidine to lithium improved symptoms of mania, as rated by experts', and subjective sleep quality. Adjuvant clonidine had no further favorable (or detrimental) impact on cognitive performance. Keywords: Bipolar disorder; Clonidine; Cognitive performance; Mania; Subjective sleep quality; alpha(2) central adrenergic receptors

Effects of human and organizational deficiencies on workers’ safety behavior at a mining site in Iran

OBJECTIVES Throughout the world, mines are dangerous workplaces with high accident rates. According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the number of occupational accidents in Iranian mines has increased in recent years. This study investigated and analyzed the human and organizational deficiencies that influenced Iranian mining accidents. METHODS In this study, the data associated with 305 mining accidents were analyzed using a systems analysis approach to identify critical deficiencies in organizational influences, unsafe supervision, preconditions for unsafe acts, and workers’ unsafe acts. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilized to model the interactions among these deficiencies. RESULTS Organizational deficiencies had a direct positive effect on workers’ violations (path coefficient, 0.16) and workers’ errors (path coefficient, 0.23). The effect of unsafe supervision on workers’ violations and workers’ errors was also significant, with path coefficients of 0.14 and 0.20, respectively. Likewise, preconditions for unsafe acts had a significant effect on both workers’ violations (path coefficient, 0.16) and workers’ errors (path coefficient, 0.21). Moreover, organizational deficiencies had an indirect positive effect on workers’ unsafe acts, mediated by unsafe supervision and preconditions for unsafe acts. Among the variables examined in the current study, organizational influences had the strongest impact on workers’ unsafe acts. CONCLUSIONS Organizational deficiencies were found to be the main cause of accidents in the mining sector, as they affected all other aspects of system safety. In order to prevent occupational accidents, organizational deficiencies should be modified first

Association of MGLL Intronic C>T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (rs782440) with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Case-Control Study

Objective: From the perspective of etiology, borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a multifactorial and complexdisorder, hence our understanding about the molecular basis and signaling of this disorder is extremely limited.The purpose of this study was evaluating the relationship between BPD and the Monoacylglycerol lipase (MGLL)polymorphism rs782440 in the population of Hamadan, Iran.Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 106 participants including 53 patients with BPD and 53healthy control subjects were selected by psychiatrists in the Department of Psychiatry at Farshchian SinaHospital in Hamadan. The BPD patients were selected based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of MentalDisorders (DSM-5) form for diagnosing BPD patients. For genotyping, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) wasused to amplify the desired region including the MGLL intronic C>T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)(rs782440) and afterward the amplicon was sequenced using the Sanger sequencing method. To determine thegenotype of these patients, their sequences were aligned with the reference sequence of MGLL through the CLCgenomic workbench software.Results: The results indicated that the frequency of TT in comparison to the CC genotype was significantly different(P=0.003) and the risk of BPD in change from the TT genotype to CC genotype was increased by 6.679%. Regardingthe frequency of allele in this group, no significant difference was observed.Conclusion: This paper, has studied and reports for the first time, the association between MGLL SNP (rs782440) withBPD. The findings of the current research revealed that the TT genotype increases the risk of BPD compared to the CCgenotype. Considering the lack of a suitable diagnostic biomarker for BPD, using this potential biomarker in the nearfuture can be promising

Neonatal brain resting-state functional connectivity imaging modalities

Infancy is the most critical period in human brain development. Studies demonstrate that subtle brain abnormalities during this state of life may greatly affect the developmental processes of the newborn infants. One of the rapidly developing methods for early characterization of abnormal brain development is functional connectivity of the brain at rest. While the majority of resting-state studies have been conducted using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), there is clear evidence that resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) can also be evaluated using other imaging modalities. The aim of this review is to compare the advantages and limitations of different modalities used for the mapping of infants’ brain functional connectivity at rest. In addition, we introduce photoacoustic tomography, a novel functional neuroimaging modality, as a complementary modality for functional mapping of infants’ brain