Relationship between obesity and asthma symptoms among children in Ahvaz, Iran: a cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for higher prevalence of asthma and asthma-related symptoms in children. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the prevalence of asthma symptoms and obesity among school-age children in the city of Ahvaz, Iran.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 903 children, 7 to 11 years of age, were enrolled in this study through cluster sampling. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire was used to identify the children who were currently suffering from asthma. Height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated in kg/m². Overweight was defined as BMI greater than the age- and sex-specific 85th percentile, and obesity as BMI greater than the 95th percentile. We determined the relationship between obesity and asthma symptoms by chi-square tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of wheeze ever, current wheezing, obesity, and overweight was 21.56%, 8.7%, 6.87%, and 9.5%, respectively. The current prevalence of wheezing among obese and overweight children was 68.75% and 37%, respectively, and there was a statistical association between obesity and the prevalence of current wheezing (p < 0.001), night cough (p < 0.001), and exercise-induced wheezing (p = 0.009), but obesity and overweight were not associated with eczema and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, so it seems that the pathophysiology of asthma in obese and overweight children is not related to allergy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is a strong association between asthma symptoms and both overweight and obesity in both sexes among school-age children.</p

Investigating the Impact of E-Servicescape Dimensions and Experience & Risk Factors on E-WOM: Mediating Role of Trust

Nowadays, one of the important topics in e-commerce which has become a concern of many countries is electronic word of mouth due to increasing use of Internet for activities such as shopping or obtaining information. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of e-service factors as well as experience and risk on E-WOM by considering the mediating role of the trust variable. The statistical population of this research consists of buyers ftom Tehran/Karaj from Alibaba website. 384 samples were selected by Cochran's formula and data was collected by distributing questionnaires. The research data were analyzed by structural equation modeling using Amos. The results show that e-services dimensions as well as experience have a positive and significant effect on trust and E-WOM. Trust also has positive and significant effect on E-WOM. The results emphasize the importance of focusing on improving the quality of e-services in online stores and user experience of buyers on their participation in advertising

The Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia among High School Students in Iran: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Iron is one of the most important elements forming the body and an essential metal for many biological processes in mammals. According to studies, anemia can cause numerous side effects in the body. Because of the effectiveness of iron in myelinated nerves, this illness can cause hearing loss and vision problems as well, and in students, it can even cause academic failure and learning problems and intensify behavioral disorders. Therefore, to collect the statistics of the prevalence of the disorder in order to inform parents, the present study was conducted to assess the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in high school students in Iran using meta-analysis method.Method: This study was continued in review form using the key words anemia, iron deficiency anemia, and anemia prevalence with a review of the articles in Pubmed, Iranmedex databases and Scientific Information Database of SID in related topics with 89 articles. Time domain for searching articles and related books and was mainly from 1991 onwards.Results: Studies on the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in high school students show different results. Recent statistics based on published articles at home and abroad show the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia equal to 10.6%, (with a 95% confidence interval: 9.7 to 11.5) until 2014.Conclusion: The disease can cause hearing and vision disorders in adolescents. Moreover, it can cause academic failure and learning problems and intensify behavioral disorders in students.  Given that children's health is an indicator of health planning of family for them, attention to the factors preventing iron deficiency anemia and its treatment is essential for students. Following this study, it is suggested that by correcting diet as the first step of prevention of catching this diseases, we take a step towards preventing it

Chemical Decellularization Methods and Its Effects on Extracellular Matrix

Background:  Extracellular matrix (ECM) produced by tissue decellularization processes as a biological scaffold due to its unique properties compared to other scaffolds for migration and implantation of stem cells have been used successfully in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in the last years. The objective of this manuscript was to provide an overview of the chemical decellularization methods, evaluation of decellularized ECM and the potential effect of the chemical decellularization agents on the biochemical composition.Methods: We searched in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct. The literature search was done by using the following keywords: “ECM, biologic scaffold, decellularization, chemical methods, tissue engineering.” We selected articles have been published from 2000 to 2016, and 15 full texts and 97 abstracts were reviewed.Results:Employing an optimization method to minimize damage to the ECM ultrastructure as for a result of the lack of reduction in mechanical properties and also the preservation of essential proteins such as laminin, fibronectin, Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), growth factor is required. Various methods include chemical, physical and enzymatic technics were studied. However, on each of these methods can have undesirable effects on ECM.Conclusion: It is suggested that instead of the Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) which have high strength degradation, we can use zwitterionic separately or in combination with SDS. Tributyl phosphate (TBP) due to its unique properties can be used in decellularization process

Hematologic Changes in Patients with Graves’ disease in Gorgan During 2014-2015

Background: The most common cause of hyperthyroidism in areas without iodine deficiency is Graves’ disease. There are reports of some hematological alterations in hyperthyroidism. This study was designed to measure the hematologic profile in the patients with Graves’ disease before and after the treatment.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 100 patients were selected with convenience sampling that diagnosed as autoimmune Graves’ disease in our academic endocrinology clinic during 2014-2015. Inclusion criteria included autoimmune hyperthyroidism in patients who were referred to this center during the study period. Patients who refused to take part in the research, had recent infections disease, malignancies, surgical procedures, severe trauma, received immunosuppressive drugs or corticosteroids, high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) values during the last six months, and not responded to treatment with methimazole were excluded from the study. The simple sampling technique was used to select the patients.   A complete blood count (CBC) was taken before and after treatment. The P-value less than 0.05 was considered as the statistical significance level. All data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) software.Results: One hundred patients with a mean age of 38 ± 9.8 years were included. There were no significant changes in the white blood cells (WBC) count, red blood cells (RBC) count, and platelets. Mild anemia (Hb=12.16±1.23) present before treating the hyperthyroidism that was significantly improved after treatment (P= 0.000). Conclusions: Our results showed that the only significant hematologic change in patients with Graves’ disease was mild anemia that improves after treating the underlying thyroid disorder.

The Impact of Aesthetic and Symbolic Brand Benefits on Brand Commitment with the Mediating Role of Emotional attachment Among Apple Brand Consumers

هدف اصلی این پژوهش، ارائه مدلی است که ساختاری مفید برای استفاده مدیران و محققان حوزه تعهد مشتری و برند است. این مطالعه به این پرسش پاسخ می‌دهد که چگونه مزایای زیبایی‌شناسی برند و مزایای نمادین برند به تعهد مشتری منجر شده و احساس تعلق‌خاطر به برند چگونه این رابطه را میانجی‌گری می‌کند. این تحقیق از لحاظ هدف کاربردی و از حیث گردآوری داده‌ها، پیمایشی و توصیفی است. جمع‌آوری داده‌های مورد نیاز تحقیق با استفاده از پرسشنامه 20 سؤالی استاندارد‌ و سنجیده شده با طیف پنج گزینه‌ای لیکرت انجام گرفته و به‌صورت نمونه‌گیری غیر تصادفی هدفمند بین 350 نفر از دانشجویان دانشگاه زنجان به دست آمده است. یافته‌های تحقیق نشان داد که مزایای زیبایی‌شناسی و نمادین برند، دارای تأثیر مثبت و معنادار بر تعهد است و همچنین متغیر احساس تعلق‌خاطر به برند عامل میانجی مثبتی بین رابطه مزایای زیبایی‌شناسی و نمادین برند بر تعهد به برند است

Frequency of Side Effects of Methadone Maintenance Therapy in Patients Referred to Fasa Doctor Shariati Hospital

Background & Objective: Drug abuse causes severe gastrointestinal, neurological problems and dependency. For maintenance therapy of opiate addiction, long-acting opioids like methadone are used. Since incorrect use of methadone, leads to serious complications, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of methadone. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was done with a sample size of 151 patients in addiction treatment centers Fasa Shariati Hospital, during 6 months. After reviewing the cases of patients who were taking methadone for addiction and completed their demographic information, check list of questions about the different effects of methadone was completed for each patient. The data was statistically analyzed by Mann-Whitney test.   Results: The average age of participants in the scheme was 31/71. The results showed that the most common side effects of methadone, is gastrointestinal complications (77/5 percent). In addition, between the effects and duration of methadone there is a significant relationship. However, other effects were not associated with duration of use. Conclusion: According to the results, the need for continuous follow-up of patients undergoing methadone treatment for drug complications and such findings can even be transferred to the relevant authorities, in order to add assessment side effects of treatment is necessary in the case of defined. The patients’ need to medication may cause endurance of bothersome symptoms. While it can affect their quality of life

Effect of 830-nm diode laser irradiation on human sperm motility

Abstract Sperm motility is known as an effective parameter in male fertility, and it depends on energy consumption. Low-level laser irradiation could increase energy supply to the cell by producing adenosine triphosphate. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how the low-level laser irradiation affects the human sperm motility. Fresh human semen specimens of asthenospermic patients were divided into four equal portions and irradiated by 830-nm GaAlAs laser irradiation with varying doses as: 0 (control), 4, 6 and 10 J/cm 2 . At the times of 0, 30, 45 and 60 min following irradiation, sperm motilities are assessed by means of computer-aided sperm analysis in all samples. Two additional tests [HOS and sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) tests] were also performed on the control and high irradiated groups as well. Sperm motility of the control groups significantly decreased after 30, 45 and 60 min of irradiation, while those of irradiated groups remained constant or slightly increased by passing of time. Significant increases have been observed in doses of 4 and 6 J/cm 2 at the times of 60 and 45 min, respectively. SCD test also revealed a non-significant difference. Our results showed that irradiating human sperms with low-level 830-nm diode laser can improve their progressive motility depending on both laser density and post-exposure time

Multi-Drug Resistance against Second-Line Medication and MicroRNA Plasma Level in Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

Background: Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) can help to predict the chemotherapy response in breast cancer with promising results. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships between the miR-199a, miR-663a, and miR-663b expression and chemotherapy response in metastatic breast cancer patients.Methods: This study is a case-control study performed at Yasuj University of Medical Sciences (2018-2021). The expression levels of miR-663a, miR-663b, and miR-199a in the serum of 25 patients with metastatic breast cancer versus 15 healthy individuals were determined by the real-time polymerase chain reaction method. The response to treatment was followed up in a 24-month period. All patients were treated with second-line medications. Two or more combinations of these drugs were used: gemcitabine, Navelbine®, Diphereline®, Xeloda®, letrozole, Aromasin®, and Zolena®. Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS 21.0 and GraphPad Prism 6 software. The expression levels were presented as mean±SD and analyzed by Student’s t test.Results: The results and clinicopathological features of patients were analyzed by t test. The statistical analysis showed that miR-663a expression was related to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status and was significantly lower in the HER2+ than HER2- group (P=0.027). Moreover, the expression of miR-199a and miR-663b was significantly correlated with the response to treatment, in which the expression of miR-199a was higher in the poor-response group (P=0.049), while the higher expression of miR-663b was seen in the good-response group (P=0.009).Conclusion: These findings state that the high plasma level of miR-199a and the low plasma level of miR-663b may be related to chemoresistance in patients with metastatic breast cancer