Predicting post-electrical injury autonomic dysfunction symptom occurrence by a simple test

Background: Sensory, motor, and autonomic neuropathy has been reported after electrical injury. Besides subclinical involvement of the sympathetic nervous system during the 1st year post injury, late clinical manifestations of this involvement have been reported sporadically. This study was designed to investigate how the clinical and electrodiagnostic manifestations of sympathetic involvement would change with time in electricity victims. Methods and materials: Sixty electrically burnt patients were followed for 22 months with sympathetic skin response (SSR) and autonomic system derangement symptom surveillance. Results: Thirty-one patients reported autonomic derangement symptoms during the 2nd year post injury. SSR latency prolongation showed direct negative correlation with time; but SSR amplitude was decreased in all cases irrespective of the time laps. Symptomatic patients showed significantly lower SSR amplitudes compared to asymptomatic ones. This was true for the pre-symptom SSR test results too. Conclusion: SSR amplitude can be used as a predictive test for the symptoms of autonomic derangement to occur post electrical injury. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd and ISBI

Synergistic effects of vitamin A and extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (50HZ) on limb bud development in Balb/c mouse

زمینه و هدف: ویتامین A و مشتقات آن برای تکوین طبیعی جنین ضروری بوده و مولکول های پیام دهی مهمی برای تنظیم تمایز، تکثیر سلول ها و ریخت زایی به شمار می روند. همچنین فرآیندهای رشد و نموی بسیاری تحت تاثیر میدان های الکترومغناطیسی قرار می گیرند و در درمان برخی بیماری ها مانند بیماری های عضلانی اسکلتی و غضروفی کاربرد کلینیکی دارند. در پژوهش حاضر اثرات توام میدان الکترومغناطیسی (50 هرتز) و ویتامین A بر رشد و نمو جوانه اندام حرکتی جنین موش بررسی شده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه تجربی 15 سر موش ماده حامله از نژاد Balb/c به گروه های کنترل، شاهد آزمایشگاهی و تجربی تقسیم شدند. به نمونه های گروه تجربی و شاهد آزمایشگاهی در روز 5/١0 حاملگی IU/kg ١5000 ویتامین A به صورت درون صفاقی تزریق گردید. نمونه های گروه تجربی علاوه بر ویتامین A در روزهای ١٢-١0 حاملگی، روزانه به مدت ٤ ساعت تحت تاثیر میدان الکترومغناطیسی با فرکانس 50 هرتز و با شدت ١00 گاؤس قرار داده شدند. موش های باردار هر سه گروه در روز 5/١5 حاملگی تشریح و جنین های آنها برای انجام مطالعات میکروسکوپی نوری آماده سازی و بررسی شدند. داده ها به کمک آزمون های آماری t، آنالیز واریانس یک طرفه و کروسکال والیس تجزیه و تحلیل گردید. یافته ها: رشد و نمو به موازات محورهای پرو کسیمال- دیستال و قدامی - خلفی اندام های حرکتی جلویی و عقبی در نمونه های تجربی در مقایسه با نمونه های شاهد آزمایشگاهی کاهش نشان داد (05/0

A model to predict communications in dynamic social networks

Background: social networks are dynamic due to continuous increases in their members, communications, and links, while these links may be lost. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the link and communication between social network users using the centrality criterion and decision tree. Methods: After checking the nodes in the network for each pair of unrelated nodes, some common nodes in the proximity list of these two groups were extracted as common neighbors. Analysis was performed based on common neighbors, association prediction process, and weighted common neighbors. Prediction accuracy improved. Centrality criteria were used to determine the weight of each group. New Big Data techniques were used to calculate centrality measures and store them as features of common neighbors. Personal characteristics of users were added to build complete data for training a data mining model. After modeling, the decision tree model was used to predict communication. Results: There was an increase in sensitivity, which indicated model power in identifying positive categories (i.e., communications) when users' characteristics were used. It means that the model could identify potential latent communications. It can be stated that users are more willing to make a relationship with users similar to them through common neighbors. Personal characteristics of users and centrality were effective in method efficiency, while removal of these properties in the learning process of the decision tree model caused a reduction in efficiency criteria. Conclusion: Prediction of latent communications through social networks was promising. Better results can be obtained from further studies

Femoral Nerve Injury as a Complication of Percutaneous Simple Renal Cyst Sclerotherapy with Ethanol: A Case Report

Simple renal cysts are benign, common, and often asymptomatic disease in old age, sometimes treated with ethanol sclerotherapy. We report a case of iatrogenic femoral nerve injury following percutaneous injection of ethanol into a renal cyst under sedation. The percutaneous injection was guided by sonography. At the end of the procedure, the cyst ruptured so the patient progressed to loss of consciousness due to alcohol intoxication. Ethanol was damaged to the femoral nerve, so patient was developed with limping, numbness, and weakness in anteromedial aspect of the right thigh. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of femoral nerve injury caused by percutaneous simple renal cyst sclerotherapy with ethanol. This rare event has not been previously described, Physicians should be aware of the possibility of this complication

The effects of mobile phone waves (940MHz) on embryonic development of hematopoiesis system in Balb/C mouse.

زمینه و هدف: استفاده روز افزون از دستگاه های مولد مایکروویو نظیر تلفن های همراه در زندگی روزمره سبب نگرانی های بسیاری در مورد اثرات امواج آنها بر سلامت انسان شده است. در تحقیق حاضر اثرات امواج شبیه سازی شده تلفن های همراه با فرکانس 940 مگا هرتز بر سیستم خون ساز جنین موش بررسی شده است. روش‌ بررسی: در یک مطالعه تجربی موش ماده حامله نژاد Balb/C به گروه های کنترل، شاهد آزمایشگاهی و تجربی 1 و 2 (حداقل 5 سر موش در هر گروه) تقسیم شدند. گروه تجربی از روز هشتم رشد و نمو جنین به مدت 4 یا 10 روز (هر روز به مدت 4 ساعت) با امواج شبیه سازی شده تلفن های همراه (940 مگا هرتز) مواجه شدند. در پایان دوره تیماری نمونه‌های مربوطه تشریح و ابتدا وزن و طول فرق سری ـ نشیمنگاهی جنین ها اندازه گیری و سپس برای انجام مطالعات بافت شناسی با میکروسکوپ نوری آماده سازی و به روش هماتوکسیلین ائوزین هاریس رنگ آمیزی شد. داده های کمی حاصل به کمک آزمون آماری t و من ویتنی تجزیه و تحلیل شد. یافته ها: بررسی ریخت شناسی جنین ‌های 18 روزه هیچگونه ناهنجاری نشان نداد. همچنین بین گروه ها تغییر معنی دار در طول فرق سری نشیمنگاهی مشاهده نشد، لیکن وزن جنین های تجربی (gr 017/0±263/1) نسبت به شاهد (gr 006/0±268/1) افزایش معنی دار نشان داد (05/0

Rationale and Design of a Registry in a Referral and Educational Medical Center in Tehran, Iran: Sina Hospital Covid-19 Registry (SHCo-19R)

Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is caused by the novel coronavirus resulting in a highly contagious respiratory tract infection with an increased risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which was first seen in Wuhan, China. Thus far, this virus has spread to many countries worldwide, including Iran. Multiple studies have assessed disease characteristics, viral genetics, and complications of Covid-19 in the Chinese population. However, there is limited data regarding patient characteristics and outcomes of infected cases outside of China. Besides, risk factors of adverse outcomes are poorly identified in different populations. Due to limited data in the Iranian population affected by the virus, we aimed to design a registry of patients with Covid-19 at Sina Hospital in Tehran, Iran [Sina Hospital Covid-19 Registry (SHCo-19R)] in this regard, to assess patient characteristics, imaging features, laboratory findings, management strategies, and adverse outcomes of Iranian patients with Covid-19 and their differences with other populations

Ocular Manifestations of Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Comprehensive Review

Apart from conjunctival involvement which is the most well-known ocular manifestation of coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19), there are multiple reports of the involvement of other ocular structures by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). We comprehensively reviewed PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar for available evidence regarding COVID-19 various ocular manifestations, with special focus on less known and unusual ocular findings. We then categorized the findings based on the parts of the eye which was involved. In anterior sections of the eye, the involvement of the eyelid (tarsadenitis), conjunctiva and cornea (follicular conjunctivitis, pseudomembranous conjunctivitis, and keratoconjunctivitis), episclera (nodular episcleritis), uvea (anterior uveitis) were reported. Also, third, fourth, and sixth nerve palsy, retinal vasculitis, retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) changes (hyper-reflective lesions and increased retinal nerve fiber layer thickness [RNFLT]), optic neuritis, papillophlebitis, Miller Fisher syndrome, posterior reversible leukoencephalopathy (PRES), ophthalmic artery and central retinal artery occlusion, and polyneuritis cranialis were reported in different studies. Postmortem evaluation of COVID-19 patients detected no viral RNA in different anterior and posterior segments of the eyes. However, another study revealed a 21.4% positivity of the retinal biopsies of dead patients. The results of this study can help ophthalmologists to be vigilant when they see these findings in a suspected case of COVID-19. In addition, wearing face masks and protective goggles or eye shields are recommended, especially in high-risk contacts

Wild Relatives of Wheat Respond Well to Water Deficit Stress : A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Their Encoding Gene Expression

Previous studies have revealed that some wild wheat accessions respond well to water deficit treatments and have a good potential in terms of photosynthetic parameters, root system architecture, and several physiological properties. However, the biochemical responses and molecular mechanisms of antioxidant-encoding genes remain to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the most tolerant accessions fromA. crassa,Ae. tauschii, andAe. cylindricapreviously identified from a core collection in previous studies, along with a control variety of bread wheat (T. aestivumcv. Sirvan) through measuring the shoot fresh and dry biomasses; the activities of antioxidant enzymes (including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), and peroxidase (POD)); and the relative expression ofCAT, superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), andGPXandAPXgenes under control and water deficit conditions. Water deficit stress caused a significant decrease in the shoot biomasses but resulted in an increase in the activity of all antioxidant enzymes and relative expression of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes. Principal component analysis showed a strong association between the shoot dry biomass and the activity of CAT, POD, and APX, as well asMnSODgene expression. Thus, these traits can be used as biomarkers to screen the tolerant plant material in the early growth stage. Taken together, our findings exposed the fact thatAe. tauschiiandAe. crassarespond better to water deficit stress thanAe. cylindricaand a control variety. Furthermore, these accessions can be subjected to further molecular investigation.Peer reviewe

Wild Relatives of Wheat Respond Well to Water Deficit Stress: A Comparative Study of Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Their Encoding Gene Expression

Previous studies have revealed that some wild wheat accessions respond well to water deficit treatments and have a good potential in terms of photosynthetic parameters, root system architecture, and several physiological properties. However, the biochemical responses and molecular mechanisms of antioxidant-encoding genes remain to be elucidated. Herein, we investigated the most tolerant accessions from A. crassa, Ae. tauschii, and Ae. cylindrica previously identified from a core collection in previous studies, along with a control variety of bread wheat (T. aestivum cv. Sirvan) through measuring the shoot fresh and dry biomasses; the activities of antioxidant enzymes (including ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (GPX), and peroxidase (POD)); and the relative expression of CAT, superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), and GPX and APX genes under control and water deficit conditions. Water deficit stress caused a significant decrease in the shoot biomasses but resulted in an increase in the activity of all antioxidant enzymes and relative expression of antioxidant enzyme-encoding genes. Principal component analysis showed a strong association between the shoot dry biomass and the activity of CAT, POD, and APX, as well as MnSOD gene expression. Thus, these traits can be used as biomarkers to screen the tolerant plant material in the early growth stage. Taken together, our findings exposed the fact that Ae. tauschii and Ae. crassa respond better to water deficit stress than Ae. cylindrica and a control variety. Furthermore, these accessions can be subjected to further molecular investigation

Seasonality of Acute Retinal Necrosis

Purpose: To study the seasonal variability in the occurrence of acute retinal necrosis (ARN) in a series of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-positive patients. Methods: Consecutive patients clinically diagnosed with ARN and a positive PCR result of aqueous humor during a seven-year period were studied retrospectively. Patients’ demographics, causative viral agent(s), and the date of disease onset were extracted from medical records. Results: Twenty eyes of 20 patients were enrolled; the mean age at presentation was 39.6 ± 14.4 (range, 6–62) years. Nine patients were female. The most common causative agent was varicella-zoster virus in 16 patients (80%), followed by herpes simplex virus in two patients (10%). The disease onset was in winter in 10 patients (50%), and the highest incidence was in February (five patients, 25%). The cumulative occurrence of ARN was significantly higher in the first half of the year (winter and spring) compared to the second half of the year (summer and fall) (P = 0.030). In general, seasons with a high incidence of ARN were preceded by cold seasons. Conclusion: In our series, we observed seasonal variability in the incidence of ARN, with the highest incidence during winter and spring. However, further epidemiologic studies in different geographical areas are required to elucidate the true seasonal nature of ARN