A negative correlation between self-regulation learning strategies and emotional intelligence: a new finding

Background and Objective: In self-regulation learning, learners will have personal control over the learning process, and emotional intelligence refers to personal control of emotions and feelings of self-regulation. The present study seeks to determine the relationship between the components of self-regulation learning and emotional intelligence.Materials and Methods: A sample of 200 students (100 females and 100 males) who were studying at Tehran and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences participated in the study. Self-regulation learning scale and Goleman's emotional intelligence questionnaire were used. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression tests.Results: The results of regression analysis showed that the correlation coefficient between self-regulation learning and emotional intelligence was negative (r = -0.171 and p = 0.015). Among the self-regulation learning components, the correlation coefficient between emotional intelligence and organization and transfer components (r = -0.144, p= 0.041) and self-efficacy (p = 0.011, r = -0.18) were significant.Conclusion: The negative relationship in the present research suggests that feelings emotions for expressing themselves and facilitating their presentation emerge in the easiest, happiest and most successful way of thinking and harmony. But self-regulation learning is a way to repeat and practice, persevere and tolerate problems to reach logical thinking.

A Gender Difference in Emotional Intelligence and Self-Regulation Learning Strategies: Is it true?

Background: Self-regulation learning (SRLS) and emotional intelligence constructs among youth considering effectiveness and enhancement of optimization and quality of life.Materials and Methods: The research sample composed of 200 students who studied at Iranian universities in 2016-17 academic year. SRLS and Goleman's emotional intelligence questionnaire were utilized in this research. Collected data was analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate regression technique.Results: Scores of goal setting and planning (p=0.009) and self-consequating (p=0.021) were higher among females, and those of support from teacher (p=0.014), notes review (p=0.001), and homework review (p=0.004) were higher among males. Furthermore, regarding emotional intelligence, scores of self-motivation (p=0.012) and social skills (p=0.008) were higher among males.Conclusion: Goal-setting and planning for these strategies help people organize materials more easily, and understand that, self-consequating includes learner’s judgement about his/her own capabilities, and this self-trust contributes to better implementation of his/her cognitive skills in his/her studies. Regarding the support from teacher, notes review and homework review among males, which fall within the scope of resource management strategies, by organizing learning environment, seeking support from parents and teacher, and adjusting efforts help the learner either eliminate or attenuate distraction, and the fact that others can help us. Furthermore, both note taking and note reading contribute to better recovery of information from memory. This strategy includes administrating or regulating one’s own and others’ emotions, appropriate adoption of those in human relationships, controlling instantaneous desires, and confronting opposite or negative emotions. Being composed of self-motivation and social skills, this strategy has higher levels among males

Healthcare Managers; Islamic Decision-making

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Decision-making is of paramount importance in personal, social, and organizational life, influencing both personal and organizational affairs. Indeed, all human’s life is a chain of decisions made by him (1). In this regard, decision-making in major managements, particularly in health sector where lives of people as well as physical and spiritual health are involved, is of particular importance.For downloading the full-text of this article please click here

Assessment of Treg-related lncRNAs in epilepsy

Recent studies have shown dysregulation of several groups of long non-coding RNAs in the context of epilepsy. According to evidence regarding the role of regulatory T cells in this disorder, we examined expression levels of regulatory T cell-related lncRNAs, namely TH2-LCR, RMRP, IFNG-AS1 (NEST), MAFTRR and FLICR in the blood of epileptic cases compared with controls. Expression of RMRP was lower in patients with refractory epilepsy compared with controls [expression ratio (95% CI) = 0.32 (0.13–0.8), adjusted p -value = 0.0008]. Besides, its expression was lower in refractory patients vs. non-refractory patients [expression ratio (95% CI) = 0.2 (0.1–0.41), adjusted p -value < 0.0001]. Expression of TH2-LCR was lower in refractory patients vs. controls [expression ratio (95% CI) = 0.4 (0.17–0.93), adjusted p -value = 0.0044] and in refractory patients vs. non-refractory ones [Expression ratio = 0.28 (0.19–0.58), p -value < 0.0001]. Expression of NEST was higher in total patients [expression ratio (95% CI) = 2.48 (1.15–5.27), adjusted p -value = 0.0012] and in both groups of patients compared with controls. However, its expression was not different between refractory and non-refractory cases. Similarly, FLICR and MAFTRR were over-expressed in total cases and both groups of patients compared with controls, but their expressions were similar between refractory and non-refractory cases. MAFTRR could differentiate between total epileptic cases and controls with AUC value of 0.8. This lncRNA could separate refractory and non-refractory cases from healthy controls with AUC values of 0.73 and 0.88, respectively. This study provides evidence for deregulation of regulatory T cell-related lncRNAs in epilepsy and their potential role as diagnostic markers in this condition

Expression of T cell-related lncRNAs in multiple sclerosis

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to in the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS). In order to appraise the role of T cell-related lncRNAs in this disorder, we assessed expressions of NEST, RMRP, TH2-LCR, MAFTRR and FLICR in MS patients and healthy individuals. We detected significant difference in the expression of RMRP and FLICR between cases and controls. There were substantial correlations between expressions of NEST, RMRP, TH2-LCR, MAFTRR and FLICR lncRNAs among patients, but not controls. The strongest correlations were found between RMRP and TH2-LCR, and between MAFTRR and RMRP with correlation coefficients of 0.69 and 0.59, respectively. ROC curve analysis revealed appropriate power of FLICR in differentiating between MS patients and healthy controls (AUC value = 0.84). Expression of NEST lncRNA was positively correlated with disease duration in MS patients, but negatively correlated with age at onset. In brief, we reported dysregulation of two T cell-related lncRNAs in MS patients and proposed FLICR as a putative marker for this disorder

Healthcare Managers’ Decision-Making Adopting Islamic Approach: Theoretical Basis of Attitude and Approach of Islam in Decision-Making Process

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Background and Objective: Decision making is of great importance in not only personal and social life but also organizational life. One of the most key factors influencing the decision making process is the value system as well as the beliefs and thoughts of decision-makers. Since the value system in Islam is fully comprehensiveness, in this research, the health managers’ decision-making process on the basis of the values and ethical principles from the Islamic point of view is examined.Method: ‘Content analysis’ is used in this study which falls into the category of non-experimental or descriptive research. The Islamic references and sources such as “Holy Quran”, “Nah al-balagha”, “Ghorar al-hekam &amp; Dorar al-kalem”, “Al-kafi”, “Al-hayat” and also a number of related books and papers were investigated in this study. All ethical issues were observed in this research and the researchers declared no conflict of interests.Results: In this research, three general steps were taken for the health managers’ decision-making process based on the teachings of the Holy Quran, which included “decision-making”, “decision implementation” and “reliance on God”. In order to accurately explain the steps above, a number of distinct and interpretable indices, derived from three main sources of Islamic studies, namely the “Holy Qur'an”, “the Prophet's Sunnah”, and “the life-method of infallible Imams”, were extracted, explained and interpreted.Conclusion: Any health manager or any ordinary Muslim can use the Islamic factors extracted in this research beside the science of decision-making for the triple stages of decision-making in his decision-making process and finally can complete his decision-making process relying on Almighty Allah, with an indomitable spirit. This way, in addition to succeeding in decision making, he will feel the consent of the Almighty Creator in every single stage of decision-making.For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Please cite this article as: Mousavi Kashi Z, Pourmohammadi Roudsari R, Jafari H, Sayad A, Movafagh A. Healthcare Managers’ Decision-Making Adopting Islamic Approach: Theoretical Basis of Attitude and Approach of Islam in Decision-Making Process. J Res Relig Health. 2018; 4(3): 103- 117

Analysis of ROQUIN, Tristetraprolin (TTP), and BDNF/miR-16/TTP regulatory axis in late onset Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a heterogeneous degenerative disorder of the brain that is on the rise worldwide. One of the critical processes that might be disturbed in AD is gene expression regulation. Tristetraprolin (TTP) and RC3H1 gene (ROQUIN) are two RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) that target AU-rich elements (AREs) and constitutive decay elements (CDEs), respectively. TTP and ROQUIN, members of the CCCH zinc-finger protein family, have been demonstrated to fine-tune numerous inflammatory factors. In addition, miR-16 has distinct characteristics and may influence the target mRNA through the ARE site. Interestingly, BDNF mRNA has ARE sites in the 3’ untranslated region (UTR) and can be targeted by regulatory factors, such as TTP and miR-16 on MRE sequences, forming BDNF/miR-16/TTP regulatory axis. A number of two microarray datasets were downloaded, including information on mRNAs (GSE106241) and miRNAs (GSE157239) from individuals with AD and corresponding controls. R software was used to identify BDNF, TTP, ROQUIN, and miR-16 expression levels in temporal cortex (TC) tissue datasets. Q-PCR was also used to evaluate the expression of these regulatory factors and the expression of BDNF in the blood of 50 patients with AD and 50 controls. Bioinformatic evaluation showed that TTP and miR-16 overexpression might act as post-transcriptional regulatory factors to control BDNF expression in AD in TC samples. Instead, this expression pattern was not found in peripheral blood samples from patients with AD compared to normal controls. ROQUIN expression was increased in the peripheral blood of patients with AD. Hsa-miR-16-5p levels did not show significant differences in peripheral blood samples. Finally, it was shown that TTP and BDNF, based on evaluating the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), effectively identify patients with AD from healthy controls. This study could provide a new perspective on the molecular regulatory processes associated with AD pathogenic mechanisms linked to the BDNF growth factor, although further research is needed on the possible roles of these factors in AD

VDR and CYP24A1 Expression Analysis in Iranian Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common disease of the central nervous system. This disease may be initiated by either vitamin deficiency or triggered by abnormality in CYP24A1 and vitamin D receptor. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, the expression of genes encoding vitamin D receptor (VDR) and CYP24A1 in relapsing-remitting MS (RR-MS) patients was compared with normal individuals in the Iranian population. RNA from whole blood of 50 RR-MS patients (HLA-DRB1*15-negative and responders to interferonbeta with a normal vitamin D level) and 50 normal controls was extracted. The levels of CYP24A1 and VDR expression were measured using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results: The RR-MS group had a significantly more than 2 times higher expression level of VDR than the normal group (P=0.04). On the other hand, there was a 0.89 times decrease in the expression level of CYP24A1 in RR-MS patients which was not statistically significant. There was no linear correlation between the risk of expanded disability status scale of Kurtzke (EDSS) and the expression level of either CYP24A1 or VDR. In addition, the expression level of CYP24A1 or VDR was not correlated with the duration of the disease. Conclusion: Up-regulation of VDR is likely to happen in RR-MS patients in the Iranian population. We did not observe a gene expression-phenotype correlation for CYP24A1 which may be due to limited statistical power as a result of the small sample size. Although the individuals taking part in this study had normal levels of vitamin D, the increase in VDR expression levels may perhaps be a response to a defect in vitamin D processing. Another possibility is that despite an increase in VDR expression level, factors such as micro-RNAs may result in their deactivation while an increase in VDR expression level can be seen as a compensatory response. Of course, further studies are required to identify the mechanism of action of vitamin D by analyzing genes involved in its signaling pathway, particularly VDR and CYP24A1

Assessment of Treg-related lncRNAs in epilepsy

Recent studies have shown dysregulation of several groups of long non-coding RNAs in the context of epilepsy. According to evidence regarding the role of regulatory T cells in this disorder, we examined expression levels of regulatory T cell-related lncRNAs, namely TH2-LCR, RMRP, IFNG-AS1 (NEST), MAFTRR and FLICR in the blood of epileptic cases compared with controls. Expression of RMRP was lower in patients with refractory epilepsy compared with controls [expression ratio (95% CI) = 0.32 (0.13–0.8), adjusted p-value = 0.0008]. Besides, its expression was lower in refractory patients vs. non-refractory patients [expression ratio (95% CI) = 0.2 (0.1–0.41), adjusted p-value &lt; 0.0001]. Expression of TH2-LCR was lower in refractory patients vs. controls [expression ratio (95% CI) = 0.4 (0.17–0.93), adjusted p-value = 0.0044] and in refractory patients vs. non-refractory ones [Expression ratio = 0.28 (0.19–0.58), p-value &lt; 0.0001]. Expression of NEST was higher in total patients [expression ratio (95% CI) = 2.48 (1.15–5.27), adjusted p-value = 0.0012] and in both groups of patients compared with controls. However, its expression was not different between refractory and non-refractory cases. Similarly, FLICR and MAFTRR were over-expressed in total cases and both groups of patients compared with controls, but their expressions were similar between refractory and non-refractory cases. MAFTRR could differentiate between total epileptic cases and controls with AUC value of 0.8. This lncRNA could separate refractory and non-refractory cases from healthy controls with AUC values of 0.73 and 0.88, respectively. This study provides evidence for deregulation of regulatory T cell-related lncRNAs in epilepsy and their potential role as diagnostic markers in this condition

The Association of −330 Interleukin-2 Gene Polymorphism with Its Plasma Concentration in Iranian Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neuroinflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system. The cytokine genes are involved in autoimmune diseases such as MS. In this study, we report the influence of −330 interleukin-2 (IL2) gene polymorphism on its plasma levels in a group of Iranian MS patients. In this study 100 MS patients and 100 ethnically, age, and sex matched healthy controls were selected from Medical Genetics Department of Sarem Women Hospital. Blood samples of all individuals were collected in EDTA tubes. The restriction fragment length polymorphism PCR (RFLP) method was applied to determine various alleles and genotypes in these individuals. Plasma concentration of IL2 was measured in all the samples using human IL2 kit. The frequency of −330 T/T IL2 genotype was higher in MS patients compared to normal individuals. Accordingly, the plasma levels of IL2 were significantly higher (P<0.0001) in patients when compared to the control group. In conclusion, in case of MS patients the −330 T/T IL2 genotype is associated with higher plasma levels of IL2