Analysis of implications of organ donation on living donors in southeastern Iran: A qualitative study

Objectives: despite the annual increase in living donors and the positive and negative implications following organ donation, this issue had become a significant challenge for donors. The present study aimed to analyze the experiences and views of living donors to organ donation implications.Material and Methods. The present study was performed using qualitative content analysis. Twenty participants were selected using the purposive sampling method; data were collected by semi-structured interviews and analyzed based on Lundman and Graneheim contractual content analysis method after implementing MAX 12.Results. Data analysis elicitated 721 codes, 20 subcategories, six main categories, and two themes, including positive and negative implications of organ donation from the viewpoint of living donors. The main categories of positive effects resulting from organ donation included the «donor’s peace of mind», «fundamental strength», and «recipient’s achievements». On the other hand, the main categories of negative implications resulting from organ donation included «donor’s physical suffering», «damaged interactions», and «abandonment».Conclusion. Increasing the number of living donors makes us consider it essential to understand the efficiency of its two-way implications on many aspects of donor and recipient. Thus, managing the negative impacts of living organ donation and strengthening its positive side emphasizes the need to increase the awareness of organ donation associations, develop health policies at higher levels, and, most importantly, improve the satisfaction of live organ donors

An Active Sensing Paradigm for Studying Human Auditory Perception

Our perception is based on active sensing, i.e., the relationship between self-motion and resulting changes to sensory inputs. Yet, traditional experimental paradigms are characterized by delayed reactions to a predetermined stimulus sequence. To increase the engagement of subjects and potentially provide richer behavioral responses, we developed Sensory Island Task for humans (SITh), a freely-moving search paradigm to study auditory perception. In SITh, subjects navigate an arena in search of an auditory target, relying solely on changes in the presented stimulus frequency, which is controlled by closed-loop position tracking. A “target frequency” was played when subjects entered a circular sub-area of the arena, the “island”, while different frequencies were presented outside the island. Island locations were randomized across trials, making stimulus frequency the only informative cue for task completion. Two versions of SITh were studied: binary discrimination, and gradual change of the stimulus frequency. The latter version allowed determining frequency discrimination thresholds based on the subjects’ report of the perceived island location (i.e., target frequency). Surprisingly, subjects exhibited similar thresholds as reported in traditional “stationary” forced-choice experiments after performing only 30 trials, highlighting the intuitive nature of SITh. Notably, subjects spontaneously employed a small variety of stereotypical search patterns, and their usage proportions varied between task versions. Moreover, frequency discrimination performance depended on the search pattern used. Overall, we demonstrate that the use of an ecologically driven paradigm is able to reproduce established findings while simultaneously providing rich behavioral data for the description of sensory ethology

Down-regulation of microRNA-26a and up-regulation of microRNA-27a contributes to aggressive progression of human osteosarcoma

Background: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone malignancy with high local aggressiveness and rapid metastasizing potential, resulting in poor survival. Increasing reports suggest that deregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) might provide novel therapeutic targets for cancers. However, the expression of miR-26a and miR-27a in osteosarcoma need further investigation in clinical samples. In our study, we evaluate the expression of these miRNAs in osteosarcoma tissues and compared with paired adjacent non-tumor bone tissues using RT-qPCR. Methods: Total RNA was purified from patients with osteosarcoma and noncancerous bone tissues. Real-time PCR was applied to quantify the expression level of miR-26a and miR-27a. Moreover, the correlation of these markers with clinicopathological characteristics was also evaluated in osteosarcoma patients. A cox proportional hazards model was performed to assess multivariate analyses of prognostic values. Results: Our result suggested that miR-26aexpression level in osteosarcoma bone tissue was significantly lower than that in the paired noncancerous bone tissues. MiR-27a expression was higher in osteosarcoma bone tissue in comparison with paired noncancerous bone tissues. The results indicated that low expression level of miR-26a and high expression of miR-27a were associated with high TNM stage (P = 0.001; P = 0.012), tumor grade (P = 0.007; P = 0.016), and distant metastasis (P = 0.004; P = 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank test indicated that patients with low expression of miR-26a and high expression of miR-27a had shorter overall survival (log-rank test: P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed that low expression of miR-26a and high expression of miR-27a (P = 0.021; P = 0.011), high TNM stage (P = 0.001; P = 0.003), tumor grade (P = 0.005; P = 0.01), and distant metastasis.(P = 0.002; P = 0.005) were independent prognostic factors for overall survival patients with osteosarcoma cancer. Conclusions: In conclusion, our findings suggested that expression level of miR-26a and miR-27a contributes to aggressive progression of this malignancy. Therefore, may have clinical potentials as a non-invasive diagnostic/prognostic biomarker for osteosarcoma patients. © 2015 Taheriazam et al

Downregulation of microRNA-217 and microRNA-646 acts as potential predictor biomarkers in progression, metastasis, and unfavorable prognosis of human osteosarcoma

Despite the progress in therapeutic targets, it remains dissatisfactory for most osteosarcoma patients with metastasis or recurrence osteosarcoma. Therefore, it is required to determine the involved mechanisms of osteosarcoma. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression level of MiR-217 and miR-646 and also their association with clinicopathological features in patients with osteosarcoma. Total RNA was purified from patients with osteosarcoma and noncancerous bone tissues, and then quantitative real-time PCR was applied to evaluate the expression level of microRNAs. Our result suggested that miR-217 expression was remarkably deceased in osteosarcoma bone tissue when compared with noncancerous bone tissues (mean ± SD 5.32 ± 1.231, 2.01 ± 0.78; P = 0.024) and miR-646 expression decreased in osteosarcoma bone tissue in comparison with normal tissues (mean ± SD 4.56 ± 1.45, 1.76 ± 1.24; P = 0.041). Our findings indicated that decreased expression of MiR-217 and miR-646 was strongly correlated with high tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) stage (P = 0.015, P = 0.002) and large cancer diameter (P = 0.041, P = 0.053). Kaplan-Meier survival and log-rank analysis indicated that shorter overall survival was strongly linked to decreased expression of miR-217 and miR-646 (log-rank test P = 0.034, P = 0.026). In terms of miR-217, multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis has showed that reduction of miR-217 expression (P = 0.001), TNM stage (P = 0.046), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.006) were independently linked to a short-time survival of patients. In terms of miR-646, low expression of miR-646 (P = 0.021), TNM stage (P = 0.052), and tumor size (P = 0.043) were independently associated with poor survival of patients as prognostic factors. Our findings suggested that downregulation of MiR-217 and miR-646 was associated with progression of osteosarcoma. MiR-217 and miR-646 may play a key role in suppression of tumor in osteosarcoma and would be applied as a novel therapeutic agent. © 2015, International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM)

Retraction Note to: Downregulation of microRNA-217 and microRNA-646 acts as potential predictor biomarkers in progression, metastasis, and unfavorable prognosis of human osteosarcoma (Tumor Biol, (2016), 37, (5769-5773), 10.1007/s13277-015-3821-4)

This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief, the International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM) and the Publisher per the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines. The article shows evidence of irregularities in authorship during the submission process, there is strong reason to believe that the peer review process was compromised and there are similarities with the following articles which were all submitted within a close timeframe: Masoomeh Dadpay, Mojtaba Zarea, Rahman Ghaffarzadegan Rabati, Bijan Rezakhaniha, Babak Barari, Vahid Behnod, Katayoun Ziari, Upregulation of miR-21 and downregulation of miR-494 may serve as emerging molecular biomarkers for prediagnostic samples of subjects who developed nasopharyngeal carcinoma associates with lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis. Tumor Biol. First Online: 21 August 2015 DOI: 10.1007/s13277-015-3905-1 Date received: 27 June 2015 Seyyed Hasan Karbasy, Afshin Taheriazam, Alireza Mirghasemi, Farnoush Sedaghati, Mohammadreza Shakeri, Emad Yahaghi, Reza Bahador, Upregulation of miR-300 and downregulation of miR-125b act as potential predictor biomarkers in progression, metastasis, and poor prognosis of osteosarcoma. Tumor Biol. First Online: 02 September 2015 DOI: 10.1007/s13277-015-4000-3. © 2016, International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM)

Assessing cognitive dysfunction in Parkinson's disease: An online tool to detect visuo-perceptual deficits.

BackgroundPeople with Parkinson's disease (PD) who develop visuo-perceptual deficits are at higher risk of dementia, but we lack tests that detect subtle visuo-perceptual deficits and can be performed by untrained personnel. Hallucinations are associated with cognitive impairment and typically involve perception of complex objects. Changes in object perception may therefore be a sensitive marker of visuo-perceptual deficits in PD.ObjectiveWe developed an online platform to test visuo-perceptual function. We hypothesised that (1) visuo-perceptual deficits in PD could be detected using online tests, (2) object perception would be preferentially affected, and (3) these deficits would be caused by changes in perception rather than response bias.MethodsWe assessed 91 people with PD and 275 controls. Performance was compared using classical frequentist statistics. We then fitted a hierarchical Bayesian signal detection theory model to a subset of tasks.ResultsPeople with PD were worse than controls at object recognition, showing no deficits in other visuo-perceptual tests. Specifically, they were worse at identifying skewed images (P &lt; .0001); at detecting hidden objects (P = .0039); at identifying objects in peripheral vision (P &lt; .0001); and at detecting biological motion (P = .0065). In contrast, people with PD were not worse at mental rotation or subjective size perception. Using signal detection modelling, we found this effect was driven by change in perceptual sensitivity rather than response bias.ConclusionsOnline tests can detect visuo-perceptual deficits in people with PD, with object recognition particularly affected. Ultimately, visuo-perceptual tests may be developed to identify at-risk patients for clinical trials to slow PD dementia. © 2018 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

The Cats-and-Dogs test: A tool to identify visuoperceptual deficits in Parkinson's disease

No abstract available

Retraction Note to: Tissue expression levels of miR-29b and miR-422a in children, adolescents, and young adults� age groups and their association with prediction of poor prognosis in human osteosarcoma (Tumor Biol, (2016), 37, (3091-3095), 10.1007/s13277-015-4140-5)

This article has been retracted at the request of the Editorin- Chief, the International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM) and the Publisher per the Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines. The article shows evidence of irregularities in authorship, there is strong reason to believe that the peer review process was compromised and the article is showing similarities with the following article which was submitted within a close timeframe: Seyad Alireza Bassampour, Reza Abdi, Reza Bahador, Mohammadreza Shakeri, Ali Torkaman, Emad Yahaghi, Afshin Taheriazam, Downregulation of miR-133b/miR-503 acts as efficient prognostic and diagnostic factors in patients with osteosarcoma and these predictor biomarkers are correlated with overall survival. Tumor Biol. First online: 16 August 2015 DOI: 10.1007/s13277-015-3918-9. © 2016, International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM)

Retraction note: Down-regulation of microRNA-26a and up-regulation of microRNA-27a contributes to aggressive progression of human osteosarcoma Diagn Pathol., 10 (2015) (166)

The Editor-in-Chief and Publisher have retracted this article 1 because the scientific integrity of the content cannot be guaranteed. An investigation by the Publisher found it to be one of a group of articles we have identified as showing evidence suggestive of attempts to subvert the peer review and publication system to inappropriately obtain or allocate authorship. This article showed evidence of plagiarism (most notably from the articles cited 2-4) and authorship manipulation. � The Author(s). 2016