D-Lactate and its related metabolic intermediates: Potential biomarkers for diabetic vascular complications

Micro- and macrovascular diseases are the main causes of mortality and morbidity among patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM2). Routine surveillance for vascular complications in these individuals is important to optimize their health outcomes. Endothelial dysfunction is one of the known root causes of micro- and macrovascular problems of all patients including diabetic patients, yet endothelial function is not directly tested in diabetic individuals. Intracellular Adhesion Molecule (ICAM), Vascular Adhesion Molecule (VCAM), and E-selectin are three important research biomarkers of endothelial function. D- and L-Lactate and methylglyoxal are three natural glucose metabolites and have known toxicity to the endothelium. We aimed to explore the correlation of these three key glucose metabolites in diabetic patients with the biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction to determine if glucose control is reflective of endothelial health. Metformin, a common oral diabetic medication, may increase D-lactate levels in serum and may directly damage endothelium, which was also explored in this study. The study involved an open label randomized design with four unique groups of participants. Two groups were patients with a DM2 diagnosis who either were prescribed metformin (DM2 plus MET) or were not treated with metformin (DM2 no MET). The remaining two control groups did not have DM2, but one group was prescribed metformin for unrelated indications (i.e. women with PCOS) (NonDM plus MET) and the other group was not prescribed metformin (NonDM no MET). Multiple fasting blood samples were collected from each individual over the 1-year study at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon. In total 76 persons participated in the study, 6 in DM2 plus MET, 1 in DM2 no MET, 39 in NonDM plus MET and 30 in NonDM no MET groups. In the non-DM2 groups, 35 of 39 participants were women treated for >6 months with metformin for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and were originally recruited as part of another study. We hypothesized that the hyperglycemia associated with DM2 correlates with relatively high levels of glucose metabolites and endothelial damage markers. To test this correlation, fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1C, and fasting insulin levels of all participants were measured. All these measurements revealed that levels of these factors among diabetic patients are higher than non-diabetic patients consistent with their underlying hyperglycemia. The mean for fasting glucose levels was 9.4 mmol/L for diabetic participants and 5.0 mmol/L in non-diabetic participants over three independent testing times. The mean levels for HbA1C were 7.2% in the diabetic groups and 5.2% for non-diabetic participants (normal <7%). These findings revealed suboptimal long- (reflected by HbA1c) and short-term (fasting glucose) glucose control among diabetic participants. As predicted, the levels of three glucose metabolites, D-lactate, L-lactate, and methylglyoxal, were higher in the diabetic population than in non-diabetic participants. We did not detect D-lactate elevations above normal for any of our individual cases or in grouped analysis including those taking metformin. However, the mean D-lactate level in diabetic participants was significantly higher than non-diabetic participants (P-value 0.05). Our fasting samples did not provide enough examples of hyperglycemia to conduct a comparison between the levels of D-lactate, L-lactate, and methylglyoxal among participants with high and normal levels of blood glucose. To address if the levels of the glucose metabolite, D-lactate, directly correlated with markers of endothelial damage, we explored the association of three endothelial biomarkers, ICAM, VCAM, and E-selectin with D-lactate levels. We detected a significant positive association between D-lactate and both ICAM and E-selectin (P-value 0.05). This positive correlation of 2 out of 3 markers of endothelial dysfunction with D-lactate levels provides opportunity to consider D-lactate as a potential biomarker for endothelial dysfunction in diabetic patients. Measuring D-lactate needs simpler instruments and in general can improve access for monitoring cardiovascular consequences in DM2 patients. In addition, except for a few differential diagnoses, D-lactate may provide a reliable opportunity for identification of the cardiovascular consequences. A number of limitations existed in this study included the small number of recruited patients as the demographic and health-related differences of diabetic and non-diabetic patients, including sex, age, race, weight, and BMI all of which have the potential to affect the results of the study. All the NonDM plus MET group were women so that the sex was not equally represented and may impact the outcomes. Furthermore, we need to consider that the diabetic participants were much older than the control group which can influence the results. These exciting and novel results in our pilot study will require a larger study to confirm the generalizability of D-lactate as a potential biomarker of endothelial damage

Studying the Relationship between the Effective Factors on Employees’ Performance in Iran's University and the Students’ Satisfaction with regards to Employees’ Performance

AbstractAny organization, without careful consideration on the performance of its employees and likewise implementing effective factors on employees’ performance in satisfying its client, cannot reach its goals. Therefore, the present study aims at examining the relationship between the effective factors on employees’ performance in the Islamic Azad University, Mobarakeh branch and students’ satisfaction. The statistical population, comprise of 111 employees who had direct contact with students and 450 students from various departments of the university, were selected randomly as research sample. Researcher made, demographic questionnaire, questionnaire of effective factors on employee performance based on ACHIEVE model and questionnaire of satisfaction with employee performance were utilize for data gathering as research tools. Multi-variable regression, variance analysis and t-test with two independent groups as well as Pierson correlation coefficient were applied for data analysis. The results of examining the hypotheses revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between employees’ ability, employees’ clarity, degree of organizational support from employees, employees’ motivation and willingness, manner of employees’ evaluation and generally among the effective factors on employee performance and students’ satisfaction. But there was no significant relation between the two factors of employees’ environmental proportionality and their degree of validity with students’ satisfaction. Furthermore, findings of the research exhibited that students with bachelor degree had more satisfaction than those with master degree, but there was no significant difference among male and female students, students with different majors and students of different academic terms

AHP-GP Approach by Considering the Leopold Matrix for Sustainable Water Reuse Allocation: Najafabad Case Study, Iran

Water reuse allocation is one of the major challenges in water resource management which requires the assessment of water reuse alternatives, especially in regions with limitation in water resources, arid climates, population growth and increasing water demand. Considering the complexity of the problem, water reuse allocation by using conventional methods for maximizing benefits, minimizing cost and environmental risks, cannot guarantee optimal allocation. In this paper, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) which can be combined with Goal Programming (GP) by considering the Leopold matrix for carrying-out the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is used for sustainable water reuse allocation for multiple stakeholders in Najafabad as a case study. The results show that the developed mathematical model with combination of quantitative evaluation and optimization can be considered as an effective and flexible tool for creating better guidelines to adapt the requirements of various stakeholders for better allocation of recycled water. Finally, based on sensitivity analysis in AHP, a What-If analysis in GP is performed to the robustness of the final results of water reuse allocation

Quality of life among patients with beta-thalassemia major in Shahrekord city, Iran

Background and aims: Nowadays introduction of regular blood transfusion therapy has obviously improved the life expectancy of patients with thalassemia. However, these patients face with newer challenges which influence their quality of life (QoL). In this study, the aim of this study was to measure QoL among patients with β-thalassemia major (β-TM). Methods: A cross-sectional study was done at the thalassemia centre of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences. All the forty patients with β-thalassemia which were more than 12 years old referred to blood transfusion and participated in this study. Then, they were asked to fill out the Short Form Health Status Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. The questionnaire evaluates 8 health areas including physical functioning (PF), rolephysical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role-emotional (RE) and mental health (MH). The scores of each participant were calculated and data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: There were 18 men and 22 women, and the mean age was 21.69±5.74 years (range 12-38). No significant difference was seen in QoL between men and women (68.72±19.79 versus 67.47±18.80, P=0.84). The mean±SD score of PF, RP, BP, GH, VT, SF, MH was 80.5±16, 83.75±29.17, 71.94±24.22, 57.48±23.93, 54.36±22.51, 68.94±23.37, 66.33±36.04 and 58.51±23.68, respectivly. No significant differences were detected in all mentioned scores between men and women (P>0.05). Conclusion: Although most of the participants had suitable physical functioning, thalassemia had a negative effect on emotional role, social functioning and mental health of patients. It shows the importance of psychosocial supports for these patients

Narcissistic Personality Features and Social Trust: The Mediating Roles of the Dangerous and Competitive Social Worldviews

Narcissism has been shown to be associated with a lack of trust in others, but little is known about the factors that may play a role in the tendency for narcissistic individuals to mistrust others. The present research examined whether the associations that specific narcissistic personality features had with social trust were mediated by social worldviews. A large study of Iranian community members (N = 3,446; mean age of 34.28 years) revealed that the antagonistic and neurotic aspects of narcissism had negative indirect associations with social trust through the competitive social worldview, whereas the extraverted aspect of narcissism had a positive indirect association with social trust through the competitive social worldview. In addition, the extraverted and neurotic aspects of narcissism had positive indirect associations with social trust through the dangerous social worldview. These results suggest that the extraverted, antagonistic, and neurotic aspects of narcissism diverged in their associations with social trust and that the dangerous and competitive social worldviews played important roles in these associations. Discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the roles that social worldviews play in the connections between narcissism and social trust

Saffron yield and quality as influenced by different irrigation methods

Dried stigma of saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. In Iran, the majority of saffron farms use the traditional basin method for irrigation, which, together with other irrigation methods may soon face serious problems because of droughts in the future. Making an evaluation of the regional crop response to the irrigation method is important to the adoption of a proper irrigation management strategy. In this study, the effect of employing different irrigation methods, including the sprinkler, drip, furrow, and basin, on the following factors was evaluated: the saffron stigma dry weight, quality, water use efficiency (WUE), and Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) in the arid climate of Qaen, South Khorasan, Iran, over three consecutive crop years. The experiment was undertaken using a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that seasonal saffron Evapotranspiration (ETC) was recorded as 356.5, 339.1, and 330.7 mm, in 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively, as a result of administering the treatments. Saffron yield as well as WUE and IWUE were found to respond to the various irrigation methods except in the first year. In total, maximum stigma dry weight and water use efficiencies were reached in the third growing season using the drip irrigation method. Judging by the results, the drip irrigation method for saffron production is to be preferred. Additionally, the quality level of saffron was found to be acceptable. However, due to higher crocin content, the quality of saffron irrigated by the sprinkler method was somewhat higher

Problem-solving deficits in Iranian people with borderline personality disorder

Interventions for people suffering from borderline personality disorder (BPD), such as dialectical behavior therapy, often include a problem-solving component. However, there is an absence of published studies examining the problem-solving abilities of this client group in Iran. The study compared inpatients and outpatients with BPD and a control group on problem-solving capabilities in an Iranian sample. It was hypothesized that patients with BPD would have more deficiencies in this area. Fifteen patients with BPD were compared to 15 healthy participants. Means-ends problem-solving task (MEPS) was used to measure problem-solving skills in both groups. BPD group reported less effective strategies in solving problems as opposed to the healthy group. Compared to the control group, participants with BPD provided empirical support for the use of problem-solving interventions with people suffering from BPD. The findings supported the idea that a problem-solving intervention can be efficiently applied either as a stand-alone therapy or in conjunction with other available psychotherapies to treat people with BPD. OBJECTIVE METHODS RESULTS CONCLUSION

Pedagogical Needs in the Educational Organizations of Iran: An Investigation and Recognition of its Components

AbstractThe aim of this study was to recognize the areas and dimensions in which high school students are in need of guidance and consultations by relevant experts. In order to reach the goals of the research, the questionnaire, –A guide in the needs of high school students” by Karami (2000) was given to 441 high school students: 194 girls and 247 boys in Isfahan city in Iran. They were selected by Cluster random sampling. The mentioned questionnaire which consisted of 92 questions introduced seven areas of high school students’ guidance and consultation needs. The research method was survey. The results of the study revealed that students need educational counselling and experts’ guidance in six areas: physical, social, psychological, mental, religious, educational and professional; from medium to high degrees. The findings also indicate that personal characteristics and family situation proved not very effective. What seems important is that a meaningful correlation was observed among all components

Learning organizations and knowledge management: Which one enhances another one more?

This paper presents an empirical investigation to detect whether knowledge management (KM) promotes learning organization (LO) or vice versa. The proposed study tries to find out the positive influences of KM components including knowledge acquisition, sharing, and utilization with different LOs dimensions. The study was performed among managers and members of societies of software and computer engineering field in city of Tehran, Iran. One time knowledge management processes were seen as independent variable and another time considered as dependent variables. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used to test the hypothesis. The results show that KM promotes OLs more than OLs promotes KM