Evaluation of congenital hypothyroidism screening program in urban and rural health centers in Chaharamahal and Bakhtiari

زمینه و هدف: تشخیص و درمان زودرس کم کاری تیروئید در پیشگیری از عقب ماندگی ذهنی ضروری است. این مطالعه به منظور ارزیابی برنامه غربالگری کم کاری تیروئید نوزادی در استان چهارمحال وبختیاری انجام شده است. روش بررسی: مطالعه حاضر از نوع توصیفی- مقطعی در سال 1388 بر روی 100 نوزاد متولد شده انجام شد. داده ها با کمک چک لیست محقق ساخته مبتنی بر دستورالعمل کشوری در خصوص غربالگری تیروئید جمع آوری و در نرم افزارSPSS تحلیل شد. یافته ها: 23 کارکنان از علایم کم کاری تیروئیدی مادرزادی آگاهی خوب و 73 آگاهی متوسط داشتند و تقریباً 79 فعالیت های نمونه گیری در مراکز خیلی خوب انجام می شد. نتیجه گیری: با توجه به یافته های حاصل در 80 مراکز وضعیت خیلی خوب بود. آموزش و نظارت مستمر بر کارکنان ، ارسال دستورالعمل و کتابچه به مراکزی که در این زمینه دچار کمبود هستند، توصیه می گردد

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in Raw Caprine, Ovine, Buffalo, Bovine, and Camel Milk Using Cell Cultivation, Cat Bioassay, Capture ELISA, and PCR Methods in Iran

This study was conducted to determine the presence of Toxoplasma gondii in animal milk samples in Iran. From a total of 395 dairy herds in three provinces of Iran, 66 bovine, 58 ovine, 54 caprine, 33 buffalo, and 30 camel herds were studied, and from these parts of Iran, 200 bovine, 185 ovine, 180 caprine, 164 buffalo, and 160 camel milk samples were collected from various seasons. Samples were tested for Toxoplasma gondii by cell line culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Only the results of cell line cultivation were confirmed by bioassay in cat. Results indicated that all herds were infected with Toxoplasma gondii. The culture method showed that 51 out of 889 milk samples (5.73%) were positive for Toxoplasma gondii, and all 51 positive culture results were positive with bioassay in cat. The Fars province had the highest prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii (6.84%). The ELISA test showed that 41 milk samples (4.61%) were positive for the presence of Toxoplasma gondii, while the PCR showed that 46 milk samples were positive for Toxoplasma gondii. The results showed higher sensitivity of PCR and higher specificity of ELISA. Caprine had the highest (10%) and camel had the lowest (3.12%) prevalence rate of parasite. The summer season had the highest (76.47%) but winter (3.92) had the lowest incidence of Toxoplasma gondii. This study is the first prevalence report of direct detection of Toxoplasma gondii in animal milk samples in Iran

Comparative study of some cardiovascular diseases risk factors in type D personality and non- type D personality

زمینه و هدف: ریخت شخصیتی D (Distressed personality) حدود 21 جامعه سالم را تشکیل داده است و به عنوان یک ریسک فاکتور در بروزبیماری های قلبی-عروقی شناخته می شود. این تحقیق به منظوربررسی برخی ریسک فاکتورهای بروز بیماری های قلبی در افراد بزرگسال سالم دارای ویژگی ریخت شناسی D انجام شده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی-تحلیلی 54 نفر (زن و مرد) از بین مراجعه کنندگان به مرکز آزمایشگاهی المهدی شهرکرد به روش نمونه گیری در دسترس انتخاب شدند. افراد تحت مطالعه بر اساس مقیاس DS14 به دو گروه تقسیم شدند. 27 نفر آنها که دارای تیپ شخصیتی D بودند در گروه مورد و 27 نفر دیگر که فاقد تیپ شخصیتی Dبودند در گروه شاهد قرار گرفتند. داده های پژوهش از طریق آزمون افسردگی بِک (Beck)، مقیاس های اضطراب و خشم اسپیلبرگر و نتایج آزمایشگاهی کلسترول، تری گلیسیرید،LDL و HDL جمع آوری شدند. برای تجزیه و تحلیل داده ها ازآزمون t مستقل استفاده شد. یافته ها: میزان اضطراب، افسردگی، خشم و LDL در گروه مورد به طور معنی داری بیشتر از گروه شاهد بود بود (05/0>P). میزان HDL بصورت جزئی در گروه مورد کمتر از گروه شاهد بود (052/0= P) و ارتباط معنی داری بین شخصیت D وکلسترول و تری گلیسیرید دیده نشد (05/

A novel variant of SLC26A4 and first report of the c.716T>A variant in Iranian pedigrees with non-syndromic sensorineural hearing loss

The autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) can be associated with variants in solute carrier family 26, member 4 (SLC26A4) gene and is the second most common cause of ARNSHL worldwide. Therefore, this study aims to determine the contribution of the SLC26A4 genotype in the hearing loss (HL) of 40 ARNSHL pedigrees in Iran. A cohort of the 40 Iranian pedigrees with ARNSHL, having no mutation in the GJB2 gene, was selected. The linkage analysis with five short tandem repeat (STR) markers linked to SLC26A4 was performed for the 40 ARNSHL pedigrees. Then, two out of the 40 pedigrees with ARNSHL that linked to DFNB4 locus were further screened to determine the variants in all exons of SLC26A4 gene by direct DNA sequencing. The 21 exons of SCL26A4 were analyzed for the two pedigrees. A known variant (c.716T>A homozygote), it is the first reported incidence in Iran, a novel variant (c.493A>C homozygote) were detected in the two pedigrees and pathogenesis of c.493A>C confirmed in this study with review 100 hearing ethnically matched controls by PCR-RFLP analysis. The present study suggests that the SLC26A4 gene plays a crucial role in the HL occurring in Iranian pedigrees. Also, the results probably support the specificity and unique spectrum of SLC26A4 variants among Iranian HL patients. Molecular study of SLC26A4 gene may lead to elucidation of the profile of the population-specific variants which has importance in diagnostics of HL

Paternal Origins and Migratory Episodes of Domestic Sheep

Deng et al. show that domestic sheep harbor four Y chromosome lineages and early expansions of sheep were associated with the segregation of primitive and fat-tailed phenotypes as well as traits selected for different purposes

Free vibration analysis and design optimization of SMA/Graphite/Epoxy composite shells in thermal environments

Composite shells, which are being widely used in engineering applications, are often under thermal loads. Thermal loads usually bring thermal stresses in the structure which can significantly affect its static and dynamic behaviors. One of the possible solutions for this matter is embedding Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires into the structure. In the present study, thermal buckling and free vibration of laminated composite cylindrical shells reinforced by SMA wires are analyzed. Brinson model is implemented to predict the thermo-mechanical behavior of SMA wires. The natural frequencies and buckling temperatures of the structure are obtained by employing Generalized Differential Quadrature (GDQ) method. GDQ is a powerful numerical approach which can solve partial differential equations. A comparative study is carried out to show the accuracy and efficiency of the applied numerical method for both free vibration and buckling analysis of composite shells in thermal environment. A parametric study is also provided to indicate the effects of like SMA volume fraction, dependency of material properties on temperature, lay-up orientation, and pre-strain of SMA wires on the natural frequency and buckling of Shape Memory Alloy Hybrid Composite (SMAHC) cylindrical shells. Results represent the fact that SMAs can play a significant role in thermal vibration of composite shells. The second goal of present work is optimization of SMAHC cylindrical shells in order to maximize the fundamental frequency parameter at a certain temperature. To this end, an eight-layer composite shell with four SMA-reinforced layers is considered for optimization. The primary optimization variables are the values of SMA angles in the four layers. Since the optimization process is complicated and time consuming, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is performed to obtain the orientations of SMA layers to maximize the first natural frequency of structure. The optimization results show that using an optimum stacking sequence for SMAHC shells can increase the fundamental frequency of the structure by a considerable amount