Role of CT scan in theranostic and management of traumatic spinal cord injury

Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is a condition with suffering of neural structures from acute trauma with short-term or permanent sensory and motor problems. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the prevalence of TSCI in Tehran with emphasis on demographic characteristics of patients and to evaluate the effect of computed tomography (CT) in determining fracture type and severity grade of injury among TSCI patients. In a cross-sectional study, all TSCI and spinal fracture patients (N = 520) who referred to the main trauma center in Tehran, Iran, in 2013 and 2014 were selected. Radiography and CT scan were prepared and reported blindedly by two radiologists. Majority of the patients was 21-30. years male, married and their most common occupation was car driver. A significant difference was observed between gender and etiology (P = 0.001). The main etiology was traffic accident followed by falling from height. While the most common location of injury for males was thoracic vertebrae followed by lumbar vertebrae; for females it was lumbar followed by thoracic. Majority of patients had ASIA (American Spinal Injury Association) impairment scale of E (normal), followed by B (sensory incomplete). Most of the cases were hospitalized less than one week. Age of the patient and duration of hospitalization had a significant association (P = 0.015). The results showed that in traumatic spinal cord events, traffic accident and falling from height are the main etiologies; hence, authorities in Iranian health system could consider preventive policies to decline the load and TSCI effects in hospitals and population

Evaluation of the Level of Protection in Radiology Departments of Kermanshah, Iran

Introduction Radiation protection is an important safety issue for radiographers and patients. The aim of this study was to assess the observance of radiation protection regulations in radiology departments of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. Materials and Methods In total, 48 radiographers and 8 radiography rooms were evaluated in three hospitals of Kermanshah, Iran. Additionally, 120 patients were randomly selected in the present study. For data collection, a questionnaire on radiation protection devices, radiographers, and patients was completed. Data were analyzed, using Microsoft Excel. Results Based on the analysis, 56.8% of radiation protection devices were accessible to radiographers. Overall, 81.3% of radiographers stated that they utilized film badges for radiographic procedures, while only 71.7% had used these badges in practice. Additionally, 54.2% of radiographers claimed that they regularly performed medical check-ups; however, based on the documents available at personnel offices, only 43.8% had taken this measure into account. Also, 60.4% of radiographers claimed that they had participated in annual training courses, while based on the records, only 41.7% had participated in such courses. Conclusion The majority of radiographers had no regard for radiation protection principles for either themselves or the patients. Apparently, not only hospital authorities, but also heads of departments ignore radiation protection principles for the patients and radiographers

Effects of cell phone waves on granular cells migration of cerebellum in neonatal rat

زمینه و هدف: استفاده روز افزون از تلفن های همراه باعث افزایش نگرانی ها در مورد آثار بیولوژیک امواج این دستگاه بر بافت های بدن، بخصوص سیستم عصبی مرکزی شده است. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی اثر امواج تلفن همراه بر مهاجرت سلول‌های گرانولار مخچه در رت انجام شده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه تجربی 40 سر نوزاد رت به طور تصادفی به 4 گروه ده تایی تقسیم شدند. یک گروه شاهد و سه گروه آزمایشی I، II و III که در روزهای 7 تا 13 بعد از تولدشان روزانه بترتیب 5/0، 2 و 8 ساعت از فاصله cm10 مورد تابش امواج تلفن همراه قرار ‌گرفتند. در روز چهاردهم، پس از کشتن رت ها و تهیه مقاطع بافتی، با استفاده از نرم‌افزار موتیک سلول های گرانولار مخچه شمارش شدند؛ همچنین ضخامت لایه گرانولار با نرم‌افزار Nikon اندازه‌گیری شد. یافته‌ها: جمعیت سلولی ناحیه گرانولار داخلی مخچه در گروه آزمایشی III نسبت به گروه شاهد، به طور معنی ‌داری کاهش یافت (05/0

Molecular imaging using by diffusion-weighted imaging of brain tumor through signal intensity: Progress in molecular cancer imaging

Introduction: Characterizing the variations of the brain tumors has the significant effect in the treatment process of affected patients. Brain metastatic tumors are usually diagnosed following by the neurological symptoms in patients. The purpose of this thesis is the role of diffusion-weighted-magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in the evaluation of different benign and malignant brain mass lesions before surgery with histopathological correlation. Materials and Methods: In this study MR examination of 54 patients who with brain metastatic tumor referring to 7th-Tir Hospital were randomly selected and imaged with T2W Multi-echo sequences and GRE-EPI (DWI) in addition to taking the routine sequence of the brain. Results: In analyzing the data for ADCmin values were measured within the tumors and mean values were evaluated regarding statistical differences between groups.9 The ADCmin values of low-grade gliomas(1.09 ± 0.20 × 10−3 mm2/s) were signi=icantly higher (p < .001) than those of other tumors. Generally, ADC value of 0.5613 ± 0.02580 indicates brain metastatic tumors with lung origin, ADC value of 1.009 ± 0.03820 tumors with liver and breast origin, and ADC value of 1.556 ± 0.03500 tumors with colon and prostate origin. Conclusion: According to our results, Diffusion parameters during treatment were evaluated for early noninvasive biomarkers. The ADC changes from mid- to post-treatment suggest such a possible early non-invasive biomarker

IAGNOSTIC VALUE OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY IN MORPHOMETRICAL ANALYSIS OF BASAL GANGLIA IN PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC GENERALIZED EPILEPSY‏

Idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) is a kind of epilepsy that has tonic-colonic characteristic and myocolonic tensions and its clinical symptom starts from the first 20 years of the life. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H1-MRS) technique applies as a noninvasive procedure to find metabolic disorders by evaluating brain metabolites. Purpose of this study was to determine efficacy of the MRS in thalamus imaging of patients with IGE. Applying H1-MRS (technique: PRESS-CSI], we evaluated thalamus images of 63 people (35 controls: 23 males, 12 females, ranging in age 19-46 years, average: 34.8±0.62 years) and 28 IGE patients (10 males, 18 females, ranging in age 20-49 years, average: 37.4±1.04 years). The data analyzed by SPSS (v.20]. Comparing the average NAA/Cr for the right thalamus, a significant reduction was seen between the control group and the IGE patients (p<0.0001]. Likewise, for the left thalamus, the NAA/Cr was significantly decreased when we compared it for the control group and the IGE patients (p<0.001). H1-MRS could be a suitable diagnostic technique to evaluate epilepsy in IGE patients. The possible alteration of neuronal pathways in the thalamo-cortical circuit seems to play a critical role in epileptogenesis of IGE

Determination of relationship between HMW glutenin subunits and bread making quality in bread wheat

Dissertação de mestrado em Contabilidade e Finanças (Auditoria), apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, sob a orientação de José Manuel Bernardo Vaz Ferreira.Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a situação das empresas da Região Autónoma da Madeira no difícil contexto atual. As falências nas empresas têm acontecido com regularidade, devido às diversas alterações conjunturais, que provocam mudanças no contexto do sistema de controlo interno. Este estudo foi realizado com o objetivo de verificar se os procedimentos do controlo interno estão a ser aplicados corretamente nas empresas madeirenses e verificar se as empresas estão fragilizadas devido às condições atuais que o país atravessa, mais concretamente na situação desta região insular que, no ano de 2011 sofreu um aumento do IVA (Imposto sobre o Valor Acrescentado) em seis pontos percentuais. Deste modo, este estudo pretende verificar os pontos fracos do controlo interno em concordância com outros três fatores externos (pagamentos por parte do Estado às empresas, aumento do IVA para 22% e aparecimento de novas superfícies/concorrência). Os resultados do estudo revelam que as empresas da Madeira ainda cometem algumas falhas no controlo interno, de natureza multifatorial. Em relação ao Estado, este tem um papel pouco significativo na situação das empresas (17,2%), o mesmo não sucedendo com o impacto do aumento do IVA, já que, cerca de 96,9% das empresas referem que os clientes estão a consumir menos, o que é preocupante. Em resultado desta situação, 26,7% da amostra coloca em hipótese a falência associada a este último fator. No que diz respeito à concorrência, os resultados demonstram que metade (50%) das empresas inquiridas, sentiram um impacto negativo no seu negócio após a entrada das grandes superfícies na Região. Por último, as empresas madeirenses, neste momento, sofrem um forte impacto de componentes externos ao controlo interno, sendo necessária uma reestruturação, essencialmente no IVA

Outcome measures for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy in research:relevance and applicability to clinical practice

Outcome measures are recommended in the management of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Various scales have been proposed in recent years, some now commonly utilized in daily clinical practice. The available evidence base relies itself on randomized controlled trial data obtained over the past 30 years, with several studies using different primary and secondary outcomes. We here review the different outcome measures used in CIDP research in relation to those currently recommended for clinical management. We consider the evidence base for CIDP treatment from the primary and secondary outcomes used in these studies and attempt to assess how this may relate to current clinical practice of routine evaluation of treatment effects and long-term monitoring

The proteome response of “Hordeum marinum” to long-term salinity stress

Salinity is a major constraint to crop productivity and mechanisms of plant responses to salinity stress are extremely complex. “Hordeum marinum” is a salt tolerant barley species, which could be a good source to evaluate salt-tolerance patterns. Proteomics is a powerful technique to identify proteins involved in plant adaptation to stresses. We applied a proteomic approach to better understanding the mechanism of plant responses to salinity in a salt-tolerant genotype of barley. At the 4-leaf stage, plants were exposed to 0 (control treatment) or 300 mM NaCl (salt treatment). Salt treatment was maintained for 3 weeks. Total proteins of leaf 4 were extracted and separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. More than 290 protein spots were reproducibly detected. Of these, 20 spots showed significant changes to salt treatment compared to the control: 19 spots were upregulated and 1 spot was absent. Using MALDI-TOF/TOF MS, we identified 20 cellular proteins which represented 11 different proteins and were classified into five categories. These proteins were involved in various cellular functions. Upregulation of proteins which involved in protein processing (ribosomal protein, cullin family, cp31AHv protein and RNA recognition motif (RRM) superfamily), photosynthesis (Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rubisco) and Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase activase (rubisco activase)), energy metabolism (cytosolic malate dehydrogenase (cyMDH) and fructokinase), oxygen species scavenging and defense (cystatin and thioredoxin) may increase plant adaptation to salt stress

SRT1720, a potential sensitizer for radiotherapy and cytotoxicity effects of NVB-BEZ235 in metastatic breast cancer cells

BACKGROUND: Chemo-radio therapy (CRT) resistance is a main barrier in treating the triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). The success of conventional treatment may be ameliorated by elevating the responsiveness of the cancer cells to CRT. NVP-BEZ235 as a PI3K/AKT/mTOR dual inhibitor has been shown promising results in treating breast cancer cells. However, potential radiation-sensitizing effect of NVP-BEZ235 in TNBC remained unclear. In addition, SIRT-1 activation state and environmental cytokine were identified as being responsible for cancer cells responses to CRT. Herein, we investigate the role of interleukin 6 (IL-6) as a tumor environmental cytokine and SIRT1 in the effectiveness of NVP-BEZ235 plus radiotherapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: TNBC cells were pre-treated with/without IL-6 and were exposed to single and combination of SRT1720 (SIRT1 activator)/EX-527 (SIRT1 inhibitor) and/or NVP-BEZ235 and/or gamma radiation. The effect of our treatments on cellular growth was determined by MTT and the cellular death and CSCs percentage were determined by Flow cytometry. Senescence detection kit was used to assay the effect of our treatments on cellular senescence induction. RESULTS: Activation of SIRT1 via SRT1720 increased the efficacy of CRT in TNBC cells, especially when IL-6 exists in tumor microenvironment. Additionally, IL-6 pre-treatment followed by exposure to SRT1720 and NVP-BEZ235 significantly increased sensitivity of the cancer stem cells to radiation (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our result shows that combination of NVP-BEZ235 and SRT1720 may effectively improve late stage breast cancer cells therapeutics approach. Activation of SIRT1 and STAT3 in resistance breast cancer cells improves the in-vitro therapeutic efficacy of CRT. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved