Seroprevalence of and Risk Factors for Toxoplasma gondii among Pregnant Women in Abyek Township of Qazvin Province , Iran (2013)

 Objective: Toxoplasmosis is an important disease which is caused by the coccidian parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The aim of this study was to determineseroprevalence of and risk factors for T. gondii among pregnant women in Abyek township of Qazvin province by enzyme-linked immunosorbentassay method.Methods: Blood samples were taken from 200 pregnant women referred to the health centers of Abyek township. Immunoglobulin M (IgM)and IgGtiters and effects of some factors on incidence of the disease were evaluated. The collected data were statistically analyzed with SPSS 17 using Chisquaretest.Results: Anti toxoplasma IgM and IgG were positive in 2% and 29% respectively. Seropositive subjects were more frequently seen in women withage >30 years compared to younger women. No significant relationship was found between the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection and level ofeducation, residence area, history of abortion and gestational age.Conclusion: It was indicative of having a latent infection due to the previous exposure to toxoplasma parasite in this region.Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, Prevalence, Pregnant women, Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, Immunoglobulin M

Preparing a map of Iran's predictability of avian influenza using fuzzy logic

AI (Avian Influenza) is one of the most important respiratory, and contagious pathogens in poultry that has fast release power. At present, around 33 pandemics of H5 and H7 over-the-counter influenza have emerged from the 1950s to 2017. The largest pandemic is H5N1 pandemic in 63 countries, and now it turnes to H5N8. Like the H5N8 pandemic in the year 2016, the Severe strain in Guandong, China, resulted in the extinction of about 250 million poultry or wild birds in 63 countries. Most countries, in this context, use deforestation policy in the poultry industry to achieve the eradication of the extra-influenza strains. However, countries also use the vaccination strategy to control the disease. The prevalence of Avian Influenza virus and its transmission to human have been one of the main concerns of researchers in recent years. Identifying the country’s regions that are more vulnerable due to the prevalence of the virus will help control and prevent its prevalence at various stages. This study aimed to identify high-risk regions in Iran for the prevalence of N5H8 virus according to effective factors. This analytical study was conducted in 2016-2017 for IRAN. First, the affective factors were identified, using experts’ opinions, they were weighted, and classified into four categories. Then, the data were analyzed using fuzzy logic. The fuzzy membership functions were defined for each category. Defining 36 various rules, all the existing states were evaluated applying Mamdani's method. According to the conducted studies, the main factors affecting the prevalence of the mentioned virus included: proximity to rivers, lakes, and marshes, population, poultry farms, villages, rainfall, temperature, and wind. Finally, Tehran, Alborz, Qom, Isfahan, Qazvin, Golestan, and Gilan provinces had the greatest high-risk. The obtained zoning map of hazard had a good corresponding with the samples of report on the Avian Influenza virus

تاثیر ورزش در آب بر شدت درد و ناتوانی در زنان باردار مبتلا به کمردرد

مقدمه: کمردرد، یکی از مشکلات شایع و پرهزینه دوران حاملگی است. ورزش یکی از راهبردهای درمانی است، لذا مطالعه حاضر با هدف تعیین تأثیر ورزش در آب بر بهبود درد و ناتوانی زنان باردار مبتلا به کمردرد انجام شد. روش‌کار: این مطالعه کارآزمایی بالینی- تصادفی در سال 1398 بر روی 54 زن باردار مراجعه‌کننده به مراکز سلامت شهر قزوین و مبتلا به کمردرد انجام شد. نمونه‌ها با استفاده از تخصیص تصادفی بلوکی به دو گروه مداخله و کنترل تقسیم شد. گروه مداخله در 24 جلسه کلاس ورزش در آب از هفته 34-20 بارداری شرکت کردند. گروه کنترل مراقبت‌های استاندارد دوران بارداری را دریافت کردند. پرسشنامه ناتوانی رولند موریس و آنالوگ بصری درد قبل، 4 و 8 هفته بعد از مداخله در دو گروه تکمیل شد. تجزیه و تحلیل داده‌ها با استفاده از نرم‌افزار آماری SPSS (نسخه 24) و آزمون‌های یو من‌ویتنی و فریدمن انجام شد. میزان p کمتر از 05/0 معنی‌دار در نظر گرفته شد. یافته‌ها: ورزش در آب تأثیر معناداری بر میانگین نمره شدت درد (76/1±14/8، 42/1±44/1) و میزان ناتوانی کمردرد (45/2±44/3، 98/2±29/17) در گروه مداخله نسبت به گروه کنترل بعد از 8 هفته مداخله داشت (001/0>p). نتیجه‌گیری: ورزش در آب در دوران بارداری می‌تواند شدت درد و ناتوانی در زنان مبتلا کمردرد را بهبود بخشیده و به‌عنوان یک روش غیر‌دارویی برای زنان باردار کم‌خطر مبتلا به کمردرد توصیه می‌شود

The landscape of exosomal non-coding RNAs in breast cancer drug resistance, focusing on underlying molecular mechanisms

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy among women worldwide. Like many other cancers, BC therapy is challenging and sometimes frustrating. In spite of the various therapeutic modalities applied to treat the cancer, drug resistance, also known as, chemoresistance, is very common in almost all BCs. Undesirably, a breast tumor might be resistant to different curative approaches (e.g., chemo- and immunotherapy) at the same period of time. Exosomes, as double membrane-bound extracellular vesicles 1) secreted from different cell species, can considerably transfer cell products and components through the bloodstream. In this context, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including miRNAs, long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), are a chief group of exosomal constituents with amazing abilities to regulate the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of BC, such as cell proliferation, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, migration, and particularly drug resistance. Thereby, exosomal ncRNAs can be considered potential mediators of BC progression and drug resistance. Moreover, as the corresponding exosomal ncRNAs circulate in the bloodstream and are found in different body fluids, they can serve as foremost prognostic/diagnostic biomarkers. The current study aims to comprehensively review the most recent findings on BC-related molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways affected by exosomal miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs, with a focus on drug resistance. Also, the potential of the same exosomal ncRNAs in the diagnosis and prognosis of BC will be discussed in detail