Humoral and cellular immunity parameters in children before and after adenotonsillectomy

Adenoids and tonsils are active lymphoid organs and play an important role against invading antigens of upper aerodigestive tract in children. The present study analyzes the changes in cellular and humoral immunity of children six months after adenotonsillectomy. The study population consisted of 30 children whit chronic adenotonsillar hypertrophy and 30 age-matched healthy children. In all children serum level of IgM and IgG, percentage of T lymphocytes (CD3), T helper cells (CD4), T cytotoxic cells (CD8) and B lymphocytes (CD20) were measured before surgery. These parameters were remeasured in patients 6 months after adenotonsillectomy. Before the operation, a reduction in percentage of T lymphocytes (CD3),TCD4,TC8 and B CD20 was seen compared to control group. This reduction was only significant in T lymphocytes (CD3).The serum IgM and IgG levels were not different in two groups. Six months after operation, the percentage of lymphocytes T CD3, T CD8 and BCD20 was increased and reached the control group. The IgM level was also significantly decreased in patients after operation. Our results indicate that cellular and humoral immunity decreases in children with chronic adenotonsiller hypertrophy preoperatively and increases to healthy children level, six months postoperatively. It means that chronic adenotosillar hypertrophy affect some parameters of cellular and humoral immunity and adenotonsillectomy by removing chronic stimulations and reverses these changes without any negative effect on immune function of patients. © 2007 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Genetic linkage analysis of DFNB39 locus in families with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) from Khuzestan province

Background and aims: Hearing loss (HL) is a most common sensory deficit in humans and approximately one in 1,000 newborns has severe-to-profound HL. About 50% of HL cases are inherited and approximately 70 percent of HL cases are Non-syndromic that about 80 percent of this type of HL is inherited in recessive manner (ARNSHL). This is a heterogeneous disease and its prevalence is higher in developing countries. In Iran due to high rate of consanguinity has high frequency, too. The purpose of the present study was to investigate genetic linkage analysis of DFNB39 locus in families with autosomal recessive nonsyndromic HL from Khuzestan province. Methods: In this descriptive laboratory study, to determine type and frequency of HGF mutations 300 individuals of 25 families from Khuzestan province with autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss were examined. Selected families in this study had consanguinity and had at least 2 patients and also they were negative for GJB2 gene mutations. Linkage analysis was performed by 6 markers STR (Short tandem repeats) which were located in or were tightly linked to DFNB39 locus conventional PCR and PAGE. Results: After examining different families, it was revealed non of the families did not show linkage to the DFNB39 locus. Lack of HGF gene mutations in mentioned family suggests that the HGF's mutations probably have no role in causing HL in the studied families. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, DFNB39 locus may not be important role in causing hearing loss of population studied. However, further studies are necessary to determine more precisely the role of this locus in hearing loss in Iranian population

Rhomboid antigens are promising targets in the vaccine development against Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular parasite with worldwide distribution. It is estimated that near one-third of the people around the globe are latently seropositive for the parasite. Since the current common drugs are incapable in the elimination of parasites within tissue cysts, the development of an effective vaccine has high priority for researchers to limit the infection. During recent years, non-stop efforts of scientists have made great progress in the identification and development of T. gondii candidate vaccines. However, there is a lack of a commercially licensed vaccine for human application yet. Rhomboid proteases (ROMs) are a class of serine proteases that have an important role in the invasion of the parasites that can be considered as a new target for vaccine strategy. They also play critical roles in mitochondrial fusion and growth factor signaling, allowing the parasite to completely enter into the host cell. In the current review, we have summarized the recent progress regarding the development of ROM-based vaccines against acute and chronic T. gondii infection in animal models

Genetic linkage analysis of the DFNB48 and DFNB98 loci in families with Autosomal Recessive Non-Syndromic Hearing Loss (ARNSHL) from Khouzestan province

Background and aims: Hearing loss, a sensorineural disorder, is one of the most common congenital impairments, occurring in approximately 1 in 500 newborns. Hearing loss is a highly heterogenic disease and half of the cases of deafness are attributed to genetic causes; environmental and unknown factors account for the remainder. Non-syndromic type forms 70% of hearing loss cases. Pattern of inheritance of nearly 80% of this type of HL is recessive autosomal. Iranian population provides a valuable genetic resource to study this kind of HL because of high ratio of consanguinity. In this study, genetic linkage of DFNB48 (CIB2) and DFNB98 (TSPEAR) is investigated in families with ARNSHL impairment from Khouzestan province. Methods: In this descriptive study 300 individuals of 25 families with hearing loss were examined in order to determine type and frequency of mutation of DFNB48 and DFNB98 loci in Khouzestan province. Families' selection had some criteria. Families with healthy parents, consanguineous marriage and negative result for mutations of GJB2 gene with at least two affected individuals were selected. 3 families which were detected positive for mutations of GJB2 gene were excluded from study. Linkage analysis was done for 22 families by using six STR markers which were located in or were tightly linked to each locus. Results: None of these families inspected by linkage analysis was linked to the DFNB48 or DFNB98 loci. Conclusion: Considering these results it seems that CIB2 and TSPEAR genes mutations have not important roles in hearing loss in Khouzestan province

A novel pathogenic variant in the MARVELD2 gene causes autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss in an Iranian family

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hearing loss (HL) is the most common sensorineural disorder and one of the most common human defects. HL can be classified according to main criteria, including: the site (conductive, sensorineural and mixed), onset (pre-lingual and post-lingual), accompanying signs and symptoms (syndromic and non-syndromic), severity (mild, moderate, severe and profound) and mode of inheritance (Autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, X-linked and mitochondrial). Autosomal recessive non-syndromic HL (ARNSHL) forms constitute a major share of the HL cases. In the present study, next-generation sequencing (NGS) was applied to investigate the underlying etiology of HL in a multiplex ARNSHL family from Khuzestan province, southwest Iran. METHODS: In this descriptive study, 20 multiplex ARNSHL families from Khuzestan province, southwest of Iran were recruited. After DNA extraction, genetic linkage analysis (GLA) was applied to screen for a panel of more prevalent loci. One family, which was not linked to these loci, was subjected to Otogenetics deafness Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) panel. RESULTS: NGS results showed a novel deletion-insertion variant (c.1555delinsAA) in the MARVELD2 gene. The variant which is a frameshift in the seventh exon of the MARVELD2 gene fulfills the criteria of being categorized as pathogenic according to the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) guideline. CONCLUSION: NGS is very promising to identify the molecular etiology of highly heterogeneous diseases such as HL. MARVELD2 might be important in the etiology of HL in this region of Iran

Measuring financial performance using new liquidity indices

Performance measurement has been considered as one of the most important subjects in accounting through separating management from ownership as well as emergence of the agency theory. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of new liquidity indices in evaluating of the financial performance. In the direction of realizing the research’s purposes, 4 hypotheses examine the relationships between new liquidity indices and firm’s financial performance. Using some linear regression techniques with some panel data, the study examines various hypotheses of this survey. The research’s statistical sample includes 67 firms over the period 2006-2011. Analysis of the hypotheses shows that hypotheses associated with comprehensive liquidity index have been supported. In addition, there are significant differences in financial performance in different industries

Investigating the relationship between managers’ loss-aversion characteristics and non-discretionary accruals-based earnings management in companies listed on the Tehran stocks exchange

The present article aimed to investigate the relationship between the managers’ loss-aversion characteristics and non-discretionary accruals-based earnings management in companies listed on the Tehran Stocks Exchange. The Pen Pin Questionnaire (2008) was employed to investigate the managers’ loss-aversion bias, which was introduced to the model as a virtual variable (0, 1). To measure non-discretionary accruals-based earnings management, the adjusted Jones’ model was used. Variables of financial leverage, return on assets, corporate size, institutional ownership and market-to-book value entered the model as effective control variables to explain and examine the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable. A total of 137 companies listed on the Teran Stocks Exchange (from 2018 to 2019) were selected via systematic elimination method. The research variables were also analyzed by Excel and Eviews software as well as cross-sectional data model. The findings suggested that the variable of managers’ loss-aversion bias is not significantly associated with non-discretionary accruals-based earnings management, which nullifies the research hypothesis

Impacts of managers’ loss-aversion characteristics on discretionary accruals-based earnings management in companies listed on the Tehran stocks exchange

The present article investigates the impacts of managers’ loss-aversion characteristics on discretionary accruals-based earnings management in the Tehran Stocks Exchange companies. The study falls under applied research, which uses a descriptive-correlational method in terms of goals. The statistical population consists of all companies listed on the Tehran Stocks Exchange, which, in 2019, totaled 435 companies. The screening sampling method (systematic removal method) selects the statistical sample. Thus, the number of 138 companies are selected. To gather data on managers’ loss-aversion bias, the Pen Pin Questionnaire (2008) is employed, which, the loss-aversion bias, was introduced to the model as a virtual variable (0, 1). The adjusted Jones’ model is used to measure discretionary accruals-based earnings management. Variables of financial leverage, return on assets, corporate size, institutional ownership, and the market-to-book value entered the model as effective control variables to explain and examine the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable. Excel and Eviews software and cross-sectional data model are used to analyze the data. The findings suggest that the variable of managers’ loss-aversion bias is positively and significantly associated with discretionary accruals-based earnings management.&nbsp

Sociological Analysis of Tendency toward Residential Mobility in the Old Fabric of Khomeinishahr

Introduction Mobility has attained a considerable significance as a topic in social theory and research in recent years. The so-called âmobility turnâ or ânew mobilities paradigmâ (Sheller & Urry, 2006) is the clearest effort to bring together different types of movements into a single analysis, and to challenge tendency of social sciences to treat stability as normal and mobility as problematic. The main reason for paying attention to the issue of urban mobilities and residential preferences in the past few decades was its social, demographic, cultural and spatial consequences. On the other hand, intra-urban migration which is done mainly from the old valuable urban cores into the new and the middle areas, influences the socio-spatial structure of urban areas and increases the exhaustion of old textures of urban areas. Now the problem of old urban areas is a major issue in most cities. Many studies (Lee, 1966 Kahn, 2007 Baker, 2002, (Pourahmad et al, 2011 Sajjad and Dastjerdi, 2008 Tavallaei and Yari, 2011 Yosefi & Agajani, 2011) have been done about the causes of residential mobility and their mechanisms. One of the classic and most cited works on residential mobility is Rossiâs âWhy Families Moveâ (1965) which suggested the lifecycle changes of families as the primary reason of their movements. Like Rossi, Speare et al (1974) also emphasize the adjustment to dissatisfaction. According to their analysis, dissatisfaction ultimately results in moving behavior and is the direct result of changes in the needs of a household, changes in the social and physical amenities offered by a particular location, or a change in the standards used to evaluate these factors. Lee and others (2011) have concluded that a subjective assessment of neighborhood has a significant impact on the thought of movement, but has little effect on the real movement. Besides these factors, increasing social capital and cohesion in neighborhood will strengthen neighborhood stability by encouraging residents to prolong their residence time. In the theory of relative deprivation, it is claimed that migration is not accidental behavior, but is a response to elimination of poverty. In general, most research projects conducted on the residential mobility tend to focus on the demographic characteristics of the household. These studies sometimes reported inconsistent results. Quigley and Weinberg (1977) mentioned many of the inconsistencies that have arisen from definitional differences, differing analytical methods and non-parallel sampling procedures. Having said all that, the theoretical framework of this study is a combination of different models in which most of the variables have been selected from the theoretical literature. While not relying on any particular theoretical approach or model, the sociological approach has the main weigh in the selection of variables. Materials and Methods This research was conducted in survey method, with the unit of analysis being the individual and the level of analysis being micro. The population of the study consisted of 20-year-and-older citizens of Khomeinishahr, a city located in 12th km north-west of Isfahan and currently divided into old and new tissues. According to statistics of the 2011 General Census, this city has a population of 61,240 individuals over 20 years old. Using Cochran formula, sample size was calculated to include 240 subjects. Satisfaction of residence, social capital, religiosity, a sense of relative deprivation, and the importance of privacy constitute our independent variables and tendency toward moving to a new area is the dependent variable. Also variables such as age, gender, education and variables related to characteristics of housing such as type of housing, construction period and area where it is located were considered as control variables. Face validity was used to assess validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to assess reliability of the measurement scale. Discussion of Results & Conclusions Results indicate that the overall tendency of residents to movement is low to moderate (46.7 out of 100) and the mean of the behavioral dimension is higher than both dimensions of feelings and behavior. In addition, about 65% of subjects responded to the question of relocation, definitely. The overall mean of all items indicate that satisfaction rate of the facilities is moderate. About overall residential satisfaction, most of the respondents have moderate satisfaction from district facilities (mean 51 out of 100). However, the rate of satisfaction with life is moderate to low and most of them think the region and the local space in which they live is a good place to live in (mean 41.6 out of 100). The amount of social capital in neighborhood is moderate to low (42.9 out of 100) Findings indicate that respondents give great importance to the privacy and solitude and prefer to live more conveniently, untouched by informal controls. When it comes to the feeling of deprivation, most respondents believed that the status of welfare, income, education and housing in their neighborhood is not much different from new neighborhoods. The results show that more than 80% of respondents endorse religiosity of their family. Among the socio-demographic variables, only gender is significantly related to the tendency toward moving. This is consistent with the findings of the Kin (1961) whereas age, education, household size, and the old housing is not in a significant relationship with tendency towards moving. Also, results indicate that there is not a significant relationship between different income groups and tendency toward moving. However, the findings suggest that there is a negative correlation between religious beliefs and the tendency toward moving. Hierarchical regression analyzes indicate that among all independent variables entered into the model (satisfaction, social capital, religiosity, importance of privacy, relative deprivation) with the control of socio-demographic variables, only three variables, namely, privacy, satisfaction, and social capital were able to stay in the model and explain 39% of the variance of the tendency toward moving to new neighborhoods. Also, it is observed that among the socio-demographic variables, only gender is significant however, this has very little impact on the increasing adjusted R square coefficient so it can be ignored. Logistic regression analysis partially confirmed the results of the hierarchical regression

Sociological Analysis of Tendency toward Residential Mobility in the Old Fabric of Khomeinishahr

Introduction Mobility has attained a considerable significance as a topic in social theory and research in recent years. The so-called “mobility turn” or “new mobilities paradigm” (Sheller & Urry, 2006) is the clearest effort to bring together different types of movements into a single analysis, and to challenge tendency of social sciences to treat stability as normal and mobility as problematic. The main reason for paying attention to the issue of urban mobilities and residential preferences in the past few decades was its social, demographic, cultural and spatial consequences. On the other hand, intra-urban migration which is done mainly from the old valuable urban cores into the new and the middle areas, influences the socio-spatial structure of urban areas and increases the exhaustion of old textures of urban areas. Now the problem of old urban areas is a major issue in most cities. Many studies (Lee, 1966; Kahn, 2007; Baker, 2002, (Pourahmad et al, 2011; Sajjad and Dastjerdi, 2008; Tavallaei and Yari, 2011; Yosefi & Agajani, 2011) have been done about the causes of residential mobility and their mechanisms. One of the classic and most cited works on residential mobility is Rossi’s ‘Why Families Move’ (1965) which suggested the lifecycle changes of families as the primary reason of their movements. Like Rossi, Speare et al (1974) also emphasize the adjustment to dissatisfaction. According to their analysis, dissatisfaction ultimately results in moving behavior and is the direct result of changes in the needs of a household, changes in the social and physical amenities offered by a particular location, or a change in the standards used to evaluate these factors. Lee and others (2011) have concluded that a subjective assessment of neighborhood has a significant impact on the thought of movement, but has little effect on the real movement. Besides these factors, increasing social capital and cohesion in neighborhood will strengthen neighborhood stability by encouraging residents to prolong their residence time. In the theory of relative deprivation, it is claimed that migration is not accidental behavior, but is a response to elimination of poverty. In general, most research projects conducted on the residential mobility tend to focus on the demographic characteristics of the household. These studies sometimes reported inconsistent results. Quigley and Weinberg (1977) mentioned many of the inconsistencies that have arisen from definitional differences, differing analytical methods and non-parallel sampling procedures. Having said all that, the theoretical framework of this study is a combination of different models in which most of the variables have been selected from the theoretical literature. While not relying on any particular theoretical approach or model, the sociological approach has the main weigh in the selection of variables. Materials and Methods This research was conducted in survey method, with the unit of analysis being the individual and the level of analysis being micro. The population of the study consisted of 20-year-and-older citizens of Khomeinishahr, a city located in 12th km north-west of Isfahan and currently divided into old and new tissues. According to statistics of the 2011 General Census, this city has a population of 61,240 individuals over 20 years old. Using Cochran formula, sample size was calculated to include 240 subjects. Satisfaction of residence, social capital, religiosity, a sense of relative deprivation, and the importance of privacy constitute our independent variables and tendency toward moving to a new area is the dependent variable. Also variables such as age, gender, education and variables related to characteristics of housing such as type of housing, construction period and area where it is located were considered as control variables. Face validity was used to assess validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to assess reliability of the measurement scale. Discussion of Results & Conclusions Results indicate that the overall tendency of residents to movement is low to moderate (46.7 out of 100) and the mean of the behavioral dimension is higher than both dimensions of feelings and behavior. In addition, about 65% of subjects responded to the question of relocation, definitely. The overall mean of all items indicate that satisfaction rate of the facilities is moderate. About overall residential satisfaction, most of the respondents have moderate satisfaction from district facilities (mean 51 out of 100). However, the rate of satisfaction with life is moderate to low and most of them think the region and the local space in which they live is a good place to live in (mean 41.6 out of 100). The amount of social capital in neighborhood is moderate to low (42.9 out of 100) Findings indicate that respondents give great importance to the privacy and solitude and prefer to live more conveniently, untouched by informal controls. When it comes to the feeling of deprivation, most respondents believed that the status of welfare, income, education and housing in their neighborhood is not much different from new neighborhoods. The results show that more than 80% of respondents endorse religiosity of their family. Among the socio-demographic variables, only gender is significantly related to the tendency toward moving. This is consistent with the findings of the Kin (1961) whereas age, education, household size, and the old housing is not in a significant relationship with tendency towards moving. Also, results indicate that there is not a significant relationship between different income groups and tendency toward moving. However, the findings suggest that there is a negative correlation between religious beliefs and the tendency toward moving. Hierarchical regression analyzes indicate that among all independent variables entered into the model (satisfaction, social capital, religiosity, importance of privacy, relative deprivation) with the control of socio-demographic variables, only three variables, namely, privacy, satisfaction, and social capital were able to stay in the model and explain 39% of the variance of the tendency toward moving to new neighborhoods. Also, it is observed that among the socio-demographic variables, only gender is significant; however, this has very little impact on the increasing adjusted R square coefficient so it can be ignored. Logistic regression analysis partially confirmed the results of the hierarchical regression