Serum Zinc Level in Patients with Simple Febrile Seizure

ObjectiveTo evaluate the serum zinc level of the patients with simple febrile seizure and compare them with febrile children without seizure.Materials & MethodsThis prospective case - control study was performed on 60 patients aged 6 months to 6 years from Apr. 2009 to Jan.2010 in Ghaem, Imam Reza and Dr. Sheikh Hospitals in Mashhad. The serum zinc level was assessed and compared between the cases (30 individuals who suffered from simple febrile seizure) and the controls (30 individuals who had fever without seizure).ResultsMean serum zinc level was 663.7 µg /l and 758.33  µg /l in the case group and the control group, respectively (PConclusionIt was revealed that the serum level of zinc was significantly lower in children with simple febrile seizure in comparison with febrile children without seizure.

A Hidden‎ Markov Model‎ ‎Based‎ ‎Extended Case-Based Reasoning Algorithm for Relief Materials Demand Forecasting

‎In emergency situations‎, ‎accurate demand forecasting for relief materials such as food‎, ‎water‎, ‎and medicine is crucial for effective disaster response‎. ‎This research is presented a novel algorithm to demand forecasting for relief materials using extended Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) with the best-worst method (BWM) and Hidden Markov Models (HMMs)‎. ‎The proposed algorithm involves training an HMM on historical data to obtain a set of state sequences representing the temporal fluctuations in demand for different relief materials‎. ‎When a new disaster occurs‎, ‎the algorithm first determines the current state sequence using the available data and searches the case library for past disasters with similar state sequences‎. ‎The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated through experiments on real-world disaster data of Iran‎. ‎Based on the results‎, ‎the forecasting error index for four relief materials is less than 10\%; therefore‎, ‎the proposed CBR-BWM-HMM is a strong and robust algorithm‎

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure: A pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

© The Author(s) 2018. Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20-29 years to 70-79 years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probittransformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results: In 2005-16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the highincome Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions: Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity. Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017—and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions—was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing—and in some countries reversal—of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

No English title available

Cette recherche doctorale exige une étude en plusieurs temps afin de présenter premièrement, le rapport possible entre d’un côté l’homme en tant que « référence de l’infinie » et de l’autre côté, la source perpétuelle qui est désignée par l’acception de « référence infinie ». Deuxièmement, on soulignera que ce rapport peut être perçu comme la préoccupation essentielle dans la Grèce du IVe siècle av. J.C. que ce soit dans le mythe, l’épopée, la tragédie et surtout, ce qui semble le plus important, dans la philosophie de Platon. Ainsi, on questionne ce rapport selon les deux principes suivants : « le principe d’identité » et « le principe d’altérité ». En effet, il est indispensable de préciser que ce sujet qui se trouve toujours être l’une des problématiques fondamentales des sciences humaines est présenté de manière différente chez Platon. C’est la raison pour laquelle, on étudie finalement ce rapport à travers la théorie des Formes qui apparaît être la théorie la mieux adaptée à cette étude. Ce qui éveille le plus mon intérêt dans ce sujet de recherche, c’est d’étudier les rapports proches sur cette question, entre les textes homériques, la tragédie grecque et la philosophie de Platon. Sur ce point, je serai d’ailleurs en désaccord avec l’érudition traditionnelle qui affirme qu’il y a une rupture entre les textes littéraires grecs et la philosophie platonicienne. De plus, la principale problématique de Platon porte sur la manière de constituer une liaison positive entre ces deux références.No English summary available

Explaining the Drivers of Women's Entrepreneurial Opportunities with a Multi-Criteria Group Decision-Making Approach

The purpose of this study was to design and test a structural model of the relationship between spiritual attitudes and symptoms of eating disorders concerning the mediating role of body image concern and self-esteem in young women. Using cluster sampling method, 298 female undergraduate students of the Islamic Azad University of Khomeini Shahr were selected as the research sample and responded to the Spiritual Attitude Questionnaire, Body Image Concern Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and Eating Attitude Test. To test the research model, the structural equation modeling method was used, using the maximum likelihood estimation method. Also, to evaluate the significance of the indirect effects of the model, the bootstrap method was used. Data analysis was performed with SPSS-24 and AMOS-24 software. The results showed that the research model has a good fit with the data and all direct and indirect effects of the proposed model are significant. In general, these results support the importance of the role of spiritual attitude in improving various aspects of mental health, especially the symptoms of eating disorders in women. Spiritual Attitude, Body Image Concern, Self–Esteem, Eating Disorders Symptoms, Young Women.      Introduction Eating disorders are disorders related to eating behaviors that affect the thoughts, attitudes, emotions and physiological functions of individuals. Eating disorders in DSM5 have been described as highly prevalent in young women (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). At the core of eating disorders is body image concern. Concerns about body image are associated with compensatory behaviors for beauty and fitness both in the general community and in people with eating disorders. Also, people with body image concerns experience low self-esteem over time due to negative selfevaluations (Özdin, Karabekiroğlu, Özbalcı, & Aker, 2021). On the other hand, spiritual attitude is a set of beliefs about the abilities and capacities of spiritual resources, the use of which increases adaptability and thus promotes mental health. These beliefs have a positive effect on giving meaning to different components of life and are effective factors in reducing life problems and increasing mental health (Litalien, Atari, & Obasi, 2021). Methodology The design of the present study was a correlational design. According to Kline's rule, 10 to 20 samples per model parameter (Kline, 2015) and also, taking into account the number of model parameters, the sample size was calculated to be 300 people. A total of 298 female students, with an average age of 21.32 and a standard deviation of 1.67 were selected from Khomeini Shahr Azad University students in the 2019-2020 academic year using cluster sampling method and answered the research questionnaires.   Research instruments included: Spiritual Attitude Questionnaire (Shahidi and Farajnia, 2012) with 43 items, Body Image Concern Inventory (Littleton, Axum, and Poory, 2005) to assess concernces about appearance deformity including 19 items, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) includes 10 items to measure self-esteem, Eating Attitudes Test (Garner, Olmsted, Bohr & Garfikel, 1982) to measure the symptoms of eating disorder with 26 questions and 3 scales of diet, overeating and mental occupation with food and oral inhibition. Descriptive features including mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis, and correlation between variables were performed using SPSS software version Structural equation modeling method was used to test the conceptual model and Maximum likelihood estimation method was used to estimate the model parameters. To evaluate the fit of the research model with experimental data, various types of fit indices and to evaluate the significance of the types of effects in the model, the bootstrap method was used. All structural equation modeling analyzes were performed using version 24 of AMOS software. Findings After examining the descriptive features and correlation between the variables, the conceptual model of the research was tested. This model includes four variables: spiritual attitude as exogenous variable, body image concern and selfesteem as mediating variables and latent variable of eating disorders symptoms as endogenous variable. This model was analyzed using the maximum likelihood estimation method and its fitting indices and estimated parameters were extracted. These results showed that the χ2/df index is less than 3 and is significant at the alpha level of 0.05. These results show that the sample variance-covariance matrix is not significantly different from the population variance-covariance matrix and the model fits the experimental data. Also, the size of RMSEA and SRMR indices is less than 0.05 and GFI, AGFI, NFI, TLI and CFI indices are more than 0.95. These results show that all the fit indices of the present model are in the desired range. According to these results, in general, the conceptual model of the research has a good fit with the experimental data obtained from the sample group. Examination of the model parameters also shows that all factor loads related to the latent variable of eating disorders symptoms, all path coefficients (direct effects) of the model and all indirect effects of the model are significant at the alpha level of 0.01. These results showed that spiritual attitude has a negative effect on body image concern and a positive effect on self-esteem. Also, body image concern has a negative effect on the eating disorders symptoms and a positive effect on self-esteem. Finally, self-esteem has a negative effect on the eating disorders symptoms. Result Franczyk (2014) believes that the existence of spiritual attitudes in the individual actually means a secure attachment to God. In this case, performing spiritual acts reminds the person that he is accepted by a powerful source, and this acceptance gives him self-esteem. This sense of self-worth leads to unconditional acceptance, including acceptance of physical and physical features. This type of attitude based on acceptance increases self-esteem and a sense of worth in the individual. Conversely, a person who does not have a spiritual attitude does not find meaning in life and does not accept what has been given to him by the Creator, this rejection includes the person's past, physical image and future events. However, such a person is always trying to make a difference. The most important behavioral response to body image concern is to try to lose weight. Tiggemann and Hage (2019) theory can be used to explain the mediating role of self-esteem and body image concern in the relationship between spiritual attitudes and symptoms of eating disorders. Tiggemann and Hage (2019) argue that having positive relationships with God, spiritual attitudes, religious affiliations, and religiosity-based behaviors does not directly reduce the symptoms of eating disorders, and the direct effects of these variables on each other will not be confirmed regardless of the mediating variables. However, Tigman and Hogg (2019) found that a positive relationship with God and the formation of deep spiritual attitudes, by increasing acceptance of oneself, others, and the world, creates spiritual motivation in the individual and his or her psychological well-being. And reduces fruitless efforts to change appearance based on increased mental health and mental well-being. In this way, people are more prepared to accept their genetic and God-given appearance and the symptoms of eating disorders will be reduced. In general, these findings support the effect of spiritual attitude on various dimensions of mental health in women. The most important limitation of the present study was the use of cross-sectional data and the limited community to students. These findings can be used to design educational and therapeutic interventions related to eating disorders in order to reduce the maladaptive manifestations of eating disorders symptoms in both normal women and among women with this disorder

Relationship between polymorphisms in the CD40 gene with the prevalence of breast cancer: A case-control study

Background. Breast cancer with a complex inheritance pattern is a major cause of cancer death among women worldwide. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the most common genetic variations, influence interindividual predisposition to disease and treatment outcomes with drugs. Evidence suggests that CD40 polymorphism contributes to pathogenesis of cancer. The co-stimulatory molecule CD40 plays a prominent role in immune regulation. This study aimed to test the association between polymorphisms in the CD40 gene and breast carcinogenesis in Arak, Iran. Methods. In this case-control study, three SNPs (rs1883832, rs4810485, rs3765459) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. We included 80 patients with breast cancer and 80 healthy controls. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS (version 26) using Chi-Squared test at P˂ 0.05. Results. Our data showed a statistically significant association between the two CD40 SNPs (1s1883832 and rs4810485) and breast cancer risk (P=0.038 and P=0.000, respectively). There was no significant association between rs3765459 and breast cancer risk (P=0.190). Conclusion. We witnessed that CD40 gene polymorphisms (rs1883832 and rs4810485) contributed to breast cancer. So, they are associated with breast cancer risk. Practical Implications. The obtained data revealed a significant relationship between the rs1883832 and rs4810485 polymorphisms and the risk of breast cancer. Thus, these polymorphisms could be used as biomarkers to predict breast cancer

Responses of Endothelin-1 and Arterial Blood Pressure of Postmenopausal Women to Aerobic Exercise Training

Objectives:&nbsp;Endothelin-1 is a strong constrictor of blood vessels that is secreted by endothelial cells and identified as the strongest vascular constrictor. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of eight week aerobic exercise on the endothelin-1 concentration of plasma and its relationship with blood pressure in elderly postmenopausal women. Methods & Materials: A total of 20 menopausal women (with the average age of 67.85&plusmn;5.67 years , height 153.50&plusmn;7.7 cm, weight 66.16&plusmn;11.96 kg, BMI of 28.15&plusmn;4.98, fat percentage of 18.41&plusmn;3.65, and WHR of 0.92&plusmn;0.04) were selected and randomly assigned into two groups of ten each. The experimental group underwent eight weeks of aerobic training spanning across three sessions in a week with the intensity of 60 to 70% of maximum heart rate. The resting level of endothelin-1 concentration along with the systolic and diastolic blood pressure for each participant were measured and recorded before and after eight weeks of exercise .Paired t-test was used for investigating the changes within the group while the independent t-test was used for investigating the differences between the groups. Pearson correlation coefficient was used for investigating the relationship between endothelin-1 and blood pressure. A significance level less than 0.05 were considered to be significant. Results:&nbsp;The result of this study showed that one duration of aerobic exercise had a significant effect on endothelin-1 plasma density (P<0.01) and decreasing systolic (P<0.01) as well as diastolic(P=0.002) blood pressure in older women. A direct correlation was established between endothelin-1 and systolic blood pressure (P=0.59). Nevertheless, no correlation was noted between endothelin-1 and diastolic blood pressure (r=0.39). Conclusion: It was concluded that single duration of aerobic exercise with the agreed intensity and volume could decrease the systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the endothelin-1 concentration of plasma