Developing a masters curriculum for University of Welfare and Rehabilitation in Tehran/Iran by exploring social support and social network in Iranian women with children under school age.

The purpose of this project was to: • Develop a postgraduate curriculum for Health care professionals to be used by University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation (USWR) in Iran based on the needs of mothers in Iran. The developed curriculum used selected findings of research completed by me who explored social support and family networks offered to Iranian women with children under the school age. • Create a research data base for information to be use by all researchers on women and women health by students who will be taking the created curriculum during their research and dissertation modules in USWR in Iran. The research conducted used mixed methodology approach /triangulation by means of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A focus group was employed to gain information and further understanding to the meaning of social support and family network from perspectives of those mothers. Following the focus group a questionnaire was devised in conclusion with the findings of the focus group which were building blocks for the questionnaire and informed by literature. Six hundred questionnaires were distributed surveying mothers of three different social classes, living in various parts of Tehran. The questionnaires were distributed at a number of health care clinics using purposive sampling technique. The inclusion criteria for the selection of the research category, was that the mothers had to have a child/children under the school age, and in addition be willing to complete the questionnaire in the clinic. Following the survey 24 self selected mothers from the same group were asked to commence on documenting a two week diary. They were provided with guidelines and instructions on how to complete the diaries. The resulting quantitative data was analysed with the use of SPSS and the qualitative data used narrative data analysis arriving at themes. The two sets of data were crossed referenced for outcomes, in order to comprehend the general data collected and form triangulation conclusions. Recommendation was made for future research

Evaluating Morphological Computation in Muscle and DC-motor Driven Models of Human Hopping

In the context of embodied artificial intelligence, morphological computation refers to processes which are conducted by the body (and environment) that otherwise would have to be performed by the brain. Exploiting environmental and morphological properties is an important feature of embodied systems. The main reason is that it allows to significantly reduce the controller complexity. An important aspect of morphological computation is that it cannot be assigned to an embodied system per se, but that it is, as we show, behavior- and state-dependent. In this work, we evaluate two different measures of morphological computation that can be applied in robotic systems and in computer simulations of biological movement. As an example, these measures were evaluated on muscle and DC-motor driven hopping models. We show that a state-dependent analysis of the hopping behaviors provides additional insights that cannot be gained from the averaged measures alone. This work includes algorithms and computer code for the measures.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, 5 algorithm

The Cholesterol Lowering Effects of Eurycoma Longifolia Jack (Tongkat Ali) Root Extract in Male Rats

Background: To investigate the effect of Eurycoma longifolia Jack root extract on serum lipids in rats. Methods: Twenty-six mature male albino Wistar rats were used in this study. A group of 18 rats were fed a high fat and high cholesterol diet for 4 weeks, after which their lipid profile was compared to the control group, who were kept on a normal diet. The rats were then further divided into three groups, the Cf group that continued to feed on a high fat and cholesterol diet only, and group A and group B who continued on a high fat diet with the addition of 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg of Eurycoma longifolia Jack root extract respectively for 4 weeks. After the 4 week period, the rat's lipid profiles were analysed again. Results: Group A and B showed significant total cholesterol reduction when compared to the Cf group, 140 ± 7.23, 139.63 ± 7.95, 192.14 ± 8.96 mg/dL respectively (p < 0.001). The total cholesterol/HDL ratio in group A was 5 however there was a sharp increase in group B to a high-risk level of 9.2 indicating a significant drop in HDL levels. The LDL level increased significantly in both group A and B compared to the Cf group. Conclusions: Eurycoma longifolia Jack root extract is effective in lowering total cholesterol, however the dose needs to be adjusted to prevent an excessive decrease in HDL levels

Preparing for professional practice: how well does professional training equip health and social care practitioners to engage in evidence-based practice?

This paper reports on the findings of a study that aimed to explore how relevant initial training is in relation to evidence-based practice, and explore the perceptions of recently qualified practitioners about their confidence to engage in evidence-based practice. A cross-sectional postal survey was used to ascertain the views of nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists who had been qualified no longer than two years prior to the survey, and had qualified at one of three London Universities. Fifty questionnaires were sent out to each professional group (a sample of 200 overall) and there was a 43% response rate achieved. The results show a clear discrepancy between what are generally positive attitudes towards evidence-based practice and the value of research evidence and the infrequency with which they actually do make use of research resources and engage in evidence-based practice. A number of constraints to engagement in accessing and utilising evidence were identified

Characterization of lymphocyte subsets as a tool of assessment of histological disease activity pattern in ulcerative colitis

Background: In Ulcerative colitis (UC), the presence of a persistently elevated number of T cells in the inflamed area with respect to the activity of the disease suggesting bad prognosis. This study was done to evaluate cellular immune response in different disease activity patterns and its possible implication in evaluation of disease activity. Materials and methods: This study included Forty seven archived paraffin-embedded samples of ulcerative colitis; these samples diagnosed and graded for disease activity. Then dual immunofluorescence staining was used for phenotyping of lymphocytic infiltrate (CD3- CD19) and (CD4-CD8). A total and differential T cell as well as plasma cell count was recorded in these UC tissue samples. Non parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the median cell counts among different study groups. Results: There is higher lymphocytic infiltrate for all types of cells when UC samples compared with control samples with highly statistical significant difference, T cells represents the major constituents of colonic mucosal infiltrate (86.89%) and about 75.79% were CD4 positive T cells. T-cell subsets and plasma cell have high statistical significant difference (p≤0.001) according to histological grade. Furthermore, with the histological grade the highest association found with T lymphocytes (r=0.944) followed by T helper (r=0.821), T cytotoxic (r=0.653) and B lymphocyte (r=0.237). Conclusions: Qualitative and semi quantitative characterization of lymphocytes subsets was useful in the assessment of different histological grades of UC disease activity

Post Surgical Spinal Evaluation

One of the most challenging areas of diagnosis is to be found in acquiring and interpreting medical images in the patient who has undergone lumbosacral surgery for spinal degenerative disease. The section illustrates the features of expected and abnormal postsurgical spinal imaging. These discussions provide the background, practical information, and graphic examples necessary to enable the medical imaging physician to better approach the clinicoradiologic evaluation of the postsurgical patient.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145202/1/cpmia0808.pd

Ectopic Cushing's syndrome secondary to lung and mediastinal tumours - Report from a tertiary care centre in Iran

Introduction: Ectopic Cushing's syndrome (ECS) secondary to neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) of the lung and mediastinum are rarely encountered. In this study, we present our experience in Iran on 15 patients with ECS secondary to lung and mediastinal tumours over a period of 27 years. Material and methods: Since 1985, 15 patients with ECS secondary to lung and mediastinal tumours have been diagnosed and prospectively followed by the endocrinology team of Taleghani Hospital, Tehran, Iran. The clinical signs and symptoms, laboratory findings, radiological features, immunohistochemical characteristics, management strategies and outcome data are here presented. Results: There were six women and nine men, aged 26-70 years, all presenting with typical features of Cushing's syndrome. Based on histopathologic evaluations, four patients had small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and seven patients had pulmonary NETs, one patient had a thymic NET, and one case was diagnosed as a lung tumourlet. The mean ± SD serum cortisol, 24h urine free cortisol and plasma ACTH were 47.2 ± 20.5 μg/dL, 2,702 ± 5,439 μg/day, and 220 ± 147 pg/mL, respectively. Pulmonary lesions ranged in diameter from 1.1 to 4 cm (mean 1.9 ± 1.1 cm). One patient had a 10 cm mediastinal mass. The duration of follow up in these cases was between one month and seven years (mean 29.9 ± 27.5 months). The four patients with SCLC died within three months of diagnosis. Conclusion: Our data demonstrates the protean clinical and laboratory manifestations of ECS secondary to lung and mediastinal tumours, the problems encountered in diagnosis, and the need for a multidisciplinary approach. This study confirms other series from Western Europe and North America that, unlike the SCLC patients who show a poor outlook, ECS secondary to lung carcinoids has a more favourable prognosis

Large Scale Production of Spider Silk Protein in E. coli

Spider silks have long been a focus of research due to their remarkable mechanical properties including strength, toughness and elasticity. Moreover, biodegradability and biocompatibility of spider silks make them beneficial to use in biomedical applications. Spiders cannot be farmed because of their territorial and cannibalistic nature. Hence, production of recombinant spider silks is the only feasible solution for large scale production Large scale production is still challenging due to the small recombinant protein size, low yield and low water solubility of bio-synthetic spider silk. The current study reports our progress as well as evolution of effective protocol for large scale bio-synthetic production of spider silk protein in E. coli. Our main spidersilk protein we seek to produce and purify in a large scale is MaSp2. Spider dragline silk is primarily composed of proteins called major ampullate spidroins (MaSps) that consist of a large repeat array flanked by nonrepetitive N- and C- terminal domains. All MaSp genes are co-expressed in the major ampullate gland of Nephila Clavipes