Application of Comedy and Satire in the Epic Theater: The Analysis of the Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht

Comedy, satire, ridicule, and humor, in general, stem from a tragedy. Wherever weeping does not suffice for the tragic fate of mankind, humor or comedy takes on this task by making people laugh. It is not in vain that typical theatrical emoticons are displayed as two smiling and weeping faces. Tragedy and comedy are two opposing but interconnected aspects that have defined theater since the beginning of history. In this article, we will see how the epic theater, like the modern theater that crashed down the Aristotelian criterion in ancient theater, has used comical elements of comics (satire and comedy) in its structure to transcend features such as catharsis and the strong Aristotelian plot and turn the play into a means for making the audience aware of their position in the modern world. The main tool of epic theater for the realization of anti-Aristotelian theater is an interruption to keep the audience from being trapped and submissive to the plot and to make him/her contemplate. Comedy is an element can distance the audience from identifying himself/herself with tragedy

SerumTrace Elements in Febrile Seizure: A Case-Control Study

 How to Cite This Article: Namakin K, Zardast M, Sharifzadeh Gh, Bidar T, Zargarian S. Serum Trace Elements in Febrile Seizure: A Case-Control Study. Iran J Child Neurol. Summer 2016; 10(3):57-60.  AbstractObjectiveFebrile seizure (FS) is one of the most common neurological problems during childhood.Pathogenesis of febrile convulsion is unknown. This study investigated some trace elements among children admitted with FS compared with thoseof febrile without seizure attacks.Materials & MethodsThis case-control study was conducted on48 children (6 months to 5 yr old) diagnosed with febrile seizure as the cases and 48 age-matched febrile children as the control group. Serum levels of magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, and serum zinc were measured. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS (version 15) using Student t-test.ResultsThere were no significant differences between the cases and controls in terms of gender or age. The means of serum level of zinc, sodium, calcium and magnesium in the case group was lower than those of the control group. There was no significant difference onserum potassium mean level between the case and control groups.ConclusionDeficiency of trace elements was correlated significantly with febrile convulsion, while further investigations on trace elements are required.ReferencesReferencesMartindale JL, Goldstein JN, Pallin DJ. Emergency department seizureepidemiology. Emerg Med Clin North Am 2011;29:15-27.Lee J-H, Hyun Kim J.Comparison of Serum Zinc Levels Measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry in Preschool Children with Febrile and Afebrile Seizures. Ann Lab Med 2012;32:190-193 http://dx.doi.org/10.3343/alm.2012.32.3.190.Akbayram S, Cemek M, Büyükben A, Aymelek F, Karaman S, Yilmaz F, Dogan M,Caksen H. Major and minor bio-element status in children with febrile seizure. Bratisl Lek Listy 2012; 113 (7)421 – 423.Johnston MV. Seizures in children. In: Behrman RE, JensonHB, Stanton BF, editors. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics.18thed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2008:2457-73.Salehiomran MR, Mahzari M. Zinc status in febrile seizure: a case-control study. Iran J Child Neurol 2013; 7(4):20-23.Nadkarni J, Binaykiya I, Sharma U, Dwivedi R. Role of serum sodium levels in prediction of seizure recurrence within the same febrile illness.Neurology Asia 2011; 16(3): 195–197.Ganesh R, Janakiraman L. Serum zinc levels in children with simple febrile seizure. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 2008;47:164–166.Waqar Rabbani M, Ali I, Zahid Latif H, Basit A, Rabbani MA. Serum zinc level in children presenting with febrile seizures. Pak J Med Sci 2013;29(4):1008-11.Ehsanipour F, Talebi-Taher M, Harandi N, Kani K. Serumzinc level in children with febrile convulsion and itscomparison with that of control group. Iran J Pediatr2009;65-8.Amiri M, Farzin L, Moassesi ME, Sajadi F. Serum trace element levels in febrile convulsion. Biol Trace Elem Res 2010;135(1-3):38-44.Mohamed Aly IAR, Mohamed Kmal H, Soliman DR, Hassan Mohamed M. Iron profile parameters and serum zinc & copper levels in children with febrile convulsions in Banha. J Am Sci 2014;10(7): 1-4.Gattoo I, Harish R, Quyoom Hussain S. Correlation of serum zinc level with simple febrile seizures: a hospital based prospective case control study. Int J Pediatr 2015;3(2):16-.19.Sadeghzadeh M, Nabi S, Khoshnevisasl P, Mousavinasab N. The correlation between cerebrospinal fluid and levels of serum zinc and Ca in children with febrile seizure. J Comprehens Pediatr 2013; 3(5): 179-83.Osama N. Salah, Ehab R. Abdelraou, Marwa H. Abdelhameed Ahmed A, Dawood, Adel F,Kilany HA, Suzette I. Assessment of the Level of GABA and some trace elements in blood in children who suffer from familial febrile convulsions. Macedonian JMed Sci 2014; 7(1):68-73.Heydarian F, Ashrafzadeh F, Cam S. Simple febrile seizure: the role of serum sodium levels in prediction of seizure recurrence during thefirst 24 hours. Iran J Child Neurol2009; 3(2):31-4

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors among the Nurse Population in the East of Iran

Introduction: The present study was planned to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among nurses. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was done on employed nurses in Birjand in 2011. At first, complete clinical examinations were done; including height, weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure in standard ways. Then, 5cc blood of each subject, after a 12 hour fasting, was taken in order to measure FBS and lipid profile. A questionnaire inquiring demographic information and history of previous cardiovascular risk factors was filled out. At the end data were analyzed by T test in SPSS software (V.15). Results: The mean age of the subject was 40.6±7.2 yrs. The most prevalent risk factor were dyslipidemia, overweight, and central obesity (70.4%, 40%, and 37.7% respectively). Dyslipidemia and smoking in men, and obesity in women were more prevalent. Conclusion: The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors were high in nurses despite the adequate specialized knowledge about these risk factors

Marshall and Rotterdam Computed Tomography scores in predicting early deaths after brain trauma

Trauma is one of the most important issues of most healthcare systems accompanying with head trauma in the most cases. We sought to determine the scoring system and initial Computed Tomography (CT) findings predicting the death at hospital discharge (early death) in patients with traumatic brain injury based on Marshall and Rotterdam CT scores. This is a cross sectional study on traumatic neurosurgical patients with mild-to-severe traumatic brain injury admitted to the emergency department of Emam Reza Hospital, Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Patients≥18 years old with TBI during last 24 hours with GCS≤13 were included and exclusion criteria were multiple trauma, penetrating injuries, previous history of anticoagulant therapy, pregnancy, not willingness for participation. Their initial CT and status at hospital discharge, one and three months (dead or alive) were reviewed, and both CT scores were calculated. We examined whether each score is related to death using SPSS11 by The Mann–Whitney U at the level of p≤0.05. Overall, 98 patients were included. Mean age was 43.52±21.29. Most patients were male (63.3%). Mean Marshall and Rotterdam CT scores were 3.2±1.3 and 2.5±1. The mortality at two weeks, one moth and three months were 19.4%, 20.4%, and 20.4%. Rotterdam CT score was significantly different based on type of hematoma. Median GCS score in alive and dead patients on 2 weeks were 10 and 4 (p=0.0001), at one month were 10 and 4 (p=0.0001), and at three months were 10 and 4 (p=0.0001). The median Marshall CT score on 2 weeks were 2 and 4 (p=0.0001), at one month were 2 and 4 (p=0.0001), and at three months were 2 and 4 (p=0.0001). The median Rotterdam CT score on 2 weeks were 2 and 4 (p=0.0001), at one month were 2 and 3 (p=0.001), and at three months were 2 and 3 (p=0.001). The Rotterdam CT score was significantly correlated with mortality at two weeks, one month and three months (p=0.004, p=0.001, and p=0.001, respectively). The Marshall CT score was not significantly correlated with mortality at any time. The Rotterdam CT score was more accurate for prediction of mortality on 2 weeks (ROC80.9), at one month (ROC80.7), and at three months were (ROC80.7) than The Rotterdam CT score (ROC 76, 74.1, and 74.1, respectively). This study concluded that The Marshall CT score was more accurate for prediction of mortality on 2 weeks, at one month, and at three months were than The Marshall CT score with higher ROC. The correlation of the Rotterdam CT score with mortality was significant

Predicting Factors of Common Bile Duct Diameter in South Khorasan; Addiction as a Public Dilemma

Introduction: Given the importance of identifying common bile duct diameter in diseases diagnoses and being different in different races, this paper aimed to investigate the relationship between the diameter of the common bile duct and demographic factors and drug addiction in patients who referred to the imaging department of Imam Reza hospital in Birjand during the year 1391-1392. Methods: This cross-sectional-analytical study was conducted on patients referred to the Imam Reza Hospital, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, during the year 91-1392. The study population consisted of patients with complaints other than the complaints associated with disorders of the liver and bile duct. Information about sex, drug use, BMI, age and duct diameter in proximal, middle and distal parts were recorded by the checklist. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 11.0 and the mean values, frequency of tests, Mann-Whitney and the Kruskal-Wallis tests. And values of p <0.05 were considered significant. Results: A total of 315 subjects participated in the study. One hundred and sixty-two participants (51/4 percent) were female and the mean age of participants was 6/15±18/38. The mean diameter of the common bile duct in three proximal, middle and distal parts were determined as 4/2±1/5 mm, 4/2±6/5  mm and 4/2±9/5 mm. The results showed a significant relationship between bile duct diameter with age, gender, body mass index and addiction. (p<05/0). Discussion: According to these results, in the case of dilated common bile duct in sonographic imaging and considering the age, gender, body mass index status and the addiction; findings need to be adapted to his clinical status

Persistence of immunity to hepatitis B vaccine as infants, 17 years earlier

Background: In Iran since 1992, hepatitis B vaccination was a part of the national vaccination program. Hepatitis B vaccination is effective in the epidemiology of hepatitis B. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long – term persistence of immunity. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on children and adolescents aged between 6-18 years in Birjand, who received a three – dose hepatitis B vaccination in accordance with the national immunization program. No students were infected with hepatitis B. Antibody titer higher than10 IU/L was considered positive. Results: A total of 530 patients (307 boys and 223 girls) were recruited for the study of which 44% had positive antibody titer (≥10 IU / L). The geometric concentration mean (GMCs) of antibody in subjects was 64.9±34.2, HBS antibody titer was positive in 40.4% of the boys and 59.6% of the girls. A significant difference in antibody titers was observed in terms of gender and according to the time elapsed since the last vaccination. Antibody titer in children older than 13 years had passed since their last vaccination and was significantly less than those children younger than thirteen years old had passed since their vaccination logistic regression analysis showed that the only predictive factor of anti-HBS low titer (<10 IU/L) is elapsed time of vaccination. Conclusions: Based on results of this study, hepatitis B vaccine has created a good level of protection in 44% of the adolescents after 17 years

Benefit of magnesium-25 carrying porphyrin-fullerene nanoparticles in experimental diabetic neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is a debilitating disorder occurring in most diabetic patients without a viable treatment yet. The present work examined the protective effect of 25Mg-PMC16 nanoparticle (porphyrin adducts of cyclohexil fullerene-C60) in a rat model of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced DN. 25Mg-PMC16 (0.5 lethal dose50 [LD50]) was administered intravenously in two consecutive days before intraperitoneal injection of STZ (45 mg/kg). 24Mg-PMC16 and MgCl2 were used as controls. Blood 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG), oxidative stress biomarkers, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) level in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were determined as biomarkers of DN. Results indicated that 2,3-DPG and ATP decreased whereas oxidative stress increased by induction of DN which all were improved in 25Mg-PMC16-treated animals. No significant changes were observed by administration of 24Mg-PMC16 or MgCl2 in DN rats. It is concluded that in DN, oxidative stress initiates injuries to DRG neurons that finally results in death of neurons whereas administration of 25Mg-PMC16 by release of Mg and increasing ATP acts protectively