The Effect of Food Guide Pyramid Education on the Knowledge of 5 to 6 Year Old Pre-School Children in one of the Districts of Shiraz, Iran

Introduction & Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of food guide pyramid education on the knowledge of 5 to 6 year-old children in kindergarten in Shiraz, Iran, using play and show methods. Materials & Methods: 62 children, 5 to 6 years old, were selected from one of the districts of Shiraz pre-schools by random cluster sampling. Subjects were divided into two groups. One group was educated by show and the other group by play and drawings. However, in both groups, they were educated using the same subjects about the food guide pyramid. The results were recorded by some tests before and after the intervention and were analyzed by the SPSS software using two sample t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: In both groups, after being taught about food guide pyramids, their knowledge about the number of food groups and recognizing them were improved (P<0.001). In both groups, their knowledge about the priority of any good and bad snack improved after the intervention, but this increase was significant only in the drawing and playing group (P<0.05). Conclusion: In a happy environment, children can gain good capacities for nutrition education and also playing and drawing can provide good interactions. Therefore, this method can be a useful choice for informing the children

Factors associated with treatment failure in patients with Tuberculosis in Khuzestan province during 2006-2014

Background & aim: Tuberculosis is one of the oldest human diseases which still causes millions of deaths and impairments in human population. Treatment failure is one of the most important indices in evaluation of tuberculosis control and treatment programs. This study is done to find related factors to tuberculosis treatment failure in Khoozestan province from 2005 to 2012. Methods: This is a historical cohort study on all tuberculosis cases registered from 2005- 2012. Data on demographic and clinical status of the patients was collected, checked and prepared for analysis. Logistic regression was used to analysis the data. Results:Being older (p=0.03), heavier (p=0.01), and being male (p=0.03) came with higher risk of treatment failure. Also misdiagnosis of the disease and delay in starting treatment were significantly associated with treatment failure (p=03). Conclusion: Faster and better diagnosis is the most effective factors to prevent failure in treatment of tuberculosis

Spatial distribution of cancer in Kohgilooyeh and Boyerahmad province

Spatial distribution of cancer is one of the powerful tools in epidemiology of cancer. The present study is designed to understand the geographical distribution of most frequent types of cancer in K&B province. Methods: All registered cases of cancer are reviewed and duplicate cases were removed. The data was analyzed using Arcgis software. Results: Of all registered cases, 1273&nbsp; remained for analysis of which 57% were residences of urban areas. Cities including&nbsp; Sisakht, Yasuj and Dehdsasht were shown to have highest incidence rates among the Urban areas. Dena, Sepidar and Kohmare Khaleghi had the highest rates among the rural areas in the province. Skin cancer was the most common type of cancer which had the highest rates of incidence in Sisakht and Dehdasht and Dena and Sepidar among urban and rural areas respectively. Conclusion: The distribution of cancer was not even in the province. Attitude and consumption of wild and regional plants are introduced as the potential risk factors for such a spatial distribution of the common cancers I the province. The results of this study could be used for further analytical studies to understand the regional etiology of cancer in the province

Soluble CD70: a novel immunotherapeutic agent for experimental glioblastoma

Object Given the overall poor outcome with current treatment strategies in malignant gliomas, immunotherapy has been considered a promising experimental approach to glioblastoma for more than 2 decades. A cell surface molecule, CD70, may induce potent antitumor immune responses via activation of the costimulatory receptor CD27 expressed on immune effector cells. There is evidence that a soluble form of CD70 (sCD70) may exhibit biological activity, too. A soluble costimulatory ligand is attractive because it may facilitate immune activation and may achieve a superior tissue distribution. Methods To test the antiglioma effect of sCD70, the authors genetically modified SMA-560 mouse glioma cells to secrete the extracellular domain of CD70. They assessed the immunogenicity of the transfected cells in cocultures with immune effector cells by the determination of immune cell proliferation and the release of interferon-gamma. Syngeneic VM/Dk mice were implanted orthotopically with control or sCD70-releasing glioma cells to determine a survival benefit mediated by sCD70. Depletion studies were performed to identify the cellular mediators of prolonged survival of sCD70-releasing glioma-bearing mice. Results The authors found that ectopic expression of sCD70 enhanced the proliferation and interferon-gamma release of syngeneic splenocytes in vitro. More importantly, sCD70 prolonged the survival of syngeneic VM/Dk mice bearing intracranial SMA-560 gliomas. The survival rate at 60 days increased from 5 to 45%. Antibody-mediated depletion of CD8-positive T cells abrogates the survival advantage conferred by sCD70. Conclusions These data suggest that sCD70 is a potent stimulator of antiglioma immune responses that depend critically on CD8-positive T cells. Soluble CD70 could be a powerful adjuvant for future immunotherapy trials for glioblastoma