The Trend of Hydatidosis in Kermanshah Province, Western Iran (1986–2008)

Background: Hydatidosis is the larval stage of the Echinococcus granulosus. This disease is en­demic in Iran. There are many studies about hydatidosis in different regions of the country, but there is not any information about the disease in Kermanshah Province. This article will review all available data about hydatidosis in this province.Methods: Using web based search engines and a survey on medical student's theses, all the informa­tion about hydatid cysts in the province from 1986 -2008 was collected.Results: During these twenty years, at least 482 proven cases of hydatid cyst have been identified in the province. Accordingly, the trend of hydatid cyst operation in the province has been grow­ing and the average annual number of cases has reached 1.41/100,000. Frequency of disease in urban areas was slightly higher than rural areas and the rate of infection in housewives was more than others.Conclusion: Because of the growing trend of hydatid cyst operation in Kermanshah Province, which may be due to many different reasons, this province should be considered as one of the impor­tant endemic regions of hydatidosis in Iran

Approximate solution of the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation for a vector Yukawa potential with arbitrary total angular momenta

The usual approximation scheme is used to study the solution of the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau (DKP) equation for a vector Yukawa potential in the framework of the parametric Nikiforov-Uvarov (NU) method. The approximate energy eigenvalue equation and the corresponding wave function spinor components are calculated for arbitrary total angular momentum in closed form. Further, the approximate energy equation and wave function spinor components are also given for case. A set of parameter values is used to obtain the numerical values for the energy states with various values of quantum levelsComment: 17 pages; Communications in Theoretical Physics (2012). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1205.0938, and with arXiv:quant-ph/0410159 by other author

A semi-relativistic treatment of spinless particles subject to the nuclear Woods-Saxon potential

By applying an appropriate Pekeris approximation to deal with the centrifugal term, we present an approximate systematic solution of the two-body spinless Salpeter (SS) equation with the Woods-Saxon interaction potential for arbitrary -state. The analytical semi-relativistic bound-state energy eigenvalues and the corresponding wave functions are calculated. Two special cases from our solution are studied: the approximated Schr\"odinger-Woods-Saxon problem for arbitrary l -state and the exact s-wave (l=0).Comment: 14 pages; 4 figures, to appear in Chinese Physics C (2012

Cross-Frequency Integration for Consonant and Vowel Identification in Bimodal Hearing

Purpose: Improved speech recognition in binaurally combined acoustic–electric stimulation (otherwise known as bimodal hearing) could arise when listeners integrate speech cues from the acoustic and electric hearing. The aims of this study were (a) to identify speech cues extracted in electric hearing and residual acoustic hearing in the low-frequency region and (b) to investigate cochlear implant (CI) users' ability to integrate speech cues across frequencies. Method: Normal-hearing (NH) and CI subjects participated in consonant and vowel identification tasks. Each subject was tested in 3 listening conditions: CI alone (vocoder speech for NH), hearing aid (HA) alone (low-pass filtered speech for NH), and both. Integration ability for each subject was evaluated using a model of optimal integration—the PreLabeling integration model (Braida, 1991). Results: Only a few CI listeners demonstrated bimodal benefit for phoneme identification in quiet. Speech cues extracted from the CI and the HA were highly redundant for consonants but were complementary for vowels. CI listeners also exhibited reduced integration ability for both consonant and vowel identification compared with their NH counterparts. Conclusion: These findings suggest that reduced bimodal benefits in CI listeners are due to insufficient complementary speech cues across ears, a decrease in integration ability, or both.National Organization for Hearing ResearchNational Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (U.S.) (Grant R03 DC009684-01)National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (U.S.) (Grant R01 DC007152-02

Cochlear implantation in patients with chronic otitis media: 7 years’ experience in Maastricht

The purpose of this paper is to propose management options for cochlear implantation in chronic otitis media (COM) based on our 7-year experience. Thirteen patients with COM who were candidates for cochlear implantation were identified. COM was divided in an inactive and an active form based on clinical and radiological findings. One major complications and one minor complication were identified in the study group. In case of an active infection or in case of a unstable cavity we advise cochlear implantation as a staged procedure. A single stage procedure is recommended in case of patients with COM presenting with a dry perforation or a stable cavity

Asiatic Acid Inhibits Liver Fibrosis by Blocking TGF-beta/Smad Signaling In Vivo and In Vitro

Liver fibrosis is a major cause of liver failure, but treatment remains ineffective. In the present study, we investigated the mechanisms and anti-hepatofibrotic activities of asiatic acid (AA) in a rat model of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and in vitro in TGF-beta1-stimulated rat hepatic stellate cell line (HSC-T6). Treatment with AA significantly attenuated CCl4-induced liver fibrosis and functional impairment in a dosage-dependent manner, including blockade of the activation of HSC as determined by inhibiting de novo alpha smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) and collagen matrix expression, and an increase in ALT and AST (all p<0.01). The hepatoprotective effects of AA on fibrosis were associated with upregulation of hepatic Smad7, an inhibitor of TGF-beta signaling, thereby blocking upregulation of TGF-beta1 and CTGF and the activation of TGF-beta/Smad signaling. The anti-fibrosis activity and mechanisms of AA were further detected in vitro in HSC-T6. Addition of AA significantly induced Smad7 expression by HSC-T6 cells, thereby inhibiting TGF-beta1-induced Smad2/3 activation, myofibroblast transformation, and collagen matrix expression in a dosage-dependent manner. In contrast, knockdown of Smad7 in HSC-T6 cells prevented AA-induced inhibition of HSC-T6 cell activation and fibrosis in response to TGF-beta1, revealing an essential role for Smad7 in AA-induced anti-fibrotic activities during liver fibrosis in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, AA may be a novel therapeutic agent for liver fibrosis. Induction of Smad7-dependent inhibition of TGF-beta/Smad-mediated fibrogenesis may be a central mechanism by which AA protects liver from injury

Exact solution of Schr\"odinger equation with q-deformed quantum potentials using Nikiforov-Uvarov method

In this paper, we present the exact solution of one dimensional Schr\"odinger equation for Wood-Saxon plus Rosen-Morse plus symmetrical double well potential via Nikiforov-Uvarov mathematical method. The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of this potential are obtained. The energy equations and the corresponding wave function for special cases of this potential are briefly discussed. The PT-symmetry and Hermiticity for this potential are also considered.Comment: 8 pages, no figur

Spermidine Promotes Human Hair Growth and Is a Novel Modulator of Human Epithelial Stem Cell Functions

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