The Effect of Education on the Attitude and Child Abuse Behaviors of Mothers with 3-6 Year Old Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial Study

Background: Child abuse is a kind of domestic violence of children under the age of 18 which potentially or actually damages all aspects of their health. This study was conducted to determine the effect of education based on growth and development with home-visiting follow up on the mothers’ attitude and child abuse with 3-6-year-old children. Methods: This controlled trial study was carried out in two rural community health centers in Khorasan Razavi province in Iran, during April 2016 to Jun 2017 on 64 abusive mothers of 3-6-year-old children. The data collection tools included the 32-item adult adolescent parenting inventory (AAPI) and the questionnaire of child abuse. By using multi-stage random sampling, the mothers referring to two health centers were assigned to the experimental (N=32) and control groups (N=32). The intervention group received parenting educational interventions based on child growth and development and after being followed up for eight weeks through home-visits. The data were analyzed in SPSS-16, using descriptive statistics, analytical tests including the Chi-square, independent t-test, and Mc Nemars test. Results: After the intervention, the overall score of parenting attitudes was found to be significantly increased (P<0.001), and the prevalence of most abusive behaviors towards children was significantly reduced (P<0.05) in the intervention group compared to the control group. Conclusion: According to the results, this educational program was found to be significantly more effective in improving parenting attitudes and preventing child abuse compared to routine childcare programs in health centers. Trial Registration Number: IRCT2016052628094N

Renal Amyloidosis Due to Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Occurring in Early Childhood

Renal amyloidosis is a late manifestation of chronic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and usually manifests during the first 10 to 15 years after the onset of JRA. We hereby report a boy with JRA-related renal amyloidosis who presented with nephrotic syndrome in early childhood. Amyloidosis was associated with a 6-year history of juvenile rheumatic arthritis (JRA). Diagnosis of renal amyloidosis was confirmed by the deposition of Congo red positive amyloid fibrils within the glomeruli. Polarized light microscopy showed the classic green birefringence appearance.Key words: Arthritis, Juvenile; Amyloidosis, familial renal; Chil

Application of multi-gene genetic programming to the prognosis prediction of COVID-19 using routine hematological variables

Abstract Identifying patients who may develop severe COVID-19 has been of interest to clinical physicians since it facilitates personalized treatment and optimizes the allocation of medical resources. In this study, multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP), as an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tool, was used to determine the importance of laboratory predictors in the prognosis of COVID-19 patients. The present retrospective study was conducted on 1455 patients with COVID-19 (727 males and 728 females), who were admitted to Allameh Behlool Gonabadi Hospital, Gonabad, Iran in 2020–2021. For each patient, the demographic characteristics, common laboratory tests at the time of admission, duration of hospitalization, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and mortality were collected through the electronic information system of the hospital. Then, the data were normalized and randomly divided into training and test data. Furthermore, mathematical prediction models were developed by MGGP for each gender. Finally, a sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the significance of input parameters on the COVID-19 prognosis. Based on the achieved results, MGGP is able to predict the mortality of COVID-19 patients with an accuracy of 60–92%, the duration of hospital stay with an accuracy of 53–65%, and admission to the ICU with an accuracy of 76–91%, using common hematological tests at the time of admission. Also, sensitivity analysis indicated that blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) play key roles in the prognosis of COVID-19 patients. AI techniques, such as MGGP, can be used in the triage and prognosis prediction of COVID-19 patients. In addition, due to the sensitivity of BUN and AST in the estimation models, further studies on the role of the mentioned parameters in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 are recommended

DRUG-INDUCED EOSINOPHILIA SECONDARY TO THE COTRIMOXAZOLE ADMINISTRATION IN ACUTE BRUCELLOSIS

Peripheral blood eosinophilia is a common finding in the daily clinical practice. Drug-induced eosinophilia is usually benign but sometimes can be accompanied by tissue damage. In most cases, the eosinophilia resolves once the drug is withdrawn. However, the disease in some cases can persist in spite of the drug withdrawal. In this study, a case of drug-induced eosinophilia secondary to the cotrimoxazole intake is presented

Investigating Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Laboratory Findings Related to COVID-19 in Patients Referred to Allameh Bahloul Gonabadi Hospital, Iran

Aims COVID-19 is a viral disease that has plagued all countries as a pandemic. The range of the disease varies from mild and asymptomatic to severe and fatal. Individuals with COVID-19 have several clinical and paraclinical symptoms. In this study, gastrointestinal symptoms and laboratory findings related to the COVID-19 virus were studied in patients referred to Allameh Bahloul Gonabadi Hospital (Gonabad, Iran). Methods & Materials In this descriptive/cross-sectional study, using a simple random sampling method, 235 patients with COVID-19 and gastrointestinal symptoms admitted to Allameh Bahloul Gonabadi Hospital in Gonabad from 2019 to 2021 were selected and examined in terms of gastrointestinal symptoms and laboratory findings due to COVID-19 virus.  Findings The mean age of the patients was 59.62±20.12 years, among which 48.1% were male and 51.9% were female. The most important gastrointestinal symptoms associated with COVID-19 were nausea (45.1%), vomiting (16.6%), anorexia (14.5%), abdominal pain (14.0%), and diarrhea (8.9%) respectively. Increase in lactate dehydrogenase (96.6%), aspartate transaminase (75.7%), prothrombin time (46.8%), international normalized ratio (42.8%), and decrease in white blood count (25.7%), platelet count (23%), and lymphocytes (68.5%) were the most important laboratory findings of COVID-19 positive patients. Lung involvement (94.7%), weakness and lethargy (87.7%), body aches (83.8%), and shortness of breath (76.6%) were the most common complaints of patients with COVID-19 and 83.8% of patients were C-reactive protein. Conclusion Gastrointestinal signs and symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, and anorexia were common complaints in patients with COVID-19. Some chemical biomarkers, including white blood cell counts, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, partial thromboplastin time, international normalized ratio, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, lactate dehydrogenase, and serum ferritin were altered in patients with COVID-19. An increase or decrease in each of the blood cells, inflammatory factors, and enzymes indicates the involvement and complication of a specific organ or tissue in the body. Lung involvement is the most obvious, which can be seen with a computerized tomography scan