Comparison of knowledge, attitude and practice of Urban and rural households toward iron deficiency anemia in three provinces of Iran

Background: Lack of nutritional knowledge is one of the most important reasons of nutritional problems and consequently improper practice, which can lead to several complications. This study has been designed in order to compare knowledge, attitude and practices of the urban and rural households regarding iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in Boushehr, Golestan and Sistan & Balouchestan provinces in 2004. Methods: The sampling method at household's level in each province was the single-stage cluster sampling with equal size clusters. The necessary data were gathered with a structured questionnaire and via the interviews between the questioners and the eligible people in each household. Comparison of frequency of variables between urban and rural areas were tested by chi square test. Results: A total of 2306 households were selected as overall sample size. In urban areas, people recognized iron food sources better than rural areas. Knowledge level of respondents about vulnerable group for IDA and the favorite attitude of households toward IDA were better in urban areas of Sistan & Blouchestan and Golestan provinces. In Sistan & Balouchestan and Golestan, rural households who drank tea immediately before or after meal was more than urban ones. The majority of pregnant and lactating mothers (except for rural areas of Bushehr) did not take iron supplement regularly. Less than 60 percent of children used iron drop regularly. Conclusion: Knowledge, attitude, and practice levels of households toward IDA were not acceptable. One of the best ways of improving nutritional practice is nutritional education with focus on applying available food resources

Study on Students' Understanding of the Process Mathematical Proof Based on Mejia Ramos et al

Reasoning and proof in mathematics education are important at all educational levels, from school to university. Understanding mathematics without emphasis on reasoning and proving is almost impossible. The purpose of this study was to investigate the university students’ conception of mathematical proof. For this, a survey method was used. The participants of this study were 170 students collected from four universities; Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training, Shahid Beheshti, Science and Technology and Amirkabir University of Technology as available samples. The data collecting Instrument was a questionnaire based on the modified version of Roy and et.al (2010). In this questionnaire a theorem with its proving was presented and then the students were asked to answer the questions about the process of making the mathematical proof. A model was used to evaluate the students’ answers to questions based on Ramos and et.al (2011). It is consists of both global and local aspects. This model investigates seven different levels of understanding of the process of making mathematical proof. The findings of the study showed that most of the students had a local comprehension of the proof. In fact, they understood the relations between the concepts and statements in the proof. But a small percentage of them had a more holistic comprehension of the proof. It seems several factors, including the lack of attention to the assumptions of the  theorem, their inability to provide logical reasoning and rational organization of statements of the proof, and most importantly, the lack of students’ knowledge may be insufficient in this inability

The effects of resveratrol treatment on Bcl-2 and bax gene expression in endometriotic compared with non-endometriotic stromal cells

Background: We aimed to examine resveratrol effects on gene expression of Bcl-2, Bax and Bcl-2/Bax ratio in endometrial stromal cells derived from women with and without endometriosis. Methods: Endometrial tissues were obtained from 40 endometriotic patients and 15 non-endometriotic controls undergoing laparoscopic surgery or hysterectomy in the gynecology ward of Rassoul Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran from 2015 to 2017. After the enzymatic digestion, eutopic (EuESCs) and ectopic (EESCs) endometrial stromal cells from patients with endometriosis as well as endometrial stromal cells from non-endometriotic controls (CESCs) were treated with or without resveratrol (100 µM) and the levels of Bcl-2, Bax and Bcl-2/Bax gene expression ratio in the cells from all origins were examined at 6, 24 and 48 h post-treatment by real-time PCR. Results: Resveratrol treatment increased Bcl-2 expression in CESCs at 24 and 48 h and in EuESCs at 48 h (P<0.05), but had no significant effects on the expression of this gene in EESCs. On the other hand, resveratrol treatment increased Bax expression in EuESCs at 6 h and decreased its expression in EESCs at 48 h (P<0.05). Regarding the Bcl-2/Bax gene expression ratio, resveratrol treatment increased Bcl-2/Bax gene expression ratio in CESCs and EuESCs at 48 h (P<0.01). However, this treatment had no significant differential effect on Bcl-2 and Bcl-2/Bax gene expression ratio between CESCs and EuESCs at 48 h. Conclusion: Resveratrol treatment significantly increased Bcl-2/Bax gene expression ratio in EuESCs and CESCs but had no significant effect in EESCs. © 2020, Iranian Journal of Public Health. All rights reserved

Resveratrol treatment reduces expression of MCP-1, IL-6, IL-8 and RANTES in endometriotic stromal cells

Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease affecting reproductive-aged women. Immunologic disturbance, as well as inflammation, have crucial roles in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. In this study, we evaluated the effects of resveratrol treatment on expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, and regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) in endometrial stromal cells from patients with endometriosis compared with non-endometriotic controls. Thirteen eutopic (EuESCs) and nine ectopic (EESCs) endometrial stromal cells from endometriotic patients as well as eleven endometrial stromal cells from non-endometriotic controls (CESCs) were treated with resveratrol (100 μmol/L) or ethanol, and gene and/or protein expression of MCP-1, IL-6, IL-8 and RANTES was examined at 6, 24 and 48 hours following treatment in the cells from all origins. Resveratrol treatment significantly reduced gene and protein expression of MCP-1, IL-6, and IL-8 in EuESCs and EESCs compared with CESCs (P <.05-.001, P <.05-.001 and P <.05-<.01, respectively), and this reduction was more noticeable in EESCs than EuESCs (P <.05-<.001). Besides, resveratrol treatment significantly reduced RANTES protein expression in EESCs in all time intervals (P <.05). Resveratrol treatment significantly reduced the expression of MCP-1, IL-6, IL-8 and RANTES in EESCs. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Ruminant trans-fatty acids and risk of breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

INTRODUCTION: Ruminant trans-fatty acids, especially cis9, trans11-conjugated linoleic acid (c9, t11-CLA) and trans11-18:1 vaccenic acid (t11-18:1 VA) appear to have anticarcinogenic activity against breast cancer in animal and in vitro experiments. However, the results remain inconsistent. We therefore conducted a systematic review and metaanalysis to assess the association of c9, t11-CLA, and t11-18:1 VA (intake or serum levels) with breast cancer risk. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Relevant studies were identified by a search of PubMed, OVID, SCOPUS and Google scholar databases through 25 May 2015. We included case-control and cohort studies that reported relative risk (RR) estimates with 95 confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between c9, t11-CLA and t11-18:1 VA intake or their serum levels and the risk of breast cancer. This meta-analysis was conducted according to the guidelines for the meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Three studies on c9, t11-CLA and t11-18:1 VA serum levels and t11-18:1 VA intake were evaluated in the systematic review only (narrative synthesis) and four studies (2 case-control and 2 cohort studies on c9, t11-CLA intake) were included in the meta-analysis (quantitative synthesis). The pooled RR for the highest vs lowest category of c9, t11-CLA intake was 0.94 (95 CI: 0.64-1.25) with evidence of heterogeneity (with 67, 533 participants, I2=78.3, P=0.003). Studies that could not be included in the quantitative syntheses were inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: No association was found between c9, t11-CLA intake and breast cancer risk, but the number of studies identified was small. © 2016 Edizioni Minerva Medica

Surveying the amount of junk food consumption in under-3-year-old children of rural and urban areas, 1998

Background: With respect to the lack of sufficient vitamin, calorie, minerals and proteins in junk foods, they have the ability of filling child's stomach and decreasing their appetite, thus, he/she would miss the opportunity of a healthy nutrition. Unfortunately, the nutrition profile of under-3-year-old children is not determined in our country, so the present study was conducted over under-6-year-old children of urban and rural areas in 1998. Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive study. The study population included 16418 under-3-year-old children of urban and rural areas. Nutrition pattern was determined through a questionnaire.Results: 47.1 of urban and 51.2 of rural children aged 6-12 months have used junk foods including coca, sweets, chocolate and so on. For children aged 12-24 months these figures were 90.3 and 87.7, respectively. Main nutrients including meat, egg and dairy were used 3 times a week, however, these junk foods were used 9 times a week.Conclusion: With respect to the known complications of junk food consumption, further studies considering the traditional foods through educational programs should be kept in mind. Needless to say, promoting parents' knowledge could be helpful

The responses of different dosages of egg consumption on blood lipid profile: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Diverse notions exist regarding egg intake, which is one of the main sources of dietary cholesterol, and its effect on blood lipids. We conducted this study to update the previous meta-analysis for their flaw in calculated effect size. PubMed, Scopus, ISI, and Cochrane were searched up to April 2019, for relevant randomized controlled clinical trials. Mean changes in total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C), LDL-C/HDL-C, TC/HDL-C, apolipoprotein (apo)A1, and apoB100 were assessed. Meta-analysis of 66 RCTs with 3,185 participants revealed that egg consumption can significantly increase TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, TC/HDL-C, apoA1/and B100, but there was no significant effect on other serum lipids. Dose-response analysis showed a linear effect for TC, HDL-C, ApoA1, ApoB100, and nonlinear for LDL-C, and TC/HDL-C. In conclusion, intake of more than one egg daily in less than 12 weeks may increase some blood lipids without any changes in the ratio of LDL-C/HDL-C. Practical applications: There are controversies reports for egg intake, which is one of the main sources of dietary cholesterol. This study provides comprehensive information about the effect of the number of eggs consumed per day (dietary cholesterol) on blood lipids for nutritionists, physicians, researchers, and the general population. In this regard, our results indicated that there is a linear correlation between consumption of greater than one egg per day in a short time (no long time) and increasing lipid profiles which may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, consumption of one egg daily can be safe and this can be a useful recommendation for prevention of cardiovascular disease and promotion of healthy life which indeed are the potential or actual uses of this research. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC