Association between self-efficacy and quality of life in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy

Background: Self-efficacy is known as a factor which influences health behaviors, chronic diseases management and quality of life in patients with cancer. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of self-efficacy and quality of life in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in 100 women with breast cancer referred to Seyed Al-Shohada Hospital, Isfahan in 2015. The study subjects were selected by simple random sampling method. The measurement tools were the Sherer self-efficacy scale and the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Findings: Mean age was 48.25±11.93 years. The mean self-efficacy score and quality of life score were 55.78± 11 and 75.91±15.28, respectively and both of them were average. There was positive significant correlation between self-efficacy and quality of life. There was also significant association between self-efficacy and quality of life domains including physical health, mental health, social relationships and environment. Conclusion: With regards to the results, it seems that activities such as workshops for patients, presence of a psychologist in department of chemotherapy, and providing health facilities can be effective for increasing self-efficacy and quality of life in patients with cance

Efficient algorithms to identify duplicated genotypes in large datasets

In this paper, we introduced two novel algorithms to identify duplicated genotypes. The runtime of these algorithms was compared with the widely adopted Exhaustive Search algorithm using simulated data. We found that both new algorithms could significantly reduce the execution time. Further, the optimised Matrix Algebra Approach algorithm was faster than the Dis-Similarity lookup table and could improve the performance nearly 34 times compared to Exhaustive Searc

Interaction of palmitic acid with losartan potassium at the binding sites of bovine serum albumin

The binding of losartan potassium, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, to bovine serum albumin was studied by equilibrium dialysis method (ED) in presence or absence of palmitic acid. The study was carried out using ranitidine and diazepam as site-1 and site-2 specific probe, respectively. Different analysis of binding of losartan to bovine serum albumin suggested two sets of association constants: high affinity association constant (k1 = 11.2 x 105 M-1) with low capacity (n1 = 2) and low affinity association (k2 = 2. 63 x 105 M-1) constant with high capacity (n2 = 10) at pH 7.4 and 27°C. During concurrent administration of palmitic acid and losartan potassium in presence or absence of ranitidine or diazepam, it was that found that palmitic acid causes the release of losartan potassium from its binding site on BSA resulting reduced binding of losartan potassium to BSA. The increment in free fraction of losartan potassium was from 13.1% to 47.2 % upon the addition of increased concentration of only palmitic acid at a concentration of 0 x 10-5 M to 16 x 10-5 M. In presence of ranitidine or diazepam as site specific probes, palmitic acid further increases the free fraction of losartan potassium were from 22.8% to 53.4% and 35.3 to 65.5%, respectively. This data provided the evidence of interaction of higher concentration of palmitic acid at the binding sites on BSA changing the pharmacokinetics properties of losartan potassium

Integron-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii Isolated from Intensive Care Unit Patients, Babol, North of Iran

Background. We investigated the integron types and their relation with antibiotic resistance among A. baumannii isolates collected from intensive care unit patients, Babol, north of Iran. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 73 bronchoalveolar lavage samples were obtained from patients in ICU. Susceptibility testing was performed by disk diffusion method. Types of integrons were identified by an integrase gene PCR. Results. In total, 47.9% A. baumannii isolates were recovered from the BAL samples. All isolates were resistant to ceftazidime. 91.4% and 58.3% of isolates were MDR and XDR, respectively. The rate of colistin resistance with the E-test was 5.7%. Molecular analysis of class I, II, and III integrons showed that 25.7%, 88.6%, and 28.6% of the isolates carried the intI, intII, and intIII genes, respectively. Discussion. Our results show that different classes of integrons are commonly spread among A. baumannii strains and these genomic segments can play an important role in the acquisition of MDR and XDR phenotypes. So monitoring drug resistance in A. baumannii isolates with the use of int gene PCR is very important to plan specific infection control measures to prevent the spread of MDR-AB and XDR-AB in Iran’s hospitals

Comparison of loop-mediated isothermal amplification and conventional PCR tests for diagnosis of common Brucella species

Objective: Rapid, reliable, and affordable detection of Brucella species via the molecular methods remains a challenge. In recent years, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a functional nucleic acid amplification technique offering a substitute to polymerase chain reaction (PCR). So, we compared the LAMP assay with the conventional PCR for the identification of common Brucella species in Iran. In this study, LAMP assay was comprehensively evaluated against the common PCR method. A group of specific LAMP primers were used to amplify a highly specific fragment from the sequence of the Brucella abortus, bcsp31 gene. Sensitivity and specificity values of tests were done with a set of 78 (50 Brucella and 28 non-Brucella) strains. Results: A dilution series of B. abortus DNA indicated that the LAMP reaction could reliably detect 10 (fg/µl) DNA target copies per reaction within 36 min, which is 10 times greater than the PCR assay. In summary, we conclude that LAMP assay provide accurate and fast test results to identify of common Brucella species in low-complexity labs, mainly in low and lower middle income countries. © 2020, The Author(s)

Social Models for Dealing with Inequalities

Production of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004This chapter compares social models in Europe and Latin America. The goal is to study the interaction between two institutions: on the one hand, pre-distributive (ex ante) institutions, such as the structure and coverage of collective bargaining and, on the other hand, post-distributive (ex post) institutions, such as unemployment protection and social policy. Pre-distributive institutions are important for correcting inequalities in the labour market, because they introduce guidelines for egalitarian wage structures. Post-distributive institutions help to mitigate inequalities generated in the labour market. The methodology is based on statistical analysis of a series of indicators related to pre and post-distributive policies. The results present three types of model: (1) coordinated economies, typical of neo-corporatist Scandinavian countries; (2) mixed economies, typical of Mediterranean systems, and (3) uncoordinated economies, which equate to liberalism and the Latin American 'structural heterogeneity' model. It is neo-corporatist coordinated economies that generate the most pre and post-distributive equality. In turn, uncoordinated economies, and Latin American ones in particular, generate more inequalities due to highly informal employment and the weakness of their post-distributive institutions

Effect of waste rock inclusions on the seismic stability of an upstream raised tailings impoundment: A numerical investigation

© 2015, National Research Council of Canada. All rights reserved. Over the years, seismic activity has been a relatively common cause of tailings impoundment failure. The flow of liquefied tailings from such ruptures can result in very severe consequences, including loss of life and environmental damage. A co-disposal technique consisting of placing waste rock inclusions in tailings impoundments prior to and during tailings deposition was proposed by the authors. The waste rock is placed to create continuous inclusions within the impoundment, which provide a number of environmental and geotechnical benefits, particularly with respect to seismic stability. The results of numerical simulations previously performed have shown that the UBCSAND model can predict the seismic response of tailings. The UBCSAND constitutive model was used to conduct simulations to evaluate of the use of waste rock inclusions to improve the seismic stability of a tailings impoundment. The evaluation consists of numerical analyses of an actual tailings impoundment as constructed (without inclusions), and then assuming that it was constructed with inclusions, subjected to earthquake loads of various energy contents and with different predominant frequencies. The analyses were conducted in static, seismic, and post-shaking phases. The displacement of the surface of downstream slope of the tailings dyke was recorded during the analyses. The results indicate that the presence of waste rock inclusions can significantly improve the seismic behavior of the impoundment by reducing the displacements of the surface of the downstream slope and the extent of potential failure zones. Also, the results show that in most cases, the influence of a low-frequency earthquake on the displacement of the downstream slope of the tailings dyke is more important than that of a high-frequency earthquake. The performances of the tailings impoundment with different configurations of waste rock inclusions (varying width and center-to-center spacing) were classified based on the average normalized horizontal displacement of the downstream slope (ARx) for a range input ground motions. Charts were then developed to show how ARx is influenced by the total width of inclusions, their spacing, and the input ground motions