Goiter frequency is more strongly associated with gastric adenocarcinoma than urine iodine level

Purpose: We designed our study to evaluate the hypothesis that gastric cancer is correlated with iodine deficiency or thyroid dysfunction. Materials and Methods: We investigated the total body iodine reserve, thyroid function status and autoimmune disorder in 40 recently diagnosed gastric adenocarcinoma cases versus 80 healthy controls. The participants came from a region with high gastric cancer rate but sufficient iodine supply due to salt iodination. The investigation included urine iodine level, thyroid gland clinical and ultrasonograph-ic examination, and thyroid function tests. Results: Goiter was detected more frequently in the case group (P=0.001); such a finding, however, was not true for lower than normal urine iodine levels. The free T3 mean level was significantly lower in the case group compared to the control group (P=0.005). Conclusions: The higher prevalence of goiter rather than low levels of urinary iodine in gastric adenocarcinoma cases suggests that goi-ter, perhaps due to protracted but currently adjusted iodine deficiency, is more likely to be associated with gastric adenocarcinoma com-pared to the existing iodine deficiency itself. © 2013 by The Korean Gastric Cancer Association

Elasto-Plastic Stress Analysis in Rotating Disks and Pressure Vessels Made of Functionally Graded Materials

Abstract A new elastio-plastic stress solution in axisymmetric problems (rotating disk, cylindrical and spherical vessel) is presented. The rotating disk (cylindrical and spherical vessel) was made of a ceramic/metal functionally graded material, i.e. a particle-reinforced composite. It was assumed that the material's plastic deformation follows an isotropic strain-hardening rule based on the von-Mises yield criterion. The mechanical properties of the graded material were modeled by the modified rule of mixtures. By assuming small strains, Hencky's stress-strain relation was used to obtain the governing differential equations for the plastic region. A numerical method for solving those differential equations was then proposed that enabled the prediction of stress state within the structure. Selected finite element results were also presented to establish supporting evidence for the validation of the proposed approach

β-Thalassemia : new therapeutic modalities, genetics, complications, and quality of life

Retinoic acid (RA) is a positive regulator of P19 cell differentiation. Silencing of pre-B cell leukemia transcription factors (PBXs) expression in P19 cells (AS cells) results in a failure of these cells to differentiate to endodermal cells upon RA treatment. Chicken Ovalbumin Upstream Promoter Transcription Factor I (COUP-TFI) is an orphan member of the steroid-thyroid hormone superfamily. RA treatment of wild type P19 cells results in a dramatic increase in the expression of COUP-TFI; however, COUP-TFI mRNA levels fail to be elevated upon RA treatment of AS cells indicating that PBX expression is required for elevation in COUP-TFI expression. To study the role of COUP-TFI during RA-dependent differentiation of P19 cells, AS cells that inducibly express various levels of COUP-TFI were prepared. Exogenous expression of COUP-TFI in AS cells, in a dose-dependent fashion, leads to growth inhibition, modest cell cycle disruption, and early apoptosis. Furthermore, AS cells can overcome the blockage in RA-dependent differentiation to endodermal cells when either pharmacological levels of COUP-TFI are expressed or a combination of both the expression of physiological levels of COUP-TFI and RA treatment. Additionally, the mRNA level of several pluripotency associated genes including OCT-4, DAX-1, and SF-1 in the COUP-TFI expressing AS cells are reduced. Moreover, analysis of the expression of primary RA response genes indicates that COUP-TFI is involved in the regulatory modulation of the expression of at least two genes, CYP26A1 and HoxA1. These studies demonstrate that COUP-TFI functions as a physiologically relevant regulator during RA-mediated endodermal differentiation of P19 cells

An assessment the effect of Fructo-oligosaccharide on growth performance, survival and hematological factors in sturgeon juvenile (Acipenser sttellatus)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of Fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) on growth and survival performances of sturgeon juvenile fish (Acipenser stellatus). 90 sturgeon fry fishes (average weight 30.16±0/14 gram) has been brought from Sturgeon International, Research Institute and stored in fiberglass tanks using randomize design with 3 treatments each with 3 replicates in relative constant physico-chemical water parameters(P>0.05) then fed with basal adaptive food for two weeks. Fry fed 11 weeks with diets containing 0% (Basal food), 1% and 2% oligofructose (Raftilose p95, Sigma Co.) added to the basal food. The results revealed that 1% pribiotic compare to other treatments caused increasing weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion, feed efficiency, protein efficiency ratio and liver indices significantly (p 0.05). At the end of experiment, after bleeding from sample fries, the hematological characters showed that there are no any differences between hemoglobin, WBC and RBC numbers, hematocrit, MCV, MCH and MCHC between treatments(P>0.05) although the number of WBC in 1% and numbers of neutrophils in 1 and 2% prebiotic had differences with zero% significantly (P< 0.05). Based on these results good influence on the improving growth and feeding performances by oligofroctose as prebiotic was proved in Acipenser stellatus fries and 1% level was the best

The Effect of Educating the Use of Developmental Positions of Premature Infants on the Clinical Performance of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurses

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: One of the early interventions in neurodevelopmental disorders in neonatal intensive care units is providing proper conditions for infants. Premature infants have lost their last three months of life in the uterus, and as a result, have not reached a collapsed status, which is a developmental position that indicates brain growth in the infant. Considering the importance of the neonatal position in developmental positions and achievement of better neural evolution, this study was conducted to implement educational intervention to improve the performance of nurses in order to properly implement the developmental positions of premature infants in neonatal intensive care unit. METHODS: This interventional study was carried out among 85 neonatal intensive care unit nurses in Shahid Akbar-Abadi and Ali Asghar Hospitals in Tehran in three stages. First, the nurses' performance was evaluated regarding the supportive developmental positions of the premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit through a neonatal assessment tool (IPAT with a maximum score of 12 and a minimum score of 3). Then, nurses were educated by slides and face to face and the performance of nurses was evaluated and compared after the first week after training and two months after the training. FINDINGS: Demographic data showed that the education level of most nurses (98.8%) was bachelor's degree and most nurses (48.2%) were older than 30 years of age. The highest work experience of nurses (42.4%) was in the range of 5–10 years. In addition, the nurses' performance score regarding the supportive developmental position of premature infants in the pre-training stage (5.84±0.03), the first week after training (8.35±1.42) and two months after training (8.71±1.16) had a significant difference (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this research, educating the use of developmental positions of premature infants has positive effects on the clinical performance of neonatal intensive care unit nurses

Combination adjunctive nebulized furosemide and salbutamol versus single agent therapy in COPD patients: A randomized controlled trial

Background: COPD patients often require multiple therapies to enhance their lung function and reduce their symptoms in exacerbations. This study aimed to investigate the relative effects of combination adjunctive nebulized furosemide and salbutamol therapy versus single agent treatment in COPD patients. Methods: Sixty-nine COPD patients were randomly divided into two groups. The first group (G1, 34 cases) received salbutamol in their first episode. The second group (G2, 35 cases) received furosemide in their first episode. Spirometry indices (FEV1, FVC, and FEV1/FVC), mMRC and BORG (COPD assessment) were assessed and recorded for all patients. To study the efficacy of combination adjunctive therapy, in 2nd episodes, the nebulized furosemide was added to nebulized salbutamol in the G1, and nebulized salbutamol was added to nebulized furosemide in G2. The aforementioned indices were then re-assessed. Results: The mean age was (64.92 ± 11.71 years, 55 males. The use of nebulized furosemide and salbutamol as single agents slightly improved the spirometeric parameters, but it was not noteworthy compared to the significant improvement of the FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, mMRC, and Borg parameters with combination therapy (p-value 0.1), so furosemide is considered as effective as nebulized salbutamol. Also, the results of sequential drugs administration, in the two groups was similar. Conclusion: Conjunction of nebulized furosemide and salbutamol is more effective than single therapy and can be considered as preferred drug regimen without any reported side effect in the treatment of COPD. © 202

Study on feasibility of rearing integrated native fish of Shizotorax zarudnyi with chianies carp on Sistan area

Present study carried out in 6 earthen ponds (3500 m^2 each) at the Zahak fish propagation and cultivation center. In July 2005 ponds were prepared and stocked with 1100 fish specimens with 40 g average weight. Stocking normative in two ponds (1 and 4) were 220 common carp, 110 grass carp, 715 silver carp, and 55 big head specimens. In the next two ponds (5 and 6) common carp reduced to 50% and Shizotorax zarudnyi was replaced. In the rest two ponds (7 and 8) common carp reduced to zero and totally replaced with Shizotorax zarudnyi. Manure and inorganic fertilizer were used during cultivation period. Carp was fed by concentrated food and grass carp was fed by alfalfa. At the end of the cultivation period (16 months) mean weights of common carp, grass carp, silver carp, big head, and Shizotorax zarudnyi reached 1201 g, 1572 g, 313 g, 486 g, 531 g respectively. Mean daily growth were 2.41 g, 3.19 g, 0.56 g, 0.92 g, 1 g respectively. Survival rate during cultivation period were 97.57%, 68.3%, 94%, 85.45%, 46.85% respectively. Biological parameters were recorded once a month. Other chemical and physical parameters such as air and water temperatures, oxygen, pH, twice per day and factors such as nitrite, nitrate, Ammoniac, transparency, salinity and phosphate were measured and recorded once per week. During cultivation period average pH was 7-10.34, water temperature was 0.5-33 °C, transparency was 12-115cm, salinity was 1.1-5 mg/l, oxygen was 2-10 mg/l, nitrite was 0.86-0.16 mg/l, nitrate was 0.06- 2.21 mg/l, and phosphate was 0.1-1.8 mg/l. Average total yields in the ponds 1 and 4 with standard normative for the region were 554, and 623 kg. In the ponds 5 and 6 with 50% Shizotorax zarudnyi were 514 and 518 kg, and in the ponds 7 and 8 with total Shizotorax zarudnyi replacement were 533 and 386 kg

Study of diversity & abundance of ichthyoplankton in Sistan & Baluchestan Province (phase: Guatr Creek & Bay)

Identification & determination of abundance Ichthyoplankton in Gouatr (Creek & Estuary) in Chahdahar region was carried out from Octber 2005 to September 2006. Sampling period was seasonal and 6 stations were selected. Sampling stations no. 1, 2 ,4 were located in the sea waters of Creek , no.5 & 6 in Gouatr Estuary and no.3 was near to Bahokalat Estuary. The results of environmental factors measurement were as follaws: Main depth of area: 4m, Salinity: 37.08 (g/l), pH: 8.19, air temperature: 29.8? and water temperature: 27.3?, Clarity: 0.75m Sampling was conducted using single ring Bongo-net with 333µ of mesh size. Totally, 585 specimens of diverse fish larvae stages were collected in 20 sampling. The dominant families of fish larvae were Gobiidae, Clupeidae and Engraulidae with 86% of total abundance and 11 families of fish larvae were identified. Most of the fish larvae were observed in winter season and some of them such as Clupeidae, Gobiidae, Blennidae Engraulididae and Sillaginidae were found in most season. The stage of the most samples was Preflexion (87%) therefore , the area is a nursery ground. Commercial fish larvae were carangidea, Sparidae, Clupeidae, Sillaginidae, Hemiramphidae, Engraulidae and Nemeptridae but they were only 37% from total abundance. The main diversity was 0. 6236. There is no correlation between abundance, temperature and salinity. The results showed a significant different between abundance from pre monsoon and post monsoon but no significant different between diversity in pre monsoon and post monsoon