Change in bone mineral density in post menopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: Low bone mass is a serious complication of post menopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. We determined the Change in Bone Mineral Density in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was carried out on consecutive postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis who were referred to the Azar 5th teaching hospital affiliated to Golestan University of Medical Sciences, North of Iran in 2009. The required data were gathered from the patients' medical records. The data were analyzed using SPSS software and statistical tests. Results: We studied 98 postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. Mean number of years since menopause and mean duration of disease were 9.39 and 5.13 respectively. T Score mean in femoral neck and lumbar spines was -1.45±1.26 and -2.45±1.44 respectively. The overall prevalence of osteoporosis at both the lumbar spine and femoral neck was 13.3. We have found a significant correlation between age, duration of disease, duration of menopause and bone mineral density (P-Value<0.01). Conlusion: Our results indicate a negative effect of age, number of years since menopause and duration of disease on bone mineral density. So, BMD should be measured in high risk women prior to the implementation of any treatment or prevention program

Survival of Phoma koolunga, a causal agent of ascochyta blight, on field pea stubble or as pseudosclerotia in soil

Phoma koolunga is a recently recognized pathogen in the ascochyta blight complex of field pea (Pisum sativum). Unlike the other three ascochyta blight pathogens, survival of P. koolunga is poorly understood. Survival of this fungus was examined on field pea stubble and as pseudosclerotia on the surface of, and buried in, field soil. Pseudosclerotia were formed in plates containing potato dextrose agar (PDA) mixed with sand or amended with fluorocytocin. After 1 month, P. koolunga was recovered on amended PDA from 93% of stubble sections retrieved from the soil surface, 36% of buried stubble sections and 100% of pseudosclerotia buried in field soil, pasteurized or not. The frequency of recovery of P. koolunga decreased over time and the fungus was not recovered from stubble on the soil surface at 15 months, nor was it recovered from stubble buried in soil at 11 months or later, or from pseudosclerotia buried for 18 months. In a pot bioassay, most ascochyta blight lesions developed on plants inoculated with stubble retrieved from the soil surface after 1 month. Infectivity of the inoculum decreased over time. Disease on plants inoculated with stubble that had been buried or left on the soil surface for up to 6 and 5 months, respectively, and pseudosclerotia retrieved at 14 months and later from field soil did not differ from the non-inoculated control. These results suggest that field pea stubble may play a role in survival of P. koolunga, especially if it remains on the soil surface. In addition, pseudosclerotia were able to persist in soil and infect field pea plants into the next season.M. Khani, J. A. Davidson, M. R. Sosnowski and E. S. Scot

Survival, transmission and control of Phoma koolunga in field pea seed and reaction of field pea genotypes to the pathogen

Little is known about the epidemiology of Phoma koolunga, a component of the ascochyta blight complex of field pea in southern Australia. The aims of this research were to investigate seed infection, efficacy of fungicides as seed dressings and the reaction of current field pea genotypes to this fungus. The frequency of isolation of P. koolunga from individual seed samples from South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia ranged from 0 to 6 %. Disease was transmitted to 98% of seedlings that emerged from artificially inoculated seeds (AIS) in growth room conditions. The necrotic index on seedlings that emerged from AIS at 8°C was greater than that for seedlings at 12, 16 and 20°C. P-Pickel T® and Jockey Stayer® were the most effective fungicides for reducing disease incidence and severity on seedlings emerged from AIS sown in soil and on germination paper, respectively. The response of 12 field pea genotypes to one isolate of P. koolunga was assessed by spraying plants with pycnidiospore suspension in controlled conditions and examining symptoms from 3 to 21 days post-inoculation (dpi). Genotypes Sturt, Morgan and Parafield showed more severe disease on the lowest three leaves than the other genotypes at 21 dpi. In another experiment, four genotypes of short, semi-leafless type field peas were inoculated with three isolates of P. koolunga which differed in virulence and assessed as described above. Kaspa showed significantly less disease than Morgan or WAPEA2211 at 21 dpi when inoculated with two of the three isolates tested. Isolates of P. koolunga differed in aggressiveness based on % leaf area diseased until 14 dpi, but differences were not significant at 21 dpi.M. Khani, J. A. Davidson, M. R. Sosnowski, E. S. Scot

Negative pressure pulmonary oedema: A rare case report of two brothers

Negative Pressure Pulmonary O/Edema (NPPE) is potentially life-threatening and it is a general anaesthesia side effect. We are mentioning a rare case report of two brothers who were referred to our hospital for elective surgeries (varicocele and septoplasty) in a 3 years period. Both of them were athletes and their coagulation factors were disturbed after surgeries. Pulmonary oedema was healed after treating it by reintubation, mechanical ventilation by Positive End-Expiratory Pressure (PEEP), diuretics, morphine, Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) and liquid bounding

Modeling for Weighting the Most Effective Evaluated Criteria of Indigenous Knowledge Using the BWM Method in the Management and Planning of Water Resources in Yazd Province

Proper management and planning of water resources in their operation, distribution, and revitalization play an important role in sustainable development. This issue is of much higher importance in countries located in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world, such as Iran. Because it is inevitable to return and use indigenous technologies and knowledge and update them alongside modern technologies to achieve sustainable development, this research utilizes an extensive study of literature from internal and external sources and exploratory factor analysis to identify and assess the most important criteria or applicable factors of indigenous knowledge relevant to water resources planning and management in Yazd Province. Due to the high importance of the issue, attempts were made to use experienced and relevant faculty members from certain universities, as well as experts and specialists from all relevant organizations in Yazd Province. The results showed that six criteria—protection and stability, integrated management, holistic (comprehensive) approach, cost-effectiveness, compatibility, and dynamism—are found to be more important than others for the area. In the second step of this research, by means of BWM and creating a linear programming model, six principal factors were weighted, and their optimal weights were obtained. The integrated management criterion has the highest weight (0.413), and the holistic approach criterion has the lowest weight (0.048). Moreover, the protection and stability criteria and the cost-effectiveness criteria jointly rank second with a weight of 0.168, and the criteria of compatibility (0.119) and dynamism (0.084), respectively, rank third and fourth

Antimicrobial efficacy of nanosilver, sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine gluconate against Enterococcus faecalis

The purpose of this study was to compare the antibacterial efficacy of nanosilver (NS), chlorhexidine gluconate (CHX) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) against Enterococcus faecalis. Two tests of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and zone of inhibition were carried out using NS, NaOCl and CHX. 70-fold concentration of NaOCl is required for the same antibacterial effect of NS. CHX precipitated in contact with the culture medium and was excluded from MIC test. The means and standard deviations of the zones of inhibition for 5.25% NaOCl, 0.33% NaOCl, 25 μg/ml NS, 50 μg/ml NS, 4000 μg/ml NS and 2% CHX were 12.16 ± 1.46, 6.91 ± 0.66, 10.00 ± 0.42, 12.00 ± 0.60, 13.33 ± 1.23 and 24.80 ± 1.11, respectively. Statistical analysis using ANOVA showed significant differences among groups (p &lt; 0.001). A post hoc Tukey test revealed no significant differences between 5.25% NaOCl and 4000 μg/ml NS (p = 0.057). However, the zones of inhibition for 2% CHX were significantly larger than those seen around the filter papers saturated with undiluted NaOCl and NS (p &lt; 0.001 for both). This study revealed that NS in a remarkably lower concentration would possess the same bactericidal effect as 5.25% NaOCl.Key words: Chlorhexidine gluconate, Enterococcus faecalis, nanosilver, sodium hypochlorite

Changing trends of types of skin cancer in Iran

Background: Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide. It has an increasing trend. This study investigated the epidemiological trend and morphological changes in skin cancer in Iran. Materials and Methods: This study was done using existing data, extracted from the National Cancer Registry System and the Disease Management Center of Iranian Ministry of Health between 2003 and 2008. Data on epidemiologic trend was analyzed using Joinpoint software package. Results: The incidence of skin cancer is increasing in Iran, and more in men than women. There was a declining trend for basal cell carcinoma. Basal squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma had an increasing trend. The increase of skin cancer was related to squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusions: Our findings indicated that the increase of skin cancer was attributed to squamous cell carcinoma. It is necessary to be planning for the control and prevention of this disease as a priority for health policy makers