Age-specific serum anti-Müllerian hormone levels: Estimates from a large population-based sample

Objective Despite the wide use of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) measurement as a clinical marker for assessment of ovarian reserve, a population-based estimate for its reference values is not available. In this study, we have estimated age-specific AMH levels in a large sample of fertile women directly selected from a general population cohort. Methods All women who were naturally fertile and aged 18-50 years with regular menstrual cycles were selected from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study cohort and their blood levels of AMH were measured. Centiles for AMH distribution were estimated according to the exponential-normal 3-parameter model. We repeated the analysis after including a subgroup of women aged 40-50 years who met all the eligibility criteria except having entered natural menopause after age 40 years (n = 141). Results A total of 1015 women entered the study. The mean age was 36.7 years (standard deviation 7.5 years) and the mean body mass index was 27.0 kg/m2 (standard deviation 4.6 kg/m2). A non-linear decline of serum AMH concentration with age was observed. Age-specific AMH levels for the 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th percentiles were calculated. Results were reproduced after inclusion of 141 women aged 40-50 years who met all the eligibility criteria except having entered natural menopause after 40 years. Conclusion In this study, we have presented a nomogram of age-specific estimates of anti-Müllerian hormone in a large sample of naturally fertile women within the general population. This could help clinicians in more accurate individual interpretation of serum AMH levels in healthy women. © 2014 International Menopause Society

The relationship between coping styles and psychological adaptation in the recovery process: Patients with coronary heart disease

Background: The relationship between coping styles and psychological adaptation during the recovery process was investigated in a sample of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. Methods: One hundred and fifty patients from Shahid Rajaee Heart Center, Tehran, Iran, were included in this study at intake and forty five patients (27 men, 18 women) participated in the follow-up study. All participants were asked to complete the Tehran Coping Styles Scale (TCSS) and Mental Health Inventory (MHI). The Recovery Process Questionnaire (RPQ) was completed using each patient�s medical file and clinical examinations by cardiologists. Styles of coping with stress were categorized as problem-focused, positive emotional-focused and negative emotional-focused. Psychological adaptation included psychological well-being and psychological distress. Results: Objective recovery status showed no significant correlation with either coping styles or psychological adaptation. Perceived recovery revealed a significant positive association with negative emotional-focused coping (p<0.05), but no significant correlation with other coping and psychological adaptation variables. Perceived recovery revealed a significant negative association with psychological distress (p<0.05), but showed no significant correlation with psychological well-being. Conclusions: Perceived recovery in CHD patients is positively influenced by negative emotional-focused coping styles. Results and implications are discussed specifically in terms of the possible reasons for the positive relationship between perceived recovery and negative emotional-focused coping. © 2008, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Identification of methionine synthase (Sal k 3), as a novel allergen of Salsola kali pollen

Salsola kali pollen is a common cause of pollinosis during summer and early fall in desert and semi-desert regions. The aim of this study was the identification and characterization of Sal k 3, a new allergen from S. kali pollen. S. kali pollen extract was fractionated by SDS-PAGE and the allergenic profile was determined by IgE-immunoblotting using twelve S. kali allergic patients. Protein identification was carried out by the means of mass spectrometry. Using degenerated primers, two DNA fragments encoding N- and C-terminal domain of Sal k 3 were amplified by PCR, then cloned into the PTZ57R/T vector and sequenced. The open reading frame of Sal k 3 fragments were subcloned in the pET-32b(+) vector, expressed in E. coli, and purified by Ni2+ affinity chromatography. The IgE-binding capacity of rSal k 3 fragments was then studied by IgE-immunoblotting, inhibition assays, and skin prick tests. A 45-kDa allergen was identified as a fragment of the cobalamin-independent methionine synthase (MetE) by mass spectrometry and was detected in the sera of 8/12 (66.6) of S. kali allergic patients. Moreover, inhibition assays demonstrated that the purified rSal k 3 fragments were similar to their counterparts in the crude extract. Sal k 3 represents a new allergen of S. kali pollen and seems to be an important allergenic compound in S. kali pollen. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Evolutionary dynamics of group formation

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Group formation is a quite ubiquitous phenomenon across different animal species, whose individuals cluster together forming communities of diverse size. Previous investigations suggest that, in general, this phenomenon might have similar underlying reasons across the interested species, despite genetic and behavioral differences. For instance improving the individual safety (e.g. from predators), and increasing the probability to get food resources. Remarkably, the group size might strongly vary from species to species, e.g. shoals of fishes and herds of lions, and sometimes even within the same species, e.g. tribes and families in human societies. Here we build on previous theories stating that the dynamics of group formation may have evolutionary roots, and we explore this fascinating hypothesis from a purely theoretical perspective, with a model using the framework of Evolutionary Game Theory. In our model we hypothesize that homogeneity constitutes a fundamental ingredient in these dynamics. Accordingly, we study a population that tries to form homogeneous groups, i.e. composed of similar agents. The formation of a group can be interpreted as a strategy. Notably, agents can form a group (receiving a ‘group payoff’), or can act individually (receiving an ‘individual payoff’). The phase diagram of the modeled population shows a sharp transition between the ‘group phase’ and the ‘individual phase’, characterized by a critical ‘individual payoff’. Our results then support the hypothesis that the phenomenon of group formation has evolutionary roots.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events

The $B^0$-$\bar B^0$ oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of 23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives $\Delta m_d = 0.493 \pm 0.012{(stat)}\pm 0.009{(syst)}$ ps$^{-1}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter

The burden of headache disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990-2016: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease study 2016

Objectives: Using the findings of the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD), we report the burden of primary headache disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) from 1990 to 2016. Methods: We modelled headache disorders using DisMod-MR 2.1 Bayesian meta-regression tool to ensure consistency between prevalence, incidence, and remission. Years lived with disability (YLDs) were calculated by multiplying prevalence and disability weight (DW) of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH). We assumed primary headache disorders as non-fatal, so their YLD is equal to disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Results: Migraine and TTH were the second and twentieth leading causes of YLDs in EMR. Between 1990 and 2016, the absolute YLD numbers of migraine and TTH increased from 2.3 million (95 uncertainty interval (UI): 1.5-3.2) to 4.7 million (95UI: 3-6.5) and from 383 thousand (95UI: 240-562) to 816 thousand (95UI: 516-1221), respectively. During the same period, age-standardised YLD rates of migraine and TTH in EMR increased by 0.7 and 2.5, respectively, in comparison to a small decrease in the global rates (0.2 decrease in migraine and TTH). The bulk of burden due to headache occurred in the 30-49 year age group, with a peak at ages 35-44 years. The age-standardised YLD rates of both headache disorders were higher in women with female to male ratio of 1.69 for migraine and 1.38 for TTH. All countries of the EMR except for Somalia and Djibouti had higher age-standardised YLD rates for migraine and TTH in compare to the global rates. Libya and Saudi Arabia had the highest increase in age-standardised YLD rates of migraine and TTH, respectively. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that primary headache disorders are a major and a growing cause of disability in EMR. Since 1990, burden of primary headache disorders has constantly been higher in EMR compared to rest of the world, which indicates that health systems in EMR must focus further on developing and implementing preventive and management strategies to control headache. © 2019 The Author(s)

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

The burden of headache disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990-2016: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease study 2016

Objectives: Using the findings of the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD), we report the burden of primary headache disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) from 1990 to 2016. Methods: We modelled headache disorders using DisMod-MR 2.1 Bayesian meta-regression tool to ensure consistency between prevalence, incidence, and remission. Years lived with disability (YLDs) were calculated by multiplying prevalence and disability weight (DW) of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH). We assumed primary headache disorders as non-fatal, so their YLD is equal to disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). Results: Migraine and TTH were the second and twentieth leading causes of YLDs in EMR. Between 1990 and 2016, the absolute YLD numbers of migraine and TTH increased from 2.3 million (95 uncertainty interval (UI): 1.5-3.2) to 4.7 million (95UI: 3-6.5) and from 383 thousand (95UI: 240-562) to 816 thousand (95UI: 516-1221), respectively. During the same period, age-standardised YLD rates of migraine and TTH in EMR increased by 0.7 and 2.5, respectively, in comparison to a small decrease in the global rates (0.2 decrease in migraine and TTH). The bulk of burden due to headache occurred in the 30-49 year age group, with a peak at ages 35-44 years. The age-standardised YLD rates of both headache disorders were higher in women with female to male ratio of 1.69 for migraine and 1.38 for TTH. All countries of the EMR except for Somalia and Djibouti had higher age-standardised YLD rates for migraine and TTH in compare to the global rates. Libya and Saudi Arabia had the highest increase in age-standardised YLD rates of migraine and TTH, respectively. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that primary headache disorders are a major and a growing cause of disability in EMR. Since 1990, burden of primary headache disorders has constantly been higher in EMR compared to rest of the world, which indicates that health systems in EMR must focus further on developing and implementing preventive and management strategies to control headache. © 2019 The Author(s)

Survey and feasibility study for the introduction of native fish and non- native fish for cage culture in the southern part of Caspian Sea

The aim of this study is the feasibility of introducing suitable species of fish (native and exotic) for rearing in cages in the southern region of the Caspian Sea. This study from the perspective of economic efficiency and maintaining ecology were analyzed. The results showed that the southern Caspian Sea has the ability to aquaculture fish. However, due to the yearly temperature variations of water (from surface to a depth of 50 meters), the talent of aquaculture area is preferred for fish in cold water than warm water fish due to possibility rearing over the years. The survey showed that the current conditions and due to unfavorable changes in the ecology of the area in the last decade, the use of non-native fish culture in cages is not recommended. Many species of native fish are suitable for rearing in cages. Nevertheless, there is no infrastructure suitable for the production of all of them. Therefore, respectively species of Salmo caspius, Huso huso and Common carp of Caspian Sea for cultivation of in cages was suggested. In the current situation, this fish for their ability to grow faster than the need for selectivity. It is noteworthy that detailed environmental assessments and species risk assessments before the final introduction of any fish species (native and exotic) for rearing in cages in the Caspian Sea ecosystem is essential