Investigating Chronotype Orientation on Daily and Weekly Rhythm Fluctuations in Preschoolers Working Memory Performance

Background: Chronopsychology researches claim that cognitive processes performance during learning in the educational environment in times of the day and days of the week fluctuate, and working memory is essential among these cognitive processes. The research aimed to study the rhythm of daily and weekly working memory performance of preschoolers based on their chronotype (morningness and eveningness) orientation.Methods: The research method is causal-comparative. The participants are 100 preschool children in Tehran that were selected based on purposive sampling. Their working memory was tested at different time intervals of (8, 11, 13, and 15) and weekly (Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). Saturday also considered as the first day of the week. Data collection instrument were children morningness-eveningness preference (CMEP) in the form of questionnaire and working memory test. Data analysis based on a mixed analysis of variance.Results: The results showed that preschoolers working memory performance during different days of the week and time of day was different (P < 0.01). There was a significant difference between children in different groups regarding memory at different hours of the day, but on different days of the week, there was no significant difference in memory performance (P < 0.01).Conclusion: According to the findings, teachers and clinicians are suggested to consider the importance of circadian rhythm parameters in assessing cognitive function in patients and healthy people. Awareness of individual differences of the morningness-eveningness type can be very effective in designing training programs and preventive health associated matters with each type

Predicting Difficult Laryngoscopy and Intubation With Laryngoscopic Exam Test: A New Method.

Airway assessment is fundamental skill for anesthesiologists and failure to maintain a patient's airway is the tremendous cause of anesthesia-related morbidity and mortality. None of the tests which have recommended for predicting difficult intubation stands out to be the best clinical test or have high diagnostic accuracy. Our study aimed to determine the utility of a new test as "laryngoscopic exam test (LET)" in predicting difficult intubation. Three hundred and eleven patients aged 16-60 years participated and completed the study. Airway assessment was carried out with modified Mallampati test, upper lip bit test and LET preoperatively, and Cormack and Lehane's grading of laryngoscopy were assessed during intubation as a gold standard, and difficult laryngoscopy was considered as Cormack and Lehane's grade ΙΙΙ or ΙV of laryngoscopic view. The incidence of difficult intubation was 6.1%. The LET showed higher sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy (P<0.05), without revealing significant differences among three tests (P=0.375). The LET is a simple bedside test and an alternative method for predicting difficult intubation

EFFECT OF WATER-SUPERABSORBENT AND DROUGHT ON SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH IN SOME WARM SEASON PLANTS

Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses in Iran’s agriculture and annually causes many damages to plant productions. This study was designed to determine effect of water-superabsorbent polymer and drought on seedling establishment and growth in some warm season plants (foxtail millet, dill and fenugreek). This experiment was conducted as a pot experiment at Campus of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Razi University. In the pot experiment, effect of water-superabsornbent polymer (0, 0.02, 0.04 and 0.08 grams per kilogram of soil) and drought (favorable and long-term irrigation) on warm season plants were investigated. Results showed that by increasing water-superabsorbent polymer application, seedling fresh weight, seedling dry weight, seedling height, emergence percentage and rate were increased. Drought reduced mentioned traits, but water-superabsorbent was able to reduce drought negative effects partially. Regarding results, for high emergence in foxtail millet, fenugreek and dill, application of 0.08 g of superabsorbent per kilogram of soil is usefull, especially under drought condition

An EGFR Targeted PET Imaging Probe for the Detection of Colonic Adenocarcinomas in the Setting of Colitis

Colorectal cancer is a serious complication associated with inflammatory bowel disease, often indistinguishable by screening with conventional FDG PET probes. We have developed an alternative EGFR-targeted PET imaging probe that may be used to overcome this difficulty, and successfully assessed its utility for neoplastic lesion detection in preclinical models. Cetuximab F(ab′)2 fragments were enzymatically generated, purified, and DOTA-conjugated. Radiolabeling was performed with 67Ga for cell based studies and 64Cu for in vivo imaging. Competitive binding studies were performed on CT26 cells to assess affinity (KD) and receptors per cell (Bmax). In vivo imaging using the EGFR targeted PET probe and 18F FDG was performed on CT26 tumor bearing mice in both control and dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) induced colitis settings. Spontaneous adenomas in genetically engineered mouse (GEM) models of colon cancer were additionally imaged. The EGFR imaging agent was generated with high purity (> 98%), with a labeling efficiency of 60 ± 5% and ≥99% radiochemical purity. The KD was 6.6 ± 0.7 nM and the Bmax for CT26 cells was 3.3 ± 0.1 × 106 receptors/cell. Target to background ratios (TBR) for CT26 tumors compared to colonic uptake demonstrated high values for both 18F-FDG (3.95 ± 0.13) and the developed 64Cu-DOTA-cetuximab-F(ab′)2 probe (4.42 ± 0.11) in control mice. The TBR for the EGFR targeted probe remained high (3.78 ± 0.06) in the setting of colitis, while for 18F FDG, this was markedly reduced (1.54 ± 0.08). Assessment of the EGFR targeted probe in the GEM models demonstrated a correlation between radiotracer uptake in spontaneous colonic lesions and the EGFR staining level ex vivo. A clinically translatable PET imaging probe was successfully developed to assess EGFR. The imaging agent can detect colonic tumors with a high TBR for detection of in situ lesions in the setting of colitis, and opens the possibility for a new approach for screening high-risk patients

Further support for the psychometric properties of the Farsi version of Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire

Alexithymia is defined as the lack of words to describe emotions and is associated with different psychopathologies. Various tools have been developed for measuring alexithymia; each has its limitations. A new questionnaire, Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ), was developed to simultaneously assess positive and negative dimensions. Validation of such a tool in different cultures allows cross-cultural health psychology studies and facilitates knowledge transfer in the field. We aimed to examine the psychometric features of the PAQ in the Farsi-speaking population in Iran. Four-hundred-twenty-nine university students were asked to complete the PAQ, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ). Concurrent validity, discriminant validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability and factor structure were investigated. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a five-factor model identical to the original questionnaire. The questionnaire indicated good internal consistency (0.82 &lt; α &lt; 0.94). Test-retest reliability was acceptable for all subscales. The correlations between PAQ and its subscales with BDI-II, BAI, and TAS, and expression suppression subscale of ERQ were strong for concurrent validity. Concerning the discriminant validity, PAQ and its subscales were not correlated with reappraisal subscales of ERQ. The present findings suggest that the Farsi version of PAQ has strong psychometric properties and is appropriate for use in the Farsi-speaking population.</p

Challenges of Nutrition Department in a Selected Teaching Hospital: a qualitative study

Background & Objectives: Department of Nutrition is one of the most important parts of a hospital that has a significant role in patient's satisfaction. Managers' attention to the quality of nutrition services reduces hospital costs. This study was conducted to identify the challenges of the nutrition department of a selected teaching hospital. Methods: The present study was a qualitative study done with phenomenological approach in 2018. Purposeful sampling and snowball sampling were used. Data collection was done through semi-structured interview. Participants were 25 individuals involved in the nutrition department of the selected teaching hospital in Kerman. Finally, data analysis was done using framework analysis. Results: The identified challenges were classified into 7 main codes and 21 sub-codes. Main codes were the contracts and tenders, staff supervision, financing, operational line monitoring, human resources, quality of food and physical space. Conclusion: Paying attention to the hospitals’ nutrition departments is one of the main factors in patients' recovery and an inseparable part of the treatment process. Therefore, hospital managers and policymakers should pay particular attention to this part and to improve the nutrition department status of the hospitals through reviewing and modifying contracts and tenders, staff supervision, financing, queue monitoring and providing sufficient human resources, high quality food and required physical space. Key­words: Nutrition department, Line and staff, Quality, Teaching Hospital ­Citation: Heidari N, Yazdanpanah M, Nekoui Moghadam M, Amiresmaili M, Heidari A, Heidari jamebozorgi M. Challenges of Nutrition Department in a Selected Teaching Hospital: a qualitative study. Journal of Health Based Research 2019; 5(2): 203-14. [In Persian

Imputation in missing not at random SNPs data using EM algorithm

    The relation between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and some diseases has been concerned by many researchers. Also the missing SNPs are quite common in genetic association studies. Hence, this article investigates the relation between existing SNPs in DNMT1 of human chromosome 19 with colorectal cancer. This article aims is to presents an imputation method for missing SNPs not at random. In this case-control study, 100 patients suffering from colorectal cancer consulting with the Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Disease of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences were considered as the case group and 100 other patients consulting with the same research institute were considered as the control group and the genetic test was applied in order to identify the genotype of the 6 SNPs of the DNMT1 of chromosom 19 for all the patients under investigation. The obtained data were analyzed using logistic regression, then a fraction of the data was eliminated both at random and not at random and the imputation was done through the EM algorithm and the logistic regression coefficients variation before and after the imputation was compared. The results of this study implied that in both methods, at random and not at random missing SNPs, the estimation of the logistic regression coefficients after the imputation through EM algorithm has a greater correspondence to the results obtained from the complete data in comparison with the method of eliminating the missing values.

How Preferences of General Medicine Students for Specialty Choice Are Affected? a qualitative study

Background & Objectives: Equal distribution of human resources in health sectors was one of the main aspects of Alma-Ata Declaration (2000). Since physicians are among the skillful human resources in health sector, optimal allocation of medical specialties has been always a challenge for policy makers. Distribution of general medicine physicians and specialties is related to medical students’ preferences for speciality choice. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting preferences in choosing medical specialty. Methods: This was a qualitative study based on the grounded theory. Through apllying snowball sampling, participants were selected from senior medical students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2016/2017and 28 interviews were conducted. Data analysis was done based on thematic analysis and applying MAXQDA18 software. Results: We extracted 4 main themes and 10 subthemes. Main themes included students’ perception of the medical specialties, students’ characteristics, medical specialties’ characteristics, and social conditions. Conclusion: In order to attract medical students to more needed medical specialities and optimal distribution of specialities, policy makers should consider both individual and social determinants of medical specialty choice. Key­words: Preferences, Specialty careers, Primary care specialties, Medical students ­Citation: Heidari M, Keivanara M, Moeeni M. How Preferences of General Medicine Students for Specialty Choice Are Affected? a qualitative study. Journal of Health Based Research 2019; 5(3): 303-18. [In Persian

Pilot Clinical Trial of Indocyanine Green Fluorescence-Augmented Colonoscopy in High Risk Patients

White light colonoscopy is the current gold standard for early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer, but emerging data suggest that this approach is inherently limited. Even the most experienced colonoscopists, under optimal conditions, miss at least 15–25% of adenomas. There is an unmet clinical need for an adjunctive modality to white light colonoscopy with improved lesion detection and characterization. Optical molecular imaging with exogenously administered organic fluorochromes is a burgeoning imaging modality poised to advance the capabilities of colonoscopy. In this proof-of-principle clinical trial, we investigated the ability of a custom-designed fluorescent colonoscope and indocyanine green, a clinically approved fluorescent blood pool imaging agent, to visualize polyps in high risk patients with polyposis syndromes or known distal colonic masses. We demonstrate (1) the successful performance of real-time, wide-field fluorescence endoscopy using off-the-shelf equipment, (2) the ability of this system to identify polyps as small as 1 mm, and (3) the potential for fluorescence imaging signal intensity to differentiate between neoplastic and benign polyps