Effect of Elaborative Text Modification on Pre-intermediate Male and Female EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension

The current study was carried out to investigate whether elaborative text modification improves reading comprehension ability of pre-intermediate male and female EFL learners. To do this, 60 pre-intermediate learners were chosen based on their performance on a standard version of Longman's New Opportunities Placement Test. The participants also received a piloted version of a researcher-made reading comprehension test as the pretest to ascertain their homogeneity. The participants were then divided into two equal groups to represent the experimental and the control groups. Each group was further subdivided into male and female groups. Five reading passages in two formats (unmodified and elaborated) were administered to the participants in five weeks which was followed by a posttest. The experimental group received the elaborated texts, while the control group received the unmodified baseline texts. The results of a Two-way ANOVA indicated no significant effect for gender but there was a significant difference between the experimental and the control groups' reading comprehension. Findings of the study suggest that elaborative text modification can be a worthy option in EFL reading classes

Downregulation of Autophagy-related Genes in Macrophages from Patients with Behcet's Disease

Objective: Overwhelming inflammatory chemokines and cytokines characterize the immunological profile and inflammatory settings of Behcet disease (BD). The connection between autophagy-related genes (ATGs) and various perspectives of innate and adaptive immunobiology such as antigen presentation, immune tolerance, lymphocyte development and differentiation, cytokine signaling, and inflammation have been implicated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mRNA expression profile of ATGs in macrophages of patients with BD. Materials and Methods: Whole blood samples were obtained from 10 BD patients and 10 healthy controls. Monocytes were isolated from the blood samples and then differentiated to macrophages using macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). After total RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, quantitative analysis of ATGs including ATG5, ATG7, ATG12, LC3b, mTOR, RAPTOR, and RICTOR was conducted by SYBR Green master mix and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: mRNA expression of all ATGs was downregulated in macrophages of BD patients compared with healthy controls. It is worth to note that the downregulation of ATG12 and LC3b mRNAs in macrophages of BD patients was statistically significant in comparison to that of healthy control group (P = 0.007 and 0.021, respectively). Conclusion: Considering the role of autophagy in initiation of immune responses and then clearance of dead cells as well as its participation in the development and differentiation of immune cells, downregulation of ATGs in macrophages of BD patients may be involved in uncontrolled immune response and overproduction of inflammatory cytokines

Clinical, epidemiological, and mycological features of patients with candidemia: Experience in two tertiary referral centers in Iran

Background and purpose: Candidemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy and those hospitalized with serious underlying diseases. Here, we investigated the epidemiological, clinical, and mycological features of candidemia in Tehran, Iran. Materials and methods: A prospective observational study of all patients diagnosed with candidemia was performed at two referral teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran, from February to December 2018. Demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, risk factors, clinical symptoms, and laboratory analyses of candidemic patients with positive culture were mined. Candida isolates were molecularly identified by sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2). The antifungal susceptibility testing for fluconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, posaconazole, amphotericin B, caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin against the isolates was performed using CLSI broth microdilution reference method (M27-A3). Results: A total of 89 episodes were identified, with an incidence of 2.1 episodes/1000 admissions. The common underling disease were malignancy (46%), renal failure/dialysis (44%), and hypertension (40%). The overall crude mortality was 47%. C. albicans (44%) was the most frequent causative agent, followed by C. glabrata (21%), C. parapsilosis complex (15%), C. tropicalis (11%), and C. lusitaniae (3.5%). All the isolates were susceptible to amphotericin B. The activity of all four azoles was low against non-albicans Candida species, especially C. tropicalis. Conclusion: The increase in non-albicans Candida species with reduced susceptibility to antifungal drugs might be alarming in high-risk patients. Therefore, accurate knowledge of predisposing factors and epidemiological patterns in candidemia are effective steps for managing and decreasing the mortality rate in candidemia.This study has been funded and supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (Grant no. 99-2-99-48944).S

Molecular Identification and Phylogenetic Classification of Leishmania spp. Isolated from Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Iran: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: In Iran, both forms of cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL) have been reported; so the accurate species identification of the parasite(s) and the analysis of genetic diversity are necessary. Methods: The smears were collected from lesions samples of 654 patients with CL, who attended local health centers in 12 provinces of Iran during 2013-2015. The smears were checked for the presence of amastigotes by light microscopy. DNA of 648 Leishmania isolates, amplified by targeting a partial sequence of ITS (18S rRNA–ITS1–5.8S rRNA–ITS2) gene. Twenty-five of all the amplicons were sequenced and analyzed with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) using the Taq1 enzyme. Results: All the smears were positive microscopically. The PCR-RFLP analysis revealed that 176 (27%) CL patients were infected with L. tropica and, 478 (73%) with L. major. The dominant species in all over Iran is L. major. The sequencing results of all CL patients and RFLP analysis confirmed each other. Based on our phylogenetic tree, 25 ITS DNA sequences were grouped into two clusters representing L. major and L. tropica species. Phylogenetic tree derived from the ITS sequences supports a clear divergence between L. major from the other species. Conclusion: Discrimination of Iranian Leishmania isolates using ITS gene gives us this opportunity to detect, identify, and construct the phylogenetic relationship of Iranian isolates

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

Sporotrichosis in Iran: A mini review of reported cases in patients suspected to cutaneous leishmaniasis

Sporotrichosis is a chronic subcutaneous fungal infection with global distribution. It is a rare fungal infection with nine reported cases in Iran, including eight humans and one animal, within the past 30 years. Among the human cases, seven were of the fixed cutaneous type of sporotrichosis and one had sporotrichoid lymphocutaneous. The reported patients were within the age range of 23-60 years, and six of them were female. The most frequent sites of infection were forearms and hands, as well as the face and legs. In addition, the majority of the cases had previously been suspected of leishmaniasis and received treatment. Sporotrichosis is not a well-known condition in Iran and is often misdiagnosed and erroneously treated for other cutaneous parasitic or bacterial infections with similar clinical manifestations. Therefore, sporotrichosis should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of nodular-ulcerative skin lesions

Validation of the proposed model of effective classroom management for teenagers with learning disabilities and late learners

Background and Aim: research indicates that learning disorders are highly prevalent and on the other hand, using a defective classroom management approach in the classroom of all age groups has a serious coexistence with other disorders. The aim of this study was to validate the optimal model of an effective classroom management program for teenagers with learning disabilities and late learners. Method: This research had two methods; First, using a survey method to validate the classroom management model, and then using a pseudo-experimental method and a pre-test-post-test design with a control group, the effectiveness of the classroom management model was determined. The statistical population included teachers and teenage students of one district of Urmia city. The analysis method of the first stage was one-sample t-test and the second stage was covariance, which was used with SPSS software. Results: The findings of the first stage showed that the proposed model of classroom management for adolescents with learning disabilities and late learners is valid from the point of view of experts, and the findings of the second stage also showed that the use of the proposed model significantly improves academic performance; test group increased (p≥0.005). Conclusion: Considering the validity of the proposed model from the point of view of experts and also the effectiveness of using this model in classroom management, it is suggested that the proposed model be used in the classroom management of students with learning disabilities