Development and Validation of the Alzheimer’s Questionnaire

This series of studies was carried in order to develop and validate the Alzheimer’s Questionnaire (AQ). The underlying rationale for the creation of the AQ was to provide clinicians with a brief and easy-to-use informant-based assessment of symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Initial studies of the AQ found that it has both high sensitivity and high specificity for differentiating individuals with AD and its prodrome, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The AQ’s accuracy in identifying MCI was explored further in an additional study which sought to determine which items on the AQ were best predicted the presence of MCI. Four items were strongly associated with MCI which were: repetition of statements and/or questions [OR = 13.20 (3.02, 57.66)]; trouble knowing the day, date, month, year, and time [OR = 17.97 (2.63, 122.77)]; difficulty managing finances [OR = 11.60 (2.10, 63.99)]; and decreased sense of direction [OR = 5.84(1.09, 31.30)]. Concurrent validity was established through another study which found that the AQ correlated moderately with the MMSE (r = -0.56) and MoCA (r = -0.46) while a strong correlation (r = 0.79) was found with the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-SOB). Additional work found that the AQ correlated well with formal neuropsychological measures of episodic memory and executive function. Longitudinal analyses found that was AQ was a significant predictor of clinically meaningful decline as measured by the changes in CDR Global Score (OR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.32; p<0.001). In addition, AQ identified clinically meaningful change among MCI cases at a greater rate(24%) than the MMSE (17%). This series of studies demonstrates that the AQ is an accurate instrument that correlates well with known measures of MCI and AD

Human Rights in Non-International Armed Conflicts

By analyzing the types of human rights’ violations in non-international armed conflicts, the evolution of human rights and humanitarian law, and the behavior of armed groups, the thesis will develop different ways - inspired by the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross and NGOs - for protecting the civilians’ basic rights in these conflicts. Human rights’ violations and non-international armed conflicts are, to a certain extent, often interdependent. Numerous non-international armed conflicts are born because of human rights’ violations: armed groups and local militias involved in these conflicts were formed in reaction to the violation of the basic rights of local minorities. Once these armed groups were created, initially to protect the oppressed minorities, they often become those who will commit human rights’ violations against the population. In other terms, human rights’ violations and non-international armed conflicts nourish each other. Also, for protecting civilians and providing them humanitarian help, NGOs need to dialogue with armed groups, and, sometimes, even to collaborate with them. But by doing this, they indirectly give a certain legitimacy to armed groups and weaken states’ authority. In the long-term, this can create more conflicts and weaken the rule of law in the country concerned, leading to more human rights’ violations. The thesis’ recommendations will focus on this issue

Meta-analysis of Montreal cognitive assessment diagnostic accuracy in amnestic mild cognitive impairment

BackgroundThe Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is one of the most widely-used cognitive screening instruments and has been translated into several different languages and dialects. Although the original validation study suggested to use a cutoff of ≤26, subsequent studies have shown that lower cutoff values may yield fewer false-positive indications of cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to summarize the diagnostic accuracy and mean difference of the MoCA when comparing cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults to those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI).MethodsPubMed and EMBASE databases were searched from inception to 22 February 2022. Meta-analyses for area under the curve (AUC) and standardized mean difference (SMD) values were performed.ResultsFifty-five observational studies that included 17,343 CU and 8,413 aMCI subjects were selected for inclusion. Thirty-nine studies were used in the AUC analysis while 44 were used in the SMD analysis. The overall AUC value was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.81, 0.87) indicating good diagnostic accuracy and a large effect size was noted for the SMD analysis (Hedge’s g = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.33, 1.64). Both analyses had high levels of between-study heterogeneity. The median cutoff score for identifying aMCI was &lt;24.Discussion and conclusionThe MoCA has good diagnostic accuracy for detecting aMCI across several different languages. The findings of this meta-analysis also support the use of 24 as the optimal cutoff when the MoCA is used to screen for suspected cognitive impairment

Association between splenectomy and pulmonary hypertension in patients with major beta- thalassemia

Background and purpose: Increased pressure in the pulmonary circulation is of the major factors causing cardiac disorders in patients with thalassemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between splenectomy and pulmonary arterial pressure in individuals with beta- thalassemia major. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in patients with beta-thalassemia attending Hajar Hospital Shahrekord, Iran, 2015. All patients underwent echocardiography and the hemoglobin levels, platelet count, ferritin, pressure, pulmonary arterial pressure, etc. were measured. Data analysis was done in Stata 13. Results: Among the variables measured, the average age, hemoglobin level, platelet count, nucleated RBC, lactate dehydrogenase, tricuspid regurgitation flow, pulmonary arterial pressure, right diameter, main pulmonary diameter, left ventricular end diastolic diameter, left ventricular end systolic diameter were found to be higher in patients with splenectomy, compared to those of the patients without splenectomy (P> 0.05). Significant correlation was observed between platelets, NRBC and the time of splenectomy with pulmonary artery pressure (P 0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that splenectomy could increase the susceptibility to pulmonary artery pressure in patients with beta thalassemia major or lead to the progression of pulmonary hypertension in this disease

Echocardiographic versus fick method for determination of cardiac output in children with various congenital heart disease

برون ده قلبی مهم ترین شاخص عملکرد قلب می باشد که در نحوه اداره بالینی، اتخاذ شیوه درمان و پیش آگهی بیماران مبتلا به ناهنجاری های مادرزادی قلبی اهمیت بسزائی دارد. هدف کلی این مقاله شامل تعیین و مقایسه برون ده قلبی با دو روش فیک (به عنوان استاندارد طلائی) و اکو- داپلر به منظور معتبرتر نمودن روش اخیر در برآورد برون ده قلبی در کودکان با ناهنجاری های مختلف مادرزادی می باشد. در طول 2 سال، 56 کودک بین 15–3 سال با بیماری های مختلف مادرزادی مورد بررسی قرار گرفتند. برون ده قلبی با روش فیک (در موقع کاتتریزاسیون قلب) و با روش اکو-داپلر محاسبه و سپس اندکس قلبی بر اساس سطح بدن به دست آمد. همبستگـــی بین مقادیر با آزمــــون رگرسیون و مقاسیه میانگیــــن هـــا با آزمون t-paired test انجام گردید و مقادیر کمتر از 05/0 معنی دار در نظر گرفته شد. اندکس قلبی با روش فیک 18/2±18/7 لیتر در دقیقه و با روش اکو94/1±58/7 لیتر در دقیقه محاسبه گردید. ضریب همبستگی بین مقادیر فوق919/0= r با 0001/0P< و 85/.r²= به دست آمد و با این پژوهش به فرمول: (اندکس قلبی با روش اکو) 03/1+63/0-= اندکس قلبی با روش فیک دست یافتیم. اختلاف میانگین برون ده قلبی با دو روش مذکور معنی دار بود (001/0

THE EFFECTS OF ATTENTIONAL FOCUS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF VOLLEYBALL JUMP SERVE IN ELITE PLAYERS

Evidence of the last few years demonstrated that the far external focus of attention would lead to better motor performance (e.g., Mc Nevin., et al, 2003; MacKay and Wulf, 2012). According to the Frequency of Movement Adjustment analysis evidence of “Constrained Action Hypothesis”, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of different attentional focuses on the performance of a manipulative-complex motor skill in highly skillful athletes. 12 professional volleyball players completed a 4 blocks of 8 trail (4 trail for accuracy, 4 trail for effectiveness) of jump serve in four experimental conditions (Non-Instruction, Internal focuses on hand movement, Near external focuses on ball, and Far external focuses on target zone or player). The data of accuracy, effectiveness, and self-perception of the performance was acquired by pointed target areas, analyzing volleyball serve effectiveness method, and self-rated manipulative check, respectively. Results of ANOVA with repeated measures showed that accuracy scores, effectiveness, and self-perceived performance of volleyball jump serve in far external condition was better than near external and internal conditions. In addition, the significant differences between non-instructional and far external conditions were observed only in self-perceived performance. In general, these results confirmed recent findings regarding the detrimental effects of internal focus of attention and the facilitative effects of external focus of attention, especially far external on skilled performance.   Article visualizations

Assessing growth parameters of children with congenital hypothyroidism subject to levothyroxine treatment compared to normal growth parameters in healthy newborns

Background and aims: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the most common treatable physical growth disorders leading to mental retardation. Most cases of this disease can be detected through the neonatal screening program. Given the high prevalence of this disease and the implementation of screening programs in recent years in Iran, this study aimed to assess the growth indices of newborns with CH. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, 66 newborns with CH detected in the screening program in Shahrekord were selected by a census sampling method. Overall, 125 healthy newborns were also selected as controls by the convenience sampling technique according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The height, weight, head circumference, and body mass index (BMI) of the samples were measured and then the mean, median, standard deviation, as well as the 3rd, 15th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 85th, and 97th percentiles in the two groups were determined and compared based on gender and age group. Results: The height, weight, head circumference, and BMI of the boys, in addition to the head circumference and BMI of the girls, were not significantly different from those of the controls (P>0.05). However, the height and weight of the girls were significantly lower compared to those in the control group, although the difference in the weight was corrected at the age of 9 months. Conclusion: In general, the growth indices of newborns with CH were lower than those of the controls. This difference was significant only for the weight and height of girls with CH. Keywords: Congenital hypothyroidism, Growth indices, Newborn Screenin

The relationship between proactive personality and employees’ creativity: the mediating role of intrinsic motivation and creative self-efficacy

Employees’ creativity is one of the most important factors in the success of organizations which has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. Recent research has suggested that proactive personality fosters creativity. However, there is a lack of research into the mechanisms that make this link possible. The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between proactive personality and employee creativity by focusing on the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation and creative self-efficacy. Data from 178 Iranian agriculture experts were collected and analyzed by conducting structural equation modeling. The results indicated that proactive personality was directly and positively related to employees’ creativity. Additionally, the results showed that intrinsic motivation and creative self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between proactive personality and employees’ creativity. The findings not only shed light on mechanisms that underlie in the proactive personality -creativity linkage but they also highlight the importance of intrinsic motivation and creative self-efficacy in the linkage. Together, the study extends the effect of proactive personality on creativity and the mediation mechanisms underlying this relationship. The theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed

Anthropometric indices associated with dyslipidemia in obese children and adolescents: a retrospective study in isfahan

<p class="abstract"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; </strong><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> Central obesity is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Preventive interventions from childhood are necessary due to the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist to height ratio (WSR) are anthropometric indices for measurement of obesity. This study aimed to assess the association between these anthropometric indices and dyslipidemia in obese children and adolescents.</p> <p class="abstract"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; METHODS:</strong><strong> </strong>This retrospective study was done on the records of 2064 obese children and adolescents aged 6-18 years at the obesity clinic, in Isfahan Cardiovascular Research center. Age, gender, weight, height, WC, hip circumference (HC), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), Fasting blood sugar (FBS), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were taken from patients&rsquo; record. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data.</p> <p class="abstract"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; RESULTS:</strong> 2064 girls and boys aged 6-18 years were divided into 3 age groups of 6-9.9 years, 10-13.9 years and 14-18 years. Prevalence of high LDL-C, TC, TG, FBS, SBP, DBP and low HDL-C was higher among the boys compared to the girls. There was a significant association between TC, LDL-C, TG and FBS with BMI, WC, WHR and WSR. However, no significant correlation was seen between HDL-C and the four anthropometric indices.<strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p class="abstract"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; </strong><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> Our study showed a significant correlation between BMI, WC and WSR with high levels of TC, TG and LDL-C in children and adolescents. Correlation between WHR and dyslipidemia in this study was significant but its predictive value was weaker than other three indices.</p> <p class="abstract">&nbsp;</p><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="left"><tbody><tr><td width="35" height="12"><br /></td></tr> <tr><td><br /></td> <td>&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table> &nbsp; <strong>Keywords:</strong> Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference, Waist to Hip Ratio, Waist to Height Ratio, Dyslipidemia, Children, Adolescents