Using ultrasound as an accurate method of determining bone age: A safe method specially in young athletes

Introduction: Bone age determination is used in situations such a migration and sports. Radiography, MRI and ultrasound are different methods of determining bone age. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound in determining bone age in 14 -18 year olds. Materials and Methods: One hundred male and 100 female students between 14 and 18 years of age were evaluated. The thickness of the epiphysis of the left distal radius in the ventral, dorsal and lateral views, were measured.Results: In the females most of the growth plates were closed and the rest were inconclusive therefore ultrasound cannot be used in females in this age group. In the males, a minimum thickness of 0.7mm in dorsal and 0.8mm in ventral view in 14 and 15 year olds can be used to differentiate them from the 16 and 17 year olds. A maximum thickness of 1.6mm in dorsal and 1.1mm in ventral view can be used to differentiate 16 and 17 year olds from 14 and 15 year olds. Finally a maximum thickness of 0.8mm in the dorsal view can be used to differentiate 17 year olds from 16 year olds and younger. Conclusion: Bone age determination via sonographic evaluation of the distal radius is an easy, fast and radiation free method that if confirmed by future studies can be used to differentiate 15 and younger from 16 and older boys. Ultrasound cannot be used to differentiate 14 to 18 year old girl

New diagnostic criteria for inguinal hernia based on ultrasound examination

Background: According to increasing use of ultrasound in the diagnosis of inguinal herniation, this study was designed to evaluate the cross-sectional area of the inguinal canal in patients with inguinal herniation and its increase with Valsalva maneuver. We also compared the obtained values with those of normal population. Methods: a cross-sectional study, 52 normal persons and 35 cases with inguinal hernia were assessed. The cross-sectional area of the inguinal canal was measured in all subjects and data was analyzed using Student's t-test and Pearson's correlation tests in SPSS. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were traced to define cut-off points. Findings: Valsalva maneuver caused significantly greater increase in the cross-sectional area of the inguinal canal among patients than in the normal group. The cut-off point of the cross-sectional area of inguinal canal was 63.5 mm2 in neutral state and 72.5 mm2 with Valsalva maneuver (increase rate: 34 mm2). In the absence of Valsalva maneuver, a cross-sectional area of the inguinal canal of greater than 63.5 mm2 is predictive of inguinal hernia (with 91 sensitivity and 98 specificity). Otherwise, values greater than 72.5 mm2 will be predictive of inguinal hernia (with 100 sensitivity and 98 specificity). Inguinal hernia will also be suspected if Valsalva maneuver increases the cross-sectional area of the inguinal canal by more than 34 mm2 (with 91 sensitivity and 100 specificity). Conclusion: The following diagnostic criteria are suggested for diagnosis of inguinal hernia through ultrasound examination: the presence of bowel loop within the inguinal canal, a cross-sectional area of the inguinal canal > 63.5 mm2 without Valsalva maneuver and > 72.5 mm2 with Valsalva maneuver, an increase of > 34 mm2 in the cross-sectional area of the inguinal canal with Valsalva maneuver, and a > 0.5 cm movement of the spermatic cord with Valsalva maneuver

On the Application of heuristic Method and Saddle Node Bifurcation for Optimal Placement of FACTS Devices in Power System

This study focuses on an optimal placement of five major types of FACTS devices, namely, Static Var Compensator (SVC), Thyristor Controlled Series Compensator (TCSC), Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM), Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC) and Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) in power system network using a well-known and applicable heuristic method known as genetic algorithm to seek the optimum location and setting of these controllers in the system. The locations of controllers are determined based on Saddle- Node Bifurcation theory on voltage collapse. In this paper, all the possible control parameters of each device including its location are optimized simultaneously to increase the distance to collapse point of the system. The IEEE 118-bus test system is utilized to verify the recommended method. The achieved results clearly proved that the proposed method is an effective approach for the placement of FACTS in power system

Accuracy of Ultrasonography in Confirmation of Adequate Reduction of Distal Radius Fractures

Introduction: Restoration of normal anatomic alignment is a key component of the treatment of distal radius fractures (DRF). This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of ultrasonography (US) in determining the adequacy of closed reduction in these fractures. Methods: DRF patients admitted to the emergency department of Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran from September 2011 to 2012, were enrolled. After closed reduction, the adequacy was investigated through both US and control plain radiography. Then, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predicative values of US in confirmation of closed reduction was evaluated. Also inter-rater agreement between the two diagnostic tools was analyzed by calculating Cohen’s kappa coefficient. Results: Finally, 154 patients were evaluated (females: 53.9%) with mean age of 40.03±14.7 (range: 22-73). US had sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of 99.3% (95%CI: 96.2-99.9), 100.0% (95%CI: 62.9-100.0), 100.0% (95%CI: 97.5-100.0), and 88.9% (95%CI: 51.7-98.1) in confirmation of the adequate reduction, respectively. In addition, inter-rater reliability was 0.94 (95%CI: 0.89-0.99; p<0.0001). Conclusion: It seems that US could be considered as a highly sensitive, accurate, easy to use, noninvasive and safe tool for guidance and confirming of closed reduction in DRF.

Pattern mining analysis of pulmonary TB cases in Hamadan province: Using space-time cube

Background and aims: One of the most common approach to understanding spatial and temporal trends of event data is to break it up into a series of time snapshots. Therefore space-time cube method applied in order to portray the likely trend in occurrence of the pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cases. Methods: In this study, information of all patients with pulmonary TB recorded in surveillance system of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences from 2005 to 2013 years were studied. After geocoding the residence location address of pulmonary TB cases and converted to point layer, the space-time cube was used to detect likely trends in occurrence of tuberculosis. Then, based on the space-time cube results the Emerging Hot Spot Analysis was run to clustering hot and cold spots. Results: There was significant increasing trend in occurrence of pulmonary TB cases. The statistic trend was 2.1871 and P-value was 0.0287, as well as 36 hot spots locations was detected that have been form approximately in central areas of province. Conclusion: Significantly increasing trend in occurrence of TB cases and existence of hot spot, especially intensifying hot spots in central areas of province can represent pay more attention to this disease in mentioned areas in order to detect the change in epidemiological face and to implement suitable prevention programs

The effects of slow and quick freezing methods on microstructure, drip loss, proximate composition and sensory properties of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fillets

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of slow and quick freezing on the changes in sensory properties, drip loss, microstructure and proximate compositions of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fillets. For this reason, skined off and deboned tilapia fillets were frozen by slow and quick freezing methods. The samples were packed and stored at -18 ° C for six months. Proximate composition, drip loss, and sensory evaluation of the samples were determined on a montly basis. Microstructure of the samples was studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) every second month. Results indicated that fresh tilapia fillets had 1/30, 18/70, 1/85, 79/12 percentage of fat, protein, ash and moisture contents, respectively. The amounts of proximate compositions were changed during the storageperiod. Quick frozen samples had significantly lower changes than slow frozen samples. The percentage of the drip in the slow frozen samples was significantly higher than quick frozen samples. SEM micrographs were also showed that the changes in the microstructure of the samples were different in the slow and frozen samples. Slow freezing method resulted in the higher damage in the microstructure of the samples than quick freezing method. Sensory evaluation of the samples indicated a better acceptability for the quick frozen samples than that for slow frozen sample

Comparison of Blood Transfusion Plus Chelation Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplantation in Patients with β-Thalassemia : Application of SF-36, EQ-5D, and Visual Analogue Scale Measures

Date of Acceptance: 08/06/2015 © 2015 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Acknowledgments The present article was extracted from the thesis written by Hassan Karami and was financially supported by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran (grant No. 6292). The authors would like to thank all participants in the study IJHPM supports the Open Access initiative. Abstracts and full texts (PDF format) of all articles published by IJHPM are freely accessible to everyone immediately upon publication. IJHPM also does not charge any submission or publication fees.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Comparison between conventional pump and adsorption sampling method with passive solid phase microextraction ( SPME ) sampling to investigate changes in the concentration of benzene, toluene , and xylene ( BTX ) in urban ambient air

Background and Aims: Besides toxic effects on human, animals and plants, aromatic hydrocarbons may also be effective in the formation of photochemical smog. The measurement of these hydrocarbons, therefore, play aprominent part in evaluating their health and environmental impacts. The purpose of this study was to compare pump and adsorption sampling method with solid phase microextraction (SPME) to investigate changes in theconcentration of benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX).Materials and Methods: SPME samplers in sampling protective holders were placed in ambient air at a relatively high traffic routes for 5 days. Sampling was carried out in two seasons. Samples were analyzed at the end of sampling period. In addition, pump and adsorption sampling method was also used to measure the concentrations of benzene, toluene, and xylene. Ethical issues were all considered in conducting the study and citation.Results: The obtained results in solid phase microextraction sampling method were compared with those obtained using the conventional pump and adsorbent method. Correlation coefficients (R2) between these methods were 0.98, 0.9 and 0.95 for benzene, toluene, and xylene, respectively. The results obtained with pump and adsorption method showed a higher values in general.Conclusion: The comparison between obtained results with these methods indicates a relatively similar values. It may be concluded that SPME sampling method can also present reliable results for the measurement of benzene,toluene and xylene concentrations in the ambient air.Keywords: Passive sampling, SPME, Benzene, Toluene, XyleneFor downloading the full text please click here

Investigation of the preparation method and its effect on the mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced Hydrogels

This work aims to study the mechanical properties of two kinds of hydrogels, the first is based on natural polymers derived from decellularized bovine cartilage tissue and the second is based on synthetic polymers namely polyethyleneglycole dimethacrylate. In this project, we tried on the one hand to reinforce the hydrogels using fibers and on the other hand to optimize the mechanical properties by studying the influence of the mixing parameters. The first study focused on Polyethylene glycol di-methacrylate hydrogel. We found that higher mixing time resulted in increased strength and stiffness of this hydrogel with a rate of 11%. In a second study we investigated the influence of different NFC fiber concentrations on the young modulus of decellularied extracellular matrix based hydrogels