The Role of Index and Ring Fingers in Gender Identification and Height Estimation

Background: It is a challenge in forensic medicine to identify deceased bodies when body dismembered from remaining body parts, such as hands, arms, and feet. We aimed to determine gender and the correlation between stature, and index and ring fingers in an Iranian population.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 Iranian students aged between 18 and 25 years were included (2016-2017). The length of the nondominant index and ring fingers were measured from proximal crease to the tip. The exclusion criteria were a history of heavy physical work by hand, hand vocational sports, anatomical musculoskeletal deformities, and chronic internal diseases (diabetes, thyroid disorders, renal failure, etc.). The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS. t-test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and correlation and regression models were used to analyze the achieved data.Results: The mean height was 179 cm in males and 164 cm in females. The mean index and ring fingers lengths were 73 mm and 74 mm in males, and 68 mm and 68 mm in females, respectively. The mean sum of index and ring fingers lengths were 147 mm in males and 136 mm in females. Height, index and ring fingers length, and the sum of them significantly differed between genders (P<0.0001). The accuracy of gender determination was 92%, 71%, 73% and 74.5% in terms of stature, index finger length, ring finger length, and the sum of index and ring fingers length, respectively. The correlation between height and index finger length, as well as the height and ring finger length, were significant in males, females, and total cases (P<0.0001).Conclusion: Based on this study, index and ring fingers lengths can be used to predict height and determine gender.

Comparing the Accuracy of Morphometric and Morphological Criteria of Hip Bone in Gender Determination

Background: A primary aim of forensic medicine is gender determination. Although hip is the optimal bone for this purpose, different determining criteria of this bone do not have the same accuracy. This is important in conditions that only parts of hip remain to determine gender. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of different hip criteria in gender determination. Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated a total of 160 paired hips (80 males and 80 females) removed from the bodies for bone transplantation. Morphometric criteria were vertical and horizontal acetabular diameters and superior and inferior pubic ramus widths. Morphological criteria were a greater sciatic notch, obturator foramen, pubic body, preauricular sulcus, acetabular fossa position, and ischial tuberosity. The obtained data were analyzed using Cross Tab, t-test, and logistic regression analysis by SPSS. The significance level was set at P<0.05.Results: There was no significant difference in morphometric and morphological criteria between the studied left and right hip bones (P>0.05). In gender determination, acetabular diameter and greater sciatic notch had the highest accuracy (85%), and obturator foramen (67.5%) and superior and inferior pubic ramus widths (65%) had the lowest accuracy.Conclusion: Hip bone is not always completely available and preserved to determine gender. Moreover, sometimes not all anthropometric criteria of the bone are in favor of one gender. Therefore, investigating the accuracy of different criteria can be very important in interpreting the results. Thus, it has always been emphasized on the use of all available information in gender determination

Collo-Diaphyseal Angle as an Optimal Anthropometric Criterion of Femur in Gender Determination

Background: Gender determination is an important challenge in the identification of skeletal remnants and dismembered bodies. The femur bone is more likely to be preserved during accidents and over time; thus, it is one of the most useful bones in gender determination.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 54 fresh femur pairs of ˃19-year-old Iranians without anomalies or trauma. We studied the length of the femur, vertical head diameter, bicondylar width, shaft angle with the horizon, and collo-diaphyseal angle in male and female samples. Data were analyzed in SPSS using t-test and Receiver Operating Characteristic curves. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: The samples’ mean age was 37 years in males and 41 years in females. The mean values of measurements were not significantly different between the left and right femurs (P>0.05). The vertical head diameter, maximum length, bicondylar width, and the shaft angle were significantly larger in the males, compared to females. The mean degree of collo-diaphyseal angle was significantly wider in females, compared to males (P<0.05). The highest precision of gender differentiation belonged to the collo-diaphyseal angle (96.3%) and the lowest one belonged to the vertical head diameter (77.8%).Conclusion: Based on our findings, even with the existence of only one femur bone, gender determination can be achieved with high precision. Collo-diaphyseal angle would be helpful in gender determination, even with the sole availability of the proximal part of the femur

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

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

Pre-treatment and extraction techniques for recovery of added value compounds from wastes throughout the agri-food chain

The enormous quantity of food wastes discarded annually force to look for alternatives for this interesting feedstock. Thus, food bio-waste valorisation is one of the imperatives of the nowadays society. This review is the most comprehensive overview of currently existing technologies and processes in this field. It tackles classical and innovative physical, physico-chemical and chemical methods of food waste pre-treatment and extraction for recovery of added value compounds and detection by modern technologies and are an outcome of the COST Action EUBIS, TD1203 Food Waste Valorisation for Sustainable Chemicals, Materials and Fuels

Effect of berberine on the expression of membrane progesterone receptor (mPRβ) in NALM6 cells

Acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) is a type of blood cancer associated with the malignant proliferation of lymphoid progenitor cells. In recent years, natural medicines have received attention due to reasons such as availability, fewer side effects, and lower costs. Berberine (BBR) is a bioactive compound with anticancer effects that influences progesterone production. Progesterone can affect some tumors by inhibiting or inducing cell proliferation through its nuclear or membrane receptors. In this study, we investigated the effect of BBR on the expression of membrane progesterone receptor beta (mPRβ) in NALM6 cells. After culturing the cells in a serum-containing medium, the cells were treated with different concentrations of BBR (20-100 μM) at 48 and 72 h, and cell survival was determined using the MTT assay. Finally, the effect of BBR on the expression of mPRβ in NALM6 cells at concentrations of 30 and 10 μM at 48 and 72 h, respectively, was evaluated using flow cytometry. Our results showed that the cells express mPRβ. The BBR significantly inhibited cell growth in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and mPRβ expression was significantly decreased in treated cells compared to untreated cells. These findings suggest that NALM6 cells are most likely influenced by progesterone. In addition, apart from its direct anticancer effects, BBR may also modulate the effects of progesterone on cancer cells. The findings of this study may be useful for designing new anti-cancer approaches

The Effectiveness of Spiritually Multidimensional Psychotherapy (SMP) on Psychological Capital and Stress Symptoms of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Background and Aim:Psychological stress often raises blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Psychological capital has a protective role and leads tothe healthy state of individuals.The current study aimed to investigate the effect of spiritually multidimensional psychotherapy (SMP) group training on psychological capitaland stress symptoms in type 2 diabetic patients. Materials and Methods:The research was semi-experimental research with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all patients with diabetes covered by the Mashhad Diabetes Foundation. From this group, 60 people were selected by network method or snowball and were randomly divided into two groups (experimental and control). The experimental group received spiritually multidimensional psychotherapy group training in 12 sessions of 90 minutes weekly. Before and after the intervention, a stress symptoms questionnaire and psychological capital were performed in both experimental and control groups. Data analysis was performed using univariate and multivariate covariance using SPSS.21 software. Results:The findings revealed that spiritually multidimensional psychotherapy (SMP) had a significant effect on psychological capital (P<0.001) and stress symptoms (P<0.001). Likewise, this effect on the components of self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism was significant (P<0.001). Conclusion:It can be concluded that spiritually multidimensional psychotherapy training can increase psychological capital and decrease stress symptoms in patients with type 2 diabetes

CD33 as a leukocyte-associated marker expressed on human spermatozoa

Abstract Objective Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-type lectins (Siglecs) are commonly present on immune cells and often mediate cell-to-cell interactions and signaling. Studies have shown the presence of Siglecs 1, 2, 5, 6, 10 and 14 on human spermatozoa. To the best of our knowledge, the expression of CD33 on spermatozoa has not yet been studied. Semen samples were collected from 25 healthy men with normal semen status. CD33 expression on purified spermatozoa was evaluated by flow cytometry methods. Results The results demonstrate the expression of CD33 on the surface of purified spermatozoa. The mean (± SD) of MFI (mean fluorescence intensity) was 12.85 (± 1.33) and the mean percentage of spermatozoa that express CD33 was 73.75 (± 3.75). Results were obtained showing that spermatozoa express CD33 (or Siglec-3) on their surface. The physiological role of these molecules on spermatozoa remains to be determined. It is recommended that further research be undertaken regarding the role of Siglecs (such as CD33) on spermatozoa apoptosis