Incidence patterns and spatial analysis of the most common cancers in southeastern Iran using Geographic Information System (GIS)

Abstract: Background and aim: Cancer is the third leading cause of mortality in Iran. By use of Geographic Information System, location-based and accurate analytical and descriptive date can be given to health policy makers. The aim of this study is to identify the incidental patterns of cancers (random, scattered, cluster) and analyze them spatially. Method(s): This is a periodical descriptive and analytical study which has investigated all new recorded incidents of cancers in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province in southwestern Iran from 2008 to 2011. The data were analyzed using ArcGIS9.3 and Stata12. Spatial Auto correlation coefficient and Moran I and Getis-Ord, t test, ANOVA and Chi-square were used for data analysis. Results revealed that in the age Mean and Standard deviation of the patients was 5/81 ±9/59. The mean age of the patients was meaningful according to gender and different towns (P=0.037). Standardized Incidences of Cancer in Shahrekord, Farsan, Ardal, Kiar, Koohrang, Lordegan and Borougen towns were 220/9, 154/3, 143/8, 80/9, 64/2, 61/1 and 57/2 per one hundred thousand of population, respectively. The most frequency of cancers was related to cancers of the digestive system ((2/25%, skin(2/81%)and urinary system (9/85%) and the least of them was related to cartilage(3/0%). Patterns of cancer incidence in southwestern Iran was random (P=0.13519). In Conclusions: Reports of differences in cancer incidence based on age, sex, city of residence and non-cluster cancers in the area studied can support the cancer prevention and screening programs focusing hypothesis and pave the road for decision makers and planners in the health system

The association of changes in electrocardiography, echocardiography and cardiac enzymes with One-month mortality in AMI patients referring to Hajar Hospital of Shahrekord

Background and aim: Various laboratory tests with their own particular strengths and weaknesses exist for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). This study was conducted to determine the association of changes in electrocardiography, echocardiography and cardiac enzymes with One-month mortality in AMI patients referring to Hajar Hospital of Shahrekord in 2011. Materials and method: For this descriptive analytical study, 107 AMI patients were randomly enrolled. For gathering data a questionnaire was used. Demographic data and test results of cardiac enzymes, EKG, and echocardiography according to the medical profile were registered in the questionnaire. The follow-up continued for 40 days through phone calls and medical profile and the mortality and/or any recurrent myocardial complication was entered into the medical profile. Data analysis was performed by SPSS 11 using chi-square, Spearman correlation coefficient, and t test. Results: The mean age of patients was 60.62± 12.58years. Mortality showed a direct association with age and personal history of ischemic heart disease (p<0.05). In addition, one-month mortality was directly associated with troponin, ejection fraction, and the number of segments involved in echocardiography (p<0.05); troponin level in outliving people was less, the mortality among patients with less ejection fraction was higher, and the number of involved segments was higher in the dead compared to the outliving. Conclusion: The findings of this study emphasize the value of echocardiography in determining the prognosis of AMI. Moreover, troponin could have a high prognostic value in addition to its high value in diagnosis

Evaluating the effect of different wheat rust disease symptoms on vegetation indices using hyperspectral measurements

© 2014 by the authors. Spectral Vegetation Indices (SVIs) have been widely used to indirectly detect plant diseases. The aim of this research is to evaluate the effect of different disease symptoms on SVIs and introduce suitable SVIs to detect rust disease. Wheat leaf rust is one of the prevalent diseases and has different symptoms including yellow, orange, dark brown, and dry areas. The reflectance spectrum data for healthy and infected leaves were collected using a spectroradiometer in the 450 to 1000 nm range. The ratio of the disease-affected area to the total leaf area and the proportion of each disease symptoms were obtained using RGB digital images. As the disease severity increases, so does the scattering of all SVI values. The indices were categorized into three groups based on their accuracies in disease detection. A few SVIs showed an accuracy of more than 60% in classification. In the first group, NBNDVI, NDVI, PRI, GI, and RVSI showed the highest amount of classification accuracy. The second and third groups showed classification accuracies of about 20% and 40% respectively. Results show that few indices have the ability to indirectly detect plant disease

Survival time and relative risk of death in patients with colorectal cancer in an Iranian population: A cohort study

Background and purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent health problems in the world and Iran. This study aimed at determining the survival rate of patients with CRC and the factors influencing it in Iranian patients. Material and Methods: A prospective cohort study was carried out in patients attending 10 state and private hospitals in Tehran during 2006-2011. In this study 1127 patients (totally 2570 individuals-year) were followed up every six months and the follow-up duration was from the definite time of CRC diagnosis until death (or censoring). Only 2 of the patients were censored. Data was analyzed using stata software, bivariate and multivariate analyses, and also Cox regression. Results: The mean age of the patients was 53.5 ± 14 years old at the time of diagnosis. Most of the patients were older than 45 years of age (69.7). The age at diagnosis was significantly different between men and women (P<0.03). The patients were 61.2 male and the rest were female. The rates of mortality in male and female were 96.9 and 83 in 100,000. After the diagnosis has been made 75, 50, and 25 had a survival rate of less than 2.72 years, 5.84 years, and longer than 13 years, respectively. In Cox model some variables including ethnicity, marital status, cancer grade, family history of caner, and smoking were the main determinants of survival. Conclusion: The mean survival time was 5.8 years after diagnosis has been made which shows more improvements compared to previous studies. This study provides some information on CRC survival rate so that action plans could be designed to prevent and control this disease

Developing two spectral disease indices for detection of wheat leaf rust (Pucciniatriticina)

Spectral vegetation indices (SVIs) have been widely used to detect different plant diseases. Wheat leaf rust manifests itself as an early symptom with the leaves turning yellow and orange. The sign of advancing disease is the leaf colour changing to brown while the final symptom is when the leaf becomes dry. The goal of this work is to develop spectral disease indices for the detection of leaf rust. The reflectance spectra of the wheat's infected and non-infected leaves at different disease stages were collected using a spectroradiometer. As ground truth, the ratio of the disease-affected area to the total leaf area and the fractions of the different symptoms were extracted using an RGB digital camera. Fractions of the various disease symptoms extracted by the digital camera and the measured reflectance spectra of the infected leaves were used as input to the spectral mixture analysis (SMA). Then, the spectral reflectance of the different disease symptoms were estimated using SMA and the least squares method. The reflectance of different disease symptoms in the 450~1000 nm were studied carefully using the Fisher function. Two spectral disease indices were developed based on the reflectance at the 605, 695 and 455 nm wavelengths. In both indices, the R2 between the estimated and the observed was as highas 0.94. © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Comparison of the papers published in journal of shahrekord university of medical sciences with those published in other medical journals of Iran in view of methodology

Background and aim: Scientific and research journals are considered as one of the most important tools for scientific and research information and science advancement in any discipline. Publishing articles in these journals is known to be an important indicator for knowledge generation. Comparing and assessing medical journals which present research outcomes, quantitatively and qualitatively, is particularly important to improve and promote them. The present study was conducted to compare the papers published in scientific and research Journal of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences (JSKUMS) with those published in other medical journals of Iran in view of methodology. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined and compared the observance of scientific writing of "Materials and Method" and "Results" of 113 articles published in JSKUMS with that of 269 articles published in other medical journals of Iran within 2010-2012 through random sampling using a validated questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS software using Chi square, ANOVA, and t test. Results: The percentage of original, cross-sectional, clinical trial, and experimental studies published in JSKUMS in 2011-2012 was respectively 93, 48, 20, and 17. The mean number of authors of the articles was 4.9 ± 3 and the most common errors in JSKUMS and other medical journals of Iran were failure to mention method of sampling (29 and 42 respectively), sample size (7 and 9 respectively), the software used (39 and 10 respectively), methods of randomization and blinding (72 and 27 respectively), letter of consent and ethics committee's approval (11 and 4 respectively), failure to provide confidence intervals for descriptive indicators (9 and 14 respectively) and required analytical indicators (7 and 16 respectively), and failure to observe the instructions of drawing tables (30 and 17 respectively) and graphs (35 and 25 respectively). The number of case-control studies and cohorts was significantly higher in other medical journals of Iran compared to JSKUMS. Conclusion: Identifying the common errors in the examined journals provided the context for improving and promoting them quantitatively and qualitatively. Therefore, it seems helpful to inform the authors and consider the most common errors, to empower the reviewers and address the quality and quantity of workshops on research methodology and scientific writing, and to provide opportunities for publishing guidelines for research and writing research papers

A survey on the state of physical activity among middle-aged women and related factors, fall 2016

Background and aims: Studies have shown that regular physical activity (exercising) has a critical role in improving physical and mental health of people in all age groups and reduces the dangers caused by non-communicable disease such as high blood pressure, overweight, severe obesity, and increased lipoprotein serum. In this survey, the aim of the study was to study the state of physical activity among middle-aged women and its barriers, constraints and its related factors such as job and BMI because of the effective role, which women play in providing health and hygiene for their families and the society. Methods: The current study was a cross sectional research in which 220 middle-aged women (age range of 30-59) selected using convenience sampling, which visited the Health Clinic in Zarin Shahr. The data were gathered using two standard questionnaires designed by the Office of Middle Aged Health in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The gathered data were analyzed using SPSS and significant P-value was considered P<0.05. Results: The findings show that 57.2% of the elderly women had physical activity and 42.8 had no physical activity. There is a significant statistical relationship between job and physical activity. The level of physical activity among the employed women was less than those who are homemakers, P=0.015. There was no significant statistical relationship between BMI and physical activity P=0.769 and there was not much of a difference in terms of BMI between those who have and do not have physical activity (P>0.05). Conclusion: Not having enough time, taking care of a child who is under 2 years of age, lack of motivation, and not awareness about the positive effects of physical activity on physical and mental wellbeing are the main reasons for not having suitable physical activity. Therefore, it is suggested that appropriate programs for improving women’s health, improving knowledge, attitude, and change of behavior among these people should be performed

Does ethnicity affect survival following colorectal cancer? A prospective, cohort study using Iranian cancer registry

Background: The present study compared the differences between survivals of patients with colorectal cancer according to their ethnicity adjusted for other predictors of survival. Methods: In this prospective cohort study patients were followed up from definite diagnosis of colorectal cancer to death. Totally, 2431 person-year follow-ups were undertaken for 1127 colorectal cancer patients once every six months. The data were analyzed by stata software using bivariate analysis, multivariate analysis, and Cox regression. Results: The age at diagnosis was significantly different between men and women (p < 0.03). 61.2 were male and the rest were female. Most patients were Fars (51.2), followed by Turciks (21.5), Kurds (8.2), and 7.5 Lurs. Of the patients, 75 had a survival of more than 2.72 years, 50 a survival of 5.83 years, and 25 longer than 13.1 years after diagnosis. Risk ratio was significantly different among ethnics (p < 0.05). The variables of ethnicity, being non married, tumor grade, family history of cancer, and smoking were considered as determinants of the patients' survival in Cox regression model. The median survival time in Fars, Kurds, Lurs, Turks and other ethnics was 5.83, 2.44, 5.49, and 8.52 years, respectively. Conclusion: Ethnicity and access to healthcare are predictors of survival of patients with colorectal cancer which may define priorities in controlling cancer and implementing interventional and prevention plans

Glucose transporter Glut-1 is detectable in pen-necrotic regions in many human tumor types but not normal tissues: Study using tissue microarrays

The hypoxic tumor microenvironment is associated with malignant progression and poor treatment response. The glucose transporter Glut-1 is a prognostic factor and putative hypoxia marker. So far, studies of Glut-1 in cancer have utilised conventional immunohistochemical analysis in a series of individual biopsy or surgical specimens. Tissue microarrays, however, provide a rapid, inexpensive means of profiling biomarker expression. To evaluate hypoxia markers, tissue cores must show architectural features of hypoxia, i.e. viable tissue surrounding necrotic regions. Glut-1 may be a useful biomarker to validate tissue microarrays for use in studies of hypoxia-regulated genes in cancer. In this study, we carried out immunohistochemical detection of Glut-1 protein in many tumor and normal tissue types in a range of tissue microarrays. Glut-1 was frequently found in peri-necrotic regions, occurring in 9/34 lymphomas, 6/12 melanomas, and 5/16 glioblastomas; and in 43/54 lung, 22/84 colon, and 23/60 ovarian tumors. Expression was rare in breast (6/40) and prostate (1/57) tumors, and in normal tissue, was restricted to spleen, tongue and CNS endothelium. In conclusion, tissue microarrays enable the observation of Glut-1 expression in peri-necrotic regions, which may be linked to hypoxia, and reflect previous studies showing differential Glut-1 expression across tumor types and non malignant tissue

High hopes for cannabinoid agonists in the treatment of rheumatic diseases

There are two well-characterised isoforms of cannabinoid receptor; CB(1) and CB(2) and of these CB(2) is under active investigation as a potential target for treatment of the chronic pain associated with widespread and intractable joint diseases osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. The recent report by Fukuda et al (BMC Musculoskelet Disord15: 275, 2014) in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders investigates the efficacy of a selective CB(2) agonist, JW133, in both in vitro and in vivo models of rheumatoid arthritis and provides encouraging data. The report shows that JW133 inhibits expression of the CCL2 cytokine, osteoclastogenesis and reduces histological indicators of joint degeneration. Each of these could potentially contribute to beneficial analgesic effects in a therapeutic context. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2474-15-410) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users