Evaluation of gastrointestinal injury in blunt abdominal trauma "FAST is not reliable": the role of repeated ultrasonography

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To determine the diagnostic Accuracy of Focused Assessment Sonography for Trauma (FAST) and repeated FAST in the patients with blunt abdominal trauma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this retrospective study we collected the data of all patients from September 2007 to July 2011 with gastrointestinal injury. The intraoperative outcome was compared with FAST technique and the repeated or delayed sonography.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total number of 1550 patients with blunt abdominal trauma underwent FAST in a period of 4 years in our hospital. Eighty-eight (5.67%) patients were found to have gastrointestinal injury after exploratory laparotomy. Fifty-five (62.5%) patients had isolated gastrointestinal injury and 33 (37.5%) patients had concomitant injury to the other solid organs. In those with isolated gastrointestinal injury, the sensitivity of FAST was 38.5%. Repeated ultrsonography was performed in 34 patients with false negative initial FAST after 12-24 hours. The sensitivity of repeated ultrasonography in negative initial FAST patients in detection of gastrointestinal injury was 85.2% (95% CI, 68.1%, and 94.4%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Repeated sonography after 12 to 24 hours in patients with negative initial FAST but sustain abdominal symptom can facilitated a diagnosis of GI tract injury and can be as effective method instead of Computed tomography in developing country.</p

The Relationship between Faculty Members’ Perception of Organizational Culture Types and their Preferences for Instruction and Counselling in Iranian College of Education and Psychology

AbstractThe purpose of this research was to study the relationship between faculty members’ perception of organizational culture types and their preferences for instruction and counselling responsibilities in Shiraz, Tehran and Ahvaz both public and private Universities, Colleges of education and psychology. Statistical population of this study comprised of all Shiraz, Tehran and Ahvaz colleges of Education and Psychology faculty members. Using classified random sampling, 4 colleges were selected. In order to collect data two instruments were used in this study i.e. Counsellor Educator Task importance Instrument (CETII) (Orr, 2005) and Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) (Cameron & Quinn, 1999). Results indicated a significant effect of organizational culture types for scholarship and service responsibilities. Additionally, there was a significant organizational culture type×university type interaction effect for scholarship and teaching responsibilities. And a significant organizational culture types×Academic Rank interaction effect for teaching and service responsibilities as well. However, the results showed neither significant organizational culture type×university type interaction effect nor significant organizational culture type×years of service interaction effect for teachers’ counselling and instruction responsibilities

Evaluation of retrobulbar blood flow in patients with age-related cataract; color Doppler ultrasonographic findings

Afshin Mohammadi1, Nilofar Khorasani2, Farzad Moloudi2, Mohammad Ghasemi-rad31Department of Radiology, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran; 2Student Research Committee, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran; 3Genius and Talented Student Organization, Student Research Committee, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, IranObjectives: Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness worldwide, with cataract surgery being the most common ophthalmic procedure. To our best knowledge, this is the first case-control study with a large number of participants to evaluate ocular blood flow in patients with cataracts.Materials and methods: Color Doppler and duplex sonography of the orbital vessels was performed in 224 eyes of 112 patients with known bilateral age-related cataracts and in 76 eyes of 38 healthy age- and sex-matched volunteers.Results: The mean &amp;plusmn; (standard deviation [SD]) of peak systolic velocity (PSV) of the ophthalmic artery in patients with cataracts (34.59 &amp;plusmn; 22.49 cm/second) was significantly different to that in controls (52.11 &amp;plusmn; 14.01 cm/second) (P &amp;lt; 0.001). The mean &amp;plusmn; SD PSV of the central retinal artery in patients with cataracts (15.31 &amp;plusmn; 4.93 cm/second) was significantly different to that in controls (9.61 &amp;plusmn; 5.64 cm/second) (P &amp;lt; 0.001).Conclusion: The mean PSV and resistive index (RI) of the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries were lower in cataract patients when compared with normal subjects. This suggests that ocular hypoperfusion and changes in ocular hemodynamic may have a role in the formation of age-related cataracts.Keywords: retrobulbar blood flow, age-related, cataract, color Doppler ultrasonographi

Heavy metals Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in tissue, liver of Esox lucius and sediment from the Anzali international lagoon- Iran

Levels of contaminants in fish are of particular interest because of the potential risk to humans consuming them. This paper examines the levels of cadmium, lead, zinc and copper in liver and muscle tissue of Esox lucius and in sediments from the Anzali international wetland in Iran. The wetland is a nursery and feeding habitat for fish species both from the lagoon and the Caspian Sea, which are consumed by the local inhabitants and others. Eleven main rivers discharge agricultural, industrial, urban and municipal wastes into this wetland. Twenty five Esox lucius specimens, with a mean weight of 804.6±121g and mean length of 430.7± 2mm were collected from the wetland by multi mesh gill nets in September and December 2007.. The age was determined from scale samples according to the annual ring structure. Average concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn accumulated in the mid-dorsal muscle tissue (filleted and skinned) of fish were 0.001, 0.21±0.02, 0.13±0.01 and 2.55±0.18 µg.g-1, respectively. The concentrations of these metals in liver samples were Cd: 0.0014± Cu: 0.96± 0.61, Pb: 0.11 ± 0.04 and Zn: 2.46±1.5 µg.g-1. Significant positive correlations were detected between Zn and Cu with body weight, while negative correlations were found between Pb and body weight. The concentrations of Zn, Cu and Cd were below the maximum allowable concentrations for fish proposed by WHO and MAFF (safe for human consumption) but concentration of Pb exceeded the standard levels

Cytotoxicity of Two Gypsophila Species to Human Breast Adenocarcinoma (MCF-7)

Introduction: Cancer is known as the second cause of death worldwide which results in serious problems in human life. It is developed by uncontrolled growth of a cell or a group of cells. Caryophyllaceae is a large family which has been reported to possess cytotoxic species and in the present study, the cytotoxic activity of two plants from this family has been evaluated. Methods and Results: Dried powder of Gypsophila bicolor (Freyn &amp; Sint.) Grossh and Gypsophila ruscifolia Boiss. aerial parts were extracted with methanol 80% by maceration method (10 g). For fractionation, 30 g of the dried powder of both species was macerated with petroleum ether at room temperature. After 24 hours, the mixture was filtered and the plant residues were extracted with chloroform and methanol successively through the same process. Then they were concentrated using a rotary evaporator apparatus. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated against MCF-7 (human breast adenocarcinoma), A-549 (non-small cell lung carcinoma) and AGO-1522 (human fibroblast) cell lines using MTT assay. The chloroform fractions of both Gypsophila species showed cytotoxic effects against MCF-7 cells with IC50 value &lt;100 μg/mL. None of the extracts or fractions demonstrated cytotoxicity to A-549 or AGO-1522 cells up to the tested concentrations. Conclusions: The selective toxicity of the chloroform fractions of the species only to the MCF-7 cell line suggested that Gypsophila bicolor and G. ruscifolia could be proper candidates for further studies in the field of cancer researches

Age-associated changes on axonal regeneration and functional outcome after spinal cord injury in rats

This study was conducted to evaluate the association between aging and regenerative potential of spinal cord injury. Three groups of male Sprague�Dawley rats, including young (40 days), mature (5-6 months) and old (28-29 months) were spinally hemisected at the L1 level. The locomotor performance was assessed weekly for eight weeks after lesion using locomotors� rating scale developed by Basso, Bresnahan and Beattie (BBB). In the tracing study, retrograde labeled neuron was counted in the lateral vestibular nucleus for axonal regeneration. From 4-8 weeks, the functional recovery of the young and mature age rats was significantly increased in comparison to the old age group. At 8 weeks, young and mature animals achieved a plateau score of (mean ± SD), 17 ± 1.47 and 16.8 ± 0.70 respectively, and the old rats reached an average score of 13.8±1.63 (P<0.05). The mean number of labeled neurons in the vestibular nucleus in the young group (mean ± SD): 32.05 ± 1.03 increase significantly compared to the older age group 5.01 ± 1.31 (P<0.05). Current findings suggest that axonal repair and functional improvement decrease in aged animals after partial spinal cord injury. Thus, the aging process may affect the regenerative capacity of the injured central nervous system, and axonal regeneration is age dependent. © 2015 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Determinants of Early Marriage from Married Girls' Perspectives in Iranian Setting: A Qualitative Study

Early marriage is a worldwide problem associated with a range of health and social consequences for teenage girls. Designing effective health interventions for managing early marriage needs to apply the community-based approaches. However, it has received less attention from policymakers and health researchers in Iran. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore determinants of early marriage from married girls' perspectives. The study was conducted from May 2013 to January 2015 in Ahvaz, Iran. A purposeful sampling method was used to select fifteen eligible participants. Data were collected through face-to-face, semistructured interviews and were analyzed using the conventional content analysis approach. Three categories emerged from the qualitative data including "family structure," "Low autonomy in decision-making," and "response to needs." According to the results, although the participants were not ready to get married and intended to postpone their marriage, multiple factors such as individual and contextual factors propelled them to early marriage. Given that early marriage is a multifactorial problem, health care providers should consider a multidimensional approach to support and empower these vulnerable girls. � 2016 Simin Montazeri et al

Microleakage of Bulk-Fill Composites at Two Different Time Points

Objectives: Microleakage is the main concern in composite restorations. This study aimed to compare the microleakage of two bulk-fill and one conventional composite at two different time points.Methods: Class II cavities were prepared in 60 premolar teeth and divided into six groups of 20. Groups 1 and 4 were incrementally filled with Grandio composite. Groups 2 and 5 were filled with X-tra fil bulk-fill composite. Groups 3 and 6 were filled with Tetric-N-Ceram bulk-fill composite in one layer. The samples were thermocycled for 5000 cycles between 25-55°C. In groups 1-3, the samples were incubated for 24 hours and then immersed in 1% methylene blue dye. Groups 4-6 were incubated for three months and then immersed in dye. All samples were mesiodistally sectioned and degree of microleakage was scored under a light microscope. The data were analyzed using Mann Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests.Results: The results showed no significant difference among groups 1-5 and 6 in terms of microleakage (P&gt;0.05) but a significant difference was noted between groups 1 and 4 in this regard (P=0.01). The microleakage in groups 4-6 was higher than that in groups 1-3 (P=0.02). Also, microleakage in gingival margins was greater than that in occlusal margins (P=0.02).Conclusion: The microleakage of bulk-fill composites is comparable to that of conventional composites both at 24 hours and three months after restoration