Association of vitamin D-binding protein and vitamin D3 with insulin and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) in overweight and obese females

Objective: Equivocal association the contribution of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and the well-accepted role of vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) on bioavailability of 25(OH)D or its independent roles, has led to possible association of the VDBP in glucose metabolism. This study was conducted to evaluate the relationships among 25(OH)D, VDBP, glucose/insulin metabolism and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR). Blood samples were collected from 236 obese and overweight women. VDBP and 25(OH)D levels, and biochemical parameters were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). An impedance fat analyzer was utilized to acquire the body composition. Results: Using the multivariate linear regression, a reverse relationship was observed between VDBP and (HOMA-IR), such that women with higher VDBP displayed lower insulin resistance. The relationship was independent of age, body mass index, standardized energy intake and physical activity (p = 0.00). No significant relationship between 25(OH)D levels, FBS, body composition or insulin resistance were observed (p > 0.2). Current study observed that higher level of VDBP may be associated with lower levels of insulin and HOMA-IR, thus the evaluation of VDBP in diverse population groups seems to have significant clinical value in evaluating the prevalence of DM or early stage of glucose intolerance

The Relationship between Structure of the Corticoreticular Tract and Walking Capacity in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Background: Disruption in the descending pathways may lead to gait impairments in Cerebral Palsy (CP) children. Though, the mechanisms behind walking problems have not been completely understood.Objective: We aimed to define the relationship between the structure of the corticoreticular tract (CRT) and walking capacity in children with CP.Material and Methods: This is a retrospective, observational, and cross-sectional study. Twenty-six children with CP between 4 to 15 years old participated. Also, we used existed data of healthy children aged 4 to 15 years old. CRT structure was characterized using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The DTI parameters extracted to quantify CRT structure included: fractional anisotropy (FA), mean (MD), axial (AD), and radial (RD) diffusivity. Balance and walking capacity was evaluated using popular clinical measures, including the Berg balance scale (BBS), Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG; balance and mobility), six-minute walk test (6 MWT; gait endurance), and 10-meter walk Test (10 MWT; gait speed).Results: There are significant differences between MD, AD, and RD in CP and healthy groups. Brain injury leads to various patterns of the CRT structure in children with CP. In the CP group with abnormal CRT patterns, DTI parameters of the more affected CRT are significantly correlated with walking balance, speed, and endurance measures. Conclusion: Considering the high inter-subject variability, the variability of CRT patterns is vital for determining the nature of changes in CRT structure, their relationship with gait impairment, and understanding the underlying mechanisms of movement disorders. This information is also important for the development or prescription of an effective rehabilitation target for individualizing treatment

Cord Blood Karyotyping: A Safe and Non-Invasive Method for Postnatal Testing of Assisted Reproductive Technology Children

Abstract Background: To verify the hypothesis that the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities increases in babies conceived by different assisted reproduction procedures. The availability of the umbilical cord blood encouraged us to study this hypothesis via this method

Global study of social odor awareness

Olfaction plays an important role in human social communication, including multiple domains in which people often rely on their sense of smell in the social context. The importance of the sense of smell and its role can however vary inter-individually and culturally. Despite the growing body of literature on differences in olfactory performance or hedonic preferences across the globe, the aspects of a given culture as well as culturally universal individual differences affecting odor awareness in human social life remain unknown. Here, we conducted a large-scale analysis of data collected from 10,794 participants from 52 study sites from 44 countries all over the world. The aim of our research was to explore the potential individual and country-level correlates of odor awareness in the social context. The results show that the individual characteristics were more strongly related than country-level factors to self-reported odor awareness in different social contexts. A model including individual-level predictors (gender, age, material situation, education and preferred social distance) provided a relatively good fit to the data, but adding country-level predictors (Human Development Index, population density and average temperature) did not improve model parameters. Although there were some cross-cultural differences in social odor awareness, the main differentiating role was played by the individual differences. This suggests that people living in different cultures and different climate conditions may still share some similar patterns of odor awareness if they share other individual-level characteristics

Preferred interpersonal distances: a global comparison

Human spatial behavior has been the focus of hundreds of previous research studies. However, the conclusions and generalizability of previous studies on interpersonal distance preferences were limited by some important methodological and sampling issues. The objective of the present study was to compare preferred interpersonal distances across the world and to overcome the problems observed in previous studies. We present an extensive analysis of interpersonal distances over a large data set (N = 8,943 participants from 42 countries). We attempted to relate the preferred social, personal, and intimate distances observed in each country to a set of individual characteristics of the participants, and some attributes of their cultures. Our study indicates that individual characteristics (age and gender) influence interpersonal space preferences and that some variation in results can be explained by temperature in a given region. We also present objective values of preferred interpersonal distances in different regions, which might be used as a reference data point in future studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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This study investigated entrepreneurial intention among graduate students of USM Engineering Campus. Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB; Ajzen), we examined the empirical model of entrepreneurial intention determinants. Although research has been conducted in entrepreneurial intention, limited study has been done among Iranian graduate students who are studying abroad. This research aims to fill this gap using Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire (EIQ, version 3.1). Accordingly, a survey study was applied and Iranian graduate students of the USM Engineering Campus were studied using the census method. The authors propose an empirical model and tested its reliability and validity using structural equation modeling. Data was analyzed using Spss16 and Amos18 software. Results revealed that the level of knowledge about business sources of assistance for entrepreneurs in addition to components of the TPB, affected entrepreneurial intention. Empirical model ‘s goodness of fit indices indicated good model fit x2=1.047, df=2, probability 0.592; NFI= 0.981; CFI= 1.000; RMSEA=0.000). It seems that current empirical model could be a guide for future research on this important topic

Meglumine sulfate catalyzed solvent-free one-pot synthesis of coumarins under microwave and thermal conditions

<p>A convenient method has been developed for the Pechmann reaction of phenols and β-keto esters catalyzed by meglumine sulfate. Solvent-free conditions, inexpensive catalyst, short reaction times, high yield, and ease of purification of the products are the advantages of this protocol. This novel catalytic system is expected to contribute to the development of more benign Pechmann condensation reactions of phenols with β-keto esters.</p

A case report of prenatally detected achondrogenesis type II with an occipital cephalocele

Achondrogenesis is a very rare lethal skeletal disorder. Here we describe a case of prenatally diagnosed achondrogenesis type II in a 28 year-old woman at (17+4) wk. She had history of 5 first trimester missed abortions. The couple is consanguineous. Ultrasonography showed extreme micromelia, short neck and trunk, large head and prominent abdomen. Delayed ossification in sacral bones was detected and ossification of pubic rami was poor. There were associated large cystic hygroma, anasarca and also high occipital cephalocele. Posterior fossa was normal. Mild hypothelorism, depressed nasal bridge, low set ear and mild retrognathia were identified too. Amniocentesis result was compatible with a normal female fetus. Post mortem whole body radiography confirmed the diagnosis. To our knowledge, this is the second case report with association of cephalocele and achondrogenesis type II