Investigating the Underlying Psychiatric Disorders Leading to Suicide among Patients Hospitalized in Poisoning Center in Emam Reza Educational, Research and Treatment Center in Mashhad, 2015

Background: One of the most common causes of mortality in countries are drug induced suicide, the identification of underlying risk factors of which can play an important role in reducing its incidence as well as providing practical solutions.Methods: All poisoned patients referred to poisoning treatment center in Imam Reza hospital (MUMS) were studied in a descriptive cross-sectional study in 2015 and based on selection criteria and using a researcher- developed questionnaire. Moreover, results were analyzed using SPSS21 and Exactly Fisher test.Results: Among a total of 824 patients half of whom were men and the other half were women and with an average age of 27 years for men and 20 years for women, the most common underlying psychological factors in patients were holding under diploma, diploma, and above, impaired communication skills, depression, and Type B personality. Moreover, the most important types of impaired communication skills were poor stress and problem-solving management. Also, the drug-stimulant use was somehow associated with the same impaired inter-personal communications.Conclusion: Before providing the necessary and sufficient training to children who inevitably need time, chronological age, bitter and sweet experiences in their lives, it is essential to avoid entrusting heavy responsibilities on them

Comparison of Falls and its Determinants in the Elderly with and without Knee Osteoarthritis

Background and Objective: The growth of aging reveals the importance of paying attention to the health needs of the elderly. According to some studies, falls and its consequences are more common in the individuals with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) than those without KOA, but due to lack of evidence, its related factors are still unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the falls and its determinants in the elderly with and without KOA. Methods: In this case-control study, 700 older adults in two groups of elderly with and without KOA were compared in terms of falls and some variables including KOA, sex, age, body mass index, living status, quadriceps femoris muscle strength, hand muscles strength, balance, number of comorbidities, number of drugs used, walking duration, physical activity and frailty. KOA was diagnosed based on The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Findings: In this study, falls were 1.90 times higher in the elderly with KOA than elderly without KOA. Although all variables were significantly different in case and control groups, only female gender (p=0.035) and KOA (p=0.012) were significantly associated with falls. Conclusion: These findings suggest that variables in combination may increase the risk of falls in the elderly with KOA, while each of them alone may not be associated with falls

Subjects with Molecularly Defined Familial Hypercholesterolemia or Familial Defective apoB-100 Are Not Being Adequately Treated

To study whether subjects with a molecular genetic diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) or familial defective apoB-100 (FDB) are being adequately treated.A questionnaire regarding medical history was sent to 2611 subjects who had been provided with a molecular genetic diagnosis of FH or FDB, and a blood sample was obtained for lipid measurements.956 (36.6%) of the 2611 subjects participated. The mean age for starting lipid-lowering therapy was 33.4 (±12.1) years. Among those below 18 years of age, only 20.4% were on lipid-lowering drugs, whereas 89.1% of those aged 18 and above were on lipid-lowering drugs. The mean levels of total serum cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were 5.7 (±1.5) mmol/l and 3.9 (±1.3) mmol/l, respectively. Among those who were on lipid-lowering drugs, 29.0% and 12.2% had levels of LDL cholesterol below 3.0 mmol/l and 2.6 mmol/l, respectively. Only 47.3% of the 956 subjects were considered as being adequately treated largely due to a failure to titrate their drug regimens. From the use of cholesterol-years score, lipid-lowering therapy must start before the age of 20 in order to prevent the subjects from contracting premature coronary heart disease.The majority of FH/FDB subjects are being diagnosed late in life and are not being adequately treated. In order to prevent them from contracting premature coronary heart disease, it is key that levels of LDL cholesterol are normalized from a young age and that sufficient doses of lipid-lowering drugs are being used

Quality of life in patients with breast cancer before and after diagnosis: an eighteen months follow-up study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Measuring quality of life in breast cancer patients is of importance in assessing treatment outcomes. This study examined the impact of breast cancer diagnosis and its treatment on quality of life of women with breast cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a prospective study of quality of life in breast cancer patients. Quality of life was measured using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and its breast cancer supplementary measure (QLQ-BR23) at three points in time: baseline (pre diagnosis), three months after initial treatment and one year after completion of treatment (in all 18 months follow-up). At baseline the questionnaires were administered to all suspected identified patients while both patients and the interviewer were blind to the final diagnosis. Socio-demographic and clinical data included: age, education, marital status, disease stage and initial treatment. Repeated measure analysis was performed to compare quality of life differences over the time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, 167 patients diagnosed with breast cancer. The mean age of breast cancer patients was 47.2 (SD = 13.5) years and the vast majority (82.6%) underwent mastectomy. At eighteen months follow-up data for 99 patients were available for analysis. The results showed there were significant differences in patients' functioning and global quality of life at three points in time (P < 0.001). Although there were deteriorations in patients' scores for body image and sexual functioning, there were significant improvements for breast symptoms, systematic therapy side effects and patients' future perspective (P < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings suggest that overall breast cancer patients perceived benefit from their cancer treatment in long-term. However, patients reported problems with global quality of life, pain, arm symptoms and body image even after 18 months following their treatments. In addition, most of the functional scores did not improve.</p

A fluorescent hormone biosensor reveals the dynamics of jasmonate signalling in plants

Activated forms of jasmonic acid (JA) are central signals coordinating plant responses to stresses, yet tools to analyse their spatial and temporal distribution are lacking. Here we describe a JA perception biosensor termed Jas9-VENUS that allows the quantification of dynamic changes in JA distribution in response to stress with high spatiotemporal sensitivity. We show that Jas9-VENUS abundance is dependent on bioactive JA isoforms, the COI1 co-receptor, a functional Jas motif and proteasome activity. We demonstrate the utility of Jas9-VENUS to analyse responses to JA in planta at a cellular scale, both quantitatively and dynamically. This included using Jas9-VENUS to determine the cotyledon-to-root JA signal velocities on wounding, revealing two distinct phases of JA activity in the root. Our results demonstrate the value of developing quantitative sensors such as Jas9-VENUS to provide high-resolution spatiotemporal data about hormone distribution in response to plant abiotic and biotic stresses

Single beat 3D echocardiography for the assessment of right ventricular dimension and function after endurance exercise: Intraindividual comparison with magnetic resonance imaging

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Our study compares new single beat 3D echocardiography (sb3DE) to cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) for the measurement of right ventricular (RV) dimension and function immediately after a 30 km run. This is to validate sb3DE against the "gold standard" CMR and to bring new insights into acute changes of RV dimension and function after endurance exercise.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>21 non-elite male marathon runners were examined by sb3DE (Siemens ACUSON SC2000, matrix transducer 4Z1c, volume rates 10-29/s), CMR (Siemens Magnetom Avanto, 1,5 Tesla) and blood tests before and immediately after each athlete ran 30 km. The runners were not allowed to rehydrate after the race. The order of sb3DE and CMR examination was randomized.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sb3DE for the acquisition of RV dimension and function was feasible in all subjects. The decrease in mean body weight and the significant increase in hematocrit indicated dehydration. RV dimensions measured by CMR were consistently larger than measured by sb3DE.</p> <p>Neither sb3DE nor CMR showed a significant difference in the RV ejection fraction before and after exercise. CMR demonstrated a significant decrease in RV dimensions. Measured by sb3DE, this decrease of RV volumes was not significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>First, both methods agree well in the acquisition of systolic RV function. The dimensions of the RV measured by CMR are larger than measured by sb3DE. After exercise, the RV volumes decrease significantly when measured by CMR compared to baseline.</p> <p>Second, endurance exercise seems not to induce acute RV dysfunction in athletes without rehydration.</p

A Bayesian assessment of an approximate model for unconfined water flow in sloping layered porous media

The prediction of water table height in unconfined layered porous media is a difficult modelling problem that typically requires numerical simulation. This paper proposes an analytical model to approximate the exact solution based on a steady-state Dupuit–Forchheimer analysis. The key contribution in relation to a similar model in the literature relies in the ability of the proposed model to consider more than two layers with different thicknesses and slopes, so that the existing model becomes a special case of the proposed model herein. In addition, a model assessment methodology based on the Bayesian inverse problem is proposed to efficiently identify the values of the physical parameters for which the proposed model is accurate when compared against a reference model given by MODFLOW-NWT, the open-source finite-difference code by the U.S. Geological Survey. Based on numerical results for a representative case study, the ratio of vertical recharge rate to hydraulic conductivity emerges as a key parameter in terms of model accuracy so that, when appropriately bounded, both the proposed model and MODFLOW-NWT provide almost identical results

Differential Response to Soil Salinity in Endangered Key Tree Cactus: Implications for Survival in a Changing Climate

Understanding reasons for biodiversity loss is essential for developing conservation and management strategies and is becoming increasingly urgent with climate change. Growing at elevations <1.4 m in the Florida Keys, USA, the endangered Key tree cactus (Pilosocereus robinii) experienced 84 percent loss of total stems from 1994 to 2007. The most severe losses of 99 and 88 percent stems occurred in the largest populations in the Lower Keys, where nine storms with high wind velocities and storm surges, occurred during this period. In contrast, three populations had substantial stem proliferation. To evaluate possible mortality factors related to changes in climate or forest structure, we examined habitat variables: soil salinity, elevation, canopy cover, and habitat structure near 16 dying or dead and 18 living plants growing in the Lower Keys. Soil salinity and elevation were the preliminary factors that discriminated live and dead plants. Soil salinity was 1.5 times greater, but elevation was 12 cm higher near dead plants than near live plants. However, distribution-wide stem loss was not significantly related to salinity or elevation. Controlled salinity trials indicated that salt tolerance to levels above 40 mM NaCl was related to maternal origin. Salt sensitive plants from the Lower Keys had less stem growth, lower root:shoot ratios, lower potassium: sodium ratios and lower recovery rate, but higher δ 13C than a salt tolerant lineage of unknown origin. Unraveling the genetic structure of salt tolerant and salt sensitive lineages in the Florida Keys will require further genetic tests. Worldwide rare species restricted to fragmented, low-elevation island habitats, with little or no connection to higher ground will face challenges from climate change-related factors. These great conservation challenges will require traditional conservation actions and possibly managed relocation that must be informed by studies such as these

A nonlinear Lagrangian particle model for grains assemblies including grain relative rotations

International audienceWe formulate a discrete Lagrangian model for a set of interacting grains, which is purely elastic. The considered degrees of freedom for each grain include placement of barycenter and rotation. Further, we limit the study to the case of planar systems. A representative grain radius is introduced to express the deformation energy to be associated to relative displacements and rotations of interacting grains. We distinguish inter‐grains elongation/compression energy from inter‐grains shear and rotations energies, and we consider an exact finite kinematics in which grain rotations are independent of grain displacements. The equilibrium configurations of the grain assembly are calculated by minimization of deformation energy for selected imposed displacements and rotations at the boundaries. Behaviours of grain assemblies arranged in regular patterns, without and with defects, and similar mechanical properties are simulated. The values of shear, rotation, and compression elastic moduli are varied to investigate the shapes and thicknesses of the layers where deformation energy, relative displacement, and rotations are concentrated. It is found that these concentration bands are close to the boundaries and in correspondence of grain voids. The obtained results question the possibility of introducing a first gradient continuum models for granular media and justify the development of both numerical and theoretical methods for including frictional, plasticity, and damage phenomena in the proposed model