Detection of Varicella Zoster Virus in Multiple Sclerosis Patients and its Comparison with a Control Group by Polymerase Chain Reaction

Multiple sclerosis is one of the chronic diseases of the central nervous system. This disease appears more among young adults and women. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is regarded as a multifactorial disease. One principal and significant probability is that viruses may stimulate the immune system and lead to the occurrence of MS in the persons who are susceptible to the disease. The purpose of the execution of this study is to detect varicella zoster virus (VZV) in the patients afflicted with multiple sclerosis and its comparison with a control group. Blood samples from 83 MS patients and 100 healthy individuals were collected from Northern areas of Iran. DNA extraction was executed from blood by the kit and according to the instruction of the company. In order to make sure of the accuracy of the extracted DNA, the amplification of human beta-globin gene was used. Specific primers produced by TAG Copenhagen (Denmark) were used to amplify the viruses’ gene. At the end, chi-square(x2) statistical test was used to study the frequency of these viruses in the samples of MS patients and the control group and their relationship with each other. The findings of this study showed that 21 individuals (25%) of patients with MS and 9 individuals (9%) of the control group were positive to VZV virus. Statistical analysis represents a significant relationship between frequency of VZV and MS. The role of viral infections including VZV in the affliction with MS has been confirmed for about a decade. A number of studies have been succeeded in identification of genome of this virus in MS patients, but still more researches are required to perceive the relationship between viral infections and MS disease

Effect of sodium lactate /sodium diacetate in combination with sodium nitrite on physiochemical, microbial properties and sensory evaluation of cow sausage

Sodium nitrite has been always considered as one of the common additives due to its antibacterial effects on Clostridium botulinum and meat products' color, however it produces cancer creating nitrosamine. Recently, organic acids and their salts such as lactates have been employed as antimicrobial compounds. Lactates also improve organileptic properties including color, texture and taste and antioxidant properties. Sodium lactate causes to more reduction of anaerobic spore former bacteria than nitrite, inhibits botulin produced by Clostridium botulinum. Sodium lactate produces a permanent reddish pink color through reduction of deoxymygloboline and producing deoxymyoglobuline. In this study, the decrease of sodium nitrite amount from 120ppm to 15ppm by adding sodium lactate / sodium diacetate led to achieve an acceptable product. The best results revealed through adding 3.0625% of sodium lactate / sodium diacetate in combination with 30ppm sodium nitrite. Results also exhibited more reduction of pathogens' growth than nitrite, enhanced flavor slightly, but unable to produce reddish pink color as produced by nitrite. Results also exhibited  that sodium lactate / diacetate cause to retard in microbial growth, reducing chemical change, enhance sensory properties, partially improvement in taste and texture. Although inappropriate color demonstrated sodium lactate / diacetate's inability in red pink color production in 4th sample (contains 15 ppm nitrite), its synergy effect in combination with sodium nitrite on nitroso myoglobuline production has been proven, led to sodium nitrite reduction in sausages

Caudal Duplication Syndrome: A Case Report of Challenging Imaging Findings and Management

Caudal duplication syndrome is a rare congenital disease caused by duplication of cloaca and notochord embryonic structures in various forms. The estimated prevalence of this syndrome is 1 per 100,000 births. A range of anomalies is observed in urinary and gastrointestinal tracts as well as in skeletal and neural structures of the spine and even limbs of these patients. Various factors such as genetic disorders and conjoined twinning have been mentioned in etiology of the disease. We introduce a case of this rare disease referred to our center for imaging as an infant with increased soft tissue in perineum without excretion of meconium from birth but with evidence of duplication in the genitourinary system (vagina and urethra) and gastrointestinal tract (rectum and colon) that was subject to reconstructive surgery

The prophylactic effect of hydroxychloroquine on the severity of COVID-19 infection in an asymptomatic population: A randomized clinical trial

Background: Laboratory and observational data suggest that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has biological activity against SARS-CoV-2, potentially permitting its use for disease prevention. This study aimed to evaluate the hydroxychloroquine effect as prophylaxis for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: In this double-blind randomized controlled trial,  1000  healthy people without any signs and symptoms of COVID-19 were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either 800 mg hydroxychloroquine or placebo (four 200 mg tablets in two divided doses on day 1 of the first week, followed by 200 mg (in a single dose) weekly for the next 6 weeks). Results: Among 871 participants who remained and followed within 10 weeks 97(11.1%) became SARS-CoV-2 positive. there were statistically significant differences between infected or non-infected in the hydroxychloroquine (36 of 97 [37.1%]) and placebo (61 of 97 [62.9 %]) groups with a risk ratio of 2.1 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01 - 3.21; p = 0.005). The incidence of severe forms of COVID-19 ( hospitalized in the coronavirus ward or the ICU) was 2 of 97 (0.02 %) in participants who received a placebo compared to hydroxychloroquine. The proportion of non-infected people who received hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis was nearly twice higher than that of placebo users (1.87, 95% CI: 1.19 - 2.84, p = 0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding side effects (1.1% vs. 0.9%), and no severe adverse reactions were observed. Conclusion: Pre-exposure therapy with hydroxychloroquine appears to prevent moderate and severe illness caused by COVID-19 in asymptomatic persons

National and sub-national trend of prevalence and burden of dementia in Iran, from 1990 to 2013; Study protocol

Background: Dementia is a disabling syndrome, which generally affects aged population more than any other age groups. This syndrome has a growing prevalence and incidence worldwide. The prevalence and burden of this group of diseases in Iran have not been estimated in a community-based study yet. This paper aims to explain the systematic approach, data sources, research methodology, and statistical analysis that will be used to quantify the prevalence and burden of dementia at national and sub-national levels. Methods: This is the protocol of a secondary data study that explains the design and method of conducting the study. We will use several sources of data that will include a systematic review of articles and gray literature which have reported the prevalence or incidence of dementia and its uncertainty at national and sub-national levels in Iran, in addition to data about dementia-specific drug sales per each year at provincial levels, as well as data extracted from 23 million health insurance prescriptions over 8 years and some data from medical documents of Iranian Alzheimer's Association members. The technical groups of National and Sub-national Burden of Disease will collect some covariate data, such as age and sex structure of population, urbanization status, mean years of schooling, plasma cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure at provincial levels which will be used in our models. Two statistical models, namely spatio-temporal and hierarchical autoregressive models, will be used for interpolation and extrapolation of missing data. Conclusion: It seems that the study of national and subnational burden of dementia could provide more accurate estimation of prevalence and burden of dementia in Iran with an acceptable level of uncertainty than the previous studies

Cytotoxicity and immunogenicity evaluation of synthetic cell-penetrating peptides for methotrexate delivery

Methotrexate (MTX) is one of the most effective therapeutics to treat different types of solid tumors; however, it suffers low permeability limiting its bioavailability and cellular uptake. To tackle this, we aim to design and fabricate different types of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) to improve the intracellular uptake of MTX without causing any immunogenic response. CPPs were synthesized by the solid-phase peptide synthesis method. Peptide-MTX conjugates were prepared via covalent binding of peptide and drug molecule. CPPs and peptide-E8 nanoparticles were characterized using zeta-sizer and scanning electron microscopy. Cytotoxicity of CPPs and peptide-MTX conjugates was evaluated by MTT assay. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was employed to assess the IL-6 and TNF-α cytokine release profile. Amongst all sequences, W4 R4-MTX possessed the highest loading efficiency (97%) and drug to peptide percentage (24.02%). The lowest loading efficiency (36%) and drug to peptide percentage (8.76%) were seen for NGRWK-MTX conjugates. The NGRWR peptide and NGRWR-E8 nanoparticles had acceptable size (~100 nm) with spherical and rod-like structures, respectively. The selected CPPs and peptide-MTX conjugates did not show any cytotoxicity or immunogenicity. The fabricated peptides are represented as promising carriers to improve the intracellular delivery of MTX to cancer cells with low immunogenic and cytotoxic effects on normal cells

Mapping child growth failure across low- and middle-income countries

Child growth failure (CGF), manifested as stunting, wasting, and underweight, is associated with high 5 mortality and increased risks of cognitive, physical, and metabolic impairments. Children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face the highest levels of CGF globally. Here we illustrate national and subnational variation of under-5 CGF indicators across LMICs, providing 2000–2017 annual estimates mapped at a high spatial resolution and aggregated to policy-relevant administrative units and national levels. Despite remarkable declines over the study period, many LMICs remain far from the World Health 10 Organization’s ambitious Global Nutrition Targets to reduce stunting by 40% and wasting to less than 5% by 2025. Large disparities in prevalence and rates of progress exist across regions, countries, and within countries; our maps identify areas where high prevalence persists even within nations otherwise succeeding in reducing overall CGF prevalence. By highlighting where subnational disparities exist and the highest-need populations reside, these geospatial estimates can support policy-makers in planning locally 15 tailored interventions and efficient directing of resources to accelerate progress in reducing CGF and its health implications

Mapping disparities in education across low- and middle-income countries

Analyses of the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017 reveal inequalities across countries as well as within populations. Educational attainment is an important social determinant of maternal, newborn, and child health(1-3). As a tool for promoting gender equity, it has gained increasing traction in popular media, international aid strategies, and global agenda-setting(4-6). The global health agenda is increasingly focused on evidence of precision public health, which illustrates the subnational distribution of disease and illness(7,8); however, an agenda focused on future equity must integrate comparable evidence on the distribution of social determinants of health(9-11). Here we expand on the available precision SDG evidence by estimating the subnational distribution of educational attainment, including the proportions of individuals who have completed key levels of schooling, across all low- and middle-income countries from 2000 to 2017. Previous analyses have focused on geographical disparities in average attainment across Africa or for specific countries, but-to our knowledge-no analysis has examined the subnational proportions of individuals who completed specific levels of education across all low- and middle-income countries(12-14). By geolocating subnational data for more than 184 million person-years across 528 data sources, we precisely identify inequalities across geography as well as within populations.Peer reviewe

Burden of injury along the development spectrum : associations between the Socio-demographic Index and disability-adjusted life year estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background The epidemiological transition of non-communicable diseases replacing infectious diseases as the main contributors to disease burden has been well documented in global health literature. Less focus, however, has been given to the relationship between sociodemographic changes and injury. The aim of this study was to examine the association between disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from injury for 195 countries and territories at different levels along the development spectrum between 1990 and 2017 based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 estimates. Methods Injury mortality was estimated using the GBD mortality database, corrections for garbage coding and CODEm-the cause of death ensemble modelling tool. Morbidity estimation was based on surveys and inpatient and outpatient data sets for 30 cause-of-injury with 47 nature-of-injury categories each. The Socio-demographic Index (SDI) is a composite indicator that includes lagged income per capita, average educational attainment over age 15 years and total fertility rate. Results For many causes of injury, age-standardised DALY rates declined with increasing SDI, although road injury, interpersonal violence and self-harm did not follow this pattern. Particularly for self-harm opposing patterns were observed in regions with similar SDI levels. For road injuries, this effect was less pronounced. Conclusions The overall global pattern is that of declining injury burden with increasing SDI. However, not all injuries follow this pattern, which suggests multiple underlying mechanisms influencing injury DALYs. There is a need for a detailed understanding of these patterns to help to inform national and global efforts to address injury-related health outcomes across the development spectrum.Peer reviewe

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations