A Validation of a Self-directed Learning Readiness Scale Among Preliminary Schoolteachers in Esfahan

AbstractThe current research is a descriptive survey with the goal of evaluation of the reliability and validity of Fisher, King and Tague (2001) self-directed learning scale. Its statistical population comprised all preliminary schoolteachers of Esfahan, Iran, in the academic year 2010–2011.the reliability coefficient was calculated via Cronbach's α (0.88). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used in order to evaluate the validity; according to the results, and taking into account the index of fit, the model proved to be approximately fit. Finally, this scale can be used in order to evaluate self-directed learning among teachers in various researches

Implications on the Therapeutic Potential of Statins via Modulation of Autophagy

Statins, which are functionally known as 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) inhibitors, are lipid-lowering compounds widely prescribed in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Several biological and therapeutic functions have been attributed to statins, including neuroprotection, antioxidation, anti-inflammation, and anticancer effects. Pharmacological characteristics of statins have been attributed to their involvement in the modulation of several cellular signaling pathways. Over the past few years, the therapeutic role of statins has partially been attributed to the induction of autophagy, which is critical in maintaining cellular homeostasis and accounts for the removal of unfavorable cells or specific organelles within cells. Dysregulated mechanisms of the autophagy pathway have been attributed to the etiopathogenesis of various disorders, including neurodegenerative disorders, malignancies, infections, and even aging. Autophagy functions as a double-edged sword during tumor metastasis. On the one hand, it plays a role in inhibiting metastasis through restricting necrosis of tumor cells, suppressing the infiltration of the inflammatory cell to the tumor niche, and generating the release of mediators that induce potent immune responses against tumor cells. On the other hand, autophagy has also been associated with promoting tumor metastasis. Several anticancer medications which are aimed at inducing autophagy in the tumor cells are related to statins. This review article discusses the implications of statins in the induction of autophagy and, hence, the treatment of various disorders

Low Level Laser Therapy in Management of Complications after Intra Oral Surgeries

One of the basic purposes in dental treatment is providing a painless treatment for patients. This purpose may be achieved by the application of laser in dentistry. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is an internationally accepted title for biomodulation with low-level lasers which we use to achieve ideal therapeutic effects. Low-level laser therapy is a painless, reproducible, non-invasive, and without need of anesthesia treatment which is used to treat a variety of pain syndromes, injuries, wounds, fractures, neurological conditions and pathologies. Laser therapy works on the principle of inducing a biological response through energy transfer. The parameters that used in laser therapy determine the effective depth of penetration. We can mention anti-inflammatory effects, stimulation of wound healing, stimulation of immune system, increase of blood flow and activation of vasodilatation, increase of cellular metabolism and analgesic effects as advantages of the application of this type of laser. The aim of this review study was to evaluate the effect of low-level laser therapy after oral surgeries

The Performance of Health Information Management Department in Valiassr Hospital

Introduction: With regard to the importance of Health Information Management in improvement of health care services, this study was done to determine the performance of Health Information Management Department of Valiasr hospital of Tehran city in 2017. Methods: This mix-method study was done in 2017. For data collection in quantitative study, a valid and reliable check list and in qualitative study, 8 interviews were used. Excel 2013 and MAXQDA were used for the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data respectively. Results: According to the results, medical coding ward had poorer performance than other wards (2.37 out of 3). The problems of Health Information Management Department of Valiassr hospital were categorized in five main categories including organizational, human resources, financial, infrastructural and hardware and knowledge and professional categories. Also, scan of main sheets was the most important performed activity. Conclusion: With regard to the results of the present study, it is suggested that policy makers pay special attention to Health Information Management

Design and Evaluation of a Mobile-Based Application for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Case Study of Shariati Hospital in Tehran, Iran

Background: With regard to the particularly high prevalence, cost, and number of disabilities associated with diabetes, increasing patients’ knowledge and skills for managing the disease can help minimize the risks of complications. Objective: The present study aimed to design and evaluate a mobile-based application with which patients with type 2 diabetes can increase their knowledge of and skills for managing their disease. Methods: The current developmental-applied study was conducted in 2016 in a library and used a 2-step sectional format. The research population comprised 15 physicians and endocrinologists working in medical centers associated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences and 20 physicians and patients. Based on the library study, a checklist was designed and then distributed among participants. Their responses were analyzed using SPSS software version 20. Results: The data was divided into 4 main sections: identity information (patient demographics), clinical information, education curriculum related to diabetes management, and program requirements for diabetes management, which consisted of 52 subsets. The evaluation of the system by doctors and patients showed that the system has high capabilities. Conclusion: Mobile-based programs can help diabetics control blood glucose levels, reduce diabetes complications, and promote overall health

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The potential of mitochondrial modulation by neuroglobin in treatment of neurological disorders

Neuroglobin is the third member of the globin family to be identified in 2000 in neurons of both human and mouse nervous systems. Neuroglobin is an oxygen-binding globin found in neurons within the central nervous system as well as in peripheral neurons, that produces a protective effect against hypoxic/ischemic damage induced by promoting oxygen availability within the mitochondria. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that impaired neuroglobin functioning is implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple neurodegenerative disorders. Several in vitro and animal studies have reported the potential of neuroglobin upregulation in improving the neuroprotection through modulation of mitochondrial functions, such as ATP production, clearing reactive oxygen species (ROS), promoting the dynamics of mitochondria, and controlling apoptosis. Neuroglobin acts as a stress-inducible globin, which has been associated hypoxic/ischemic insults where it acts to protect the heart and brain, providing a wide range of applicability in the treatment of human disorders. This review article discusses normal physiological functions of neuroglobin in mitochondria-associated pathways, as well as outlining how dysregulation of neuroglobin is associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders