Health promotion behaviors and quality of life among elderly in West area in Tehran-Iran 2006: A cross-sectional survey

As individuals live longer, health promotion behaviors become even more important, particularly with regard to maintaining functional independence and improving quality of life (QoL).The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between health promotion behaviors and QoL in west area in Tehran-Iran. This study was a descriptive-correlational study to explore the relationship between health promotion behaviors and QoL among elderly in west area in Tehran-Iran. A convenience sample of 410 community residents who were over 60 years old and cognitively intact were selected from 6 regions in west of Teran. Participants who consented to participate in the study were interviewed by trained interviewers with a structured questionnaire. The results of the study showed that there were statistically significant differences in QoL of the elderly related to exercise, Low salt& fat diet, drinking milk, consumption of dairy and meat, consumption fresh vegetables and fruits, Health check-up, BP check-up (p<.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that Economic status, Perceived health status, hypertension, cancer, mental disorder, visual disorder, number of chronic illnesses, exercise, low fat diet, consumption fresh vegetables and fruits, ADLs were statistically significant predictors of QoL. R2 for this whole regression model was .416, indicating that approximately 41.6 of the variance in QoL was accounted for by the linear combination of these variables. Nurses should enhance the QoL in elderly persons by facilitating health promotion behaviors through formal nursing interventions which will maintain and increase a healthy and active life. © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2007

Comparison of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection in Children with Different Grades of Vesicoureteral Reflux

Background and Objective: Urinary reflux is the most common urological abnormality in children. About half of the children with urinary infection have urinary reflux at the same time. Considering the importance of urinary reflux in children and contradictory results reported regarding the relationship between different grades of vesicoureteral reflux and recurrent urinary tract infection, this study was conducted with the aim of comparing recurrent urinary tract infection in children with different grades of vesicoureteral reflux. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 children with pyelonephritis and vesicoureteral reflux who refered to Amirkola Children's Hospital in 2011-2019. Reflux grades were determined by voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) or direct radionuclide cystography (DRNC). Children were followed up for 2 years and in case of clinical symptoms with positive urine culture, they were considered as recurrent urinary tract infection. Findings: Of the 150 children studied, 126 (84%) were girls and 24 (16%) were boys with a mean age of 27.17±11.53 months. 95 people (63.3%) had once, 37 people (24.7%) twice, 8 people (5.3%) three times, and 10 people (6.7%) four times experience of recurrent urinary tract infection. The odds ratio of recurrent urinary tract infection was more than two times higher in children with grade 3 and 4 reflux involvement than in children with grade 1 and 2 reflux (OR=3.20, 95% CI=1.05-9.75, p=0.041). However, there was no significant difference in recurrent urinary tract infection in children based on age at diagnosis, gender, and whether the reflux was unilateral or bilateral. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that children with moderate and severe involvement of vesicoureteral reflux experience higher recurrent urinary tract infection compared to mild involvement

Multicentre randomised placebo-controlled trial of oral anticoagulation with apixaban in systemic sclerosis-related pulmonary arterial hypertension: the SPHInX study protocol

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a severe and costly multiorgan autoimmune connective tissue disease characterised by vasculopathy and fibrosis. One of the major causes of SSc-related death is pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), which develops in 12–15% of patients with SSc and accounts for 30– 40% of deaths. In situ thrombosis in the small calibre peripheral pulmonary vessels resulting from endothelial dysfunction and an imbalance of anticoagulant and prothrombotic mediators has been implicated in the complex pathophysiology of SSc-related PAH (SSc- PAH), with international clinical guidelines recommending the use of anticoagulants for some types of PAH, such as idiopathic PAH. However, anticoagulation has not become part of standard clinical care for patients with SSc-PAH as only observational evidence exists to support its use. Therefore, we present the rationale and methodology of a phase III randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of anticoagulation in SSc-PAH. Methods and analysis: This Australian multicentre RCT will compare 2.5 mg apixaban with placebo, in parallel treatment groups randomised in a 1:1 ratio, both administered twice daily for 3 years as adjunct therapy to stable oral PAH therapy. The composite primary outcome measure will be the time to death or clinical worsening of PAH. Secondary outcomes will include functional capacity, health-related quality of life measures and adverse events. A cost-effectiveness analysis of anticoagulation versus placebo will also be undertaken. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval for this RCT has been granted by the Human Research Ethics Committees of all participating centres. An independent data safety monitoring board will review safety and tolerability data for the duration of the trial. The findings of this RCT are to be published in open access journals.Alicia Calderone, Wendy Stevens, David Prior, Harshal Nandurkar, Eli Gabbay, Susanna M Proudman, Trevor Williams, David Celermajer, Joanne Sahhar, Peter K K Wong, Vivek Thakkar, Nathan Dwyer, Jeremy Wrobel, Weng Chin, Danny Liew, Margaret Staples, Rachelle Buchbinder, Mandana Nikpou

Pragmatics of Yes/No Indirect-responses (YNIRs)

AbstractHow do people transmit information with “question-answer” structures? What happens when a speaker utters a meaningful question and the hearer understands it? The present paper focuses on YNIRs in terms of (a) a radical lack of consensus about their potential in production of messages in interpersonal communication; (b) the ways in which they are used to establish and maintain coherent conversation, and (c) to what extent commentary, and supplementary indirect responses can invoke goal (in) compatibility, and how this kind of conflict can prevent stagnation, stimulate interest, and finally contribute to “escalation” of mutual understanding. Although the functional horizons of general questions and the answers to them vary from context to context, the addressee can “control” his judgements and attitudes (apology, ignorance, consent, or refusal) by his deeper exposure to the situation, what, in the end, enables his affiliation with others. The other major concern of the paper is to specify the cases when the pragmatic interpretation of questionless responses is defined as unification of the semantic representation and the internal utterance context

MicroRNAs-mediated regulation of the differentiation of dental pulp-derived mesenchymal stem cells: a systematic review and bioinformatic analysis

Background: Human dental pulp-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hDP-MSCs), which include human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHEDs), are promising cell sources for regenerative therapies. Nevertheless, a lack of knowledge relating to the mechanisms regulating their differentiation has limited their clinical application. microRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulatory molecules in cellular processes including cell differentiation. This systematic review aims to provide a panel of miRNAs that regulate the differentiation of hDP-MSCs including hDPSCs and SHEDs. Additionally, bioinformatic analyses were conducted to discover target genes, signaling pathways and gene ontologies associated with the identified miRNAs. Methods: A literature search was performed in MEDLINE (via PubMed), Web of Science, Scopus, Embase and Cochrane Library. Experimental studies assessing the promotive/suppressive effect of miRNAs on the differentiation of hDP-MSCs and studies evaluating changes to the expression of miRNAs during the differentiation of hDP-MSCs were included. miRNAs involved in odontogenic/osteogenic differentiation were then included in a bioinformatic analysis. A miRNA-mRNA network was constructed, and Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses were performed. A protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was also constructed. Results: Of 766 initially identified records through database searching, 42 and 36 studies were included in qualitative synthesis and bioinformatic analyses, respectively. Thirteen miRNAs promoted and 17 suppressed odontogenic/osteogenic differentiation of hDP-MSCs. hsa-miR-140-5p, hsa-miR-218 and hsa-miR-143 were more frequently reported suppressing the odontogenic/osteogenic differentiation of hDP-MSCs. hsa-miR-221 and hsa-miR-124 promoted and hsa-miR-140-5p inhibited neuronal differentiation, hsa-miR-26a-5p promoted and hsa-miR-424 suppressed angiogenic differentiation, and hsa-miR-135 and hsa-miR-143 inhibited differentiation within myogenic lineages. A miRNA-mRNA network including 1890 nodes and 2171 edges was constructed. KEGG pathway analysis revealed MAPK, PI3K-Akt and FoxO as key signaling pathways involved in the odontogenic/osteogenic differentiation of hDP-MSCs. Conclusions: The findings of this systematic review support the potential application of the specific miRNAs to regulate the directed differentiation of hDP-MSCs in the field of regenerative therapies

The study of feeding, reproduction and biological parameters of kilka fishes in the Iranian waters of the Caspian Sea

The overfishing and changing environmental following the introduction of the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Caspian Sea, the population structure has a strong influence on kilka fishes in the Caspian Sea and therefore to in this investigation which had been done in commercial catch regions (where discharged theirs catch) in three ports Babolsar, Amirabad (in mazandaran) and Anzali (in Guilan), stimated catch and catch per unit effort, the age structur of catch, length- weight relationship, von Bertalanffy growth parameters, condition factor, sex ratios, maturity stags, spawning and feeding. The result shown that catch of kilka in Iranian coastal in 2012 decreased from 24080 ton to 22696 ton in 2013. But CPUE increased was 2.7 ton (Vessel ×Night) and there was no significant changes. Common kilka was the predominant all months of the year, 98.1 and 98.9 percent in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The mean length was 104.4±10.5 and 101.6±11.2 at the same time and range length 92/ 5 – 117/5 mm were the dominant population(about 75%). Relative abundance of fish less than 77.5 mm and more than 127.5 mm is very low. Age abundance during this period have not been substantially changed and always fishes with 3 and 4 year olds had the highest frequency73.6 and 73.5 percent respectively. The parameters of the Von Bertalanffy growth curve were (8.141) 048.1 for common kilka. The instantaneous coefficient of natural mortality (M) was 0.506 yr-1. The instantaneous coefficient of fihing mortality and total mortality were 0.694 yr-1 and 1.2 yr^-1 , respectively. The exploitation rate of common kilka varied during 2012-2013 between 0.41-0.50. The mean condition factor 1.41±0.14 (n=5801) and 1.38±0.16 (n=6754) at the same time respectively. According to statistical analysis Anova oneway were a significant difference between condition factor at the same time . Main prey common kilka was Acartia tonsa accounting for over 80%. It seems Common kilka due to a decrease in the frequency of other zooplankton species depend more than ever on Acartia tonsa and this species is probably a concentration of prey for Common kilka

Patient-reported outcome instruments for assessing Raynaud’s phenomenon in systemic sclerosis:A SCTC vascular working group report

The episodic nature of Raynaud’s phenomenon in systemic sclerosis has led to a reliance on patient-reported outcome instruments such as the Raynaud’s Condition Score diary. Little is known about the utilization in routine clinical practice and health professional attitudes toward existing patient-reported outcome instruments for assessing systemic sclerosis- Raynaud’s phenomenon. Members of the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium Vascular Working Group (n = 28) were invited to participate in a survey gauging attitudes toward the Raynaud’s Condition Score diary and the perceived need for novel patient-reported outcome instruments for assessing patient-reported outcome. Nineteen Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium Vascular Working Group members (68% response rate) from academic units based in North America (n = 9), Europe (n = 8), South America (n = 1) and Australasia (n = 1) took part in the survey. There was broad consensus that Raynaud’s Condition Score diary returns could be influenced by factors including seasonal variation in weather, efforts made by patients to avoid or ameliorate attacks of Raynaud’s phenomenon, habituation to Raynaud’s phenomenon symptoms, evolution of Raynaud’s phenomenon symptom characteristics with progressive obliterative microangiopathy, patient-coping strategies, respondent burden and placebo effect. There was consensus that limitations of the Raynaud’s Condition Score diary might be a barrier to drug development (79% of respondents agree/strongly agree) and that a novel patient-reported outcome instrument for assessing systemic sclerosis-Raynaud’s phenomenon should be developed with the input of both clinicians and patients (84% agree/strongly agree). Perceived potential limitations of the Raynaud’s Condition Score diary have been identified along with concerns that such factors might impede drug development programs for systemic sclerosis-Raynaud’s phenomenon. There is support within the systemic sclerosis community for the development of a novel patient-reported outcome instrument for assessing systemic sclerosis-Raynaud’s phenomenon.</p

Cryptic splicing events in the iron transporter ABCB7 and other key target genes in SF3B1-mutant myelodysplastic syndromes.

The splicing factor SF3B1 is the most frequently mutated gene in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and is strongly associated with the presence of ring sideroblasts (RS). We have performed a systematic analysis of cryptic splicing abnormalities from RNA sequencing data on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) of SF3B1-mutant MDS cases with RS. Aberrant splicing events in many downstream target genes were identified and cryptic 3' splice site usage was a frequent event in SF3B1-mutant MDS. The iron transporter ABCB7 is a well-recognized candidate gene showing marked downregulation in MDS with RS. Our analysis unveiled aberrant ABCB7 splicing, due to usage of an alternative 3' splice site in MDS patient samples, giving rise to a premature termination codon in the ABCB7 mRNA. Treatment of cultured SF3B1-mutant MDS erythroblasts and a CRISPR/Cas9-generated SF3B1-mutant cell line with the nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) inhibitor cycloheximide showed that the aberrantly spliced ABCB7 transcript is targeted by NMD. We describe cryptic splicing events in the HSCs of SF3B1-mutant MDS, and our data support a model in which NMD-induced downregulation of the iron exporter ABCB7 mRNA transcript resulting from aberrant splicing caused by mutant SF3B1 underlies the increased mitochondrial iron accumulation found in MDS patients with RS

The survey of Khandaghloo dam reservoir of Mahneshan city of Zanjan province

Reservoirs are one of the most constructions for control and water supply for different usage that could have various social an economical effects. The Khandaghloo dam reservoir with area of 100 ha located in Mahneshan city of Zanjan province and related to Parichay river watershed. Khandaghloo reservoir is valuable water body that the aim of its establishment was supply of water for agriculture farms. The reservoir has been studied for responsible and sustainable fisheries exploitation proposes. Results showed that the reservoir categorizes as eutroph to super eutroph based on different indices.Also phosphorous is limiting factor of the water body.Totally 42 genera from 6 phyla including green-blue algae cyanophyta, diatoms (Bacillariophyta), green algae, chlorophyta, euglenophyta, pyrrophyta and xanthophyta has been identified and cyanophyta was the dominant group that comprise 74.3 % of phytoplankton population. The zooplankton of the reservoir comprised 4 phyla and 20 genera. 1 genera of the protozoa and rhizopoda, 1 genra of the ciliophora ,15 genera of rotatoria, 2 genera of cladocera has been identified in zooplankton communities. Tubificidae and chironomidae has been identified in all months of the survey. The mean total length of crayfish was 130.5±20.5 mm ( 636) and mean weight was measured as 69.4±34.1 g with maximum and minimum weight of 1.9 and 207.2 g respectively .Total biomass of crayfish in Khandaghloo reservoir estimated as 3.4 tones with a range of 1.1–5.7 tones. But it is recommended not to harvest for at least two year due to high mortality of the populations.The fishes of the reservoir comprised common carp Chinese carp (silver carp, big head and grass carp) (released), Caspian kutum (accidentally released by fishery sector) and some endemic species as Siamahii. The catch of the reservoir fluctuated between 8 to 26 tones during 2000-2010.The fish production of Khandaghloo reservoir ranged from 167 to 324 kg/ha based on different methods that by consideration of 100 ha area of the reservoir, the total production of fish fluctuated between 16.7 to 32.4 tones. The fingerling restocking of Chinese carp in Khandaghloo reservoir with density of 1500 fingerling/ha recommended as 68% of phytoplanktonivorous fish (silver carp) ,12% zooplanktonivorous fish (big head), 6.6% of Crass carp and 10% of benthophagous fish (common carp)

Two Major Autoantibody Clusters in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease of complex clinical presentation and etiology and is likely influenced by numerous genetic and environmental factors. While a large number of susceptibility genes have been identified, the production of antibodies against a distinct subset of nuclear proteins remains a primary distinguishing characteristic in disease diagnosis. However, the utility of autoantibody biomarkers for disease sub-classification and grouping remains elusive, in part, because of the difficulty in large scale profiling using a uniform, quantitative platform. In the present study serological profiles of several known SLE antigens, including Sm-D3, RNP-A, RNP-70k, Ro52, Ro60, and La, as well as other cytokine and neuronal antigens were obtained using the luciferase immunoprecipitation systems (LIPS) approach. The resulting autoantibody profiles revealed that 88% of a pilot cohort and 98% of a second independent cohort segregated into one of two distinct clusters defined by autoantibodies against Sm/anti-RNP or Ro/La autoantigens, proteins often involved in RNA binding activities. The Sm/RNP cluster was associated with a higher prevalence of serositis in comparison to the Ro/La cluster (P = 0.0022). However, from the available clinical information, no other clinical characteristics were associated with either cluster. In contrast, evaluation of autoantibodies on an individual basis revealed an association between anti-Sm (P = 0.006), RNP-A (P = 0.018) and RNP-70k (P = 0.010) autoantibodies and mucocutaneous symptoms and between anti-RNP-70k and musculoskeletal manifestations (P = 0.059). Serologically active, but clinically quiescent disease also had a higher prevalence of anti-IFN-α autoantibodies. Based on our findings that most SLE patients belong to either a Sm/RNP or Ro/La autoantigen cluster, these results suggest the possibility that alterations in RNA-RNA-binding protein interactions may play a critical role in triggering and/or the pathogenesis of SLE