Short-term side effects of low dose valproate monotherapy in epileptic children: a prospective study

Objectives: Considering the common use of valproate among children, we investigated short-term side-effects of low dose valproate monotherapy in epileptic children.Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, 209 epileptic children (48.3% male, mean age: 7.02 ± 3.13 years) on low therapeutic dose of valproate monotherapy (20-30 mg/Kg/daily) were enrolled and side-effects were evaluated through frequent clinical visits and laboratory tests during 6 months.Results: Weight gain was reported in 53.1% of patients. Decreased appetite was seen in 11% of patients, more frequent in younger cases (P=0.006). Abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation were reported in 16.3%, 2.4%, 1.4%, and 1% of patients, respectively. Headache, tremor, dizziness, abnormal color vision, myoclonus, and bruxism were seen in 5.7%, 1.4%, 1%, 1%, 1%, and 0.5% of patients, respectively. Enuresis, hair loss, and skin rash were reported in 8.1%, 6.7%, and 0.5% of patients, respectively. Thrombocytopenia, impaired liver function tests, and leukopenia occurred in 1%, 1%, and 0.5% of patients, respectively.Conclusions: low dose valproate monotherapy may cause numerous side-effects, mostly not life-threatening and requiring no action. Besides more reported complications, we observed decreased appetite (among younger patients), enuresis, and abnormal color vision which have been briefly discussed in the literature and need to be addressed more

A genetic polymorphism in the CYP1B1 gene in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus: an Iranian Mashhad cohort study recruited over 10 years

Background: Esophageal-cancer is the seventh most common-cause of cancer-related-deaths in men. Cytochrome-P450-family-1-subfamily-B-polypeptide-1 (CYP1B1) plays a role in the metabolism of xenobiotics, and is associated with several cancers. Here we investigated the association between a genetic-variant, CYP1B1-rs1056836, with the clinical-characteristics of patients with esophagus-squamous-cell-carcinoma (ESCC). Method: 117-patients with ESCC and 208 healthy-subjects were recruited. DNA was extracted and genotyped. Kaplan-Meier curves were utilized to assess overall and progression-free survival. The relationship between clinicopathological-data, disease-prognosis, and survival, were evaluated with the genotypes. Results: the genotypic frequency for GG, GC, and CC were 58.6%, 29.8%, 11.5% respectively in the healthy subjects and 51.8%, 36.14% and 12% in the ESCC group. An association between the GG genotype and stage of ESCC was found. Conclusion: Our findings suggest a relationship between the CYP1B1-rs1056836 genetic polymorphism and clinical features of ESCC, supporting further studies in larger-populations in different-ethnic groups, taking into account potentially important environmental-factors

Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-Adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2017 : A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study

Importance: Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. Objective: To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. Evidence Review: We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-Adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. Findings: In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). Conclusions and Relevance: The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care. © 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

An Investigation of Parenting Style in Jalal Al-e Ahmad’ novel “The School Principal” Based on Diana Baumrind’s Theory

Parenting style is one of the significant approaches in the field of psychology which deals with the importance of the role of parents and the way they interact with their children. In the 1960s, Diana Baumrind identified four main types of parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. Each of these styles takes a distinct approach to raising and interacting with children on the part of parents. One of the most well-known authors of contemporary fiction, Jalal Al-e Ahmed, using caustic humor explored in the book “The School Principle” how to raise children, how to educate them, and how parents might help their children improve their social skills. In the present study, we investigated the parenting style in Al-e Ahmed's novel “The school principal” through a descriptive-analytical approach. The findings of the study reveals that this novel among the four types offered by Baumrind, can be examined based on the authoritarian parenting style. Furthermore, its elements lead us to positive and beneficial implications for parenting education in the  Extended Abstract Parenting style is one of the significant approaches in the field of psychology which deals with the importance of the role of parents and the way they interact with their children. In the 1960s, Diana Baumrind identified four main types of parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved. Each of these styles takes a distinct approach to raising and interacting with children on the part of parents. One of the most well-known authors of contemporary fiction, Jalal Al-e Ahmed, using caustic humor explored in the book “The School Principle” how to raise children, how to educate them, and how parents might help their children improve their social skills. Considering to the importance of parenting and the ability to analyze literary texts based on this theory, no research has been conducted on examining contemporary narrative literature, especially the story of the school principal, based on parenting styles.  In this research, through a descriptive-analytical method, we aim to understand how the story of “The School Principal” describes and explains the role of the family as the primary center of child rearing based on parenting style, what cultural, social, and educational factors play a role in the target work, and how the story aligns with which of the parenting styles. It seems that, considering that the story narrates the educational situation and the cultural and social conditions of students, the role of parents as another key component in child rearing and their interaction with them is depicted as bilateral and mutual. Also, the economic and social factors of individuals have a direct relationship with the educational and cultural conditions of children. The findings of the research indicate that, based on this perspective and examining the story of the school principal by Jalal Al-e Ahmad, this work is investigable and researchable based on the authoritative parenting style.  Al-e Ahmad, by portraying poor families, parents with low levels of education, their neglect of children, unfavorable living conditions in terms of education and livelihood, and the cultural and social situation as well as the psychological characteristics of children in the story of the school principal and other works related to parenting that were addressed in this research, seeks to demonstrate that the parents of students, who are mostly from the lower strata of society, often behave violently and harshly toward their children, in addition to unfavorable economic and health conditions. Their disregard and use of force towards children diminishes the level of self-confidence and self-belief in children, of which a part is due to the lack of awareness of the right parenting methods and acquiring necessary skills in the field of appropriate parenting styles

Modeling health-oriented behavior patterns based on abnormal personality traits with mediating role of health beliefs in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic

Background. Paying attention to the spread of Corona in the last few years and the problems related to the health of hospital employees is very important. This research was conducted with the aim of modeling health-oriented behavior patterns based on abnormal personality traits with mediating role of health beliefs in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. The research method of this study was descriptive-correlation and structural equation modeling. The statistical population included the personnel of Al-Zahra State Hospital in Isfahan, of which 385 people were selected based on a convenience sampling method. The research tools included the personality abnormal dimensions questionnaire (PID-5), the health belief scale and health-oriented behavioral patterns. Pearson's correlation coefficient (with SPSS.23 software) and structural equation modeling (SMART PLS.3) were used for data analysis. Results. There was a relationship between abnormal personality traits and health-oriented behavior patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic period (β=0.47 and P<0.01). There was a relationship between health beliefs and health-oriented behavioral patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic period (β=0.223 and P<0.01). However, the mediating role of health beliefs in the relationship between abnormal personality traits and health-oriented behavioral patterns was not significant (β=0.026 and P<0.05). Conclusion. Abnormal personality traits had a direct effect on health-oriented behavioral patterns. Practical Implications. Paying attention to the destructive role of the corona virus in all aspects of people's lives, especially the medical staff and the role of medical staff in caring for and improving the physical and mental condition of patients can show its importance in the results of this research

Effects of Hydro and Hormonal Seed Priming on Seed Germination of Milk Thistle under Saline Stress Condition

</style><p><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif">Salinity is an abiotic stress which has harmful effects on germination of many plants. Therefore, high germination rate and vigorous early growth under salty soils is preferred. Seed priming is a way to increase salt tolerance of plants. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of seed priming on germination of milk thistle under salinity condition. The treatments were 4 levels of seed priming (no priming, distilled water as hydro priming and 0.5 and 1.0 mM salicylic acid) and 5 levels of salinity (0, 40 and 80 mM NaCl and 40 and 80 mM CaCl₂). The experiment arranged as a factorial in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. Results showed that salinity decreased germination percentage and germination rate to about 16 and 32% in 80 mM CaCl₂ level compared to control, respectively. The highest mean germination time (5.7 day) were belonged to 80 mM CaCl₂. Radicle and plumule length significantly decreased by 80 mM NaCl and 40 and 80 mM CaCl₂. The lowest seedling weight and seed stamina observed in 80 mM CaCl₂. 0.5 mM salicylic acid improved all traits except mean germination time as compared to control.&nbsp; Salicylic acid (0.5 mM) improved radicle length under 0, 40 and 80 mM NaCl salinity levels as well as increased plumule length at the 0 and 40 mM NaCl salinity conditions.</span></p

The Effect of Information Sharing on Tax-to-GDP Ratio

In real world, taxpayers have private information of which tax agencies are either completely or partly not aware of. This issue gives rise to the so-called asymmetric information problem, seriously preventing tax laws from being justly and efficiently enforced. Asymmetry of information motivates taxpayer towards falsifying or concealing information, trying to enjoy benefits of failure to pay taxes (moral hazard); furthermore, by granting licenses to bad economic operators for operating as authorized economic operators, law-abiding companies may leave licensed and authorized market (adverse selection). It is obvious that, information sharing and availability of databases containing taxpayers’ information can help governments in recognizing and collecting taxes in a justly and fair manner. In this paper, using statistics from 92 countries during 2006 – 2012 (in the form of panel data), we have studied the effects of information sharing variables on tax-to-GDP ratio. The findings indicate that, information sharing has a positive, yet statistically insignificant, effect on the ratio, which is in agreement with theoretical foundations

Nanoencapsulation of andrographolide rich extract for the inhibition of cervical and neuroblastoma cancer cells

Andrographis paniculata is traditionally used for many diseases and scientifically proven for anti-cancer property. Andrographolide which is the marker compound is believed to be the main contributor to the pharmacological activities. The poor solubility and bioavailability of this diterpenoid lactone could be overcome by nanoencapsulation. Reflux extraction, and followed by successive Soxhlet fractionation were used to obtain andrographolide rich extract from the herb. Spontaneous emulsion solvent diffusion was used to nanoencapsulate andrographolide using poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) with 1% polyvinyl alcohol as emulsifier. Nanospheres loaded with andrographolide was found to have the particle size, 163 nm; polydispersity index, 0.26 and zeta potential, - 57.85 mV. The encapsulation efficiency and in vitro drug release were 80.0% and 84.2%, respectively. The andrographolide nanoparticles could inhibit the proliferation of cervical and neuroblastoma cells with no adverse effect on normal human skin cells. Andrographolide rich extract loaded nanoparticles could inhibit the proliferation of HeLa and SH-SY5Y cells, mainly through Bax-induced apoptosis. The result was consistent with the low expression of anti-apoptotic genes (Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL) and prognostic factor (Ki-67). The tumour size of HeLa bearing mice was significantly reduced (73%) after treated with andrographolide rich nanoparticles (10 mg/kg body weight) for a month