Eight new records for the Eriophyid (Trombidiformes Eriophyoidea Eriophyidae) mite fauna of Iran

Trees from Juglandaceae, Ulmaceae, Salicaceae, Leguminosae and Betulaceae were sampled during two growing seasons, 2010 and 2011, in the southwest region of East Azerbaijan province, Iran, in order to survey their eriophyid mite fauna. Among identified taxa, eight species appeared to be new for the Iranian eriophyid fauna: Coptophylla lamimani (Keifer, 1939b), Stenacis palomaris Keifer, 1970, Shevtchenkella juglandis (Keifer, 1951), Anthocoptes striatus Ponomareva, 1978, Aculus mogeri (Farkas, 1960), Aculops unguiculatus (Nalepa, 1897), Aculops allotrichus (Nalepa, 1894) and Tegolophus califraxini (Keifer, 1938). Supplementary descriptions were given for Sh. ulmi (Farkas, 1960), A. striatus, A. mogeri, A. unguiculatus and A. allotrichus. In this study, Alhagi maurorum Medik (Leguminosae) and Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl. subsp. angustifolia (Oleaceae) were reported as new host plants for A. allotrichus and T. califraxini, respectively. Remarks on the eriophyid distribution in East Azerbaijan were also given

A study on factors affecting women’s willingness to pay for weight gain control

زمینه و اهداف: چاقی یکی از معضلات اقتصادی برای کشور بوده و شیوع آن سلامت عمومی را به خطر انداخته است. این پژوهش به منظور بررسی عوامل موثر بر تمایل به پرداخت بانوان برای کنترل افزایش وزن انجام شد. مواد و روش‌ها: این مطالعه در سال 1393 و با مشارکت 450 نفر از بانوان شهر مشهد انجام شد. نمونه‌ها به روش نمونه گیری در دسترس، از بین مراجعین به پارک ملت شهر مشهد انتخاب شدند. ابزار تحقیق پرسشنامه‌ای محقق ساخته بود که روایی ظاهری و محتوایی آن توسط صاحب‌نظران و پایایی آن به کمک شاخص آلفا کرونباخ (7/0<α) تایید شد. داده‌ها از طریق مصاحبه حضوری جمع‌آوری و با استفاده از مدل رگرسیون لاجیت در نرم افزار SPSS نسخه 19 تحلیل شدند. یافته‌ها: از میان بانوان مورد مطالعه 86 درصد مایل به پرداخت هزینه جهت کنترل افزایش وزن بودند و میانگین هزینه‌ ماهیانه که بانوان جهت کنترل وزن مایل به پرداخت آن بودند، 82311  تومان برآورد شد. افزایش سطح درآمد ماهیانه خانوار (0.05>p)، افزایش اثرات اجتماعی چاقی ((0.05>p) ، افزایش سطح آگاهی از عوارض چاقی (0.05>p) منجر به افزایش تمایل به پرداخت هزینه جهت کنترل افزایش وزن شده، اما افزایش قیمت پیشنهادی ((0.01>p) تمایل به پرداخت را کاهش می‌دهد.  نتیجه‌گیری: با توجه به تاثیر شناخت از عوارض چاقی بر تمایل به پرداخت، لازم است سیاست‌گذاران بهداشتی با اجرای برنامه‌های آموزشی مناسب در خصوص اثرات بهداشتی، اجتماعی و حتی اقتصادی معضل چاقی در جامعه، انگیزه تمایل به پرداخت افراد جهت کنترل این معضل را افزایش دهند.Background and Aims: Obesity represents an economical setback for the country, and its outbreak threatens the public health. The present study aimed at studying factors affecting women’s willingness to pay (WTP) for controlling weight gain and treating obesity.Materials and Methods: A researcher-designed questionnaire survey consisting 450 women was carried out on Mashhad residents in 2014 (Iran). The participants were selected by a convenience sampling method out of people coming to Mellat Park in Mashhad. The questionnaire credibility and reliability were confirmed by a panel of experts, and its reliability was estimated to be >0.7 by Cronbach’s alpha,confirming that the employed measuring tool has had enough credability. Data were collected by face-toface interview and were analyzed by Logit regression model using SPSS (ver. 19) Software Package.Results: Among participated women, about 86% were willing to pay for controlling weight gain. Mean monthly payment by women to control weight gain was estimated to be 823,110 IRR (Iranian Rials).The variables positively affected WTP included household monthly income (P < 0.05), social impacts of obesity (P < 0.05), and awareness of obesity side effects (P < 0.05). On the other hand, offered price(P < 0.05) negatively affected it.Conclusion: Participants having higher monthly income were more willing to pay for controlling weight gain. Awareness of the effects of obesity on health had positive influence on WTP. Social impacts of obesity, also, increased women’s WTP for controlling weight gain. Therefore, it is necessary for healthpolicy-makers to design appropriate plans for training the health, social and even economical impacts of obesity in the society in order to motivate people to pay for its control

The role of long non-coding RNAs and circular RNAs in cervical cancer: modulating miRNA function

Cervical cancer (CC) is a primary global health concern, ranking as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Despite advancements in prognosis, long-term outcomes remained poor. Beyond HPV, cofactors like dietary deficiencies, immunosuppression, hormonal contraceptives, co-infections, and genetic variations are involved in CC progression. The pathogenesis of various diseases, including cancer, has brought to light the critical regulatory roles of microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs). The aberrant expression of these miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs plays a pivotal role in the initiation and progression of CC. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the recent literature regarding the involvement of lncRNAs and circRNAs in modulating miRNA functions in cervical neoplasia and metastasis. Studies have shown that lncRNAs and circRNAs hold great potential as therapeutic agents and innovative biomarkers in CC. However, more clinical research is needed to advance our understanding of the therapeutic benefits of circRNAs and lncRNAs in CC

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

Overexpression of TRAF4 Gene in Ovarian Cancer Samples and Association with Metastasis and Poor Prognosis in Patients

Abstract Background: Ovarian cancer is one of the common malignancies within gynecological cancers. Its lethality may be due to problems in distinguishing it at an early stage and lack of effective managements for patients with a progressive or recurrent status. Therefore, there is an essential need for prognostic biomarkers to diagnose or identifying mechanism of disease for effective treatment. It has been found out that, TRAF4 gene was significantly transformed in different cancers. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the TRAF4 gene expression in ovarian cancer. Materials and Methods: In this study, 40 formalin fixed paraffin embedded tumoral tissues of ovarian cancer and 40 non-tumoral tissues were enrolled. Afterwards total RNA extraction and cDNA was synthesized, the relative gene expression was determined using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and evaluated by 2-∆∆ct method. Finally, the expression pattern was analyzed by statistical analysis. Results: The results of recent study showed that TRAF4 expression was significantly increased in tumoral samples (p=0.0001). According to the study of demographic and clinopathology information with gene expression, there was seen a significant relationship between metastasis and up-regulation of gene. Also, there was a higher expression in TRAF4 gene in patient’s ≤ 48 years old. Conclusion: According to different studies, it seems that TRAF4 over expression is likely due to amplification of gene copies in chromosomal zone in cancers. Considering the results of present study and the over expression of TRAF4 in ovarian cancer specimen, especially over expression in patients≤48 years old, TRAF4 gene can be considered as a diagnostic biomarker

Two new Aceria species (Acari: Trombidiformes: Eriophyidae) from Hilevar village, East Azerbaijan, Iran

Two new Aceria species of mites (Acari: Eriophyidae) including Aceria spanda sp. nov. and Aceria longisolenidia sp. nov. are described from Peganum harmala L. (Nitrariaceae) and Verbascum speciosum Schrad. (Scrophulariaceae), respectively, in Hilevar village of East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. This is the first record of an eriophyoid mite from the family Nitrariaceae and on Verbascum speciosum in the world and the first record of an eriophyoid mite on Scrophulariaceae in Iran. A key to the Aceria species collected on Scrophulariaceae is given