Different patterns of association between education and wealth with non-fatal myocardial infarction in Tehran, Iran: A population-based case-control study

Background: Myocardial Infarction (MI) is a main cause of death and disability worldwide, which involves a number of genetic, physiopathologic and socio-economic determinants. The aim of this study was to assess the patterns of association between education, wealth and some other risk factors with non-fatal MI in Tehran population. Methods: Data derived from a second round of large cross-sectional study, Urban HEART-2, conducted in Tehran in 2011. Out of 118542 participants, all 249 self-reported incident cases of nonfatal MI were selected as the case group. A number of 996, matched on age and sex, were selected as controls. Principle component analysis (PCA) was used to calculate wealth index and logistic regression model to assess relations between the study variables. Results: Mean (SD) age of participants was 60.25 (12.26) years. A total of 870 (69.9) of the study subjects were men. Education, wealth status, family violence, hypertension and diabetes were observed as independent predictors of non-fatal MI. Overall, as the level of education increased, the odds of non-fatal MI decreased (p<0.001). We observed an almost J-shaped association between wealth status and non-fatal MI. No significant associations were found between marital status, BMI and current smoking with non-fatal MI (p<0.05). Conclusion: We found different patterns of association between education and wealth with nonfatal MI among Tehran adults. Lower risk of non-fatal MI is linked to high educated groups whereas economically moderate group has the lowest risk of non-fatal MI occurrence

The Effects of Folic Acid Supplementation on Recurrence and Metabolic Status in Endometrial Hyperplasia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Abstract: Background: Data on the effects of folic acid supplementation on clinical symptoms and metabolic profiles of patients with endometrial hyperplasia (EH) are limited. This investigation was performed to evaluate the effects of folic acid supplementation on clinical symptoms and metabolic status of patients with EH. Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted among 60 women diagnosed with EH. Diagnosis of EH was made based on biopsy results. Participants were randomly allocated to 2 groups to take 5 mg/d folic acid supplements (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 12 weeks. Results: After the 12-week intervention, folic acid supplementation significantly decreased fasting plasma glucose (β -3.99 mg/ dL; 95% CI, -7.39, -0.59; P = 0.02), serum insulin levels (β -2.82 µIU/mL; 95% CI, -4.86, -0.77; P = 0.008), homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (β -0.68; 95% CI, -1.20, -0.17; P = 0.009), triglycerides (β -16.47 mg/dL; 95% CI, -28.72, -4.22; P = 0.009) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol (β -3.29 mg/dL; 95% CI, -5.74, -0.84; P = 0.009), and significantly increased the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (β 0.01; 95% CI, 0.004, 0.03; P = 0.01) compared with the placebo. Additionally, folic acid intake resulted in a significant reduction in serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (β -0.36 mg/L; 95% CI, -0.52, -0.21; P &lt; 0.001) compared with the placebo. Folic acid supplementation did not affect other metabolic parameters. Conclusion: In conclusion, we found that folic acid administration for 12 weeks to subjects with EH improved glycemic control, triglycerides, VLDL-cholesterol and hs-CRP levels, but did not influence recurrence and other metabolic profiles

Application of phasor measurement units for monitoring power system dynamic performance

This Working Group is a sequel to a previous working group on Wide Area Monitoring and Control for Transmission Capability Enhancement, which published the Technical Brochure 330 in 2007. Since then the synchrophasor technology has advanced rapidly and many utilities around the world have installed hundreds of PMUs in their networks. In this Technical Brochure, we look at the current state of the technology and the extent to which it has been used in the industry. As the technology has matured, it is also important to understand the communication protocols used in synchrophasor networks and their relevant cyber-security issues. These concerns are briefly discussed in the brochure. The applications of Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) measurements reported here are divided into three categories: (a) applications already installed in utility networks, (b) applications that are well-tested, but not yet installed, and (c) applications that are beneficial to the industry, but not fully developed yet. The most common and mature applications are wide area monitoring, state estimation, and model validation. Out of these three applications, wide area monitoring is well established in the industry. The protection and control applications are emerging as evident from the reported examples. The experience of using remote synchrophasor measurements as feedback control signals is not widely reported by the industry. In parallel to this Working Group, Study Committee B5 had a Working Group on “Wide area protection and control technologies.” The Technical Brochure 664 published by this Working Group in September 2016 reviews synchrophasor technology and discusses the industry experience with wide area protection and control. The North American synchrophasor Initiative (NASPI) is another technical group that has gathered and reported a wide range of PMU experiences of industry and researchers. In summary, the field-tested applications presented in this Technical Brochure are a testimony to the confidence of utilities in the synchrophasor technology. The progress in state estimation techniques indicates that synchrophasor measurements will become a standard part of energy management and security assessment systems in the near future

Sero-epidemiological evaluation of changes in Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax transmission patterns over the rainy season in Cambodia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Cambodia, malaria transmission is low and most cases occur in forested areas. Sero-epidemiological techniques can be used to identify both areas of ongoing transmission and high-risk groups to be targeted by control interventions. This study utilizes repeated cross-sectional data to assess the risk of being malaria sero-positive at two consecutive time points during the rainy season and investigates who is most likely to sero-convert over the transmission season.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 2005, two cross-sectional surveys, one in the middle and the other at the end of the malaria transmission season, were carried out in two ecologically distinct regions in Cambodia. Parasitological and serological data were collected in four districts. Antibodies to <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>Glutamate Rich Protein (GLURP) and <it>Plasmodium vivax </it>Merozoite Surface Protein-1₁₉(MSP-1₁₉) were detected using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The force of infection was estimated using a simple catalytic model fitted using maximum likelihood methods. Risks for sero-converting during the rainy season were analysed using the Classification and Regression Tree (CART) method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 804 individuals participating in both surveys were analysed. The overall parasite prevalence was low (4.6% and 2.0% for <it>P. falciparum </it>and 7.9% and 6.0% for <it>P. vivax </it>in August and November respectively). <it>P. falciparum </it>force of infection was higher in the eastern region and increased between August and November, whilst <it>P. vivax </it>force of infection was higher in the western region and remained similar in both surveys. In the western region, malaria transmission changed very little across the season (for both species). CART analysis for <it>P. falciparum </it>in the east highlighted age, ethnicity, village of residence and forest work as important predictors for malaria exposure during the rainy season. Adults were more likely to increase their antibody responses to <it>P. falciparum </it>during the transmission season than children, whilst members of the Charay ethnic group demonstrated the largest increases.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>In areas of low transmission intensity, such as in Cambodia, the analysis of longitudinal serological data enables a sensitive evaluation of transmission dynamics. Consecutive serological surveys allow an insight into spatio-temporal patterns of malaria transmission. The use of CART enabled multiple interactions to be accounted for simultaneously and permitted risk factors for exposure to be clearly identified.</p

Effect of perceived barriers and self-efficacy on daily exercise among employees using HBM

Aims This study aimed to determine the relationship between the constructs of Health Belief Model (HBM) and doing daily exercise to prevent cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among the employees of Ilam University of medical sciences in Iran. Instrument & Methods About 294 employees of Ilam University of medical sciences participated in this cross-sectional study after providing a written consent form in 2017. The tool to collect data was an HBM-ISCS questionnaire, which was applied. Eventually, the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 16 and logistic regression. Findings The results showed that 72.4 of participants did not exercise daily, and the Mean±SD of their daily exercise was 8.08±1.51min. Logistic regression showed that the possibility of daily exercise per unit of increase in perceived barriers decreased by about 10, while every unit of increase in the self-efficacy score resulted in the possibility of 1.12 times more doing daily exercise. The possibility of doing daily exercise among men was 2 times more than in women, and among the personnel of financial/administrative department, it was about 2.5 times more than in the employees of health care department. Accordingly, the possibility of doing exercise decreased by about 8 per unit of increase in work experience. Conclusion The amount of doing daily exercise among the participants of this study was low, and implementing interventions commensurate with the results of this study and based on HBM can be effective in improving the amount of doing daily exercise in them. © 2021, the Authors | Publishing Rights, ASPI