Perspectives of Iranian Medical Nurses about Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) Orders

Objective: To study the attitudes of Iranian medical nurses towards the do-not-resuscitate (DNR) decision.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 nurses working in Imam Khomeini Hospital, (affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran) were enrolled. They answered to a questionnaire with two sections: the first one consisted of demographic questions (age, sex, and level of education), and the second included questions about DNR orders derived from a previously conducted study by Hosaka et al.Results: A total of 168 questionnaires returned (response rate (RR=85%)). About 61% felt that DNR order is sporadically necessary. Near 66% had participated in DNRs in their practice and the most case was the patient with terminal cancer. The most common person who decided DNR orders were physicians. Sixty seven percent believed that DNR cards are useful for establishing in clinical settings.Conclusion: As DNR is not routine in Iran, enrollment of nurses in this decision should be clearly defined

The Adult Mouse and Human Pancreas Contain Rare Multipotent Stem Cells that Express Insulin

Summary The search for putative precursor cells within the pancreas has been the focus of extensive research. Previously, we identified rare pancreas-derived multipotent precursor (PMP) cells in the mouse with the intriguing capacity to generate progeny in the pancreatic and neural lineages. Here, we establish the embryonic pancreas as the developmental source of PMPs through lineage-labeling experiments. We also show that PMPs express insulin and can contribute to multiple pancreatic and neural cell types in vivo. In addition, we have isolated PMPs from adult human islet tissue that are also capable of extensive proliferation, self-renewal, and generation of multiple differentiated pancreatic and neural cell types. Finally, both mouse and human PMP-derived cells ameliorated diabetes in transplanted mice. These findings demonstrate that the adult mammalian pancreas contains a population of insulin+ multipotent stem cells and suggest that these cells may provide a promising line of investigation toward potential therapeutic benefit

Genetic Variation rs16937012 near the NCOA2 Gene Predicts Sustained Response to Interferon in Chronic Hepatitis B patients: the GIANT-B study

WOS: 00036701320000

Perspectives on ENCODE

The Encylopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project launched in 2003 with the long-term goal of developing a comprehensive map of functional elements in the human genome. These included genes, biochemical regions associated with gene regulation (for example, transcription factor binding sites, open chromatin, and histone marks) and transcript isoforms. The marks serve as sites for candidate cis-regulatory elements (cCREs) that may serve functional roles in regulating gene expression1. The project has been extended to model organisms, particularly the mouse. In the third phase of ENCODE, nearly a million and more than 300,000 cCRE annotations have been generated for human and mouse, respectively, and these have provided a valuable resource for the scientific community.11Nsciescopu

Expanded encyclopaedias of DNA elements in the human and mouse genomes

AbstractThe human and mouse genomes contain instructions that specify RNAs and proteins and govern the timing, magnitude, and cellular context of their production. To better delineate these elements, phase III of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) Project has expanded analysis of the cell and tissue repertoires of RNA transcription, chromatin structure and modification, DNA methylation, chromatin looping, and occupancy by transcription factors and RNA-binding proteins. Here we summarize these efforts, which have produced 5,992 new experimental datasets, including systematic determinations across mouse fetal development. All data are available through the ENCODE data portal (https://www.encodeproject.org), including phase II ENCODE1 and Roadmap Epigenomics2 data. We have developed a registry of 926,535 human and 339,815 mouse candidate cis-regulatory elements, covering 7.9 and 3.4% of their respective genomes, by integrating selected datatypes associated with gene regulation, and constructed a web-based server (SCREEN; http://screen.encodeproject.org) to provide flexible, user-defined access to this resource. Collectively, the ENCODE data and registry provide an expansive resource for the scientific community to build a better understanding of the organization and function of the human and mouse genomes.11Nsciescopu