The role of socioeconomic status on health-related quality of life in the west of Iran

Introduction: The quality of life involves different dimensions of people�s social mental, physical welfare and health. Aim: This study aimed to determine the effects of economic-social factors on quality of life in 2013 in the west of Iran. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we selected cases among different counties of Ilam province by multi-stage cluster sampling. Data collection tools were general economic questionnaires and the quality of life questionnaire SF-36. Data analysed using multiple regression models. Results: Nine hundred and eighteen participants were selected mean±sd age for the studied participant was 32.97±9.5 years and mean±sd scores for their quality of life were 61.74±12.31. Based on results of logistic regression, the good quality of life among women was 1.2 more than men and among married was 1.47 more than single. After adjustments on other covariates, the odds of good quality of life for people with good and median economic condition was respectively 1.8 and 3.4 more than groups with bad economic condition. Conclusion: Therefore, the general improvement of people�s quality of life can be influenced by increasing social cooperation, improving health care services and providing counseling services about obtained policies by health care. © 2016, Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. All rights reserved

Lithium side effects and toxicity: prevalence and management strategies

Despite its virtually universal acceptance as the gold standard in treating bipolar disorder, prescription rates for lithium have been decreasing recently. Although this observation is multifactorial, one obvious potential contributor is the side effect and toxicity burden associated with lithium. Additionally, side effect concerns assuredly play some role in lithium nonadherence. This paper summarizes the knowledge base on side effects and toxicity and suggests optimal management of these problems. Thirst and excessive urination, nausea and diarrhea and tremor are rather common side effects that are typically no more than annoying even though they are rather prevalent. A simple set of management strategies that involve the timing of the lithium dose, minimizing lithium levels within the therapeutic range and, in some situations, the prescription of side effect antidotes will minimize the side effect burden for patients. In contrast, weight gain and cognitive impairment from lithium tend to be more distressing to patients, more difficult to manage and more likely to be associated with lithium nonadherence. Lithium has adverse effects on the kidneys, thyroid gland and parathyroid glands, necessitating monitoring of these organ functions through periodic blood tests. In most cases, lithium-associated renal effects are relatively mild. A small but measurable percentage of lithium-treated patients will show progressive renal impairment. Infrequently, lithium will need to be discontinued because of the progressive renal insufficiency. Lithium-induced hypothyroidism is relatively common but easily diagnosed and treated. Hyperparathyroidism from lithium is a relatively more recently recognized phenomenon

Investigation of pile-integrity using novel signal processing methods

As there are a lot of limitations on health monitoring of piles, stress wave propagation tests are of interest among civil engineers and researchers. In these methods, the testing signal recorded by receiver on the pile head should be analyzed to check whether any defect exists. In this paper, the application of low strain pile-integrity tests and interpretation of the results by Continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is studied. Finite element model of some imaginary piles are provided in order to analyze the response of the structures due to a known signal. The results demonstrate that the testing signal can be broken down into time and frequency domain at the same time. As a result, more characteristics of the testing signal can be depicted, and defects can be detected easier than the traditional signal processing methods, such as Fourier transform (FT). Furthermore, the results show that impedance is not a proper criterion to identify damage severity, and damage detection ability of low strain test is a function of defect length as well

A simplified implementation of a gradient-enhanced damage model with transient length scale effects

Gradient-enhanced damage models with constant gradient activity suffer from spurious damage growth at high deformation levels. This issue was resolved by Geers et al. (Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 160(1-2):133-153, 1998) by expressing the gradient activity parameter as a function of the local equivalent strain at the expense of adding one set of degrees of freedom to those of the standard model. In this contribution, a new formulation of the gradient-enhanced damage model with variable length scale is presented which eliminates the need for the extra set of degrees of freedom. The merits of the proposed formulation are demonstrated, and the choice of the damage evolution law and its impact on the model performance are discussed

On statistical strain and stress energy bounds from homogenization and virtual testing

Computational homogenization for quasistatic stress problems is considered, whereby the macroscale stress is obtained via averaging on Statistical Volume Elements (SVE:s). The variational "workhorse" for the subscale problem is derived from the presumption of weak micro-periodicity, which was proposed by Larsson et al. (2011). Continuum (visco)plasticity is adopted for the mesoscale constituents, whereby a pseudo-elastic, incremental strain energy serves as the potential for the updated stress in a given time-increment. Strict bounds on the incremental strain energy are derived from imposing Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, which are defined as suitable restrictions of the proposed variational format. For this purpose, both the standard situation of complete macroscale strain control and the (less standard) situation of macroscale stress control are considered. Numerical results are obtained from "virtual testing" of SVE:s in terms of mean values and a given confidence interval, and it is shown how these properties converge with respect to the SVE-size for different prescribed macroscale deformation modes and different statistical properties of the random microstructure. In addition, the upper and lower bounds for a sequence of increasing strain levels, for a fixed SVE-size, are used as "data" for the calibration of a macroscopic elastic-plastic constitutive model

On statistical strain and stress energy bounds from homogenization and virtual testing

Computational homogenization for quasistatic stress problems is considered, whereby the macroscale stress is obtained via averaging on Statistical Volume Elements (SVE:s). The variational "workhorse" for the subscale problem is derived from the presumption of weak micro-periodicity, which was proposed by Larsson et al. (2011). Continuum (visco)plasticity is adopted for the mesoscale constituents, whereby a pseudo-elastic, incremental strain energy serves as the potential for the updated stress in a given time-increment. Strict bounds on the incremental strain energy are derived from imposing Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions, which are defined as suitable restrictions of the proposed variational format. For this purpose, both the standard situation of complete macroscale strain control and the (less standard) situation of macroscale stress control are considered. Numerical results are obtained from "virtual testing" of SVE:s in terms of mean values and a given confidence interval, and it is shown how these properties converge with respect to the SVE-size for different prescribed macroscale deformation modes and different statistical properties of the random microstructure. In addition, the upper and lower bounds for a sequence of increasing strain levels, for a fixed SVE-size, are used as "data" for the calibration of a macroscopic elastic-plastic constitutive model

Prevalence of Congenital Anomalies in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Congenital anomaly is a disturbance in fetal growth and development during pregnancy and is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the first year of life. In addition, this anomaly causes a large waste of heath care resources. We aimed to determine the prevalence and proportion rates of different congenital anomalies in Iran via a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: The present study was performed to estimate the prevalence and proportion rates of different anomalies in Iran via a systematic review and meta-analysis. Therefore, all the studies performed in Iran between 2000 and 2016 were evaluated. For this purpose, Medlib, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Irandoc, Magiran, IranMedex, and SID databases were searched by two different expert individuals independently. For the qualification survey of the papers, the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology checklist was applied. Then, the extracted data were entered into STATA (ver. 11.1) and analysed using statistical tests of stability and random effects models in meta-regression, a tool used in meta-analysis. The 95 confidence intervals were calculated by I-square models. Meta regression was introduced to explore the heterogeneities among studies. Results: Overall, 36 papers with a total sample size of 909,961 neonates were analysed. The total prevalence rate for congenital anomalies was 18/1000 live births, 23.2/1000 and 18/1000 for boys and girls, respectively. Moreover, 55.8 of all congenital anomalies pertained to boys. The greatest prevalence and proportion rates of congenital anomalies belonged to musculoskeletal disorders followed by urogenital anomalies (9.3/1000 34% and 5.7/1000 20%, respectively), and the lowest figures belonged to chromosomal and respiratory system anomalies (0.8/1000 6% and 0.3/1000 2%, respectively). Conclusion: According to the findings of this meta-analysis, the prevalence of congenital anomalies is notably high in Iran and annually imposes huge visible and non-visible expenses on individuals, societies, and heath care systems. Therefore, preparation of tools and centres for the early diagnosis and prevention of birth defects and rehabilitation of those with congenital anomalies throughout Iran are essential