Zinc status in Cardiovascular patients in the north of Islamic Republic of Iran

Studies have demonstrated that zinc plays an important role in development of cardiovascular diseases in Western populations. But there is little data for other racial groups. This study was aimed to investigate the association between serum zinc and coronary artery disease (CAD) in Iranian subjects.This study was conducted on 81 subjects,which referred to Heshmat Hospital of Guilan province , Iran, for routine coronary angiography from June to August 2011. Subjects were assigned into 2 groups; 41 CAD patients.case and 40 healthy subjects in control group. Data about smoking habit,physical activity, dietary intake and anthropometric indices were collected by questionnaire. Serum zinc was measured by atomic spectroscopy.The serum zinc concentrations were significantly lower in case group than control (p<0.05). The mean serum zinc concentration in the case and control group was 73.50±1.61μg/dl and 78.47±1.66μg/dl, respectively. subjects  that lives in  rural area had 7.11-fold higher CAD risk in compare to subjects lives in urban  after adjustment for confounder factors,they also had lower zinc concentration than urban (p<0.05). in our study With increasing in serum zinc concentration CAD risk decrease 0.94-fold.Zinc concentration had significant correlation with age (r= -0.23   p<0.05), weight (r=0.26   p<0.05)  and  Place for living (r=- 0.22  p= 0.04).There were no significant correlation between the dietary intake , Waist circumference ,smoking and serum zinc concentration in our study.Serum zinc concentration was significantly lower in the north of Islamic Republic of Iran patients with abnormal versus those with a normal angiogram. It seems Serum zinc concentration correlate with some risk factors for coronary artery diseas

Using GeoGebra in Teaching Geometry to Enhance Students Academic Achievement and Motivation

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of using GeoGebra with the ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction) model on academic achievement and motivation. In this regard, an experimental and a control group were constituted. The academic motivation questionnaire (Harter, 1981) was used to measure participant’s motivation. Further, two instances of a multiple-choice questions test on a topic in Geometry were designed to measure student’s academic achievement. In order to collect data, the pre-tests were applied to each group at the beginning of the lessons. The experimental group was taught using GeoGebra and the control group was trained with the traditional teaching method. At the end of the lessons, the post-tests were administered to both groups. The statistical difference between participant’s post-test academic motivation and learning of the experimental and control group was analyzed with ANCOVA after examining the assumptions of this test, namely normality and homogeneity in each group. Results of the study indicated that the scores of academic achievement and motivation in the experimental group were significantly more than that of the control group.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Superior hypogastric plexus block as an effective treatment method for endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain: an open-label pilot clinical trial

We aimed to investigate the effect of superior hypogastric plexus (SHP) block on pain relief and quality of life of patients with refractory endometriosis. Sixteen patients with refractory endometriosis underwent SHP block. The outcome measures included visual analogue scale (VAS) for chronic pelvic pain, VAS for dysmenorrhoea, and VAS for dyspareunia. The short-form endometriosis health profile (EHP-5) was used to measure quality of life. All the outcome measures were evaluated at weeks 0, 1, 4, 12 and 24. The mean baseline VAS scores significantly improved after the SHP block (p < .001 for all). The mean overall EHP-5 score also significantly improved from 54.3 ± 18.2 to 24.6 ± 13.3 (p < .001). The positive effects of SHP were not diminished over time. No serious adverse effect was noticed in any of the patients. Preliminary results suggest that SHP block could be used as an effective method in pain control and improvement of quality of life in refractory endometriosis.IMPACT STATEMENT What is already known on this subject? Safety and efficacy of SHP block in the treatment of CPP has been revealed in earlier investigations. However, the efficacy of SHP block for pain management in patients with refractory endometriosis has not been investigated in earlier investigations. What do the results of this study add? SHP block is an effective method for pain control and improvement of quality of life in patients with refractory endometriosis. The positive effects of this treatment did not diminish over 24-weeks follow-up of the study. No serious adverse effect was noticed in any of the patients. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? Preliminary results suggest that SHP block could be used safely and effectively for controlling pain and improvement of quality of life in patients with refractory endometriosis