Ethanol Level of Vitreous Fluid in Road Accident fatalities referred to Tehran Legal Medicine Center in 2018

Background: High risk behaviors such as substance use are among the human factors that can play an important role in fatal road accidents and deaths. Objective: To determine the status of alcohol consumption based on vitreous fluid exam in cadavers sent to Tehran Legal Medicine Organization. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive analytical cross-sectional study, all fatalities sent to the Tehran Legal Medicine Organization during 2018 were studied. A vitreous sample was used to measure the amount of alcohol. Results: Out of 676 cadavers (85% male; mean age 40.6±6.45), the toxicology results for alcohol was positive in 6.51% (91% male; mean age 37.10±15.7). There was a significant difference between the two sexes (P < 0.00) and the educational level (P1< 0.00). Most fatal accidents occurred in positive toxicology cases between 10-12 pm and on Fridays followed by Thursdays. Conclusion: The policy of non-consumption of alcohol based on Islamic teachings in Iran has played an important role in significantly reducing fatal accidents caused by alcohol

Investigating Web impact factors of type 1, type 2 and type 3 medical universities in Iran

Investigation of the web impact factor and analysis of the web links belong to webometric studies. A high impact factor, accompanied by more frequent links to a particular website, can indicate greater influence and better accessibility of that particular site. In this regard, bearing in mind the significance of medical universities' web sites for education and research, the current study compared and analyzed their impact factors, their web links and web pages, using AltaVista search engine. The investigation included different ranks of medical universities, commonly referred to as type 1, type 2 and type 3 universities in Iran. The median was used as a measure of central tendency of the scores. The search engines of AltaVista were adopted on 26 February 2010 to collect the data. According to the results, in terms of indexed pages, Shahid Baheshti of type 1, Guilan of type 2, and Shahrekord of type 3 universities had the best records. Regarding web links, medical universities of Iran, Kermanshah and Lorestan, from type 1, type 2 and type 3 universities had the best records and, in terms of impact factor, universities of Ahvaz (type 1), Zahedan (type 2), and Fessa (type 3) manifested the greatest influence. As the results imply, the universities are expected to pay more attention to webometric issues; they are also recommended to allocate more budget to enhance their web pages

Effects of Piracetam on Pediatric Breath Holding Spells: A Randomized Double Blind Controlled Trial

How to cite this article:Abbaskhanian A, Ehteshami S, Sajjadi S, Rezai MS. Effects of Piracetam on Pediatric Breath Holding Spells: A Randomized Double Blind Controlled Trial. Iran J Child Neurol Autumn 2012; 6(4): 9-15. Abstarct:Objective Breath holding spells (BHS) are common paroxysmal non-epileptic eventsin the pediatric population which are very stressfull despite their harmlessnature. There has been no specific treatment found for the spells yet. The aimof this study was to evaluate the efficacy of piracetam (2-oxo-l-pyrrolidine)on these children.Materials & MethodsIn this randomized double blind clinical trial study, 150 children with severe BHS referred to our pediatric outpatient service were enrolled from August2011 to July 2012. The patients were randomized into two equal groups.One received 40mg/kg/day piracetam and the other group received placebo,twice daily. Patients were followed monthly for three months. The numberof attacks/month before and after treatment were documented.ResultsOf the enrolled patients, 86 were boys. The mean age of the patients was17 months (range, 6 to 24 months). In the piracetam group, 1 month after treatment an 81% response to treatment was found. In the placebo group,none of the patients had complete remission and 7% of the cases had partialremission. Overall, control of breath-holding spells was observed in 91%of the patients in the group taking piracetam as compared with 16% in the group taking placebo at the end of the study. There wasd nosignificant difference detected between the groups regarding the prevalenceof drug side effects.ConclusionA significant difference was detected between piracetam and placebo in prevention and controlling BHS. Piracetam (40mg/kg/day) had a good effecton our patients. ReferencesDi Mario FJ Jr. Prospective study of children with cyanotic and pallid breath-holding spells. Pediatrics. 2001 Feb;107(2):265-9.Kotagal P, Costa M, Wyllie E, Wolgamuth B. Paroxysmal non epileptic events in children and adolescents. Pediatrics. 2002 Oct:110(4):e46.Kolkiran A, Tutar E, Atalay S, Deda G, Cin S. Autonomic nervous system functions in children with breath-holding spells and effects of iron deficiency. Acta Pediatric. 2005 Sep;94(9):1227-31.Hüdaoglu O, Dirik E, Yiş U, et al. Parental attitude of mothers, iron deficiency anemia, and breath-holding spells. Pediatr Neurol. 2006:Jul;35(1):18-20.Ahmad Bhat M, Ali W, Mohidin K, Sultana M. Prospective study of severe breath holding spells and role of iron. J Pediatr Neurol. 2007;5(1):27-32.Lombroso CT, Lerman P. Breath holding spells (cyanotic and pallid infantile syncope). Pediatrics. 1967 Apr;39(4):563-81.Gouliaev AH, Senning A. Piracetam and other structurally related nootropics. Brain Res Rev. 1994 May;19(20:180-222.Azam M, Bhatti N, Shahab N. Piracetam in severe breath holding spells. Int J Pschyiatry Med. 2008;38(2):195-201.Garg RK. Piracetam  for the treatment of breath holding spells. Indian Pediatrics.1998 Oct;35(10):1034-5.Donma MM. Clinical efficacy of piracetam in treatment of breath holding spells. Pediatr Neurol. 1998 Jan;18(1):41-5.Murata R, Matsuoka O, Hattori H, Kawawaki H, Nakajima S, Nakamura M et al. Efficacy of Kan-baku-taiso-to (TJ-72) on breath-holding spells in children. Am J Chin Med. 1988;16(3-4):155-8.Kelly AM, Porter CJ, Mc Goon MD, Espinosa RE, Osborn MJ, Hayes DL. Breath-holding spells associated with significant bradycardia: successful treatment with permanent pacemaker implantation. Pediatrics. 2001 Sep;108(3):698-702.McWilliam RC, Stephenson JB. Atropine treatment of reflex anoxic seizures. Arch Dis Child. 1984 May;59(5):473-5.Ashrafi MR, Mohammadi M, Shervin Badve R.        Efficacy of piracetam in treatment of breath-holding spells Iran J Pediatr. 2002;12(4):33-6.Daoud AS, Batieha A, al-Sheyyab M, Abuekteish F, Hijazi S. Effectiveness of iron therapy on breath-holding spells. J Pediatr. 1997 Apr;130(4):547-50.Ziaullah Nawaz S, Shah S, Talaat A. Iron deficiency anemia as a cause of breath holding spells. J Postgrad Med Instit. 2005;19(2):171-4.Di lanni M, Wilsher CR, Blank MS, Conners CK, Chase CH, Funkenstein HH et al. The effects of piracetam in children with dyslexia. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1985 Oct;5(5):272-8.Wilsher CR, Bennett D, Chase CH, Conners CK, Dilanni M, Feagans L et al. Piracetam and dyslexia: effects on reading tests. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1987 Aug;7(4):230-7.DiMario FJ Jr, Sarfarazi M. Family pedigree analysis of children with severe breath-holding spells. J Pediatr. 1997 Apr;130(4):647-51.Winnicka K, Tomasiak M, Bielawska A. Piracetam-an old drug with novel properties. Acta Pol Pharm. 2005 Sep-Oct:62(5):405-9.Winblad, B. Piracetam: a review of pharmacological properties and clinical uses. CNS drug rev. 2005 Summer:11(2):169-82

Beeswax-colophony blend: a novel green organic coating for protection of steel drinking water storage tanks

Beeswax-colophony blend is mainly used as a sealant mixture for preservation applications. The beeswax itself, however, has had a long way in history taking part in conservation processes including mummification. In this research, this blend was used as a protective coating for drinking water distribution tanks. Initially, a layer with 400 μm thickness was applied on a sand blasted mild steel plate. The long-term electrochemical behavior of the coating was investigated by open circuit potential (OCP) and electrochemical microbiological characteristics of the coating, microbial and chemical examinations were performed on drinking water samples that had been in contact with the coating. Furthermore, its behavior in an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASBR) in a wastewater treatment plant was investigated using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique. Regarding the consistency of experimental results, it was concluded that this proposed recyclable blend could be considered as a novel green organic coating and also a good corrosion barrier even in aggressive environments

Candidate genes linking maternal nutrient exposure to offspring health via DNA methylation: a review of existing evidence in humans with specific focus on one-carbon metabolism.

Background: Mounting evidence suggests that nutritional exposures during pregnancy influence the fetal epigenome, and that these epigenetic changes can persist postnatally, with implications for disease risk across the life course. Methods: We review human intergenerational studies using a three-part search strategy. Search 1 investigates associations between preconceptional or pregnancy nutritional exposures, focusing on one-carbon metabolism, and offspring DNA methylation. Search 2 considers associations between offspring DNA methylation at genes found in the first search and growth-related, cardiometabolic and cognitive outcomes. Search 3 isolates those studies explicitly linking maternal nutritional exposure to offspring phenotype via DNA methylation. Finally, we compile all candidate genes and regions of interest identified in the searches and describe their genomic locations, annotations and coverage on the Illumina Infinium Methylation beadchip arrays. Results: We summarize findings from the 34 studies found in the first search, the 31 studies found in the second search and the eight studies found in the third search. We provide details of all regions of interest within 45 genes captured by this review. Conclusions: Many studies have investigated imprinted genes as priority loci, but with the adoption of microarray-based platforms other candidate genes and gene classes are now emerging. Despite a wealth of information, the current literature is characterized by heterogeneous exposures and outcomes, and mostly comprise observational associations that are frequently underpowered. The synthesis of current knowledge provided by this review identifies research needs on the pathway to developing possible early life interventions to optimize lifelong health

Conditional Metastasis of Uveal Melanoma in 8091 Patients over Half-Century (51 Years) by Age Group: Assessing the Entire Population and the Extremes of Age

PURPOSE: To evaluate cumulative incidence of metastasis at specific timepoints after treatment of uveal melanoma in a large cohort of patients and to provide comparison of conditional outcomes in the youngest and oldest cohorts (extremes of age). METHODS: Retrospective analysis of 8091 consecutive patients with uveal melanoma at a single center over a 51-year period. The patients were categorized by age at presentation (0-29 years [n = 348, 4%], 30-59 years [n = 3859, 48%], 60-79 years [n = 3425, 42%], 80 to 99 years [n = 459, 6%]) and evaluated for nonconditional (from presentation date) and conditional (from specific timepoints after presentation) cumulative incidence of metastasis at five, 10, 20, and 30 years. RESULTS: For the entire population of 8091 patients, five-year/10-year/20-year/30-year nonconditional cumulative incidence of metastasis was 15%/23%/32%/36%, and the conditional incidence improved to 6%/15%/25%/30% for patients who did not develop metastasis in the first three years. For the extremes of age (0-29 years and 80-99 years), the nonconditional cumulative incidence of metastasis revealed the younger cohort with superior outcomes at 8%/15%/19%/27% and 21%/29%/29%/29%, respectively (P \u3c 0.001). The conditional incidence (at one-year and two-year timepoints with metastasis-free survival) showed persistent superior younger cohort survival (P \u3c 0.001, P = 0.001), but no further benefit for patients with three-year metastasis-free survival at 4%/12%/16%/24% and 7%/18%/18%/18%, respectively (P = 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: Non-conditional metastasis-free survival analysis for patients with uveal melanoma revealed the youngest cohort to have significantly better survival than the oldest cohort, and this persisted into one-year and two-year conditional metastasis-free survival but diminished at the three-year conditional timepoint

Factors Associated with The Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease in The Mashad: A Cohort Study

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, and specifically in Iran. Accurate assessments of Coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence is very necessary for public health. In current study we aimed to investigate the incidence of CHD and importance of several classical, modifiable and un-modifiable risk factors for CHD among an urban population in eastern Iran after 6 years of follow-up. Methods The population of MASHAD cohort study were followed up for 6 years, every 3 years in two step by phone and who reported symptoms of CVD were asked to attend for a cardiac examination, to estimate the incidence of CHD with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) as well multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association of several baseline characteristics with incidence of CHD event. Evaluation of goodness-of-fit was done using ROC analysis. CHD cases divided into four different classes which include: stable angina, unstable angina pectoris, myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death. Results In the six years\u27 follow-up of Mashhad study, the incidence rate of all CHD event in men and women in 100,000 people-years with 95% confidence intervals were 1920 (810-3030) and 1160 (730-1590), respectively. The areas under ROC curve (AUC), based on multivariate predictors of CHD outcome, was 0.7825. Conclusion Our findings indicated that the incidence rate of coronary heart diseases in MASHAD cohort study increases with age as well as our final model designed, was able to predict approximately 78% of CHD events in Iranian population

Putative role of the adenosine A3 receptor in the antiproliferative action of N6-(2-isopentenyl)adenosine

We tested a panel of naturally occurring nucleosides for their affinity towards adenosine receptors. Both N6-(2-isopentenyl)adenosine (IPA) and racemic zeatin riboside were shown to be selective human adenosine A3 receptor (hA3R) ligands with affinities in the high nanomolar range (Ki values of 159 and 649 nM, respectively). These values were comparable to the observed Ki value of adenosine on hA3R, which was 847 nM in the same radioligand binding assay. IPA also bound with micromolar affinity to the rat A3R. In a functional assay in Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with hA3R, IPA and zeatin riboside inhibited forskolin-induced cAMP formation at micromolar potencies. The effect of IPA could be blocked by the A3R antagonist VUF5574. Both IPA and reference A3R agonist 2-chloro-N6-(3-iodobenzyl)adenosine-5′-N-methylcarboxamide (Cl-IB-MECA) have known antitumor effects. We demonstrated strong and highly similar antiproliferative effects of IPA and Cl-IB-MECA on human and rat tumor cell lines LNCaP and N1S1. Importantly, the antiproliferative effect of low concentrations of IPA on LNCaP cells could be fully blocked by the selective A3R antagonist MRS1523. At higher concentrations, IPA appeared to inhibit cell growth by an A3R-independent mechanism, as was previously reported for other A3R agonists. We used HPLC to investigate the presence of endogenous IPA in rat muscle tissue, but we could not detect the compound. In conclusion, the antiproliferative effects of the naturally occurring nucleoside IPA are at least in part mediated by the A3R

Protocol for the EMPHASIS study; epigenetic mechanisms linking maternal pre-conceptional nutrition and children's health in India and Sub-Saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND: Animal studies have shown that nutritional exposures during pregnancy can modify epigenetic marks regulating fetal development and susceptibility to later disease, providing a plausible mechanism to explain the developmental origins of health and disease. Human observational studies have shown that maternal peri-conceptional diet predicts DNA methylation in offspring. However, a causal pathway from maternal diet, through changes in DNA methylation, to later health outcomes has yet to be established. The EMPHASIS study (Epigenetic Mechanisms linking Pre-conceptional nutrition and Health Assessed in India and Sub-Saharan Africa, ISRCTN14266771) will investigate epigenetically mediated links between peri-conceptional nutrition and health-related outcomes in children whose mothers participated in two randomized controlled trials of micronutrient supplementation before and during pregnancy. METHODS: The original trials were the Mumbai Maternal Nutrition Project (MMNP, ISRCTN62811278) in which Indian women were offered a daily snack made from micronutrient-rich foods or low-micronutrient foods (controls), and the Peri-conceptional Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation Trial (PMMST, ISRCTN13687662) in rural Gambia, in which women were offered a daily multiple micronutrient (UNIMMAP) tablet or placebo. In the EMPHASIS study, DNA methylation will be analysed in the children of these women (~1,100 children aged 5-7 y in MMNP and 298 children aged 7-9 y in PMMST). Cohort-specific and cross-cohort effects will be explored. Differences in DNA methylation between allocation groups will be identified using the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC array, and by pyrosequencing top hits and selected candidate loci. Associations will be analysed between DNA methylation and health-related phenotypic outcomes, including size at birth, and children's post-natal growth, body composition, skeletal development, cardio-metabolic risk markers (blood pressure, serum lipids, plasma glucose and insulin) and cognitive function. Pathways analysis will be used to test for enrichment of nutrition-sensitive loci in biological pathways. Causal mechanisms for nutrition-methylation-phenotype associations will be explored using Mendelian Randomization. Associations between methylation unrelated to supplementation and phenotypes will also be analysed. CONCLUSION: The study will increase understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms underpinning the long-term impact of maternal nutrition on offspring health. It will potentially lead to better nutritional interventions for mothers preparing for pregnancy, and to identification of early life biomarkers of later disease risk