The role of melatonin in polycystic ovary syndrome: A review

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a widespread endocrine disorder, affecting approximately 20% of women within reproductive age. It is associated with hyperandrogenism, obesity, menstrual irregularity, and anovulatory infertility. Melatonin is the main pineal gland hormone involved in the regulation of the circadian rhythm. In recent years, it has been observed that a reduction in melatonin levels of follicular fluid exists in PCOS patients. Melatonin receptors in the ovary and intra-follicular fluid adjust sex steroid secretion at different phases of ovarian follicular maturation. Moreover, melatonin is a strong antioxidant and an effective free radical scavenger, which protects ovarian follicles during follicular maturation. Objective: In this paper, we conducted a literature review and the summary of the current research on the role of melatonin in PCOS. Materials and Methods: Electronic databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Reaxys were searched from their inception to October 2018 using the keywords ″Melatonin″ AND ″Polycystic ovary syndrome" OR "PCOS.″ Results: Based on the data included in our review, it was found that the administration of melatonin can improve the oocyte and embryo quality in PCOS patients. It may also have beneficial effects in correcting the hormonal alterations in PCOS patients. Conclusion: Since metabolic dysfunction is the major finding contributing to the initiation of PCOS, melatonin can hinder this process via its improving effects on metabolic functions. Key words: Hyperandrogenism, Infertility, Melatonin, PCOS

Truveta Mapper: A Zero-shot Ontology Alignment Framework

In this paper, a new perspective is suggested for unsupervised Ontology Matching (OM) or Ontology Alignment (OA) by treating it as a translation task. Ontologies are represented as graphs, and the translation is performed from a node in the source ontology graph to a path in the target ontology graph. The proposed framework, Truveta Mapper (TM), leverages a multi-task sequence-to-sequence transformer model to perform alignment across multiple ontologies in a zero-shot, unified and end-to-end manner. Multi-tasking enables the model to implicitly learn the relationship between different ontologies via transfer-learning without requiring any explicit cross-ontology manually labeled data. This also enables the formulated framework to outperform existing solutions for both runtime latency and alignment quality. The model is pre-trained and fine-tuned only on publicly available text corpus and inner-ontologies data. The proposed solution outperforms state-of-the-art approaches, Edit-Similarity, LogMap, AML, BERTMap, and the recently presented new OM frameworks in Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI22), offers log-linear complexity in contrast to quadratic in the existing end-to-end methods, and overall makes the OM task efficient and more straightforward without much post-processing involving mapping extension or mapping repair

Statin efficacy in the treatment of hepatitis C genotype I

Background: Lipid metabolism is one of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) life cycle steps. Statins can reduce cholesterol level and finally can decrease HCV replication. Thus, we assessed the effect of Statins in combination with standard antiviral treatment on hyperlipidemic genotype I HCV infected patients. Materials and Methods: This study was a prospective clinical trial. 40 patients were selected from those referred to educational and Therapeutic Centers of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences from 2009 to 2010 with confirmed HCV viremia. All patients received Peg-interferon-a2a and ribavirin. 20 hyperlipidemic Patients received 20 mg atorvastatin nightly for 3 months and placebo was prescribed for 20 normolipidemic HCV infected patients as a control group. Liver enzymes and complete blood count were checked monthly and thyroid stimulating hormone was checked every 3 months. We also performed quantitative HCV-ribonucleic acid (RNA) test in 12th week of therapy, at the end of treatment and 6 months after therapy for all samples. Results: We didn't find any significant differences in the mean of HCV-RNA numbers between statin and placebo groups in 12th week of treatment, in the end of treatment and 6 months after treatment (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Atorvastatin has no effect on the mean of HCV viral load when we added it to standard treatment for hepatitis C infection. Further studies are necessary to examine the possible antiviral properties of statins and their potential role as adjuncts to standard HCV therapy

Investigating the Growth Rate of Tetraselmis Algae and its Effect on Nitrogen Removal From Aquaculture Wastewater

Background: This research investigated the ability of Tetraselmis microalgae to remove nitrates from aquaculture centers’ wastewater. Specifically, this study aimed to investigate the amount of nitrogen reduction by Tetraselmis microalgae under laboratory conditions. Therefore, algal density, chlorophyll a, specific growth rate, nitrate, and ammonia levels were investigated.Methods: Tetraselmis microalgae was planted under laboratory conditions with constant density of 2000 mL including 1900 mL of distilled water and 100 mL of stock to investigate the refining effects for 15 days. Along to the test steps, the concentration of the mentioned factors was determined using standard methods and ultraviolet spectrophotometer.Results: The results showed that algal density, chlorophyll concentration, and specific growth rate performed better than others in the pilot plants containing wastewater. Also, use of the studied algae caused a 50% reduction in ammonia and 80% in nitrate from aquaculture center wastewater. The data modeling showed that the above- entioned microalgae were effective in reduction of nitrogen from aquaculture center wastewater as much as 75%.Conclusion: The results showed that the species can reduce organic substances in the wastewater of aquaculture center and their discharge into the environment

Antioxidant and chemopreventive effects of Asperugo procumbens in a rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cancer is the fifth most common malignancy, with 0.25–1 million new cases diagnosed annually worldwide. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the antioxidant and chemopreventive effects of aqueous extract of Asperugo procumbens L. (AAP) against diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in rats. Methods and Results: The model of hepatocellular carcinoma was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of DEN (200 mg/kg) as an initiator that after two weeks followed by daily oral administration of 2-acetylaminofluorene (30 mg/kg) as a promoter for two weeks. AAP-treated rats were pretreated with the extract intragastrically at three different doses two weeks prior to DEN injection. At the end of the experiment, the marked reduction of serum biomarkers of liver damage and cancer, including alfa-fetoprotein (AFP), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), alanine transaminase (ALT), and aspartate transaminase (AST) were observed in AAP complemented rats as compared to DEN-treated animals. Besides, the extract exhibited in vivo antioxidant activity that evident by increasing GSH concentration along with lipid peroxidation prevention in the liver tissues of HCC animals. In addition, A. procumbens showed in vitro free radical scavenging activity that determined by 1, 1-Diphenyl-2-picryl hydroxyl (DPPH) antioxidant assay. The relative weight of liver was also reduced in AAP-treaded rats as a prognostic marker in HCC. Conclusions: Our results obviously confirmed that A. procumbens possesses a chemopreventive effect against primary liver cancer induced by DEN in rats as well as  in vitro and in vivo antioxidant activities

The Effect of Remote Ischemic Preconditioning on the Incidence of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) protects other organs from subsequent lethal ischemic injury, but uncertainty remains. We investigated if RIPC could prevent acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Methods: This parallel-group, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial was done on adults undergoing elective or urgent on-pump CABG surgery from 2013 to 2017 in Shiraz, Iran. Patients were allocated to RIPC or control groups through permuted blocking. The patients in the RIPC group received three cycles of 5 min ischemia and 5 min reperfusion in the upper arm after induction of anesthesia. We placed an uninflated cuff on the arm for 30 min in the control group. The study primary endpoint was an incidence of AKI. Secondary endpoints included short-term clinical outcomes. We compared categorical and continuous variables using Pearson χ2 and unpaired t tests, respectively. P<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Of the 180 patients randomized to RIPC (n=90) and control (n=90) groups, 87 patients in the RIPC and 90 patients in the control group were included in the analysis. There was no significant difference in the incidence of AKI between the groups (38 patients [43.7%] in the RIPC group and 41 patients [45.6%] in the control group; relative risk, 0.96; 95% confidence interval, 0.69 to 1.33; P=0.80). No significant differences were seen regarding secondary endpoints such as postoperative liver function, atrial fibrillation, and inpatient mortality. Conclusion: RIPC did not reduce the incidence of AKI, neither did it improve short-term clinical outcomes in patients undergoing on-pump CABG surgery. Trial Registration Number: IRCT2017110537254N1

Post-discharge health assessment in survivors of coronavirus disease: a time-point analysis of a prospective cohort study

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. This article is made available via the PMC Open Access Subset for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to quantitatively evaluate psychological and quality of life-related complications at three months following discharge in hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients during the pandemic in Iran. METHODS: In this time-point analysis of prospective cohort study data, adult patients hospitalized with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 were enrolled. Patients were stratifed in analyses based on severity. The primary outcomes consisted of psychological problems and pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in the three months following discharge, with Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as the secondary outcome. Exploratory predictors were determined for both primary and secondary outcomes. Results 283 out of 900 (30%) eligible patients were accessible for the follow-up assessment and included in the study. The mean age was 53.65±13.43 years, with 68% experiencing a severe disease course. At the time of the fnal follow-up, participants still reported persistent symptoms, among which fatigue, shortness of breath, and cough were the most common. Based on the regression-adjusted analysis, lower levels of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) to forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio was associated with higher levels of depression (standardized ß=- 0.161 (SE=0.042), P=0.017) and stress levels (standardized ß=- 0.110 (SE=0.047), P=0.015). Furthermore, higher levels of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulinM (IgM) were associated with signifcantly lower levels of depression (standardized ß=- 0.139 (SE=0.135), P=0.031). CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between lung damage during COVID-19 and the reduction of pulmonary function for up to three months from acute infection in hospitalized patients. Varying degrees of anxiety, depression, stress, and low HRQoL frequently occur in patients with COVID-19. More severe lung damage and lower COVID-19 antibodies were associated with lower levels of psychological health.Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, IR.MUI.MED.REC.1399.517, Ramin SamiPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Popularity and Harms of Aural Foreign Bodies: A Descriptive Study of Patients in Baqiyatallah University Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

peer reviewed[en] OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of external ear complications among Iranian aural foreign body users attending to otolaryngology clinic of our hospital. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study patients attending to Otolaryngology clinics of Baqiyatallah hospital were enrolled regardless of their age, gender and reason of attending. Patients between 15 and 60 years of age were included in the present study. Those with positive history of chronic ear diseases, ear surgery, congenital ear disorders, trauma to ear or head and neck region or shock wave trauma were excluded from the study. Demographic information as well as data on chief complaint, educational level, frequency and type of used foreign body and findings of physical examination and Otoscopy by a single otolaryngologist were recorded in a predesigned checklist. RESULTS: Eventually 362 patients (232 male and 130 female) with a mean age of 40.32 ± 16.90 years underwent analysis. Of all patients 244 (67.2%) were using a kind of aural foreign body frequently and Cotton bud was the most popular (63.5%) used foreign body among patients. Drying ear canal was the most common (54.9%) reason of using AFBs among study individuals followed by itching (29.5%) and pyorrhea (11.06%). Also 11 (4.5%) patients were using AFBs as a habit with no specific reason. Itching was the most prevalent symptom reported by both aural foreign body users (78%) and non-users (45.5%); however it was significantly higher among AFB users (p = 0.026). Also hearing loss was significantly more reported by AFB users (p = 0.033). A majority of patients had normal physical examination in both AFB users and non-users group. Inflammation of ear canal was significantly more detected in AFB users (p = 0.004). In addition, rate of right ear wax impaction was higher among AFB users (p = 0.016). CONCLUSION: In conclusion we realized that 67.2% of patients attending to Otolaryngology clinic of our hospital were using a kind of aural foreign bodies and itching was the most common chief complaint of these patients