Causes and Associated Factors of Headaches among 5 to 15-year-old Children Referred to a Neurology Clinic in Kashan, Iran

How to Cite This Article: Talebian A, Soltani B, Haji Rezaei M. Causes and Associated Factors of Headaches among 5 to 15-year-old ChildrenReferred to a Neurology Clinic in Kashan, Iran. Iran J Child Neurol. 2015 Winter;9(1):71-75.AbstractObjectiveHeadaches are common neurologic problems for children and adolescents. They are divided into two types: primary and secondary. Primary headaches include migraines and tension-type as well as comprise the majority of headaches. We detect the causes of headaches and their associations with demographic variables among children and adolescents.Materials & MethodsThis cross-sectional study was performed on 5–15 year-old children with headaches from March 2010 to April 2012 who presented at a pediatric neurology clinic in Kashan, Iran. Diagnosis of headaches was done in accordance with the International Classification of Headache Disorders. Data regarding the type of headache, age, gender, pain severity, aura, family history, and sleep disorder were collected.ResultsOne hundred fourteen children (44 male and 70 female) with headaches were enrolled in the study. The types of headaches were comprised as follows: 67 cases of migraines, 38 cases of tension-type headaches, 2 cases of cluster headaches, and 7 cases of secondary headaches. Pulsating headaches, family history of headaches, insomnia, and pain severity had higher prevalence in migrainous patients.ConclusionPhysicians should extend their information gathering about primary and secondary headaches. Sleep disturbances and a family history of headaches were the most important factors associated with migraine headaches.ReferencesCuvellier JC, Donnet A, Guegan-Massardier E, Nachit-Ouinekh F, Parain D, Vallee L. Treatment of primary headache in children: a multicenter hospital-based study in France. 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Neurology 2002; 59: 490-8.Lewis DW,Koch T. Headache evaluation in children and adolescents: when to worry? When to scan? Pediatr Ann 2010; 39: 399-406.Hershey AD, Powers SW, Bentti AL, Degrauw TJ. Effectiveness of amitriptyline in the prophylactic management of childhood headaches. Headache 2000; 40: 539-49.Donald W. Headache in children and adolescent. Am Fam Physician 2002; 65: 625-33.Kroner-Herwig B, Gassmann J. Headache disorders in children and adolescents: their association with psychological, behavioral, and socio-environmental factors. Headache 2012; 52: 1387-401.Wober-Bingol C, Wober C, Wagner-Ennsgraber C, Zebenholzer K, Vesely C, Geldner J, et al. IHS criteria and gender: a study on migraine and tension-type headache in children and adolescents. Cephalalgia 1996; 16: 107-12.Abu-Arafeh I,Russel G. Prevalence of headache and migraine in schoolchildren. British medical journal 1994; 308: 765-9.Ayatollahi SM,Khosravi A. Prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache in primary-school children in Shiraz. East Mediterr Health J 2006; 12: 809-17.Fallahzadeh H,Alihaydari M. Prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache among school children in Yazd,Iran. J Pediatr Neurosci 2011; 6: 106-9.Russell MB, Iselius L, Ostergaard S, Olesen J. Inheritance of chronic tension-type headache investigated by complex segregation analysis. Hum Genet 1998; 102: 138-40.Stewart WF, Linet MS, Celentano DD, Van Natta M, Ziegler D. Age and sex specific incidence rates of migraine with and without visual aura. Am J Epidemiol 1991; 134: 1111-20

Neighborhood Localization Method for Locating Construction Resources Based on RFID and BIM

Construction sites are changing every day, which brings some difficulties for different contractors to do their tasks properly. One of the key points for all entities who work on the same site is the location of resources including materials, tools, and equipment. Therefore, the lack of an integrated localization system leads to increase the time wasted on searching for resources. In this research, a localization method which does not need infrastructure is proposed to overcome this problem. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) as a localization technology is integrated with Building Information Modeling (BIM) as a method of creating, sharing, exchanging and managing the building information throughout the lifecycle among all stakeholders. In the first stage, a requirements’ gathering and conceptual design are performed to add new entities, data types, and properties to the BIM, and relationships between RFID tags and building assets are identified. Secondly, it is proposed to distribute fixed tags with known positions as reference tags for the RFID localization approach. Then, a clustering method chooses the appropriate reference tags to provide them to an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for further computations. Additionally, Virtual Reference Tags (VRTs) are added to the system to increase the resolution of localization while limiting the cost of the system deployment. Finally, different case studies and simulations are implemented and tested to explore the technical feasibility of the proposed approach

Excavator Pose Estimation for Safety Monitoring by Fusing Computer Vision and RTLS Data

The construction industry is considered as a hazardous industry because of its high number of accidents and fatality rates. Safety is one of the main requirements on construction sites since an insecure site drops the morale of the workers, which can also result in lower productivity. To address safety issues, many proactive methods have been introduced by researchers and equipment manufacturers. Studying these methods shows that most of them are using radio-based technologies that perform based on the locations of the attached sensors to the moving objects, which could be expensive and impractical for the large fleet of available construction equipment. Safety monitoring is a sensitive task and avoiding collisions requires a detailed information of the articulated equipment (e.g. excavators) and the motion of each part of that equipment. Therefore, it is necessary to install the location sensors on each moving part of the equipment for estimating its pose, which is a difficult, time consuming, and expensive task. On the other hand, the application of Computer Vision (CV) techniques is growing and becoming more practical and affordable. However, most of the available CV-based techniques evaluate the proximity of the resources by considering each object as a single point regardless of its shape and pose. Moreover, the process of manually collecting and annotating a large image dataset of different pieces of equipment is one of the most time consuming tasks. Furthermore, relying on a single source of data may not only decrease the accuracy of the pose estimation system because of missing data or calculation errors, but it may also increase the computation time. Moreover, when there are multiple objects and equipment in the field of view of each camera, CV-based algorithms are under a higher risk of false recognition of the equipment and their parts. Therefore, fusing the cameras’ data with data from Real-Time Location System (RTLS) can help the pose estimation system by limiting the search area for the parts’ detectors, and consequently reducing the processing time and improving the accuracy by reducing the false detections. This research aims to estimate the excavator pose by fusing CV and RTLS data for safety monitoring and has the following objectives: (1) improving the CV training by developing a method to automatically generate and annotate around-view synthetic images of equipment and their parts using the 3D model of the equipment and the real images of the construction sites as background; (2) developing a guideline for applying stereo vision system in construction sites using regular surveillance cameras with long baseline at a high level; (3) improving the accuracy and speed of CV detection by fusing RTLS data with cameras’ data; and (4) estimating the 3D pose of the equipment for detecting potential collisions based on a pair of Two Dimensional (2D) skeletons of the parts from the views of two cameras. To support these objectives, a comprehensive database of the synthetic images of the excavator and its parts are generated, and multiple detectors from multiple views are trained for each part of the excavator using the image database. Moreover, the RTLS data, providing the location of the equipment, are linked with the corresponding video frames from two cameras to fuse the location data with the video data. Knowing the overall size of the equipment and its location provided by the RTLS system, a virtual cylinder defined around the equipment is projected on the video frames to limit the search scope of the object detection algorithm within the projected cylinder, resulting in a faster processing time and higher detection accuracy. Additionally, knowing the equipment ID assigned to each RTLS device and the cameras’ locations and heights, it is possible to select the suitable detectors for each equipment. After detecting a part, the background of the detected bounding box are removed to estimate the location and orientation of each part. The final skeleton of the excavator is derived by connecting the start and end points of the parts to their adjacent parts knowing the kinematic information of the excavator. Estimating the skeleton of the excavator from each camera view on one hand, and knowing the extrinsic and intrinsic parameters of all available cameras on the construction site, on the other hand, are used for estimating the 3D pose by triangulating the estimated skeleton from each camera. In order to use the available collision avoidance systems, the 3D pose of the excavator is sent to the game environment and the potential collisions are detected followed by generating a warning. The contributions of this research are: (1) developing a method for creating and annotating the synthetic images of the construction equipment and their parts using the equipment 3D models and the real images of the construction sites; (2) creating and training the HOG-based excavator’s parts detectors using the database of the synthetic images developed earlier and automatically produced negative samples from the other excavator parts in addition to the real images of different construction sites while the target object is cut from these; (3) developing a data fusion framework after calibrating two regular surveillance cameras with the long baseline to integrate the RTLS data received from GPS with the video data from the cameras to decrease the processing efforts for detecting excavator parts while increasing the detection accuracy by limiting the search scope for the detectors; (4) developing a clustering technique to subtract parts’ background and extracting the 2D skeleton of the excavator in each camera’s view and to estimate the 3D pose of the excavator; and (5) transferring the 3D pose data of the excavator to the game environment using TCP/IP connection and visualizing the near real-time pose of the excavator in the game engine for detecting the potential collisions

Current Status of English Instruction at Medical Universities in Iran: Zooming in on Teachers

Introduction: English language is now an indispensable part of higher education, and a good command of English, like in many parts around the globe, is of special importance for Iranian university students who want to continue their education toward a higher degree. Yet, the English language instruction they receive after entering university throughout their studies is in need of constant investigation and improvement. Materials and Methods: The present survey study tried to examine the current status of the English language courses and their instructors in the Iranian universities of medical sciences in different cities of the country nationwide using questionnaires. Results: Regarding course instructors, of a total of 485 English language instructors at 31 universities of medical sciences, only 61 (12.57%) were English language faculty members. The remaining 424 (87.43%) instructors were either medical specialists who taught English language courses (191; 39.3%) or non-faculty part-time (guest) lecturers (233; 48%). As for the courses, a significant number of ESAP (499 credits; 39.5%) and general English (61 credits; 5.15%) course credits were taught by medically-oriented faculty members (content specialists). Conclusion: The results highlight the need to assess the quality of EAP instruction in Iran through drawing on multiple sources of data and taking into account the perspectives of all the stakeholders, especially those of the students

Protocol Adherence for Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Management in the Emergency Department; a Clinical Audit

Introduction: Although significant development in the field of medicine is achieved, sepsis is still a major issue threatening humans’ lives. This study was aimed to audit the management of severe sepsis and septic shock patients in emergency department (ED) according to the present standard guidelines.Method: This is a prospective audit on approaching adult septic patients who were admitted to ED. The audit checklist was created based on the protocols of Surviving Sepsis Campaign and British Royal College recommendations. The mean knowledge score and the compliance rate of studied measures regarding standard protocols were calculated using SPSS version 21.Results: 30 emergency medicine residents were audited (63.3% male). The mean knowledge score of studied residents regarding standard guidelines were 5.07 ± 1.78 (IQR = 2) in pre education and 8.17 ± 1.31 (IQR = 85) in post education phase (p < 0.001). There was excellent compliance with standard in 4 (22%) studied measures, good in 2 (11%), fair in 1 (6%), weak in 2 (11%), and poor in 9 (50%). 64% of poor compliance measures correlated to therapeutic factors. After training, score of 5 measures including checking vital signs in < 20 minute, central vein pressure measurement in < 1 hour, blood culture request, administration of vasopressor agents, and high flow O2 therapy were improved clinically, but not statistically.Conclusion: The protocol adherence in management of severe sepsis and septic shock for urine output measurement, central venous pressure monitoring, administration of inotrope agents, blood transfusion, intravenous antibiotic and hydration therapy, and high flow O2 delivery were disappointingly low. It seems training workshops and implementation of Clinical audit can improve residents’ adherence to current standard guidelines regarding severe sepsis and septic shock

The effects of Vaccinium arctostaphylos on lipid profile in mild hyperlipidemia patients- a randomized clinical trial

زمینه و هدف: هایپر لیپیدمی یا افزایش چربی خون، به عنوان یک ریسک فاکتور مستقل و قابل اصلاح در بیماری های قلبی- عروقی (CVD) شناخته شده است. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی اثرات قره قاط (Vaccinium arctostaphylos) بر سطح لیپید پروفایل بیماران مبتلا به هایپر لیپیدمی بود. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه کارآزمایی بالینی دوسو کور، 50 بیمار هایپر لیپیدمی خفیف با محدوده سنی 76-14 سال انتخاب و به طور تصادفی ساده به دو گروه کنترل و مورد (هر گروه 25 نفر) تقسیم شدند. بیماران گروه مورد روزانه 2 عدد کپسول قره قاط (معادل با 2±45 میلی گرم آنتوسیانین) و گروه کنترل کپسول پلاسبو به مدت یک ماه مصرف کردند. میزان سرمی سطح تری گلیسرید (TG)، کلسترول تام (TC) و لیپوپروتئین با چگال کم (LDL) و کاهش سطح لیپوپروتئین با چگال بالا (HDL) قبل و بعد از مطالعه برای دو گروه بررسی و مقایسه گردید. یافته ها: میانگین سن، نمایه توده بدنی (BMI)، TG،HDL ، LDL وTC بین بیماران دو گروه در ابتدای مطالعه تفاوت معنی داری نداشت. میانگین تغییرات در گروه دریافت کننده قره قاط در مقایسه با گروه کنترل در پایان یک ماه، برای فاکتورهای TC(09/32±48/226 در مقابل 81/28±04/192)، LDL-C (76/23±80/132 در مقابل 46/27±36/121) و تری گلیسرید (99/96±20/226 در مقابل 76/46±56/156) کاهش معنی داری نشان داد. ولی برای فاکتورهای HDL-C و BMI تغییرات معنی داری نشان نداد. نتیجه گیری: در این مطالعه مصرف گیاه قره قاط به مدت یک ماه موجب کاهش لیپید پروفایل در افراد مبتلا به هایپر لیپیدمی خفیف شد؛ لذا این گیاه می تواند در پیشگیری از شیوع بیماری های قلبی- عروقی ارزشمند باشد

Texture, colour and sensory properties of non-fat yoghurt as influenced by tara gum or combinations of tara gum with buttermilk powder

Tekstura, boja i senzorska svojstva nemasnog jogurta proizvedenog uz dodatak različitih koncentracija tara gume (0,25, 0,50 i 1,0 gL-1) kao različitih omjera tara gume (TG) i mlaćenice u prahu (BP) (0,25+10, 0,50+10 i 1,0+10 gL-1) ispitivani su tijekom perioda skladištenja. Dodatak tara gume u koncentracijama 0,25 i 0,50 gL-1 uzrokovao je porast čvrstoće, konzistencije, kohezivnosti i indeksa viskoznosti u proizvedenim uzorcima jogurta, dok je dodatak tara gume ili tara gume u kombinaciji s mlaćenicom u prahu u koncentraciji od 1 gL-1 uzrokovao smanjenje prethodno navedenih parametara. Povećanje koncentracije dodane tara gume tijekom perioda skladištenja uzrokovalo je značajan pad L* i a* vrijednosti, te značajan porast b* vrijednosti jogurta. Senzorska svojstva nemasnih jogurta proizvedenih s dodatkom 0,25 i 0,50 gL-1 tara gume nisu se značajno razlikovala od kontrolnih uzoraka. Suprotno tomu, dodatak tara gume ili kombinacije mlaćenice u prahu i tara gume u koncentracijama od 1 gL-1 uzrokovao je značajan pad senzorskih ocjena uzoraka nemasnog jogurta.The texture, colour and sensory properties of non-fat yoghurts prepared with different tara gum concentrations (0.25, 0.50 and 1.0 gL-1) and different tara gum (TG) with buttermilk powder (BP) combinations (0.25+10, 0.50+10 and 1.0+10 gL-1) were investigated during storage. While addition of 0.25 and 0.50 gL-1 of tara gum caused an increase in firmness, consistency, cohesiveness, viscosity index of yoghurt samples, use of 1 gL-1 of tara gum and combinations of tara gum with buttermilk powder led to a decrease in these properties. During the storage period, increasing the concentration of tara gum resulted in significant decrease in L* and a* values, significant increase in b* value in yoghurt. Sensory properties of non-fat yoghurts supplemented with 0.25 and 0.50 gL-1 did not significantly differ from those of control yoghurts. In contrast, use of 1 gL-1 of tara gum and combinations of tara gum and buttermilk powder caused a significant decrease of sensory properties of non-fat yoghurt

The effects of cranberry on glucose levels and HbA1C with type 2 diabetes patients- a randomized clinical trial

زمینه و هدف: بیماری دیابت یکی از شایع ترین اختلالات غدد درون ریز می باشد که سالانه بیش از 100 میلیون نفر را مبتلا می کند که در نتیجه نقص کامل یا نسبی و یا مقاومت به عمل انسولین ایجاد و کنترل نشدن آن موجب بروز عوارض قلبی، عروقی، کلیوی و چشمی می شود. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی اثرات زغال اخته (.Cornus mas L) بر سطح قند خون و هموگلوبین گلیکوزیله (HbA1C) در بیماران مبتلا به دیابت نوع 2 بود. روش بررسی: این مطالعه به صورت یک کارآزمایی بالینی، دو سویه کور، کنترل شده با دارونما به مدت 6 هفته انجام شد. 60 بیمار دیابت با محدوده سنی 65-41 سال در مطالعه شرکت کردند. بیماران به طور تصادفی به دو گروه 30 نفری کنترل (مصرف کننده کپسول پلاسبو یا دارونما به تعداد 2 عدد در روز) و گروه مورد (مصرف کننده کپسول زغال اخته به تعداد 2 عدد، معادل با 50 میلی گرم آنتوسیانین، در روز) تقسیم شدند. در ابتدا و پایان مطالعه میزان قند خون ناشتا (FBS) و هموگلوبین گلیکوزیله اندازه گیری و با کمک آزمون t و ANCOVA در دو گروه مقایسه گردید. یافته ها: در مورد خصوصیات افراد مورد مطالعه (سن، FBS، HbA1c) بین دو گروه در ابتدای مطالعه تفاوت معنی داری وجود نداشت. درگروه دریافت کننده زغال اخته در مقایسه با گروه کنترل در پایان 6 هفته، میزان فاکتورهای FBSو HbA1cکاهش معنی دار داشت (05/0>P). نتیجه گیری: کاهش میزان قند خون ناشتا و هموگلوبین گلیکوزیله در اثر مصرف زغال اخته، به منظور کنترل بیماری دیابت ارزشمند است. بروز این تغییرات احتمالاً ناشی از ترکیبات آنتوسیانینی موجود در زغال اخته است