Glycated hemoglobin measurements from dried blood spots: Reliability and relation to results obtained from whole blood samples

Background: Main objective was to measure glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in dried blood spots on paper filter and in whole blood samples in diabetic patients to evaluate relationship between two methods and their respective reliability. Methods: The 20�10 μl of venous blood samples of 33 diabetics were blotted onto the filter paper allowed to dry at room temperature and then stored at 25°C and 4°C. HbA1c was measured via the Turbidimetric Inhibition Immunoassay Technique. The relation was evaluated with correlation and linear regression tests using STATA software and SPSS. Agreement between the results obtained from the dried blood spots and others was evaluated using the Bland and Altman. The pitman's permutation test was also employed to compare the difference in variance. Results: A high positive correlation was detected between whole blood samples and dried blood spots stored at 4°C (r2 =0.90) and at 25°C (r2 = 0.95). The Bland and Altman graphs, as well as the Pitman tests, showed statistically significant differences in variability between the values obtained from whole blood samples and those derived from dried spots stored at 4°C (p=0.05) or 25°C (p=0.004). Conclusion: HbA1c measurements from dried blood spots on the filter paper yielded reliable results. That the Hitachi autoanalyzer is available in most countries renders this assay less costly than the High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method (HPLC). In addition, the filter paper method for Immuno-turbidimetric estimations of HbA1c at different temperatures is reliable and may be particularly useful in outpatient diabetes clinic

The kinematics of the magnetised protostellar core IRAS15398-3359

Observations of protostellar envelopes are essential to understand better the process of gravitational collapse toward star and planet formation. From a theoretical perspective, magnetic fields are considered an important factor during the early stages of star formation, especially during the main accretion phase. We aim to study the relation between kinematics and magnetic fields at a very early stage of the star formation process by using data from the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) single dish antenna with the angular resolution of 28". We observed the two molecular lines C18O(2-1) and DCO+(3-2), toward the Class 0 young stellar object IRAS15398-3359. We implement a multi-component Gaussian fitting on the molecular data to study the kinematics. Also, we use previous polarization observations on this source to predict the influence of the magnetic field on the core. The velocity gradient along the central object can be explained as an ongoing outflow motion. We report flowing of material from the filament toward the central object, and of the merging of two velocity components in the C18O (2-1) emission around the protostar position, probably due to the merging of filamentary clouds. Our analysis shows that the large-scale magnetic field line observed previously is preferentially aligned to the rotation axis of the core

Predicting seed germination of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) cultivars using hydrotime model

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds, which is cultivated under arid environments. In such environments, the water needed for germination is available for only a short time and, consequently, successful crop establishment depends not only on rapid and uniform germination of the seedlot, but also on its ability to germinate under low water availability. All of these attributes can be analyzed through the hydrotime model (HT). Safflower seeds were germinated in various polyethylene glycol (PEG 600) solutions to obtain water potentials of 0, -0.2, -0.4, -0.6, and -0.8 Mpa. Results indicated that germination of safflower cultivars decreased significantly with reduction of osmotic potential. The highest germination percentage for Sina (93.06 and 94.02%), Faraman (93.52 and 95.33%), Talaei (94.98 and 93.98%) and Kouseh (93.58 and 95.55%) cultivars were attained from distilled water (0 MPa) and -0.2 MPa, respectively. The hydrotime constant (θH) for Sina, Faraman, Talaei and Kouseh cultivars were 0.93, 0.84, 0.78 and 0.72 MPa d, and the water potential (Ψb(50)) for Sina, Faraman, Talaei and Kouseh cultivars were -0.56, -0.67, -0.64 and -0.77 MPa, respectively. Cumulative germination of safflower seed was higher in Kouseh cultivar, than in Sina, Faraman and Talaei cultivars. Results showed that, hydrotime model is suited to predicting seed germination of safflower seeds. In addition, the information gathered with this work allows us to build mathematical models to predict germination of safflower cultivars in the field under various environments

The effect of priming on germination characteristics of barley seeds under drought stress conditions

Seed priming methods have been used to increase germination and seedling establishment under different abiotic stress conditions. Seed priming was used in barley to increase seed germination and tolerance on stress exposure. Barley seeds were treated with various priming agents for different time and temperatures. The effect of priming was assessed on germination characteristics on subsequent exposure to drought (PEG-12 bar) stress for 7 days. Seed priming treatments significantly (p≤ 0.01) affected germination percentage (GP), normality seedling percentage (NSP), germination Index (GI), germination uniformity (GU), means time to germination (MTG), coefficient of velocity of germination (CVG), seedling vigor index (SVI) and coefficient of allometry (AC). Seed priming with gibberelic acid (GA), salicylic acid (SA), ascorbic acid (ASc), hydropriming (HP), osmopriming (OP) and combined treatments (CT) significantly (p≤ 0.01) increased germination characteristics, compared to the unprimed. Seed priming with concentrations 25, 50 ppm of GA for 15 h at 10°C, 25 ppm of SA for 12 h at 10°C, 50 ppm of ASc for 12 h at 15°C, treatment 16 h hydropriming at 10°C and -15 bar PEG for 24 h for osmopriming maybe considered as optimal treatment for priming of barley seeds in drought stress conditions. In some cases, combined treatments are better than the separate treatments. Seed priming with PEG (potential -l5 bar PEG for 24 h at 10°C) was more effective in drought stress than the other treatments

Quantification of germination response of Millet (Panicum Miliaceum L.) seeds to water potential and priming using hydrotime model

Seed germination is a complex biological process that is influenced by different environmental physical factors including temperature, water potential, salinity, pH and light, as well as intrinsic genetic factors. In such environments, the water needed for germination is available for only a short time, and consequently, successful crop establishment depends not only on rapid and uniform germination of the seedlot, but also on its ability to germinate under low water availability. All of these attributes can be analyzed through the hydrotime model (HT). Millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions of Iran. Therefore, in this study, using the hydrotime modeling approach, germination response of millet to priming (water and gibberellin 50 ppm at 15°C for 24 h) and water potential (0, -0.3, -0.6, -0.9, and -1.2 Mpa) was studied. Hydrotime (HT) model were fitted to cumulative germination of seeds and recorded in germination tests carried out at different water potentials (0, -0.3, -0.6, -0.9 and -1.2 MPa) and priming treatments (control, hydropriming and hormone priming). Results showed that, germination of millet decreased significantly with reduction of osmotic potential. Results indicated that the hydrotime constant (θH) for control, hydropriming and hormone priming were 0.89, 0.79 and 0.67 MPa d, the water potential (Ψb(50)) for control, hydropriming and hormone priming were -0.89, -0.94 and -1.11 MPa, respectively. Results indicated that the use of hydrotime model in germination prediction could be useful to provide more accurate estimates for the timing of sowing and management of millet

Scientometric study of academic publications on antioxidative herbal medicines in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Scientometric analysis is increasingly used for research assessment. We aimed to perform a scientometric analysis of research productivity in field of antioxidative hypoglycemic herbal medicine and diabetes. Methods: Some of search terms were "type 2 diabetes", "antioxidant", "herb", "phytotherapy", "ethnopharmacology", "Chinese medicine", "traditional medicine", in Scopus web databases until January 2015, and limited to human. The collected data were used to generate the specific features such as publication year, main journal in the field, citation, subject area, and co-authorship network of authors and institutes. Data was analyzed using analysis tools provided by Scopus database, SPSS version 11 and VOSviewer software. Results: Overall, 468 studies were related to this topic in human. The number of publications in the field showed an increasing trend. Majority of the published papers were original articles (71 ) and the most productive year was 2013. Top subject areas were medicine followed by drug. The first productive country was the US. The documents were cited totally 10724 times with average citation/article 22.91, and h-index 55. The highest cited article was a systematic review study, and top source was "Journal of Ethnopharmacology". The highest international collaboration was with the US. Top authors and institutes in the co-authorship network assessment were from Iran. Conclusions: A promising scientific productivity is shown in the studied field world wide. This study provided practical information to researchers who look for studies with potentially highly citation, and also would be helpful for researchers to conduct better researches that eventually could lead to more publications in this field. © 2016 The Author(s)

Nonthermal Emission from Star-Forming Galaxies

The detections of high-energy gamma-ray emission from the nearby starburst galaxies M82 & NGC253, and other local group galaxies, broaden our knowledge of star-driven nonthermal processes and phenomena in non-AGN star-forming galaxies. We review basic aspects of the related processes and their modeling in starburst galaxies. Since these processes involve both energetic electrons and protons accelerated by SN shocks, their respective radiative yields can be used to explore the SN-particle-radiation connection. Specifically, the relation between SN activity, energetic particles, and their radiative yields, is assessed through respective measures of the particle energy density in several star-forming galaxies. The deduced energy densities range from O(0.1) eV/cm^3 in very quiet environments to O(100) eV/cm^3 in regions with very high star-formation rates.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Astrophysics and Space Science Proceeding

The relationship between information literacy, internet addiction and general health of an Iranian medical students

Introduction: Given the prevalence of Internet use worldwide and its existing risks to societies especially the youngsters, information literacy can affect the use of Internet. Hence, the objective of present study is to assess the relationship between information literacy and Internet addiction and then to investigate the relationship between Internet addiction and general health of students in Iran University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: It is an analytical cross-sectional study which was conducted during 2016 on students in Iran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran). The sample size for the surveyed community of 6,500 university students was 362 from the Cochran sample size formula. Then, using a simple random sampling method, from each of the colleges, the sample size was selected according to the student population. Three questionnaires of information literacy, Yang's Internet addiction, and general health scale (GHQ-28) were distributed among students. Finally, 365 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Results: 29.9 of students were about to be addicted to the Internet, 1.3 had symptoms of Internet addiction and 68.8 had no addiction. In terms of information literacy, most of the students were in moderate level (60.5 moderate, 3.3 low, and 36.2 high information literacy level). There was a significant inverse relationship between increasing of information literacy and the Internet addiction (r = -0.45 and p<0.001). The score of general health demonstrated an inverse and significant relationship in different levels of Internet addiction (P <0.001). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it was perceived that the higher the information literacy, the lower the level of Internet addiction; besides, reduction of internet addiction increased the general health of students. Therefore, considering the importance of students as the leading group in societies, and favorable consequences of increased information literacy, universities' authorities have to develop and run specific programs within the educational and research schedule in order to increase the students' information literacy. Accordingly, undesirable outcomes of Internet use would be diminished and general health of society would be improved. © 2018, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

The relationship between information literacy, internet addiction and general health of an Iranian medical students

Introduction: Given the prevalence of Internet use worldwide and its existing risks to societies especially the youngsters, information literacy can affect the use of Internet. Hence, the objective of present study is to assess the relationship between information literacy and Internet addiction and then to investigate the relationship between Internet addiction and general health of students in Iran University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: It is an analytical cross-sectional study which was conducted during 2016 on students in Iran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran). The sample size for the surveyed community of 6,500 university students was 362 from the Cochran sample size formula. Then, using a simple random sampling method, from each of the colleges, the sample size was selected according to the student population. Three questionnaires of information literacy, Yang's Internet addiction, and general health scale (GHQ-28) were distributed among students. Finally, 365 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Results: 29.9 of students were about to be addicted to the Internet, 1.3 had symptoms of Internet addiction and 68.8 had no addiction. In terms of information literacy, most of the students were in moderate level (60.5 moderate, 3.3 low, and 36.2 high information literacy level). There was a significant inverse relationship between increasing of information literacy and the Internet addiction (r = -0.45 and p<0.001). The score of general health demonstrated an inverse and significant relationship in different levels of Internet addiction (P <0.001). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it was perceived that the higher the information literacy, the lower the level of Internet addiction; besides, reduction of internet addiction increased the general health of students. Therefore, considering the importance of students as the leading group in societies, and favorable consequences of increased information literacy, universities' authorities have to develop and run specific programs within the educational and research schedule in order to increase the students' information literacy. Accordingly, undesirable outcomes of Internet use would be diminished and general health of society would be improved. © 2018, Semnan University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

(Sub)millimetre interferometric imaging of a sample of COSMOS/AzTEC submillimetre galaxies. II. The spatial extent of the radio-emitting regions

Radio emission at centimetre wavelengths from highly star-forming galaxies, like submillimetre galaxies (SMGs), is dominated by synchrotron radiation arising from supernova activity. Hence, radio continuum imaging has the potential to determine the spatial extent of star formation in these types of galaxies. Using deep, high-resolution (1σ = 2.3 μJy beam-1; 0.75 arcsec) centimetre radio-continuum observations taken by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA)-COSMOS 3 GHz Large Project, we studied the radio-emitting sizes of a flux-limited sample of SMGs in the COSMOS field. The target SMGs were originally discovered in a 1.1 mm continuum survey carried out with the AzTEC bolometer, and followed up with higher resolution interferometric (sub)millimetre continuum observations. Of the 39 SMGs studied here, 3 GHz emission was detected towards 18 of them (~46 ± 11%) with signal-to-noise ratios in the range of S/N = 4.2-37.4. Towards four SMGs (AzTEC2, 5, 8, and 11), we detected two separate 3 GHz sources with projected separations of ~1''&dotbelow;5-6''&dotbelow;6, but they might be physically related in only one or two cases (AzTEC2 and 11). Using two-dimensional elliptical Gaussian fits, we derived a median deconvolved major axis FWHM size of 0''&dotbelow;54±0''&dotbelow;11 for our 18 SMGs detected at 3 GHz. For the 15 SMGs with known redshift we derived a median linear major axis FWHM of 4.2 ± 0.9 kpc. No clear correlation was found between the radio-emitting size and the 3 GHz or submm flux density, or the redshift of the SMG. However, there is a hint of larger radio sizes at z ~ 2.5-5 compared to lower redshifts. The sizes we derived are consistent with previous SMG sizes measured at 1.4 GHz and in mid-J CO emission, but significantly larger than those seen in the (sub)mm continuum emission (typically probing the rest-frame far-infrared with median FWHM sizes of only ~1.5-2.5 kpc). One possible scenario is that SMGs have i) an extended gas component with a low dust temperature, which can be traced by low- to mid-J CO line emission and radio continuum emission; and ii) a warmer, compact starburst region giving rise to the high-excitation line emission of CO, which could dominate the dust continuum size measurements. Because of the rapid cooling of cosmic-ray electrons in dense starburst galaxies (~104-105 yr), the more extended synchrotron radio-emitting size being a result of cosmic-ray diffusion seems unlikely. Instead, if SMGs are driven by galaxy mergers - a process where the galactic magnetic fields can be pulled out to larger spatial scales - the radio synchrotron emission might arise from more extended magnetised interstellar medium around the starburst region