Effect of garlic (Allium sativum) on male fertility: a systematic review

Introduction: Fertility in men mainly depends on the number, quality, motility, and morphology of the sperms, and disruption of each of these factors leads to infertility. A large number of couples suffer from infertility problems. Among the various therapies, medicinal herbs are used in many countries to treat male infertility. Current systematic review was conducted to study the effects of garlic on male fertility. Methods: The information of this systematic review was collected by searching the key words: treatment, fertility, infertility, male, herbal medicine, garlic, Allium sativum, medicinal plant, sperm, sex hormones, testis and spermatogenesis in international databases such as: Web of Science (ISI), PubMed, Scopus and Embase until March 2018. This study was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement for systematic reviews and meta- analysis. and the SYRCLE risk of bias tool was used for qualitative assessment. Results: A total of 18 experimental studies were included in the study. Thirteen studies evaluated garlic and 5 studies compared garlic effect with adriamycin, titanium dioxide, furan, vitamin E, N-acetylcysteine and cadmium. All studies were conducted in in vivo condition. The results of the studies indicated the potential effect of garlic on enhancing fertility and spermatogenesis, increasing the level of testosterone and improving the testicular structure. Conclusion: Garlic can increase fertility probably due to its antioxidant properties. However, more clinical trials are recommended

The Public Health Impact of Coccidioidomycosis in Arizona and California

The numbers of reported cases of coccidioidomycosis in Arizona and California have risen dramatically over the past decade, with a 97.8% and 91.1% increase in incidence rates from 2001 to 2006 in the two states, respectively. Of those cases with reported race/ethnicity information, Black/African Americans in Arizona and Hispanics and African/Americans in California experienced a disproportionately higher frequency of disease compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Lack of early diagnosis continues to be a problem, particularly in suspect community-acquired pneumonia, underscoring the need for more rapid and sensitive tests. Similarly, the inability of currently available therapeutics to reduce the duration and morbidity of this disease underscores the need for improved therapeutics and a preventive vaccine

A change-point model for reporting delays under change of AIDS case definition

[[abstract]]Accurate monitoring of disease incidence is of major public health concern. The time delay between diagnosis and the date of reporting creates bias in estimating disease incidence. Changes in case definition are expected to have an impact on the time lag of case reporting. We propose a change-point model for reporting delays in AIDS that takes into account recent changes in the AIDS definition in US and European countries. The model was applied to California AIDS surveillance data and the distribution of reporting delays before and after the recent change of definition in 1993 were analyzed in terms of contributing factors. The overall significance of the model with change-point as compared to the model without change-point indicates that the effect of the 1993 change in definition on the distribution of reporting delays was highly significant (p < 0.0001). Overall, reporting delay of cases initially diagnosed with AIDS-defining diseases before 1993 was shorter compared to after 1993; reporting delay of cases initially diagnosed meeting the 1993 immunologic case definition was shorter than of those initially diagnosed with AIDS-defining diseases. Region of residence, mode of exposure, race/ethnicity and time of diagnosis emerged as the main covariates in the models. The method introduced here applies to current and possible future changes of the AIDS case definition as well as changes in diagnostic criteria or case definition in diseases other than AIDS. We demonstrate that such changes may be accompanied by sizeable changes in the distribution of reporting delays, and thus adjustment for reporting delays must be recalibrated after a change in definition

Role of long non-coding RNA ELFN1-AS1 in carcinogenesis

Abstract As one of the leading causes of death worldwide, cancer significantly burdens patients and the healthcare system. The role of long non-protein coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in carcinogenesis has been extensively studied. The lncRNA ELFN1-AS1 was discovered recently, and subsequent studies have revealed its aberrantly high expression in various cancer tissues. In vitro and in vivo experiments have consistently demonstrated the close association between increased ELFN1-AS1 expression and malignant tumor characteristics, particularly in gastrointestinal malignancies. Functional assays have further revealed the mechanistic role of ELFN1-AS1 as a competitive endogenous RNA for microRNAs, inducing tumor growth, invasive features, and drug resistance. Additionally, the investigation into the clinical implication of ELFN1-AS1 has demonstrated its potential as a diagnostic, therapeutic, and, notably, prognostic marker. This review provides a comprehensive summary of evidence regarding the involvement of ELFN1-AS1 in cancer initiation and development, highlighting its clinical significance

Investigating the relationship between humor and difficulty in regulation of emotions and alexithymia in students

Introduction: Humor is an adaptive coping strategy that can be used as a way to cope with everyday stresses and communication. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between humor and difficulty in regulation of emotion and alexithymia in students. Materials and Methods: The present study is correlational. The statistical population of the study is all students of the Persian Gulf University in Bushehr, 200 of which were selected using the cluster sampling method. They responded to the Sense of Humor Questionnaire (SHQ, a 25-item questionnaire), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS, 36-item questionnaire), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS, a 20-item questionnaire). To analyze the data, the statistical method of simultaneous multivariate regression was used. Results: The results of the study shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between humor and alexithymia (r= -0.17, P=0.05), but there is no relationship between humor and difficulty in emotion regulation (r= -0.08, P=0.05). There is also a positive and significant relationship between alexithymia and difficulty in emotion regulation (r= -0.19, P =0.01).  Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the effective importance of sense of humor in reducing emotional difficulty and alexithymia can be concluded

Coccidioidomycosis-associated Hospitalizations, California, USA, 2000–2011

In the past decade, state-specific increases in the number of reported cases of coccidioidomycosis have been observed in areas of California and Arizona where the disease is endemic. Although most coccidioidomycosis is asymptomatic or mild, infection can lead to severe pulmonary or disseminated disease requiring hospitalization and costly disease management. To determine the epidemiology of cases and toll of coccidioidomycosis-associated hospitalizations in California, we reviewed hospital discharge data for 2000–2011. During this period, there were 25,217 coccidioidomycosis-associated hospitalizations for 15,747 patients and >$2 billion US in total hospital charges. Annual initial hospitalization rates increased from 2.3 initial hospitalizations/100,000 population in 2000 to 5.0 initial hospitalizations/100,000 population in 2011. During this period, initial hospitalization rates were higher for men than women, African Americans and Hispanics than Whites, and older persons than younger persons. In California, the increasing health- and cost-related effects of coccidioidomycosis-associated hospitalizations are a major public health challenge