Comparison of 99mTc-DMSA renal scintigraphy with biochemical and histopathological findings in animal models of acute kidney injury

Biochemical and histological assays are currently used for the diagnosis and characterization of kidney injury. The purpose of this study was to compare technetium- 99m-labeled dimercaptosuccinic acid (99mTc- DMSA) renal scintigraphy, as a non-invasive method, with common biochemical and histopathological methods in two animal models of acute kidney injury. Nephrotoxicity was induced either by gentamicin (100 mg/kg/day for one week) or unilateral ureteral ligation (UUO). Renal scintigraphy was performed 1 h after intravenous injection of 99mTc-DMSA (3 mCi). Furthermore, plasma levels of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, sodium, and potassium were determined using an autoanalyzer. At the end of experiments, kidneys were excised for the measurement of activity uptake (mCi/gr) using a dose calibrator as well as histopathological examinations with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. There was a significant decrease in 99mTc-DMSA uptake in both gentamicin (P value = 0.049) and UUO (P value = 0.034) groups, and it was more significant in the former. The levels of BUN and creatinine increased in both gentamicin and UUO groups, while the levels of sodium and potassium remained unchanged. Furthermore, a strong correlation was found between DMSA uptake and histopathological findings. Scintigraphy with 99mTc-DMSA is capable of detection of kidney injury in both gentamicin and UUO groups. Moreover, a significant correlation was found between scintigraphy parameters and histopathological findings. This suggests 99mTc-DMSA as a non-invasive method for the evaluation of kidney injury induced by drugs or anatomical disorders

Relationship of COVID-19-Related Fear and Self-care Behaviors with Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes in Mothers with a History of Covid-19 in 2021

Background and Objective: Pregnancy under the fear of Covid-19 may bring numerous maternal and neonatal consequences. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of COVID-19-related fear and self-care behaviors with pregnancy outcomes during the Covid-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the sampling was performed on 300 pregnant mothers who were referred to at Akbarabadi Educational-Medical Center in Tehran during the Covid-19 pandemic from June to September 2021. The research instruments included demographic and pregnancy information questionnaires, Carvalho's Covid-19-related self-care questionnaire, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and maternal-neonatal outcomes questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20. Results: The mean age of 300 subjects was reported as 29.35±5.60 years. The gestational age of 266-278 days had the highest frequency (36%). Furthermore, the mean gestational age for all participants was 262.11±18.76 days. Moreover, 1% and 3.6% of subjects had the most and least severe COVID-19-related fear, respectively. Maternal outcomes were positively and significantly correlated with fear of COVID-19. Higher mean scores of fear were associated with more maternal outcomes; nonetheless, there was no relationship between neonatal outcomes and COVID-19-related Fear. Self-care behaviors were not correlated with maternal outcomes; however, they were related to neonatal consequences. Conclusion: Fear of Covid-19 was associated with an increase in the adverse consequences of pregnancy; therefore, it is necessary to raise mothers' awareness of Covid-19 and reduce their fear by training them on correct self-care behaviors and health protocols

P-value: what is and what is not

The misinterpretation and misuse of p-value have been increasing for decades. In March 2016, the American Statistical Association released a statement to warn about the use and interpretation of p-value. In this study, we provided a definition and discussion of p-value and emphasized the importance of its accurate interpretation

The impact of distance education on readmission of patients with heart failure: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract Aim To estimate the effect size of distance education on the readmission of patients with heart failure. Design This study was a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Method Both Persian and English interventional studies focused on investigating the effectiveness of any form of distance education interventions on the readmission of patients with heart failure were retrieved from the main databases: Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SID, and Google Scholar. Two independent teams screened the articles for eligibility. The Cochrane Risk of bias tool was implemented to evaluate the studies' quality. A random‐effects model was applied to pool the effect sizes, I2 was calculated to examine heterogeneity, and Meta‐regression was used to investigate the source of heterogeneity. The proposal was registered in the PROSPERO database (no. CRD42020187453). Results Articles 8836 were retrieved, and 11 articles were selected. Nine studies investigated the effect of distance education on readmission with <12‐month follow‐up (RR: 0.78 [95% CI 0.67–0.92]) and the I2 of 0.00%; and four studies examined the effect of distance intervention on readmission with 12‐month or more follow‐up (RR: 0.89 [95% CI 0.73–1.09]) and the I2 of 71.59%

The Relationship between Exclusive Breastfeeding and Mental Concentration in First and Second Grade Primary School Children of Mashhad

Background: Breastfeeding has long-term benefits, such as reducing obesity, allergies, asthma, wheezing, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and effecting on brain development .This study aimed to investigate the relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and mental concentration in first and second grade primary school children. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 90 students (7-8 years old) were studied in Mashhad, Iran. The history and duration of breastfeeding were asked from children&rsquo;s mothers, and their mental concentration and short term memory were measured by Toulouse Pieron and Digit learning tests, respectively. Results: The mean of the breastfeeding period was 5.72 &plusmn; 6.89 month and the mean of total scores was 51.2 &plusmn; 32.44 for Toulouse Pieron test and 8.57 &plusmn; 6.52 for Digit learning test in all participants. The correlation between the Toulouse Pieron and Digit learning test, and breastfeeding history indicated that exclusive breast-fed children showed higher test results and therefore, better mental concentration and short term memory (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Based on the findings, exclusive breastfeeding has a positive effect on mental concentration and short term memory with respect to its duration

Investigating the level of nutritional literacy and its accompanying factors in Seminary students of Qom City in 2019

Background and Objectives: One of the effective factors in improving the health of individuals and communities is having proper nutrition and improving the level of nutrition literacy, which includes the skills of acquiring, processing, and understanding nutrition information with the purpose of making appropriate decisions in this field. Considering the existence of the capacity of religious missionaries and the importance of awareness of the clerics in creating a proper culture in the field of health and to confront with the misuse of people incomplete medical and religious information, in this study, the nutrition literacy of seminary students of Qom city, was evaluated for the first time.   Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with the participation of 176 seminary students over 18 years of age studying in the Seminary of Qom in 2019. The EINLA Adult Nutrition Literacy Questionnaire was used in this study. The height and weight of the participants, were also measured and their BMI was calculated.   Results: The mean score of the nutrition literacy of the students, was 28.1 ± 3.1. The mean score was 29.2 ± 2.3 in women and 27.3 ± 4.1 in men. Most of the participants (87.5%), had adequate nutrition literacy and others (12.5%) had insufficient nutrition literacy. The highest score was related to the recognition of food groups and the lowest score was for the knowledge and skill of measuring food. There was a statistically significant difference between men and women in terms of nutrition literacy level (p = 0.001), indicating that women had better nutrition literacy compared men. No significant relationship was found between age, weight, and BMI with the participants' nutrition literacy status.   Conclusion: The level of nutrition literacy in most of the participants was assessed as sufficient. There was no significant relationship between nutrition literacy status with weight and BMI

Food insecurity status in heart failure patients in Iranian population

Background: We were conducted this study to assess the prevalence of food insecurity in heart failure patients households and the relationship between food security and some variables in this households. Methods: In this cross sectional study, a total of 300 heart failure patients' households were studied in Imam Reza hospital of Mashhad. The Iranian version of household food insecurity access scale was used to measure food security. Results: Among the participants in this study, 129 patients (43%) were secure, 42 patients (14%), 82 patients (27.3%) and 47 patients (15.7%) were mild, moderate and sever insecure, respectively. Chi-square test results show that there is a strong association between diabetes, hypertension, body mass index (BMI), and food security distribution (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Based on our findings, food insecurity is mild to severe prevalent in heart failure patients households, meanwhile there is a strong relationship between diabetes, hypertension, BMI and food security status, so it is important to assess their food status and prevent from worsening their nutritional statu

Investigation on factors associated with ovarian cancer: an umbrella review of systematic review and meta-analyses

Abstract Following cervical and uterine cancer, ovarian cancer (OC) has the third rank in gynecologic cancers. It often remains non-diagnosed until it spreads throughout the pelvis and abdomen. Identification of the most effective risk factors can help take prevention measures concerning OC. Therefore, the presented review aims to summarize the available studies on OC risk factors. A comprehensive systematic literature search was performed to identify all published systematic reviews and meta-analysis on associated factors with ovarian cancer. Web of Science, Cochrane Library databases, and Google Scholar were searched up to 17th January 2020. This study was performed according to Smith et al. methodology for conducting a systematic review of systematic reviews. Twenty-eight thousand sixty-two papers were initially retrieved from the electronic databases, among which 20,104 studies were screened. Two hundred seventy-seven articles met our inclusion criteria, 226 of which included in the meta-analysis. Most commonly reported genetic factors were MTHFR C677T (OR=1.077; 95 % CI (1.032, 1.124); P-value<0.001), BSML rs1544410 (OR=1.078; 95 %CI (1.024, 1.153); P-value=0.004), and Fokl rs2228570 (OR=1.123; 95 % CI (1.089, 1.157); P-value<0.001), which were significantly associated with increasing risk of ovarian cancer. Among the other factors, coffee intake (OR=1.106; 95 % CI (1.009, 1.211); P-value=0.030), hormone therapy (RR=1.057; 95 % CI (1.030, 1.400); P-value<0.001), hysterectomy (OR=0.863; 95 % CI (0.745, 0.999); P-value=0.049), and breast feeding (OR=0.719, 95 % CI (0.679, 0.762) and P-value<0.001) were mostly reported in studies. Among nutritional factors, coffee, egg, and fat intake significantly increase the risk of ovarian cancer. Estrogen, estrogen-progesterone, and overall hormone therapies also are related to the higher incidence of ovarian cancer. Some diseases, such as diabetes, endometriosis, and polycystic ovarian syndrome, as well as several genetic polymorphisms, cause a significant increase in ovarian cancer occurrence. Moreover, other factors, for instance, obesity, overweight, smoking, and perineal talc use, significantly increase the risk of ovarian cancer