Comparison of Acupressure Effect on Sanyinjiao Point with that of Vitamin E on Primary Dysmenorrhea

Introduction & Objective: Dysmenorrhea is a common gynecologic disorder which at least fifty percent of women experience through their reproductive period. The most important cause of primary dysmenorrhea is the enhancement of prostaglandins production and its role in the appearance of the pain. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of acupressure and vitamin E in reduction of the severity of pain in primary dysmenorrhea. Materials & Methods: This was a randomized clinical trial study to compare the effect of the pressure point Sanyinjiao medication and vitamin E on dysmenorrhea. In this study, 100 female students between 18 t0 22 years of age were recruited. The students were randomly allocated into two groups: pressure medication group, and vitamin E group. In the first cycle, no treatment was used. But during the next two cycles, with the start of pain in the pressure medication group, the Sanyinjiao point was pressured for 20 minutes and in the Vitamin E group, each subject used one pill of Vitamin E (200 units), daily. The necessary data was collected by questionnaire and Andrish- Millsom scale of dysmenorrhea. Mann-Whitney, Fridman, Wilcoxon, chi-square and t-test were used for data analysis. Results: The present study revealed that there was significant differences in the rate of pain during the cycles in both groups. There was a significant difference in pain intensity for each group before and after the treatment (P<0.05). Significant difference was found between two groups in the duration of pain in second months (P<0.05). Conclusion: The findings showed that acupressure at Sanyinjiao point can be used as an effective, available, cost effective intervention for reducing pain in dysmenorrheal

Fructosamine and glycated hemoglobin level in pregnant women with abnormal glucose challenge test

Background and Objective: Gestational diabetes is affected 3-12% of women and occurs at the final stage of second trimester. This study was done to determine the fructosamine and glycated hemoglobin level in pregnant women with abnormal glucose challenge test. Methods: This case – control study was carried out on 96 pregnant women with glucose challenge test (GCT)>140 mg/dl as cases and 96 pregnant women with GCT<140 mg/dl as controls. The serum fructosamine and glycated hemoglobin determined using ELISA and chemical methods, respectively. Results: In pregnant woman with abnormal GCT, there was a significant correlation with glycated hemoglobin and fructosamine. The glycated hemoglobin correlation was more significant compared to fructosamine (0.63 to 0.24). There was not significant correlation between GCT with fructosamine and glycated hemoglobin in individuals with normal GCT. Conclusion: The measurement of glycated hemoglobin is more accurate than fructosamine in pregnant women with abnormal glucose challenge test

Attitudes of medical instructors and students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences towards Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) system

Introduction: Recently, there has been a shift of emphasis from teaching to creating an interactive and student-oriented atmosphere in education.  One of the method in creating student oriented atmosphere is Peer Assisted Learning (PAL), in which students play the role of teachers , assistant, and enhance other students’ learning. Regarding numerous benefits of this system, the present study aimed to survey the attitudes of teachers and students at Medical School of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences on Peer Assisted Learning.   Methods: Following a literature review, the researchers designed a questionnaire about benefits of peer assisted learning, and the stages of its content validity. Pilot study and reliability were followed. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS 16.   Results: The obtained results showed that an absolute maximum of the participants agreed with the potential benefits of performing the proposed system. Data analysis showed that students have significantly more agreement with PAL compare to the teacher-oriented method.   Conclusion: Regarding the obtained results, we concluded that teachers and students agreed with the benefits and application of PAL. Implementation of this active learning system would lead in productive and capable work force

Machine Learning Algorithms for Network Intrusion Detection

Network intrusion is a growing threat with potentially severe impacts, which can be damaging in multiple ways to network infrastructures and digital/intellectual assets in cyberspace. The approach most commonly employed to combat network intrusion is the development of attack detection systems via machine learning and data mining techniques. These systems can identify and disconnect malicious network traffic, thereby helping to protect networks. This chapter systematically reviews two groups of common intrusion detection systems using fuzzy logic and artificial neural networks, and evaluates them by utilizing the widely used KDD 99 benchmark dataset. Based on the findings, the key challenges and opportunities in addressing cyber-attacks using artificial intelligence techniques are summarized with future work suggested