The effect of 12 weeks Anethum graveolens (dill) on metabolic markers in patients with metabolic syndrome; A randomized double blind controlled trial

Background: The clustering of metabolic abnormalities defined as metabolic syndrome is now both a public health and a clinical problem .While interest in herbal medicine has greatly increased, lack of human evidence to support efficacies shown in animals does exist. This clinical trial study designed to investigate whether herbal medicine, Anethum graveolens (dill) extract, could improve metabolic components in patients with metabolic syndrome. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial using a parallel design was conducted. 24 subjects who had metabolic syndrome diagnostic criteria (update of ATP III) were randomly assigned to either dill extract (n = 12) or placebo (n = 12) for 3 months. Results: Across lipid component of metabolic syndrome, no significant differences in triglyceride (TG) concentration and high density lipoprotein cholesterol were seen between the two groups. However TG improved significantly from baseline (257.0 vs. 201.5p = 0.01) with dill treatment but such a significant effect was not observed in placebo group. Moreover, no significant differences in waist circumference, blood pressure and fasting blood sugar were seen between two groups after 3 months follow up period. Conclusion: In this small clinical trial in patients with metabolic syndrome, 12 weeks of dill extract treatment had a beneficial effect in terms of reducing TG from baseline. However dill treatment was not associated with a significant improvement in metabolic syndrome related markers compared to control group. Larger studies might be required to prove the efficacy and safety of long-Term administration of dill to resolve metabolic syndrome components. © 2012 Mansouri et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Investigating the antecedents to the adoption of SCRM technologies by start-up companies

Despite their fairly recent emergence, start-up companies now play an important role in the economic development of countries around the globe. These companies have fewer tangible assets and capital, and therefore, the efficient delivery of services and products is a key business priority for them. Customer relationship management (CRM) technologies, which are designed to facilitate customer engagement during the design, development and delivery of services and products may play a significant role in the success or failure of start-up companies. Developments in new communication technologies have transformed traditional CRM into electronic CRM (eCRM), mobile CRM (mCRM); and more recently, social CRM (SCRM). However, there remains very little understanding of the factors affecting SCRM adoption in start-up businesses. The relative newness of SCRM technologies, coupled with the swiftly evolving nature of start-up companies: which has made them difficult cases to study – has limited the amount of research undertaken in this area. This paper aims to close this gap by proposing a framework that depicts the factors affecting start-up companies’ intention to adopt SCRM applications, and explores the relative importance of these factors. Inspired by an extended Technological, Organisational and Environmental (TOE) framework, this paper investigates effects of technological characteristics (TC), organisational characteristics (OC), environmental characteristics (EC) and managerial characteristics (MC) on start-up companies’ intentions to adopt SCRM applications. The results outlined in this research indicate that the observability, compatibility and trialability of SCRM solutions positively affect SCRM adoption in start-up businesses. Moreover, the availability of internal financial resources has a similarly positive effect. When considering environmental characteristics, it was found that support from venture capitalists, crowd funding support, governmental support, business angels support and external pressure all positively affect the intention to adopt SCRM applications within start-up businesses

Kajian Pertumbuhan Ikan Tembakang (Helostoma Temminckii) Di Rawa Bawang Latak Kabupaten Tulang Bawang, Lampung

Tembakang Fish (Helostoma temminckii) is one of the fish that have high economic value in Rawa Bawang Latak. Overfishing and the introduction of fish resulted tembakang number of fish populations decline, so it takes the efforts of domestication. This study aims to determine the growth pattern that includes tembakang fish length and weight relationships, growth parameters, and factor conditions. Research carried out for four months, ie in October 2013 - January 2014. Tembakang fishing done at two stations in Rawa Bawang Latak. The sampling frequency of fish is done only once a month using Sero. The results showed that the pattern of growth tembakang fish is allometric positive, condition factor values male and female fish were not significantly different, female tembakang fish growth faster than the male fish, fish tembakang males on the size of 180.6 mm was 21 months, while females in size 191.1 mm 8 months old

Study of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Versus Cognitive Behavior Therapy on Emotion Regulation and Mindfulness in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Although the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) has not been addressed to date, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is the gold-standard psychotherapy for GAD patients. The present study investigated effects of DBT versus CBT on emotion regulation and mindfulness in GAD patients. Conducted in Iran, 68 GAD patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: CBT or DBT. Assessment was performed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 3 months follow-up. Evaluation included the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders (SCID-I), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). Results of the present study showed that both groups had lower scores in depression, anxiety, and emotion dysregulation and higher scores in mindfulness after the interventions, and at follow-up. During the study period, the CBT group experienced greater reductions than the DBT group in symptoms of depression and anxiety, while the DBT group experienced greater improvements than the CBT group in emotion regulation and mindfulness. Findings seem to warrant the conclusion that, although CBT reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety more than DBT, DBT was more effective in improving emotion regulation and mindfulness than CBT. Findings of the study are of significance for psychotherapy and future studies of these treatments. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Ontogenetic oxycodone exposure affects early life communicative behaviors, sensorimotor reflexes, and weight trajectory in mice

Nationwide, opioid misuse among pregnant women has risen four-fold from 1999 to 2014, with commensurate increase in neonates hospitalized for neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). NAS occurs when a fetus exposed to opioid

Alternative exon splicing and differential expression in pancreatic islets reveals candidate genes and pathways implicated in early diabetes development

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has a strong genetic component. Most of the gene variants driving the pathogenesis of T2D seem to target pancreatic β-cell function. To identify novel gene variants acting at early stage of the disease, we analyzed whole transcriptome data to identify differential expression (DE) and alternative exon splicing (AS) transcripts in pancreatic islets collected from two metabolically diverse mouse strains at 6 weeks of age after three weeks of high-fat-diet intervention. Our analysis revealed 1218 DE and 436 AS genes in islets from NZO/Hl vs C3HeB/FeJ. Whereas some of the revealed genes present well-established markers for β-cell failure, such as Cd36 or Aldh1a3, we identified numerous DE/AS genes that have not been described in context with β-cell function before. The gene Lgals2, previously associated with human T2D development, was DE as well as AS and localizes in a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for blood glucose on Chr.15 that we reported recently in our N2(NZOxC3H) population. In addition, pathway enrichment analysis of DE and AS genes showed an overlap of only half of the revealed pathways, indicating that DE and AS in large parts influence different pathways in T2D development. PPARG and adipogenesis pathways, two well-established metabolic pathways, were overrepresented for both DE and AS genes, probably as an adaptive mechanism to cope for increased cellular stress. Our results provide guidance for the identification of novel T2D candidate genes and demonstrate the presence of numerous AS transcripts possibly involved in islet function and maintenance of glucose homeostasis

Effect of expressive writing on promotion of body image in women with multiple sclerosis: A randomized controlled trial

Background and purpose: Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects own physical function and body image. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of expressive writing on body image in women with MS. Materials and methods: In this randomized trial, the Solomon four-group design was employed. The study was carried out in 116 women attending an MS clinic in Tehran, Iran 2019. The participants were randomly assigned to two subgroups of control (A1 and A2) and two subgroups of intervention (B2 and B1). Pretest and posttest were done in A2 and B2 while for A1 and B1only posttest was performed. Expressive writing including morning pages, meeting the inner child, and creative assignments were carried out for six weeks. The control group received routine care. Fisher Body Focus Questionnaire was completed at pretest in A2 and B2 and at posttest in all groups (immediately after the intervention, and at weeks four and eight). Data analysis was done in SPSS V26. Results: The mean scores for body image in B2 were 145.65±19.89 at pretest, 156.89±9.54 immediately after the intervention, 158.16±8.92 at week four, and 153.96±8.27 at week eight. In A2, the mean score at these times were 144.96±7.17, 145.55±5.10, 145.28±7.84, 145.00±9.15, respectively. Expressive writing significantly improved body image in B2 at immediately and four weeks after the intervention compared to pretest (P<0.001). There were significant differences between the control group and intervention group at immediately after (P=0.002) and four weeks (P=0.03) after the intervention. Conclusion: Expressive writing could be effective in improving body image in women with MS. © 2021, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

The frequency of vaginal intercourse during pregnancy: A systematic and meta-analysis study

Objectives: Sexual life may change during pregnancy. Due to negative attitudes toward having sex, unpleasant feeling, and fear of several issues, women might avoid vaginal intercourse during pregnancy. Therefore, the present systematic review aimed to investigate the frequency of vaginal intercourse in pregnancy.Materials and Methods: Comprehensive literature review was conducted to find the relevant articles published (from December 1990 to April 2018) on the issue including observational studies (e.g., cross-sectional and cohort studies) that certainly determined the mean frequency of vaginal sex throughout pregnancy. In this regard, online international databases such as ISI, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Google Scholar were independently explored and checked by two authors. Duplicate articles were removed by the EndNote X7 Reference Manager. The results were analyzed using RevMan 5.3 software. The P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Totally, after excluding the duplicate and irrelevant articles based on having the mean frequency of vaginal intercourse during pregnancy, 13 articles were obtained. The range of vaginal intercourse frequency varied from 6.01 to 21 times every month pre-pregnancy, 3.67-9.87 times monthly in the first trimester, 2.78-7.21 times monthly in the second trimester, and 1.35-5.9 times monthly in the third trimester. Five out of the 13 selected articles reporting the mean and standard deviation were entered the current meta-analysis. The frequency of vaginal intercourse was obtained 7.75 (7.13-8.38) times monthly prior to pregnancy, 4.16 (3.86-4.46) times in the first trimester, 6.37 (5.60-7.14) times monthly in the second trimester, and 1.81 (1.49-2.13) times monthly in the third trimester. Conclusions: Generally, the frequency of vaginal intercourse decreased in the first trimester while increasing in the second trimester. However, a sharp decline was observed between the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. © 2019 The Author (s)

Use of Multiple Metabolic and Genetic Markers to Improve the Prediction of Type 2 Diabetes: the EPIC-Potsdam Study

OBJECTIVE — We investigated whether metabolic biomarkers and single nucleotide poly-morphisms (SNPs) improve diabetes prediction beyond age, anthropometry, and lifestyle risk factors. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS — A case-cohort study within a prospective study was designed. We randomly selected a subcohort (n 2,500) from 26,444 participants, of whom 1,962 were diabetes free at baseline. Of the 801 incident type 2 diabetes cases identified in the cohort during 7 years of follow-up, 579 remained for analyses after exclusions. Prediction models were compared by receiver operatoring characteristic (ROC) curve and integrated dis-crimination improvement. RESULTS — Case-control discrimination by the lifestyle characteristics (ROC-AUC: 0.8465) im-proved with plasma glucose (ROC-AUC: 0.8672, P 0.001) and A1C (ROC-AUC: 0.8859, P 0.001). ROC-AUC further improved with HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, -glutamyltransferase, and alanine aminotransferase (0.9000, P 0.002). Twenty SNPs did not improve discrimination beyond these characteristics (P 0.69). CONCLUSIONS — Metabolic markers, but not genotyping for 20 diabetogenic SNPs, im-prove discrimination of incident type 2 diabetes beyond lifestyle risk factors. Diabetes Care 32:2116–2119, 2009 A ccurate identification of individualswho are at increased risk for type 2diabetes is a requirement for a tar-geted prevention. We therefore tested whether metabolic and genetic markers add substantial prognostic information to age, anthropometry, and lifestyle characteristics