Nutritional status and quality of life in patients with acute leukemia prior to and after induction chemotherapy in three hospitals in Tehran, Iran: a prospective study

BACKGROUND: The primary objective of the present study was to assess changes in the nutritional status and quality of life in acute leukaemia patients, aged ≥15 years, who had undergone induction chemotherapy. METHODS: A preliminary and post-induction chemotherapy assessment of patients' nutritional status, quality of life, sociodemographic status and medical characteristics was conducted using the Patient Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life (QOL-C30, version 3) questionnaires. The PG-SGA is a clinical nutrition assessment tool used to evaluate oncology patients. Patients with newly-diagnosed acute leukaemia, aged ≥15 years, at three hospitals in Tehran (from May 2009 to March 2010), were recruited for the present study. RESULTS: Sixty-three acute leukaemia patients [65% men and 35% women with a mean (SD) age of 33 (15.4) years] participated in the present study. A total of 19.4% were found to be malnourished prior to chemotherapy. After chemotherapy, 76.1% of patients were considered moderately malnourished, whereas 6.3% were severely malnourished. After induction chemotherapy, both the nutritional status and quality of life deteriorated in the majority of patients, as demonstrated by a paired t-test. CONCLUSIONS: A deteriorated nutritional status and quality of life was the result of the side effects posed by induction chemotherapy in the patients investigated in the present study. These findings highlight the need for an appropriate nutritional support programme to improve the nutritional status and quality of life in patients with leukaemia undergoing chemotherapy

Protection from ultraviolet damage and photocarcinogenesis by vitamin d compounds

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020. Exposure of skin cells to UV radiation results in DNA damage, which if inadequately repaired, may cause mutations. UV-induced DNA damage and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species also cause local and systemic suppression of the adaptive immune system. Together, these changes underpin the development of skin tumours. The hormone derived from vitamin D, calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) and other related compounds, working via the vitamin D receptor and at least in part through endoplasmic reticulum protein 57 (ERp57), reduce cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and oxidative DNA damage in keratinocytes and other skin cell types after UV. Calcitriol and related compounds enhance DNA repair in keratinocytes, in part through decreased reactive oxygen species, increased p53 expression and/or activation, increased repair proteins and increased energy availability in the cell when calcitriol is present after UV exposure. There is mitochondrial damage in keratinocytes after UV. In the presence of calcitriol, but not vehicle, glycolysis is increased after UV, along with increased energy-conserving autophagy and changes consistent with enhanced mitophagy. Reduced DNA damage and reduced ROS/RNS should help reduce UV-induced immune suppression. Reduced UV immune suppression is observed after topical treatment with calcitriol and related compounds in hairless mice. These protective effects of calcitriol and related compounds presumably contribute to the observed reduction in skin tumour formation in mice after chronic exposure to UV followed by topical post-irradiation treatment with calcitriol and some, though not all, related compounds

3D Building Reconstruction Using Dense Photogrammetric Point Cloud

Three dimensional models of urban areas play an important role in city planning, disaster management, city navigation and other applications. Reconstruction of 3D building models is still a challenging issue in 3D city modelling. Point clouds generated from multi view images of UAV is a novel source of spatial data, which is used in this research for building reconstruction. The process starts with the segmentation of point clouds of roofs and walls into planar groups. By generating related surfaces and using geometrical constraints plus considering symmetry, a 3d model of building is reconstructed. In a refinement step, dormers are extracted, and their models are reconstructed. The details of the 3d reconstructed model are in LoD3 level, with respect to modelling eaves, fractions of roof and dormers

MISALIGNMENT CALIBRATION OF ULTRACAM D AND XP

Digital aerial cameras are near to become the predominant sensor for photogrammetric image acquisition. The technology of GPS and IMU integrated with a digital aerial camera is a complex procedure of aerial photography with possibility of decreasing number of necessary ground control points (GCPs) for aerial triangulation (AT). Moreover, direct georeferencing, which uses calculated parameters by GPS/IMU directly, is undertaken for a range of projects. In this regard determination of the geometric relationship between GPS, IMU and camera geometry is a significant factor. Also compensation of camera rotations during the flight, which is carried out by stabilizer, plays a principle role for its successful operation. This paper will discuss calculation of 3 requisite rotational connecting parameters of geometry of camera and GPS/IMU and revise the effect of height on them

The effect of dietary intake changes on nutritional status in acute leukaemia patients after first induction chemotherapy

This study aimed to evaluate how changes in dietary intake among acute lymphoblastic and acute myeloid leukaemia (ALL and AML) patients affect nutritional status after the first induction chemotherapy. Dietary intake was assessed using 24-h recall and a 136-item food frequency questionnaire. Nutritional status was assessed by Patients Subjective Global Assessment questionnaire before starting induction therapy and again after 1 month. All newly diagnosed acute leukaemia patients aged 15 years old and older who attended three referral hospitals for initiation of their induction chemotherapy were included in the sample selection provided that they gave informed consent. A total of 30 AML and 33 ALL patients participated in the study. Dietary intake and nutritional status worsened after the chemotherapy treatment. Dietary intake in terms of macronutrients, micronutrients, food variety and diet diversity score changed significantly after the induction chemotherapy. No significant relationship was found between the changes in dietary indices and nutritional status. Chemotherapy-related side effects as an additional factor to cancer itself could affect dietary intake of leukaemia patients. The effectiveness of an early assessment of nutritional status and dietary intake should be further investigated in order to deter further deterioration. © 2014 The Authors. European Journal of Cancer Care Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

The mediating role of resiliency in the relationship between dimensions of social support and self-care in patients with asthma

Background: Asthma, as a physical disease, is influenced by psychological problems, and resilience is a positive adaptation to reacting to adverse conditions. This study aimed to resolve the mediating role of resilience in the relationship between perceived social support and self-care in patients with asthma. Materials and Methods: Research method of the present study is a descriptive-correlational study based on structural equation modeling technique. The statistical population of the study was all patients with asthma in the specialized asthma clinic of Sayad Shirazi hospital in Gorgan (N=200). According to the sample size, 127 people were selected through the Grace-Morgan table and entered the study. The research instruments were Simet et al.'s (1988) perceived social support scale, Connor and Davidson (2003) resilience questionnaire, and Niknam et al.'s (2013) self-care behavior questionnaire. For data analysis, path analysis method was used in Amos and SPSS-24 software. (Dates and dar Dastres have been neglected) Results: The results of model analysis showed that the initial model has a good fit with the data. The study of mediating role showed that resilience has a significant mediating role in the relationship between perceived social support and self-care behavior, also. Conclusion: These findings indicate that resilience and perceived social support are variables upsetting self-care of patients with asthma. These results have important implications for psychopathology, prevention and treatment of patients with asthma

The comparison of Friedwald formula and direct measurement to determine the serum levels of LDL-C

Background and Objective: The risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) is proportional to the LDL-C lipoprotein. Due to frequent use of Friedwald formula in estimation of LDL-C in most laboratories, this study was done to compare the Friedwald formula and direct measurement to determine the serum levels of LDL-C Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on of 598 patients 226 male and 372 female whome referred to Imam Ali hospital Andimeshk cityin Khozestan province of Iran for health check up during 2009. 5 ml of the venous blood was drown. Total cholesterol (TC) (mg/dl), Triglyceride (TG) (mg/dl), HDL-C (mg/dl) and LDL-C (mg/dl) of serum are measured with Pars azmun company kits. The Friedwald formula was used for estimation of LDL-C. The K=3, 3.5 and 5 were used to stimate the lipid by Friedwald formula. Data were analyzed using SPSS-18, Pearson correlation coefficient and ANOVA tests. Results: A total of 598 serum samples collected 37.8% were men and 62.2% women. The mean age of participants was 38.8±10.77 years. Minimum age 21 years and maximum age was 77 years. Mean deviation for TG≤150, 201-300 and 301-400 in Friedwald formula (k=5) were -13.01±8.79, -17.11±13.17 and -18.63±18.54, respectively and with k=3 are -.39±12.04, -0.078±18.55 and 0.04±25.55 and for TG between 151-200 is -9.72±10.54 and with k=3.5 is equal to 0.82±13.70. Pearson correlation test showed that direct measurment and calculated from the equation Friedwald, for triglycerides in the area equal to or less than 150, 151-200, 201-300 and 301-400 mg/dl, with correlated to Pearson correlation coefficient were 0.982, 0.991, 0.991 and 0.975, respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that the direct measurement method is superior to the Friedwald equation, otherwise, equation Friedwald formula with K=3 is recommended