The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus and its related risk factors in Gorgan, north of Iran. Selective or universal screening test is cost-effective?

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is the most prevalent metabolic disorder in pregnancy. GDM is defined in <1 % to 28 % of pregnancies, depending on the diagnostic criteria, the ethnic and racial characteristics. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of GDM and related risk factors among pregnant women in Gorgan, north of Iran. In a cross sectional study, 1276 pregnant women were recruited. All of women screened with glucose challenge test (GCT) in 24–28th wks of gestational age. Women with positive GCT underwent 100 g glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Diagnosis of GDM was according to Carpenter and Coustan’s criteria. GCT was positive in 200 women (15.8 % with CI: 13.8 %–17.8 %) and GDM was diagnosed in 62 case (4.9 % with CI:3.7 %–6.8 %). In a multiple logistic regression, risk factors such as age, BMI, history of macrosomia, familial history of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) were identified as independent risk factors for GDM (p < 0.05). Among GDM cases, 3.2 %(2 women) had no risk factor. These results show moderate prevalence of GDM in north of Iran. It seems that a selective GDM screening method for women with some risk factors is more appropriate than general screening. © 2015, Research Society for Study of Diabetes in India

Seat Belt Usage in Injured Car Occupants: Injury Patterns, Severity and Outcome After Two Main Car Accident Mechanisms in Kashan, Iran, 2012

Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the main public health problems in Iran. The seat belts, which are vehicle safety devices, are imperative to reduce the risk of severe injuries and mortality. Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate injury patterns, severity and outcome among belted and unbelted car occupants who were injured in car accidents. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional prospective study was performed on all car occupants injured in RTAs (n = 822) who were transported to hospital and hospitalized for more than 24 hours from March 2012 to March 2013. Demographic profile of the patients, including age, gender, position in the vehicle, the use of seat belts, type of car crashes, injured body regions, revised trauma score (RTS), Glasgow coma score (GCS), duration of hospital stay and mortality rate were analyzed by descriptive analysis, chi-square and independent t-test. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 560 patients used seat belts (68.1%). The unbelted occupants were younger (28 years vs. 38 years) and had more frequently sustained head, abdomen and multiple injuries (P = 0.01, P = 0.01 and P = 0.009, respectively). Also, these patients had significantly lower GCS and elongated hospitalization and higher death rate (P = 0.001, P = 0.001 and P = 0.05, respectively). Tendency of severe head trauma and low RTS and death were increased in unbelted occupants in car rollover accident mechanisms (P = 0.001, P = 0.01 and P = 0.008, respectively). Conclusions: During car crashes, especially car rollover, unbelted occupants are more likely to sustain multiple severe injuries and death. Law enforcement of the seat belt usage for all occupants (front and rear seat) is obligatory to reduce severe injuries sustained as a result of car accidents, especially in vehicles with low safety

Effects of dietary carbohydrate levels on growth, survival and body composition in Caspian Kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum, Kamenskii, 1901)

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of dietary carbohydrate levels on growth performance and body composition of juveniles Caspian Kutum (Rutilus frisii kutum). Fish with initial average weight of 0.8±0.2g (±SD) were fed five isoproteic and isenergic formulated diets with different carbohydrate levels including 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35% in triplicate groups, 4 times daily according to their satiation for 10 weeks. Results showed that increasing the level of carbohydrate to 35% significantly increase some growth indices such as final weight (Wf), weight gain (WG), body weight increase (BWI), specific growth rate (SGR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER). In addition, result of body composition analysis showed that the increase in carbohydrate level lead to increase of protein level. So, the highest amount of protein was observed in fingerlings fed with diet containing 35% carbohydrate. In conclusion, the results indicate that increase in carbohydrate levels from 15 to 35% have not any negative effect on growth parameters and therefore, the level of 35% carbohydrate in the diet of 1-2g Caspian Kutum fingerlings can lead to better efficient in protein and desirable growth

Description of female Axonya farsica (Col.: Carabidae: Broscinae)

گونه‌ی Dostal & Zettel, 1999 Axonya farsica برای اولین بار از ایران، استان فارس، جمع‌آوری و توصیف شد. این توصیف بر اساس یک عدد حشره‌ی نر صورت گرفت. در این تحقیق، حشره‌ی ماده از منطقه‌ی تنگ تیزاب در استان فارس و همچنین نزدیک یاسوج در استان کهکیلویه و بویراحمد جمع‌آوری شد که برای اولین بار توصیف می‌گردد

Study of Robust Adaptive Beamforming Algorithms Based on Power Method Processing and Spatial Spectrum Matching

Robust adaptive beamforming (RAB) based on interference-plus-noise covariance (INC) matrix reconstruction can experience performance degradation when model mismatch errors exist, particularly when the input signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is large. In this work, we devise an efficient RAB technique for dealing with covariance matrix reconstruction issues. The proposed method involves INC matrix reconstruction using an idea in which the power and the steering vector of the interferences are estimated based on the power method. Furthermore, spatial match processing is computed to reconstruct the desired signal-plus-noise covariance matrix. Then, the noise components are excluded to retain the desired signal (DS) covariance matrix. A key feature of the proposed technique is to avoid eigenvalue decomposition of the INC matrix to obtain the dominant power of the interference-plus-noise region. Moreover, the INC reconstruction is carried out according to the definition of the theoretical INC matrix. Simulation results are shown and discussed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method against existing approaches.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Targeting Listeria monocytogenes consensus sequence of internalin genes using an antisense molecule

As an intracellular pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes can enter host cells where it can replicate and escape detection and eradication by the host immune response making the clearance of infection very challenging. Furthermore, with the advent of antimicrobial resistance, the need for alternative targets is inevitable. Internalin proteins are crucial to this bacterium as they contribute to bacterial entry to the systemic circulation. In this study, we targeted a highly conserved region of these proteins by an antisense sequence that was covalently conjugated to the cell penetrating peptides (CPP) to overcome the challenging delivery barriers. Then, we evaluated the efficiency of this construct in vitro. We also assessed the antigenicity, cytotoxicity, and probability of apoptosis induction by this construct. The studied CPP-PNA inhibited bacterial growth and suppressed the mRNA expression of internalins in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, at all studied concentrations, CPP-PNA significantly reduced the invasion rate of L. monocytogenes in the examined cell lines. Moreover, different concentrations of CPP-PNA did not have a significant antigenic, cytotoxic, and apoptotic properties compared to the control. These results suggest the effectiveness of CPP-antisense in targeting the mRNAs of internalins for various research, therapeutic and preventive purposes. However, additional research is required to evaluate the potency, safety, and pharmacokinetics of this compound for the prevention and treatment of listeriosis

Efficient Covariance Matrix Reconstruction with Iterative Spatial Spectrum Sampling

This work presents a cost-effective technique for designing robust adaptive beamforming algorithms based on efficient covariance matrix reconstruction with iterative spatial power spectrum (CMR-ISPS). The proposed CMR-ISPS approach reconstructs the interference-plus-noise covariance (INC) matrix based on a simplified maximum entropy power spectral density function that can be used to shape the directional response of the beamformer. Firstly, we estimate the directions of arrival (DoAs) of the interfering sources with the available snapshots. We then develop an algorithm to reconstruct the INC matrix using a weighted sum of outer products of steering vectors whose coefficients can be estimated in the vicinity of the DoAs of the interferences which lie in a small angular sector. We also devise a cost-effective adaptive algorithm based on conjugate gradient techniques to update the beamforming weights and a method to obtain estimates of the signal of interest (SOI) steering vector from the spatial power spectrum. The proposed CMR-ISPS beamformer can suppress interferers close to the direction of the SOI by producing notches in the directional response of the array with sufficient depths. Simulation results are provided to confirm the validity of the proposed method and make a comparison to existing approachesComment: 14 pages, 8 figure