Study of variances in some blood factors during sepsis diagnosis and their interrelations

Background and aims: Sepsis is one of the most common reasons of mortality among patients in intensive care unit, worldwide. Despite new supportive treatments and administration of high potent antibiotics, sepsis is overwhelmingly one of the risky factors in patient’s life. This study was carried out to compare values of some of the blood tests in sepsis diagnosis and to examine their interrelations in order to select a more practicable diagnosis method. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 30 patients with sepsis, hospitalized at ICU were selected. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), Platelet (PLT), and White blood cells (WBC) were measured in three stages: pre-sepsis, peri-sepsis, and post sepsis. Data analysis was conducted by SPSS using repeated measures ANOVA and paired t-test. Results: ESR, CRP, PLT, and WBC in peri sepsis were significantly higher than those in pre sepsis and post-sepsis (P<0.05). Comparing PCT mean level in post-sepsis was significantly lower than those in pre sepsis and post sepsis (P<0.05). Conclusion: Regarding the significant difference in ESR, CRP, and WBC in peri sepsis compared to pre - and post-sepsis in this study, these tests might be used as simple and inexpensive ones instead of PCT and C3 tests for the diagnosis of sepsis in ICU

Acute respiratory viral infections among Tamattu' Hajj pilgrims in Iran

ABSTRACT: Respiratory infections are among some common health difficulties which may occur in journeys. Tamattu' Hajj, an annual congregation of more than 2 million (including 100000 Iranian) pilgrims from all over the world, embodies circumstances, e. g. close contact, shared sleeping accommodations and the dense air pollution, which potentially facilitate airborne respiratory disease transmission. With pilgrims' returning home, respiratory infections may be spread to different countries, leading to considerable expenditures imposed mainly on National Health Systems. Thus, this study was conducted to investigate acute respiratory viral infections among Hajj pilgrims. In this descriptive-analytical study, serum samples were taken from 338 Iranian pilgrims in order to be investigated, through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), for antibodies to given viruses. 84 % of studied pilgrims, during their journey, presented with symptoms of infectious diseases, among which Adenoviruses (23.7%) occurred more prevalently compared to the other two viruses of concern, i. e., Influenza (3.6%) and RSV (7.4%). Several factors are involved in rate and type of acute respiratory infections among Hajj pilgrims. Despite high rate of infection with Influenza and Adenoviruses, since massive gatherings may help all pathogenic respiratory agents cause pandemics, other infectious agents should be seriously addressed as well

Sequence-based genotyping of hepatitis B virus in general population.

BACKGROUND Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) causes acute and chronic liver disease worldwide. HBV has eight genotypes (A to H) which is the reflection of its genome with their characteristic geographical distribution. Each genotype could have different pathogenic and therapeutic characteristics. There have been few records on HBV genotyping in general population from our region. This study aimed to determine hepatitis B genotypes using sequencing in the general population of Shahrekord, a Southwestern region of Iran. METHODS A total of 3000 serum samples (cluster sampling method) were enrolled from general population tested for HBsAg using ELISA. Using appropriate extraction kit, HBV DNA was extracted from HBsAg positive samples and each was subjected to nested PCR for detection of HBV DNA. Finally, using sequencing, the samples were used for HBV genotyping. Data were analyzed by SPSS 19 using descriptive statistics, chi square, and Fisher's exact test. P-value < 0.05 was considered as the level of significance. RESULTS Out of 3000 serum samples, 40 (1.3%) were positive for HBsAg. HBV DNA was detected in 10 out of 40 (25%) of the samples studied. Genotype D was the predominant HBV type found in all of these 10 HBV positive samples. CONCLUSION Genotype D is probably the predominant HBV type in our region

The relevance of related-risk behaviors and seroprevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV infection in intravenous drug users from Shahrekord, Iran, 2004

چکیده: زمینه و هدف: اعتیاد تزریقی یکی از مهمترین عوامل خطر برای عفونت هپاتیت ویروسی و ویروس نقص ایمنی انسانی (Human Immunodoficiency Virus=HIV) می باشد. مطالعه حاضر برای تعیین میزان شیوع سرمی هپاتیت C (HCV) و B (HBV) و HIV در معتادان تزریقی و همچنین بررسی برخی عوامل خطر در این گروه انجام شد. روش بررسی: این مطالعه در سال 1383 در شهرکرد به صورت توصیفی - تحلیلی انجام شد. تعداد 133 نفر از معتادان تزریقی مراجعه کننده به مراکز ترک اعتیاد شهرکرد انتخاب و اطلاعات جمعیت شناسی (سن، جنس) و رفتاری (اعتیاد تزریقی، سابقه زندان و غیره) مرتبط با بیماری های هپاتیت C و B و عفونت HIV بوسیله چک لیستی جمع آوری گردید و نمونه سرم برای بررسی افراد از نظر ابتلا به بیماری های فوق گرفته شد. نتایج از طریق آزمون کای دو و روشهای آمار توصیفی آنالیز شد و 05/0p(p. نتیجه گیری: بـر اساس نتاِیج این بررسی، معتادان تزریقی نسبت به جمعیت عادی میزان ابتلای بیشتری به این عفونت ها دارند و مهمترین عامـل خطر ابتلای به این عفونت ها، اعتیاد تزریقی و استفاده از سرنگ مشترک می باشد

DiversiGATE: A Comprehensive Framework for Reliable Large Language Models

In this paper, we introduce DiversiGATE, a unified framework that consolidates diverse methodologies for LLM verification. The proposed framework comprises two main components: Diversification and Aggregation which provide a holistic perspective on existing verification approaches, such as Self-Consistency, Math Prompter and WebGPT. Furthermore, we propose a novel `SelfLearner' model that conforms to the DiversiGATE framework which can learn from its own outputs and refine its performance over time, leading to improved accuracy. To evaluate the effectiveness of SelfLearner, we conducted a rigorous series of experiments, including tests on synthetic data as well as on popular arithmetic reasoning benchmarks such as GSM8K. Our results demonstrate that our approach outperforms traditional LLMs, achieving a considerable 54.8% -> 61.8% improvement on the GSM8K benchmark

Induced Therapeutic Hyperkalemia as a Method for Treatment of Refractory Arrhythmias after Aortic Declamping in Cardiac Surgical Procedures: A Narrative Review

Cardiac surgical procedures are among the most complex operations with a detailed list of perioperative care. Weaning from CPB is associated with a number of disturbances in cardiac rhythm. One of the most challenging cardiac rhythm disturbances is the ventricular arrhythmia (tachycardia/fibrillation). Cardioversion and antiarrhythmic agents may be ineffective after aortic declamping; systemic hyperkalemia may be a therapeutic option. Here, we review the available studies regarding this issue and the possible underlying mechanisms of this therapeutic approach