ABCB1-C3435T polymorphism and breast cancer risk: A case-control study and a meta-analysis

Purpose: To investigate the association of ABCB1-C3435T transition with breast cancer risk which was followed by a meta-analysis. Methods: In a case-control study we collected blood samples from 290 women (including 150 breast cancer patients and 140 healthy controls). ABCB1-C3435T genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. A meta-analysis was performed for a total of 13 eligible studies involving 5,835 cases and 8,178 controls. Results: The results of case-control study revealed a significant association between T allele (OR=1.770, 95%CI=1.236-2.535, p=0.002), CT genotype (OR=1.661, 95%CI=1.017-2.713, p=0.042), and TT genotype (OR=3.399, 95%C1=1.409-8.197, p=0.006) with breast cancer risk. Data from meta-analysis revealed a significant association between ABCB1-C3435T polymorphism and breast cancer risk in allelic (OR=1.243, 95%CI=1.079-1.432, p=0.003), co-dominant (OR=1.349, 95%CI=1.042-1.746, p=0.023), dominant (OR=1.204, 95%CI=1.019-1.422, p=0.029), and recessive (OR=1.226, 9S%C1-1.0U-1.488, p=0.039) models. Conclusions: The results suggest that the ABCB1-C3435T gene polymorphism might be a genetic risk factor and a potential biomarker for breast cancer

Prevalence and Severity of Menopausal Symptoms and Related Factors Among Women 40-60 Years in Kashan, Iran

Background: Menopause is a unique event in a woman’s life which has many symptoms. Frequency and severity of these symptoms vary, and they are based on the woman’s epidemiological characteristics. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms and related factors among women, 40-60 years in Kashan, Iran. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 700 menopausal women in Kashan City were selected using cluster sampling. Data were collected by the Menopause Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL). In addition, demographic variables including; current age, age of menarche and menopause, marital status, educational level, working status and exercise activity levels, were recorded. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 and socio-demographic characteristics were compared using a chi-square test. A P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The most common symptoms in; vasomotor, psychosocial, physical and sexual domains were; ‘night sweats’, ‘accomplishing less than I used to’, ‘feeling a lack of energy’, and ‘change in sexual desire’, respectively. Moreover, the most severe symptoms in these domains were; ‘night sweats’, ‘feeling anxious or nervous’, ‘aching muscles or joints’, and ‘avoiding intimacy’. There was a statistically significant difference between; the severity of menopausal symptoms and working status (P = 0.017), different educational levels (P = 0.001), exercise activity (P = 0.001), exercise frequency (P = 0.04), and duration of menopause (P = 0.03). Conclusions: The prevalence of menopausal symptoms in our population is similar to most other communities. Employment, higher educational levels, doing physical activity and duration of menopause of more than five years is associated with milder menopausal symptoms

The Relationship Between Maternal Passive Smoking During Pregnancy and Preterm Delivery

Background: Maternal passive smoking or exposure to environmental tobacco smoke may be a risk factor for maternal and newborn morbidity. Objectives: The current study aimed to assess the relationship between preterm delivery and tobacco smoke exposure in pregnant woman referring to the Shabih-Khani maternity hospital in Kashan, Iran. Patients and Methods: An analytical retrospective cohort study was conducted on 300 non-smoker pregnant women in two groups of passive smoking and non- passive smoking. Passive smoking was defined as exposed to smoking of 5 or more cigarettes per day during pregnancy at home. Preterm delivery compared between passive smoking and non-passive smoking groups. Results: Preterm delivery in the passive smoking group was more than non-passive smoking group (10% versus 6%, P = 0.2), this difference was not significant. Gestational age was similar in the two groups (38.96 ± 1.56 and 38.99 ± 1.42 weeks in the passive and non-passive smoking groups respectively). Conclusions: Preterm delivery in the exposed group was more than non-exposed group, but difference was not significant

Relationship Between Quality of Life and Depression in Pregnant Women

Background: Quality of life differs for different people in different situations and is related to one's self-satisfaction with life. Quality of life is affected by health status. Objectives: The current study examined the relationship between quality of life and depression in pregnant women in Kashan city. Patients and Methods: A Case - control study was performed on 112 depressed pregnant women (Case Group) and 353 Non-depressed pregnant women (Control Group) who referred to the prenatal health care centers of Kashan University of Medical Sciences .They completed Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) to assess the quality of life and the Beck Depression Inventory to assess the level of depressive symptoms. T-test, chi-square and Pearson correlation coefficient statistical tests were used for data analysis. Results: The findings showed that there was an inverse relationship between quality of life and depression in pregnancy (P = 0.0001). Average scores in all eight domains of quality of life were significantly lower in depressed pregnant women compared to non- depressed women. The strongest relationship was observed between depression and vitality (r =-0.52, P = 0.0001), mental health (r = -0.50, P = 0.001) and social functioning (r =-0.38, P = 0.001). Conclusion: Depressed pregnant women had a lower quality of life. The proper management of depression during pregnancy can improve the quality of life in women. It is recommended that antenatal services integrate screening for depression into routine antenatal care

Role of Steroid Therapy after Ischemic Stroke by N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Gene Regulation

Background: Stroke is the main cause of cerebrovascular disease mortality. Prolonged stimulation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subtypes by the accumulation of glutamate neurotransmitter in the extracellular space after a stroke could activate cell death pathways. It is reported that progesterone provides different mechanisms of neuroprotection and could be considered as a candidate for stroke treatment. This study aimed to investigate progesterone impact on the expression of NMDA receptor subunits NR1, NR2(A and B), NR3 (A and B) after an experimental model of ischemic stroke which is followed by an in silico analysis. Methods: Progesterone was introduced subcutaneously after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion in male rats. After a period of reperfusion, a set of behavioral tests was performed to evaluate the postischemic neurological deficits. The 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining method was done for quantification of infarct volume and gene expression analysis was performed in the penumbra region using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for NMDA receptor subunits. An AutoDock tool was employed to perform molecular docking analyses for evaluation of progesterone interaction with NMDA receptor. Results: Cerebral ischemia caused a significant downregulation in NR1, NR2A, NR2B and a profound upregulation of NR3B in cortical penumbraregion. Treatment with progesterone resu lted in upregulation of NR1, NR2A, and NR3B which could explain a possible the neuroprotection of steroids via binding to NMDA glutamate receptor. In addition, in silico analysis revealed that progesterone could strongly interact with NR1/NR2B and NR2A. Conclusion: The findings elucidate a new aspect of the neuroprotective mechanism of progesterone via NMDA receptors gene regulation. Keywords: Stroke NMDA receptor Progesterone Gene expressio

Detection and evaluation of damage in aircraft composites using electromagnetically coupled inductors

The paper presents a quantitative damage evaluation of carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates using a non-contact electromagnetic (EM) sensor. The EM sensor with coupled spiral inductors (CSI) is employed here to detect both impact induced and simulated damage leading to an accurate evaluation of the location, depth and width of sub-surface defects. The effect of inspection frequency, standoff distance and signal power are also investigated leading to the development of an engineering circuit design tool that relates the set up and calibration of the sensor to its detection performance. It is found that the dynamic range of the transmission coefficient is the limiting factor in the original Salski CSI sensor and this problem is addressed by adding ferrite layers to reduce the reluctance of the magnetic circuit, improving damage sensing by 22%. The study leads to a further development of utilising an open ferrite yoke with a pair of encircling coils, which shows a 57% sensitivity improvement and clearer identification of air gaps (voids) and delamination in CFRP laminates. The proposed EM yoke design CSI sensor is low cost and could be assembled into an array for non-contact, in situ mechatronic scanning of aircraft composite wings

Gaining comprehensive data about sexual knowledge through surveys

Background: Delivery of sexual health services rely on rigorous facts extracted from surveys, but often those facts cannot be available due to the lack of culturally-sensitive questionnaires. Objective: our aim was to show the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Acquisition of Sexual Information Test (ASIT), a measure selected due to its assemblages with Iranian culture. Materials and Methods: Forward-backward procedure was applied to translate the questionnaire. Cross-sectional study was carried out and psychometric properties of the Iranian version were tested in a thirty sample of reproductive-age women. Face validity was assessed by qualitative and quantitative methods. Content validity was also assessed by calculating two quantitative indicators as content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR). Reliability was assessed by test-retest analyses. Results: Impact score was 1.5, the majority of participants (83.3%) stated that the overall level of questionnaire was high but some of the questions were irrelevant to sexual knowledge. Many questions (90%) gained a CVR less than 0.56, and all of them gained CVIs lower than 0.7. Correlation in test-retest reliability was 0.85

The effect of six weeks yoga exercises on quality of life in infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome (Pcos)

Introduction: Infertility is one of the main concerns of human societies and PCOS is considered as the most common reason of women's infertility due to ovulation disorders. Infertility has been considered as the main cause of psychopathy disorders and reduced quality of life in PCOS patients. Exercise is a non-pharmaceutical method in treatment of PCOS that yoga is a recommended exercise for this disease. This study was performed with aim to determine the effect of 6 weeks yoga on the quality of life in infertile women with PCOS. Methods: This clinical randomized trial was performed on 61 infertile women with PCOS undergoing infertility treatment referred to the Tehran Sarem Hospital in 2015-2015. The qualified subjects were divided to two groups of case and control. Then, all the subjects completed the demographic profile and fertility questionnaires and modified PCOS questionnaire. Then, the case group performed yoga for 6 weeks and the control group did not receive any intervention. After 6 weeks, the questionnaires were again completed. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 21) and independent t-test, paired t-test, Mann-Whitney, Chi-square, Mac-Nemar, and Wilcoxon test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant Results: Yoga exercise for 6 weeks had significant effect on the scores of quality of life and Hirsotism (p=0.001), weight (p= 0.010), Acnea (p= 0.001), infertility (p= 0.001), Emotional (p<0.001), menstrual disorders (p<0.001) and total score (p<0.001). Conclusion: Yoga as a meditation exercise for 6 weeks can improve the score of quality of life in women with PCOS undergoing infertility treatment. Therefore, this exercise as an effective and low-cost method can be used for improvement of life quality in these women. © 2019, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

miRNA-29a reverses P-glycoprotein-mediated drug resistance and inhibits proliferation via up-regulation of PTEN in colon cancer cells

Colon cancer is a serious malignant type of cancer in the world. Acquisition of multi-drug resistance (MDR) during chemotherapy is still a controversial challenge during cancer treatment. Accordingly, detection of safe and impressive MDR-reversing targets such as microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) can play critical role in cancer treatment. Here, the functional effects of miR-29a in chemo-resistant colon cancer cells is scrutinized. The effect of doxorubicin (DOX) on cell proliferation after miR-29a transfection has been evaluated using MTT assay in HT29 and HT29/DOX cells. Rhodamine123 (Rh123) assay is used to identify the activity of common drug efflux through membrane transporters P-glycoprotein (P-gp). P-gp and PTEN mRNA/protein expression levels were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blot analyses. Flow cytometry was employed to the investigation of apoptosis. ANOVA followed by Bonferroni's and Sidak's tests were used to compare the data from different groups. Thus, it was shown that miRNA-29a overexpression considerably inhibited the HT29/DOX viability. miR-29a significantly down-regulated P-gp expression and activity in HT29/DOX cells and declined drug resistance through elevation of intracellular DOX. Furthermore, upon miRNA-29a transfection, PTEN expression could be restored in resistant cells. These results have indicated that miR-29a target PTEN ultimately P-gp, which is downstream of PTEN, inhibit drug resistance, proliferation, and apoptosis through PI3K/Akt pathway. As a result, miR-29a overexpression is led to enhance the sensitivity of HT29/DOX cells to DOX-treatment by targeting P-gp. MiR-29a might proffer a novel promising candidate for colon cancer therapeutics during chemotherapy. © 202

Multiple functions of microfluidic platforms: Characterization and applications in tissue engineering and diagnosis of cancer

Microfluidic system, or lab-on-a-chip, has grown explosively. This system has been used in research for the first time and then entered in the clinical section. Due to economic reasons, this technique has been used for screening of laboratory and clinical indices. The microfluidic system solves some difficulties accompanied by clinical and biological applications. In this review, the interpretation and analysis of some recent developments in microfluidic systems in biomedical applications with more emphasis on tissue engineering and cancer will be discussed. Moreover, we try to discuss the features and functions of microfluidic systems. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei