Molar pregnancy and co-existent foetus: A report of two cases

Molar pregnancy with a co-existent foetus will lead to preterm labour, severe preeclampsia or bleeding in most of the cases and may need urgent intervention. However, if it does not become complicated with preeclampsia or preterm Labour, the outcome is usually good, with minimal post partum complications and so such pregnancies can be managed with watchful waiting and close observation. The first case was a 29 year-old at 19 weeks of gestation, with hypertension, oedema and severe epigastric pain. Karyotypic assessment of the contents of the uterus revealed a 46-XX foetus with no chromosomal abnormality, as well as the molar placenta also suggesting a complete mole with 46-XX. The second case was a 19 year old woman in labour. A pathological study of the delivered contents of the uterus revealed a complete hydatidiform mole and a normal placenta

Effect of lead intoxication and D-penicillamine treatment on hematological indices in rats

Lead is one of the most important environmental pollution which is toxic to many organ systems. D-penicillamine (D-P) is a chelator drug which is used for treatment of lead toxicity for several years. This study was conducted in order to evaluate the efficacy of D-P in reducing the effects of lead on hematological indices. This study was done on 36 male adult, 6-8 weeks albino Wistar rats in Gorgan University of Medical Sciences. At first male adult rats were exposed to lead acetate in their drinking water. After 8 weeks, 6 rats were selected and blood samples were prepared to assess the effects of lead toxicity. The remained lead exposed rats were divided into recovery and treatment groups where distilled water and D-P was administered for them, respectively. After lead exposure, red blood cell count increased slightly, but hemoglobin and hematocrite were decreased. Also MCV and MCH were significantly decreased (P<0.05). RDW, PDW and MPV were significantly higher in lead exposed rats (P<0.05). After recovery period, most of parameters were close to normal while there were no significant differences between recovery and treatment groups. This study showed that hematologic effects of lead are reversible and D-P administration do not play an important role in subchronic lead intoxication

Representations of measurable sets in computable measure theory

This article is a fundamental study in computable measure theory. We use the framework of TTE, the representation approach, where computability on an abstract set X is defined by representing its elements with concrete "names", possibly countably infinite, over some alphabet {\Sigma}. As a basic computability structure we consider a computable measure on a computable $\sigma$-algebra. We introduce and compare w.r.t. reducibility several natural representations of measurable sets. They are admissible and generally form four different equivalence classes. We then compare our representations with those introduced by Y. Wu and D. Ding in 2005 and 2006 and claim that one of our representations is the most useful one for studying computability on measurable functions

Morphometric changes of rat testis after subchronic oral lead intoxication and D-penicillamine treatment

Lead poisoning is a worldwide health problem and its treatment is under investigation. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of D-Penicillamine in reducing lead induced morphometric changes in rat testis. Male adult rats were exposed to 0.4% lead acetate in drinking water for 8 weeks. After this period 6 rats were sacrificed and testes were removed to evaluate the effects of lead intoxication. The remained lead exposed rats were divided into two groups, one group received distilled water and the other group received oral D-P treatment for six weeks, after one week of recovery. Testis morphometric changes were studied in H and E stained sections. After 8 weeks, width of germinal epithelium and number of sertoli cells in test group were decreased compared with negative and positive control rats (p<0.05), while no changes were observed in the number of spermatogonia or primary spermatocytes. After recovery or treatment, germinal epithelium and sertoli cells were still significantly lower than control group (p<0.05). Primary spermatocytes and spermatogonia were decreased after both recovery and treatment periods which was not significant. This study showed that subchronic oral lead intoxication induces some changes in adult testis which are not reversible even after D-P administration. © 2006 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Effect of intrauterine morphine sulfate exposure on cerebellar histomorphological changes in neonatal mice

Neurotoxic effects of morphine sulfate in adult cerebellar cortex and neonatal cerebral cortex have been studied in animal models. This study was done to determine the neurotoxic effects of prenatal morphine exposure on the histo morphological changes of cerebellar cortical layer and Purkinje cells in mice neonates. In this experimental study 30 female mice were randomly allocated into cases and controls. In the case group, animals received morphine sulfate 10 mg/kg/body weight intraperitoneally for 7 days. After mating, dams received morphine sulfate 10 mg/kg/body weight intraperitoneally for 20 days of gestation. Animals in the control group received normal saline. On the day of delivery (P0), the cerebella of six neonates for each group were removed and stained with cresyl violet. Quantitative computer-assisted morphometric study was done on the cortical layer of the cerebellum. Morphine exposure caused a non-significant increase in fetal weight in the case group. Purkinje cells in cases were decreased in comparison with controls (p < 0.05). Histomorphometric examination revealed that the thickness of Pur kinje and internal granular layers of the cerebellar cortex decreased in the morphine-exposed group (p < 0.05). This study revealed that morphine administration before and during pregnancy can cause Purkinje cell loss and reduction of thickness of the Purkinje and internal granular layer of the cerebellar cortex and size of Purkinje cells in neonatal mice

Clinical manifestations of Giardiasis in Iran

Context: Giardiasis has multiple clinical manifestations and its prevalence is relatively high in the Hamadan province of Iran. Aims: This study was conducted to determine the most frequent clinical signs and symptoms of Giardiasis in the Hamadan province of Iran in 2006. Setting and Design: This was a descriptive cross sectional study. Methods and Material: Sixty four patients infected with Giardia were recruited. Antiglidin anti-body and TTG tests were done to rule out celiac disease. Statistical analysis used: The data was entered into a computer and chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Of a total of 64 cases, 26 were females. Giardiasis was most common in cases aged 16-20 years old (20.3%), in males (59.4%) and in patients with the educational status of primary school (31.25%). The most frequent symptom was abdominal pain (42.1%). Conclusion: We found that the clinical manifestations of Giardiasis are similar to that of other gastrointestinal diseases such as celiac. So Giardiasis should be considered as the most probable diagnosis in patients with gastrointestinal problems

Temporal variations of dietary habits in a high-risk area for upper gastrointestinal cancers: A population-based study from Northern Iran

Background: Nutrition transition is a global health problem, especially in developing countries. It is known as an important factor for development of different types of health conditions including cancers. Objectives: We aimed to assess the pattern of nutrition transition in a high-risk area for upper gastrointestinal cancers in Northern Iran during the last decade. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on households of Golestan province, Iran. Data on household food consumption between 2001 and 2010 were obtained from the Statistical Center of Iran. The proportions of households with medium/high consumption of main foods were calculated for each year. Joint point software was used for assessing trends. Annual percent changes (APCs) and 95CIs were calculated. Results: In total, 12,060 households were recruited. The APCs (95CI) of the proportion of households medium/high consumption of cereals, vegetables, legumes, fish, dairy products and meats were -3.1 (-4.1 to -2.2), -2.9 (-3.8 to -2.1), -2.3 (-3.2 to -1.4), -2.8 (-3.3 to -2.4), -1.9 (-3.0 to -0.9) and 2.7 (1.2 to 4.3), respectively. Conclusions: We found significant increase in meat consumption among our population between 2001 and 2010. Our results also suggested significant decreasing trend in consumption of so-called healthy foods including, plant foods, fish, and dairy products. Regarding its correlation with health conditions including cancers, nutrition transition should be considered as a priority in health policy making in our region as well as other high-risk populations. It is recommended to conduct community level interventions to increase consumption of plant foods, fish, and dairy products

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal cancer (EC) is the 8th most common cancer and the 6th most frequent cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most common type of EC. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been suggested as a risk factor for developing ESCC. In this paper we will review different aspects of the relationship between PAH exposure and ESCC. PAHs are a group of compounds that are formed by incomplete combustion of organic matter. Studies in humans have shown an association between PAH exposure and development of ESCC in many populations. The results of a recent case-control study in a high risk population in northeastern Iran showed a dramatic dose-response relationship between PAH content in non-tumor esophageal tissue (the target tissue for esophageal carcinogenesis) and ESCC case status, consistent with a causal role for PAH exposure in the pathogenesis of ESCC. Identifying the main sources of exposure to PAHs may be the first and most important step in designing appropriate PAH-reduction interventions for controlling ESCC, especially in high risk areas. Coal smoke and drinking mate have been suggested as important modifiable sources of PAH exposure in China and Brazil, respectively. But the primary source of exposure to PAHs in other high risk areas for ESCC, such as northeastern Iran, has not yet been identified. Thus, environmental studies to determining important sources of PAH exposure should be considered as a high priority in future research projects in these areas

Different features in Wegener's granulomatosis: Report of five cases

Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is an autoimmune inflammatory condition. It is often a rapidly progressive and potentially fatal disease. The clinical presentation of WG can be so diverse that the list of its differential diagnosis is vast, ranging from infectious diseases to other vasculitis (e.g. Behcet's disease), as well as malignancies. The exact aetiology of WG remains unclear. The upper airway diseases including sinusitis, oral lesions and otitis media are the most common presenting features of WG. In this paper, we have described 5 WG cases. They had different presentations and chief complaints. Some of them presented with upper airways diseases, while the others mainly suffered from the manifestations of pulmonary involvement. Although all of them were finally diagnosed as WG cases, the processes of the work up for the diagnosis as well as the outcome of the disease were not the same. So, the diversities in the presentation should be mentioned in the management of the WG suspected patients