Correlation between vertical hard and soft tissue variables of the face.

Abstract: Background & Aim: Facial vertical variables are important components of soft tissue analysis which are used in clinical esthetic evaluation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between vertical skeletal and dental variables of hard and soft tissues of human face. Materials & Methods: A total of 46 patients (23 boys and girls) were included in this cross-sectional study. Selected angles and facial dimensions were measured during the clinical appointments. For facial proportions, from frontal view, ..

Obstructive sleep apnea and severity of coronary artery disease

Background: It has been implicated that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease including stroke, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease (CAD) and hypertension. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between OSA and severity of atherosclerosis assessed by angiography. Methods: This study included 337 patients undergoing diagnostic coronary angiography at Tehran Heart Center, Iran. The Gensini score was obtained from each patient for coronary angiogram, and OSA were assessed by using Multivariable apnea prediction (MAP) risk index on the day of cardiac catheterization. The Gensini scores increased in accordance with increases in the MAP value. Results: The prevalence rates of three-vessel disease were 68.0% in OSA group and 32.0% in non-OSA group. The MAP index was the most significant independent determinant for the Gensini score. Conclusions: The independent association between OSA and CAD, even after adjustment for traditional confounders, suggests that, OSA should be taken into account when considering risk factors for CAD

Burden of disease scenarios for 204 countries and territories, 2022–2050: a forecasting analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Future trends in disease burden and drivers of health are of great interest to policy makers and the public at large. This information can be used for policy and long-term health investment, planning, and prioritisation. We have expanded and improved upon previous forecasts produced as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) and provide a reference forecast (the most likely future), and alternative scenarios assessing disease burden trajectories if selected sets of risk factors were eliminated from current levels by 2050. Methods: Using forecasts of major drivers of health such as the Socio-demographic Index (SDI; a composite measure of lag-distributed income per capita, mean years of education, and total fertility under 25 years of age) and the full set of risk factor exposures captured by GBD, we provide cause-specific forecasts of mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) by age and sex from 2022 to 2050 for 204 countries and territories, 21 GBD regions, seven super-regions, and the world. All analyses were done at the cause-specific level so that only risk factors deemed causal by the GBD comparative risk assessment influenced future trajectories of mortality for each disease. Cause-specific mortality was modelled using mixed-effects models with SDI and time as the main covariates, and the combined impact of causal risk factors as an offset in the model. At the all-cause mortality level, we captured unexplained variation by modelling residuals with an autoregressive integrated moving average model with drift attenuation. These all-cause forecasts constrained the cause-specific forecasts at successively deeper levels of the GBD cause hierarchy using cascading mortality models, thus ensuring a robust estimate of cause-specific mortality. For non-fatal measures (eg, low back pain), incidence and prevalence were forecasted from mixed-effects models with SDI as the main covariate, and YLDs were computed from the resulting prevalence forecasts and average disability weights from GBD. Alternative future scenarios were constructed by replacing appropriate reference trajectories for risk factors with hypothetical trajectories of gradual elimination of risk factor exposure from current levels to 2050. The scenarios were constructed from various sets of risk factors: environmental risks (Safer Environment scenario), risks associated with communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNs; Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination scenario), risks associated with major non-communicable diseases (NCDs; Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario), and the combined effects of these three scenarios. Using the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways climate scenarios SSP2-4.5 as reference and SSP1-1.9 as an optimistic alternative in the Safer Environment scenario, we accounted for climate change impact on health by using the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change temperature forecasts and published trajectories of ambient air pollution for the same two scenarios. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy were computed using standard methods. The forecasting framework includes computing the age-sex-specific future population for each location and separately for each scenario. 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) for each individual future estimate were derived from the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles of distributions generated from propagating 500 draws through the multistage computational pipeline. Findings: In the reference scenario forecast, global and super-regional life expectancy increased from 2022 to 2050, but improvement was at a slower pace than in the three decades preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (beginning in 2020). Gains in future life expectancy were forecasted to be greatest in super-regions with comparatively low life expectancies (such as sub-Saharan Africa) compared with super-regions with higher life expectancies (such as the high-income super-region), leading to a trend towards convergence in life expectancy across locations between now and 2050. At the super-region level, forecasted healthy life expectancy patterns were similar to those of life expectancies. Forecasts for the reference scenario found that health will improve in the coming decades, with all-cause age-standardised DALY rates decreasing in every GBD super-region. The total DALY burden measured in counts, however, will increase in every super-region, largely a function of population ageing and growth. We also forecasted that both DALY counts and age-standardised DALY rates will continue to shift from CMNNs to NCDs, with the most pronounced shifts occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (60·1% [95% UI 56·8–63·1] of DALYs were from CMNNs in 2022 compared with 35·8% [31·0–45·0] in 2050) and south Asia (31·7% [29·2–34·1] to 15·5% [13·7–17·5]). This shift is reflected in the leading global causes of DALYs, with the top four causes in 2050 being ischaemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, compared with 2022, with ischaemic heart disease, neonatal disorders, stroke, and lower respiratory infections at the top. The global proportion of DALYs due to YLDs likewise increased from 33·8% (27·4–40·3) to 41·1% (33·9–48·1) from 2022 to 2050, demonstrating an important shift in overall disease burden towards morbidity and away from premature death. The largest shift of this kind was forecasted for sub-Saharan Africa, from 20·1% (15·6–25·3) of DALYs due to YLDs in 2022 to 35·6% (26·5–43·0) in 2050. In the assessment of alternative future scenarios, the combined effects of the scenarios (Safer Environment, Improved Childhood Nutrition and Vaccination, and Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenarios) demonstrated an important decrease in the global burden of DALYs in 2050 of 15·4% (13·5–17·5) compared with the reference scenario, with decreases across super-regions ranging from 10·4% (9·7–11·3) in the high-income super-region to 23·9% (20·7–27·3) in north Africa and the Middle East. The Safer Environment scenario had its largest decrease in sub-Saharan Africa (5·2% [3·5–6·8]), the Improved Behavioural and Metabolic Risks scenario in north Africa and the Middle East (23·2% [20·2–26·5]), and the Improved Nutrition and Vaccination scenario in sub-Saharan Africa (2·0% [–0·6 to 3·6]). Interpretation: Globally, life expectancy and age-standardised disease burden were forecasted to improve between 2022 and 2050, with the majority of the burden continuing to shift from CMNNs to NCDs. That said, continued progress on reducing the CMNN disease burden will be dependent on maintaining investment in and policy emphasis on CMNN disease prevention and treatment. Mostly due to growth and ageing of populations, the number of deaths and DALYs due to all causes combined will generally increase. By constructing alternative future scenarios wherein certain risk exposures are eliminated by 2050, we have shown that opportunities exist to substantially improve health outcomes in the future through concerted efforts to prevent exposure to well established risk factors and to expand access to key health interventions

16S RDNA clone library analysis of soil bacteria from three different sites in Peninsula Antarctica / Tahereh Yazdani Nia

Soil bacterial diversity from three locations on maritime Antarctica was analyzed using 16S rRNA gene clone library construction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) fingerprinting. Soil samples were from near Rothera Research Station in Rothera Point from Adelaide Island, from Viking Valley on north-eastern side of Mars Glacier from Alexander Island, and from Léonie Island on northern Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. Five hundred and forty-eight clones were screened by RFLP and representatives of each phylotype were sequenced for identification. The phylotype sequences showed close relationship (i.e. ≥95% similarity) with bacterial divisions Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia and Unclassified Bacteria. The least number of phylotypes were observed in Rothera Point soil sample (25) whereas the highest phylotype diversity belonged to Léonie Island (35). Certain phylotypes were exclusive to one site or two, whereas 33% of the phylotypes were shared by all clone libraries. Shannon diversity index (H’) revealed the highest bacterial diversity in Léonie Island (3.14) and lowest diversity in Rothera Point (2.93). The soil from Viking Valley showed high diversity (H’=3.09) comparable to that of the vegetated soil of Léonie Island despite the severity of its climate condition. There is an evident environmental influence on the pattern of biodiversity where the human-disturbed soil sample of Rothera Point revealed less bacterial diversity than the undisturbed soils of Léonie Island and Viking Valley

Educational Need Assessment of Anesthesiologists and Surgeons in Transfusion Medicine

Introduction: Developing continuing medical education (CME) programs should be based on assessments of learners’ needs. On the other hand, one of the prevalent problems in Iran is the excessive use of blood products, and the highest demand for blood transfusion is related to surgical wards. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the educational needs of anesthesiologists and surgeons in transfusion medicine. Methods: This survey was carried out on a convenience sample of 134 anesthesiologists and surgeons in Isfahan. The educational need assessment was administered using two valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaires: self-assessment and knowledge assessment. Cronbach’s alphas were calculated at 0.958 for information self-assessment questions, 0.981 for educational needs questions, and 0.72 for knowledge assessment questions. Data were imported to Excel Software. Distribution frequency indices and Pearson correlation coefficient test were used respectively to analyze the data and compare the findings. Results: The majority of participants were male (70.9%) with a mean work experience of 15.9±8.8 years. 65.8 percent of the participants evaluated their knowledge at an “average level”. The most important educational need was about cryoprecipitate and the least important was related to packed red blood cells. The mean score of knowledge assessment questions was 6.60±0.24 (out of 20). There was a significant correlation between self-assessment mean scores and the knowledge assessment mean scores and the frequency of encountering blood products (P≤0.0001). No significant correlation was found between the educational need assessment mean scores and the self-assessment mean scores and the frequency of encountering blood products (P=0.23). Conclusion: Given the findings of the present need assessment and little knowledge of the physicians, it is suggested that an appropriate educational program should be developed for surgeons and anesthesiologists. Such program could be offered in the form of continuing education programs for graduates. Further research is needed to make decision about how transfusion medicine should be introduced into the anesthesiology and surgery residency programs

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Erectile Dysfunction in Iranian Diabetic Men

"nErectile dysfunction (ED) is an important impediment to quality of life. Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common causes of ED. However, it has been one of the most neglected complications of diabetes mellitus. Our objective was to study the prevalence of ED and its risk factors in Iranian diabetic men. During 2002-2004, 700 diabetic men aged 20-69 years were interviewed to report on their experience of ED as defined in the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference 1993. ED was found in 246 (35.1%) of this population. Prevalence of ED was increased with age from 9.7% in men aged 20-39 years to 43.4% in those aged over 60 years (P < 0.001). Men with type I diabetes reported ED less frequently than did men with type II diabetes (P = 0.037). In comparison with patients with reported diabetes lasting ≤ 5 years (25.4%), the prevalence of ED was less than in those with diabetes of 6-11 years (34.3%) and of 12-30 years (43.5%, P < 0.001). ED increased significantly in those who had poor glycemic control. Prevalence of ED in patients with good, fair and poor glycemic control was 28.4%, 39.9% and 44.4% respectively (P = 0.004). Type of treatment (diet alone, oral agents, insulin and insulin plus oral agents) had significant association with ED and its severity (P < 0.001). ED is common in Iranian diabetic men but its prevalence can be reduced with good glycemic control

Preventive effects of an oral rinse Peppermint essence on chemotherapy-induced oral mucosistis

Introduction: Oral mucositis (OM) is a significant and frequent complication of chemotherapy, whichresults in delayed or incomplete chemotherapeutic management. This study was conducted to determinethe effects of an oral rinse Peppermint essence (PE) in the prevention of chemotherapy- induced OMMaterials & Methods: In this double blind clinical trial, 40 patients with colon or rectum cancers, whoadmitted for chemotherapeutic management, randomly divided in two equal placebo and PE groups. PEand placebo groups were received 10 drops of oral rinse PE or placebo, three times a day, from the firstday of chemotherapy up to the fourteenth day, respectively. A bipartite questionnaire was used forobtaining demographic and clinical information. The evaluation of OM was measured using the WHOscale. Content and inter-rater methods were used for validity and reliability of tools, respectively (r =0.93).Results: The incidence of OM between the PE group (15%) and the placebo group (50%) wassignificantly different (p<0.05). The risk of OM in the placebo group was 3.3 higher than the PE group.Moreover, a significant difference between the grade and incidence time of OM was found between bothgroups (p<0.05).Conclusion: According to these results, it seems that oral rinse PE is an effective, safe and welltoleratedmethod for prophylactic treatment of chemotherapy- induced OM

The effect of combined exercise training on plasma Leptin levels and hormonal factors in overweight men

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a period of combined exercise training on the plasma leptin level and hormonal factors in overweight men.   Materials and Methods: The subjects of this research consisted of thirty males (22-42 years old, BMI ≥29) who randomly were divided into experimental (n=15) and control groups(n=15). The experimental group performed for 8 weeks aerobic and resistance training, 3 sessions per week and each session included 10-12 station strength training at 75-70% of One Repetition Maximum (1RM) for the first 4 weeks and at 75-80% of 1RM for the second 4 weeks. At the end, 10 minutes aerobic runing training at 70-75% of MHR in the first 4 weeks and 13 minute at 75-80% of MHR in the second 4 weeks were conducted.   Results: Leptin, body weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) and insulin significantly decreased after the training ((P<0.05). However, There were no significant differences in the serum levels of cortisol and testosteron after 8 weeks concurrent training. The ratio of testosteron to cortisol (T/C) in the experimental group showed a slight increase.   Conclusion: Generally, it appears that decrease of leptin due to a period of combined exercise training is more associated with reduce of body fat, weight and BMI than the change of testosteron or cortisol. In contrast to most researches, it seems that combined exercise training is more effective