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The goal of this study was to investigate the prevalence of adiposity in a sample of 35-65 years old individuals from Mashhad in North Eastern Iran, and to ascertain the socioeconomic factors contributing to obesity. The MASHAD study was initiated in 2010 and is a longitudinal cohort study of 9765 individuals aged 35-65 years old. It used a stratified cluster randomized sampling design. Anthropometric measurements [height, weight and waist circumference (WC)] were measured by standard methods. The criteria for under-weight, normal-weight, overweight, and obesity were a BMI of 18.5>, 18.5 to 24.9, 25 to 29.9, 30< (kg/m2), respectively. Abdominal obesity was defined as WC ⩾102 cm in men and WC ⩾88 cm in women and obesity was defined as BMI ⩾30. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and chi-square tests were used to determine whether different categories of demographic and lifestyle variables were associated with different degrees of adiposity. The overall prevalence of obesity and overweight were 30.9% and 42.8% respectively. The overall prevalence of central obesity was 46.7%. The prevalence of obesity in women was higher than in men (P < 0.0001). There was an inverse relationship between the risk of obesity and increasing socioeconomic status (P < 0.0001). Adiposity is prevalent in Mashhad, and appears to be particularly common in women. This may be due to the high levels of physical inactivity in the population as a whole and among women in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major advantage of transcranial ultrasound is its suitability for continuous monitoring. Microembolic signals (MES) are brief, high-intensity transients that occur when particulate microemboli or gaseous microbubbles pass through the ultrasound beam. These MES have been detected in several clinical scenarios, but rarely in age-matched controls. The detection of MES provides important pathophysiological information in a variety of disorders, but their clinical importance and possible therapeutic implications are still under debate. The present article summarizes the significance of MES in different clinical settings and outlines some of the problems to be resolved so that transcranial ultrasound can be applied in clinical practice.