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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the common gastrointestinal disorders considered as a psychosomatic disorder. Type D personality characterized by both global traits including negative affectivity and social inhibition has been proposed to be related to etiology of psychosomatic disorders. However, the role of this personality type in severity of IBS symptoms remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of type D personality in severity of IBS symptoms.METHODS: In a cross sectional study 194 consecutive patients with IBS referred to the psychosomatic clinics at Noor hospital, Isfahan were selected from Winter 2009 to Summer 2009. The patients were divided into two groups with (79 patients) and without (115 patients) type D personality by using DS-14. The patients completed type D personality Scale (DS-14) and the IB Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS). Then the data was analyzed.FINDINGS: The findings indicated that 40.7% were the type D personality. Although the results of ANCOVA showed no significant difference between two groups, with and without type D, in severity of IBS symptoms (F=1.39, p= 0.24), multiple stepwise regression analysis indicated negative affectivity, as one of the type D dimensions (β= 4.03, p= 0.006) and treatment duration (β= 0.428, p= 0.038) were the significant predictors for severity of IBS symptoms.CONCLUSION: Although, it seems that type D personality as a psychological factor does not effect on IBS symptom severity, the evidence confirms possible role of negative affectivity as one of the type D dimensions in severity of IBS symptoms.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The evidence confirms the link between personality traits and psychosomatic diseases including irrational bowl syndrome. In recent years, a psychophysiological approach of personality has focused on behavioral activation system and behavioral inhibition system. The purpose of this study was to compare these behavioral systems between normal people and the patients with Irrational Bowl Syndrome.METHODS: In a case-control study, 80 consecutive patients with established IBS referred to two gastroenterology clinics in city of Esfahan, Iran and 80 healthy people matched regarding demographic variables were selected. They filled out brain/behavioral questionnaires of Carver and White. Then two groups were compared regarding brain/behavioral systems activities.FINDINGS: The results of ANCOVA showed that the scores of behavioral inhibition system in patients (22.34±0.329) were significantly higher than normal people (20.98±0.329) (F=8.419, p=0.004). However, there was no significant difference between two groups in behavioral activation scores (F=0.234, p=0.63).CONCLUSION: The finding support increased activity of inhibition system in patients with irritable bowel disease. It means increased sensitivity of IBS patients to punishment and threatening events. This condition may cause decreased pleasure experience and increased negative affects in IBS patients.

Depressive symptoms are common among post myocardial infarction (MI) patients and may cause negative impacts on cardiac prognosis. The studies supported that depression is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis in post MI patients. The various articles about the plausible mechanisms between post-MI depression and adverse outcomes were found and studied. The plausible pathways involved in this link were described.The study of the results of these articles showed that the different behavioral, neuroendocrinological, and immunological, arrhythmias mechanisms and increased thrombosis are likely the pathways by which depression may cause increased risk for adverse outcomes and mortality. It seems that particularly increased thrombosis and arrhythmias may cause increased risk for mortality in depressed patients with heart disease. This review showed important role of psychological and biological pathways for increasing risk of mortality and adverse consequences among patients with post MI depression.

Background and Objectives: Chronic, unbridled oxidative damages have been known as the culprits behind many chronic diseases, including cancers, atherosclerosis, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-the main enzyme involved in inducing these processes- plays an important role in tumor development and progression. COX-2 inhibitors should be used at high doses for a long time in order to bring about chemoprevention and induction of anti-tumor effects. For example, celecoxib prevents colorectal tumor growth and induces apoptosis in both in vitro and in vivo models. Disregulation of COX-2 expression coincides with the development of gastrointestinal malignancy in humans and in animal models of colorectal cancer. Increased COX-2 expression in human colorectal adeno-carcinomas has been elucidated when compared with normal adjacent colonic mucosa. The capacity of vitamin E, particularly in α form, to quench free radical damage, induces apoptosis and impact expression of oncogenes makes it an appropriate choice for chemotherapeutic strategies. Studies have shown that carcinogenesis and DNA damage due to UV are inhibited by vitamin E. The goal of this study was to investigate alpha tocopherol and celecoxib induced apoptosis in human colorectal carcinoma cell line. Methods: In this study, HT29 cells were exposed to different concentrations of tocopherol (5, 10, and 20µM) and celecoxib (25, 50, 75, 100µM) followed by DNA extraction and fragmentation for demonstrating cell death process. Results: The results indicated that celecoxib at lower doses (25, and 50µM) could not induce cell death, but at higher doses (75, and 100 µM), DNA fragmentation results typically resembled programmed cell death. Conclusion: ocopherol (5, 10, and 20µM) in combination with celecoxib improved the impact of celecoxib on cell death induction and made it the rational notion to be combined with vitamin E in clinical practice.

Background and Objectives: Helping children with learning disabilities in the first years of school by using attractive, technological, and accessible solutions is essential to overcome these problems in many situations, such as the pandemic of Covid-19 to help educators in the achievement of their goals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of consecutive letter presentation, using a computer-based method on the improvement of the reading ability of dyslexic elementary students.Methods: The research method is quantitative, within the framework of single-subject research projects, and A.B.A.B or Reversal Design. The population of the present study consisted of dyslexic students of Arak city who were studying in the academic year of 2019-2020. Six individuals (2 girls and 4 boys) were purposefully selected from this population. The research instruments were a researcher-made vocabulary checklist, Shirazi and Nilipour Reading Test (2004), Soleimani Phonological Awareness Test (2000) and Fast Naming Test. The research tool was researcher-made software prepared by Microsoft PowerPoint program and run in the final format of Adobe Captivate program in which the words were displayed and pronounced letter by letter, syllable by syllable and finally completely to the student. The research intervention lasted 4 weeks. In the first and third weeks, only the word reading test was administered every day. In the second and fourth weeks, the same tested words in the previous week were taught and exercised. Also, at the end of each week, the phonology test was repeated in the fifth session. Tests of fluency and accuracy of reading texts, phonological awareness, and rapid naming were also administered as pre/post-test before and after the intervention. The results were analyzed, using SPSS software and Wilcoxon and Friedman statistical tests.Findings: The findings showed that the use of computer-based method of presenting consecutive letters can improve the accuracy of reading words separately, as well as the accuracy and fluidity of reading the text; and the student will be able to read in a shorter time and with fewer errors. Also, this method showed significant and upward progress in the phonological awareness of dyslexic students during the intervention. It was also found that after using this method, students did the task of naming the colors with greater speed and fewer errors; indicating that this method had a significant positive effect on information processing speed.Conclusion: The intervention performed in this study, using the available software such as PowerPoint, was able to prove acceptable effectiveness in improving dyslexic students' reading skills, phonological awareness, and information processing speed. Predicting the budget and expert work force to produce content, or teaching the teachers how to prepare and use such programs can be on the agenda of primary educational centers. Also, research on more samples can increase the generalizability of the results.