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Iran has a very rich scorpion fauna belonging to different faunal elements with a high endemism. Mirshamsi, Sari, and Hosseinie (2011) (with additions by Mirshamsi, Azghadi, Navidpour, Aliabadian, ...

The present study aimed to compare the serum level of uric acid in patients with and without heart failure and also to determine the association between uric acid level and clinical status by Killip class in patients with STEMI. This case-control study was conducted on 50 consecutives as control group and 50 patients with acute heart failure, (20 patients had acute STEMI), who documented by both clinical conditions and echocardiography assessment. The mean plasma level of uric acid in the case group was 7.6±1.6 milligrams/deciliter (mg/dL) and in the control group was 4.5±1.5 respectively (P

In this work, sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) marker was employed to assess the genetic diversity and genetic similarity relationships among14 species of Alcea collected from northwest of Iran. Seventeen SRAP primer combinations generated 104 fragments, of which 97 (93%) were polymorphic, with an average of 5.7 polymorphic fragments per primer. Percentage of polymorphism ranged from 50% (ME2-EM6) to a maximum of 100%, and mean polymorphism information content value obtained was 0.3. The lowest genetic similarity (0.17) was observed between A. sophiae and A. flavovirens , while the highest was found between A. digitata and A. longipedicellata (0.68). Two main clusters were detected using UPGMA, which did not correspond to geographical origin of the species. The study indicates that SRAP markers could be good candidates for assessing genetic variation in Alcea .

Background: The complexity of the heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF) syndrome makes that the best approach towards diagnosis is still not fully established. According to recent studies stress echocardiography may be useful to improve the diagnosis, but its exact place in clinical practice is still unproven. Methods: Tissue Doppler velocity traces were acquired from 55 subjects at rest and during submaximal exercise (semi- supine bicycle) at the basal septum and lateral wall, and temporally aligned to a common reference for comparison. This population consisted of 19 HFPEF patients (diagnosed by the HFA of ESC criteria), 14 controls with unexplained breathlessness (EF>50%, did not fulfill HFA criteria) and 22 healthy controls. Each stage of the stress protocol was independently analyzed by an unsupervised machine learning algorithm that spread the data according to their most relevant characteristics. Results: The use of exercise data resulted in a better separation of healthy controls and HFPEF subjects than using rest data (spec=86.3% vs. spec=81.8% while the sensitivity does not substantially change). Notably, the stress protocol identified critical breathless subjects, which during exercise get close to the HFPEF subgroup while they were not differentiated from controls at rest (p-value in the figure). Conclusion: The characterization of HFPEF is significantly improved by analyzing velocities acquired during exercise. The method has strong clinical potential to identify critical breathless subjects at an early stage.

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Background We performed comprehensive transmitral and pulmonary venous Doppler echocardiographic studies to devise a novel index of diastolic function. This is the first study to assess the utility of the acceleration rate (AR) of the E wave of mitral inflow as a primary diagnostic modality for assessing diastolic function. Methods Study group consisted of 84 patients (53 + 11 years) with left ventricle (LV) diastolic dysfunction and 34 healthy people (35 ± 9 years) as control group, who were referred for clinically indicated two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) during 2012 and 2013 to Imam Hospital. Normal controls were defined as patients without clinical evidence of cardiac disease and had normal TTE. LV diastolic function was determined according to standardized protocol of American Society of Echocardiography (ASE). As our new parameter, AR of E wave of mitral inflow was also measured in all patients. It was represented by the slope of the line between onset of E wave and peak of it. Correlation between AR of E wave and LV diastolic function grade was measured using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the sensitivity and specificity of AR of E wave in diagnosing LV diastolic dysfunction in randomly selected two-thirds of population then its derived cutoff was evaluated in rest of the population. The institutional review board of the hospital approved the study protocol. All participants gave written informed consent. This investigation was in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Results The mean value of AR was 1010 ± 420 cm/s2 in patients whereas the mean value for the normal controls was 701 ± 210 cm/s2. There was a strong and graded relation between AR of E wave of mitral inflow and LV diastolic function grade (Spearman P ≤0.0001, rs =0.69). ROC curve analysis revealed that AR of E wave of mitral inflow =750 cm/s2 predicted moderate or severe LV diastolic dysfunction with 89 % sensitivity and 89 % specificity (area under curve [AUC] = 0.903, P

"n 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} Background: The role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the pathogenesis of different cardiac diseases has been documented. Recently, effect of allopurinol in decreasing the production of ROS and improving cardiovascular pathogenesis has come into scientific interest. Animal studies have documented the benefit of allopurinol in improving left ventricular dilatation, hypertrophy and fibrosis, and myocardial contractility and in the prevention of systemic vasoconstriction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of allopurinol in improving diastolic dysfunction in ESRD patients with hyperuricemia."n"nMethods: This was an interventional study on 28 patients (19 males and 9 females) with ESRD and hyperuricemia. At the end of a one-month course of allopurinol therapy (100 mg daily), echocardiographic indices of diastolic dysfunction were measured and compared to the baseline indices."n"nResults: The mean level of uric acid was 7.5±0.96 mg/dl. The mean EF before and after the study were %44.28±%9.8 and %44.64±%9.7, (no significant difference), Respectively. The two indices of IVCT and A reversal were shown to have significant improvement after therapy (p=0.028 and 0.012, respectively). The grading of diastolic dysfunction didn't improve significantly after treatment with allopurinol."n"nConclusion: Significant improvement in some of studied indices, reproduced only in male subgroup of patients that might be related to a better response of males to allopurinol, however, a longer course of treatment may result in more favorable responses. Better patient selection in terms of "EF"s with normal distribution and repeating the study in non-dialysis hyperuricemic patients may result in more accurate information.

In this retrospective study, we compared the outcome of renal transplanted patients who received everolimus (EVR) (C0: 8-12 ng/mL)+cyclosporine (CsA) (C2: 150-300 ng/mL)+steroids, vs those who received enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS) (1,440 mg/d)+CsA (C2: 500-700 ng/mL)+steroids. Efficacy was evaluated at 5 years. We found a nonsignificant trend toward a better 5-year graft survival (81.2% vs 68.6%) and better graft function (estimated glomerular filtration rate 71.8±35.7 vs 60.0±26.2 mL/min, P=.114) in favor of the EVR group. In our experience, EVR with a very low dose of CsA was associated with a nonstatistical trend toward better renal function and graft survival compared to a standard regimen of CsA and EC-MPS.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a role-playing training program conducted among operating room nursing students on empathetic communication with patients through measurements of empathy scores.Methods: This study was carried out among 77 operating room nursing students from the first to the fourth years studying at the School of Nursing and Midwifery of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2017–2018. The intervention administered to the experimental group included a 12-hour training program on expressing empathy to patients that incorporated roleplaying. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Health Profession Student version was completed by the participants before, immediately after, and 1 month after the intervention. A comparative analysis of these 3 time points was conducted.Results: No significant difference was found in the total pre-intervention mean empathy scores before the intervention between the control group and the experimental group (P= 0.50). However, the total mean empathy scores in the experimental group immediately after and 1 month after the intervention were higher than those in the control group (P< 0.001).Conclusion: Empathy training through a role-playing technique was effective at improving the empathy scores of operating room nursing students, and this finding also underscores the fact that empathy can be promoted by education. Changing the educational curriculum of operating room nursing students is suggested in order to familiarize them with the concept of empathy in the operating room.

Objective(s): To determine the prevalence and predictors of patient delay among patients with myocardial infarction. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 95 admitted patients with confirmed diagnosis of myocardial infarction were included. They were asked about symptoms, the time from presentation to admission and the reason for delay, if any. Delay was defined as arrival to hospital after 3 hours from initiation of symptoms. Results: The mean age of patients was 60.4±1.1 years and mostly were male (76.8%). Half of the patients had visited the doctor 9 hours after the pain started or later (median). About 70 percent of patients had delayed seeking medical care after myocardial infarction. The risk factors for delay in the descending order of importance (OR) were: lacking sweat as a symptom, heart attack at midnight, lacking previous history of heart disease, visiting a general practitioner, gradual onset and lower educational level. Conclusion: Education of the general public especially individuals with lower educational status can lead to better recognition of symptoms and decrease patient delay.

The genetic basis of longevity is an important field of study because the majority of supercentenarian cases experience healthy aging and may only show age-related diseases in their last few years of life. It is clear that genetic factors play an important role in survival beyond 90 years of age, but the exact relationship of genetic variants to this phenomenon remains unknown.The aim of this project was to investigate different hypotheses that describe the relationship between genetic variants and human longevity in a living Iranian man by Whole Exome Sequencing.Initially, we conducted high quality DNA extraction on a peripheral blood sample. Then, whole exome sequencing was performed on the DNA and different bioinformatic software packages and databases were used to analyze the data. Tertiary analysis was performed on four genetic hypotheses for longevity.Analysis showed that among 27 metabolic variants which are related to longevity, 18 variants encompassed the exceptional longevity allele. In comparison with the NHGRI GWAS catalog, the case had 58 trait-associated variants of which 11 were homozygous for the risk allele. We also discovered 25 novel variants within candidate genes for aging and longevity and we detected seven longevity-associated variants in the sample.This study was performed on just one sample and so the results cannot be interpreted as a generalized principle for other elderly societies, but this is the first step towards investigation of the genetic basis of longevity in Iran and provides an insight for further studies in the field of longevity.

To determine reference echocardiographic values in a normal population and assess their correlation with body mass index (BMI) and body surface area.An expert cardiologist performed two-dimensional echocardiography with triplicate right ventricle (RV) size measurements in 80 subjects with normal heart condition. Results were correlated with anthropometric data.Base-to-apex length in four-chamber view (RVD3) and above-pulmonic valve in short-axis view in males, as well as mid-RV diameter in standard four-chamber view (RVD), basal RV diameter, and mid RV diameter in RV-focused four-chamber view in females, were significantly correlated with BMI. All RV variables were significantly correlated with BMI in 20-30-year-old subjects. All RV variables except RVD3 and above-aortic valve in short-axis view (proximal) were significantly correlated with BMI in 35-55-year-old subjects. All RV parameters were significantly correlated with body surface area, except for RVD and in 20-35-year-old subjects.RV echocardiographic values must be adjusted to anthropometric characteristics for proper diagnosis and management of cardiac disorders. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 45:204-210, 2017.

Knowledge of the genes responsible for intellectual disability, particularly autosomal recessive forms, is rapidly expanding. Increasing numbers of the gene show great heterogeneity and supports the hypothesis that human genome may contain over 2000 causative genes with a critical role in brain development.Since 2004, we have applied genome-wide SNP genotyping and next-generation sequencing in large consanguineous Iranian families with intellectual disability, to identify the genes harboring disease-causing mutations. The current study paved the way for identification of responsible genes in two unrelated Iranian families.We found two novel nonsense mutations, p.C77* and p.Q115*, in the calpain catalytic domain of CAPN10, which is a cysteine protease known to be involved in pathogenesis of noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Another different mutation in this gene (p.S138_R139ins5) has previously been reported in an Iranian family. All of these patients have common clinical features in spite of specific brain structural abnormalities on MRI.Different mutations in CAPN10 have already been found in three independent Iranian families. These results have strongly supported the possible role of CAPN10 in human brain development. Altogether, we proposed CAPN10 as a promising candidate gene for intellectual disability, which should be considered in diagnostic gene panels.

In the context of a comprehensive research project, investigating novel autosomal recessive intellectual disability (ARID) genes, linkage analysis based on autozygosity mapping helped identify an intellectual disability locus on Chr.12q24, in an Iranian family (LOD score = 3.7). Next-generation sequencing (NGS) following exon enrichment in this novel interval, detected a nonsense mutation (p.Q1010*) in the CLIP1 gene. CLIP1 encodes a member of microtubule (MT) plus-end tracking proteins, which specifically associates with the ends of growing MTs. These proteins regulate MT dynamic behavior and are important for MT-mediated transport over the length of axons and dendrites. As such, CLIP1 may have a role in neuronal development. We studied lymphoblastoid and skin fibroblast cell lines established from healthy and affected patients. RT-PCR and western blot analyses showed the absence of CLIP1 transcript and protein in lymphoblastoid cells derived from affected patients. Furthermore, immunofluorescence analyses showed MT plus-end staining only in fibroblasts containing the wild-type (and not the mutant) CLIP1 protein. Collectively, our data suggest that defects in CLIP1 may lead to ARID.

Background: The study was conducted to identify the most important steps to prevention and reduction of the prevalence of drug addiction in the community and helping addicted people and determine their mental health and quality of life. The study aimed to evaluate the mental health and quality of life of addicted individuals referred to Methadone Maintenance Therapy Centers (MMT).Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using descriptive and analytical methods in the year 2016; the study's sample included 351 addicted people who were selected as a targeted cluster from four different parts of the city and among the 4,000 affiliated of public and private addiction treatment centers. Data collection tools used were General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) and SF-36 Questionnaire for the Evaluation of the Quality of Life. Data were analyzed using SPSS software for assessing our test results’ significance level, which was p ≤ 0.05.Results: The average scores of the physical aspects of mental health were 17/69 ± 6/76, and the psychological dimension of mental health was 16/49 ± 9/42. Among the different dimensions of quality of life, physical function had the highest average score (5/67 ± 2/78) and social performance had the lowest average scores (2/07 ± 1/85). Increasing the length of treatment increased mental health (p = 0.003) but had negative impact on the quality of life of addicted individuals (p = 0.3). Conclusion: Mental health and quality of life of this study’s participants were at low levels, and this in turn can lead to other mental disorders and further reduction of their quality of life. Hence, our study findings show that it is important that officials pay special attention to this group.