11/04/2024


Background To detect the levels of plasma Adipocytokines, TNF-α, IL-6 and PAI-1 in patients with intracranial and extracranial arteriosclerosis. Methods From September 2015 to September 2017, 318 patients aged ≥60 years were enrolled. Overall, 192 patients were included in the case group (intracranial and extracranial arteriosclerosis group). The 196 outpatients who matched the case groupware selected as the control group. The levels of plasma APN, TNF-α, IL-6 and PAI-1 were measured and their inter- and intra-group comparisons were performed using t-test or analysis of variance. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to study the correlation between intracranial arteriosclerosis and extracranial arteriosclerosis. Results The level of plasma APN in the intracranial and extracranial arteriosclerosis group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P=0.025). The plasma levels of PAI-1, TNF-α and IL-6 were obviously higher than those in the control group (P=0.003, P=0.008, P=0.043). In the intracranial arteriosclerosis group, the level of plasma APN in patients with arterial stenosis ≥70% was significantly lower than that in patients with stenosis 30%-69% (P=0.028). Conclusion Plasma APN, PAI-1, IL-6 and TNF-α levels can be used as monitoring indicators of intracranial and extracranial arteriosclerosis. Intracranial arteriosclerosis is significantly associated with the decrease of plasma APN level and the increase of plasma PAI- 1, IL-6 and TNF-α levels.Background To investigate the association between involuntary weight loss (IWL) and late-life depression (LLD) in a population-based cohort study. Methods Data (N=6945) obtained from the 2008 baseline and 2011 follow-up assessments of the Living Profiles of Older People Survey in Korea were used. Changed body weight between the 2008 and 2011 was classified into stable weight ( less then -5% ∼ less then +5%), lightweight loss (≥ -5% ∼ less then -10%), moderate weight loss (≥ -10%), lightweight gain (+≥5 ∼ less then +10%), and moderate weight gain (≥+10%). Results Compared to the stable weight group, the moderate weight loss group had a higher risk of LLD (odds ratio=1.99, 95% confidence interval=1.61-2.46, P less then 0.001) even after adjustments for covariates, including age, BMI, education, income, life of solitude, smoking, physical activity, dependent aging, comorbidity, and cognitive function. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/cordycepin.html Conclusion IWL is significantly associated with LLD in Korean older adults, implying the prognostic importance of IWL for presenting mental health issues later in life.Background Periodic medical examinations of radiation workers are routinely conducted in many countries. Although low dose radiation (LDR) is not expected to cause a significant effect on blood count, the periodic examination usually includes reviewing the work history, general medical history, a physical examination and collecting a blood sample. Despite lymphocytes are the most sensitive cells to radiation, their counts do not show any significant change as long as the radiation level is less than a few hundreds of millisievert (mSv). In spite of this, in Iran, radiation workers, even those who work in diagnostic radiology departments, are regularly examined for blood count changes. Methods After a detailed search in PubMed, ISI, Scopus, SID and Google Scholar, only 12 out of 650 articles matched our criteria. A review of these 12 reports was conducted. The full texts were fully reviewed by the authors. Results The complete blood count (CBC) test has a very low efficacy in evaluation of the adverse health effects of ionizing radiation in radiation workers. Therefore, finding alternative methods with a higher efficacy is recommended. Conclusion CBC tests cannot be introduced as valid markers of potential radiation effects in most occupational exposures. Given this consideration, in periodic tests of radiation workers, cytogenetic tests can be the gold-standard method. In particular, due to its relatively low cost and good sensitivity and specificity, the dicentric assay can be promising. Moreover, the simple and rapid evaluation of micronuclei by fast automated scoring systems can be a good alternative for current low efficacy CBC tests.Background The present systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to find the degree by which the Iranian diabetic patients were informed about their disease in term of health literacy. Methods The search was carried out in databases including the PubMed, MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, Web of Science, Science Direct and Wiley and also domestic databases including the Iranian Academic Center for Education Culture and Research (sid.ir), the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc.ac.ir), Barakat Knowledge Network System (barakatkns.com), the national publications database (magiran.com) and also Google Scholar and Elmnet search engines. All the original studies published by Oct 20, 2018, in Persian or English, to assess the health literacy of adults with diabetes were included in the study. Ultimately, 17 articles were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis was carried out using the fixed-effects method using Stata-11.2. Results The pooled mean score of health literacy was 56.65 out of score of 100, and its 95% CI was estimated as 49.85 to 63.45. No significant heterogeneity could be reported for the articles included in the meta-analysis (I-squared=21.3%, P=0.177). The pooled mean scores with the CI of 95% by gender based on the study population in women and men were estimated as 47.97and 50.06 respectively. Conclusion Health literacy is not high in Iranian diabetic patients and is rather inadequate in most of them in both genders. Diabetic women have somewhat lower health literacy compared to diabetic men.Introduction Closed reduction percutaneous pinning (CRPP) is the current standard of treatment for displaced supracondylar fractures of humerus in children. This technical note describes a simple method of CRPP using a radiolucent arm board and simpler handling of the C-arm. This technique is a simple method and easy to reproduce, can be adapted to any standard operating table, and gives predictable results.