Objective
The genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) analysis, the most successful technique for discovering disease‐related genetic variation, has some statistical concerns, including multiple ...testing, the correlation among variants (single‐nucleotide polymorphisms) based on linkage disequilibrium and omitting the important variants when fitting the model with just one variant. To eliminate these problems in a small sample‐size study, we used a sparse Bayesian learning model for finding bipolar disorder (BD) genetic variants.
Methods
This study used the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium data set, including 1998 BD cases and 1500 control samples, and after quality control, 380,628 variants were analysed. In this GWAS, a Bayesian logistic model with hierarchical shrinkage spike and slab priors was used, with all variants considered simultaneously in one model. In order to decrease the computational burden, an alternative inferential method, Bayesian variational inference, has been used.
Results
Thirteen variants were selected as associated with BD. The three of them (rs7572953, rs1378850 and rs4148944) were reported in previous GWAS. Eight of which were related to hemogram parameters, such as lymphocyte percentage, plateletcrit and haemoglobin concentration. Among selected related genes, GABPA, ELF3 and JAM2 were enriched in the platelet‐derived growth factor pathway. These three genes, along with APP, ARL8A, CDH23 and GPR37L1, could be differential diagnostic variants for BD.
Conclusions
By reducing the statistical restrictions of GWAS analysis, the application of the Bayesian variational spike and slab models can offer insight into the genetic link with BD even with a small sample size. To uncover related variations with other traits, this model needs to be further examined.
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Iran has led to a lack of intensive care unit (ICU) facilities. This study examines C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, erythrocyte ...sedimentation rate (ESR), and troponin in ICU patients with COVID-19 in comparison to COVID-19 patients admitted to the wards in Iran. Materials and Methods: In a case-control study, troponin, CRP, ESR, and D-dimer were compared in the case samples of 109 COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU, and in the control group, 140 COVID-19 patients admitted to the wards. Results: The mean of CRP (P < 0.001) and D-dimer (P < 0.001) was higher, whereas troponin (P < 0.001) was lower in patients admitted to the ICU, but no significant difference was observed between the values of ESR (P = 0.292) in the two groups. Conclusion: This study showed that the values of CRP and D-dimer were higher in patients admitted to the ICU, but no significant difference was observed between the values of ESR in the two groups.
The role of anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPLs) in the prognosis of COVID-19 patients is controversial. In order to prove the role of this factor, the necessary measures such as early initiation of ...anticoagulants should be started even in the early stages of the disease and in outpatients or the use of other drugs in addition to anticoagulants. We decided to investigate the role of these antibodies in ICU admission outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients.
The case-control study was carried out in Isfahan, Iran, from March to September 2021. One hundred nine patients in the case group were selected, including patients admitted to the ICU with a COVID-19 diagnosis. The 140 patients in the control group were selected from hospitalized and outpatients with COVID-19 with PCR + and pulmonary involvement, similar to the case group without the need for ICU hospitalization. The anti B2GP1 (IgM, IgG) and anti-cardiolipin (IgM, IgG)) were compared in two groups.
The frequency percentage of patients in the abnormal group of anti-phospholipid antibodies was about 10% in total. No statistically significant difference in these aPLs in continued measures was observed between the two groups of patients admitted to the ICU and those outside the ICU. Also, in the logistics regression analysis, no significant association was observed.
Therefore, the cause of coagulation in patients admitted to the ICU is not related to these aPLs. This means that aPLs could not be a good predictor of patient admission to the ICU.
The aim was to compare dental and skeletal indices in panoramic radiography between patients undergoing haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and age- and sex-matched control group.
In this comparative ...cross-sectional study, quantitative Indices including Antegonial Index (AI), Mental Index (MI), Panoramic Mandibular Index (PMI) and qualitative indices including Mandibular Cortical Index (MCI) and Trabecular Pattern (TP) were evaluated in panoramic images of 32 haemodialysis patients, 14 patients under peritoneal dialysis and 52 healthy individuals. The images were also investigated for pulp canal calcification, pulp stones, soft tissue calcification, changes in or loss of lamina dura, radiolucencies associated with brown tumour and ridge resorption. The indices were compared between the three groups and were investigated for association with the patients' blood test parameters and their diseases causing chronic renal failure (CRF). Intraobserver agreement for the 2-week interval of assessment was calculated for the indices.
MI (
= 0.574) and PMI (
= 0.100) were not significantly different, but AI (
= 0.01), MCI (
< 0.001) and TP (
= 0.002) were significantly different between the two case groups and the control group. The prevalence of pulp calcification (
= 0.03) and ridge resorption (
= 0.005) was higher in the haemodialysis group. Soft tissue calcification (
= 0.85) and lamina dura changes (
= 0.9) showed no significant difference. Brown tumours were observed in only one case in the haemodialysis group.
AI, MCI and TP showed a reduction in mineral density of the cortical and trabecular bone in CRF patients and more severely in patients under haemodialysis than those under peritoneal dialysis.
Abstract
Background
End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is serious global public health challenge in many developing countries. Treatment of ESRD is carried out through renal replacement therapy like ...peritoneal dialysis (PD). Depression is the most common mood disorder which has a strong impact on the quality of life in patients with ESRD. Little is known about the prevalence and risk factors of depression in peritoneal dialysis patients.
Method and materials
A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted on 164 adult ESRD patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis for at least three months who referred to the peritoneal dialysis centers of Al-Zahra, Noor & Ali Asghar hospitals, Isfahan, Iran from May to August 2019. Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition questionnaire was used to measure the symptoms of depression and its severity.
Results
43.5% of patients had some levels of depression. Assessing the association of depression with demographic and PD-related factors showed that there was no significant difference regarding age, BMI, dialysis adequacy and residual kidney function, dialysis frequency, type of dialysis solution used, disease duration, and age at the start of dialysis. Ordinal logistics regression analysis showed significant association between depression severity categories and gender (OR = 0.397, CI: 0.160–0.985,
p
= 0.046), marital status (OR = 2.983, CI: 1.180–7.541,
p
= 0.021), having a separate room for dialysis (OR = 2.511, CI: 1.108–5.692,
p
= 0.027).
Conclusion
As our findings have revealed 43.5% of our participants suffered from mild-to-severe depression, we suggest careful attention and routine evaluation for depression in PD patients, especially women and single patients and those who have low socioeconomic status.
Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is an effective surgery for patients with end-stage hip joint degenerative arthritis. This study aimed to determine peri-operative factors that impact the length of stay ...(LOS) and design a formula to predict LOS in patients undergoing THA.
This cross-sectional study was performed from September 2019 to January 2020. For this study, all patients who underwent THA over a period of 12 years since 2005 were included in the study. Data about the LOS and several variables including demographic variables, surgery-related variables, transfusion, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, past drug history, comorbidities, and laboratory data, were gathered. Qualitative variables are presented as numbers (%), and quantitative variables are presented as mean Mann± standard deviation. Mann Whitney test , Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman's rank correlation test were also used.
A total of 524 patients were included in the study; 12 were excluded .261 (51%) were female and 251(49%) male. The mean age was 56.13±17.04 years. In the univariate analysis, the day of admission, surgery indication, transfusion, diabetes mellitus, oral anti-diabetic drugs, American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score, preoperative hemoglobin (Hb) level, and type of prosthesis showed significant relation with LOS. Significant variables entered to zero truncated negative binomial regression. Among them, the day of admission, ASA score, preoperative Hb level, and type of prosthesis showed significant relation with LOS (
< 0.05) and were used for model design.
Preoperative Hb level, ASA score, day of admission, and prosthesis type have an impact on LOS and can predict LOS in patients who are candidates for THA.
Background:
For decades, static stretching has been the standard benchmark for training programs, because it has been shown to increase flexibility compared with other methods of stretching.
...Objective:
The current study investigated and compared the effects of active dynamic stretching and passive static stretching on hamstring tightness.
Methods:
For this experiment, 64 female students were enrolled and randomly assigned to active dynamic or passive static stretching groups (n=32 each). The first and second experimental groups were trained with repetitive dynamic stretching and static stretching exercises, respectively. Exercises were performed 10 times per limb, 3 times per day, 5 days per week for 4 weeks. Hamstring muscle length measurements were repeated in weeks 2 and 4. Statistical analysis of the results was performed by t-test and repeated measures ANOVA using SPSS 15.
Results:
Both experimental groups showed significant improvements in the active knee extension range of motion during the intervention (
P
<0.001). However, active stretching showed better results and had a greater effect on range of motion in comparison with static stretching.
Conclusion:
Active dynamic training can be considered a suitable method for increasing the flexibility of the hamstring muscle and, consequently, reducing the complications and problems associated with hamstring tightness.
Courtyard houses constructed recently with air-conditioning systems need to increase efficiency by simultaneously reducing thermal load and improving thermal comfort in all seasonal zones around the ...yard. The envelope design is one of the effective parameters in reducing energy consumption and increasing thermal comfort. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of some design parameters related to the envelope of the building on Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and thermal loads. The design parameters were Wall Construction (WLC) and Window Construction (WID) with different U-values (thermal transmittance), Window to Wall Ratio (WWR), Depth of Shading (DSH), and the Number of Shading (NSH). This research proposed a parametric study process that can simultaneously help designers evaluate the PMV values and thermal loads of numerous design options in four seasonal zones around the courtyard and generate optimized design solutions. According to the results, the PMV of best design solution (BS) compared with the worst design solution (WS) increased by 8%, 9%, 8%, and 12% in different zones. The thermal load decreased by 21%, 26%, 22%, and 21%. According to the sensitivity analysis, PMV values for most zones were negatively affected (decreased) by WID.
•Patients with a history of psychiatric disorder are more prone to depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.•Older patients are more susceptible to anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.•The patients ...who are diagnosed with MS at older ages experience more anxiety during the current pandemic in comparison to those with younger ages at the disease onset.•MS patients with academic degree experience less anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are reports that stress-related disorders are increasing during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are at higher risk of developing psychiatric disorders, which result in worsening of their disability. There are concerns about the mental health of MS patients during this pandemic.
We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and levels of fear about Corona in MS patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This was a cross-sectional study on MS patients who were admitted to the MS clinics affiliated with Isfahan University of medical sciences from May to June 2020. Anxiety and depression were evaluated according to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The Corona Fear Questionnaire developed by Ahorsu et al. was applied to evaluate the state of fear about COVID-19. Chi-square tests were used to compare depression and anxiety between different groups, Kruskal-Wallis was used for fear scores, Spearman correlation coefficient was also reported for correlations.
410 MS patients with a mean age of 38.6 years (±10.35) were enrolled in the study. Among those patients who answered the HADS questionnaire completely (n=399, n=388, for anxiety and depression subscales respectively) the prevalence of anxiety and depression were 31.2% (n=128) and 39.3% (n=161), respectively. There was no significant relationship between anxiety and depression with any of the following variables: sex, marital status, history of drug abuse, smoking, duration of taking psychiatric medication, being tested for COVID-19, being quarantined. Regarding fear about COVID-19, patients with depression or anxiety showed higher scores on the fear questionnaire (p-value=0.03, p-value=0.008 respectively).
The prevalence of anxiety and depression in MS patients was higher than previously reported. Fear about COVID-19 was correlated with anxiety and depression. Multicenter studies are required to develop specific recommendations for screening mental health problems in MS patients during COVID pandemic.
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