HIV is perceived as a taboo topic in Iranian culture. This study examined HIV-related stigma among Iranian people living with HIV (PLWH). This cross-sectional study was conducted among 123 PLWH in ...2019. HIV-related stigma was assessed by a standardized questionnaire adapted into Persian for this study. The range of the stigma scores for each of the subscales (personalized stigma, negative self-image, disclosure concerns, and concerns about public attitudes) was 3-12, whereas the range for the total stigma score was 12-48. The highest and lowest mean scores were observed in concerns about public attitudes (10.07) and negative self-image (7.39). The total mean stigma score was 37.03, indicating a high level of stigma. The most important factors determining HIV-related stigma were socioeconomic status, transmission method, duration of disease, and education level. This study suggests the need for more effective interventions to reduce HIV-related stigma among Iranian PLWH.
Regarding deep learning networks in medical sciences for improving diagnosis and treatment purposes and the existence of minimal resources for them, we decided to provide a set of magnetic resonance ...images of the cardiac and hepatic organs.
One of the important challenges in food industries is to achieve sufficient gas barrier properties for packaging films. Films made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are commonly used for food packaging and ...are sometimes used with embedded nanoparticles. In this investigation, PVA nanocomposite films were prepared using solution-casting method with different concentrations of montmorillonite (MMT) and titanium oxide (TiO
2
) nanoparticles. A response surface methodology (RSM), based on three-level factorial design, was implemented to model and optimize the effect of the concentrations of the nanofillers on the barrier properties of thin nanocomposite films. The viscosity of the polymer-forming solution increased when nanoparticles were incorporated in the polymer matrix. SEM micrographs showed a good distribution of nanofillers at low concentration whereas some aggregation was observed at higher nanofiller loadings. Transparency of PVA-based thin films decreased with an increase of TiO
2
/MMT loading. A significant increase in the Young ̓s modulus occurred with an increase in the loading of nanoparticles whereas the tensile strength and elongation at the breakpoint both decreased. Results for PVA/MMT/TiO
2
nanocomposite films showed a decrease in the oxygen transmission rate and water vapor permeability compared to a neat PVA membrane. The particle loading leading to optimum barrier properties for nanocomposite films was a combined loading of 1 wt% TiO
2
and 4 wt% MMT.
Graphic Abstract
Computed tomography (CT) was a widely used diagnostic technique for COVID-19 during the pandemic. High-Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT), is a type of computed tomography that enhances image ...resolution through the utilization of advanced methods. Due to privacy concerns, publicly available COVID-19 CT image datasets are incredibly tough to come by, leading to it being challenging to research and create AI-powered COVID-19 diagnostic algorithms based on CT images.
To address this issue, we created HRCTCov19, a new COVID-19 high-resolution chest CT scan image collection that includes not only COVID-19 cases of Ground Glass Opacity (GGO), Crazy Paving, and Air Space Consolidation but also CT images of cases with negative COVID-19. The HRCTCov19 dataset, which includes slice-level and patient-level labeling, has the potential to assist in COVID-19 research, in particular for diagnosis and a distinction using AI algorithms, machine learning, and deep learning methods. This dataset, which can be accessed through the web at http://databiox.com , includes 181,106 chest HRCT images from 395 patients labeled as GGO, Crazy Paving, Air Space Consolidation, and Negative.
The effect of COVID-19 on the occurrence of type 1 diabetes and ketoacidosis in children and adolescent.
In this descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study, the records of all children and ...adolescents hospitalized due to type1 diabetes for two years ago and during the COVID-19 pandemic and its peaks were investigated (January 2018-2022). Also, the desired variables including the frequency of hospitalized patients (known and new cases), the frequency of DKA, the severity of DKA, the duration of discharge from DKA, age, body mass index, duration of hospitalization, clinical symptoms including cerebral edema, laboratory data and the total daily dose insulin required at the time of discharge were compared and statistically analyzed.
Out of the 334 hospitalized T1DM patients, the rate of new T1DM patients was significantly higher (P = 0.006) during the pandemic. Clearly, there were more cases of DKA during the pandemic (P = 0.007). The higher severity of DKA (0.026) and the need for higher doses of insulin (P = 0.005) were also observed. The hospitalization rate was higher during the corona peaks, particularly peaks 1 and 4, compared to the non-peak days of COVID-19.
The increase in the incidence of diabetes (new cases) in the pandemic can suggest the role of the COVID-19 virus as an igniter. Also, as a trigger for the higher incidence of DKA with higher severities, which is probably caused by more damage to the pancreatic beta cells and requires higher doses of insulin.
In the packaging industry, the barrier property of packaging materials is of paramount importance. The enhancement of barrier properties of materials can be achieved by adding impermeable ...nanoparticles into thin polymeric films, known as mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs). Three-dimensional numerical simulations were performed to study the barrier property of these MMMs and to estimate the effective membrane gas permeability. Results show that horizontally-aligned thin cuboid nanoparticles offer far superior barrier properties than spherical nanoparticles for an identical solid volume fraction. Maxwell's model predicts very well the relative permeability of spherical and cubic nanoparticles over a wide range of the solid volume fraction. However, Maxwell's model shows an increasingly poor prediction of the relative permeability of MMM as the aspect ratio of cuboid nanoparticles tends to zero or infinity. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed successfully to predict the relative permeability of MMMs as a function of the relative thickness and the relative projected area of the embedded nanoparticles. However, since an ANN model does not provide an explicit form of the relation of the relative permeability with the physical characteristics of the MMM, a new model based on multivariable regression analysis is introduced to represent the relative permeability in a MMM with impermeable cuboid nanoparticles. The new model possesses a simple explicit form and can predict, very well, the relative permeability over an extensive range of the solid volume fraction and aspect ratio, compared with many existing models.
Symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) can lead to different types and ranges of sexual dysfunction in MS patients. Studies in different parts of the world have reported a high range of sexual ...dysfunction in men with MS. This study aimed to estimate pooled prevalence of sexual dysfunction in men with MS.
The authors searched Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Magiran, SID, and Iran Medical Papers Database using the keywords "multiple sclerosis", "sexual dysfunctions", "men", "prevalence", and their synonyms systematically. Meta-analysis was performed using the random effects model with inverse variance-weighted method to estimate the overall prevalence of sexual dysfunction in men with MS. The protocol for this meta-analysis is available in PROSPERO (ID CRD42020199005).
A total of 351 documents were identified, and 20 articles published from 1996 to 2019 were analyzed. The articles used sample sizes from 9 to 101 individuals. However, two studies conducted online used 388 and 1568 samples. Prevalence of sexual dysfunction in all studies was reported from 31 to 92%, and the pooled prevalence of sexual dysfunction in men with MS in all studies was 62.9% with a 95% confidence interval 53 to 72.7% (heterogeneity: I
= 96.3%, Q-statistic = 12.48, P value < 0.001). According to the results of Egger's test, there was publication bias in the current study (β = 4.55, Se = 1.38, P value = 0.004).
Sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in men with MS. Diagnosing sexual dysfunction in MS patients in clinics by specialists have to be considered a necessity.
The present study was conducted to investigate and compare the effect of applying various levels of chemical fertilizers and bioinoculants on the growth and yield of sunflower during the 2017-2018 ...crop year in Hamedan, Iran. This study was executed as two factorial experiments, as a randomized complete block design in three repetitions. Chemical fertilizers containing nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were used in the first experiment, and nitrogen-fixing (NI) and phosphate-solubilizing (BI) bioinoculants were used in the second experiment. The experimental treatments included applying a urea fertilizer (N.sub.0=0, N.sub.1=45, N.sub.2=90 kg pure nitrogen/ha) and a triple superphosphate (P.sub.0=0, P.sub.1=40, P.sub.2=80 kg pure phosphorus/ha), as well as a nitroxin biofertilizer (NI.sub.0=0, NI.sub.1=0.5, NI.sub.2=1 L/ha) and a biophosphorus (BI.sub.0=0, BI.sub.1=0.5, BI.sub.2=1 L/ha). The results indicated that the highest levels of leaf dry weight, number of seeds per head, head diameter, head weight, seed yield, and the plant's biological yield were obtained for the chemical treatment (N.sub.2P.sub.2) and biological treatment of (NI.sub.2BI.sub.2). Group comparisons between the chemical and biological treatments did not show a significant difference for any of the studied characteristics, therefore, the results of this study conclude that the investigated levels of bioinoculants could be appropriate alternatives to chemical fertilizers.
Trimethylamine (TMA) N-oxide (TMAO), a gut-microbiota-dependent metabolite, both enhances atherosclerosis in animal models and is associated with cardiovascular risks in clinical studies. Here, we ...investigate the impact of targeted inhibition of the first step in TMAO generation, commensal microbial TMA production, on diet-induced atherosclerosis. A structural analog of choline, 3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol (DMB), is shown to non-lethally inhibit TMA formation from cultured microbes, to inhibit distinct microbial TMA lyases, and to both inhibit TMA production from physiologic polymicrobial cultures (e.g., intestinal contents, human feces) and reduce TMAO levels in mice fed a high-choline or L-carnitine diet. DMB inhibited choline diet-enhanced endogenous macrophage foam cell formation and atherosclerotic lesion development in apolipoprotein e−/− mice without alterations in circulating cholesterol levels. The present studies suggest that targeting gut microbial production of TMA specifically and non-lethal microbial inhibitors in general may serve as a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases.
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•Gut microbial trimethylamine lyases are a therapeutic target for atherosclerosis•3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol inhibits microbial trimethylamine formation•3,3-dimethyl-1-butanol attenuates choline diet-enhanced atherosclerosis•Non-lethal gut microbial enzyme inhibition can impact host cardiometabolic phenotypes
Drugging the gut microbiota with a non-lethal inhibitor that blocks production of the metabolite trimethylamine reduces the formation of atherosclerotic lesions and represents the first step toward treatment of cardiometabolic diseases by targeting the microbiome.
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