Focus: Preventive Medicine: Postpartum Depression and Quality of Life: A Path Analysis

Purpose: The aim of this study was to model the relationship between risk factors of postpartum depression and quality of life in Iranian women. Methods: In this study, 306 women were included as a sample. The study tools of the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Inventory included items such as socioeconomic characteristics, recent pregnancy history and outcome, and Quality of Life Questionnaire (SF-12). SPSS software was used for data analysis and a significance value of 0.05 was considered. Results: Most participants were homemakers with no instances of abortion, no stillbirth, no history of depression, no preterm delivery, no difficulties during pregnancy, no difficulties during delivery, no unplanned pregnancy, no smoking during pregnancy, had family support during pregnancy and after delivery, type of delivery was cesarean, had a healthy baby and satisfaction with neonatal sex, and never or rarely experienced partner violence. Their mean age, years of education, living arrangements, and breastfeeding of participants respectively were 29.73±5.42, 14.64±1.96, 1.09±0.53, and 5.61±2.98. The prevalence of postpartum depression was 5.6%. According to the path analysis, living arrangements with β=0.73 had the most direct effect and occupation with β=0.69 had the most indirect effect on postpartum depression. Conclusions: According to the path analysis model, postpartum depression is affected by many factors such as age, years of education, occupation, living arrangements, and quality of life.     

Beyond the 5-year milestone: Long-term survivorship of melanoma patients treated off-trial with anti-PD-1

Little is known about the long-term outcomes of anti-PD-1 treated patients with melanoma beyond 5 years, especially for patients treated off clinical trials. This retrospective cohort study includes patients with unresectable stage III/IV nonuveal melanoma treated with anti-PD-1 off-trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center between 2014 and 2017 who survived at least 5 years following their first anti-PD-1 dose (N = 139). We characterized overall survival (OS), melanoma-specific survival (MSS) estimates, treatment-free survival rates, and subsequent treatment courses. Median follow-up among 5-plus year survivors (N = 125) was 78.4 months (range 60.0–96.3). OS at year 7 (2 years post 5-year landmark) was 90.1% (95% CI: 83.0%–94.3%). Fourteen deaths occurred, seven due to melanoma. MSS at year 7 (2 years post 5-year landmark) was 95.0% (95% CI: 33.5%–95.2%). In patients who completed anti-PD-1 based therapy and did not require subsequent treatment by 5 years (N = 80), the probability of not requiring additional treatment for an additional 2 years was 95.7% (95% CI: 91.0%–100%). Patients treated with anti-PD-1 regimens off clinical trials who survive at least 5 years from initial anti-PD-1 treatment can be reassured of their excellent long-term prognosis, particularly if they did not require additional melanoma treatment during the first 5 years.     

Climate change,unpredictable cold waves and possible brakes on plant migration

Aim Increases in annual mean temperature in the course of current climate change are expected to facilitate mass species migration towards higher altitudes and latitudes. However, this migration may be slowed, or even temporarily reversed, by infrequent and unpredictable episodes of low winter temperatures. Iran experienced a severe cold wave in January and February 2008, giving an opportunity to observe the effects on a large number of woody plant species, many growing further north than their natural ranges. Location The study was carried out in the National Botanical Garden of Iran (35°44′20.06″ N; 51°10′25.66″ E). Method To estimate the damage caused to each individual woody plant in the garden, we adopted the following protocol; at the start of the growing season, at the end of March and beginning of April 2008, all woody species were inspected for damage. In the case of evergreens this took the form of obvious damage to foliage, usually manifested as severe browning. In the case of deciduous species, damage was recognized by the failure of all or part of the plant to produce new leaves; all affected individual plants were labelled. In July all labelled plants were rechecked and, based on whole or partial above‐ground die‐back, a final list of damaged individuals was produced. Results As expected, the majority of native and exotic species introduced from cold temperate habitats showed no freezing injuries. Many woody species in the garden were damaged or killed, despite their previous survival and growth, in many cases for up to 40 years. The majority of taxa (101 out of a total of 145) that suffered freezing‐induced damage were evergreens. Main conclusions The results indicate that despite an increase in mean annual temperature, unpredictable lethal cold waves may retard the expansion of plants towards higher altitudes and latitudes. Broadleaved evergreen species from warm climates were particularly badly affected, with many species suffering high rates of mortality.     

Recognition of (Sesc) for Easy Identification of Staphylococcus Epidermidis and Molecular and Phenotypic Study of Β-Lactam Resistance in Staphylococcus Epidermidis Isolates in Isfahan

Background:Not only is it crucial to rapidly detect Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) isolates from a broad range of bacteria, but recognizing resistance agents can greatly improve current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.Methods:The current cross-sectional study investigated 120 clinical isolates from a nosocomial S. epidermidis infection. The isolates were identified using common biochemical tests, and specific S. epidermidis surface protein C (SesC) primers were used to confirm the presence of S. epidermidis. PCR and special primers were used to detect the β-lactamase gene (blaZ). Methicillin resistance was measured using the agar screening method and antibiotic susceptibility was measured by disk diffusion. Results:100 samples were characterized as S. epidermidis using a phenotypic and genotypic methods. From the 100 specimens examined, 80% contained blaZ. According to agar screening, 60% of isolates were methicillin-resistant. S. epidermidis isolates demonstrated the highest resistance to penicillin (93%) and the highest sensitivity to cefazolin (39%).Conclusion:The increased resistance to β-lactam antibiotics in S. epidermidis isolates is alarming, and certain precautions should be taken by healthcare systems to continuously monitor the antimicrobial pattern of S. epidermidis, so that an appropriate drug treatment can be established.Key Words: Antibiotic resistance, β-lactam, Staphylococcus epidermidis     

Extraction and conversion pathways for microalgae to biodiesel: a review focused on energy consumption

Numerous life cycle analysis (LCA) studies of microalgae to fuel have been released over the past 3 years in an attempt to determine the environmental sustainability of this novel concept. Despite numerous issues with these LCA studies, they have highlighted that cultivation and dewatering/drying for extraction and conversion are major energy sinks within the process. This paper provides a critical review of extraction and conversion methods discussed in literature and under commercial investigation. The basis of this review is energy consumption, with its purpose to highlight methods that deserve further attention in research and development. This review concludes with an energetic assessment of four conversion processes including pulsed electric field-assisted extraction followed by transesterification, in situ acid catalysed esterification of dry biomass, in situ hydrolysis and esterification of wet biomass and hydrothermal liquefaction. The analysis highlighted that energetically feasible methods do exist for the conversion of microalgal biomass to fuel; however, all require further research to be applied at commercial scale.     

Seroprevalence of human T lymphtropic virus (HTLV) among tissue donors in Iranian tissue bank

Iranian Tissue Bank prepares a wide range of human tissue homografts such as; heart valve, bone, skin, amniotic membrane and other tissues for different clinical applications. The purpose of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of HTLV in tissue donors. About 1,548 tissue donors were studied during a 5-years period by ELISA assays. HTLV_1,2—antibodies were tested for all of donors with other tests upon American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) standards. About 25 (1.61%) out of 1,548 tissue donors were HTLV positive that 17 donors were male and 8 were female (female/male ratio was approximately 47%). Regarding to the prevalence of HTLV among tissue donors and importance of cell and tissue safety and quality assurance, we recommend that all blood, cell and tissue banks should be involved both routine serological methods and other complementary tests such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for diagnosis of HTLV.     

Toll-like receptors (TLRs): An old family of immune receptors with a new face in cancer pathogenesis

In the dark path of tumorigenesis, the more carefully the cancer biology is studied, the more brilliant answers could be given to the countless questions about its orchestrating derivers. The identification of the correlation between Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and different processes involved in carcinogenesis was one of the single points of blinding light highlighting the interconnection between the immune system and cancer. TLRs are a wide family of single-pass membrane-spanning receptors that have developed through the evolution to recognize the structurally conserved molecules derived from microorganisms or damaged cells. But this is not everything about these receptors as they could orchestrate several downstream signalling pathways leading to the formation or suppression of cancer cells. The present review is tempted to provide a concise schematic about the biology and the characters of TLRs and also summarize the major findings of the regulatory role of TLRs and their associated signalling in the pathogenesis of human cancers.