[Inductive effect of deprenyl and dimethyl sulfoxide on proliferation and survival of the mesenchymal stem cells]

Research have been focused on the applying the chemical inducer for transdifferentiation the adult BMSCs into neural cell. So that, at the first should investigate the toxcity effect of the chemical inducer on the induced cells. Plasticity and easy accessibility of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells is a unique charactristic for treatment of neural disorderies. This study was desgined to determine the inductive effect of Deprenyl and Dimethyl sulfoxide on proliferation and survival of the mesenchymal stem cells. In this experimental study, BMSCs isolated from the adult rat bone marrow and cultured in alpha MEM containing 10% FBS. Cell identity for surface antigens was performed in third passage by immunocytochemistry and multipotancy capacity of BMSCs was done by BMSC differentiation into adipocytes and osteocytes. The cells were exposed to chemical agents [a: the alpha MEM medium supplemented with 2% DMSO, b: the alpha MEM medium supplemented with 10[-8]M Deprenyl] for 24 hours and then transferred to alpha MEM containing 10% FBS cell survival and proliferation was evaluated after the 24, 48, 72 and 96 houres by MTT [3-[4-5-Dimethylthiazolyl-2-y1]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium romid] test. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16, One-Way ANOVA and Tukey tests. In addition to expression the surface antigens and adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation by BMSCs, MTT test results showed that proliferation and survival of induced-deprenyl and DMSO cells within 48, 72 and 96 hours after the induction was increased significantly than negative control group. Deprenyl increases survival and cell proliferation compared to Dimethyl Sulfoxide. It can be used as cell inducer

[Representation of a method for identification of the best safe contractors by Fuzzy Input Efficiency Profiling and AHP]

Health, Safety and Environment [HSE] performance measurement of the contractors and identification of the best ones can make a perception of the past changes in their HSE performance. Consequently, this may motivate them and provide an opportunity to improve their quality of services. The aim of this study is to rank the contractor-companies of one of the Iranian steel manufacturing companies considering their safety behavior and also to determine the best combination of contractors-companies. Safety behavior sampling method used to determine the status of unsafe acts. The fuzzy efficiency numbers of each input were ranked by Chen and Klein method. To obtain a final ranking AHP was applied. The obtained rankings by FIEP-AHP were compared to the ranking of DEA. Results indicated that the most frequent unsafe behaviors were related to not- using or miss-using the PPE, using broken tools and inappropriate working condition respectively. A significant relationship between experience, education and age with safety behaviors was obtained [p<0.05]. Results showed that companies' number 2 and 6 had respectively the best and worst ranks. Because FIEP increases the power of recognition especially when the number of DMUs is lower than inputs and outputs, it can be suggested as an appropriate model for determining the best contractor companies

Seroprevalence of brucellosis and risk factors related to high risk occupational groups in kazeroon, south of Iran

Brucellosis is a major zoonosis worldwide. Many people for their professions are at higher risk of contracting the disease. To determine the seroprevalence of brucellosis and its risk factors in a group of high risk professions. In a cross-sectional study, all personnel or students of veterinary schools, slaughters and butchers working in the city were invited to participate [n=141]. A comparison group [n=44] randomly selected from patients who were selected at random from people attended our healthcare center for reasons other than the infectious diseases. 4 veterinarians, 15 veterinary assistants, 42 veterinarian students, 52 butchers, 17 slaughters, 8 slaughterhouse workers and 3 chefs made the first group and 14 storekeepers, 5 students of engineering, 11 clerks, 13 freelance workers, and 1 high school student made the comparison group. While the rate of consumption of most of the studied dairy products was almost similar in both groups, comparison group patients consumed more often milk [p<0.001] and cream [p<0.001] than the high risk group. 11 [7.8%; 95% CI: 3.4%-12.2%] cases from high risk group and none of the comparison group were found seropositive for Brucella. Profession is the main factor in seropositivity. Consumption of dairy products and raw milk is not associated with a higher risk of seropositivity

[Sleep-quality investigation of bus drivers working in the Gorgan's passenger terminal and its relation with the public health in 2008-2009]

One of the most common kinds of human's disorders is sleep disorders which have direct relation with age, gender, physical health status, and occupational activities. Increasing the errors during job activities such as driving is one of the most important complications of sleep disorders. Therefore, this study has been conducted to determine the sleep quality of drivers and its relationship with public health. The under study drivers are from the Gorgan's passenger terminal. In this analytical-partial study, all the drivers working in the Gorgan's passenger terminal were studied using standard 28-question public heath questionnaire and standard 19-question Pittsburg sleep questionnaire. After filling out and collecting all forms, data were analyzed by statistical software SPSS.13, and descriptive analytical statistics. The results showed that the driver's public health is not satisfactory. More than one third of drivers have poor sleep quality and there was a direct and statistically significant relationship between the quality of sleep and general health of drivers [P <0.00 1, r = 0.7]. according to the results of this study, training of drivers is advised such that they have a regular number of shifts, timely and sufficient rests, proper diet which can prevent accidents, conserve passengers, reduce costs due to accidents and irrecoverable damage to other drivers. Also it is important to consider possible age limitation for driving on the road or to allocate a less number of shifts for older drivers

[Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Birjand adolescents]

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in high school students in Birjand. This cross- sectional study was performed in 2005 in Birjand, on 2230 students [1115 boys and 1115 girls], 15-18 years old. Subjects were selected via a step wise random sampling from four districts of Birjand. Overweight and obesity was defined based on the 85[th] and 95[th] percentiles of body mass index for age and sex, respectively, as proposed by CDC in 2000. The overall prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were 6.1% and 2.3%, respectively. The prevalences of overweight were 5% in high school boys and 7.1% in girls; the prevalences of obesity were 2.8% in boys and 1.8% in girls of high schools. Overweight and obesity increased with the higher educational levels of father and mother, working fathers and private schools. According to this study, prevalences of overweight and obesity in Birjand adolescents are lower than in other areas of Iran; it is however necessary to perform further similar researches periodically in this area, to confirm these results

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in Southern Iran

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [HNSCC] is the sixth most common cancer among men in the developed world. The objective of this study was to document the gender, age, sites of occurrence and histological differentiation of the HNSCC in southern Iran. In a retrospective study from 1992 to 2007, 386 patients with a histological diagnosis of the HNSCC were investigated in departments of pathology of Shiraz Dental School and Khalili Hospital in southern Iran. Among 386 cases, there were 289 male [74.9%] and 97 female [25.1%]. In younger patients, the male to female ratio was lower than that in the older ones. The larynx was the most commonly affected site [44%], followed by the oral cavity [34.7%], skin [7%], oropharynx [3.1%], hypopharynx [2.9%], cervical esophagus [2.3%], other sites [4.2%] and unknown site [1.8%]. 45.6% were well but 8.3% were poorly differentiated for SCC. HNSCC was most common in the larynx and oral cavity with an older aged male preponderance, but male to female ratio was lower in younger patients than older ones

[Evaluating the effects of globalization on poverty measures]

Globalization of economy is characterized by increasing movement of labor and capital, technology, increased international trade, integration of markets and communication. Liberalization and globalization lead to increased foreign investment and increased amount and type of goods and services traded by nations. One of the challenges in globalization literature is its impacts on living condition of income groups and more specifically on poverty and income distribution of different income groups. Some believe in a positive relation between poverty and trade liberalization. However, others have got a negative relation between them. In this study the effect of globalization on poverty was investigated using both of micro and macro frameworks. In macroeconomic lens, globalization effect on Poverty Headcount and Poverty Gap criteria was studied using a variable as foreign trade - gross domestic production ratio. In microeconomic lens the results obtained for Wheat market was used. The Wheat market contains equations of import, domestic production and domestic demand simultaneously. The results of the Wheat market obtained from Mousavi's [1385] study, conducted to predict the impact of globalization on Wheat market. In the microeconomic approach in addition to the Wheat market results, household expenditure, collected by Iranian Statistical Center, was also used. In the microeconomic approach the impact of different levels of increase in Integration of International Trade [LIT] criterion [as a mean indicating level of globalization] on Wheat [Bread] consumption was investigated. Two approaches were considered in order to investigate the impact of globalization on consumption. In approach one, the total changes in Wheat consumption was regarded as summation of changes in domestic supply and import. While in second one the changes in Wheat [Bread] domestic demand was regarded as consumption changes. Different levels of increase in Integration of International Trade criterion were also 10, 20, 30, 50 and 100 percent. In addition to the increased levels of the Integration of International Trade criterion, the impacts of increase in price of bread on selected households expenditure and poverty indices including Headcount, Poverty Gap and Severity of Poverty was studied. Based on findings, globalization has no considerable impact on the percent of urban poor, while 1% rise in globalization criterion can reduce urban poverty gap by 2.95%. Inflation index also reveled that increase in prices results in decreased poverty gap in urban Iran. In the case of rural households the findings showed that globalization results in a reduced poverty head count, but it raises poverty gap. In other words participation of Iran in global market will result in more undesirable condition of rural lower income poor, needing for more protection of the mentioned groups. The impact of agriculture sector growth on rural poverty is also interesting in that more growth of it lead to more poverty. Based on the results agriculture sector growth is expected to increase both of the poor number and poverty gap. The results of Headcount criterion revealed that 36.74% of urban and 25.43% of rural households are considered as poor. The results of micro lens evaluation that was also performed using coefficients obtained from Mousavi's [1385] study and household expenditure showed that globalization of wheat market individually, and increased bread price would not result in a considerable change in poverty Headcount, Gap, and Severity

[Pattern of total antioxidant capacity in human milk during the course of lactation]

In addition to numerous nutrients, human milk contains several antioxidants as bioactive components protecting newborns from a hyperoxic challenge due to transition to an environment much richer in oxygen. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of total antioxidant capacity of human milk during the first six months of lactation. 535 milk samples were collected from 145 healthy women with full term newborns. Analyses included colostrum [at 2 +/- 1 day postpartum], transitional milk [at 7 +/- 3 days postpartum] and mature milk [at 30 +/- 5, 90 +/- 7 and 180 +/- 10 days postpartum] and also maternal plasma at 90 +/- 7 days. The total antioxidant capacity of samples was measured by Ferric Reducing/Antioxidant Power [FRAP] assay. Colostrum showed a significant higher antioxidant capacity than the transitional and mature milks [589.8 +/- 278.1 vs. 508.5 +/- 284.1, 453.5 +/- 210.8, 479.3 +/- 254.3 and 402.6 +/- 168.0 micro mol/l respectively]. Also a significant decrease in antioxidant capacity was observed in the mature milks [p<0.05]. The relationship between the antioxidant content of breast milk and maternal plasma was significant too [p<0.05, r=0.267]. These data suggest that colostrum, with high antioxidant capacity, during the first days of life is vital; moreover, reduction in total antioxidant capacity during the course of lactation is notable and requires sophisticated measures