Evaluation of personality disorders in patients with Gender Identity Disorder (GID): An update.

Introduction: Gender dysphoria (GD) could cause various mental illnesses, but its main cause is unclear. GD patients also suffer from different personality disorders that increase the risk of side effects among them. The present review study is aimed to investigate the most recent studies on comorbid personality disorders in patients with GD. Materials and Methods: Online databases were searched using related keywords for collecting any related articles. After precise reviewing the abstract of all collected articles, those with more appropriate content were included in our study. Findings: The prevalence rate of personality disorders in GD patients has been reported to be from 15% to 80% by different studies. In line with the data from previous studies, it was revealed that borderline personality disorder is one of the most prevalent disorders among GD patients. Available comorbid personality disorders cause a wide range of side effects on the normal function of patients. Conclusion: The majority of studies carried out on the comorbidity of personality disorders have revealed that the possibility of personality disorders in GD patients is high. Anyway, further studies are required to understand the exact effect of psychological care on personality disorders in these patients.

Pyruvate kinase L/R is a regulator of lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function.

The pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been associated with altered expression of liver-specific genes including pyruvate kinase liver and red blood cell (PKLR), patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 3 (PNPLA3) and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9). Here, we inhibited and overexpressed the expression of these three genes in HepG2 cells, generated RNA-seq data before and after perturbation and revealed the altered global biological functions with the modulation of these genes using integrated network (IN) analysis. We found that modulation of these genes effects the total triglycerides levels within the cells and viability of the cells. Next, we generated IN for HepG2 cells, identified reporter transcription factors based on IN and found that the modulation of these genes affects key metabolic pathways associated with lipid metabolism (steroid biosynthesis, PPAR signalling pathway, fatty acid synthesis and oxidation) and cancer development (DNA replication, cell cycle and p53 signalling) involved in the progression of NAFLD and HCC. Finally, we observed that inhibition of PKLR lead to decreased glucose uptake and decreased mitochondrial activity in HepG2 cells. Hence, our systems level analysis indicated that PKLR can be targeted for development efficient treatment strategy for NAFLD and HCC.

Radiation exposure levels according to vascular access sites during PCI : A prospective controlled study.

BACKGROUND: We previously showed that using the radial artery access site as opposed to the femoral artery site decreases the radiation exposure of patients during coronary artery interventions. The objective of this study was to compare radiation exposure levels of the operating physician during coronary interventions when incorporating both radial and femoral artery approaches. METHODS: The study assessed all coronary angioplasties performed in a major metropolitan general hospital. The study design was prospective and observational, in which we measured the radiation exposure of the patient and the operator. Measurements of radiation levels were made using an electronic personal dosimeter (Diamentor® E2-DAP) at the radial and at the femoral artery access sites. An interventional cardiologist operator performed all the percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) using a single-plane angiography unit via both femoral and radial artery approaches. RESULTS: Data from 252 PCIs were recorded. The mean physician radiation exposure levels from the femoral access site and the right radial access site were 40.5 ± 20.2 µSv and 47.5 ± 26.5 µSv, respectively (p < 0.02). There was a strong correlation between physician and patient radiation exposure levels. However, there was no correlation between patient body mass index and radiation exposure levels. CONCLUSION: We found significantly higher physician radiation exposure levels with the radial artery than with the femoral artery access site.

Network analyses identify liver-specific targets for treating liver diseases.

We performed integrative network analyses to identify targets that can be used for effectively treating liver diseases with minimal side effects. We first generated co-expression networks (CNs) for 46 human tissues and liver cancer to explore the functional relationships between genes and examined the overlap between functional and physical interactions. Since increased de novo lipogenesis is a characteristic of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we investigated the liver-specific genes co-expressed with fatty acid synthase (FASN). CN analyses predicted that inhibition of these liver-specific genes decreases FASN expression. Experiments in human cancer cell lines, mouse liver samples, and primary human hepatocytes validated our predictions by demonstrating functional relationships between these liver genes, and showing that their inhibition decreases cell growth and liver fat content. In conclusion, we identified liver-specific genes linked to NAFLD pathogenesis, such as pyruvate kinase liver and red blood cell (PKLR), or to HCC pathogenesis, such as PKLR, patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 3 (PNPLA3), and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), all of which are potential targets for drug development.

Impact of stent type on incidence of major adverse cardiac events in large coronary arteries with tubular and diffuse lesions.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare 3 year incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) between bare metal stents (BMS) and drug-eluting stents (DES) in large coronary arteries with tubular and diffuse lesions. METHODS: Seven hundred forty-five consecutive patients (894 lesions) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on large coronary arteries (3.0, 3.5 and 4 mm) with tubular (10-20 mm length) or diffuse (>20 mm) lesions using BMS or DES at Ekbatan University Hospital, Hamadan, Iran between October 2009 and September 2012 were included. Patients were divided into six groups based on the diameter and length of the stents: 3.0*≤20 mm, 3.0*>20 mm, 3.5*≤20 mm, 3.5*>20 mm, 4.0*≤20 mm and 4.0*>20 mm. Follow-up visits were set at 1, 2, and 3 years after the procedure. Endpoints of the study were MACE including cardiac death, nonfatal MI (due to in-stent thrombosis) and target lesion revascularization (TLR). RESULTS: Cardiac death occurred in 12 patients (1.7%), (1.8% in BMS vs. 1.2% in DES). The incidence of MACE was significantly higher in 3-mm coronary arteries with diffuse lesions (>20 mm) in BMS group; however, there were no statistically significant difference in the incidence of MACE following PCI with BMS and DES in 3, 3.5 and 4 mm coronary arteries with tubular lesions (≤20 mm) and 3.5 and 4 mm coronary arteries with diffuse lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Since the incidence of MACEs did not differ significantly between BMS and DES in most sizes, we suggested that PCI with BMS for coronary arteries in the mentioned sizes can be safe and effective. Further randomized clinical trials focusing simultaneously on diameter and the length of stents are required to corroborate this finding.

Integrated health, safety, environment and ergonomic management systems for industry.

BACKGROUND: Conventional health, safety and environment (HSE) are a widely used approach to enhance availability and efficiency of complex systems. The integrated HSEE system is defined however as integration of conventional HSE with ergonomics approach. The presented HSEE system introduces a unique, effective and systemic mechanism, which integrates the structure of the human and organizational systems with conventional HSE system. It is utilized to enhance reliability, availability, maintainability and safety through the proposed integrated framework of this study. METHODS: The integrated HSEE is developed by integration of conventional HSE with job systems by re-engineering organizational structures and teamwork through electronic data interchange (EDI). To show the need for and superiority of HSEE over conventional HSE to gas Treatment Company was studied and questionnaires were collected and examined with respect to distinct components of HSEE. RESULTS: The main result of this study is a framework for development of integrated intelligent human engineering environment in complex critical systems. CONCLUSION: The presented HSEE system introduces a unique, effective and systemic mechanism, which integrates the structure of the human and organizational systems with conventional HSE system.

Modeling an integrated health, safety and ergonomics management system: application to power plants.

BACKGROUND: This study presents a framework for development of integrated health, safety and ergonomic (HSE) in complex critical systems. Total ergonomics model considers conventional ergonomics factors as well as management and organizational factors. METHODS: Control room operation and maintenance department of a thermal power plant was chosen as the case of our study. To achieve the above objectives, an integrated approach based on total ergonomics factors was developed. Second, it was applied to the thermal power plant and the advantages of total ergonomics approach were discussed. Third, the impacts of total ergonomics factors on local factors were examined through non-parametric statistical analysis. Moreover, the importance and impacts of total ergonomics factors were shown through statistical tests. RESULTS: It is shown that total ergonomics model is much more beneficial than conventional approach. It should be noted that the traditional ergonomics methodology is not capable of locating the findings of total ergonomics model. CONCLUSION: The distinguished aspect of this study is the employment of a total system approach based on integration of the conventional ergonomics factors with HSE factors.

Smart pixels with smart illumination.

Smart pixels with smart illumination is a new concept in sensor array technology based on structured built-in illumination and optoelectronic feedback. It offers many new possibilities and potential advantages over more-traditional sensor arrays. We discuss an edge-detection system as an example of how smart illumination can advantageously be used to achieve a variety of functions. We also present initial experimental results from a fabricated chip based on this concept. The chip includes an integrated array of photodetectors and LED's. The output of each pixel can be controlled based on the feedback received by its dual detectors.