Effects of metabolic syndrome on bone health in older adults: the Bushehr Elderly Health (BEH) program.

Based on the clinical, BMD, and TBS data of 2380 participants aged ≥ 60 which was gathered during the BEH program, stage II, we showed that MetS was positively associated with BMD, while a negative or no association was observed between MetS and TBS depending on the sex and the adjustment model. INTRODUCTION: The results of previous reports in regard to the effect of metabolic syndrome (MetS) on bone health are not conclusive. This study aimed to evaluate the association between MetS with bone mineral density (BMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS) as an indicator of bone quantity and quality, respectively. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, this study was carried out based on the data collected during the BEH Program, stage II. MetS was defined according to NCEP-ATP III criteria. BMD (at the lumbar spine and the hip) and lumbar spine TBS were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry device. RESULTS: The data of 2380 participants (women = 1228, men = 1152) aged ≥ 60 were analyzed. In the fully adjusted regression models (including BMI), significant associations between MetS and mean BMD were observed across all locations in men (P values ≤ 0.001) and in the lumbar spine in women (P value = 0.003). In addition, the prevalence of osteoporosis (based on BMD) was significantly lower in those with MetS than those without MetS in both sexes, even after full adjustments (women, OR = 0.707, P value = 0.013; men, OR = 0.563, P value = 0.001). In contrast, in age-adjusted regression analyses, the prevalence of degraded bone microarchitecture (TBS ≤ 1.2) was significantly increased in those with MetS than those without, irrespective of the participants' sex (P values < 0.05). The mean TBS was also negatively associated with MetS in women (ß = - 0.075, P value = 0.007) but not in men (ß = - 0.052, P value = 0.077), in age-adjusted regression models. However, after including BMI in the adjusted models, all significant associations between TBS values and MetS disappeared. CONCLUSION: It seems that a positive association exists between MetS and BMD, while MetS is either not associated or negatively correlated with bone quality as measured by TBS.

Predicting the function of transplanted kidney in long-term care processes: Application of a hybrid model.

BACKGROUND: A tool that can predict the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in routine daily care can help clinicians to make better decisions for kidney transplant patients and to improve transplantation outcome. In this paper, we proposed a hybrid prediction model for predicting a future value for eGFR during long-term care processes. METHODS: Longitudinal, historical data of 942 transplant patients who received a kidney between 2001 and 2016 at Urmia kidney transplant center was used to develop a hybrid model. The model was based on three primary models: multi-layer perceptron (MLP), linear regression (LR), and a model that predicted a smoothed value of eGFR. The hybrid model used at-hand, longitudinal data of physical examinations and laboratory test values available at each visit. Two different datasets, a generalized dataset (GData) and a personalized dataset (PData), were created. Then, in both datasets, two data subsets of development and validation were created. For prediction, all records related to the fourth to tenth previous visits of patients in time order from the target date, i.e., window size (WS) = 4-10, were used. The performance of the models was evaluated using Mean Square Error (MSE) and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). The differences between the models were evaluated with the F-test and the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). RESULTS: The datasets contained 35,066 records, totally. The GData contained 26,210 and 8856 records and the PData had 24,079 and 9103 records in the development and validation datasets, respectively. In the hybrid model, the MSE and MAE were 153 and 8.9 in the GData, and 113 and 7.5 in the PData, respectively. The model performance improved using a wider WS of historical records (from 4 to 10). When the WS of ten was used the MSE and MAE declined to 141 and 8.5 in the GData and to 91 and 6.9 in the PData, respectively. In both datasets, the F-test showed that the hybrid model was significantly different from other models. The AIC showed that the hybrid model had a better performance than that of others. CONCLUSIONS: The hybrid model can predict a reliable future value for eGFR. Our results showed that longitudinal covariates help the models to produce better results. Smoothing eGFR values and using a personalized dataset to develop the models also improved the models' performances. They can be considered as a step forward towards personalized medicine.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and the association with socio-demographic characteristics and physical activity in urban population of Iranian adults: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is the main concern of health problem in transition population. The objective was to determine the prevalence of MetS and its association with socio-demographic and physical activity in Iranian adults. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study of 1000 representative samples aged 20-70 years was conducted in urban area in northern Iran. The socio-demographic data were collected by interview and the physical activity was assessed by standard International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Weight, height, waist circumference and the systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured by standard methods. Fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol level and low density lipoprotein cholesterol level were measured using enzymatic method. The ATP III criteria were used for diagnosis of MetS. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of MetS was 42.3% (36.5% men and 47.1% women, p=0.001). The higher education at university level was appeared inversely associated with MetS (age adjusted OR=0.34, p=0.001) compared with illiterate. The prevalence rates of MetS were 49.0%, 42.5% and 22.6% in low, moderate and vigorous physical activity level respectively (p=0.001). After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the vigorous physical activity was inversely associated with MetS compared with low level (adjusted OR=0.46, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: These results highlight an immediate action of preventive measures programs for modification of cardio metabolic risk factors.

Synthesis, characterization, DFT studies and catalytic activities of manganese(II) complex with 1,4-bis(2,2':6,2''-terpyridin-4'-yl) benzene.

A new di-manganese complex with "back-to-back" 1,4-bis(2,2':6,2''-terpyridin-4'-yl) benzene ligation has been synthesized and characterised by a variety of techniques. The back-to-back ligation presents a novel new mononuclear manganese catalytic centre that functions as a heterogeneous catalysis for the evolution of oxygen in the presence of an exogenous oxidant. We discuss the synthesis and spectroscopic characterizations of this complex and propose a mechanism for oxygen evolution activity of the compound in the presence of oxone. The di-manganese complex also shows efficient and selective catalytic oxidation of sulfides in the presence of H(2)O(2). Density functional theory calculations were used to assess the structural optimization of the complex and a proposed reaction pathway with oxone. The calculations show that middle benzene ring is distorted respect to both of metallic centers, and this in turn leads to negligible resonance of electrons between two sides of complex. The calculations also indicate the unpaired electron located on oxyl-ligand emphasizes the radical mechanism of water oxidation for the system.