Association between the dietary inflammatory index and the incidence of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies.

OBJECTIVE: Although many risk factors for cancers have been well defined, the effects of dietary inflammation have remained controversial. We aimed to summarize the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and the risk of cancer. STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis on prospective studies. METHODS: Electronic databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched to find relevant articles published in English up to February 2017. Prospective studies that reported the relative risk (RR) or hazard ratio for the most pro-inflammatory vs the most anti-inflammatory diets and cancer were included. Random effects model was used to pool the effect sizes. RESULTS: Finally, 11 effect sizes from 10 prospective studies were included. Findings indicated that the most pro-inflammatory vs the most anti-inflammatory diets were significantly associated with an increased risk for total cancer (overall RR: 1.17; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-1.26) with a substantial heterogeneity (I2: 85.5%, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that the association between DII and breast cancer was 1.04 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.07; I2:0%; P = 0.66), while it was 1.26 (95% CI: 1.17, 1.36; I2 = 58.1%; P = 0.03) for colorectal cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Although the findings of the current meta-analysis support the hypothesis that diets with high pro-inflammatory components can increase the risk of cancer, the heterogeneity was high. Therefore, further studies are required to clarify this association.

The association of neck circumference with risk of metabolic syndrome and its components in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Several prior studies suggested that neck circumference (NC) is a reliable diagnostic tool for risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its features. However, not all studies support this view. Therefore, we aimed to perform a meta-analysis to summarize the association between NC with MetS and its components in adult populations. METHODS AND RESULTS: PubMed/Medline, Web of Knowledge, and Scopus electronic databases were searched until May 31, 2017 to find relevant English-language papers. We included studies that examined the association of NC with risk of MetS, or at minimum, one of its components as outcomes. Of 2628 publications identified, 19 papers met selection criteria. We found no association between NC and MetS (odd ratio (OR): 0.73; 95% CI: 0.003, 1.47). However, there was a positive association between NC and waist circumference (WC) (r = 0.85; 95%: 0.75, 0.95; I2: 98.2%; p = 0.0001), BMI: (r:0.88; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.91, I2:97.3%), triglycerides (TG) (OR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.60, 2.19; I2:58.4%; p = 0.03), TC (r:0.14; 95%CI: 0.05, 0.23, I2:94.1%), LDL-C (r: 0.18; 95%CI: 0.07, 0.29, I2:94.3%), hypertension (OR: 1.94; 95% CI:1.43, 2.64, I2:87.3%), systolic (r: 0.21, 95%CI: 0.19, 0.23; I2:67.1%) and diastolic blood pressures (r: 0.20, 95%CI: 0.16, 0.23; I2:79.7%), low HDL-C (r:-0.21; 95% CI: -0.26, -0.15, I2 = 92.5%), as well as fasting blood sugar (FBS) concentrations (r: 0.20, 95%CI: 0.16, 0.24; I2:88.1%). CONCLUSION: Subjects with higher NC were at approximately two-fold higher risk for hypertriglyceridemia compared to those with lower NC. We found positive associations between NC, WC, BMI, hypertension, FBS, TC, LDL-C, SBP, DBP, and low HDL-C concentrations. However, heterogeneity was considerably high. Therefore, the findings should be taken with caution. Future studies using longitudinal designs are needed to further understand the association between NC and features of MetS.

Solid lipid nanoparticles carrying Eugenia caryophyllata essential oil: the novel nanoparticulate systems with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity.

In this study, solid lipid nanoparticles containing Eugenia caryophyllata essential oil (SLN-EO) were prepared by high-shear homogenization and ultrasound methods, and used to eradicate pathogens. SLN formulations were evaluated for their size, zeta potential and encapsulation efficacy (EE). The morphological and thermal properties of the formulations were analysed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and differential scanning calorimetry methods. The lead formulations were chosen and tested with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), MBC and time-kill methods to investigate the antimicrobial activity against Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. The particle size of three final formulations were 397 ± 10·1, 786·9 ± 11 and 506·4 ± 22 nm respectively. The zeta potential of all formulations was negative values. The size of the formulations was slightly increased during 3 months storage at 25°C. The TEM imaging showed that formulation had spherical shape. The EE of EO was estimated approximately 70%. MIC and MCC values of SLN-EO were lower than those of the oil alone. The time-kill studies showed that SLN-EO was either equivalent to or better than EO (P-value <0·05). The results of this study highlighted the effectiveness of SLN formulations against human pathogens. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Microbial resistance to antibiotics is a major problem in the treatment of diseases. Therefore, overcoming antimicrobial resistance is an urgent need. Drug delivery via nanoparticles and applying natural products are promising approaches to reduce microbial resistance. This study is designed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) containing Eugenia caryophyllata essential oil (EO) against human pathogens. The results indicated that the antimicrobial activity of EO was remarkably enhanced when encapsulated in SLN.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor gene polymorphism is not associated with pemphigus vulgaris in Iranian patients.

BACKGROUND: Promoter polymorphisms of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor gene are associated with increased production of macrophage migration inhibitory factor. Elevated levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor have been observed in the sera of patients with pemphigus vulgaris. More than this, macrophage migration inhibitory factor promoter gene polymorphism has been found to confer increased risk of susceptibility to chronic inflammatory diseases. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether there is an association between promoter polymorphism of the macrophage migration inhibitory factor gene and pemphigus vulgaris. METHODS: One hundred and six patients with pemphigus vulgaris, and a control panel of one hundred healthy volunteers were genotyped for a single nucleotide polymorphism identified in the 5'-flanking region at the position -173 of the gene, using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length analysis. RESULTS: We found a notably high prevalence of C/C genotype in our nation but no significant difference was observed between patients and controls. CONCLUSION: The result of this study using a large and well documented trial of patients showed that macrophage migration inhibitory factor -173G-C polymorphism is not associated with pemphigus vulgaris; but as the role of macrophage migration inhibitory factor in the inflammatory process has not been delineated in detail and the prevalence of C/C genotype is notably higher in our nation, this finding merits more consideration.

The effect of hydro alcoholic nettle (Urtica dioica) extract on oxidative stress in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized double-blind clinical trial.

Diabetes type 2 is a metabolic disorder that characterized by hyperglycemia and insulin resistance. Hyperglycemia and impairment of oxidant/antioxidant balance, can increase oxidative stress and increase risk of cardiovascular disease. In the present study, Effects of hydro alcoholic extract of Nettle on oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes were evaluated. Fifty patients (27 men, 23 women) with type 2 diabetes patients were studied. They received 100 mg kg(-1) of nettle extract of body weight hydro alcoholic for 8 weeks. At the baseline and end of 8th weeks of intervention blood levels of oxidative stress markers were measured. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 18, p < 0.05 was considered significant for all variables. After 8 weeks, Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) and Superoxidant Dismutase (SOD) showed a significant increase in the intervention group compared to the control group (p < 0.05). The findings showed that the hydro alcoholic extract of nettle has increasing effects on TAC and SOD in patients with type 2 diabetes without no changes in Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Glutathione Peroxides (GPX) after eight weeks intervention.

The effect of hydro alcoholic Nettle (Urtica dioica) extracts on insulin sensitivity and some inflammatory indicators in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized double-blind control trial.

Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder that is strongly associated with cardiovascular risk. Inflammation is a potential risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In this study, hydro alcoholic extract of Nettle (Urtica dioica) on insulin sensitivity and some inflammatory indicators in type 2 diabetic patients were studied. A randomized double-blind clinical trial on 50 men and women with type 2 diabetes was done for 8 weeks. Patients were adjusted by age, sex and duration of diabetes, then randomly divided into two groups, an intervention and control group. They received, 100 mg kg-1nettle extract or placebo in three portions a day for 8 weeks. Interleukin 6 (IL-6), Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), High Sensitive C-Reactive protein (hs-CRP) and Fasting Insulin concentration were measured. Insulin Sensitivity was calculated, at the beginning and the end of the study. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 18, p<0.05 was considered significant for all variables. After 8 weeks, IL-6 and hs-CRP showed a significant decrease in the intervention group compared to the control group (p<0.05). The findings showed that the hydro alcoholic extract of nettle has decreasing effects on IL-6 and hs-CRP in patients with type 2 diabetes after eight weeks intervention.

Cigarette smoking among Iranian medical students, resident physicians and attending physicians.

OBJECTIVE: This research assessed the prevalence of cigarette smoking among Iranian medical students, resident physicians and attending physicians. METHODS: Subjects (532 males and females) were selected randomly from Shiraz university of medical sciences and were administered by a questionnaire. FINDINGS: Of the participants 16.79% of males and 0.69% of females were smokers. Of the medical students, 18.48% of students, 12.5% of pre-externship students, 7.19% of externship students and 16.95% of internship students were smokers. Of resident physicians 11.11% were smokers. Among attending physicians 7.57% were smokers. The most common causes of current cigarette smoking were need (avoid withdrawal symptoms), pleasurable purposes and release of tension, respectively. Foreign filter tipped cigarette was the most common type of cigarette used. The mean of cigarette per day was 6.29 cigarettes and the mean age of starting cigarette was 19.71 years.

Blind data restoration with an extracted filter function.

A method for performing blind deconvolutions on degraded images and data has been developed. The technique uses a power law relation applied to the Fourier transform of the degraded data to extract a filter function. This filter function closely resembles the point-spread function of the system and can be used to restore and enhance higher-frequency content. The process is noniterative and requires only that the point-spread function be space invariant and the transfer function be real. The algorithm has been validated by direct comparisons by use of a pseudoinverse filter with known transfer functions.

Prevalence of cigarette smoking in Iran.

The current research assessed the prevalence of cigarette smoking in Shiraz, Iran by randomly selecting 1,335 subjects (782 men and 553 women) from the city for a face-to-face interview and completion of a questionnaire. Of the participants, 205 (26%) of the men and 20 (3.6%) of the women reported being current smokers. The mean ages of smokers and nonsmokers were 41.8 and 37.0 yr., respectively (range between 16 and 90 years for smokers and nonsmokers). The mean age of starting to smoke cigarettes was 21.3 yr. (range of 10 to 60). The most common reasons for current cigarette smoking were Need to avoid withdrawal symptoms, Release of tension, and Pleasurable purposes. Foreign filter-tipped cigarettes were the most common type consumed. The mean number of cigarettes per day was 13.4 (SD = 10.3). Reports for onset of cigarette smoking included Modeling, Release of tension, and Pleasurable purposes. Cigarette smoking was reported by more males than females. The most common reason for onset of cigarette smoking was different from that for current smoking. Frequencies of smokers within age groups were varied.

Simultaneous motion estimation and filtering of image sequences.

In this paper, we present an algorithm to simultaneously estimate multiple-frame motions and filter image sequences. The relative motion dk(x) between the reference frame s(x) and the kth frame s(x-dk(x)) in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) is estimated using the maximum-likelihood (ML) principle. The reference frame is also filtered in the linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) sense during the process of motion estimation. Simulation experiments are performed using the affine motion model to illustrate the performance of this method.

A Bayes decision test for detecting uncovered-background and moving pixels in image sequences.

We present a ternary hypothesis test for the detection of stationary, moving, and uncovered-background pixels between two image frames in a noisy image sequence using the Bayes decision criterion. Unlike many uncovered-background detection schemes, our scheme does not require motion estimation for the differentiation between moving pixels and uncovered-background pixels. We formulate the Bayes decision rule using a single intensity-difference measurement at each pixel and using multiple intensity-difference measurements in the neighborhood of each pixel. We quantitatively evaluate our detection algorithm on an image sequence which we have generated and qualitatively on the Trevor White image sequence.

Nonuniform image motion estimation using Kalman filtering.

This correspondence presents a new pixel-recursive algorithm for estimating the nonuniform image motion from noisy measurements. The proposed method is performed in two steps. First, the pixels are examined to identify the (detectable) moving pixels, using a binary hypothesis testing. Then, characterizing the motion of the identified moving pixels in terms of a unitary transformation, the motion coefficients are estimated using a Kalman filter. Because the motion vector is typically (spatially) slowly varying, the size of the motion coefficient vector is significantly reduced. Consequently, the proposed Kalman filter need only search for the truncated coefficients of the motion field. The proposed method is simulated on a computer, and results are compared with the algorithm reported by Netravali and Robbins (see Bell Syst. Tech. J. vol.58, no.3, p.631-70, Mar. 1979).

Nonuniform image motion estimation in reduced coefficient transformed domains.

The transformed domain maximum likelihood (TDML) algorithm for image motion estimation is presented. This algorithm finds a solution which maximizes a log-likelihood function using a steepest ascent scheme. Important characteristics of the algorithm are the inclusion of noise in the signal model, the consideration of motion as a nonuniform process, and calculation of convergence parameters by means of a linear analysis. Simulation on real image sequences demonstrate the validity of the motion estimator. The experiments also verify the validity of the equations presented for the calculation of the convergence parameters. Additional experiments performed to determine the noise sensitivity of the TDML show that noise resistance can be obtained using a reduced coefficient transform (RCT) TDML algorithm. An additional benefit of using an RCT with the TDML algorithm is an increase in the speed of the algorithm without significant performance degradation. Two of the common transforms, Haar and Walsh-Hadamard, are shown to have some interesting properties when utilized with the RCT-TDML algorithm.

On the convergence of the generalized maximum likelihood algorithm for nonuniform image motion estimation.

The generalized maximum likelihood algorithm is a powerful iterative scheme for waveform estimation. This algorithm seeks for the maximum likelihood estimates of the Karhunen-Loeve expansion coefficients of the waveform. The search for the maximum is performed by the steepest ascent routine. The objective of the paper is to obtain conditions that assure the stability in the mean for frame-to-frame image motion estimation. Sufficient conditions are established for the convergence of the algorithm in the absence of noise. Experimental results are presented that illustrate the behavior of the algorithm in the presence of various noise levels.

Nonuniform image motion estimation using the maximum a posteriori principle.

An iterative scheme for frame-to-frame motion estimation from a pair of noisy images is established. The algorithm is developed by assuming that the Karhunen-Loeve coefficients of the motion vector waveform are zero mean and Gaussian random variables. Following the derivation of the generalized maximum likelihood (GML) algorithm, and invoking the maximum a posteriori (MAP) criterion, an iterative motion estimator is developed. A linear analysis of the algorithm is presented, and the convergence of the algorithm is discussed. Simulation experiments are performed and comparisons are made with the GML algorithm the algorithm reported by A.N. Netravali and J.D. Robbins (1979), and the scheme developed by K.P.G. Horn and G.G. Schunck (1981).