The E23K Polymorphism of KCNJ11 and Diabetic Retinopathy in Northern Iran.

Background: Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is one of the most severe micro-vascular complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), involving interactions between environmental and genetic risk factors. KCNJ11 gene has a key role in insulin secretion and is of substantial interest in various populations. Methods: A population-based association of 524 T2DM patients was performed to delineate the genetic influence of KCNJ11 polymorphisms (rs5219, c.67A>G or E23K) on the risk of DR in an Iranian population. Genotyping was performed using TaqMan assay. Univariate and MLR analysis controlling for confounders was conducted to evaluate the association between rs5219 and DR. Results: No significant difference was observed in either genotypes distribution (p = 0.83) or allele frequency (p = 0.66) between T2DM individuals with and without DR in any models of inheritance. Genotype-phenotype association showed that DR group carrying GA genotypes, a significantly higher mean age was observed compared with two other genotypes (p = 0.04). MLR analysis indicated that HbAlc with adjusted OR of 1.84 (95% CI, 1.46-2.33, p = 0.00) and first-degree relatives of family history with adjusted OR of 2.85 (95% CI, 1.45-5.58, p = 0.002) were significantly associated with DR, but the c.67A>G genotype is not an independent predictor of retinopathy. Conclusion: Collectively, rs5219 was not associated with DR among Iranians with T2DM.

Removing ECG Artifact from the Surface EMG Signal Using Adaptive Subtraction Technique.

BACKGROUND: The electrocardiogram artifact is a major contamination in the electromyogram signals when electromyogram signal is recorded from upper trunk muscles and because of that the contaminated electromyogram is not useful. Objective : Removing electrocardiogram contamination from electromyogram signals. METHODS: In this paper, the clean electromyogram signal, electrocardiogram artifact and electrocardiogram signal were recorded from leg muscles, the pectoralis major muscle of the left side and V4, respectively. After the pre-processing, contaminated electromyogram signal is simulated with a combination of clean electromyogram and electrocardiogram artifact. Then, contaminated electromyogram is cleaned using adaptive subtraction method. This method contains some steps; (1) QRS detection, (2) formation of electrocardiogram template by averaging the electrocardiogram complexes, (3) using low pass filter to remove undesirable artifacts, (4) subtraction. RESULTS: Performance of our method is evaluated using qualitative criteria, power spectrum density and coherence and quantitative criteria signal to noise ratio, relative error and cross correlation. The result of signal to noise ratio, relative error and cross correlation is equal to 10.493, 0.04 and %97 respectively. Finally, there is a comparison between proposed method and some existing methods. CONCLUSION: The result indicates that adaptive subtraction method is somewhat effective to remove electrocardiogram artifact from contaminated electromyogram signal and has an acceptable result.

Effect of periodontal disease on preeclampsia.

BACKGROUND: A lot of studies have shown periodontal diseases as a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. The association between periodontitis and preeclampsia has been studied recently with controversy. Considering the importance of preventing preeclampsia as a dangerous and life-threatening disease in pregnant women, the present study was carried out. METHODS: Two hundred and ten pregnant women participated in this case-control study (105 controls & 105 cases) during years 2007 and 2008. Preeclamptic cases were defined as blood pressure ≥140/90mmHg and proteinuria +1. Control group were pregnant women with normal blood pressure without proteinuria. Both groups were examined during 48 hours after child delivery. Plaque Index (PLI), Pocket Depth (PD), Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), Bleeding On Probing (BOP), Gingival Recession (GR) were measured on all teeth except for third molars and recorded as periodontal examination. Data was analyzed using t-test, chi-square, and Mann-Whitney U statistical tests. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two study groups for PD. CAL, GR, BOP significantly increased in the case group (P< 0.02). This study showed that preeclamptic cases were more likely to develop periodontal disease (P< 0.0001). Eighty three percent of the control group and 95% of the case group had periodontal disease (P< 0.005) which had shown that preeclamptic cases were 4.1 times more likely to have periodontal disease (OR= 4.1). CONCLUSION: Preeclamptic cases significantly had higher attachment loss and gingival recession than the control group.