Neurocognition and the Suicidal Process.

Early thinking about cognitive process and suicidal behaviors tended to focus on the immediate situation surrounding the individual - typically the underlying psychiatric condition that was seen as leading to his or her distress. However, we now know that the cognitive processes involved in a range of suicidal thoughts and behaviors can exert a significant impact on the expression or development of these behaviors, even without an environmental stressor or psychiatric condition. In this chapter, we summarize theoretical perspectives that led to this realization and explore the current understanding of the link between cognition and suicide from recent research and clinical findings. We present these findings first by psychiatric disorder, then by cognitive domains, and finally by specific suicidal construct in order to highlight the importance of these factors in determining the role of cognition in the suicidal process.Within and across psychiatric disorders, certain cognitive processes - negativistic thinking, impulsivity, cognitive rigidity, and altered emotional processing - are frequently found to be linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Overall cognitive performance, decreased processing speed, executive dysfunction, and negative biases in memory and attention have also been linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. However, these findings do not hold true for all populations. There seems to be a role both for cognitive distortions (such as hopelessness) and neurocognitive deficits (such as poor overall cognitive performance, slower processing speed, and executive dysfunction) in the suicidal process, which warrant further exploration both separately and together.

Comparison and analysis characteristics of flax, perilla and basil seed oils cultivated in Iran.

The oil yield, fatty acid (FA) composition, physicochemical, quality characteristics and thermal properties were studied in flax, perilla, and basil seed oils cultivated in Iran. Also the similarities and differences among these seed oils were investigated using principal component analysis (PCA). The results indicated that perilla seed oil contained the highest lipid content followed by flax and basil seed oils. The n-6/n-3 FA ratios of these oils had a range of 0.190-0.320, which was notably lower than those of most vegetable oils. Trilinolenin as the predominant triacylglycerol in the studied flax, perilla, and basil seed oils was found at 21.3, 32.0, and 27.5%, respectively. The bioactive compounds, namely tocols, phytosterols, and total phenolics, present in basil and perilla oils were higher than those of flax seed oil. The results of differential scanning calorimeter indicated that the thermal properties of these seed oils were varied, with lower melting and crystallization peak temperature for perilla and basil seed oils. The results of PCA showed that these seed oils could be distinguished using some components however, C14:0, C16:0, C18:3, UFA and ECN 42 could not be used to discriminate among these seed oils. The results were suggestive of the proper nutritional qualities of the studied oils and their possibly being the potential sources of FAs for enriching the diets with α-linolenic acid and other functional compounds.

Combining an experimental study and ANFIS modeling to predict landfill leachate transport in underlying soil-a case study in north of Iran.

In the contemporary world, urbanization and progressive industrial activities increase the rate of waste material generated in many developed countries. Municipal solid waste landfills (MSWs) are designed to dispose the waste from urban areas. However, discharged landfill leachate, the soluble water mixture that filters through solid waste landfills, can potentially migrate into the soil and affect living organisms by making harmful biological changes in the ecosystem. Due to well-documented landfill problems involving contamination, it is necessary to investigate the long-term influence of discharged leachate on the consistency of the soil beds beneath MSW landfills. To do so, the current study collected vertical deep core samples from different locations in the same unlined landfill. The impacts of effluent leachate on physical and chemical properties of the soil and its propagation depth were studied, and the leachate-transport pattern between successive boreholes was predicted by a developed mathematical model using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). The decomposition of organic leachate admixtures in the landfill yield is to produce organic acids as well as carbon dioxide, which diminishes the pH level of the landfill soil. The chemical analysis of discharged leachate in the soil samples showed that the concentrations of heavy metals are much lower than those of chloride, COD, BOD5, and bicarbonate. Using linear regression and mean square errors between the measured and predicted data, the accuracy of the proposed ANFIS model has been validated. Results show a high correlation between observed and predicated data.

Reducing Radiation Doses in Female Breast and Lung during CT Examinations of Thorax: A new Technique in two Scanners.

BACKGROUND: Chest CT is a commonly used examination for the diagnosis of lung diseases, but a breast within the scanned field is nearly never the organ of interest. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to compare the female breast and lung doses using split and standard protocols in chest CT scanning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sliced chest and breast female phantoms were used. CT exams were performed using a single-slice (SS)- and a 16 multi-slice (MS)- CT scanner at 100 kVp and 120 kVp. Two different protocols, including standard and split protocols, were selected for scanning. The breast and lung doses were measured using thermo-luminescence dosimeters which were inserted into different layers of the chest and breast phantoms. The differences in breast and lung radiation doses in two protocols were studied in two scanners, analyzed by SPSS software and compared by t-test. RESULTS: Breast dose by split scanning technique reduced 11% and 31% in SS- and MS- CT. Also, the radiation dose of lung tissue in this method decreased 18% and 54% in SS- and MS- CT, respectively. Moreover, there was a significant difference (p< 0.0001) in the breast and lung radiation doses between standard and split scanning protocols. CONCLUSION: The application of a split scan technique instead of standard protocol has a considerable potential to reduce breast and lung doses in SS- and MS- CT scanners. If split scanning protocol is associated with an optimum kV and MSCT, the maximum dose decline will be provided.

Authorship, institutional and citation metrics for publications on postmenopausal osteoporosis.

INTRODUCTION: Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone condition that does not often become clinically clear until a fracture occurs. The objective of the current study was to analyze all publications whose titles included the term "postmenopausal osteoporosis" published during the past decade by journals indexed in the database of SCI-E. METHODS: This paper analyzes two sets of data: in the first, all papers with "postmenopausal osteoporosis" in their titles indexed in the database of SCI-E in the period 2001-2011; the second, all papers published by Osteoporosis International that were indexed in SCI-E during 2001-2011. The Science of Science Tool was used to map the co-authorship networks of papers published by Osteoporosis International in 2007-2011. Only papers cited more than 100 times in the Web of Science were considered for mapping the co-authorship network. RESULTS: A total number of 2,056 papers with "postmenopausal osteoporosis" in their titles were indexed in SCI-E between 2001 and 2011. The annual number of publications increased during the study period. The majority of publications came from Western Europe and North America. The number of papers published by authors based in Western Europe was about 75% greater than for North America. CONCLUSION: More papers on postmenopausal osteoporosis were published in Western Europe than in North America. The networks of co-authorship pointed to the strategic positions of highly cited authors from Western Europe. The top eight authors contributing the majority of papers were from Western Europe. Consequently Western Europe had greater impact than North America.

Wireless sensor networks for monitoring physiological signals of multiple patients.

This paper presents the design of a novel wireless sensor network structure to monitor patients with chronic diseases in their own homes through a remote monitoring system of physiological signals. Currently, most of the monitoring systems send patients' data to a hospital with the aid of personal computers (PC) located in the patients' home. Here, we present a new design which eliminates the need for a PC. The proposed remote monitoring system is a wireless sensor network with the nodes of the network installed in the patients' homes. These nodes are then connected to a central node located at a hospital through an Internet connection. The nodes of the proposed wireless sensor network are created by using a combination of ECG sensors, MSP430 microcontrollers, a CC2500 low-power wireless radio, and a network protocol called the SimpliciTI protocol. ECG signals are first sampled by a small portable device which each patient carries. The captured signals are then wirelessly transmitted to an access point located within the patients' home. This connectivity is based on wireless data transmission at 2.4-GHz frequency. The access point is also a small box attached to the Internet through a home asynchronous digital subscriber line router. Afterwards, the data are sent to the hospital via the Internet in real time for analysis and/or storage. The benefits of this remote monitoring are wide ranging: the patients can continue their normal lives, they do not need a PC all of the time, their risk of infection is reduced, costs significantly decrease for the hospital, and clinicians can check data in a short time.

Prevalence of perinatal central nervous system anomalies in East azarbaijan-iran.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Central nervous system (CNS) anomalies are the most serious congenital abnormalities. Ultrasound examination is an effective and noninvasive modality for prenatal diagnosis of these anomalies. The purpose of the current study was to determine the frequency of CNS and associated abnormalities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 22500 pregnant women who were referred by obstetricians/gynecologists for routine work up of pregnancy were scanned over a period of 3 years by two expert sonologists in a referral center using high resolution ultrasound unit. RESULTS: After transabdominal sonographic examination of 22500 pregnant women, 112 (0.5%) fetuses were detected with CNS anomalies, some of whom had more than one anomaly. Forty-one (37%) Chiari malformations, 26 (23%) monro and aqueductal stenosis cases, 18 (16%) anencephaly cases, nine (8%) encephaloceles, seven (6%) microcephalies, five (4%) Dandywalker syndromes, two (2%) arachnoid cysts, two (2%) agenesis of corpus callosum cases, one (1%) holoprosencephaly and one (1%) schizencephaly were reported in our study. CONCLUSION: According to our results, Chiari malformation and hydrocephalus were the most prevalent anomalies of CNS congenital abnormalities in East Azarbaijan, Iran. An accurate diagnosis depends upon fetal age, amniotic fluid volume, fetal position, operator experience and careful evaluation of the associated malformations, which are often present.

A new paradigm for telehealth implementation.

Recently, efforts have been made to treat patients at home as much as possible. In many cases, the reason for the patient staying in hospital is not that he/she actually needs active medical care. Often, the principal reason for a lengthy stay in hospital is simply continual observation. This paper explains our experience and strategy to support the treatment of patients in their own home through the remote monitoring of physiological signals. The benefits of such remote monitoring are wide-ranging; the patient can continue to live their normal life, their risk of infection is reduced, costs are significantly decreased for the hospital, and clinician time is utilised more effectively.

Application of a novel method for optimization of bioemulsan production in a miniaturized bioreactor.

A novel and economical method was used to optimize bacterial growth and bioemulsan production. Acinetobacter calcoaceticus PTCC 1641 was applied in an innovated synthetic medium comprised whey and mineral salt medium (MSM) in ratio of 1:1 in a shaken flask bioreactor. The optimum inoculum size, shaking frequency rate and filling volume (V(L)) using ventilation flasks were investigated that resulted in 5 vol.%, 300 rpm and 15 ml), respectively. The surface tension decreased around 48% during bioemulsan production. Due to determine bioemulsan properties, the reliability of blood agar method was confirmed as well.

Molecular characteristics of Anopheles maculipennis Meigen in Zanjan, north west of Iran, inferred from ITS2 sequence analysis.

The present study has been designed in order to verify the species composition within Anopheles maculipennis complex in North West of Iran. We determined ribosomal DNA sequences of the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region from samples of Anopheles maculipennis Complex in Zanjan province. A total of 1536 specimens within the Complex were tested by Multiplex PCR, only An. maculipennis was found in this area. One clone out of four different individual mosquitoes of each field was generated with ITS2 PCR and half of them (192 samples) selected randomly for RFLPs. PCR-RFLP assay identified 2 haplotypes; haplotype I (99%) and haplotype II (1%). Twenty five sequences were generated comprising the 5.8S gene, the ITS2 and the 28S ribosomal gene. The alignment was 422 in length and percentage of GC content was 50.3% (26.07% A, 23.59% T, 26.78% C, 23.7% G). The ITS2 was 290 bp in length and two haplotypes were revealed varying by a single base (T<-->C) at site 378. An. maculipennis is the dominant species anopheline of the province. ITS2 analysis revealed evidence of a slightly interaspecific variation among populations. However, further investigations on the genetic polymorphism among An. maculipennis populations and in particular within those belonging to the continental haplotype are required to support any hypothesis on differences in behavior across the distribution range for this potential malaria vector.

Photocatalytic degradation of Direct Red 23 dye using UV/TiO2: Effect of operational parameters.

In this study, the photocatalytic degradation of Direct Red 23 (Scarlet F-4BS) was investigated in UV/TiO2 system. The effect of catalyst loading and pH on the reaction rate was ascertained and optimum conditions for maximum degradation were determined. The results obtained showed that acidic pH is proper for the photocatalytic removal of Direct Red 23. In addition, the effects of several cations (Cu2+, Al3+, Cr3+, and Sn4+) and anions (BiO3(-), SO4(2-), and CN(-)) and C2H5OH were examined in this photocatalytic process. On the order hand, three types of catalysts (Fe2O3, SnO2, and ZnO) were compared with TiO2. After 90 min reaction, the relative decomposition order established was UV/TiO2>UV/SnO2>UV/Fe2O3>UV/ZnO.

Cyfluthrin (EW 050)-impregnated bednets in a malaria control program in Ghassreghand (Baluchistan, Iran).

In a study carried out in the Ghassreghand Division (Baluchistan, Iran) from March through November 1995, efficacy of cyfluthrin-impregnated bednets was compared to that of untreated nets, in relation to malaria control. Ten villages with a total population of 4,572 and 3 villages with a total population of 1,935 were used as treatment and control, respectively. The collection, impregnation (target dosage of 40 mg active ingredient [AI]/m2), and redistribution of the nets (9% nylon, 52% light cotton, 30% medium cotton, and 9% heavy cotton), carried out in mid-April, were done by local health workers, supervised by the senior research staff. Anopheles culicifacies was considered to be the main vector of malaria in the named area. This species is mainly zoophilic, endophilic, and exophagic. The initial uptake of the insecticide was lower than the target dosage, with high variation (nylon, 12.5 +/- 5.4 mg AI/m2; light cotton, 33.3 +/- 26.1 mg AI/m2; medium cotton, 25.9 +/- 20 mg AI/m2; heavy cotton, 17.6 +/- 12.5 mg AI/m2). The use of impregnated mosquito nets (used primarily outside) had no significant effect on the incidence of malaria. No difference was detected in the parasite density of patients with positive slides. No significant effect was observed in the parous rate, human blood index, and sporozoite rate of anopheline vectors. Only the indoor resting densities of An. culicifacies and other malaria vectors were drastically reduced after the introduction of the cyfluthrin-impregnated nets into the treatment villages. The residual activity of cyfluthrin was lower than expected. The mortality of anophelines brought in contact with the treated nets for 3 min in bioassays dropped to less than 55% in 3 months. The loss of chemical activity was greatest for the light cotton nets, followed by the medium cotton nets. Cyfluthrin-treated nets were mildly irritating to host-seeking female anophelines in the laboratory. The protective rate of impregnation (all fabric kinds included) in preventing female mosquitoes from biting through the impregnated nets was initially 5-6 times that of the nonimpregnated nets. The study did not detect any significant difference between the use of untreated versus impregnated bednets in the Ghassreghand area. In planning future medium-scale trials, comparison of new compounds and formulations to the more widely used pyrethroids such as permethrin and deltamethrin is highly recommended.

Maternal phenylketonuria: a metabolic teratogen.

The maternal phenylketonuria (PKU) syndrome refers to the teratogenic effects of PKU during pregnancy. These effects include mental retardation, microcephaly, congenital heart disease, and intrauterine growth retardation. In untreated pregnancies wherein the mother has classic PKU with a blood phenylalanine level > or = 1,200 microM (20 mg/dl), the frequencies of these abnormalities in offspring are exceedingly high, approaching 75-90% for microcephaly and mental retardation and 15% for congenital heart disease. There is a dose response relationship with progressively lower frequencies of these abnormalities at lower phenylalanine levels, both in the pregnancies of women with variants of PKU and in treated classic PKU pregnancies. The pathogenesis of this syndrome is unknown; it may be related to inhibition by phenylalanine of large neutral amino acid transport across the placenta or to direct toxicity of phenylalanine and/or a phenylalanine metabolite in certain fetal organs. A mouse model for PKU now exists, and studies of maternal PKU in this model are in progress. The treatment of maternal PKU consists of biochemical control through a phenylalanine restricted diet during pregnancy. The best results are obtained with diet initiation before conception or no later than the earliest weeks of pregnancy. Women with PKU and their families require much psychosocial support to meet the strict requirements of a maternal PKU pregnancy, including compliance with a difficult diet. With such compliance, however, it seems that bearing normal or near normal offspring is possible.

Prevention of fetal damage through dietary control of maternal hyperphenylalaninemia.

Maternal phenylketonuria is a new entity in obstetrics. If unrecognized and for this or other reasons untreated, it produces a substantial risk for fetal damage. Our knowledge of the pathophysiology of the fetal complications in maternal PKU is very limited, but the degree of maternal hyperphenylalaninemia seems to be important. The management differs from the other high-risk pregnancies in the need for a special diet beginning before conception. An effective program of dietary therapy designed in collaboration with a PKU clinic will reduce the likelihood of fetal damage and improve pregnancy outcome.