Monitoring outcomes in children with acquired brain injury (ABI): a Persian validation study of Child and Family Follow-up Survey (CFFS).

AIM: To translate and validate the Child and Family Follow--up Survey (CFFS) in Iran. METHODS: 49 cases with Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), and 30 healthy children were included and the CFFS was completed. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) also was completed. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, known groups comparison and criterion validity were assessed. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 10.9 years. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation (CASP) (0.91), Child and Adolescent Factors Inventory (CAFI) (0.90) and Child and Adolescent Scale of Environment (CASE) (0.89). Reliability, validity and correlation of CASP and CAFI showed satisfactory results. Significant correlations among the three CFFS subscale scores were observed. These scores were also significantly correlated with the total scores of the PedsQL. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that CFFS is a valid measure to monitor long--term outcomes of children and young adolescents with ABI.

Comparison of Fecal Egg Counts and ELISA for the Diagnosis of Dicrocoelium Dendriticum Infection.

From economical point of view, Dicrocoelium Dendriticum (D. dendriticum) causes a lot of damages to the livestock industry annually. So, the rapid diagnosis of infection is very important. The diagnosis is based on egg per count of feces (EPG) test because detection according to clinical symptoms is difficult. Since EPG is not accurate and sensitive, the serological methods become important for the diagnosis of this parasite as they are more accurate in comparison to EPG test and they are able to diagnose infection in a short time. In this study, somatic and Excretory-secretory antigens (EsAg) were isolated. The ELISA test was set up according to positive and negative sera and the results which were obtained compared to those obtained by the EPG test. The prevalence of infection in 550 samples by ELISA and EPG methods were 56% and 7% respectively, which shows the significant difference between these methods in examining the rate of infection. Based on the results, the specificity and sensitivity in ELISA test were 95% and 94%, respectively. The results showed that the ELISA is a more reliable test in comparison to EPG test for the rapid diagnosis of D. dendriticum infection.

The effect of oxamflatin on the E-cadherin expression in gastric cancer cell line.

Gastric cancer is among the leading causes of cancer-related death, and the symptoms are commonly characterized in advanced stages. Histone acetylation is among the most important epigenetic alterations occurring during cancer development. In addition, reduced E-cadherin expression is a major contributor in the process of tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Oxamflatin is a histone deacetylase inhibitor that has been suggested as a promising anti-tumor agent; yet its effect on the viability and invasion of gastric tumor cells is unclear. We aimed to assess the impact of oxamflatin on the viability of gastric tumor cells and expression of E-cadherin as a marker of tumor invasion susceptibility. In this study, MKN-45 cells were treated with 1, 2.5 and 5 mM oxamflatin and followed by MTT assay after 24-48 h of incubation. To determine E-cadherin expression in treated cells, total RNA was extracted and reverse transcribed to complementary DNA, followed by quantitative real-time PCR. MTT results showed that the viability of MKN-45 cells declines with increasing concentrations of oxamflatin. The results of quantitative real-time PCR showed increased expression of E-cadherin following treatment with oxamflatin at the concentration of 2.5 mM compared with 1 mM. The present results showed that oxamflatin can induce E-cadherin expression and also reduce cell viability in the MKN-45 cell line. On the basis of these findings, oxamflatin can be further considered for the prevention of tumor metastasis.

Normal cross-sectional anatomy of the bovine digit: comparison of computed tomography and limb anatomy.

The purpose of this study was to define the structures of the digits and hoof in Holstein dairy cattle by using computed tomography scan (CT scan). Transverse, sagittal and dorsoplantar CT images of two isolated cattle cadaver digits were obtained using a Siemens ARTX2 Somatom. The CT images were compared to corresponding frozen cross-sections. Relevant anatomical structures were identified and labelled at each level. The CT images provided anatomical detail of the digits and hoof in Holstein dairy cattle. Transversal images provided excellent depiction of anatomical structures when compared to corresponding frozen cross-sections. The information presented in this paper would serve as an initial reference to the evaluation of CT images of the digits and hoof in Holstein dairy cattle.