SELF-POISONING SUICIDE ATTEMPTS AMONG STUDENTS IN TEHRAN, IRAN

Background: This study aim was to describe the epidemiology of intentional self-poisoning among students. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on self-poisoned students admitted to Loghman-Hakim Hospital in Tehran, Iran. Variables studied included age, sex, substance abuse, personal history, familial history and the immediate precipitant for the suicide attempt. Results: A total of 248 students (200 F and 48 M) studied. The mean age was 16.3±1.42 years. Self poisoning with a pharmaceutical agent was the most common attempt modality (87.5%). The most common precipitant for the suicide attempt was family conflict (54.4%), followed by romantic disappointment (29.4%). The most common psychiatric disorders were adjustment disorder (84.3%). and depression (18.1%). Conclusion: The emphasis in student suicide prevention programs must be on early identification of students at risk, and appropriate treatment of episodes of psychopathology

Anti-atherogenic potential of jujube, saffron and barberry: anti-diabetic and antioxidant actions

Atherogenic dyslipidemia, characterized by an increased level of lipoprotein (a) and a decreased level of adiponectin, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in diabetic patients. To reduce cardiovascular risk in diabetic patients, use of agents with antidiabetic and anti-atherogenic potential is required. Using an animal model of diabetes, we investigated the antiatherogenic potential of extracts of three medicinal plants: jujube, barberry, and saffron. For this, serum level of fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, malondialdehyde, total antioxidant capacity, adiponectin and lipoprotein (a) in diabetic control and extract treated groups were measured. Statistical analysis of measurements showed that serum levels of fasting blood glucose, triglyceride, and VLDL decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in all treated groups. Treatment with all extracts reduced lipid peroxidation and increased antioxidant capacity of the experimental diabetic groups. Serum adiponectin levels increased in all treated groups, whereas lipoprotein (a) levels decreased, most markedly when treated with jujube extract. Jujube, saffron, and barberry extracts are beneficial in ameliorating oxidative stress and atherogenic risk of diabetic rats. This highlights the benefits of further investigating the cardio-protective potential of medicinal plant extracts and evaluating their usefulness as cardio protective agents in clinical practice

A systematic review of the cardiotoxicity of methadone

Methadone is one of the most popular synthetic opioids in the world with some favorable properties making it useful both in the treatment of moderate to severe pain and for opioid addiction. Increased use of methadone has resulted in an increased prevalence of its toxicity, one aspect of which is cardiotoxicity. In this paper, we review the effects of methadone on the heart as well as cardiac concerns in some special situations such as pregnancy and childhood. Methods: We searched for the terms methadone, toxicity, poisoning, cardiotoxicity, heart, dysrhythmia, arrhythmia, QT interval prolongation, torsade de pointes, and Electrocardiogram (ECG) in bibliographical databases including TUMS digital library, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. This review includes relevant articles published between 2000 and 2013. The main cardiac effects of methadone include prolongation of QT interval and torsade de pointes. Other effects include changes in QT dispersion, pathological U waves, Taku-Tsubo syndrome (stress cardiomyopathy), Brugada-like syndrome, and coronary artery diseases. The aim of this paper is to inform physicians and health care staff about these adverse effects. Effectiveness of methadone in the treatment of pain and addiction should be weighed against these adverse effects and physicians should consider the ways to lessen such undesirable effects. This article presents some recommendations to prevent heart toxicity in methadone users

A self-determination theory approach to depressive symptoms after marriage: a causal model

This study examined post marriage depressive symptoms as related to basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration, as well as significant life stressors. The mediating roles of general purpose in life and marital self-efficacy were also examined. A total of 350 women fulfilling both inclusion and exclusion criteria participated in this research. To collect the data five surveys were used, as well as a demographic questionnaire. Participants responded to the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (Chen et al., 2015); Stressful Life Events Questionnaire (Bergman et al., 2007), Marital Self-Efficacy Scale (Caprara et al., 2004), General Purpose in Life Questionnaire (Byron and Miller-Perrin, 2009), and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Revised (Eaton et al., 2004). Results from structural equation modeling analysis indicated that general purpose in life fully mediated the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction, basic psychological needs frustration, and the depressive symptoms. Basic psychological needs frustration has shown the strongest direct effect on depressive symptoms. Additionally, although marital self-efficacy showed a significant relationship with basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration, it did not mediate their relationship with depressive symptoms. Surprisingly, the significant life stressors were found not to be correlated with any of the key variables. The combination of basic psychological needs satisfaction and basic psychological needs frustration accounted for 60% of the variance in General purpose in life. Also, the combination of the variances explained 21% variance of marital self-efficacy. Overall, the model accounted for 67% of the variance in depressive symptoms after marriage. Results suggest that self-determination theory, as it claims, explains both well-being and psychopathology, as well as the interpersonal context reasonably. Also, the prevalence of depressive symptoms after marriage is a factor worth considering while studying the psychopathology of interpersonal relationships

A self-determination theory approach to depressive symptoms after marriage: a causal model

This study examined post marriage depressive symptoms as related to basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration, as well as significant life stressors. The mediating roles of general purpose in life and marital self-efficacy were also examined. A total of 350 women fulfilling both inclusion and exclusion criteria participated in this research. To collect the data five surveys were used, as well as a demographic questionnaire. Participants responded to the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (Chen et al., 2015); Stressful Life Events Questionnaire (Bergman et al., 2007), Marital Self-Efficacy Scale (Caprara et al., 2004), General Purpose in Life Questionnaire (Byron and Miller-Perrin, 2009), and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Revised (Eaton et al., 2004). Results from structural equation modeling analysis indicated that general purpose in life fully mediated the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction, basic psychological needs frustration, and the depressive symptoms. Basic psychological needs frustration has shown the strongest direct effect on depressive symptoms. Additionally, although marital self-efficacy showed a significant relationship with basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration, it did not mediate their relationship with depressive symptoms. Surprisingly, the significant life stressors were found not to be correlated with any of the key variables. The combination of basic psychological needs satisfaction and basic psychological needs frustration accounted for 60% of the variance in General purpose in life. Also, the combination of the variances explained 21% variance of marital self-efficacy. Overall, the model accounted for 67% of the variance in depressive symptoms after marriage. Results suggest that self-determination theory, as it claims, explains both well-being and psychopathology, as well as the interpersonal context reasonably. Also, the prevalence of depressive symptoms after marriage is a factor worth considering while studying the psychopathology of interpersonal relationships

Analyzing Twitter Sentiment and Hype on Real Estate Market: A Topic Modeling Approach

This study examines the relation between sentiment and hype (intensity of coverage) on Twitter and the local housing market prices across 10 U.S. cities of the S&P/Shiller-Case Composite Home Price index from 2010 to 2021. Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling algorithm, we identify seven unique topics related to the housing market based on people's tweets: Households, Economic policy, Commercial real estate, Price and rate, Residential housing, Investing, and Future trends. We gather and analyze data on house price indexes, fundamental economic factors, and sentiment and hype scores for the discovered topics. The study finds that the sentiment of Price and rate, Residential housing, and Future trends are significantly and positively related to future house price changes. In contrast, the lags of sentiment of Commercial real estate and Investing have a negative relation with house price. Moreover, we document that hype scores not only have a positive relation with house price changes for all topics but also outperform sentiment scores for forecasting housing market prices. Overall, the study highlights the potential benefits of integrating social media data into existing economic models to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the factors driving fluctuations in the housing market

Acetification: an approach to valorize non marketed fruits

Four different vinegars (Fig enxario, Fig, Sweet potato and Grape) were collected from a vinegar production factory, Fateixa, located in Algarve, Portugal and were examined for different physico-chemical and antimicrobial characteristics. Results of the physico-chemical experiments revealed that in the tested vinegar samples, the pH ranged from 2.83 to 3.49 and the titratable acidity was between 4.84% and 6.75%. Moreover, the lowest Brix value was found in Grape vinegar (4.80) while the highest value was in Fig vinegar (11.20). Total phenolic and total flavonoid contents ranged from 0.35 to 2.03 mg GAE/ml and 93.68-357.31 mg catechin/ml, respectively. Antioxidant activity revealed no significant difference between samples. Color properties showed that L* values of the tested vinegars varied from 25.47 to 28.36, and values of a* and b* were found in the range of -0.49-0.48 and 2.01-3.23, respectively. The antibacterial properties of the vinegars were evaluated against eight bacterial isolates, Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Listeria innocua ATCC 33090, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228 and Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876) and Gram-negative (Cronobacter sakazakii ATCC 29544, Salmonella enterica Typhimurium ATCC 14028, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853) bacteria. The highest antibacterial activity was found in Grape vinegar, however in the case of C. sakazakii and S. Typhimurium, Sweet potato vinegar had the greatest growth-inhibitory effects. It was also observed that P. aeruginosa was the most sensitive strain, particularly against Grape vinegar. Furthermore, antifungal activity of the vinegars against seven yeast strains (namely, Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Candida albicans ATCC 90028, Cryptococcus neoformans YPO 186, Saccharomyces cerevisiae PYCC 3507, Pichia membranifaciens PYCC 2489, Zygosaccharomyces bailii PYCC 4806 and Debaryomyces hansenii PYCC 2968) was examined. None of the vinegars showed fungicidal activity against C. albicans, S. cerevisiae and Z. bailii. On the contrary, growth of D. hansenii was considerably affected by all samples, while the highest level of growth-inhibitory effect was observed for Sweet potato vinegar. In conclusion, the bacteria tested were more sensitive to the vinegars than the yeasts.Os resíduos produzidos pelas indústrias agrícolas têm um efeito negativo no meio ambiente e no crescimento económico de qualquer país e a utilização desses resíduos resultará em bens naturais que poderão ser utilizados como matérias-primas de baixo custo. A aplicação adequada de resíduos de frutas pode ser implementada para melhorar a sustentabilidade ambiental, minimizando os impactos ambientais desses resíduos e para melhorar produtos alimentares com elevado valor nutricional. A produção de vinagre a partir de subprodutos do processamento de alimentos ou resíduos de frutas, é uma possibilidade atraente da gestão de resíduos com benefícios económicos. Os vinagres são comumente produzidos a partir de vinho, uva, cerveja, cidra de maçã, entre outros. O processamento ocorre em duas fases que começa com a fermentação alcoólica dos hidratos de carbono e termina com a acetificacão. É necessário caracterizar diferentes parâmetros dos vinagres produzidos para avaliação da sua qualidade e classificação. As qualidades sensoriais desempenham um papel importante na determinação da qualidade do vinagre, sendo a qualidade sensorial afetada principalmente pelo seu aroma e sabor. Na verdade, os compostos aromáticos voláteis e os polifenóis têm um impacto significativo nas características organoléticas do produto (cor, sabor e adstringência) junto com seus aspetos benéficos. Além disso, os vinagres têm vários benefícios para a saúde cientificamente comprovados. Em vez de prevenir doenças, vários componentes bioativos podem diminuir o risco de doenças. Os compostos polifenólicos, que além de sua ação antioxidante, também são responsáveis pela cor e adstringência do vinagre, têm despertado muita atenção nesse sentido. Apresentam propriedades antioxidantes, antibacterianas, anticancerígenas, previnem a obesidade, assim como doenças de hipertensão e contribui para regular os níveis do colesterol devido à presença de componentes bioativos, como ácido acético, ácido gálico, catequina, epicatequina, ácido clorogênico, ácido caféico, ácido p-cumárico e ácido ferúlico. Os vinagres são também muito utilizados como conservantes de alimentos devido à sua capacidade de inibir o crescimento microbiano. O vinagre contém uma variedade de ácidos orgânicos, incluindo ácido acético, que pode penetrar nas membranas celulares dos microrganismos e causar a morte celular. Neste trabalho, foram analisadas quatro amostras diferentes de vinagre numa fábrica de vinagre, Fateixa, localizada no Algarve, Portugal (vinagre de Figo Enxario, vinagre de Figo, vinagre de Batata doce e vinagre de Uva). Primeiramente, este estudo visou avaliar as diferentes propriedades físico-químicas das amostras de vinagre mencionadas, incluindo pH, concentração de ácido acético (acidez total), sólidos solúveis totais (ºBrix), análise de cor, compostos fenólicos totais e flavonóides totais e capacidade antioxidante. Os resultados obtidos revelaram que o pH dos vinagres testados variou de 2,83 a 3,49. Além disso, a acidez total das amostras de vinagre foi determinada entre 4,84% e 6,75% de ácido acético, sem diferença significativa entre as amostras. Os valores Brix das amostras variaram de 4,80 a 11,20 e o menor valor de sólidos solúveis totais (ºBrix) foi encontrado no vinagre de Uva (4,80), enquanto o maior valor foi observado no vinagre de Figo (11,2). No caso das propriedades bioativas das amostras de vinagre, os teores fenólicos totais variaram de 0.35 mg equivalente de ácido gálico (GAE)/ml a 2.03 mg GAE/ml, enquanto o maior valor foi encontrado no vinagre de Figo e o menor valor foi encontrado no vinagre de Batata doce. Por outro lado, os teores de flavonóides totais (TFC) das amostras de vinagre foram obtidos na faixa de 93,68-357,31 mg catequina/ml e entre as amostras de vinagre, o vinagre de Uva e o vinagre de Enxario de Figo apresentaram os maiores e os menores teores de TFC. As medições da atividade antioxidante não revelaram diferença significativa entre as amostras, a qual variou de 0,05 mg TE/ml a 0,39 mg TE/ml. As propriedades de cor mostraram que os valores L* das amostras de vinagre testadas variam de 25,47 a 28,36, e os valores de a* e b* foram encontrados na faixa de -0,49-0,48 e 2,01-3,23, respetivamente, tendo o vinagre de Batata doce obtido o maior valor L*. O presente estudo também se concentrou na avaliação da qualidade microbiana das amostras de vinagre através do estudo dos seguintes parâmetros: microrganismos aeróbios mesofílicos, bactérias ácido-lácticas, fungos filamentosos, leveduras fermentativas e bactérias acéticas. Os resultados obtidos permitiram concluir que todos os parâmetros microbiológicos se encontravam abaixo dos limites de deteção. Outra parte do presente trabalho visou avaliar a atividade antimicrobiana de vinagres por meio do método de Kirby-Bauer, também conhecido como difusão em disco de agar. Para este propósito, as propriedades antimicrobianas dos vinagres foram avaliadas contra 15 microrganismos (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Listeria innocua ATCC 33090, Cronobacter sakazakii ATCC 29544, Salmonella enterica Typhimurium ATCC 14028, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228, Bacillus cereus ATCC 10876, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853, Candida albicans ATCC 10231, Candida albicans ATCC 90028, Cryptococcus neoformans YPO 186, Saccharomyces cerevisiae PYCC 3507, Pichia membranifaciens PYCC 2489, Zygosaccharomyces bailii PYCC 4806 and Debaryomyces hansenii PYCC 2968). Geralmente, a maior atividade antibacteriana foi encontrada em amostras de vinagre de Uva e no caso de C. sakazakii ATCC 29544 e S. Typhimurium ATCC 14028, o vinagre de Batata doce teve os maiores efeitos inibidores de crescimento. Observou-se também que P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 foi a espécie mais sensível, principalmente contra o vinagre de uva. Na última parte deste trabalho avaliou-se a atividade antifúngica das amostras de vinagre contra algumasleveduras, incluindo C. albicans ATCC 10231, C. albicans ATCC 90028, C. neoformans YPO 186, S. cerevisiae PYCC 3507, P. membranifaciens PYCC 2489, Z. bailii PYCC 4806 e D. hansenii PYCC 2968. Nesta parte do trabalho, observou-se que nenhuma amostra de vinagre apresentou atividade fungicida contra C. albicans ATCC 10231, S. cerevisiae PYCC 3507 e Z. bailii PYCC 4806. Pelo contrário, o crescimento de D. hansenii PYCC 2968 foi consideravelmente afetado por todas as amostras de vinagre, enquanto o nível mais alto de efeito inibidor de crescimento foi observado para o vinagre de Batata-doce (14,33 mm). De um modo geral, concluiu-se que as bactérias testadas são maís sensíveis aos vinagres em estudo do que as leveduras