The Effect of Micronutrient Intake on Cognitive Function and Physical Activity of the Elderly

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of micronutrient intake on cognitive function and physical activity of the elderly. Methods: The subjects included all elderly people over 60 years of age in Robat Karim city in 2018. 90 elderly males participated voluntarily in the research after signing the informed consent form. The short form of Beck questionnaire of physical activity and MMSE test were respectively used to measure the levels of physical activity and cognitive status of participants. Pearson correlation test was used to analyze the data. Results: The results indicated that there was a significant relationship between each of the micronutrients and cognitive performance of the elderly (P ≤ 0.05). Additionally, there was a significant relationship between each of the micronutrients with the level of physical activity of the elderly (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusions: Conclusively, micronutrients intake could be of much importance for cognitive function and physical activity of the elderly.

Potential Effects of Metformin on the Vitality, Invasion, and Migration of Human Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells via Downregulating lncRNA-ATB

Objective. To elucidate the role of metformin in influencing VSMCs via the involvement of lncRNA-ATB. Methods. qRT-PCR was conducted to detect serum levels of lncRNA-ATB and p53 in CHD patients ( n = 50 ) and healthy subjects ( n = 50 ). Correlation in serum levels of lncRNA-ATB and p53 in CHD patients was assessed by Pearson correlation test. ROC curves were depicted for analyzing the predictive potential of lncRNA-ATB in the occurrence of CHD. After metformin induction in VSMCs overexpressing lncRNA-ATB, relative levels of lncRNA-ATB and p53 were detected. Meanwhile, proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities in VSMCs were, respectively, examined by CCK-8 and transwell assay. The interaction between lncRNA-ATB and p53 was tested by RIP. In addition, the coregulation of lncRNA-ATB and p53 in cell functions of VSMCs was finally determined. Results. Increased serum level of lncRNA-ATB and decreased p53 level were detected in CHD patients than those of healthy subjects. LncRNA-ATB could interact with p53 and negatively regulate its level. In addition, lncRNA-ATB could serve as a potential biomarker for predicting the occurrence of CHD. The overexpression of lncRNA-ATB triggered viability, migratory, and invasive abilities in VSMCs, and the above trends were abolished by metformin induction. The overexpression of p53 partially abolished the promotive effects of lncRNA-ATB on proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities in VSMCs. Conclusions. Metformin induction inhibits proliferative, migratory, and invasive abilities in VSMCs by downregulating lncRNA-ATB, which may be related to p53 activation.

Relationship between Stress and Educational Performance of University Students: A Correlational Research Study

Almost every student experiences stress during his or her academic career. Academic stress has several health-related implications and has an impact on study and learning ability. The present study aimed to analyze the association between stress and educational performance of university students. Psychological, bodily, and behavioral difficulties are common because of such stress. Correlation research design was applied to achieve the objectives of this stud. Total 296 students were selected randomly from three departments (Education, Chemistry and English) of the Islamia University Bahawalpur. For the accomplishment of current study’s objectives, data was collected via using a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics Pearson correlation test was applied to gain the results. The current study examined that majority of students are facing stress. The results also explore that physical and psychological stress have negative effects on academic achievement of students. It has been found that student’s mental health has an impact on their academic performance. Therefore, it is recommended that the university should organize the programs which can help to detect and reduce the effect of stress among students.

Correlation Between Duration of Hemodialysis and Depression in Chronic Kidney Disease

Depression is commonly found in stage 5 CKD patients. However, depression in HD patients is usually neglected, underdiagnosed, and remains untreated. Duration of HD is reported to be significantly correlated with depression. Previously, there were several similar studies with varying results. This study is needed to detect depression and give early intervention to reduce hospitalization rates and patient mortality. This study aims to find the correlation between the duration of hemodialysis and depression in CKD patients. A cross-sectional was carried out on 52 patients with CKD undergoing HD in Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital using consecutive sampling. Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) questionnaire was used to measure the depression score. Data were analyzed with the Pearson correlation test. This study showed a significant negative correlation between the duration of hemodialysis and depression (p =0.005, p > 0,05; r= -0.094). Duration of hemodialysis was significantly correlated with depression. The longer duration of hemodialysis, the lower score of depression. Periodic evaluation of HD patients for depression is needed for early intervention to reduce morbidity.

Relationship between Introversion and Extroversion Personality and Learning Styles of UPSI Student

This research is conducted to identify the Relationship between Introversion and Extroversion Personality with Learning Style of UPSI students. This research is conducted to identify the relationship of the Introversion and Extroversion personality affect the by the Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK) learning style. In addition, suitable activities are also discussed to suit the needs of introversion and extroversion personality. A total of 233 second year UPSI students were selected in this research. The data was collected using questionnaire and divided into two parts. The first part is the identification of the introversion and extroversion personality of the respondent and the second part is the learning style of the respondent which are divided into 3 parts which are Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic. The data collected was then analysed using Pearson Correlation test. The Pearson Correlation test shows no significant between the introversion and extroversion personality of the respondent and the VAK learning style due to the p=.730. Suitable activities consist of hands-on and group activities is among the major suggestion collected from the respondent. In conclusion, although there is no significant between Introversion and Extroversion personality and VAK learning style, the teacher should pay attention to their students’ behavior in a learning environment to ensure the engagement of the students towards the lesson taught by them

The Relationship Between Death Anxiety and Alexithymia in Emergency Medical Technicians

Introduction: When confronted with traumatic accidents and events that result in death, people are at risk of developing death anxiety. Due to their stressful job, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) will develop alexithymia and be unable to express and manage their emotions over time. Studies show that alexithymia causes physical and mental disorders in many people. The present study aimed to determine the relationship between death anxiety and alexithymia in EMTs.Methods: The convenience sampling method was used to select 400 EMTs in southeastern Iran who met the inclusion criteria for this descriptive-analytical study. The Templer Death Anxiety Scale and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale were used to collect data. SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data, which included descriptive and analytical statistics (Independent t test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and regression). Results: The results of the study showed that the mean score of death anxiety in EMTs was 10.26 ± 3.69. It was revealed that 46.7% of the EMTs experienced severe death anxiety. Furthermore, the total mean score of alexithymia in EMTs was 59.65 ± 8.28, indicating the possibility of alexithymia. The Pearson correlation test showed a direct moderate relationship between death anxiety and alexithymia scores (r = .351, p < .001).Conclusion: According to the results, there is a direct significant relationship between death anxiety and alexithymia in EMTs. Therefore, it is suggested that EMTs be continuously taught effective methods to deal with death anxiety and reduce the physical and mental disorders caused by this problem.

Detection of Deregulated miRNAs in Childhood Epileptic Encephalopathies

Aims The term "epileptic encephalopathy" is used to describe a possible relationship between epilepsy and developmental delay. The pathogenesis of developmental encephalopathies, independent of epilepsy, can be defined by genetic control mechanisms. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of miRNAs as serum biomarkers for the determination and discrimination of epileptic encephalopathies. Methods Whole blood samples obtained from 54 individuals in 2 groups designated as epileptic encephalopathy patients group (n=24) and healthy controls (n=30) were included in this study. The expression levels of 10 miRNAs were determined using qRT-PCR. After the determination of expression levels the correlation of upregulated miRNA levels and Ki67 index was calculated using Pearson correlation test. Results The comparison of epileptic encephalopathy patients group with healthy controls revealed the upregulation of one miRNAs (hsa-miR-324-5p) and downregulation of three miRNAs (hsa-miR-146a-5p, hsa-miR-138-5p, hsa-miR-187-3p). Conclusion It has been determined that miRNAs with altered expression are an important factor in the formation of epileptic seizures and seizure-induced neuronal death. The fact that processes that play a key role in epiloptogenesis are under the control of miRNAs causes miRNAs to become meta-controllers of gene expression in the brain. We thouhgt that further studies are needed to prove that especially, hsa-miR-146a-5p, hsa-miR-138-5p and hsa-miR-187-3p can be used as epileptic encephalopathy biomarkers. Detection of disease-specific miRNAs could contribute to the development of presicion treatments.

Analyzing the Correlation Between Ideal L2 Self and Willingness to Communicate in L2 among EFL Learners

This study aimed to investigate the learners’ levels of ideal L2 self and Willingness to Communicate (WTC) not only inside but also outside the EFL classrooms and the correlation between these two constructs. Thus, the research was designed as a qualitative study, and the correlational research design was implemented to seek answers to research questions. The participants were 61 EFL learners who studied at the preparatory school of a state university. The data collected by conducting the ideal L2 self scale and WTC survey for inside and outside the classroom were analyzed through descriptive statistics, and Pearson correlation test after the normality of the data was ensured. The findings showed that the vast majority of learners had moderate levels of ideal L2 self and WTC, and a small minority reported low levels of WTC and ideal L2 self. Besides, the findings pointed out that WTC and ideal L2 self are correlated with a statistically significant relationship in a positive manner. The study first discusses the contradictory and concurrent findings with respect to previous studies conducted in different contexts like Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran and Turkey, then concludes with recommendations for teachers and further research.

Changes in head posture after rapid palatal expansion in mouth-breathing children.

Introduction. It is well known that previously has been demonstrated a correlation between respiratory function and the harmonious craniofacial development and head posture respectively. Aim of the study. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between rapid maxillary expansion (RME) and the change in natural head position (NHP) resulting from the consequent change in airway resistance and to elucidate how RME influences NHP in terms of cephalometric angles in children with nasal obstruction. Material and methods. The study included 12 girls and 8 boys who had a history of mouth breathing, as confirmed by the parents and ORL specialist and due to this fact, they underwent RME as part of orthodontic treatment. Dental casts, clinical photographs and lateral skull radiographs exposed in natural head position were obtained at the first visit (T1) and 8-10 months (T2) later for all subjects. In order to evaluate the patient’s lateral skull radiographs, I used AudaxCeph software, within which I created a new type of analysis. Student T test and Pearson correlation test were used to statistically analyze the results. Results. Our findings demonstrate that no significant changes in any of the variables are observed in patients treated with rapid maxillary expansion, however a positive correlation was observed in the variables measured before and after the treatment, respectively between the anomaly and the measured values. Positivity can also be detected when examining the correlation between the patient’s gender and the measured values. Conclusions. Based on the obtained results, we cannot state that there is a correlation between rapid maxillary expansion and cervical posture.

HUBUNGAN KEBIASAAN MENGKONSUMSI KOPI DENGAN KEJADIAN HIPERTENSI

Latar belakang : saat ini prevalensi hipertensi secara global sebesar 22% dari total penduduk dunia. Dari sejumlah penderita tersebut, hanya kurang dari seperlima yang melakukan upaya pengendalian terhadap tekanan darah yang dimiliki. Adapun faktor yang terkait dengan tekanan darah sangat kompleks, baik yang dapat dikontrol maupun tidak dapat dikontrol. Salah satu kebiasaan yang diduga terkait dengan hipertensi adalah kebiasaan konsumsi kopi. Tujuan : mengetahui hubungan antara kebiasaan konsumsi kopi dengan kejadian hipertensi. Subjek dan Metode : responden penelitian ini adalah warga Desa Ngringo RW 22 dan 29 Kecamatan Jaten Karanganyar sejumlah 45 responden. Jenis penelitian adalah analitik observasional, desain korelasi dengan pendekatan cross sectional untuk mengetahui hubungan antara kebiasaan konsumsi kopi dengan kejadian hipertensi. Teknik sampling menggunakan total sampling, Data dianalisis menggunakan uji Pearson Corelation. Hasil : mayoritas responden memiliki kebiasaan konsumsi kopi dalam kategori ringan (1-3 cangkir perhari) sebesar 97,8%, sedangkan yang kategori sedang (4-6 cangkir perhari) sebesar 2,2%. Mayoritas responden dengan tekanan darah yang normal yaitu 82,2%, dan hipertensi 17,8%. Kesimpulan : tidak ada hubungan antara kebiasaan konsumsi kopi dengan kejadian hipertensi (p : 0,058). Kata kunci : konsumsi kopi, hipertensi THE RELATIONSHIP OF COFFEE CONSUMING HABITS WITH HYPERTENSION Budi Kristanto, Diyono Astract Background : currently the global prevalence of hypertension is 22% of the total world population. Of the number of sufferers, only less than a fifth who make efforts to control their blood pressure. The factors associated with blood pressure are very complex, both controllable and uncontrollable. One of the habits thought to be associated with hypertension is the habit of consuming coffee. The aims of the study: knowing the relationship between coffee consumption habits and the incidence of hypertension. Subject and Methods : the respondents of this research were 45 respondents in Ngringo Village RW 22 and 29, Jaten, Karanganyar District. This research used observational analytic method, correlation design with cross sectional approach to determine the relationship between coffee consumption habits and the incidence of hypertension. The sampling technique used total sampling. Data were analyzed using the Pearson Correlation test. Result : the majority of respondents have a habit of consuming coffee in the light category (1-3 cups per day) of 97.8%, while the moderate category (4-6 cups per day) is 2.2%. The majority of respondents with normal blood pressure were 82.2%, and hypertension 17.8%. Conclusion : There is no relationship between coffee consumption habits and the incidence of hypertension (p: 0.058). Keywords: coffee consumption, hypertension