Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research

About: Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research is a nonprofit organization based out in Tehran, Iran. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Mesenchymal stem cell. The organization has 1100 authors who have published 1244 publications receiving 19093 citations.

Process of becoming a mother for Iranian surrogacy-commissioning mothers: A grounded theory study.

Abstract: Aim Little knowledge is available about the experiences of the commissioning mothers during the process of surrogacy; thus, the present study was conducted in order to explore and analyze this process. Methods This study was conducted in a referral institute in Tehran with a qualitative approach and using grounded theory methodology. The data were collected through 39 unstructured, in-depth interviews that were conducted with 15 gestational commissioning mothers, two of their husbands, four surrogates, and five of the personnel at centers for assisted reproduction (some participants were interviewed more than once). Sampling started purposively and then continued theoretically. Results The analysis revealed the main concern of these mothers to be the feeling of “insecurity about becoming a mother” and their predominant strategy for dealing with it to be “seeking security about becoming a mother,” which emerged as a core concept. The consequences of the mothers' adopted strategies and the effects of the intervening factors included “reaching a state of relative peace,” “a continuing threat to one's identity,” and “mental and physical exhaustion.” Conclusion Identifying the demands of this group of mothers can help medical personnel, particularly nurses, adopt better plans for the future and to optimize the care they provide to these patients.

Diagnosis of Acute Toxoplasmosis by IgG and IgM Antibodies and IgG Avidity in Pregnant Women from Mashhad, Eastern Iran

Abstract: Background: We aimed to evaluate the diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis by IgG avidity test in pregnant women. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 250 blood samples were collected from pregnant women with the first month of their pregnancy referring to health centers of University in Mashhad during 2016. Samples were centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 min for separation of serum and were kept in the -20 until use. To detection of acute and chronic toxoplasmosis, anti-Toxoplasma antibodies (IgG and IgM, and IgG avidity tests were performed using ELISA. Then, data analyzed using SPSS software by Frequency, Pearson Chi-Square, Likelihood Ratio, and Exact tests. And P-value<0.05 was statistically considered as significant. Results: Total prevalence of IgG and IgM was 23.2% and 7.2%, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between the mean age and IgG level (P<0.05). It was not found any correlation between the history of raw meat consumption, cats keeping, education, and residency site. Moreover, 16 people (6.4%) had IgM antibody, of which, 10 cases (62.5%) with low avidity for IgG and 1 people (6.2%) with moderate avidity and 5 cases (31.3%) with high avidity for IgG. Moreover, 76% of pregnant women were seronegative. Conclusion: More than half of the women (62.5%) with positive IgM antibody in their serum had a low avidity for IgG which revealed an acute infection among pregnant women. Toxoplasma infection should be considered as an important factor that affects the pregnancy and IgG avidity as an important test for screening the women who need the treatment.

Genetic variants of the phenylalanine hydroxylase gene in patients with phenylketonuria in the northeast of Iran

Abstract: Background Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a common metabolic disorder with great burden if left untreated or undiagnosed. Genetic variations in the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene may be widely varied across different regions of a country. By knowing the most common mutations, diagnostic work-ups will be offered sooner and with lower costs for patients. The present study defines the most common genetic variations in the PAH gene in Khorasan province of Iran. Methods The present cross-sectional study took place in Khorasan province of Iran within a 6-year period starting from 2012 to 2018. Every patient who had been referred as suspicious PKU cases or referred for prenatal diagnosis was included in the present study. Results A total number of 122 individuals with a mean age of 26.22 years were enrolled in the present study. The most frequent genetic variations in the PAH gene were c.1066-11G > A and c.143 T > C. Exon 7 carried the most genetic variations compared to any single exon. Also, three patients had compound heterozygous status for c.727 C > T/c.1066-11 G > A in exon 7 and 11 of the PAH gene. Conclusions Mutations in the PAH gene are widely varied among different populations, and our results confirmed this fact. Determination of the most prevalent mutations and polymorphisms in each region will reduce the time and cost of diagnosing such preventable diseases and will therefore reduce the disease burden.

Assessment of Higher Modes Effects on Steel Moment Resisting Structures under Near-Fault Earthquakes with Forward Directivity Effect Along Strike-Parallel and Strike-Normal Components

Abstract: Near field earthquakes with forward directivity effects have pulse in the velocity record, thus this phenomenon causes significant demands on the steel frames more than the ordinary earthquakes. Therefore, structural behavior of steel frames and the higher modes effects of structures under near fault earthquakes are essential. For this purpose 5 intermediate (ductility) steel moment resisting frames with 4, 7, 10, 15 and 20 stories under 20 far and near fault, 40 strike-parallel (SP) and strike-normal (SN) records have been investigated. Finally, the elastic responses of equivalent single degree of freedom structure (ESDOF) under mentioned records and response modification factors to convert the response of ESDOF structure to the response of MDOF structure have been presented. The results of this research show that higher modes effects under the far fault earthquakes are greater than the near fault earthquakes. Also, the inter-story drift angle of structures under near fault earthquakes with forward directivity effect is greater than far fault earthquakes for about 30–50% of structure height in upper stories. The high-rise structures demands under the SP earthquakes, because of higher modes effects, are greater than the SN earthquakes. When the ratio of the building period to the pulse period, is greater than 0.5, the effects of SP earthquakes increase more than the fault normal (SN) earthquakes.