Tehran University of Medical Sciences

About: Tehran University of Medical Sciences is a education organization based out in Tehran, Iran. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 35661 authors who have published 57234 publications receiving 878523 citations. The organization is also known as: TUMS.

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Abstract: Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations.

Targeted delivery of doxorubicin-utilizing chitosan nanoparticles surface-functionalized with anti-Her2 trastuzumab.

Abstract: Background Targeting drugs to their sites of action to overcome the systemic side effects associated with most antineoplastic agents is still a major challenge in pharmaceutical research. In this study, the monoclonal antibody, trastuzumab, was used as a targeting agent in nanoparticles carrying the antitumor drug, doxorubicin, specifically to its site of action. Methods Chitosan-doxorubicin conjugation was carried out using succinic anhydride as a crosslinker. Trastuzumab was conjugated to self-assembled chitosan-doxorubin conjugate (CS-DOX) nanoparticles (particle size, 200 nm) via thiolation of lysine residues and subsequent linking of the resulted thiols to chitosan. Conjugation was confirmed by gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies. Dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and zeta potential determination were used to characterize the nanoparticles. Results CS-DOX conjugated nanoparticles had a spherical shape and smooth surface with a narrow size distribution and core-shell structure. Increasing the ratio of doxorubicin to chitosan in the conjugation reaction gave rise to a higher doxorubicin content but lower conjugation efficiency. Trastuzumab-decorated nanoparticles (CS-DOX-mAb) contained 47 μg/mg doxorubicin and 33.5 μg/mg trastuzumab. Binding of trastuzumab to the nanoparticles was further probed thermodynamically by isothermal titration calorimetry. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated enhanced and selective uptake of CS-DOX-mAb by Her2+ cancer cells compared with nontargeted CS-DOX nanoparticles and free drug. Conclusion Antibody-conjugated nanoparticles were shown to discriminate between Her2+ and Her2⁻ cells, and thus have the potential to be used in active targeted drug delivery, with reduction of drug side effects in Her2+ breast and ovarian cancers.

Community disaster resilience: a systematic review on assessment models and tools

Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Recent years have witnessed community disaster resilience becoming one of the most heavily supported and advocated approach to disaster risk management. However, its application has been influenced by the lack of assessment tools. This study reviews studies conducted using the resilience concept and examines the tools, models, and methods adopted. It examines the domains, indicators, and indices have been considered in the tools. It provides a critical analysis of the assessment tools available for evaluating community disaster resilience (CDR). METHODS: We investigated international electronic databases including Scopus, MEDLINE through PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), and Google Scholar with no limitation on date, and type of articles. The search terms and strategy were as follow: (Disaster* OR Emergenc*) AND (Resilience OR Resilient OR Resiliency) that were applied for titles, abstracts and keywords. Extracted data were analyzed in terms of studied hazards, types of methodology, domains, and indicators of CDR assessment. RESULTS: Of 675 publications initially identified, the final analysis was conducted on 17 full text articles. These studies presented ten models, tools, or indices for CDR assessment. These evinced a diverse set of models with regard to the domains, indicators and the kind of hazard described. Considerable inter dependency between and among domains and indicators also emerged from this analysis. CONCLUSION: The disparity between the articles using the resilience concept and those that offer some approach to measurement (675 vs. 17) indicates the conceptual and measurement complexity in CDR and the fact that the concept may be being used without regard to how CDR should be operationalized and assessed. Of those that have attempted to assess CDR, the level of conceptual diversity indicates limited agreement about how to operationalize the concept. As a way forward we summarize the models identified in the literature and suggest that, as a starting point for the systematic operationalization of CDR, that existing indicators of community disaster resilience be classified in five domains. These are social, economic, institutional, physical and natural domains. A need to use appropriate and effective methods to quantify and weigh them with regard to their relative contributions to resilience is identified, as is a need to consider how these levels interrelate to influence resilience. Although assessment of disaster resilience especially at the community level will inform disaster risk reduction strategies, attempts to systematically do so are in preliminary phases. Further empirical investigation is needed to develop a operational and measurable CDR model. Language: en