Background: Long-term effects of diabetes could be prevented or delayed by adopting a proper diet. The aim of this study was to adapt and provide a pilot test using health action process approach (HAPA)-based inventory to capable of capturing significant determinants of healthful diet for diabetics. Methods: The inventory was reviewed by eight diabetes patients and verbal feedbacks with regard the comprehension, item relevance, and potential new content were obtained. Then, the inventory items were evaluated by an expert panel. Next exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to assess the scale constructs. Criterion validity was measured by Pearson correlation. Finally, reliability measures of internal consistency and test-retest analysis were determined. Results: A total of 121 diabetic patients participated in this study. EFA extracted seven factors (risk-perception, action self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, maintenance self-efficacy, action and coping planning, behavioral intention, and recovery self-efficacy) explaining 81.14% of the total variance. There were significant correlations between behavioral intentions and both outcome expectancies (r = 0.55, P < 0.05) and action self-efficacy (r = 0.31, P < 0.004) and small to moderate correlations (rs = 23-40) between behavior and the volitional constructs of the HAPA model. Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.65 to 0.95 and intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.71 to 0.92 indicated an acceptable internal consistency. Conclusions: Developed scales were valid and reliable for measuring HAPA variables to be used with type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Further examination with minority persons is warranted.

Background: The risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) increases with age. The objective was to determine whether lifestyle and dietary behaviors and anthropometric measures, which are affected by these behaviors, contribute to the increase of CVD risk factors across age categories of 20-50-year-old. Methods: In a cross-sectional design, 437 adults aged 20-50-year-old were selected from households living in Shiraz. Risk factors of CVD, including body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C and HDL-C, respectively) as well as lifestyle behaviors (physical activity and smoking), dietary habits, and food intakes were assessed across the age categories of 20-29, 30-39, and 40-50 years. Linear regression was used to examine the contribution of different variables to the age-related increase of CVD risk factors. Results: All CVD risk factors, except for HDL-C, significantly increased across age categories. Older subjects had healthier dietary habits and food intakes, but they possessed nonsignificantly lower physical activity and higher smoking rate compared to younger adults. Adjusting for physical activity, smoking, and BMI did not change the significant positive association between age and CVD risk factors but adjusting for WHtR disappeared associations for blood pressure, triglycerides, and metabolic syndrome although significant associations remained for FBG and total and LDL-C. Conclusions: Age-related increase of CVD risk factors occurred independent of lifestyle habits. WHtR, but not BMI, may partially contribute to the age-related increase in CVD risk factors.

Background: This study aimed to highlight the proportion of disordered eating attitudes among university students in Kuwait by gender and obesity. Methods: A sample of 530 Kuwaiti university students was selected from four universities in Kuwait (203 men and 327 women). The eating attitudes test-26 was used to determine disordered eating attitudes. Results: The prevalence of disordered eating attitudes was 31.8% and 33.6% among men and women respectively. Obese students of both genders had doubled the risk of disordered eating attitudes compared to nonobese students (odds ratio 1.99 and 1.98, respectively). Conclusions: About one third of university students in Kuwait had disordered eating attitudes. There is an urgent need to prevent and treat disordered eating attitudes in university students in Kuwait.

Background: Nigella sativa has been a nutritional flavoring factor and natural treatment for many ailments for so many years in medical science. Earlier studies have been reported that thymoquinone (TQ), an active compound of its seed, contains anticancer properties. Previous studies have shown that TQ induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells but it is unclear the role of P53 in the apoptotic pathway. Hereby, this study reports the potency of TQ on expression of tumor suppressor gene P53 and apoptosis induction in breast cancer cell line Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7). Methods: MCF-7 cell line was cultured and treated with TQ, and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was carried out for evaluating the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values after 24 h of treatment. The percentage of apoptotic cells was measured by flow cytometry. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to estimate the messenger RNA expression of P53 in MCF-7 cell line at different times. Results: The IC50 value for the TQ in MCF-7 cells was 25 mM that determined using MTT assay. The flow cytometry and real-time PCR results showed that TQ could induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells, and the P53 gene expression was dramatically up-regulated by ascending time, respectively. Hence, there was significant difference in 48 and 72 h. Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that TQ could induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through up-regulation of P53 expression in breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) by time-dependent manner.

Background: Healthy lifestyle is a major strategy to promote current and subsequent health status. The aim of this study was to assess the status of health-promoting the lifestyle and its determinants among students. Methods: A stratified random sample of 500 students in a university in the city of Sabzevar, Iran participated in this cross-sectional study. Health-promoting lifestyle was measured using Walker's health-promoting lifestyle profile II. Results: There was a significant correlation between all domains of health-promoting the lifestyle. The highest score among the domains was for an interpersonal relationship (70.8%), and the lowest score was for nutrition (53.6%), and physical activity (53.4%). Significant differences were found in physical activity by gender (P ≤ 0.05). There were significant differences in health responsibility, spiritual growth and body mass index by marital status (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Since one out of five students in this study were overweight/obese, health program planning to promote lifestyle, especially physical activity and nutrition among students is recommended. Our findings may be helpful for faculty administrators, curriculum planners, and health educators in designing guidelines to structuralize a healthier campus and to develop health promotion programs supporting healthy choices among students.

Background: Development of a manual or well-defined criterion for prioritizing the topics of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) will help validate and organize this process evermore. This study was conducted to design an applicable manual that would prioritize the CPG topics for family physicians. Methods: This study was a multi-stage method using a qualitative approach that was conducted for the manual developing. The manual development process took place in four steps, as follows: Literature review, interviews with ten experts, preparing a list of criteria and determining its appropriateness by applying the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness method, and development of the final draft of the manual and pilot study. Results: Interview transcripts went under content analysis and were classified into eight main groups, 12 subgroups, and 85 themes. A comprehensive list consisting of fifty preliminary criteria were extracted. After summarizing and classifying the criteria, 12 appropriate criteria were evaluated using the RAND appropriateness method. Eventually, based on the literature review and our own results of the interview analysis, a manual consisting of five main sections and one clause on ethics was developed. Later, a pilot study was conducted on ten family physician topics, and prioritized by nine experts. Conclusions: The manual can be eyed as a tool ensuring the quality of the process of prioritizing CPG topics for family physicians, as it takes into account the issues involved in priority-setting. Selecting informed stakeholders for rating the criteria and ranking the topics was an issue that was greatly emphasized by the experts. Eventually, the application of this manual can be the first step toward systematizing the process of prioritizing CPG topics in the country.

Background: The goals of the present work were to retrieve the scientific articles published on addiction to the Internet, video games, and cell phones and to analyze the pattern of publications in this area (who is doing the research, when and where it is taking place, and in which journals it is being published), to determine the research being conducted as well as to document geographical trends in publication over time in three types of technological addictions: Internet, cell phones, and video games. Methods: Articles indexed in PubMed and PsycINFO between 2006 and 2010 related to the pathological use of Internet, cell phones, and video games were retrieved. Search results were reviewed to eliminate articles that were not relevant or were duplicates. Results: Three hundred and thirty valid articles were retrieved from PubMed and PsycINFO from 2006 to 2010. Results were compared with those of 1996-2005. The year with the highest number of articles published was 2008 (n = 96). The most productive countries, in terms of number of articles published, were China (n = 67), the United States (n = 56), the United Kingdom (n = 47), and Taiwan (n = 33). The most commonly used language was English (70.3%), followed by Chinese (15.4%). Articles were published in 153 different journals. The journal that published the most articles was Cyberpsychology and Behavior (n = 73), followed by Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology (n = 27) and International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction (n = 16). Internet was the area most frequently studied, with an increasing interest in other areas such as online video games and cell phones. Conclusions: The number of publications on technological addictions reached a peak in 2008. The scientific contributions of China, Taiwan, and Korea are overrepresented compared to other scientific fields such as drug addiction. The inclusion of Internet Gaming Disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5 ^th Edition could change the publication trends in the technological addiction area and underline the relevance of this upcoming disorder in dissatisfaction with life in general.

Background: Recently, tissue engineering has developed approaches for repair and restoration of damaged skeletal system based on different scaffolds and cells. This study evaluated the ability of differentiated osteoblasts from adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) seeded into hydroxyapatite/tricalcium phosphate (HA-TCP) to repair bone. Methods: In this study, ADSCs of 6 canines were seeded in HA-TCP and differentiated into osteoblasts in osteogenic medium in vitro and bone markers evaluated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was applied for detection of cells in the pores of scaffold. HA-TCP with differentiated cells as the test group and without cells as the cell-free group were implanted in separate defected sites of canine's tibia. After 8 weeks, specimens were evaluated by histological, immunohistochemical methods, and densitometry test. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 18 version software. Results: The expression of Type I collagen and osteocalcin genes in differentiated cells were indicated by RT-PCR. SEM results revealed the adhesion of cells in scaffold pores. Formation of trabecular bone confirmed by histological sections that revealed the thickness of bone trabecular was more in the test group. Production of osteopontin in extracellular matrix was indicated in both groups. Densitometry method indicated that strength in the test group was similar to cell-free group and natural bone (P > 0.05). Conclusions: This research suggests that ADSCs-derived osteoblasts in HA-TCP could be used for bone tissue engineering and repairing.

Cancer is one of the three main causes of mortality in most human communities whose prevalence is being increased. A significant part of health budget in all countries has been allocated to treat the cancer, which is incurable in many cases. It has led the global health attitude to cancer prevention. Many cancer-related risk factors have been identified for which preventive recommendations have been offered by international organizations such as World Health Organization. Some of the most important of these risk factors are smoking and alcohol consumption, hypercaloric and low-fiber diet, obesity, inactivity, environmental and industrial pollution, some viral infections, and hereditary factors. Exact reviewing of Iranian-Islamic traditional medicine (IITM) resources determines that preventive rules, which named as six essential rules (Sitteh-e-Zarurieah) are abundantly found, including all identified cancer-related risk factors. These preventive rules are: Air (Hava), body movement and repose, sleep and wakefulness, food and drink, evacuation and retention, and mental movement and repose (A'raz-e-Nafsani). The associated risk factors in classic medicine are: Smoking and air pollution, sedentary life, sleep disturbance, improper nutrition and alcohol, chronic constipation, and psychoneurotic stresses. Moreover, these rules are comprehensive enough to include many of the other harmful health-related factors whose roles have been confirmed in the occurrence of different diseases, except cancer. Apparently, cancer prevention in Iran would be more successful if the sextet necessary rules of IITM are promoted among the populations and health policy makers.