samane sistani

As a common disease among people of almost any age, allergic rhinitis has many adverse effects such as lowering the quality of life and efficiency at work or school. Considering these conditions and the collection of large amounts of data, the present research was conducted on allergic rhinitis and asthma patients' data to extract the common symptoms of these diseases using cluster analysis and the k-means algorithm.

The present cross-sectional research was conducted in Mashhad city. The inclusion criteria were affliction with one or two respiratory allergy diseases diagnosed by an allergy specialist through clinical history taking and physical examination. A researcher-made checklist was used in the present study for data collection. Then, the K-means algorithm's cluster analysis model was conducted to extract clusters (WEKA software (3, 6, 9)).

Overall, 1,231 patients met the inclusion criteria. The result of the Cluster analysis consisted of  1: Cluster 1 in allergic rhinitis consisted of 702 patients, and cluster 2 consisted of 382 patients. 2: 46 asthma patients were assigned to cluster 1 and 23 to cluster 2. 3: Also, 60 asthma and allergic rhinitis patients were assigned to cluster 1 and 19 to cluster 2. The most common symptoms in all patients were rhinorrhea, sneezing, nasal congestion, and itchy nose.

Overall, Salsola kali was the most common allergen in allergic rhinitis and asthma patients. Also, the most common symptoms in patients are rhinorrhea, sneezing, itchy nose, and nasal congestion. This study can help physicians diagnose allergic rhinitis and asthma in geographical areas with a high prevalence of Salsola kali.

Respiratory allergies are among the most common allergies in the world with an increasing number of people affected in recent decades. Determination of allergens prevalence in each area is considered as the first step in prevention of allergic diseases and developing novel and more effective immunotherapies. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the most common allergens among patients with respiratory allergies in Mashhad, Iran

This cross sectional study included 1246 people who were referred to Allergy Clinic of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences with respiratory allergic symptoms from 2012 to 2017 in which a questionnaire containing demographic information was completed and Skin Prick Test was performed for each patient.

Among 1246 patients with respiratory symptoms, there were 1084 patients with allergic rhinitis (87%), 69 patients with allergic asthma (5.5%), 14 patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (1.1%) and 79 patients with both allergic rhinitis and asthma (6.3%) with an overall male to female ratio of 1.18. Rhinorrhea (86.3%), sneezing (81.1%) and itchy eyes (68.4%) were the most common symptoms in patients with respiratory allergic disorders in this study and the highest rate of sensitivity was to pollens including Salsola kali (82.3%), pigweed mix (65.1%), tree mix (51.7%) and ash (49.8%), respectively.

Generally, Salsola kali seems to be the main allergen in different respiratory allergies including allergic rhinitis, asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis in semi-arid climate of Mashhad, Iran.

Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) is the leading cause of mortality in both developed and developing countries. It accounts for more than 15% of the total mortality worldwide. At the global scale, the massive occurrence of this disease can have tremendously negative effects on economy, especially among young people.

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between IHD and several important risk factors involved. It also looked into the prevalence of IHD among patients between 20 and 40 years of age.

The present cross-sectional, retrospective survey was conducted in three referral heart hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran. The required data were extracted from integrated Hospital Information System (HIS) from 2010 to 2012. The data included clinical and demographic information, such as age, gender, marital status, occupation, diabetes, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, cigarette smoking, and family history. In the next phase, clustering technique and k-means algorithm were applied using the WEKA (3-6-9) software.

Totally, 88623 patients suffered from heart diseases between 2010 and 2012. When the specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered, the number of records was restricted to 776, which included 548 males. The clustering technique was done in two phases. Firstly, there were four clusters extracted and secondly, cluster analysis was done in terms of age and gender. According to the findings, cigarette smoking in males aged between 20 and 40 years was the main risk factor.

The present research aimed to investigate the risk factors of heart diseases among patients between 20 and 40 years of age. Those below 40 years old were known as the main human resource in the community. The early prevalence of IHD in this population disabled them for the rest of their lives. This disability could also lead to irreparable physiological effects along with financial costs. It could also impose high costs on the society. Recognition of the risk factors of heart diseases at younger ages could contribute to healthcare policies.

Allergen immunotherapy is an effective treatment for allergic rhinitis. Conventional immunotherapy takesat least 5 to 6 months to reach the maintenance dosage; nonetheless, rush immunotherapy accelerates to reach the maintenance dose several months earlier. However, the safety and efficacy of this treatment has not been widely investigated. The objective of the present study was to determine the efficacy of subcutaneous rush immunotherapy in the patients with perennial allergic rhinitis after a year from treatment.   This study was carried out on a total of 15 patients with allergic rhinitis who received rush immunotherapy and were evaluated for the quality of life and clinical symptoms improvement with Sino-Nasal Outcome Test Questionnaire (SNOT-22) and Mini Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) before and after a year from treatment. Moreover, specific weed mix Immunoglobulin E (IgE) was measured before and after a year from treatment. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 16) (P0.001).   Rush immunotherapy is an effective treatment in the patients with allergic rhinitis. It seems to be an alternative treatment in cases that need more rapid treatment. However, it is recommended to carry out other studiesonthe control group.

As a prevalent metabolic disease, diabetes has different side effects and causes a wide range of co morbidity with a high rate of mortality. There is a need for certain interventions to manage this disease. Iranians usually have three main meals a day. Considering the special needs of diabetic patients and the possibility of hypoglycemia between the main meals, it is essential for these patients to eat something as a snack. Considering these conditions and the society’s orientation towards modern technologies such as smart phones, designing mobile-based nutrition recommender systems can be helpful. The snack recommender system is a knowledge-based smart phone application. This study has focused on the development of a recommender system that combines artificial intelligence techniques and makes up a knowledge base according to the guidelines posed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The snack menu was recommended in accordance with the patient’s favorites and conditions. The accuracy of the recommended menu was assessed in 2 steps. First, it was compared with the diet prescribed by three nutrition specialists. In the second step, system’s suggested menu was evaluated by the data from 30 diabetic patients using a valid questionnaire. The results of evaluating the snack recommender system by nutritionists showed that this system is capable of recommending various snacks according to the season (accuracy of 100%) and personal interests (accuracy of 90%) to diabetic patients. According to health nutritionists, the snacks suggested by this system are matched with Iranian culture. Moreover, the results revealed that a higher body mass index (BMI) makes the recommender system less sensitive to personal interests to suggest what is basically beneficial for one’s health. This study was a pioneering research to develop a more comprehensive dietary recommender system for diabetic patients which includes main meals as well. Patients found the system useful and were satisfied with the application. This system is believed to be able to help diabetic patients to take more healthy diet which leads to a better lifestyle

World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the number of people with diabetes will grow 114% by 2030. It declares that patients themselves have more responsibility for controlling and the treatment of diabetes by being provided with updated knowledge about the disease and different aspects of available treatments, and diet therapy in particular. In this regard, diet recommendation systems would be helpful. They are techniques and tools which suggest the best diets according to patient’s health situation and preferences. Accordingly, this narrative review studied food recommendation systems and their features by focusing on nutrition and diabetic issues. Literature searches in Google scholar and Pubmed were conducted in February 2015. Records were limited to papers in English language; however, no limitations were applied for the published date. We recognized three common methods for food recommender system: collaborative filtering recommender system (CFRS), knowledge based recommender system (KBRS) and context-aware recommender system (CARS). Also wellness recommender systems are a subfield of food recommender systems, which help users to find and adapt suitable personalized wellness treatments based on their individual needs. Food recommender systems often used artificial intelligence and semantic web techniques. Some used the combination of both techniques.