Detection techniques of biological and chemical Hall sensors

Integrated magnetic Hall effect sensors have been widely used in people''s daily life over the past decades, and still are gaining enormous attention from researchers to establish novel applications, especially in biochemistry and biomedical healthcare. This paper reviews, classifies, compares and concludes state-of-the-art integrated Hall magnetic sensors in terms of cost, power, area, performance and application. Current applications of the Hall sensors such as detecting magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) labeled on biomolecule, monitoring blood pulse wave velocity, characterizing soft biological materials, controlling syringe injection rate and eye surgery by training systems, and assisting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) will be discussed comprehensively and future applications and trends will be highlighted. This review paper will introduce Hall sensor''s advantages such as simple design and technology of manufacturing, low cost, low power consumption, possibility of the miniaturizing, noninvasive and room temperature measurement, with respect to the other magnetic sensing systems and methods.

Integrated magnetic Hall effect sensors have been widely used in people''s lives over the past decades. They are still gaining enormous attention from researchers to establish novel applications, especially in biochemistry and biomedical healthcare.     

Ovarian fibrosarcoma with five-year survival: a case report

A 45-year-old postmenopausal woman, Gravida6, Para4, Abortus0, Dilatation x Curhetage2, came to the gynaecology department with pelvic pain. The tumor had arisen in the right ovary and measured 15 x 12 x 7 cm. Its cut surface varied from grey-white with a whorled appearance and showed areas of haemorrhage. Histologically the tumor was densely cellular, composed of spindle cells, diffusely involved the entire ovarian stroma with no normal ovarian structures remaining. Tumor cells had hyperchromatic nuclei with prominent nucleoli. There was moderate pleomorphism and the number of mitotic figures was an average of 6 per 10 high power fields. In the immunohistochemical study, the tumor was negative for desmin, muscle-specific actin, estrogen, progesterone receptors and CD31, but was positive for vimentin. A low proliferation index with Ki-67 was determined. The patient has shown no evidence of recurrent disease for five years.     

Obesity and related risk factors

Objective To study the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Iranian schoolgirls and to identify risk factors which lead to obesity. Method This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2002 and a sample of 1800 female students between 7–12 years old was obtained using a multistage cluster sampling method from Tehran. Height and weight were measured and related socioeconomic information was collected. Results The overall percent of overweight and obesity was 13.3% and 7.7% respectively. BMI (Body Mass Index) was directly and significantly (r=+0.28, P<0.001) correlated with increasing age. Physical activity was significantly different between obese and non-obese children. (P=0.03) Also, economical factors such as the type of school (private& public) were different in these children. (P=0.03) The statistical analysis of the data revealed a significant and inverse correlation (r=-0.03, P=0.04) between maternal education and occurrence of overweight and obesity in children. Conclusion The prevalence of overweight and obesity in young Iranian girls was high. Advanced age, lack of physical inactivity, low economical factors and maternal educational status could be risk factors for obesity in children.     

Depression in mothers of children with thalassemia or blood malignancies: a study from Iran

Background

Several studies have found that parents of children with chronic diseases or disabilities have higher depression scores than control parents. Mothers usually take on the considerable part of the extra care and support that these children need and thus are at markedly increased risks of suffering from psychological distress and depression. The main aim of the present study was to investigate if mothers of children with thalassemia or blood malignancies have higher scores of depression compared with a group of control mothers.

Methods and materials

In this cross – sectional study, 294 mothers were recruited in three groups and assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI): mothers of children with thalassemia, mothers of children with blood malignancies and a control group. SPSS version 11.5 with chi square, ANOVA, linear and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.

Results

The only variable bearing a statistically significant relationship with the depression score of mothers was the child's disease: for thalassemia with OR of 2.17 (95% CI = 1.16–4.0, P = 0.015), for blood malignancies with OR of 2.71 (95% CI = 1.48–4.99, P = 0.001).

Discussion and conclusion

The results of this study can contribute to the development of a screening program for decreasing depression burden and promoting quality of life for mothers of children with thalassemia or blood malignancies.

     

Bilateral subpleural ectopic brain tissue in a 23-week-old fetus

Bilateral lesions were seen in the subpleural region in a 23-week-old aborted male fetus. This fetus was not macerated and showed no central nervous system abnormality on physical examination and vertebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Postmortem examination revealed bilateral, paravertebral, subpleural, circumscribed, yellowish-white, fluent lesions 2.5 x 1 x 1 cm in size. These lesions were localized on the upper part of both lungs and there was no other internal malformation. Histological examination of lesions showed adult neurones and well-differentiated neural tissue with white and gray matter, choroid plexus, ependymal structures and, rarely, some peripheral neural cells in addition to immature neuroectodermal cells. These cells were more mature than those in the brain tissue.