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Besides free sugars, sweet sorghum stalks contain cellulose and hemicellulose that can be used for biofuel production. The pretreatment of stalks without the extraction of free sugars is more complicated than typical lignocelluloses, because of the degradation of free sugars during most pretreatment processes. In this study, the bioconversion of sweet sorghum stalks into biogas and bioethanol was studied using an improved organosolv pretreatment within a biorefinery framework. The organosolv pretreatment was developed using an aqueous solution of ethanol (EtOH) and isopropanol (IPOH). The process was optimized to obtain a liquor containing free sugars with the least sugar degradations together with a highly degradable solid fraction. The liquor was subjected to anaerobic digestion for biomethane production, while the solid was used for ethanol production via simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). The most influencing pretreatment parameters, i.e., temperature, time, alcohol to water ratio, EtOH to IPOH ratio, and the presence or absence of sulfuric acid (as a catalyst), were adjusted to achieve the highest yields of bioconversion. The maximum methane and ethanol production yields of 271.2 mL CH 4 /g VS and 87.8% (equal to the gasoline equivalent of 0.170 and 0.241 L/kg, respectively) were achieved from the liquor and pretreated solid, respectively; however, they were obtained at different optimum conditions. Considering the biorefinery perspective, the highest gasoline equivalent of 0.249 L/kg was efficiently obtained from the whole process after pretreatment at 140 °C for 30 min using 60:20 EtOH/IPOH ratio in the presence of 1% sulfuric acid. Further analyses, including enzymatic adsorption/desorption, compositional analysis, FTIR, and SEM, were conducted to investigate the effects of this newly developed pretreatment on the substrate.

Background: Developing current evidence in order to better assess the rates and pattern of the CAD risk factors among populations is pivotal in CAD risk stratification., Methods: A large scale population based survey involving 31,999 healthy people was designed. Risk factors information was provided from medical history, physical examination and laboratory assessments., Results: Increasing linear trend was observed for: cigarette smoking (CS) (P=0.001), systolic blood pressure (SBP)> 140 mmHg (P=0.001), diastolic blood pressure (DBP)> 90 mmHg (P=0.001), SBP> 120 mmHg (P=0.001), DBP> 80 mmHg (P=0.001), fasting blood glucose (FBS)> 126 Mg/dl (P=0.001), total cholesterol (TC)>200Mg/dl (P=0.001), triglyceride> 200 Mg/dl (P=0.001), TC> 170 Mg/dl (P=0.001), and LDL-c> 130 Mg/dl (P=0.001). Multivariable adjusted magnitudes of associations for risk factors across age groups were statistically different, thus in an age group of 30-40 years: cigarette smoking, high DBP, increased body mass index (BMI), high level of FBS and lower level of education demonstrated strongest associations. In an age group of 40-50 years: CS, high level of DBP, increased BMI, FBS> 126 Mg/dl, and SBP> 120 mmHg, in an age group of 50-60 years: SBP> 120 mmHg, CS, higher level of DBP, and FBS> 126 Mg/dl, and in above 60 years: SBP> 120 mmHg, HDL-c< 45 Mg/dl, C/S and FBS have demonstrated the strongest associations., Conclusions: Trends of increment in the mean levels of SBP, DBP, TC, LDL-c and FBS are statistically significant across age decades. Multivariate strength of associations for CAD risk factors demonstrates significant differences across age groups., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

More than eighty percent of patients with coronary heart diseases (CHD) have conventional risk factors. Prevalence of well known risk factors seems to show a different pattern in younger patients and individual above 55 years. To evaluate the pattern of conventional CHD risk factors in healthy individuals in two different age groups. A large scale population based survey of 31999 individuals from ten medical centers was designed. Screening of risk factors was performed upon these protocols: taking medical history, physical examination and blood tests of complete blood cell counts, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, urinalysis and creatinine. Prevalence of the risk factors in healthy people aged above 55 years were: 8.1% for systolic blood pressure (SBP)>140 mmHg, 3.8% for diastolic blood pressure (DBP)>90 mmHg, 13.9% for fasting blood glucose (FBS)≥126 Mg/dl, 36.9% for total cholesterol>200 Mg/dl, 19.2% for triglyceride (TG)>200 Mg/dl, 67.8% for HDL-c<40 Mg/dl, 27.2% for LDL-c>130 Mg/dl, 4.72 for TC/HDL-c ratio, 2.88 for LDL-c/HDL/c ratio and 4.24 for TG/HDL-c ratio. Prevalence of risk factors in individuals younger than 55 years were: 1.7% for SBP>140 mmHg, 1.2% for DBP>90 mmHg, 5.2% for FBS≥126 Mg/dl, 31.3% for TC>200 Mg/dl, 21.5% for TG>200 Mg/dl, 69.4% for HDL-c<40 Mg/dl, 23.2% for LDL-c>130 Mg/dl, 4.7 for TC/HDL-c ratio, 2.83 for LDL-c/HDL-c ratio and 4.43 for TG/HDL-c ratio. In univariate model of analysis: prevalence of the risk factors were significantly higher in age above 55 years than in people younger than 55 years except for hypertriglyceridemia and HDL-c<40 Mg/dl. In a multivariate model of logistic regression, pattern of following CHD risk factors remained to demonstrate a statistically significance difference between two age groups: FBS≥126 Mg/dl P=0.006, TG>200 Mg/dl P= 0.002, HDL-c<40 Mg/dl P= 0.019, education status P=0.001, sex P=0.012, and SBP>140 mmHg P=0.001. Pattern of such a CHD risk factors of FBS≥126 Mg/dl, TG>200 Mg/dl, HDL-c<40 Mg/dl, education status, sex and SBP>140 mmHg demonstrated a statistically significant difference in the age above 55 years to the healthy people younger than 55 years. These results cab be implicated to set up prediction models for stratifying individuals at higher risk of CHD.

Background and Objectives: The rapid increase in end stage renal disease (ESRD) prevalence, plus the enormous cost of treatment, necessitates an urgent approach to implement strategies to prevent development and progression of ESRD, especially in the developing world. Screening that leads to early identification and treatment has been recommended, as it may slow or prevent progression to a more expensive and disabling stage of the disease and thus may save lives as well as finite resources., Methods: In 2007, the Healthy City Office of Tehran municipality conducted a large-scale population-based cross-sectional survey titled "Kidney Disease Screening of Taxi Drivers in Tehran." Taxi drivers or applicants of purchasing taxi participated in mentioned screening program in the last three months of 2007. Demographic data, blood pressure, and history of hypertension or smoking-and then in specific laboratories creatinine, lipid profile, complete blood count, fasting blood sugar, and urinalysis-have been checked. Results. The survey covered 31,999 people across Tehran (in a population of 12 million) during the study period. The mean and SD of age of participants was 43.77 +/- 11.32 (range from 18 to 86) years, and 98.4% (31,489) were male. Using the MDRD equation, overall prevalence of eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) was 6.5%. However, the prevalence was 6.4% (1982/30949) in males in relation to 13.7% (69/503) in females. Mean and SD of BMI in males and females were 25.90 +/- 3.91 and 26.48 +/- 4.50 g, respectively. The overall prevalence of proteinuria (>or=1+ proteinuria) was 0.6% in males vs. 1.8% in females in normal GFR group. Age, LDL cholesterol, hypertension, blood glucose, and BMI showed to be strong risk factors for low GFR. Education level did not show a significant correlation with low GFR., Discussion and Conclusions: The findings of the study insist on the fact that CKD prevalence is significantly higher in old age, females, hypertensives, and uncontrolled diabetic patients. Our ability to decrease the incidence of ESRD is predicated on recognizing those patients with CKD and implementing all preventive strategies.

Introduction: Increased cadaveric donation may be achieved by improving medical staff education to enhance consent rates. This study was designed to examine the critical items that influence nurse knowledge regarding the concepts of brain death and the attitudes toward cadaveric donor renal transplantation. These findings may be useful to evaluate future progress in education., Subjects and Methods: A 31-item questionnaire was distributed to 418 nurses in 24 intensive care units (ICUs) in our hospitals. In addition to initial data regarding age, sex, and marital status, knowledge about donation was evaluated by eight questions. The first four questions pertained to judicial and legal knowledge, the second two to economic knowledge, and the last two to concepts of brain death., Results: Three hundred and two women and 116 men participated in this study. Their mean age was 31.98 years (range = 22-55 years). Two hundred fifty-six (61.2%) of them were married. Three hundred sixteen (75.6%) expressed favorable attitudes regarding cadaveric donation. The major reason for their consent was humanity, and the major reason for their disagreement was "body respect." Of the 418 nurses, 105 (25.1%) stated positive attitudes toward living kidney donation., Conclusion: The legal definition of death and the medical definition of death should be uniform in the view of society. To make all medical staff favor cadaveric renal transplantation, they should agree on a definition of death. It was observed that the relatively high rate of misinterpretation of the brain-death concept among respondents negatively affected nurses attitudes toward cadaveric renal transplant. It was concluded that the "concept of brain death" and the "preferences of transplant over other treatment modalities" are the two items that need further attention in educational programs for nurses.