Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Introduction -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- 1. Iran's Foreign Policy: History, Geo-politics and Diplomacy as Determiners -- 2. Iran and the United States of America -- 3. The Conundrum: Iran's Relations with Regional Powers -- 4. Power and Rivalry: Iran and the Arab World -- 5. Iran's Complex Relations with Afghanistan and Pakistan -- 6. Prospects and Progress: Iran's Evolving Relationship with Russia and China -- 7. Iran's Engagement with Central Asia and South Caucasus -- 8. Pivotal Geography: India and Iran Relations -- Present Realities.
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This article reports on the development and evaluation of a mail survey measuring population attitudes toward substance use and potential receptivity of communities to different prevention efforts. The Community Readiness Survey was designed through a series of prevention practitioner and consultant meetings and focus groups. Psychometric evaluation revealed five distinct domains: perception of alcohol, tobacco, or other drug problem; support for prevention; permissive attitudes toward teen substance use; perception of adolescent access; and perception of community commitment. Evidence of construct validity was demonstrated by the small but significant relationships between selected scale scores and community readiness as evaluated by prevention planners.
The drugs or biological products for the diagnosis, treatment, or, prevention of a rare disease or condition are orphan drugs. Even though the drugs intended to treat common disease where revenue is not expected by pharmaceutical manufacturer are as well categorized as orphan. United State of America (USA) was the first nation to propose a legal framework to encourage development and availability of orphan drugs. The orphan drug act was passed on January 28, 1983 by U.S.A.to stimulate the research, development, and approval of those products that treat orphan diseases. The regulation for orphan drugs varies in different countries. Orphan diseases are a spectrum of medical conditions with very different etiologies, the common denominator being the infrequency of their occurrence in the population. The new business model of orphan drugs could offer an integrated healthcare solution that enables pharmaceutical companies to develop newer areas of therapeutics, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and patient support. Incentives for drug development provided by governments, as well as support from the FDA and national organizations in special protocols are a further boost for the companies developing orphan drugs. Although there may still be challenges ahead for the pharmaceutical industry, orphan drugs seem to offer the key to recovery and stability within the market
<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> The complex genetic diversity among human populations results from an assortment of factors acting at various sequential levels, including mutations, population migrations, genetic drift, and selection. Although there are a plethora of DNA sequence variations identified through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), the challenge remains to explain the mechanisms underlying interindividual phenotypic disparity accounting for disease susceptibility. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) present in the sites for DNA methylation, transcription factor (TF) binding, or miRNA targets can alter the gene expression. The systematic review aimed to evaluate the complex crosstalk among SNPs, miRNAs, DNA methylation, and TFs for complex multifactorial disease risk. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> PubMed and Scopus databases were used from inception until May 15, 2019. Initially, screening of articles involved studies assessing the interaction of SNPs with TFs, DNA methylation, or miRNAs resulting in allele-specific gene expression in complex multifactorial diseases. We also included the studies which provided experimental validation of the interaction of SNPs with each of these factors. The results from various studies on multifactorial diseases were assessed. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 11 articles for SNPs interacting with DNA methylation, 30 articles for SNPs interacting with TFs, and 11 articles for SNPs in miRNA binding sites were selected. The interactions of SNPs with epigenetic factors were found to be implicated in different types of cancers, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and asthma. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The systematic review provides evidence for the interplay between genetic and epigenetic risk factors through allele-specific gene expression in various complex multifactorial diseases.
