Archives of Advances in Biosciences

Introduction: COVID-19 is an infectious disease that was first reported in Wuhan, China, on 31st of December, 2019. After about three years, it is still one of the main health problems all over the world. Interventions to control COVID-19 should be based on epidemiological parameters which describe the dynamics of the disease. The goal of this study is to estimate the reproductive number parameter to understand the speed and dynamics of COVID-19 in Shiraz, Fars province of Iran.

Materials and Methods: 479 cases of COVID-19 were sampled in Shiraz, Iran. Case-pairs of infector-infectees were obtained by brief phone interviews with the patients. Considering time between symptom onsets of the infectors and their infectees as serial interval, best possible distribution was fitted to the serial interval data. To estimate reproductive number, it is assumed that reproductive number is linked to daily incidence and serial interval distribution.

Results: Gamma distribution with mean of 4.610 and standard deviation of 5.746 was fitted on serial interval data. Using this distribution and daily incidence, reproductive number was estimated. The reproductive number values ranged from 0.730 (95% CI: 0.713, 0.747) to 2.181 (95% CI: 2.183, 2.224). These values indicated that there were two peaks in April and May; following the interventions after those peaks, reproductive number values reduced to below 1. Hence, the interventions were effective and successfully managed the outbreak in both waves.

Conclusion: low reproductive number values in some periods of time indicates that preventive measures were effective in Shiraz, Fars province of Iran. In order to control the disease, reproductive number should decrease to below 1 which is happening at the end of the study.

Introduction: The shadow of the coronavirus phenomenon over the nursing profession is considered as a serious threat to the health of nurses and the quality of nursing care for coronavirus patients. This study intended to measure the occupational fatigue/exhaustion recovery of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in hospitals affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study of 203 nurses caring for coronavirus patients was conducted in 2021 using the census method. Data were collected using a 15-item Occupational Fatigue/Exhaustion Recovery (OFER-15) scale, and were analyzed by SPSS statistical software version 22 using independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Tukey’s post hoc tests. The significance level was set at α = 0.05.

Results: The majority of the nurses were female (51.2%), married (81.3%), and bachelor’s degree holders (86.2%). The mean occupational exhaustion score of the nurses studied was 60.20±6.13, indicating a high level. Likewise, the average score for chronic fatigue was 22.89±5.87, representing a high level. In contrast, the mean scores for acute fatigue and inter-shift recovery were 18.36±2.76 and 18.95±2.41, respectively, suggesting a moderate level. Nurses in the special coronavirus ward had a significantly higher mean score of acute fatigue than those in the general coronavirus ward (p=0.02).

Conclusion: Since the mean occupational exhaustion score among nurses caring for coronavirus patients was high in this study, it is recommended that managers modify the conditions and variables that contribute to fatigue, implement the necessary controls to reduce fatigue, and formulate a strategy to boost the productivity of nurses and the satisfaction of COVID-19 patients.

Introduction: Stress is a psychological trauma that the family caregivers of COVID-19 patients may experience that can impair the caregivers’ positive adaptation to stressful experiences, i.e., their resilience, leading to a decline in the quality of patient care. This study aimed to determine the effect of virtual-based resilience training on perceived stress levels among family caregivers of COVID-19 patients.

Materials and Methods: Twenty family caregivers of COVID-19 patients discharged on the same day from 22nd-Bahman Hospital of Khaf were recruited by census and assigned randomly to experimental or control groups in a quasi-experimental study. Before and after the intervention, data on the caregivers’ demographic characteristics, resilience, and perceived stress were collected using electronic questionnaires. One month of training was given to the experimental group via the WhatsApp application. Data were analyzed by SPSS-22 using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Levine’s, and analysis of covariance tests. The level of significance was set to α = 0.05.

Results: In this study, 20 family caregivers of COVID-19 patients were allocated to experimental (4 men and 6 women) and control (3 men and 7 women) groups. Post-test scores for perceived stress (F = 290.34, P <0.001) and resilience (F = 799.794, P <0.001) revealed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated that virtual-based resilience training is an effective method for minimizing perceived stress and enhancing the resilience of COVID-19 patients’ family caregivers.

Introduction: Nannorrhops ritchiana (Griff) Aitch (Arecaceae) is an edible, extensively used shrub to small tree dispersed in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Arabian Peninsula. In this study, the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant capacity, and antimicrobial activity of the fruit and seed extracts of Nannorrhops ritchiana were evaluated in vitro.

Materials and Methods: The plant sample was collected from a wild population in Saraydan village, Iranshahr, Sistan and Baluchistan, and the methanolic extracts of the seeds and fruits were obtained by the maceration method The Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride colorimetric protocols were followed for quantifying total phenolic and flavonoid contents respectively. The total antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of alcoholic extracts were also measured using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazy (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay and disc diffusion method, respectively. Antimicrobial activity was investigated on 5 Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus Streptococcus, pneumoniae, Rhodococcus equi, Bacillus subtilis subsp. Spizizenii and Enterococcus faeca) and 3 Gram-negative (Shigella flexneri, Proteus vulgaris, and Salmonella typhi) bacteria, and 3 fungi (Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Candida albicans).

Results: The total phenolic content of the seeds was higher than that of fruit (331.33±8.3 vs 360.93±10.23 μg gallic acid equivalents/g, respectively) while, the total flavonoid content of seeds was almost half as much as that of fruits (70.50±3.1 vs 127.70 ±5.25 μg quercetin equivalents/g, respectively). The ethanolic seed extract exhibited better scavenging ability for DPPH with IC₅₀ of 117.77 ± 6.3 μg/mL compared to fruit extract with IC₅₀ of 204.34±7.59 μg/mL. Moreover, the ethanolic extracts at initial concentrations inhibited the growth of several tested pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that the fruits and seeds of Nannorrhops ritchiana are rich sources of phenolic compounds with natural moderate antioxidant and antimicrobial properties which can be a candidate for possible dietary and/or medication applications.

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies in the world with a high mortality rate, making screening and early detection of the condition essential. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have a significant role in the initiation and advancement of numerous malignancies, including CRC, by taking part in the control of gene and protein expression that affects apoptosis, cell proliferation, and immunological responses. In this study, through bioinformatics methods, we investigated this non-coding group in CRC and the normal group in both early and advanced stages of the disease.

Materials and Methods: In order to identify the lncRNAs that could have a tumor-suppressing role in CRC, RNA sequencing data from the cancer genome atlas (TCGA) were analyzed. Then, the Pearson correlation test was applied between the expression level of candidate lncRNAs and all genes expressed for identifying potential pathway. Genes with the highest correlation were selected and subjected to gene enrichment analysis. Also, the roles of identified lncRNAs were evaluated in terms of biomarkers.

Results: The results of the expression analysis for the TCGA data showed that the expression of the IRF1-AS1, LINC01871, TRG-AS1, and USP30-AS decreased during the progression (stages III and IV compared with stages I and II) of CRC. The enrichment results of all the genes in the co-expression network related to IRF1-AS1, LINC01871, TRG-AS1, and USP30-AS showed that these lncRNAs could play a role in immune response, inflammation, and IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling and apoptosis pathways. Additionally, our findings demonstrated that the aforesaid lncRNAs were significantly lower in CRC samples compared with normal samples based on TCGA data, Also, the expression of some of them may serve as an appropriate biomarker.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that IRF1-AS1, LINC01871, TRG-AS1, and USP30-AS decreased during the progression of CRC and could play a tumor-suppressing role.

Introduction: Accurate and timely diagnosis of mild cognitive disorders is essential to prevent their progression to dementia. This study aimed to determine the relationship among the serum levels of lipid markers of cognitive disorders in older adults in Birjand.

Materials and Methods: The community-based cohort study was performed on 1400 older adults population (60 years and older) living in urban and rural areas of Birjand, among whom 242 older adults were selected by multi-stage random sampling; the Mini-Mental State Examination Cognitive Disorders Questionnaire was completed, and five cc of blood samples were taken to assess Triglyceride, Cholesterol, Low density lipoprotein, High-density lipoprotein, lipoprotein a, Apo lipoprotein A, and Apo lipoprotein B.

Results: The mean age of participants was 70.6± 6.96 years. 55.4% were women. The level of MMSE was significantly different based on the demographic information. Mean serum levels of Lipid profile, Apo B/ Apo A Ratio, and LP a, were not significantly different from MMSE.

Conclusion: The study showed a significant relationship between demographic information and MMSE level, so it can be used to improve the cognitive level of older adults by changing their life situation, marital status, and education. However, the parameters of Lipid profile, Apo B/ Apo A Ratio, and LP a are not used to diagnose cognitive disorders in older adults.

Introduction: Feline mammary carcinoma (FMC) is the third most common cancer in cats. Diagnosis of mammary gland tumors (MGTs) increases every year; this might be due to the rise in occurrence or improvements in methods of detecting MGTs. Determinants associated withtheir occurrence are studied in the present paper.

Materials and Methods: In this case-series study, 40 queens with FMC were referred to the determined major veterinary hospitals of Tehran for treatment between 2020 and 2022; their mammary carcinoma had been confirmed by the attended pathologist. Different parameters including age of cancer diagnosis, breed, reproductive status, BCS, diet type, parity, tumor size, multiple tumors, ER and PR status, location and type of treatment were recorded on the day of presentation using a checklist.

Results: Domestic short hairs were overrepresented. Also, queens with old age (more than 9 years old), homemade diet, sexually intact status, no parity, obesity, ER and PR positivity had higher frequency towards developing FMC. Imbalanced homemade diet energy is a speculated cause.

Conclusion: Humans and their companion animals share the same environment, thus being exposed to the same environmental risks. Although canine mammary tumors have been the focus of human breast cancer (HBC) modeling, this study also aimed to compare current feline mammary carcinoma determinants with previously defined human breast cancer determinants to produce a model. Based on the results of this study, we concluded that FMCs are a proper model to study HBC.

Introduction: The functions of specialized brain parts undoubtedly influence emotional inhibition. Numerous studies have considered the prefrontal cortex of the brain’s two hemispheres to be responsible for this behavior. However, few studies have addressed the question of to what degree a change in this brain unit can affect response inhibition and reaction time in the face of emotional stimuli. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate emotional behavior in patients with frontal lobe gliomas.

Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental research, the Integrated Visual and Auditory (IVA) test and affective Go/No-Go task in the areas of happiness and anger, focusing on response accuracy and reaction time were performed for 16 patients with frontal lobe lesions and 20 healthy individuals. These tests were repeated three months after surgery. The t-test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Mann-Whitney, and their related equivalence test were applied for statistical analysis.

Results: The results revealed that following surgery, there was an improvement in the patients’ reaction times and response accuracy to both emotional stimuli especially against the stimulus of anger exist. The IVA results showed the significant improvement in neurocognitive condition of all patients following surgery.

Conclusion: Toward improving the emotional conditions, lesion resection surgery could significantly help these patients regain their normal cognitive function. However, a difference was seen between patients and healthy individuals.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is linked to the development of virtual education for students at home and a shift in parental role. The family's cohesion and structure can be affected by a change in parental roles. This study was designed and implemented with the aim of investigating the effects of virtual education system designed for students on family cohesion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted with 374 parents of public school students in Khaf city in 2021. Samani's family cohesion questionnaire was utilized to collect the required data. The data were then analyzed through SPSS version 26, more specifically by using Tukey's one-way analysis of variance and post hoc statistical tests. The level of significance was set at p<0.05.

Results: Mothers played the biggest role in the virtual education process of their children (69%). The majority of the participants (47.9%) were parents of elementary school students. The mean family cohesion score among the parents was 81.69±23.66, indicating a moderate level. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the mean score of family cohesion among the studied parents based on the students’ education stage, the parents’ education levels, occupations, and monthly income.

Conclusion: The results showed that the virtual education of students in the corona pandemic has affected the cohesion of the family. The average level of family cohesion during virtual education is a source of danger for the foundation of the family. More attention should be paid to the issue of the family. The excellence and cohesion of the family requires accurate and practical programs in order to recognize the problems faced by the family during the virtual education of students.

Introduction: English language is now an indispensable part of higher education, and a good command of English, like in many parts around the globe, is of special importance for Iranian university students who want to continue their education toward a higher degree. Yet, the English language instruction they receive after entering university throughout their studies is in need of constant investigation and improvement.

Materials and Methods: The present survey study tried to examine the current status of the English language courses and their instructors in the Iranian universities of medical sciences in different cities of the country nationwide using questionnaires.

Results: Regarding course instructors, of a total of 485 English language instructors at 31 universities of medical sciences, only 61 (12.57%) were English language faculty members. The remaining 424 (87.43%) instructors were either medical specialists who taught English language courses (191; 39.3%) or non-faculty part-time (guest) lecturers (233; 48%). As for the courses, a significant number of ESAP (499 credits; 39.5%) and general English (61 credits; 5.15%) course credits were taught by medically-oriented faculty members (content specialists).

Conclusion: The results highlight the need to assess the quality of EAP instruction in Iran through drawing on multiple sources of data and taking into account the perspectives of all the stakeholders, especially those of the students.

Introduction: As human endometrium Mesenchymal stem cells (hEMSCs) therapy has been used to treat different diseases, its tracing is essential. Low image sensitivity is one of the most critical problems. So, in this study, transplanted hEMSCs were labeled with the PEG-coated SPION nanoparticles for the first time to improve low image sensitivity at Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for more efficient in vivo tracking of cells. To achieve the goals, we evaluated the effects of various concentrations of PEG-coated SPION (20nm) incubated with hEMSCs on cytotoxicity and cell survival.

Materials and Methods: PEG-coated SPION was synthesized and its uptake into the cytoplasm of hEMSCs was confirmed by Prussian Blue staining 48 and 72h after incubation at 0, 100, 200, and 300 μg/ml concentrations. Several assessments were done to track the cell differentiation. Then gene expression was assessed by RT-PCR.

Results: The data of Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) confirmed that PEG-coated SPION absorption by hEMSCs was as increased as the dose (P<0.05). In general, higher concentrations of PEG-coated SPION improved MRI image contrast and enhanced cell fate tracking. Our results suggested that 100 μg/ml PEG-coated SPION was ideal because the cytotoxicity was not statically significant compared to the control group (p<0.05). At 200 and 300 μg/ml concentrations, PEG-coated SPION caused increased oxidative stress and initiated apoptosis and autophagy in hEMSCs. The mechanism of its action was found by evaluation of several key genes; the mRNA levels of apoptosis and autophagy markers, including Bax, Caspase3, BECLIN, LC3, and TP53 raised significantly (P<0.05), while BCL2 decreased at 300 μg/ml concentration (P<0.05).

Conclusions: Higher concentrations of PEG-coated SPION can increase ROS production in a dose and time-dependent manner.

Introduction: CD19 is an important antigen in manners of immunotherapy and B cell development. Studies showed that presence of CD19 is essential for B cell differentiations in various stages of a B lymphocyte. In most B cell associated malignancies, CD19 is expressed in normal to high levels making it a strong marker for targeting malignant B cells. Single chain antibodies are a derivative of antibody which only composed of variable regions of the antibody joined to each other by a polypeptide linker. They have been used for various purposes such as diagnostics, therapy and these act like a targeting part in binding to other molecules. Production of this binding molecules in E.coli expression systems have been challenging because of inability of these hosts to correctly fold the recombinant protein. Therefore, expression and purification condition that improve the solubility of scFvs in this expression system may enable us to obtain a higher yield of functional scFvs for in vitro and in vivo application.

Materials and Methods: In this study, we used a pET expression system induced by IPTG in BL21 (DE3) strain to express our phage display derived anti-CD19 scFvs. For this purpose, we cloned and expressed three clones of scFvs selected by soluble panning of a human scFv library against our target (CD19 extracellular domain) in phage display. After selection of the positive colonies, bacterial crude extracts of each colony were prepared and their affinity was checked with ELISA against CD19.

Results: PZ7 was selected for cloning in pET28a vector, expression in BL21 and purification as it had highest affinity in crude extract ELISA. We observed the ~750 bp fragment of scFv after cloning in pET28a vector. Appropriate protein size was checked in SDS-PAGE before and after purification with NI-NTA. A protein band of ~27 kDa was confirmed in SDS-PAGE and western blotting. Furthermore, the sequence analysis showed that scFv PZ7 belonged to the human immunoglobulins family which our scFv library has derived from.

Conclusion: Successful implementation of the pET28a vector enabled efficient cloning and expression of a CD19-specific scFv antibody. The hybrid protein purification method employed demonstrates its potential for diverse protein types.

Introduction: In the current turbulent world of business, organizations have to try and compete to identify, attract and retain the most qualified managers as a competitive advantage. One of the most significant areas of a country is its health sector. Undoubtedly, the policies of senior and middle managers of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education play a pivotal role in the health system. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the required competencies for managers to improve efficiency and quality of services. This study aimed to design a competency model for selecting and appointing qualified people in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. A comprehensive model in this regard can be useful in selecting and appointing qualified people for the tenure of organizational positions in the realm of health.

Materials and Methods: The present study is explanatory and survey-based and employed a mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) approach. First, semi-structured interviews and content analysis were used to identify the variables. Then, structural equation modeling was measured using a quantitative questionnaire. The statistical population was all managers of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Tehran; fourteen of them were selected through snowball sampling.

Results: The extracted model has five levels including competency dimensions, competency approaches, competency large-scale fields, factors related to competency, and different types of competencies. The results showed that the professional-operational component had the highest ranking and effects on the achievements of managers.

Conclusion: The results showed that interactive and professional-operational skills had the highest ranking among other components.

Introduction: Stress is defined as a physiological response to environmental conditions which could cause changes in the level of neuropeptides in the central nervous system. Trans- anethole is the secondary active compound with anti-stress and antioxidant properties. This research investigates the effects of trans-anethole on the hypothalamic CRH and CGRP gene expression in stress model rats.

Materials and Methods: Twenty male rats weighing 200-220 g were used. Animals were divided into four groups (n=5). The intact control or stress groups received saline. Two stress groups received trans-anethole (150 mg/kg or 250 mg/kg, IP). Thirty minutes following the injection of drugs, animals were subjected to acute immobilization stress for two hours. Then, behavioral tests were performed. The hypothalamic samples were removed. CRH and CGRP gene expression was measured using RT-PCR.

Results: The mRNA levels of CGRP and CRH significantly increased in the stress group compared to those of the control. In rats receiving 150 mg/kg or 250 mg/kg of trans-anethole, the mRNA level of CGRP and CRH decreased significantly compared to that of the stress group. Also, injection of 150 mg/kg or 250 mg/kg of trans-anethole significantly improved the stressful behaviors compared to what happened in the stress group.

Conclusion: Trans-anethole may be considered as a potential anti-stress factor due to its inhibitory effects on the activity of hypothalamic stress pathways such as CRH and CGRP.

Introduction: Children are the future of any community and identifying their pattern of diseases is a reflection of the health status of that region. This study was conducted to investigate the frequency of hospitalization causes in children under 15.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed among 360 children under 15 in the pediatric ward of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Jiroft in 2020. Data were collected by a pre-designed checklist according to the patients' files. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics and a chi-square test.

Results: The most common causes of hospitalization in both sexes were gastrointestinal disease (44.11%) and fever of unknown origin (FUO) (36.7%), and a significant relationship was observed between gender and the cause of hospitalization of children (P <0.001). In the age group of one month to one year, the most common cause of hospitalization was FUO (27%) followed by gastrointestinal diseases (25%). Otitis media (23%) was the most common cause of hospitalization in children aged 1 to 3 years, gastrointestinal diseases in children aged 3 to 6 years (16.4%) and 6 to 12 years (25%), respectively. There was also a statistically significant relationship between pediatric age and hospitalization causes (P <0.001).

Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of diseases such as gastrointestinal diseases and FUO among the causes of hospitalization of children, epidemiological studies and the provision of preventative health services for said diseases in children seem necessary.

Introduction: This study aims to identify the outcomes of healthy lifestyles during the post-COVID-19 era.

Materials and Methods: A qualitative field study was conducted based on the interpretive paradigm and inductive reasoning using theoretical and non-probability sampling techniques. Our study adopted the grounded theory approach, and semi-structured interviews were employed as data collection tools. While theoretical saturation was reached by the end of the thirteenth interview, the interviews continued until the fifteenth for further certainty. Faculty members and experts with doctoral degrees at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences constituted the statistical population from whom 15 individuals were recruited based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The hidden content of interviews was summarized, coded, and analyzed using the MAXQDA software version 2020.

Results: The researcher and supervising professors extracted 37 initial concepts, of which six remained after eliminating duplicates. The outcomes of healthy lifestyles during the post-COVID-19 era emerged from the intuitive opinions of experts, namely, the promotion of social capital, the promotion of psychological capital, and the movement toward development.

Conclusion: Providing and maintaining health is not a simple act and is fraught with complexities, as numerous biological, individual, family, cultural, social, economic, political, and health factors are involved. Realization of appropriate health platforms, prevention of chronic diseases, and promotion of healthy lifestyles among citizens are not targets to be fulfilled merely by health-related organizations and bodies; rather, they require extensive coordination and empathy among all educational, health, cultural, service, and even political institutions and bodies.

Introduction: Medical Laboratory graduates are experts who will be responsible for performing clinical laboratories practices, and therefore theses students must acquire the necessary skills and knowledge during the internship course. Identifying the problems that reduce quality of internship and solving these problems seems to be essential to increase efficacy of this course. This research was conducted with the purpose of recognition of the problems, hoping to promote the quality of the internship course.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on twenty undergraduate medical laboratory students during the internship course, at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. In order to evaluate the learning level of students internship skills and the response level of learners satisfactions to this training, a man-made questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics (mean, SD and percentage) using SPSS.

Results: Scores obtained from the respondents regarding the Performance of the school and the internship coordinators, for questions 1,5 ,8, 11 were intermediate and in response to questions 2,3,4,6,7 and 10 were very good. With respect to the Performance of the Laboratory and the Internship Instructors, students  evaluation for question 9 was weak whereas for questions 1,2,3,4,5,8, satisfaction scores were very good and in response to question 6 and 7 excellent scores were obtained.

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, to improve quality of the internship course, the active presence of the educational instructors in the internship sites will have a great effect on increasing the students’ motivation and interest to participate in practical internship activities and consequently will have a stronger effect on educational attainment.

Introduction: To address a hyperarousal model with daytime qEEG frequency band fluctuations in frontal, central, and parietal regions in Psychophysiological insomnia(PPI) compared to good sleepers(GS).

Materials and Methods: qEEGs in resting states of Patients with Psychophysiological insomnia (n = 16) were contrasted with those with good sleep (n = 20). To serve this purpose, a daytime hyperarousal model is developed with a linear model.

Results: psychophysiological insomnia(PPI) recorded significantly high beta band activity in all brain regions as their eyes closed condition compare to the control. In addition, low frequency in the frontal region and high frequency in the parietal and central regions were detected in eyes open conditions.

Conclusion: The hyperarousal model results suggest that patients with psychophysiological insomnia were undergoing daytime neurophysiological hyperarousal because of upregulation in arousal and low-frequency band fluctuation in the frontal region in eyes closed condition is the most effective index.

Introduction: This study aimed to identify the effect of differences in age-sex structure in COVID-19 hospitalizations and death rates among men and women in Iran. Accordingly, we calculated the SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized patients and mortality rates, stratified by sex, age, and demographic distribution.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, where the target population was the total population from 20 March 2020 until 20 March 2022 in Iran, over the two-time periods, 20 March 2020 until 20 March 2021 [first year], and 20 March 2021 until 20 March 2022 [second year]. The chi-squared test was used for analysis.

Results: During the first year, 493220 cases were hospitalized with 258209 (52%) men, in addition 61,586 deaths occurred, where 34,849 [57%] were men. The overall hospitalization rate per 100,000 population in men and women was 607.77 and 565.57, respectively, and the mortality rate per 100,000 population in men and women was 82.03 and 64.34, respectively. During the second year, 652893 cases were hospitalized, where 340344 (52%) were women. The overall hospitalization rate per 100,000 population in men and women was 727.98 and 809.67, respectively, in addition to 54,740 deaths, where 29,172 [53%] were men. The overall mortality rate per 100,000 population in men and women was 67.95 and 60.83, respectively.

Conclusion: The findings showed a higher hospitalization in the first year in men, whilst the opposite was evident in the second year. The mortality rate increased with age and was most predominant in men, 50 years of age or older. Therefore, there is a need for policy makers to be acutely aware of the discrepancies in mortality according to age and sex groups, and have different, and complementary, strategies for controlling the pandemic by age and sex groups.

Introduction: Opiates dependence has many side effects on body especially brain neuroplasticity leading to changes in behavior. In this study, we evaluated the effects of morphine dependence on learning and memory as well as on Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator -1 alpha (PGC-1α) protein level as a key regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. Also, by using Chloroquine (lysosomal inhibitor) and dopaminergic system inhibitor (Sulpiride), the molecular mechanism, underling morphine addiction related to lysosome, dopamine receptors and mitochondria, has been considered in this study.

Materials and Methods: Male albino Wiastar rats received morphine in their water for 21 days; during the ending 4 days, they received daily intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of Chloroquine diphosphate (50 mM). Also, i.c.v. injection of Sulpiride (0.25µg/rat) was done before behavioral test. Shuttle box apparatus was used for learning and memory evaluation. After behavioral test, the brains of rats were extracted and the level of PGC-1α protein was investigated by western blotting.

Results: Results indicated that morphine oral administration has reduced learning and memory-like behavior. Pre-training i.c.v. injection of Chloroquine and Sulpiride improved learning and memory. PGC-1α protein level in rats which received Chloroquine and also in the morphine group increased and there was a more significant increase in rats which received morphine, Chloroquine and  Sulpiride altogether.

Conclusion: Morphine has an adverse effect on learning and memory as it has been shown with spending more time in dark rooms of Shuttle box apparatus, which was reversed by Chloroquine (lysosomal inhibitor) and dopamine inhibitor (Sulpiride).  Increasing PGC-1α protein level may imply the important role of mitochondrial biogenesis in morphine-dependent learning changes. Overall, data suggest dopaminergic system along with lysosome and mitochondrial activity play an important role in morphine addiction status.

Introduction: Machine translation is a new subject increasingly being used by academic writers, especially students and researchers whose native language is not English. There have been numerous studies conducted on machine translation, but few investigations have assessed the accuracy of machine translation from Persian to English at lexical, semantic, and syntactic levels.

Materials and Methods: Using Groves and Mundt’s model of error taxonomy, the current study evaluated Persian-to-English translations produced by two famous online translators, Google Translate and Bing Translator. A total of 60 texts were randomly selected from the academic field of medicine. All texts were rendered by the two translation systems and then by four human translators. statistical analyses were applied using SPSS.

Results: The results indicated that Google translations were more accurate than the translations produced by the Bing Translator in the domain of medicine (lexis: 186 vs. 225; semantic: 44 vs. 48; syntactic: 148 vs. 264 errors).

Conclusion: The findings suggest that students and researchers can reasonably benefit from the systems in rendering plain texts from Persian to English, given that the translated versions are subjected to human editing.

Introduction: The genus Carduus belongs to Asteraceae family and is used to treat different human diseases, like cold, stomachache, and rheumatism. The current research investigated acute and repeated dose toxicity of Carduus pycnocephalus extract in mice.

Materials and Methods: Acute and repeated-dose toxicity experiments were performed in female mice according to OECD 423 and 407 guidelines, respectively. Physical observations were made regularly and body weight was weekly measured. The organs weight, histopathology, and blood chemistry were then analyzed. Statistical analysis was done by the GraphPad Prism 8 software, and the results were presented as mean ± SEM. P values below 0.05 were considered significant.

Results: No treatment-related mortalities were observed by oral administration of C.pycnocephalus extract up to the dose of 2000mg/kg. However, food consumption and water intake showed some variations in treated groups, and there were not any significant abnormalities related to treatment in treated groups in comparison to that in the control group in repeated-dose toxicity examination. Moreover, no significant alterations were noted in organ and body weight, food consumption, histopathology, and biochemical parameters in treated groups in comparison to the control group. Normal histological morphology was observed in all dose ranges and controls, except for the liver of high dose-treated samples which showed lymphocytic infiltrate and hepatocytes degeneration.

Conclusion: LD₅₀ of C.pycnocephalus extract could be above 2000mg/kg in acute toxicity experiment. Furthermore, with sub-chronical administration of the extract at a dose of 200 mg/kg, liver tissue was slightly damaged.

Introduction: The spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic strains has led to growing concerns in the world. One of the solutions to overcome this global problem is to research natural compounds and find natural ones with antibacterial properties. In this research, therefore, the antibacterial effects of calycosin on some important pathogens were studied. Also, we studied the antitumor effects of calycosin on HT-29 cell line.

Materials and Methods: After preparation of calycosin, its antioxidant capacity was measured. Then, the indicated strains were prepared from the microbiology department of Tehran Medical University and were then cultured. The disk diffusion, microdilution and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium (MTT) methods were used for evaluating antibacterial activity, determining minimum inhibition concentration (MIC), studying the antitumor effects of calycosin, respectively.

Results: Calycosin showed a strong antioxidant capacity and its IC₅₀ for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging was measured to be 120 μg/ml. The study of the antibacterial effects of calycosin indicated that it was more effective on gram-positive bacteria than gram-negative bacteria. The MIC of calycosin for pathogens E. coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus was calculated to be 32, 32, 40, 26 and 28 µg/ml, respectively. To determine the synergistic effects, a concentration of 1.2 MIC of calycosin was used along with antibiotics; the results indicated the synergistic effects of antibiotics and calycosin on the studied pathogens, except for Staphylococcus aureus. Calycosin reduced HT-29 cell line viability at 2000µg/mL.

Conclusion: In general, it was concluded that calycosin has strong antibacterial activity on the pathogens used, especially Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus; besides, it has synergistic effects with antibiotics. In this field, in vivo and clinical studies are needed.

Introduction: Every year, over 10 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed worldwide. Cancers tend to be closely associated with lifestyle.This study aimed to investigate the lifestyle-related cancer risk factors in the medical students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 270 students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in Iran, who were selected through convenience sampling. Data collection was performed using a lifestyle risk factor questionnaire, which was provided to students online. Data were analyzed with the statistical analysis software SPSS-21 by using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Mann-Whitney tests at the 0.05 significance level.

Results: All participants were in the age range of 22-25 years old. About 28% of the participants were male and 72% were female. Men showed higher awareness of cancer warning signs than women (p=0.046). Women were more active in taking protection measures against chemical substances than men (p=0.042). Men were in significantly better condition in terms of the use of hormones than women (p=0.048). Married people were also more active in taking protection measures against chemical substances than single people (p=0.042).

Conclusion: Compared to other lifestyle risk factors for cancer, the surveyed medical students had particularly poor “eating habits” and “solar radiation exposure”. About half of the surveyed students had a high level of exposure to sunlight. Therefore, it is highly recommended to implement a program to raise students’ awareness of cancer risk factors and promote healthy lifestyles in this population.

One of the major concerns of the health system of countries is resistance to common fungicides by pathogenic strains. The World Health Organization places special emphasis on finding natural compounds with antifungal properties. Therefore, in the present study, the antifungal and antitumor effects of ethanol extract of propolis were studied. For this purpose, at first, M. furfur MF7 strain was prepared and cultivated. Then, propolis ethanol extract was prepared. The microbioassay method was used to study the effects of different concentrations of propolis extract on the growth of M. furfur, and the broth microdilution method was used to determine the MIC and MFC. Also, the effect of this extract on ergosterol biosynthesis was studied. The results of the study showed that the MIC of propolis ethanol extract on this pathogenic fungus is 10 mg/ml and its MFC is 20 mg/ml. The decrease in fungus growth was seen with the increase in the concentration of propolis ethanol extract, so that there was no growth in the concentration of 20 mg/ml ethanol extract of propolis. Also, with the increase in the concentration of the extract, the biosynthesis of ergosterol decreased, and at the concentrations of 15 and 20 mg/ml, a severe decrease in the biosynthesis of this compound was seen. Propolis reduced HT-29 cell line viability at 2000µg/mL. In general, it was concluded that propolis ethanol extract is a suitable option for treating diseases caused by M. furfur. Studies in clinical conditions are needed.

Materials and Methods: The carrageenan-induced paw edema method was used to evaluate the acute anti-inflammatory effects of the NRE extract (50,100, and 200mg/kg, i.p.). The postive and negative control groups received mefenamic acid and normal saline, respectively. Then, the rats’ paw tissues were removed and collected for studying tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) level. In addition, the cotton pellet-induced granuloma method was utilized to assess the chronic anti-inflammatory effects of the extract (100 and 200 mg/kg daily for 8 days, i.p.). The postive and negative control groups received indomethacin and saline, respectively. On the last day of the cotton pellet test, the rat’s serum was collected for interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) determination.

Results: In the carrageenan test, the extract significantly reduced the paw edema compared to that of the control (p<0.05). The anti-inflammatory activity (100 and 200 mg/kg) of the extract was similar to that of the mefenamic acid group (P<0.05). TNF-α levels demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory effects just at the dose of 200 mg/kg. In granuloma induced by cotton pellets, NRE was also effective based on the granuloma formation and the transudate amount. The anti-inflammatory activity of the inflorescence extract was found to be the same as the indomethacin group, whereas IL-1β did not represent significant changes.

Introduction: In this study, we assessed the expression of E-cadherin in HT29 cell line treated with 5-Azacytidine and colorectal cancer patient in an Iranian population. E-cadherin expression promotes metastasis and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). 5-Azacytidine, a DNA methyl transferase inhibitor, is a clinically used epigenetic drug for treatment of cancer including colorectal cancer, leading to genes activation involved in tumor suppression, especially E-cadherin.

Materials and Methods: HT29 cell line treated with 5-Azacitidine and 40 polyps, 20 tumors and 40 adjacent normal tissues samples were enrolled in this study. Using the real-time PCR method, the expression levels of E-cadherin were examined in treated cell line and colorectal cancer tissue.

Results: This study proves that 5-Azacytidine induces over expression of E-cadherin in adenocarcinoma cell line, while the expression levels of E-cadherin were not different in tumor and polyp than adjacent normal tissue.

Conclusion: To conclude, 5-Azacytidine induces re-expression of E-cadherin in adenocarcinoma cell line. Thus, 5-Azacytidine as demethylation drug activated tumor suppressor gene as E-cadherin.

Introduction: Clinical trials have long been vital to advancing how to prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases. However, traditional clinical trials are limited to one-stage interventions and therefore have little flexibility. With application of precise medicine, new concepts in terms of design can increase the flexibility of clinical trials, which in turn augment the likelihood that a trial will benefit the most people who participate.

Materials and Methods: In today's world, we are facing the spread of various diseases. Thus, physicians have to make numerous treatment decisions in different stages of the disease. In practice, such decisions represent the way physicians treat patients, but this is statistically a dynamic treatment regimen (DTR). Effective DTRs can be developed and studied in clinical trials called Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trials (SMART).

Results: A total of 30 studies were extracted from reliable databases and websites, and research related to SMART was reviewed.

Conclusion: Considering that most experiments are performed in one step, and intermediate events are ignored and that focus is on the final event, introducing SMART plans and the concept of DTRs is important for researchers and clinical colleagues; treatment guidelines must encompass entire treatment regimens in order for them to be useful for clinicians and patients.

Context: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an advanced and devastating neurodegenerative illness. It is an important reason for dementia in the world’s quickly aging population. The spread of AD cases positions serious problems on relations, society, and the family. MicroRNAs are endogenous ∼22 nucleotides non-coding RNAs that could control gene expression nearby a length of RNA or DNA that has been transcribed respectively from a DNA or RNA template or translation suppression. AD is a multifactorial disorder and a progressive disease beginning with mild memory loss that micoRNAs show a serious character in the pathogenesis of AD. In this review, we will focus on the outcome of microRNAs in diverse pathological manners during AD development.

Evidence Acquisition: miRNAs are small noncoding endogenous RNA sequences active in the regulation of protein expression; change of miRNA expression can cause abnormal adjustment in key genes and pathways that contribute to disease development. The role of exosomal miRNAs has been proven in various neurodegenerative diseases, and this opens the possibility that dysregulated exosomal miRNA profiles may influence AD disease. However, most abnormally expressed miRNAs recognized in AD are not triggered by synaptic activity. Some findings showed that synaptic-related miRNA mediates synaptic/memory deficits in AD via the protein signaling pathway, illuminating a potential therapeutic strategy for AD. Data were obtained by inhibiting miRNA and blocking the phosphorylation on mediated protein.

Results: The pieces of evidence show that microRNAs play a critical role in the pathogenesis of AD, but they do not have the same role in the disease. For example, miRNA-134 and miRNA-146 show downregulation in the brain of AD mice while miRNA-138 can regulate the evolution of synapse and size of the spine.

Conclusion: The data on miRNAs in in vitro and in vivo AD animal models must be established by educations in the human brain. This feature is critical for forming the real the role of micRNA in AD miRNAs in AD.

Contex: While the world is still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, the newly emerging viral disease, monkeypox, first broke out in the United Kingdom on April 29th, 2022, amid the coronavirus crisis. Now that routine human smallpox vaccination has ended and herd immunity is waning, new assessments about monkeypox are needed.

Evidence Acquisition: In this systematic review, the epidemiological characteristics and clinical features of monkeypox disease were investigated. Persian articles were searched and retrieved using the keywords monkeypox, epidemic, COVID-19, an emerging infection in Magiran, Iran Medex, SID, and Irandoc databases, and so were the English articles using the same keywords in PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science databases without time limit. In the end, 343 articles were selected and used in this study.

Results: From the review of the studies, it was concluded that although cases of this disease have been reported in many non-endemic countries of the world, and we should be prepared for its prevention and proper treatment, considering its slower transmission method it seems that this disease can be controlled and prevented much more easily than COVID-19.

Conclusion: although it is recommended that the proper and complete training of people and doctors regarding the symptoms and transmission of this disease by the relevant institutions should be initiated quickly, one should be careful that raising the awareness of the public about this disease is accompanied by fear and panic. There is a need for a cautious teaching method, by following health principles.

Introduction: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) invades many organs including central nervous system through olfactory nerves and hematogenic pathways causing many disorders ranging from mild to severe. In what follows, we discuss a post-covid Parkinsonism case in a previously healthy 59-year-old man one week after mild covid infection.

Case presentation: A 59-year-old man presented with symmetric resting tremor, symmetric rigidity, festinating gait and balance difficulty with a history of COVID-19 one week before admission. Examination was notable for Parkinsonism. Lab tests and MRI were normal. Eight months after starting with levodopa-benserazid, pramipexole, trihexiphenidyl, vitC, vitE and COQ10, the patient had a complete resolution of all symptoms.

Conclusion: Several cases report post-covid Parkinsonism in previously healthy patients with no family history of parkinson’s disease. The age of patients with post-covid Parkinsonism ranged from 35-74 with mild, moderate, or severe symptoms of covid.  The most common complaint of patients was tremor and most of them had a significant response to levodopa. Our patient and those mentioned in the case reports did not have any family history of Parkinson’s disease and used to be healthy. These data obtained from case reports indicate that there might be a possible link between covid infection and acute Parkinsonism.

Introduction: Gilbert's syndrome (GS) is an autosomal recessive condition characterized by a relative lack of glucuronyl transferase, inadequate hepatocyte absorption of unconjugated bilirubin, and recurrent bouts of jaundice.

Case Presentation: A 24-year-old male patient was diagnosed with Gilbert's syndrome during a routine checkup. All tests except unconjugated bilirubin were normal.

Conclusion: It was the first report from Bushehr. This case was asymptomatic patient which, identified only during routine checkup tests.

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