Prevalence of Helminthes Infection of Stray Dogs in Ilam Province

    Stray dogs are considered as an important health problem in societies because they can carry dangerous diseases such as hydatidosis, toxocariasis and coenurus cerebralis to humans and animals. Therefore, the study of helminthes infections in all parts of Iran for evaluation of infection state, and provision of the infection control programs is essential. The aim of this study, was to determine the prevalence of parasitic cestodes in stray dogs around Ilam city. In this study, 65 stray dogs were killed by shooting with the municipality officers and were dissected considering health rules. After laparotomy, internal organs are inspected, and bowels completely collected in separate containers containing 10% formaldehyde. Transferring the samples to the parasitological laboratory, the bowels were cut using forceps, and its contents passed through the sieve, and the worms were separated. Azo carmine & carminic acid staining was used for diagnosis of isolated cestodes. The number of 65 dogs, 54 dogs (83%) had at least one species of cestodes; that 32% (21 dogs) infected by Taenia ovis, 9% (6 dogs) by Echinococcus granulosus, 15.4% (10 dogs) by Taenia hydatigena, 20% (13 dogs) by Taenia multiceps, 18.5 /% (12 dogs) by Dipylidium caninum and 10.8% (7 dogs) by Mesocestoides lineatus. In this study, it was shown that helminthic rate in stray dogs is very high around Ilam. These parasites are important in terms of health and economic aspects. Therefore, it is more essential that we note to parasitic infections, to develop control programs

¿Por que os índices de fragilidade não são usados sistematicamente durante as consultas de coluna no pré-operatório?

Introduction: Frailty indices are highly predictive of major medical and mechanical complications, lengths of hospital stay, and mortality rates after spine procedures. However, several barriers limit the extent to which spine surgeons employ these indices. The main purposes of the current study were to assess the use of frailty indices by Latin-American spine surgeons and identify the main barriers perceived to restrict their clinical application. Methods: For this cross-sectional survey, a questionnaire evaluating the demographic characteristics of participating surgeons and their utilization of frailty indices were created in Google form and sent by e-mail to every registered member of AO Spine Latin America between October and November 2020. Results: Of the 1047 surgeons sent the survey, 293 responded (response rate=28%). Half of the surgeons (51.7%) said they were unfamiliar with the terms ¨frailty´ and ¨frailty index”, while 70.3% claimed not to use any frailty scale during their pre-operative assessments. The most frequently utilized index was the modified Frailty Index (mFI) (18%). The most important perceived barrier was the excessive amount of time required to calculate each patient’s frailty score. Ninety-two percent of the spine surgeons felt sure that these scores could influence their therapeutic decisions, while 91% desired an easier-to-use risk-prevention scale. Conclusion: The main perceived barriers restricting the use of frailty indices were the time required to complete them, lack of index validation, and need for specific instruments to calculate the index score.Introducción: Los índices de fragilidad aplicados a procedimientos quirúrgicos de columna vertebral, son altamente predictivos de complicaciones mecánicas y médicas mayores, de duración de estadías hospitalarias y de tasas de mortalidad. Sin embargo, existen barreras que limitan el uso extensivo de estos indices. El objetivo principal de este estudio es de evaluar el uso de Índices de fragilidad por cirujanos Latino-Americanos de Columna vertebral y de identificar las principales barreras percibidas que restringen su aplicación clínica. Métodos: Encuesta transversal en la cual se utilizó un cuestionario (Google Forms) enviado por correo electrónico a cada miembro registrado de AO Spine Latin-America entre octubre y noviembre de 2020. El mismo indaga las características demográficas de los cirujanos participantes y la utilización de los índices de fragilidad en su práctica clínica. Resultados: De los 1047 cirujanos a quienes se envió la encuesta, 293 respondieron (tasa de respuesta = 28%). La mitad de los cirujanos (51,7%) dijo no estar familiarizado con los términos “fragilidad” e “índice de fragilidad”, mientras que el 70,3% afirmó no utilizar ninguna escala de fragilidad durante sus evaluaciones preoperatorias. El índice más utilizado fue el índice de fragilidad modificado (mFI) (18%). La barrera percibida más importante fue la excesiva cantidad de tiempo necesario para calcular la puntuación de fragilidad de cada paciente. El 92% de los cirujanos de columna estaban seguros de que estas puntuaciones podrían influir en sus decisiones terapéuticas, mientras que el 91% deseaba una escala de prevención de riesgos más fácil de usar. Conclusión: Las principales barreras percibidas que restringen el uso de índices de fragilidad fueron el tiempo requerido para completarlos, la falta de validación de los índices y la necesidad de instrumentos específicos para calcularlos.Introdução: Os índices de fragilidade são altamente preditivos de complicações médicas e mecânicas importantes, tempo de internação hospitalar e taxas de mortalidade após procedimentos na coluna vertebral. No entanto, várias barreiras limitam a extensão em que os cirurgiões de coluna empregam esses índices. Os principais objetivos do presente estudo foram avaliar a utilização de índices de fragilidade por cirurgiões de coluna latino-americanos e identificar as principais barreiras percebidas para restringir sua aplicação clínica. Métodos: Para esta pesquisa transversal, um questionário avaliando as características demográficas dos cirurgiões participantes e sua utilização dos índices de fragilidade foi criado no formulário do Google e enviado por e-mail a todos os membros registrados da AO Spine Latin America entre outubro e novembro de 2020. Resultados: Dos 1.047 cirurgiões que enviaram a pesquisa, 293 responderam (taxa de resposta = 28%). Metade dos cirurgiões (51,7%) afirmou não conhecer os termos ¨fragilidade´ e ¨índice de fragilidade”, enquanto 70,3% afirmaram não utilizar nenhuma escala de fragilidade durante as avaliações pré-operatórias. O índice mais utilizado foi o Índice de Fragilidade modificado (mFI) (18%). A barreira percebida mais importante foi a quantidade excessiva de tempo necessária para calcular a pontuação de fragilidade de cada paciente. Noventa e dois por cento dos cirurgiões de coluna tinham certeza de que essas pontuações poderiam influenciar suas decisões terapêuticas, enquanto 91% desejavam uma escala de prevenção de risco mais fácil de usar. Conclusão: As principais barreiras percebidas que restringem o uso dos índices de fragilidade foram o tempo necessário para completá-los, a falta de validação do índice e a necessidade de instrumentos específicos para o cálculo do escore do índice

Value Orientation and Its Relationship to Socio-Economic Indicators of Human Development in Iran

Research on rising educational and income levels in Iran shows that such changes bring forth attitudes favoring universalism, rationality, scientific thinking etc., which themselves lead to even more development. The paper also presents a brief review of current theories of the sociology of economic development. 13 tables are presented

Investigation on production rate and cost of Timberjack-450C in two skidding direction in combined harvesting system

Managers of logging operation are faced with profit reduction due to rapid increases in equipment costs, rapid depreciation of equipment and changing logging systems from harvesting the large trees to the smaller ones. The simplest way to confront this problem is improving the efficiency of the logging operation. Using work study methods, the required information for this purpose can be obtained. The aim of this study was to develop skidding time estimation model, skidding unit cost and productivity estimation of Timberjack- 450C skidder in two skidding directions and under combined logging system (tree length, long wood and short wood systems depending on different situations). The results show that skidder productivity rate in uphill skidding is 16.31 m3/hr and greater than its productivity in downhill skidding (12.32 m3/hr). Changing of logging system (using combined system (with 14.31 m3/hr productivity rate) rather than short wood system (8.88 m3/hr) gives rise to the increase of productivity rate. The Timberjack- 450C production cost which was working under contract was 145000 rials/ m3

Educational Status of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

Introduction The objective of this study was to understand how spine surgeons learn minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the educational experience of MISS. Potential solutions for increasing the spine surgeon's access to MISS educational resources were also discussed

Paper and Flexible Substrates as Materials for Biosensing Platforms to Detect Multiple Biotargets

The need for sensitive, robust, portable, and inexpensive biosensing platforms is of significant interest in clinical applications for disease diagnosis and treatment monitoring at the point-of-care (POC) settings. Rapid, accurate POC diagnostic assays play a crucial role in developing countries, where there are limited laboratory infrastructure, trained personnel, and financial support. However, current diagnostic assays commonly require long assay time, sophisticated infrastructure and expensive reagents that are not compatible with resource-constrained settings. Although paper and flexible material-based platform technologies provide alternative approaches to develop POC diagnostic assays for broad applications in medicine, they have technical challenges integrating to different detection modalities. Here, we address the limited capability of current paper and flexible material-based platforms by integrating cellulose paper and flexible polyester films as diagnostic biosensing materials with various detection modalities through the development and validation of new widely applicable electrical and optical sensing mechanisms using antibodies and peptides. By incorporating these different detection modalities, we present selective and accurate capture and detection of multiple biotargets including viruses (Human Immunodeficieny Virus-1), bacteria (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus), and cells (CD4+ T lymphocytes) from fingerprick volume equivalent of multiple biological specimens such as whole blood, plasma, and peritoneal dialysis effluent with clinically relevant detection and sensitivity

Toxicology Study of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes and Reduced Graphene Oxide in Human Sperm

Carbon-based nanomaterials such as single-walled carbon nanotubes and reduced graphene oxide are currently being evaluated for biomedical applications including in vivo drug delivery and tumor imaging. Several reports have studied the toxicity of carbon nanomaterials, but their effects on human male reproduction have not been fully examined. Additionally, it is not clear whether the nanomaterial exposure has any effect on sperm sorting procedures used in clinical settings. Here, we show that the presence of functionalized single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT-COOH) and reduced graphene oxide at concentrations of 1–25 μg/mL do not affect sperm viability. However, SWCNT-COOH generate significant reactive superoxide species at a higher concentration (25 μg/mL), while reduced graphene oxide does not initiate reactive species in human sperm. Further, we demonstrate that exposure to these nanomaterials does not hinder the sperm sorting process, and microfluidic sorting systems can select the sperm that show low oxidative stress post-exposure

Time to surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: How long does it take? A multicenter study

Study design: Retrospective review of multicentric data. Objectives: To estimate the time from initial visit to surgery in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients and the main reasons for the time to surgery in a multicenter study. Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 509 patients with AIS from 16 hospitals across six Latin American countries. From each hospital's deformity registry, the following patient data were extracted: demographics, main curve Cobb angle, Lenke Classification at the initial visit and time of surgery, time from indication-for-surgery to surgery, curve progression, Risser skeletal-maturity score and causes for surgical cancelation or delay. Surgeons were asked if they needed to change the original surgical plan due to curve progression. Data also were collected on each hospital's waiting list numbers and mean delay to AIS surgery. Results: 66.8% of the patients waited over six months and 33.9% over a year. Waiting time was not impacted by the patient's age when surgery first became indicated (p = 0.22) but waiting time did differ between countries (p < 0.001) and hospitals (p < 0.001). Longer time to surgery was significantly associated with increasing magnitude of the Cobb angle through the second year of waiting (p < 0.001). Reported causes for delay were hospital-related (48.4%), economic (47.3%), and logistic (4.2%). Oddly, waiting time for surgery did not correlate with the hospital's reported waiting-list lengths (p = 0.57) Conclusion: Prolonged waits for AIS surgery are common in Latin America, with rare exceptions. At most centers, patients wait over six months, most commonly for economic and hospital-related reasons. Whether this directly impacts surgical outcomes in Latin America still must be studied