The Iranian female high school students' attitude towards people with HIV/AIDS: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has become an important public health hazard in Iran. It is believed that AIDS-related knowledge does not necessarily translate into behavior modification. Hence, it has been suggested that culturally appropriate educational campaigns should be implemented to obtain satisfactory outcomes. Here, we evaluated the female high school students' attitude towards HIV/AIDS in Tabriz, Iran to assess the cultural needs for the related educational programs and to discover sources of information about AIDS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Anonymous, self-administered questionnaires were filled by the young female students. Among 300 students, 91% agreed that being an HIV carrier should not be an obstacle to obtaining education and employment. Moreover, 72.5% of the students declared that the community should be informed of HIV-positive people. In addition, one-tenth declared that they would feel extremely uncomfortable towards their HIV infected classmate. In addition, only 16% of the students stated that they would continue to shop at HIV infected grocer's store. The mass media and the experts were the major source and the most reliable source of information about AIDS, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Tabrizian female students have overall negative attitudes towards HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS related educational campaigns should target the students, society and the families with emphasizing the leading roles of health staff.</p

Avian Influenza Knowledge among Medical Students, Iran

Avian Influenza Knowledge among Medical Students, Ira

The role of high-, moderate-, and low-intensity training in enhancing functional mobility and muscle strength of aged female: a randomized controlled trial

Resistance training provides many benefits to the older population, and it is considered one of the most effective ways to counter-attack age-related sarcopenia and dynapenia disorders. This article evaluates the impacts of high, moderate, and low training intensities on muscle strength and functional mobility of older adults. A single-blinded factorial design for 12 weeks was conducted among 60 healthy older Malaysian women (>65 years). The authors assessed the Five times Sit to Stand (5STS), the Timed Up and Go test (TUG), and the 6 Minutes Walking Test (6MWT). The participants were randomly divided to the HighIntensity Group (HIT; n=15) (69.60 ± 3.68); Moderate-Intensity Group (MIT; n=15) (69.27 ± 3.41); Low-Intensity Training (LIT; n=15) (69.27 ± 1.94); and Control Group (CG; n=15) (68.67 ± 2.38). In terms of time, there is a statistically noticeable difference in the means of all the variables (p< .001). Moreover, a statistically significant connection between the intervention and time was seen on all the variables (p< .001). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the means of 5STS (P< .001) and TUG (P= .025) in the intervention groups, there was no statistically significant difference observed in 6MWT (P= .90). The results suggested that all of these intensities training are beneficial for improving muscle strength and functional mobility. In addition, the HIT is more effective in improving the 5STS, TUG, and 6MWT, as compared to the MIT, LIT, and CG. These findings revealed that HIT tends to result in greater improvement of muscle strength and mobility

Three rare etiologies of urinary retention in pediatrics: A case series and review of the literature

Key Clinical Message Etiology of urinary retention in pediatric age differs significantly from adults and the elderly. Therefore, a comprehensive diagnosis is crucial before specific treatment. Every effort must be made to minimize invasive procedures as far as possible in children

The Effects of Different Exercise Intensities on the Static and Dynamic Balance of Older Adults: A randomised Controlled Trial

This study aims to find the effectiveness of different exercise intensities (high-, moderate-, and low-intensity) on the dynamic and static balance of elderly women. A single-blinded factorial design study was conducted in healthy older adults (>65 years) in 12 weeks. The authors have assessed the Forward Reach Test (FRT), Lateral Reach Test (LRT), One Leg Stand (OLS), Tandem Stand Test (TST) in 60 healthy older women at a gym centre, Fit House located in Bukit Rimau, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Participants were randomly assigned to a High-Intensity Training (HIT) group; (n=15) (Mean age 69.60 ± 3.68) who performed four exercises [Leg Press (LP), Leg Extension (LE), Leg Curl (LC), and Calf Raises (CR)] at 80 to 90% of One-Repetition Maximum (1RM); Moderate-Intensity Training (MIT) group (n=15) (Mean age 69.27 ± 3.41) performed at 65 to 75% of 1RM; Low- Intensity Training (LIT) group (n=15) (Mean age 69.27 ± 1.94) performed at 50 to 60% of 1 RM; and a Control Group (CG) (n = 15) (Mean age 68.67 ± 2.38) with no training. Data was collected at pre-test, 4th, 8th, and 12th weeks of intervention. 60 participants were analysed and the main effect of time showed a statistically significant difference in the mean of all variables (all p < 0.001), and also there was a statistically significant interaction between intervention and time on all variables (all p < 0.001). Different levels of intensity on only the lower extremities muscles had a significant effect on the dynamic balance and static balance of the elderly population. After four weeks of training HIT, MIT, and LIT illustrated significant improvement in dynamic balance, as well as static balance

Assessment of short- and long-term memory in trends of major climatic variables over Iran: 1966–2015

In arid and semi-arid regions, water scarcity is the crucial issue for crop production. Identifying the spatial and temporal trends in aridity, especially during the crop-growing season, is important for farmers to manage their agricultural practices. This will become especially relevant when considering climate change projections. To reliably determine the actual trends, the influence of short- and long-term memory should be removed from the trend analysis. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of short- and long-term memory on estimates of trends in two aridity indicators—the inverted De Martonne (ϕ IDM ) and Budyko (ϕ B ) indices. The analysis is done using precipitation and temperature data over Iran for a 50-year period (1966–2015) at three temporal scales: annual, wheat-growing season (October–June), and maize-growing season (May–November). For this purpose, the original and the modified Mann–Kendall tests (i.e., modified by three methods of trend free pre-whitening (TFPT), effective sample size (ESS), and long-term persistence (LTP)) are used to investigate the temporal trends in aridity indices, precipitation, and temperature by taking into account the effect of short- and long-term memory. Precipitation and temperature data were provided by the Islamic Republic of Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO). The temporal trend analysis showed that aridity increased from 1966 to 2015 at the annual and wheat-growing season scales, which is due to a decreasing trend in precipitation and an increasing trend in mean temperature at these two timescales. The trend in aridity indices was decreasing in the maize-growing season, since precipitation has an increasing trend for most parts of Iran in that season. The increasing trend in aridity indices is significant in Western Iran, which can be related to the significantly more negative trend in precipitation in the West. This increasing trend in aridity could result in an increasing crop water requirement and a significant reduction in the crop production and water use efficiency. Furthermore, the modified Mann–Kendall tests indicated that unlike temperature series, precipitation, ϕ IDM , and ϕ B series are not affected by short- and long-term memory. Our results can help decision makers and water resource managers to adopt appropriate policy strategies for sustainable development in the field of irrigated agriculture and water resources management.Water Resource

Statins in patients with COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study in Iranian COVID-19 patients.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has profoundly affected the lives of millions of people. To date, there is no approved vaccine or specific drug to prevent or treat COVID-19, while the infection is globally spreading at an alarming rate. Because the development of effective vaccines or novel drugs could take several months (if not years), repurposing existing drugs is considered a more efficient strategy that could save lives now. Statins constitute a class of lipid-lowering drugs with proven safety profiles and various known beneficial pleiotropic effects. Our previous investigations showed that statins have antiviral effects and are involved in the process of wound healing in the lung. This triggered us to evaluate if statin use reduces mortality in COVID-19 patients. Results: After initial recruitment of 459 patients with COVID-19 (Shiraz province, Iran) and careful consideration of the exclusion criteria, a total of 150 patients, of which 75 received statins, were included in our retrospective study. Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used to estimate the association between statin use and rate of death. After propensity score matching, we found that statin use appeared to be associated with a lower risk of morbidity [HR = 0.85, 95% CI = (0.02, 3.93), P = 0.762] and lower risk of death [(HR = 0.76; 95% CI = (0.16, 3.72), P = 0.735)]; however, these associations did not reach statistical significance. Furthermore, statin use reduced the chance of being subjected to mechanical ventilation [OR = 0.96, 95% CI = (0.61-2.99), P = 0.942] and patients on statins showed a more normal computed tomography (CT) scan result [OR = 0.41, 95% CI = (0.07-2.33), P = 0.312]. Conclusions: Although we could not demonstrate a significant association between statin use and a reduction in mortality in patients with COVID19, we do feel that our results are promising and of clinical relevance and warrant the need for prospective randomized controlled trials and extensive retrospective studies to further evaluate and validate the potential beneficial effects of statin treatment on clinical symptoms and mortality rates associated with COVID-19