Hepatitis B vaccination coverage among Iranian children aged 15-26 months in 2006

This study in 2006 estimated the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination coverage in the Islamic Republic of Iran at the national and district levels in urban, rural and remote populations of 41 university health service areas. Of 21 905 children recruited to the study, vaccination coverage based on vaccination card records was 100% in 14, 15 and 10 of the 41 university areas for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd doses of HBV respectively. National levels of HBV1, HBV2 and HBV3 coverage were 98.9%, 98.8% and 98.4% respectively. The lowest HBV vaccination coverage rate was 90.7% (in a remote district). HBV vaccination coverage was at an acceptable level in Iranian children

Relationship between occurrence of Guillain-Barre syndrome and mass campaign of measles and rubella immunization in Iranian 5-14 years old children

Background: Case reports and epidemiologic studies have reported a relation between different vaccines including measles, rubella, mumps and Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). In this study we investigated relation between receiving measles and/or rubella vaccines and occurrence of GBS after national immunization campaign in 2003 in Iran. Materials and methods: We used the national surveillance system for acute flaccid paralysis from the beginning of 2002 to the end of 2004 and studied the incidence of GBS disease among 5-14-year-old children. The 3-year time span of the study was divided into fifteen 10 weeks intervals and the number of reported and confirmed GBS case reports in each time period was analyzed supposing their distribution was according to Poisson distribution. Results: From 2002 through 2004 there were 370 patients confirmed GBS case reports among persons 5-14 years of age. The annual incidence in this age group remained relatively constant over the 3-year period and ranged from 0.65 per 100,000 population in 2004 to 0.76 in 2003. The estimated average annual incidence of GBS in persons <15 years of age was 1/100,000 (CI 95%: 0.88-1.13), and 0.7/100,000 in persons 5-14 years of age (CI 95%: 0.58-0.83). No obvious seasonal pattern in GBS occurrence was observed. The mean number of GBS patients during each 10 week study interval was 23.8. Twenty-five patients with GBS were reported in the time period which coincided with national immunization campaign. The probability of occurring ≥25 cases of GBS in that time period according to Poison distribution with expected case numbers of 23-8 is equal to 0.43 (p = 0.43). Conclusion: The yearly incidence rate of GBS in this study was similar to other studies. According to our results, there was no increase in GBS Incidence in the 4 weeks national Immunization campaign and 6 weeks after it in comparison to other 10 weeks periods before or after this time period. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Webometric analysis of Iranian universities of medical sciences

There are many researches have been conducted on webometrics, especially the impacts of websites on each other and the web impact factor. However, there are few studies focusing on the websites of Iranian universities. This study analyzed the websites of Iranian universities of medical sciences according to the webometric indicators. In a cross-sectional study, the number of web pages, inlinks, external inlinks and also the overall and absolute web impact factors for Iranian universities of medical sciences with active exclusive websites were calculated and compared using AltaVista search engine. Finally, the websites were ranked based on these webometric indicators. The results showed that the website of Tehran university of medical sciences with 49,300 web pages and 9860 inlinks was ranked first for the size and number of inlinks, while its impact factor was ranked 38th. Rafsanjan UMS with 15 web pages and 211 links had the highest rank for the web impact factor among Iranian universities of medical sciences. The study revealed that Iranian universities of medical sciences did not have much impact on the web and were not well known internationally. The major reason relies on linguistic barriers. Some of them also suffer from technical problems in their web design. © 2009 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary

Comparison of knowledge, attitude and practice of Urban and rural households toward iron deficiency anemia in three provinces of Iran

Background: Lack of nutritional knowledge is one of the most important reasons of nutritional problems and consequently improper practice, which can lead to several complications. This study has been designed in order to compare knowledge, attitude and practices of the urban and rural households regarding iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in Boushehr, Golestan and Sistan & Balouchestan provinces in 2004. Methods: The sampling method at household's level in each province was the single-stage cluster sampling with equal size clusters. The necessary data were gathered with a structured questionnaire and via the interviews between the questioners and the eligible people in each household. Comparison of frequency of variables between urban and rural areas were tested by chi square test. Results: A total of 2306 households were selected as overall sample size. In urban areas, people recognized iron food sources better than rural areas. Knowledge level of respondents about vulnerable group for IDA and the favorite attitude of households toward IDA were better in urban areas of Sistan & Blouchestan and Golestan provinces. In Sistan & Balouchestan and Golestan, rural households who drank tea immediately before or after meal was more than urban ones. The majority of pregnant and lactating mothers (except for rural areas of Bushehr) did not take iron supplement regularly. Less than 60 percent of children used iron drop regularly. Conclusion: Knowledge, attitude, and practice levels of households toward IDA were not acceptable. One of the best ways of improving nutritional practice is nutritional education with focus on applying available food resources

Modifiable risk of breast cancer in Northeast Iran: Hope for the future. a case-control study

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Its prevalence is increasing annually by 2. The determination of modifiable risk factors has been the subject of various studies. The aim of this study was to determine risk factors of breast cancer in women in Golestan Province. Patients and Methods: This case-control study was conducted among women with breast cancer recorded in the cancer registry system between 2004 and 2006 (n = 134), and their agematched healthy neighbors (n = 133). Data were statistically analyzed. Results: Age at marriage, menarche and pregnancy, breast feeding, positive family history, marital status, and educational level were not significantly correlated with risk of breast cancer, but age at menopause (< 46.6 years) was significantly correlated (95 confidence interval 1.15-7.37; p = 0.021). Live births, still births, and infant deaths were not significantly different between the 2 groups. For other variables, such as smoking history, no odds ratio was calculated. Conclusion: Results show that there is no significant correlation between variables and risk of breast cancer in our population, except for age at menopause. A large cohort study is recommended. © 2011 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg

A Novel Cooperative Distributed Secondary Controller for VSI and PQ Inverters of AC Microgrids

This paper proposes a novel cooperative secondary control strategy for microgrids which is fully distributed. There is a two-layered coordination, which exists between inverter based DGs of both types, i.e. Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) and Current Source Inverter (CSI), also called PQ inverter. In first layer of the proposed two-layered cooperative control strategy, VSIs will take care of the primary average voltage regulation by implementing the average consensus algorithm (ACA); then in the second layer of control, the PQ inverters will improve the voltage quality of the microgrid while maintaining the average voltage of buses at the same desired level. Zone dedication algorithm is utilized in the second layer for voltage quality purposes based on sensitivity analysis. The sensitivity analysis is based on Simplified Jacobian matrix and the result of that is used to define the zone related to each DG in the microgrid. The goal of this zone dedication is to assign loads to the DGs that can compensate their changes with less effort (generating less power) than the others. There are two major contributions in this paper; 1- PQ inverters are effectively involved to increase microgrids capacity for better power management by introducing sensitivity to the PQ inverters set-point. This is defined based on the structure of the microgrid and takes into account the location of load changes. 2- The proposed strategy not only focuses on transient response but also improves the steady state response which smooths the voltage profile of the system while keeping the average voltage at the same desired level. The algorithm has been applied to a 13 bus system with a fully distributed communication in which each VSI inverter only communicates with its immediate neighbors and each PQ inverter is only in touch with associated bordering agents. The conclusive results verify that the proposed control strategy is an effective way to control the microgrid\u27s voltage to have a smoother and stable voltage profile. The analysis also confirms the robustness of the proposed cooperative control in presence of possible time delays

A suggested prototype for assessing bone health

Background- Osteoporosis is becoming a health concern worldwide. Considering the fact that prevention plays an important role in reducing the burden of this silent disease and in view of the limited resources available, many countries have adopted certain programs to fight osteoporosis through shifting their attention towards at-risk individuals. The Iranian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study (IMOS) is one of these programs. The program aims to assess bone health and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in different parts of Iran with various altitudes, latitudes and lifestyle habits in a way that the results could be generalized to the country. Method- The present article presents the protocol used in the third phase of the study. It was designed based on the experiences gathered in the previous phases to overcome the shortcomings particularly subject loss. The questionnaire applied in this study was developed based on a thorough literature review of the risk factors and secondary causes of osteoporosis and was approved by an expert panel. It should be added that while the majority of the existing studies aim to study a certain aspect of osteoporosis, the present protocol provides the information needed for policy makers and researchers to study different osteoporosis-related issues. Conclusion- The authors believe the protocol, to be implemented with small modifications, can help policymakers in different parts of the world, particularly developing countries, gather accurate information on different aspects of bone health at the national level. © 2015, Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran. All rights reserved

Yield and Viability of Human Limbal Stem Cells From Fresh and Stored Tissue

Purpose: We compared cell number, putative stem cell markers, and clonogenic ability in fresh uncultured human limbal epithelial cells to that obtained from stored organ-cultured tissue. Methods: Cell suspensions were formed from fresh and organ culture–stored human limbal epithelium. Expression of putative stem cell markers ΔNp63 and TrkA was performed using immunofluorescent staining before culture. Colony-forming efficiency (CFE) assays were performed at first passage. The effects of tissue storage, age, and postmortem/culture times were analyzed in a general linear model. Results: Limbal tissue from 94 donors (34 fresh and 60 stored) was compared. Three times more cells were obtained per eye from fresh (35.34 × 104; SD, 17.39) than stored (11.24 × 104; SD, 11.57; P < 0.01) tissue. A higher proportion of cells from fresh tissue were viable (91.9%; SD, 5.7 vs. 85%; SD, 10.8) P < 0.01. Higher total cell expression of ΔNp63 (20.19 × 104; SD, 15.5 vs. 3.28 104; SD, 4.33) and TrkA (59.24 × 104; SD, 13.21 vs. 7.65 × 104; SD, 1.05) was observed in fresh than stored tissue (P < 0.01). Colony-forming efficiency was higher for fresh (1.42; SD, 0.12) than stored (0.43; SD, 0.15; P < 0.01) cells. For stored tissue only, there was a significant inverse relationship between donor age and total number of cells isolated (R2 = 0.27, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Storage of corneoscleral discs in organ culture medium leads to significant reduction in limbal epithelial cell number, expression of ΔNp63 and TrkA, and viability compared to fresh tissue. There is a smaller basal stem cell population in stored compared to fresh tissue

Sentinel hospital-based surveillance of Rotavirus diarrhea in Iran

Background. Rotavirus is the most common causes of severe, acute diarrhea during childhood and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. We established active hospital-based surveillance of childhood diarrhea to assess the scope of severe rotavirus disease in Iran. Methods. From May 2006 through April 2007, prospective surveillance of rotavirus diarrhea among children aged <5 years was conducted in 5 sentinel hospitals in Iran. Stool samples were tested for rotavirus using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay, and rotavirus-positive samples were genotyped using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Results. Of 2198 children admitted to the hospital for acute gastroenteritis, 1298 (59.1%) had stool samples test positive for rotavirus by enzyme immunoassay. Of the rotavirus episodes, 85% occurred during the first 2 years of life, with the peak prevalence of severe rotavirus disease occurring from September through January. Among the 110 rotavirus-positive samples that were genotyped, G4P[8] was the most commonly detected rotavirus genotype (30.9% of strains). Other commonly detected genotypes included P[8] with G nontypeable (21.8%), G4 with P nontypeable (13.6%), G1[P8] (10.9%), and G2[P4] (5.5%). Conclusions. Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in Iran, which indicates that safe and effective rotavirus vaccination in Iran is a public health priority. © 2009 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved