Quetiapine versus Haloperidol in Controlling Conversion Disorder Symptoms; a Randomized Clinical Trial

Introduction: About 5% of visits to emergency departments are made up of conversion disorder cases. This study was designed with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of quetiapine and haloperidol in controlling conversion disorder symptoms.Methods: The present single-blind clinical trial has been performed on patients with conversion disorder (based on the DSM-IV definition) presenting to emergency department of 9-Day Hospital, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran, from January 2017 until May 2018. Results: 73 patients were allocated to haloperidol and 71 to quetiapine group. Mean age of these patients was 32.03 ± 12.80 years (62.50% female). Two groups were similar regarding the baseline characteristics. Within 30 minutes, 90.41% of haloperidol cases and 91.55% of quetiapine cases were relieved (p=0.812). The most common side effects after 30 minutes were extrapyramidal symptoms (9.59%) in the haloperidol group and fatigue and sleepiness (7.04%) in the quetiapine group. Extrapyramidal symptoms was significantly higher than the quetiapine group (p=0.013).Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that although quetiapine and haloperidol have a similar effect in relieving the patients from conversion disorder symptoms, the prevalence of extrapyramidal symptoms is significantly lower in the group under treatment with quetiapine. Therefore, it seems that quetiapine is a safer drug compared to haloperidol

A novel approach to prevent graphene oxide re-aggregation during the melt compounding with polymers

The technology for the preparation of polymer-GO nanocomposites was investigated by studying the structure-properties relationships of two different systems, based on PA6 and EVA, fabricated by using different preparation methods, i.e. melt mixing, wet phase inversion, and the combination of the two. The morphology of nanocomposites resulted dramatically influenced by the technique adopted and showed to be the critical variable affecting the physical properties of the materials. Finally, the mechanical and dynamic-mechanical of the nanocomposites were improved by using the hybrid technique combining the two procedures

Comparison of High-intensity Laser Therapy with Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in the Treatment of Patients with Plantar Fasciitis: A Double-blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis (PF). Although conservative treatments relieve pain in more than 90% of patients, it may remain painful in some cases. This study aimed to compare High-intensity Laser Therapy (HILT) with Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) in patients with PF.Methods: In this double-blinded randomized clinical trial (conducted in Yazd, Iran, from May 2020 to March 2021), patients were classified into two groups, including the ESWT and HILT, using online randomization. Nine sessions, three times a week for 3 weeks, were the treatment period in both groups. Visual Analogue Score (VAS), Heel Tenderness Index (HTI), and the SF36 questionnaire were compared and analyzed statistically at the beginning and 9 months after treatment. Results: 38 patients (19 in each group) completed the study. Results showed that pain and patient satisfaction improved significantly 3 months after treatment. The VAS and HTI decreased 3 months after treatment in both groups, which was statistically significant (P<0.001). The SF36 score in both groups increased 3 months after treatment, and this increase was statistically significant (P<0.001). Although the two modalities were effective based on VAS, HTI, and SF36, a significant statistical difference was observed between them (P=0.03, P=0.006, P=0.002, respectively), and the HILT was more effective.Conclusion: ESWT and HILT decrease pain and increase patient satisfaction in PF. Besides, both methods are non-invasive and safe. However, there is a significant difference between them, and HILT is more effective.Trial registration number: IRCT20210913052465N1

Applying a Simple Model of Cost Effectiveness Study of HPV Vaccine for Iran

Abstract HPV vaccine has been recently added to the Iran Drug List, so decision makers need information beyond that available from RCTs to recommend funding for this vaccination. Modeling and economic studies have addressed some of those information needs. We reviewed cost effectiveness studies to find a suitable model for Iranian population to determine the potential cost effectiveness of HPV vaccine program based on domestic available epidemiologic data. Articles were obtained from an extensive literature search to determine the cost effectiveness of implementing an HPV vaccination program with routine cervical cancer screening. A total of 64 studies were included in this review. Although the studies used different model structures, baseline parameters and assumptions (either a Markov, Hybrid, or Dynamic model). Most of the proposed cost effectiveness models need to model the probability of HPV acquisition, the possible progression from HPV infection to CIN I, CIN II, CIN III and cervical cancer, the probability of HPV transmission which are not available in Iranian epidemiologic data. Based on the available epidemiologic data in Iran, the simplified and it requires substantially fewer assumptions than the other more complex Markov and hybrid models, therefore we decided to use this model for the evaluation of cost effectiveness of HPV vaccine in Iran

Association of Fibronectin, Leptin and LDL-Oxide Serum Levels With Coronary Artery Disease in Non-smoker and Non-diabetic Patients

Objective: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death of women and men worldwide. Endothelial dysfunction, smoker, diabetic, cell adhesion and oxidative stress may be considered as novel risk factors of CAD. These materials are cooperative events involved in atherosclerosis development. In the present study the serum levels of fibronectin, leptin and LDL-oxide were investigated in patients of CAD including non-smoker and non-diabetic with control group. Measurement of these parameters helps to prevent and treat the disease. Materials and Methods: In this study we measured serum levels of fibronectin, leptin and LDL-oxide in 200 individuals including 100 patients with CAD and 100 individuals as control group. Also patients with malignancy, renal and liver diseases and other disease were excluded from the study. Serum leptin and fibronectin were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method using kits from German Imediagnostic and Chinese Crystal Day companies, respectively. Moreover, ELISA procedures were used to determine the serum LDL-oxide. Results: The serum levels of fibronectin, leptin and LDL-oxide were increased significantly as compared to control group (P ≤ 0.05 in all cases). It seems that there was strong (+) correlation between fibronectin, leptin and LDL-oxide in CAD. Conclusion: It was concluded that endothelial dysfunction, cell adhesion and stress oxidative are cooperative events involved in atherosclerosis development. Fibronectin, leptin and LDL-oxide have become greatly important in pathogenesis of CAD. Association between fibronectin, leptin and stress oxidative suggest that their involvement in development of atherosclerosis can be used as detective measure