Micro-opto-mechanical pressure sensor via ring resonator-based Mach–Zehnder interferometer

A microscale opto-mechanical pressure sensors was studied using a combination design of silicon microring resonator and Mach–Zehnder interferometer placed on the middle of the pliable squared diaphragm fabricated from silicon-polydimethylsiloxane layers. The outward displacement and deflection of the diaphragm in z-directions along the x- and y-axes were calculated using the finite element method. The optical transfer function of proposed layout was derived using the delay line signal approach. The optimum geometrical parameters of the system and a critical coupling condition were determined for pressure sensing application and an extended quasi-FSR as large as 108 nm with quality factor of 4752 was realized. The performance of the sensor in the range of 0–225 kpa was studied based on the spectral shift of output resonance peaks due to the applied shear stress on the diaphragm. The sensitivity and a minimum detectable pressure of proposed is calculated to be 0.38 nm/kPa and 50 pa, respectively. The proposed pressure sensor fulfills the expectations of microscale size, high precision, and high sensitivity, and this sensor potentially can be used as high-performance devices in the precision Instrumentation, aircrafts technology as well as harsh environments

History of treated pulmonary tuberculosis will also be an underlying symptom of opportunistic aspergillosis by Aspergillus flavus: A case report

AbstractIntroductionAspergillus species as cosmopolitan fungi with remarkable virulence factors were found to be agents of pulmonary aspergillosis in patients with impaired immunity. The formed cavity of some previously treated lung diseases, such as tuberculosis, sarcoidosis and pneumoconiosis, is usually predisposed to the development of aspergillosis.Pulmonary aspergillosis (PA) is an uncommon disease which is characterized by hemoptysis, malaise, fever, cough, weight loss and nonspecific radiographic manifestations, including an oval or round mass with a radiolucent halo or crescent of air, a focal consolidation, and cavitary lesions.Case presentationThis study presents the case of a 54-year-old woman with dyspnea alongside a history of treated pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) by ATT 2years ago. X-ray confirmed the presence of a rounded mass in a surrounding cavity in the lung. Tracheobronchial and chest CT images of the patient showed cavities with tuberculous nodules. Clinical symptoms of the patient were fever, malaise, anorexia, weight loss, chest pain, cough and dark mucus sputum. Aspergillus sp. was detected primarily as branching hyaline hyphae in direct examination of the sputum by calcofluor-white staining. The sample was positive with culture as well. Aspergillus flavus was identified in culture and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing of the ITS region of rDNA and β-tubulin of fungus. The patient signed an agreement for reporting her case as a medical document in journals or in conferences.ConclusionThe importance of tuberculosis (TB) in the development of aspergillosis, even after treatment, has been highlighted by multiple studies. Microbiological and molecular evaluation are needed to detect PA quickly and accurately. The WHO reported about 8.8million new cases of TB in 2010. Therefore, it is essential to focus more on monitoring of diagnosis and treatment of PA

Computed Tomographic findings of maxillofacial SCC and Undifferentiated carcinoma

Abstract:Objectives: Tomographic findings contribute enormously to the accurate diagnosis of malignant lesions in due time and/or at imminent stages. This study investigates CT-scan findings of maxillofacial SCC and undifferentiated carcinoma.Study design:  CT images of 61 maxillofacial malignant tumors included 42 SCCs and 19 undifferentiated carcinomas were evaluated based on the location, internal density, border, bone destruction and expansion, periosteal reaction, emphysema, calcification, loss of facial and fat plane, and fat plane reticulation, by two expert radiologists separately. The data were analyzed, using Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test.Results: Isodense/homogeneous (78.7%) and total heterogeneous enhancement (87.8%) appearance were the most common internal patterns detected before and after injection of contrast, respectively. There was a significant association between borders and pathology of our two lesions (p= 0.007).Conclusions: It is highly unlikely to diagnose the tumor histopathology based merely on its tomography patterns; however it is feasible to determine its aggressive nature.      Key words: Computed tomography, SCC, undifferentiated carcinoma, maxillofacial regio

Assessment of systemic effects of ginger on salivation in patients with post-radiotherapy xerostomia

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Our aim was to assess the clinical efficacy of ginger capsule (Zintoma herbal capsule) in the relief of symptoms in patients with post-radiotherapy xerostomia. METHODS: This study was a randomized double-blind, parallel clinical trial of ginger usage in patients with post-radiotherapy xerostomia. Sixty-one subjects were selected from patients with xerostomia of Imam Khomeini Cancer Institute, Tehran, Iran. Subject-based dry mouth scores derived from 100 mm visual analogue scales (VAS) were recorded at baseline. Patients also completed a questionnaire on the first visit regarding the symptoms of xerostomia. The patients received ginger capsule (30 persons) or placebo (31 persons) three times daily over a 2-weeks period. At the end of day 14, dry mouth scores derived from VAS were recorded again and patients responded to the additional variables regarding dry mouth symptoms and quality of life issues. P < 0.05 was considered significant. Data were analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: The mean treatment effect on day 14 was 33.7 ± 20.9 mm in the ginger group and 23.6 ± 17.3 mm in the placebo group. The analysis indicated marginally significant improvement of xerostomia with ginger prescription (P = 0.057). At the end of intervention there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding improvement of quality of life or dry mouth symptoms. CONCLUSION: It seems that ginger could be helpful in the treatment of xerostomia. Since ginger is considered a safe herbal medicine with only few and insignificant adverse/side effects further studies in larger group of patients are recommended to provide the effect of ginger on different complaints of xerostomia. KEYWORDS: Ginger, Radiation, Xerostomi

First report of tinea corporis caused by Trichophyton quinckeanum in Iran and its antifungal susceptibility profile

Background and Purpose: Trichophyton quinckeanum, a known zoophilicdermatophyte responsible for favus form in rodents and camels, is occasionally reported to cause human infections.Case Report: This study aimed to report a case of tinea corporis caused by T. quinckeanum that experienced annular erythematous pruritic plaque with abundantpurulent secretions. In June 2021, a 15-year-old girl with an erythematous cup shape lesion on the right wrist bigger than 3 cm in diameter was examined for tinea corporis. Since March, 2016 her family has kept several camels at home. Direct examination of skin scraping and purulent exudates revealed branching septal hyaline hyphae and arthrospore. Morphological evaluation of the recovered isolate from the culture and sequencing of ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2 region resulted in the identification of T. quinckeanum. Antifungal susceptibility testing showed that this isolate had low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for luliconazole,terbinafine, and tolnaftate, but high MICs to itraconazole, fluconazole, posaconazole, miconazole, isavuconazole, ketoconazole, clotrimazole, andgriseofulvin. However, the patient was successfully treated with oral terbinafine andtopical ketoconazole.Conclusion: It can be said that T. quinckeanum is often missed or misidentified due to its morphological similarity to T. mentagrophytes/T. interdigitale or other similar species. This dermatophyte species is first reported as the cause of tinea corporis in Iran. As expected, a few months after our study, T. quinckeanum was detected in other areas of Iran, in a few case

Renal primitive neuroectodermal tumor: does age at diagnosis impact outcomes?

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) of the kidney is a rare and highly malignant neoplasm. The median age for renal PNET is 27 years but it can be seen also in a wide age range between 3 and 78 years. We performed a Medline search for the term renal PNET and identified 79 cases up till December of 2010. We report here a new case of renal PNET and a literature review for published data for evaluation of clinicopathological prognostic factors, with an emphasis on prognosis in two groups of adults and children-adolescents: 18 years of age or under and over 18 years

Malignant transformation of tailgut cyst to squamous cell carcinoma, a rare case with poor outcome

Abstract Tailgut cyst, a type of retro‐rectal cyst, is a rare condition requiring evaluation for malignant transformation. We report a case of squamous cell carcinoma arising in the retro‐rectal cyst, in a 51‐year‐old female who underwent incomplete resection of the cyst and chemo‐radiotherapy, subsequently became locally recurred and metastatic

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Survival in Iranian Patients

This study focused on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that is characterized by the lack of expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2). The primary goal of this study was to describe the relation between triple-negative receptor status and survival. This is the first study about triple-negative breast cancer in our community of the 1541 patients diagnosed with breast cancer between 2002 and 2007 at the Cancer Institute (Tehran, Iran). 107 patients were identified as TNBC and 107 patients were randomly selected as non-TNB. HER-2, ER and PR status were assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Analyses of their collected data were performed retrospectively and then clinical and pathologic parameters were compared between two groups. In multivariate analysis, a significantly decreased overall survival was observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (55.7 months versus 60.7 mounts; 95%CI: 51.1-60.3 and 57.9-63.5 for TNBC and non-TNBC respectively, P=0.0008). The 2- and 5-year estimates for overall survival were 69.8% and 62.3% for TNBC, and 90% and 83% for non-TNBC, respectively. During the study period, 36 (33.6%) patient of TNBC and 14 (13.1%) of non-TNBC presented local recurrence. Significantly decreased disease-free survival was also observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (P=0.0004). The 2- and 5-year estimates for disease-free survival were 68% and 63% for TNBC; and 89% and 82% for non-TNBC, respectively. Significantly decreased distant metastasis free survival was also observed for patients with TNBC compared with non-TNBC (54.4 mounts versus 61.7 mounts; 95%CI: 49.8-59.0 and 59.1-64.4 for TNBC and non-TNBC respectively, P=0.0004). Triple negative breast cancer has a biologic aggressive behavior and poor prognosis. Therefore aggressive treatment and regular follow-up in early stage of diagnosis can be a significant impact on their prognosis

Prioritizing the Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction among Hospitals Staff Affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences Based on Analytic Hierarchy Process

Introduction: Challenges of service provision systems necessitate the presence of staff with higher motivation to work more efficiently; therefore, paying close attention to job satisfaction of such staffs to enhance organizational efficiency sounds essential. This study aimed to prioritize factors affecting personnel satisfaction in hospitals of TUMS using AHP Model. &nbsp; Materials & Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 5 hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2015. The data collection tool was a questionnaire containing demographic questions as well as nine questions on personnel satisfaction. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were assessed, and the data was analyzed using analytic hierarchy process and Expert Choice V. 11 software. &nbsp; Findings: According to the AHP model, rewards and compensations were the most important factors (0.262), and monitoring and supervision were of the lowest importance (0.030). Factors of Job security (0.182), job improvement (0.177), job positions (0.091), working conditions (0.075), communications among colleagues (0.063), associated with personal life (0.060), and policy management (0.035) obtained next priority. Also, rank of items in unmarried female employees were higher than that of married male employees. &nbsp; Discussion & Conclusion: The conclusions for our investigation demonstrate that correction mechanisms in hospitals and use of leverage by offering incentives such as performance-based management can enhance motivation as well as the employees&rsquo; performances. In addition, efforts to strengthen social relationships among colleagues would lead to more satisfaction as a significant component