The Arab Spring and the position of the balance of power in the "selective activism" policy of Iran and Russia in the Middle East and North Africa

Although the Arab Spring and the resulting developments in the Middle East countries did not bring about a specific change in the political systems of the countries of the region to strengthen democracy, it was the beginning of a large-scale transformation of the foreign policy of Russia and Iran in West Asia and North Africa. In terms of methodology, to understand the foreign policy of Iran and Russia concerning these events and their analysis, in this research, general scientific analysis methods (historical, inductive-comparative methods, event analysis) and some special methods for the direct study of international relations, including the analysis method based on a systemic approach, have been used. Accordingly, it has been found that given the goals and indicators that Iran and Russia have defined for their regional foreign policy, they both followed the policy of “selective activism” based on the principle of balance of power towards the Arab Spring. Therefore, Iran’s reaction to the events in the Arab countries is not based only on Shia identity; the benefits of the international norms accepted by Iran have also influenced the actions of this country. Iran selects how to act in the region based on the norms and roles that it defined for itself and ultimately seeks a balance of power in the region against Saudi Arabia and the United States. In the same way, Russia is also seeking a balance of power against the West and America in the region based on its identity as a great power and considering its interests, and therefore Russia’s activism towards the internal events of the Arab countries is also selective and different, not following a general approach

Knowledge, attitude and practice of urban and ruarl households towards principles of nutrition in Iran: results of NUTRIKAP Survey.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude and practice of urban and rural households toward principles of nutrition in Iran. Methods: The study population was Iranian households who live in rural and urban areas in all provinces of the country. The sampling method at households’ level in each province was single stage cluster sampling with equal size clusters. The incumbent data was collected by a structured questionnaire and through the interview with the eligible subject in each household. Results: A total of 14,136 Iranian households were selected as total sample size, 9,149 urban households, and 4,987 rural households. Around 57.2% of urban and 49.5% of rural households was aware of food groups. Respectively in urban and rural households, about 35.1% and 39.7% had correct knowledge toward roles of food groups. Approximately 41.5% and 39.9% of households had accurate knowledge about reason of food eating in urban and rural areas, respectively. The results showed that 79.6% of them had favorable attitudes. The most of the households consumed red meat and poultry weekly whereas fish was eaten rarely. Fruits, vegetables and dairy were consumed daily in the most of households. Sugar intake was daily in the most of households and cream and butter intake was weekly. Conclusion: The most of households had moderate knowledge and good attitudes. Practice of families about food consumption was good. The results of this study can be used for proper intervention for improving of health society

Relationship between Prostate Cancer and Sexual Activity: A Case-Control study

Background: Prostate cancer is the fourth most and one of the most prevalent cancer in worldwide and Iran respectively. that has both environmental and genetic risk factors. Recently, the role of sexual activity has been considered as a possible risk factor. We conducted this study to evaluate the role of sexual activity in prostate cancerMethods: This case-control study enrolled 120 patients, 59 with prostate cancer and 61 with other urologic conditions in the Urology Ward of Shahid Beheshti Hospital, in Hamadan, Iran in 2016. We used an individual matching technique to control for confounders (age, weight, etc). A self-structured questionnaire was used to gather required informations such as sexual habits of the participants. Finally, data were analyzed with SPSS 16.Results: The mean sexual activity (per week) for the last 5-10 years was 1.78±1 in the case group and 1.6±0.2 in the control group (P=0.26). Participants exhibited different sexual patterns during different age strata: at age 71-80 years and >80 years the sexual activity in 5-10 years before diagnosis (days per week) in case group was more significant than control group respectively P=0.001 and P=005 also sexual activity (days per week) at age 71-80 years in one year before diagnosis was more significant in case group in comparison with control group (P=0.033).Conclusion: The results indicated different impact of sexual activity in different age in patients with prostate cancer. Additional studies, especially meta-analysis or systematic review, should be conducted to clarify this issue

Epidemiologic characteristics of injuries among 1-5 year-old children in Hamadan Province: Analysis of 4523 hospitalized children over a 6-year period

Background: Unintentional injuries are one of the major causes of death in Iranian children. Information on epidemiological pattern of injury among one-to 5-year-old children is limited in Hamadan. The aim of this study was to clarify the person, space and time pattern of injury among 1-5 year-old children in Hamadan Province. Methods: All registered incidence cases of injury among 1-5 year-old children in Hamadan Province from March 2009 to March 2015 were included in this cross-sectional study. We analyzed the data on county, gender, age category, type of injury, season and outcome of injury. Temporal trend was explored using time series regression with accounting autocorrelation, seasonality, and short-term variation. Results: This study included 4523 injury cases. During the studied period, urban residents and boys had a higher number of injuries. Motor vehicle-related injuries were the most common type of injury. A seasonality pattern was found so that most of the cases were occurred in summer months. The lowest and highest incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were occurred in January 2011 (IRR = 0.61 with 95 confidence interval CI: 0.31, 1.18) and May 2014 and August 2013 (IRR = 6.78 with 95% CI: 4.38, 10.51), respectively. Conclusion: In Hamadan Province, childhood injury has a variation in person, place, and time pattern, as some groups such as boys and urban residents among 1-5 year-old children are at a higher risk for the incidence of injury. Therefore, it is recommended that health service managers and health policymakers devote more healthcare and resources to the high-risk groups

Nutritional knowledge, attitude and practice of Iranian households and primary health care staff: NUTRIKAP survey

The aim of this study is to determine knowledge, attitude and practice of Iranian households and health staff on nutrition at province level. The sampling method in NUTRIKAP survey for households in each province is singlestage cluster sampling and the size of clusters is equal. The sampling method for health staff in each province is stratified random sampling. Samples are selected from physicians, health experts, health technicians, nutritionists and health assistants (Behvarz). Overall, 14136 people in 57 clusters in each province and 480 health staff over the country participate in this survey. The necessary data will be gathered by the structured questionnaire and the interview with the eligible person in each household. Data gathering from health staff will be carried out by selfadministered questionnaire. The results of this study can help the bureau of community nutrition to provide the proper interventions to improve nutritional health of households

Immune checkpoints in targeted-immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer: New hope for clinical development

Immunotherapy has been recently considered as a promising alternative for cancer treatment. Indeed, targeting of immune checkpoint (ICP) strategies have shown significant success in human malignancies. However, despite remarkable success of cancer immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer (PCa), many of the developed immunotherapy methods show poor therapeutic outcomes in PCa with no or few effective treatment options thus far. In this process, immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is found to be the main obstacle to the effectiveness of antitumor immune response induced by an immunotherapy method. In this paper, the latest findings on the ICPs, which mediate immunosuppression in the TME have been reviewed. In addition, different approaches for targeting ICPs in the TME of PCa have been discussed. This review has also synopsized the cutting-edge advances in the latest studies to clinical applications of ICP-targeted therapy in PCa

Global prevalence of suicide in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: Given that patients with cancer may commit suicide due to physical and mental problems, the present study objectives were to identify particular risk factors of different subgroup of patients including type of cancer, gender, age, type and time of suicide, and geographical region to facilitate early care and psychosocial support. Methods: A comprehensive review of databases including Embase, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science was conducted for original articles published in English from January 2000 to March 2022. It is based on the PRISMA checklist. Results: After reviewing 69 articles selected from 15 countries, the total prevalence rate of suicide among 34,157,856 patients with cancer was estimated 67,169, at 0.013 (95% CI, 0.008–0.021). The highest suicide prevalence was related to gastrointestinal cancer, estimated at 0.204 (95% CI, 0.161–0.255). A gender-based meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of suicide/suicidal ideation was higher among men, estimated at 0.013 (95% CI, 0.008–0.023) compared with women, at 0.006 (95% CI, 0.002–0.017). Conclusion: Based on study results, suicide-prevention strategies should be aimed at patients younger than 40 years of age to effectively resolve their mental health disorders and promote their self-efficacy in successful management of the disease

Global prevalence of nosocomial infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives: Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are significant problems as public health issues which need attention. Such infections are significant problems for society and healthcare organizations. This study aimed to carry out a systematic review and a meta-analysis to analyze the prevalence of HAIs globally.   Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of electronic databases including EMBASE, Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science between 2000 and June 2021. We found 7031 articles. After removing the duplicates, 5430 studies were screened based on the titles/abstracts. Then, we systematically evaluated the full texts of the 1909 remaining studies and selected 400 records with 29,159,630 participants for meta-analysis. Random-effects model was used for the analysis, and heterogeneity analysis and publication bias test were conducted.   Results: The rate of universal HAIs was 0.14 percent. The rate of HAIs is increasing by 0.06 percent annually. The highest rate of HAIs was in the AFR, while the lowest prevalence were in AMR and WPR. Besides, AFR prevalence in central Africa is higher than in other parts of the world by 0.27 (95% CI, 0.22-0.34). Besides, E. coli infected patients more than other micro-organisms such as Coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In hospital wards, Transplant, and Neonatal wards and ICU had the highest rates. The prevalence of HAIs was higher in men than in women.   Conclusion: We identified several essential details about the rate of HAIs in various parts of the world. The HAIs rate and the most common micro-organism were different in various contexts. However, several essential gaps were also identified. The study findings can help hospital managers and health policy makers identify the reason for HAIs and apply effective control programs to implement different plans to reduce the HAIs rate and the financial costs of such infections and save resources

A Comparative Analysis of Clinical Characteristics and Laboratory Findings of COVID-19 between Intensive Care Unit and Non-Intensive Care Unit Pediatric Patients: A Multicenter, Retrospective, Observational Study from Iranian Network for Research in Viral

Introduction: To date, little is known about the clinical features of pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Objective: Herein, we aimed to describe the differences in demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, clinical presentations, and outcomes of Iranian pediatric COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU versus those in non-ICU settings. Methods: This multicenter investigation involved 15 general and pediatrics hospitals and included cases with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection based on positive real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) admitted to these centers between March and May 2020, during the initial peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Results: Overall, 166 patients were included, 61 (36.7%) of whom required ICU admission. The highest number of admitted cases to ICU were in the age group of 1–5 years old. Malignancy and heart diseases were the most frequent underlying conditions. Dyspnea was the major symptom for ICU-admitted patients. There were significant decreases in PH, HCO3 and base excess, as well as increases in creatinine, creatine phosphokinase (CPK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and potassium levels between ICU-admitted and non-ICU patients. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), shock, and acute cardiac injury were the most common features among ICU-admitted patients. The mortality rate in the ICU-admitted patients was substantially higher than non-ICU cases (45.9% vs. 1.9%, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusions: Underlying diseases were the major risk factors for the increased ICU admissions and mortality rates in pediatric COVID-19 patients. There were few paraclinical parameters that could differentiate between pediatrics in terms of prognosis and serious outcomes of COVID-19. Healthcare providers should consider children as a high-risk group, especially those with underlying medical conditions

Impact of social support and mindfulness in the associations between perceived risk of COVID-19 acquisition and pregnancy outcomes in Iranian population: a longitudinal cohort study

Abstract Background and aims Various devastating infection outbreaks including COVID-19, threat both mother and fetus health. These life-threating outbreaks as potential harms are highly associated with relevant perceived risk. Social support and mindfulness are two factors that may moderate the associations between the perceived risk of COVID-19 and pregnancy outcomes. In this study we investigated the potential moderating impact of social support and mindfulness in the aforementioned association. Methods This study is a longitudinal cohort study in which 483 Iranian pregnant women in Tehran have been studied. Perceived risk of COVID-19 questions, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used through an online platform to assess the independent variables during pregnancy. Neonatal and maternal outcomes including gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, abortion, birth weight, and gestational age at birth, was extracted from Electronic Health Record (EHR) after childbirth as the dependent variables. The aim of the study is to investigate whether social support and mindfulness can affect the associations between perceived risk of Covid-19 acquisition and pregnancy outcomes. Results Perceived risk of COVID-19 was negatively associated with pregnancy outcomes including birth weight (-28, 95% CI [-53, -3.4], p < .05) and gestational age at birth (-0.9, 95% CI [-2,0.11], p < .05). However, social support could not moderate these associations. Mindfulness, on the other hand, moderated the association between perceived risk and stillbirth meaning that by increasing mindfulness, the association between the perceived risk and stillbirth may also be increased (OR = 0.03; p < .05). Conclusion The findings of this study showed that social support lacks the moderating impact on the association between perceived risk of COVID-19 and pregnancy outcomes. Mindfulness, on the other hand, indicate a positive moderating impact for the association between perceived risk of Covid-19 and stillbirth. More studies in different populations are suggested to investigate the impact of mindfulness and social support on the association between perceived risk and pregnancy outcomes