Evaluation of the Effect of Benzydamine Hydrochloride on the Intensity of Gag Reflex: A Randomized Single-Blind Clinical Trial

Statement of the Problem: Gag reflex is among the most common problems during dental and endoscopic procedures. Benzydamine hydrochloride is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medica-tion and a local anesthetic that might be useful in reducing the gag reflex. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of benzydamine hydrochloride mouthwash on the intensity of the gag reflex.Materials and Method: In this randomized clinical trial study, 30 participants aged 21-26 with a gag trigger point index (GTPI) higher than 2 were divided into 2 groups. In the case group, 15 ml of 0.15% benzydamine hydrochloride mouthwash was gargled for 1 minute, and after 10 minutes GTPI test was conducted. In the control group, 4 puffs of 10% lidocaine spray were applied to the mucosa of the targeted area, and after 5 minutes, GTPI was measured. Participants were asked about the taste and smell of the medications. Results: GTPI was significantly reduced in both groups. In the lidocaine group, the GTPI score changed from 4.47 to 2.00 (P<0.001), and that for the benzydamine group was 4.20 to 1.47 (P<0.001). The variance rate of the gag reflex was -2.73 and -2.47 in the benzydamine group and lidocaine group, respectively. However, this reduction was not statistically significant between the two groups. Also, benzydamine mouthwash has a significantly better taste and smell than lido-caine (P= 0.001).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that benzydamine mouthwash could be used quite effectively in reducing the gag reflex

Evaluation of Pregnancy consequences in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Case-Control Study in Qazvin, Iran

Background and Aim: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder in women of childbearing age that can be associated with adverse pregnancy complications. The aim of this study was to compare the adverse pregnancy consequences between pregnant women with PCOS and control group in Qazvin. Materials and Methods: In this study, 150 pregnant women with PCOS aged 18-35 years with gestational age of more than 20 weeks were selected as our case group based on Rotterdam criteria and our control group included 150 pregnant women without PCOS. The groups were compared in terms of pregnancy complications including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm delivery, low birth weight, and neonatal admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of demographic data including age, weight, height and BMI. In the case group (PCOS) we found gestational diabetes in 33 cases (64.7%) (P=0.021), preeclampsia in 44 cases (67.7%) (P=0.002), and preterm delivery 70 in cases (75.3%) which indicated a significant difference between the case and control groups (P<0.0001). The case group had higher neonatal complications than control group in regard to low birth weight (40 cases, 64.5%, P=0.008) and NICU admission (30 cases, 66.7%, P=0.015). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that PCOS, due to its metabolic effects, may increase the incidence of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm delivery, low birth weight or macrosomia and long term NICU admission. Keywords: Polycystic ovary syndrome, Premature birth, Gestational diabetes, Pre-eclampsi

Comparative Study of the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Nutritional Practices Among International Elite and Sub-Elite Athletes: A Sample of 1420 Participants from 14 Countries

BACKGROUND: Although several studies have shown that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown has had negative impacts on mental health and eating behaviors among the general population and athletes, few studies have examined the long-term effects on elite and sub-elite athletes. The present study aimed to investigate the long-term impact of COVID-19 lockdown on mental health and eating behaviors in elite versus sub-elite athletes two years into the pandemic. A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted between March and April 2022, involving athletes from 14 countries, using a convenient non-probabilistic and snowball sampling method. A total of 1420 athletes (24.5 ± 7.9 years old, 569 elites, 35% women, and 851 sub-elites, 45% women) completed an online survey-based questionnaire. The questionnaire included a sociodemographic survey, information about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) for mental health assessment, and the Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants (REAP-S) for assessing eating behavior. RESULTS: The results showed that compared to sub-elite athletes, elite athletes had lower scores on the DASS-21 (p = .001) and its subscales of depression (p = .003), anxiety (p = .007), and stress (p < .001), as well as a lower REAP-S score indicating lower diet quality (p = .013). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, two years into the pandemic, elite athletes were likelier to have better mental health profiles than sub-elite athletes but surprisingly had lower diet quality

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

Comparative Study of the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Nutritional Practices Among International Elite and Sub-Elite Athletes: A Sample of 1420 Participants from 14 Countries

Background Although several studies have shown that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown has had negative impacts on mental health and eating behaviors among the general population and athletes, few studies have examined the long-term effects on elite and sub-elite athletes. The present study aimed to investigate the long-term impact of COVID-19 lockdown on mental health and eating behaviors in elite versus sub-elite athletes two years into the pandemic. A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted between March and April 2022, involving athletes from 14 countries, using a convenient non-probabilistic and snowball sampling method. A total of 1420 athletes (24.5 ± 7.9 years old, 569 elites, 35% women, and 851 sub-elites, 45% women) completed an online survey-based questionnaire. The questionnaire included a sociodemographic survey, information about the COVID-19 pandemic, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale—21 Items (DASS-21) for mental health assessment, and the Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants (REAP-S) for assessing eating behavior. Results The results showed that compared to sub-elite athletes, elite athletes had lower scores on the DASS-21 (p = .001) and its subscales of depression (p = .003), anxiety (p = .007), and stress (p < .001), as well as a lower REAP-S score indicating lower diet quality (p = .013). Conclusion In conclusion, two years into the pandemic, elite athletes were likelier to have better mental health profiles than sub-elite athletes but surprisingly had lower diet quality. Key Points Elite athletes had better mental health profiles compared to sub-elite athletes, with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Elite athletes reported greater psychological support and perceived themselves as more financially secure during the pandemic than sub-elite athletes do. Elite athletes were more likely to have poor eating habits compared to sub-elite athletes

The Effect of Contextual Interference Type on Learning Motor Skills in Girls before Puberty

The aim of this study was to evaluate blocked, random, gradual incremental and gradual decremental practice schedules on the acquisition and retention of different types of basketball pass (overhead, hand chest , single arm with dominate hand) in 8-10-year-old girls. For this purpose, 60 female students of second, third and fourth grade of elementary school were voluntarily selected and randomly divided into 4 groups: blocked, random, gradual incremental and gradual decremental. After a pretest for each skill, the acquisition phase began including 5 practice sessions and 81 trials each session. The blocked group practiced 27 consecutive trials for each skill per session. The random group randomly practiced three intended skills per session. The gradual incremental group practiced the first 27 trials by blocked schedule, the second 27 trials by serial schedule and the third 27 trials by random schedule each session. The gradual decremental group practiced the first 27 trials by random schedule, the second 27 trials by serial schedule and the third 27 trials by blocked schedule each session. Participants conducted 405 trials at the end of the practice protocol. After the fifth practice session, acquisition test was carried out and retention test was taken 3 days later. The results showed no significant differences in the means between the acquisition and retention tests and these practices with different levels of interference did not have any drastic effects on different phases of learning (P>0.05)

The Effect of Direct Brain Electrical Stimulation on Concentration and the Record of Pistol Shooter

AbstractConcentration is an important rool in shooting, Some consider the ability to concentrate to be a natural and inherent talent of athletes, while these abilities are not innate and are skills that athletes can acquire through practice and learning.The use of direct brain electrical stimulation is one of the ways to increase the concentration. This study focused on effect of Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the concentration and record of 16 to 26 year old pistol shooters in Isfahan was investigated, 30 subjects (consisted of women and gentlemen were present. 15 of them were in experimental group and 15 subjects were selected for control group. Before the beginning of the study, subjects of both groups were subjected to a pretest including a stroop test and a complete shot form 60 arrows with a scatt machine. Then the experimental group went under the influence of tDCS from the T3 and CZ regions for 20 minutes with voltage of 1 mA per day and it continued for 10 sessions. All subjects were subjected to post-test, which was the same as the pre-test after the end of work and 7 days later. Data were analyzed by SPSS . The results showed that Transcranial direct current stimulation had a significant effect on the concentration and the record of the pistol shooters. The results of both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (P <0.05) indicated that tDCS had a significant effect on concentration and record of pistol shooters and it improved by using tDCS

The Effect of Fine Motor Skills on Stereotyped Movements In Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fine motor skills on stereotyped movements of children with autism aged 7 to 15 years in Khomein in 1399. In this quasi-experimental study, 20 children with autism were selected by available sampling method from Khomein Sustained Autism Rehabilitation Center. Then the subjects were randomly divided into two control groups (n = 10) with mean age (10 ± 16/3) and mean height (118 ± 42/23) and mean weight (42 ± 16/7) and experimental group (n = 10) With mean age (12 ± 79/2) and mean height (116 ± 67/34) and mean weight (38 ± 34/8). The experimental group received 15 sessions of 40 minutes (three sessions per week) of fine motor skills training, and the control group performed their daily activities during this period. The Gilliam (Garz) autism test was used to assess stereotyped movements. Data analysis was performed by Leven, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and multivariate variance at the significant level of

Sensitometric characteristics of D-, E- and F-speed dental radiographic films in manual and automatic processing

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensitometric characteristics of Ultraspeed, Ektaspeed Plus and Insight dental radiographic films using manual and automatic processing systems. METHODS: In this experimental invitro study, an aluminum step-wedge was used to construct characteristic curves for D-, E- and F-speed radiographic films (Kodak Eastman, Rochester, USA). All films were processed in Iranian processing solution (chemical industries Co., Iran, Tehran) both manually and automatically in a period of six days. Unexposed films of three types were processed manually and automatically to determine base plus fog density. Speed and film contrast were measured according to International Standard Organization definition. RESULTS: There was significant difference in density obtained with the D-, E- and F-speed films in both manually and automatically processing systems (P < 0.001). There was significant difference in density obtained with the Ultraspeed and insight films. There was no significant difference in contrast obtained with the D-, E- and F-speed films in both manually and automatically processing systems (P = 0.255 , P = 0.260). There was significant difference in speed obtained with the D-, E- and F-speed films in both manually and automatically processing systems (P = 0.034, P = 0.040). CONCLUSIONS: The choice of processing system can affect radiographic characteristics. The F-speed film processed in automatic system has greater speed in comparison with manual processing system, and it provides a further reduction in radiation exposure without detriment to image quality. KEY WORDS: Automatic Processing, Dental Radiography, Manual Processing, Radiographic Film Classification, Sensitometry, X-ray Fil

The Effect of Basic Swimming Skills Training on Gross Motor Skills in Autistic Children (7-11 Years Old)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of basic swimming skills training on gross motor skills in male autistic children (7-11 years old). For this purpose, 20 autistic children (mean + SD age: 10.3±1.05 yr and BMI: 18.9±1.76 kg/m2) were randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control (each group 10 subjects). The training protocol of the experimental group was implemented for 6 weeks containing warm-up with stretching exercises, standard swimming instruction and training and ball movements inside and outside water. The control group was engaged in their routine activities. At the beginning and at the end of the study, the second edition of Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2) (Ulrich, 2000) was applied for both groups. Findings showed that the manipulation skills (%40), locomotion skills (%31) and gross skills (%35) improved significantly after the selected training protocol (P<0.05). Accordingly, the differences between the two groups in changes of pretest and posttest of the three skills were significant (P<0.05). Finally, it seems that swimming training with an emphasis on manipulation and locomotion skills can have beneficial effects on motor abilities of children with autism