Helminth parasites fauna of the green toad, Bufo variabilis, Laurenti, 1768 (Anura: Bufonidae) from the Fars Province, Iran

The green toad, Bufo variabilis has been a common species of toads in Iran with a wide distribution in most provinces. The main goal of this study was to determine the helminth parasite fauna of B. variabilis in southwest of Iran. Among 30 toads inspected for helminth infection from different sites, 100% harbored one or more parasite species. Some toads were afflicted by intestinal obstruction, due to the infection with a large number of cestodes. Twenty-eight cases (93%) had mixed infection with cestodes (in intestine) and nematodes (in lung). Also, a toad was infected with a single monogenean parasite in its urinary bladder. The identified helminth parasites were monogenean, Polystoma viridis; cestode, Nematotaenia dispar and a species of nematode, Rhabdias ranae. This study reports for the first time the presence of nematode species R. ranae in B. variabilis in Iran

A Novel Mutation in the OXCT1 Gene Causing Succinyl-CoA:3-Ketoacid CoA Transferase (SCOT) Deficiency Starting with Neurologic Manifestations

  Succinyl-CoA:3-oxoacid CoA-transferase (SCOT) deficiency is an inborn error of ketone body utilization characterized by intermittent ketoacidosis crises. This study reports the first Iranian patient with SCOT deficiency who presented with seizure and hypotonia at birth.Accordingly, she was consequently re-hospitalized due to hypotonia and respiratory distress. Laboratory tests revealed hyperammonemia, ketonuria, and metabolic acidosis. Besides, the plasma glucose level was normal without any other abnormality. Despite treatment with high-dose bicarbonate, severe acidosis persisted. Poor response to treatment raised a significant diagnostic challenge among specialists until genetic investigation identified a homozygous nonsense mutation (c.79G>T; p.Gly27*) in the OXCT1 gene (NM_000436), causing SCOT deficiency. Genetic studies help clinicians achieve a definite diagnosis of such metabolic disorders. In this case, the accurate and early diagnosis of SCOT deficiency opened new therapeutic possibilities, including frequent carbohydrate-rich meals and low fat and protein diet. Moreover, our findings expand the mutational and clinical spectrum of SCOT deficiency

Dental implant placement with flapless and flapped technique: A systematic review

Aim: This study was aimed to systematically review and compare implant treatment outcome including success and survival rates, marginal bone loss and post-operative pain between flapped and flapless techniques of implant insertion. Material and Methods: An internet search was performed in PubMed and Cochrane Library in June 2018 using relevant keywords limited to human studies and English language. Clinical studies evaluating the survival rate, marginal bone loss (MBL) and rate of complications between flapped and flapless techniques for implant insertion were included. The review process was performed by two reviewers and the relevant data was extracted from the included studies. Data was compared in a qualitative manner. Results: Electronic search resulted in 1872 studies out of which 32 (21 RCTs) were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria including 1528 patients and 3047 implants. No significant difference was found between success and survival rate of implants using two techniques except for one study that reported higher success rate in flapless group. Twelve studies reported higher MBL in the flapped groups while two studies showed higher MBL in the flapless group. Less pain following flapless technique was reported in 9 studies. One study, however, showed more pain in flapless technique. Conclusion: Implant survival rate using flapped and flapless technique is comparable. Also, MBL using flapless technique is similar or less than flapped technique. Concerning post-operative complications, flapless technique would probably have less post-operative pai

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

Eye Accommodation, Near Vision, and Far Vision from a Geometrical Optics Point of View

The eye should have a particular focal length in order to see an object. As there are many things to see, the focal length of the eye must vary because these things are not all at the same distance from the eye. We explore the eye accommodation from a geometrical optics point of view and present our results in this paper; the study includes a description of the accommodation mechanism and a scientific definition of near vision and far vision

Determinants of Physical Activity among Middle School Girl Students in Iran Based on Social Cognitive Theory in 2018

Introduction: Physical activity is one of the most fundamental health promoting behaviors influenced by behavioral, environmental and individual determinants. The present study was conducted to determine the factors affecting physical activity among middle school girl students based on social cognitive theory in Rafsanjan city in 2018. The present cross-sectional study was carried out among 325 middle school girl students through multi-stage sampling; required data was collected using a questionnaire containing three sections of demographic characteristics, standard questionnaire of physical activity assessment during the last week and a questionnaire based on the constructs of cognitive social theory; questionnaires were completed through self-report and analyzed at the significance level of 0/05 by SPSS-16 using relevant statistical tests. The mean daily physical activity of students was 24.14 ± 26.42 minutes. Spearman correlation test showed a positive and significant relationship between daily physical activity of students with environmental factors, knowledge, behavioral skills, outcome expectation, outcome value, family support, friends support and self-efficacy of students (P<0.05). Self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of behavior among the structures of the theory. Considering the unfavorable state of physical activity and the results of research, it is highly recommended to design, implement and evaluate interventions based on social cognitive theory in different target groups affecting adolescents (family and friends) in order to increase the physical activity of girl students. &nbsp

A study on association of premarital attitude toward intact hymen in new grooms: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Young people's attitudes toward marriage have been undergone changes in recent years and it seems to be contradicting in the struggle between conservative and modern liberal attitudes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitude of new grooms toward intact hymen in Kerman. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study has been conducted on 790 new grooms in Kerman, Iran. In this study, we examined the attitudes in two aspects of sexual norm and personal attitude toward premarital relationships in new grooms. The sampling method was purposive sampling and the data were analyzed using t-test and analysis of variance. RESULTS: The results of this study have showed a more conservative sexual attitude toward the sexual norms of premarital sex. The average score of the participants in the sexual norm and personal attitude was, respectively 15.86 and 48.15, indicating that their conservative views have been overcome. Most of the samples (90%) have believed in required preserving virginity before marriage, and 82% believed in virginity as the most valuable asset of the girls. In this study, the conservative attitudes of men were inversely related with their age and were directly related with perceived sexual norm and the level of affinity to religious affairs. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, conservative attitudes toward premarital relationships are predominating in new grooms, but this is not generalized. The conservative attitude of new grooms may have harmful effects on their interpersonal behaviors after marriage, which requires purposeful training

Knowledge and attitude of pregnant women in Urmia, Iran, about oral health care during pregnancy

Abstract Objectives Physiological changes during pregnancy make mothers susceptible to periodontal diseases, in particular gingivitis, which could be prevented by good oral hygiene. Therefore, their knowledge and attitude could affect their oral hygiene and general health. This study therefore aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding oral hygiene, of pregnant women living in a city in Iran. Material and Methods It was a cross‐sectional study that was performed in Urmia City in 2019. After completing an informed consent form, pregnant women completed a specially designed questionnaire, which included questions on demographic characteristics and assessed participants' knowledge and attitude about oral health care during pregnancy. A clinical examination of each participant's oral cavity was performed and dental plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and number of decayed, missed, filled teeth (DMFT) index were recorded. Any correlations between participants' knowledge and attitude and oral health indices were evaluated. A paired t test and Pearson's correlation coefficient were employed for statistical analysis. Results A total of 96 pregnant women (mean age of 29.11 ± 6.80 years) participated in this study. Among them, 67 had a moderate level of knowledge. There was no significant correlation between participants' knowledge, and attitude levels and educational level (p = .88 and p = .43, respectively). Also, there was no correlation between knowledge and attitude levels and GI, PI, and DMFT (p > .05). Conclusions This study showed that the knowledge and attitude of the pregnant women who participated were not favorable and their oral hygiene needed to be improved

Designing of potential vaccine candidates of fused cathepsin L and tropomyosin genes of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus tick larva

Introduction: Regarding emerging tick resistance against acaricides, researches have been shifted toward alternative approaches such as immunologic methods. Vaccine preparation is an alternative way in which choosing appropriate protein with high immune induction potency is a prerequisite. In addition according to studies, using more than one protein could better enhance the immune induction and antibody production. Choosing immunogenic epitopes from selected proteins and adjoining them with a suitable linker is one of the novel approaches in vaccine design. Materials and methods: Based on the fact that both cathepsin and tropomyosin proteins of Rhipicephalus tick were previously recognized as potent immunogenic antigens, we predicted the immunogenic epitopes of these proteins by immunoinformatic methods. Among studied epitopes, those that were met by multiple bioinformatics tools were used. Results: Finally, the polytopic construction was designed by assembling the selected epitopes and connecting them with linkers. Conclusion: Using immunoinformatic tools, we predicted the characteristics of two genes of Rhipicephalus annulatus tick larva as fused potent vaccine candidates namely, cathepsin and tropomyosin