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Aim: Bacteria are ubiquitous in the environment. In keeping with the continued expansion of urbanization and the growing population, an increasing number of people use automated banking, i.e. automated teller machines (ATMs). The aim of this study was to investigate the bacterial contamination and its antibiotic sensitivity on computer keyboards located at ATMs in Hamadan province, Iran. Method: Out of 360 ATMs at four locations in Hamadan, 96 were randomly selected for this study. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of all isolates was determined by the agar disk diffusion method using gentamicin (10 µg), vancomycin (30 µg), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (25 µg), amikacin (30 µg), tobramycin (10 µg), cephalotin (30 µg), norfloxacin (5 µg), and ceftizoxim (30 µg) disks. Results: Melli and Saderat Banks had the most frequently contaminated ATMS, with 18 (27.7%) and 12 (18.5%), respectively. The most frequently isolated bacteria were Staphylococcus epidermidis in 12 (18.5%) ATMs, Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 12 (18.5%),Bacillus subtilis in 11 (16.9%), Escherichia coli in 6 (9.2%), Klebsiella spp. in 8 (12.3%), Enterobacter spp. in 2 (3.1%), Bacillus cereus in 6 (9.2%), Staphylococcus aureus in 3 (4.6%), and Micrococcaceae spp. in 5 (7.69%) cases. All isolated bacteria were susceptible to gentamicin, cephalotin, tobramycin, amikacin, norfloxacin, and vancomycin. The S. aureus resistance rate to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole was 50%. Conclusion: All tested ATM keyboards were contaminated with at least one species of bacteria. Based on these findings, it is recommendable to disinfect the hands after entering one’s own apartment, work area or a hospital, in order to hinder the spread of critical pathogens in the personal environment or in the hospital., Zielsetzung: Bakterien sind ubiquitär in der Umwelt verbreitet. Verbunden mit der wachsenden Bevölkerung, der Urbanisation und dem Zeitmangel wächst die Inanspruchnahme von Geldautomaten (ATM). Daher sollten die bakterielle Kontamination und deren Antibiotikaresistenz auf Tastaturen von ATM in der Provinz Hamadan, Iran, untersucht werden. Methode: Von 360 ATM wurden 96 randomisiert ausgewählt. Die Antibiotikaempfindlichkeit wurde im Agardiffusionstest unter Verwendung von Plättchen mit Gentamicin (10 µg), Vancomycin (30 µg), Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazol (25 µg), Amikacin (30 µg), Tobramycin (10 µg), Cephalotin (30 µg), Norfloxacin (5 µg) und Ceftizoxim (30 µg) ermittelt. Ergebnisse: Die höchste Kontamination wurde bei 18 (27,7%) bzw. 12 (18,5%) der ATMs von Melli und Saderat Banken nachgewiesen. Am häufigsten wurden Staphylococcus epidermidis und Pseudomonas aeruginosa je 12-mal (18,5%), Bacillus subtilis 11-mal (16,9%), Klebsiella spp. 8-mal (12.3%), Escherichia coli und Bacillus cereus je 6-mal (9,2%), Micrococcaceae spp. 5-mal (7,69%), Staphylococcus aureus3-mal (4,6%) und Enterobacter spp. 2-mal (3,1%) nachgewiesen. Alle isolierten Bakterien waren empfindlich gegen Gentamicin, Cephalotin, Tobramycin, Amikacin, Norfloxacin und Vancomycin. Der Anteil von S. aureus mit Resistenz gegen Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazol betrug 50%. Schlussfolgerung: Alle untersuchten ATM Tastaturen waren mit mindestens einer Bakterienspecies kontaminiert. Daher erscheint es sinnvoll, z.B. nach dem Betreten der Wohnung, des Arbeitsbereichs oder eines Krankenhauses eine Händedesinfektion durchzuführen, um keine kritischen Pathogene in das persönliche Umfeld bzw. in das Krankenhaus einzubringen., GMS Hygiene and Infection Control; 12:Doc03

This paper discusses in detail important analysis and design issues emerged during the development of an agent-based transportation e-market. This discussion is based on concepts coming from the AMCIS methodology and the JADE framework. The AMCIS methodology is specifically tailored to the analysis and design of cooperative information agent-based systems, while it supports both the levels of the individual agent structure and the agent society in the Multi-Agents Systems (MAS) development process. According to AMCIS, MAS are viewed as being composed of a number of autonomous cooperative agents that live in an organized society, in which each agent plays one or more specific roles, while their plans and interaction protocols are well defined. On the other hand JADE is a FIPA specifications compliant agent development environment that gives several facilities for an easy and fast implementation. Our aim is to reveal the mapping that may exists between the basic concepts proposed by AMCIS for agents specification and agents interactions and those provided by JADE for agents implementation, and therefore to propose a kind of roadmap for agents developers., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, CIIA'06 Conference

Introduction: A deaf child creates a feeling of stigma in many hearing parents. Stigma in mothers can have a negative impact on a child’s treatment and rehabilitation process. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the extent of stigma in mothers with deaf children. Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in 2013 among 90 mothers with deaf children. The data-collection instrument included the stigma scale in the mothers of children with disabilities. The reliability and validity of the instrument were confirmed through content validity and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α=86%), respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS-15 software. Results: Results showed that most mothers suffer from stigma due to having a deaf child. The mean stigma score was 96.48 ±27.72. In total, 24.4% of mothers reported that they had received strange and mocking looks; 72.2% regarded child deafness as a sign of divine retribution; and 33.3% felt ashamed of their child’s deafness. There was an inverse relationship between the mother’s level of education and mean stigma scores (P

"Self-healing" Langerhans cell histiocytosis (SHLCH) is a rare self-limited variant of Langerhans cell histiocytosis that presents at birth or during the neonatal period. It was first described by Hashimoto and Pritzker in 1973. Subsequently, more than 70 cases have been reported in the literature. Regarding age of onset, SHLCH should be divided into congenital SHLCH and rarelate-onset type. We report here two additional cases of SHLCH in Tunisian infants. We emphasize the need for long-term follow-up in such patients.

Objective: To delineate H-reflex parameters and specify the diagnostic accuracy measures of thenar muscle H-reflex in Fibromyalgia (FM). Methods: The study was a cross sectional study performed on 30 subjects with FM and 30 healthy volunteers in two major referral hospitals. We recorded the number of obtainable thenar H-reflexes and their minimum latency, threshold and amplitude in each group. Results: There was a significantly more chance to elicit the H-reflex in patients with FM. H reflex threshold and minimum latency were lower in FM group but no significant difference was shown for H wave amplitude. According to our study, thenar H-reflex has 46.7% sensitivity, 86.7% specificity and 66.7% diagnostic accuracy to detect FM. It also has moderate predictive values and positive likelihood ratio but low negative likelihood ratio. Conclusion: Higher rate of thenar muscle H-reflex in fibromyalgia can be interpreted as a confirmatory finding to central sensitization theory for this disorder. Obtaining H-reflex from thenar muscles could be a helpful diagnostic tool for fibromyalgia that increases the confidence in diagnosis. Although it is a weak tool for screening because of low sensitivity, it has a relatively high specificity.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is the most important cause of nosocomial infections acquired in the community. Protein A is a major component of Staphylococcus aureus cell wall. In analysis of the nucleotide sequence Protein A encoding spa, locus x consists of 24 base pairs which repeat with high polymorphism. In this study, the spa gene of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical specimens were obtained from patients admitted to the hospital and healthy carriers. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, a total of 200 samples were collected. One hundred fifty samples were obtained from hospitalized patients and 50 samples obtained from staff nasal swabs in Hamadan University Hospitals from October 2013 to August 2014. Disk diffusion antibiotic susceptibility tests performed. The antibiotics studied were Vancomycin (30 µg), Cefoxitin (15 µg) Gentamicin (10 µg), Tetracycline (30 µg), Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (25 µg), Ciprofloxacin (5 µg), Erythromycin (15 µg), Clindamycin (2 µg), Rifampin (5 µg). The tests performed according to the guidelines of clinical and laboratory standards institute (CLSI). It also detect the mecA gene of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains (MRSA) and genes spa which encodes the protein A by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products using a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method with enzyme Rsa I (Afa I) were prepared. Results: This methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain (MRSA) had the highest sensitivity and resistance to ciprofloxacin and clindamycin. Totally, 8 amplicon with different sizes for the spa gene were identified. A total of 9 patterns polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were found. Some of these patterns between Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical specimens and nasal carriers were common. Conclusion: There is a similar pattern of spa gene among patients admitted to the hospital and staff, according to our findings. Analysis of the patterns can reduced transmission of infection in both hospital staff and patients. Also it can help the physicians for correct management of infections.

Background: Brucellosis is a systemic infection caused by gram-negative coccobacilli and facultative intracellular bacteria of the genus brucella. Brucellosis is a bacterial disease common to humans and livestock. Infection with Brucella spp. continues to pose a human health risk globally despite strides in eradicating the disease from domestic animals. The humoral and cellular immunity plays an important role in brucellosis. The effect of phagocytosis and cellular immunity has been demonstrated in brucellosis. The effect of cupping as a therapeutic method on bacterial diseases has been demonstrated. By considering this fact that cupping is an effective method on host immune system functions and has potential effect to regulate the inflammatory reactions. Methods: This experimental study was carried out on 48 rats in 6 groups (48 rats were divided into 6 groups) during the first 6 months from January 2015 to July 2016 in the laboratory of microbiology and animal of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences. The rats were infected through the injection of Brucella melitensis with plenty 5×105 (cfu/ml) of bacteria. After a week, in order to approve the accuracy of the infection in the studied rats inoculated with coombos Brucella melitensis, Wright test, 2-Mercaptoethanol test and Coombs' Wright test were used. The rats were then treated with cupping method in their sacral area. IFN-γ was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. And the study of tissues using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) Staining. Results: The results of this study showed that cupping leads to an increase in the mean serum level of interferon-gamma. The histopathological study of liver tissue showed that the radial arrangement was not observed in the infected group with brucellosis and the cells were acidophilus. While, the radial arrangement was observed in treated rats with cupping, but it was not complete. The number of enlarged sinusoids were reduced. But, cell infiltration was observed. Conclusion: This study showed that cupping can increase serum level of IFN-γ, and thus help to the clearance of disease and improvement of injury in the brucellosis animals lab.

Background: Nosocomial infections (NIs) are one of the most important health issues, particularly in developing countries, because these infections cause high mortality and morbidity, and economic and human resource loss as a consequence. To date, most surveillance studies have been conducted in developed countries, and only a few have been performed in Iran. All of the few Iranian studies have been performed using paper-based collection forms, and none was conducted with the aid of an electronic patient data retrieving and collecting tool. The aim of this study is to determine the incidence of NIs in a big university hospital of Shiraz, with the help of specifically programmed surveillance software merging electronically the available patient data and the infection results input manually. Methods: The study was conducted prospectively through 6 months from 21 st March up to 22 nd September 2006, in a 374-bedded educational hospital. All patients admitted during this period were included in the study and examined everyday for detecting four types of NIs: surgical site infection (SSI), urinary tract infection (UTI), pneumonia (PNEU), and blood stream infection (BSI). Centres for Disease Control and Prevention National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance system criteria were applied. Results: 4013 patients were admitted in the hospital. The overall infection rate was 4.14, and UTI, SSI, BSI, and PNEU rates were 1.82, 1.22, 0.5, and 0.5, respectively, per 1000 patient days of admission. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the frequency of NI in the investigated hospital was not higher than in many other reported surveillance results from other countries. This, however, might be a bias as the administration of antibiotics was very high in this study and the quality of microbiological investigation might have influenced significantly, resulting in more false-negative results than expected. Overall, the use of the Iranian National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System Software proved to be useful and allowed both rapid data collection and detailed data analysis.