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Objectives: Antibacterial activity against endodontic pathogens is a desirable feature for root canal sealers. The objective of this study was to compare the antibacterial effect of three resin-based endodontic sealers (AH26, Adseal, and Beta RCS) against Enterococcus faecalis in vitro. Materials and Methods: The antibacterial properties of the sealers were assessed against E. faecalis using agar diffusion test (ADT) for fresh state (N=10) and direct contact test (DCT) for freshly-mixed and set states of the materials (N=10). In ADT, the diameter of the zones of inhibition was measured after 24h of contact. In DCT, the colony-forming units of the bacteria were counted after 30 minutes and 180 minutes of exposure. The results were analyzed with two-way ANOVA and independent sample t-test. P0.05). According to ADT, AH26 and Adseal represented the widest and the smallest inhibition zones, respectively (P

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most important health care issues with a major role in occurrence of nosocomial infections. Rise in antibiotic resistance rate by UTIs not only lead to morbidity and mortality, but also impose a remarkable financial burden on health care infrastructure. This study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of UTIs and identify common microorganisms responsible for infection and their antibiotic resistance profile in our Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Methods: In this perspective cross-sectional study, data from patients admitted to the ICU of two main referral hospitals in Yasouj, Southern-west Iran from 2015- 2016 was collected. Patients were selected in a subsequent manner and were asked to provide a midstream urine sample. Positive cultures were subsequently placed in differential culture medium for the diagnosis of the causative pathogen, while also evaluating with Muller Hinton Agar culture for antibiogram through disc diffusion method, to evaluate the pathogens sensitivity and resistance towards the tested antibiotics. Results: Based on bacterial culture results among a total of 112 obtained urine samples, 100 (89.2%) were negative while 12 (10.8%) were positive, in which the majority were gram-negative (6.25%) and the most frequent pathogen was Escherichia coli (5.3%). All cases of UTI in our population were fully resistant to cephalexin, ampicillin, and amoxicillin. Also, all gram-negative cultures were sensitive to amikacin. There was also no significant association between the antibiogram results with age, gender, and gram results. Conclusion: we report actual data on the resistance patterns of uro-pathogens in a public hospital in Iran. Escherichia coli showed a high prevalence among all UTIs with lower resistance rates to the antibiotics. Resistance to nalidixic acid and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole were significantly lower than other oral antibiotics, making both a suitable and cheap alternative for the empirical treatment.

This in-vitro study aimed to evaluate the physical properties of three resin-based root canal sealers (BETA RCS, AH26, and Adseal) in terms of flow and film thickness as per ISO 6876/2012. The results revealed that the flow values of BETA RCS, Adseal, and AH26 sealers were 23.06±1.58, 22.5±4.23, and 21.85±1.71, respectively. Moreover, film thickness values for BETA RCS, Adseal, and AH26 sealers were 52.33±2.51, 18.66±0.57, and 52±2, respectively. No significant difference was observed regarding film thickness between AH26 and BETA RCS sealers (P>0.05), while Adseal showed better result in terms of film thickness than other sealers (P˂0.05). The highest solubility was related to BETA RCS (0.6%), and the lowest to Adseal (0.07%). However, all sealers had acceptable solubility and radiopacity. The findings of the current study suggested that all tested root canal sealers had similar properties based on ISO 6876 standard criteria.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common malignancy in women worldwide. The methylation status of MyoD1, a tumor suppressor gene, is enrolled in various cancers, i.e., BC. Various studies showed the impact of MyoD1 epigenetic dysregulation in BC. This study aimed to investigate the methylation status and expression level of MyoD1 in BC patients and its association with the expression of DNMT1. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 30 cases (pathology-confirmed ductal carcinoma) and 18 controls (fibroadenoma and fibrocystic masses), referred to Velayat Hospital, Qazvin, Iran. The expression of the MyoD1 and DNMT1 and the promoter methylation of the MyoD1 were evaluated in tissue blocks of BC patient masses using qRT-PCR and MS-PCR assays, respectively. SPSS 24.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: The MyoD1 promoter is hypermethylated in BC patients compared to controls (p =0.001). The expression level of MyoD1 in BC patients was significantly reduced compared to controls (fold change =0.13, p =0.042). In addition, in BC patients, the reduced expression level of MyoD1 was significantly associated with methylation of the MyoD1 promoter (p =0.001). There is no significant difference between the expression level of DNMT1 in BC patients and controls (p =0.197). A significant association is found between the expression of DNMT1 and the methylation status of the MyoD1 promoter (p =0.038). Discussion: The expression level of MyoD1 is affected by the methylation status of the promoter of this gene. Moreover, the expression level and methylation status of MyoD1 are correlated with clinical parameters.

Objectives: The combination of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and 2% chlorhexidine (CHX) has been recently introduced as an intracanal medicament. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential cytotoxic effects of MTA mixed with 2% chlorhexidine gel on human periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) and compare it with other common endodontic regeneration medicaments. Materials and Methods: Minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of six experimental groups against Enterococcus faecalis was determined. The study groups consisted of RetoMTA mixed with 2% chlorhexidine gel (MTA+CHX), calcium hydroxide (CH), CH mixed with CHX gel, two concentrations of double antibiotic paste, and 2% CHX. The direct cytotoxic effect of minimum bactericidal concentration was evaluated by MTT on PDLSCs on days 1, 3, and 7. One-way ANOVA and post hoc tests were used for data analysis (P

Background: Early outcome prediction of hospitalized patients is critical because the intensivists are constantly striving to improve patientschr('39') survival by taking effective medical decisions about ill patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Despite rapid progress in medical treatments and intensive care technology, the analysis of outcomes, including mortality prediction, has been a challenge in ICUs. Hence, this study aims to predict the mortality of patients admitted to ICUs using data mining techniques. Methods: In this study, among the cases of patients who were admitted to ICUs of the Rasoul Akram and Firoozgar hospitals of Tehran City, Iran, from December 2017 to March 2018, the first 24 hours of the ICUs admission data of 874 cases were gathered. A new model based on the standard methodology CRISP was developed. In the modeling section, two well-known data mining techniques called artificial neural network (ANN), K nearest neighbor (KNN) and decision tree (DT) were used. WEKA 3.9.2 open-source software was implemented for data analysis. Finally, according to the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity criteria and AUC-ROC Curve, the superior model was introduced. Results: Based on the WEKA results, 19 variables had the most impact on the mortality prediction of patients admitted to ICUs including Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), mechanical ventilation, surgical service at ICUs admission, gender, temperature, serum creatinine, diabetes, Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), age, addiction, International Normalized Ratio (INR), PH, Partial Thromboplastin Time (PTT), albumin, hemoglobin, glucose, pulse rate, hematocrit (HCT), PO2. Based on the created models, some rules have been extracted which can be used as a pattern to predict the probability of mortality. Although the AUC of the three models was acceptable (KNN 81.5%, ANN 77.5% and DT 74.3%), but the accuracy of decision tree J48 (74.2%) was higher. Conclusion: The study indicated that in the KNN model, the rules derived from it can be effective in mortality prediction in patients admitted to ICUs.

Background: The trans-radial approach significantly reduces access bleeding and underlying vascular complications and is associated with lower healthcare costs than the transfemoral approach. One of the most common complications, however, is radial artery occlusion (RAO). Methods: This study investigates the effects of verapamil on radial artery thrombosis in patients referred to Taleghani Hospital in Tehran between 2020 and 2021. Patients were randomized into 2 groups: the first group received verapamil, nitroglycerin, and heparin and the second group nitroglycerin and heparin. To randomly assign 100 cases to the 2 experimental and control groups, we first formed a framework for sampling 100 people (from 1 to 100); then, based on the table of random numbers, we assigned the first 50 numbers to the experimental group and the remainder to the control group. The 2 groups were compared for radial artery thrombosis. Results: This study evaluated 100 candidates for coronary angiography in 2 groups of 50 with and without verapamil. The mean age was 58.6±11.2 years in the group with verapamil and 58.1±12.7 years in the group without verapamil (P=0.84). The difference between the 2 groups in terms of heart failure was statistically significant (P

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of saliva contamination on shear bond strength (SBS) of orthodontic brackets bonded by a self-adhering composite compared with a conventional adhesive. Materials and Methods: This in vitro, experimental study investigated 40 human premolars. The teeth were randomly divided into four groups based on the adhesive type and bonding condition: (I) Vertise Flow composite without saliva contamination (VF), (II) Vertise Flow composite with saliva contamination (VF/S), (III) Transbond XT composite without saliva contamination (TXT), and (IV) Transbond XT composite with saliva contamination (TXT/S). After the preparation step, brackets were bonded to the buccal surface of the teeth, and samples were mounted in acrylic blocks, incubated at 37°C for 24 hours, and underwent thermocycling between 5- 55°C. Next, the SBS was measured by a universal testing machine. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey’s test. P

Background and Aim: The root cause of many incidents in workplaces is the lack of knowledge on occupational safety and health principles. Despite the safety and health authorities in organizations, safety and health is a general responsibility of all other experts working in an organization. Experts and managers are expected to think, decide and work safely in workplaces. However, we don’t know how much they received safety and health related education when they were in universities. We have no reliable published report on the academic teaching of safety and health courses and syllabus in higher education in Iran. Therefore, this study aimed to provide a general view of the status of teaching occupational safety and health subjects in different academic disciplines (excluding specialized fields in occupational safety and health) in the Iranian higher educational system. Method: First, the latest edition of the entire program (curricula) of all academic disciplines held in Iran’s universities was downloaded. Then, the required information including discipline title, program’s degree, number of required (core) and elective (non-core) courses, and program’s date of approval were recorded in an Excel sheet. Every course’s title and syllabus are then studied to finding out any safety and health-related topics. Finally, data were analyzed and reported. Results: 251 academic disciplines in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) and 771 discipline in the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) were investigated. Most of the curriculums have been revised by both ministries since 2011. Results showed that 20 percent of the MOHME‎ ‎disciplines and 10.4 percent of MSRT‎ disciplines are included in occupational safety and health courses. The number of courses with health and safety content (syllabus outline) in the MOHME ‎ ‎and the MSRT‎ were 168 and 173 respectively. Most health and safety courses presented in the MOHME academic majors were in the basic medical sciences category of disciplines. In MSRT covered academic majors most of the safety and health courses and topics were presented in the Engineering category of disciplines. Presenting lessons with health and safety content at the MOHME ‎ ‎is more practical than that of the MSRT. Discussion and Conclusion: The quality and quantity of teaching on safety and health topic are not at satisfactory levels. Revising the course syllabus of the academic disciplines and adding theoretical and practical courses related to the specific health and safety curriculum of each field can make a significant contribution to improving the general knowledge of the safety and health of the university graduates. It is, in turn, improves future workplace safety and health conditions, managers' insights and decision-makers on the importance of safety and health at work, and protects the people's life and the property of the organization.

Background: The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence of trichomoniasis among women aged 18 to 48 yr in Ardabil, northwestern Iran and the relationship between demographic factors and the risk of infection. Methods: Vaginal discharge samples of 914 women aged 18 to 48 yr, referred to Gynecology Clinic of Sabalan Hospital of Ardabil, Iran in 2014, were collected and Trichomonas vaginalis infection was examined using wet mount and Dorset culture medium. In addition, demographic data was collected using a questionnaire as well as clinical examination, and analyzed with SPSS ver. 16, using Chi-square test, and t-test. Results: Of the 914 samples studied, 3.38% by wet mount and 4.48% by parasite culture were infected by T. vaginalis. Sensitivity of direct or wet mount method was 75.6% compared to culture method (standard). We found a significant statistical relationship between trichomoniasis infection and preterm birth (P=0.011). Conclusion: The prevalence of trichomoniasis in Ardabil compared to global statistics (5%-74%) is low. Interestingly, the results of this study (4.84%) were consistent with the results obtained in Tabriz (4.46%).

Background: The reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in the biological systems play an important role in pathological conditions and specific normal cellular processes, such as signaling pathways and drug sensitivity. Methods: Intracellular ROS was determined using (2'-7'dichlorofluorescin diacetate) DCFH-DA fluorimetric probe, malondialdehyde as lipid peroxidation index detected by the Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances method. Cells' protein carbonyl contents were assessed with 2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) derivatization spectrophotometrically at 360-385 nm. Results: The oxidative stress induces ROS (p=0.05), MDA (Malondialdehyde) (p=0.05), and protein carbonylation (p=0.01) was significantly higher in HER2- positive BT-474, SK-BR-3, and MDA-MB-453 compared to the HER2-negative MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cell lines. Conclusion: We hypothesized that increased oxidative stress in HER2-positive cell lines is due to the oncogenic function of the HER2 and PI3K/Akt signaling activation, resulting in glycolysis induction. It is assumed that HER2-positive cell lines with high ROS levels are more vulnerable to further damage by increased ROS levels induced by pro-oxidant anticancer agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]