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OBJECTIVES: Given the rising prevalence of cisplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (CisIPN), investigations to alleviate its adverse effects are required. Oxidative stress and free radical development are essential pathways of CisIPN. Specifically, dexamethasone and citicoline are characterized by anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities that might reduce CisIPN incidence and severity. The current study assessed the possible impacts of novel interventions, dexamethasone, and, citicoline on CisIPN. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-two male mice were randomly allocated into nine groups (n: 8/each group). Different doses of dexamethasone (7.5, 15, 30 mg/kg, i.p.), citicoline (10, 20, 40 mg/kg, i.p.), and the combination (dexamethasone 7.5 mg/kg + citicoline 10 mg/kg, i.p.) were injected in the first three days and one day before receiving cisplatin (2 mg/kg, i.p.). The tail-flick method was used for assessing nociception. Besides, malondialdehyde (MDA), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and mice weight differences (ΔW) were measured. RESULTS: Different doses of dexamethasone and citicoline enhanced latency time (p

Infertility is a health concern affecting more than 186 million people globally, and male factors play a role in almost half of cases. Recently, the possible impact of vitamin D on male reproduction has become the center of attention. Our study intended to assess the correlation between serum vitamin D concentrations with sperm parameters and sex hormones in infertile Iranian men compared to fertile men. This cross-sectional study was performed among the 114 couples who were referred to the Urology Clinic of Imam Reza hospital in Mashhad, Iran. According to the inclusion criteria, 57 patients were entered into the infertility group, and 57 cases entered into the fertile group. Semen quality assessment was performed based on WHO guidelines, and the serum was analyzed for 25-hydroxy vitamin D, LH (luteinizing hormone), FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), and testosterone by ELISA method. Vitamin D level was significantly higher in the fertile group compared with infertile males (p

Hydatid cysts in the neck area are considered as very rare and few cases have been reported in endemic areas. In the present study, we reported a 38-year-old female that underwent surgical operation for extraction of simple cyst in the submandibular area and the diagnosis of hydatid cyst was established by laboratory examinations. The patient was later diagnosed with hepatic hydatid cyst and received systemic treatments. We recommend that physicians should pay more attention to the possibilities of hydatid cysts in unusual areas in endemic regions especially Middle East.

Oxidative stress (OS) is an important parameter in the evaluation of infertility caused by varicocele. Antioxidants are the most commonly prescribed drugs in these patients. Lycopene molecule, as the powerful antioxidant in the carotenoid family, has beneficial effects on improving fertility in males. Therefore, we investigated the effects of lycopene on induced OS by varicocele in an animal model. Forty‐five adult male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: control (n = 12) and varicocele (n = 33). Two months after induced varicocele, five rats in each group were sacrificed randomly and induced varicocele was investigated. Remained rats were divided into five groups (n = 7), including the control (I), varicocele (II), varicocele reserving solvent (III), varicocele reserving lycopene 4 mg/kg (IV), and 10 mg/kg (V) for two months. At the end of the experiment, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), %DNA damage, and antioxidant enzymatic levels were measured. The results indicated that there were significant increases in the levels of ROS, MDA, DNA damage, superoxide dismutase (SOD), sperm concentration, and motility in the varicocele groups compared with the control group. In the lycopene group (10 mg/kg), sperm concentration, the levels of TAC, and catalase (CAT) activity were improved so the levels of ROS, MDA, and %DNA damage were reduced compared with varicocele group. Our findings indicated that the administration of lycopene especially at a dose of 10 mg/kg in the varicocele group could protect sperm from OS and sperm DNA damage by increasing antioxidant activity and reducing ROS., The administration of lycopene especially at a dose of 10 mg/kg in the varicocele group could protect sperm from OS and sperm DNA damage by increasing antioxidant activity and reducing ROS.

Background Oral and dental health has a significant impact on public health as well as the quality of life among individuals and families. This study aims to design, implement, and evaluate an intervention based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model for oral and dental health among primary school students in Rafsanjan city, Southern Iran. Methods According to the nature of the model and with the focus group discussion and interview methods, in phases 1 to 4 (PRECEDE), predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors related to oral health were identified. The training program was designed and consisted of six sessions for students (250 students) with a brushing session, three sessions for parents, and two sessions for teachers. Process evaluation and the effect of the program on behavioral and factors affecting oral health were evaluated (PROCEED). Results In the qualitative section, seven predisposing factors, five enabling factors, and two reinforcing factors were identified. A training program based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model was found to be effective in increasing the mean scores of the above constructs and the students’ brushing behavior (P Conclusion Based on the model planning phases, the factors affecting the brushing behavior of children aged 6–12 years were identified. The educational program has had a significant effect on improving the scores of predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors and children’s brushing behavior.

Background Administration of an optimal dose of anesthetic agent to ensure adequate depth of hypnosis with the lowest risk of adverse effects to the fetus is highly important in cesarean section. Sodium thiopental (STP) is still the first choice for induction of anesthesia in some countries for this obstetric surgery. We aimed to compare two doses of STP with regarding the depth of anesthesia and the condition of newborn infants. Methods In this clinical trial, parturient undergoing elective Caesarian section were randomized into two groups receiving either low-dose (5 mg/kg) or high-dose (7 mg/kg) STP. Muscle relaxation was provided with succinylcholine 2 mg/kg and anesthesia was maintained with O2/N2O and sevoflurane. The depth of anesthesia was evaluated using isolated forearm technique (IFT) and bispectral index (BIS) in various phases. Additionally, infants were assessed using Apgar score and neurobehavioral test. Results Forty parturient were evaluated in each group. BIS was significantly lower in high-dose group at skin incision to delivery and subcutaneous and skin closure. Also, significant differences were noticed in IFT over induction to incision and incision to delivery. Apgar score was significantly lower in high-dose group at 1 min after delivery. Newborn infants in low-dose group had significantly better outcomes in all three domains of the neurobehavioral test. Conclusion 7 mg/kg STP is superior to 5 mg/kg in creating deeper hypnosis for mothers. However, it negatively impacts Apgar score and neurobehavioral test of neonates. STP seems to has dropped behind as an acceptable anesthetic in Cesarean section. Trial registration IRCT No: 2016082819470 N45, 13/03/2019.

Hypoxia has been suggested as an important pathophysiological feature in varicocele disease. On the other hand, the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1-α) is associated with the incidence of hypoxia. In this study, we investigated the expression of HIF1-α in varicocele disease through a comprehensive systematic review. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase databases to identify the related studies published up to February 2021. Human studies have demonstrated an increase in the HIF-1α protein expression in the internal spermatic vein (ISV) of the varicocele testicle. HIF-1α mRNA expression in the seminal plasma was significantly higher in infertile varicocele patient compared with fertile ones. Similarly, most animal studies demonstrated a significant increase in HIF-1α gene and protein expression in varicocele testicular tissue compared with control groups. The studies illustrated that hypoxia followed by increased expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF1-α) mRNA and protein occurs in varicocele disease. Expression of HIF-1α regulates the expression of many genes, including VEGF, p53, GLUT, Bax, and Caspase-3, that could be involved in many of the varicocele pathophysiological effects such as DNA fragmentation and apoptosis of sperm cells. Further studies with a large number of patients are necessary and can provide more definitive evidence.

Introduction: Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) triggers an inflammatory reaction, leading to the development of myocardial damage and dysfunction. It is assumed that propofol, a general anesthetic agent, has a protective role against oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of propofol on myocardial protection when added to cardioplegic solution in patients undergoing CABG. Methods: In this prospective and double-blind RCT study, 120 patients undergoing CABG surgery were randomly assigned into two equal groups. In one group, we added 1200 µg/min (ultimate dose 4 µg/ml) propofol to cardioplegic solution and in the control group, an equal volume of normal saline was added to cardioplegic solution. Serum levels of CPK-MB and Troponin I were checked at four time points, including: just after induction (T1) as baseline, after chest closure (T2), 6 hours after arrival to ICU (T3) and 24 hours after ICU admission (T4). Results: Cardiac enzyme levels had significant increase over time in both groups (p-value

Objective: Regular physical activity (PA) is one of the most effective recommendations to prevent diabetic complications. However, the reported level of PA is low in this group. This study evaluates intervention based on the implementation intention (II) theory, to improve the level of PA and the health of patients with diabetes. Materials and Methods: This randomized control study was conducted on 124 patients with type 2 diabetic. The participants were randomly assigned in to two groups. PA level was measured by using International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The Rockport test was used in order to measure Maximal oxygen consumption volume (vo2max). In the intervention group, Individuals were asked to identify details of the behavior of PA and their own strategies for removing the barriers of exercise. Post-tests took place 3 month later. Normal distributed data were analyzed using two independent and paired sample T-test. Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare PA level. Results: The results showed that although the median level of PA after the intervention (396) had increased. This difference was not statistically significant (P-value= 0.12). Also, after three months vo2max score (19.91) was not significantly different from before (P-value= 0.30). Conclusion: Intervention based on II had no significant effect on level of PA in patients with type 2 diabetes. Using multiple methods, as well as incorporating it with motivating interventions should be investigated to increase the level of PA in this group

Finding effective treatments for cardiac diseases is among the hottest subjects in medicine; cell-based therapies have brought great promises for managing a broad range of life-threatening heart complications such as myocardial infarction. After clarifying the critical role of angiogenesis in tissue repair and regeneration, various stem/progenitor cell were utilized to accelerate the healing of injured cardiac tissue. Embryonic, fetal, adult, and induced pluripotent stem cells have shown the appropriate proangiogenic potential for tissue repair strategies. The capability of stem cells for differentiating into endothelial lineages was initially introduced as the primary mechanism involved in improving angiogenesis and accelerated heart tissue repair. However, recent studies have demonstrated the leading role of paracrine factors secreted by stem cells in advancing neo-vessel formation. Genetically modified stem cells are also being applied for promoting angiogenesis regarding their ability to considerably overexpress and secrete angiogenic bioactive molecules. Yet, conducting further research seems necessary to precisely identify molecular mechanisms behind the proangiogenic potential of stem cells, including the signaling pathways and regulatory molecules such as microRNAs. In conclusion, stem cells' pivotal roles in promoting angiogenesis and consequent improved cardiac healing and remodeling processes should not be ignored, especially in the case of stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles.

Candiduria is common among patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs); however, clinical and microbiological data are limited, which accounts for non-compliance with international guidelines, including over treatment of asymptomatic candiduria that promotes antifungal resistance. This prospective study included adult patients admitted to ICUs of five referral hospitals in Shiraz, Iran, during 2016-2018. Species were identified by MALDI-TOF MS, and antifungal susceptibility was assessed according to CLSI M27-A3/S4. Among 2086 patients, 162 and 293 developed candiduria and bacteriuria, respectively. In total, 174 yeast isolates were collected; 88.5% were Candida albicans (91/174; 52.2%), C. glabrata (38/174; 21.8%), and C. tropicalis (25/174; 14.3%). Antifungal resistance was rare; only two isolates (one C. tropicalis and one C. krusei) were fluconazole resistant. Symptomatic candiduria was noted in 31.4% of patients (51/162); only 37% (19/51) of them were treated and 36.82% (7/19) showed fluconazole therapeutic failure. Two symptomatic patients developed candidemia shortly after candiduria. Among asymptomatic patients, 31.5% (35/111) were overtreated with fluconazole. The mortality rate was 25.3% (41/162); it did not differ between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Our results indicate that deviation from standard-of-care treatment for candiduria is a matter of concern given the high rate of fluconazole therapeutic failure among patients with symptomatic candiduria.LAY SUMMARY: Candiduria is an underestimated clinical presentation among critically ill patients and detailed data are scarce in this regard. Given the high rate of fluconazole therapeutic failure and development of candidemia in some cases, the mistreatment of candiduria should not be overlooked by clinicians.

Despite the serious consequences of sleep apnea, some patients do not follow their physicians’ advice to undergo a sleep study. The present study aimed to determine the rate of adherence and influencing factors in conducting a polysomnography test in patients suspected of obstructive sleep apnea. This qualitative and quantitative analysis was conducted between July 2017 and November 2019 on patients suspected of sleep apnea. The quantitative analysis aimed at determining the rate of adherence through a retrospective cross-sectional study. The qualitative content analysis was conducted on purposefully selected subgroup of patients suspected of obstructive sleep apnea who were referred for polysomnography. The required data were collected through the semi-structured in-depth interviews and then recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using SPSS.22 and MAXQDA10. Quantitative part: Of 311 patients (mean age: 47.6 ± 13.1 years) referred for polysomnography, 283 patients (91%) were at a high risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea. Among those referred for polysomnography, 31% (n = 95) adhered to recommendations for a sleep study. Qualitative part: Factors affecting adherence to polysomnography were categorized as “barriers” and “triggers.” Barriers included inadequate knowledge, psychological factors, cost, and the service system. Triggers included adequate knowledge and tangible experience of consequences of the illness. The majority of patients at risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea did not follow the recommendation for polysomnography, indicating a need for systematic interventions. Among the identified barriers, knowledge and psychological factors are modifiable ones that can be addressed with the patient. We theorize that raising awareness among patients by providing additional information and eliminating concerns may help to increase the rate of adherence. Insurance coverage or subsidy to reduce the sleep study costs may also be an effective strategy to increase adherence to recommendations for polysomnography.

Currently, many corneal diseases are treated by corneal transplantation, artificial corneal implantation or, in severe cases, keratoprosthesis. Owing to the shortage of cornea donors and the risks involved with artificial corneal implants, such as infection transmission, researchers continually seek new approaches for corneal regeneration. Corneal tissue engineering is a promising approach that has attracted much attention from researchers and is focused on regenerative strategies using various biomaterials in combination with different cell types. These constructs should have the ability to mimic the native tissue microenvironment and present suitable optical, mechanical and biological properties. In this article, we review studies that have focused on the current clinical techniques for corneal replacement. We also describe tissue-engineering and cell-based approaches for corneal regeneration.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder, of unknown etiology, that affects 2.5% of the population. An appropriate therapeutic response to conventional treatment is seen. Some studies use augmentative treatment by antipsychotics, glutamatergic, lithium, buspirone, and others agents to improve the therapeutic response. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of aripiprazole and quetiapine as augmentative treatments in patients with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) refractory OCD. The OCD patients were initially treated for 12 weeks with a SSRI. If after 12 weeks their Yale–Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) score was more than 16, they were randomly assigned to either the aripiprazole or the quetiapine augmentation group for an additional 12 weeks. There were no significant differences in age, sex, education, marital status, or score of Y-BOCS and Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale (CGI-S) between groups (p > 0.05) at the outset of the study. Significant differences were noted after 1 month when compared with results at 2, 3, and 4 months in both groups (p < 0.001). Both quetiapine and aripiprazole may be effective and well-tolerated augmentative agents in the treatment of SSRI-refractory OCD. Because of positive results, aripiprazole may be considered more effective and may have a more rapid onset in terms of therapeutic response.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to propose a model to evaluate the performance of organizational units considering intellectual capital (IC) and employee loyalty approach applying principal component analysis and data envelopment analysis (PCA-DEA) method. Design/methodology/approach Organization units are considered as decision-making units, IC components including human capital (HC), structural capital (SC) and customer capital are inputs and employee loyalty is output. The principal component analysis was used to converts inputs and outputs into the independent variables. As a return to scale is variable, a modified envelopment input-oriented BCC model applied to obtain the efficiency of organization units. Also, all units of organization are ranked. Eventually, sensitivity analysis performed to show how input variables influence on output variable. Findings Operation, design and construction, production planning, internal affairs, quality control and security were recognized as efficient units. Also, units of operation, internal affairs and quality control ranked first to third, and the human resource unit earned the last rank. In addition, results of sensitivity analysis on input variables showed that the order of impact intensity is: customer capital, HC and SC, respectively. Originality/value Existence a framework for the development of human resource strategies and prioritization in the allocation of organizational resources to improve the performance of the organization considering human resources is vital. Most of the previous studies, just have examined the impact of IC on different dimensions of organizational performance. Meanwhile, evaluating the performance of IC with employee loyalty approach, using PCA-DEA simultaneously can evaluate and measure the impact of IC on the performance of the organization and its units regarding employee loyalty, which has a significant impact on improving the organization’s level of IC and human resource management.

Recently, link prediction has attracted more attentions from various disciplines such as computer science, bioinformatics and economics. In this problem, unknown links between nodes are discovered based on numerous information such as network topology, profile information and user generated contents. Most of the previous researchers have focused on the structural features of the networks. While the recent researches indicate that contextual information can change the network topology. Although, there are number of valuable researches which combine structural and content information, but they face with the scalability issue due to feature engineering. Because, majority of the extracted features are obtained by a supervised or semi supervised algorithm. Moreover, the existing features are not general enough to indicate good performance on different networks with heterogeneous structures. Besides, most of the previous researches are presented for undirected and unweighted networks. In this paper, a novel link prediction framework called "DeepLink" is presented based on deep learning techniques. In contrast to the previous researches which fail to automatically extract best features for the link prediction, deep learning reduces the manual feature engineering. In this framework, both the structural and content information of the nodes are employed. The framework can use different structural feature vectors, which are prepared by various link prediction methods. It considers all proximity orders that are presented in a network during the structural feature learning. We have evaluated the performance of DeepLink on two real social network datasets including Telegram and irBlogs. On both datasets, the proposed framework outperforms several structural and hybrid approaches for link prediction problem., 19 pages, 9 figures

Objectives Evaluate the effect of functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for nasal polyposis on sleep efficiency and polysomnographic parameters. Subjects and methods This clinical trial was conducted on 15 patients with bilateral massive sinonasal polyposis who underwent FESS between August 2012 and September 2013. All participants were evaluated subjectively by employing the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire and objectively (provided by polysomnographic parameters) before and 2 months after surgery. Results The evaluation of subjective criteria of sleep quality assessed by PSQI showed significant improvement, particularly in nocturnal awakening (P = 0.002). However, Apnea Hypopnea Index (AHI) was not reduced significantly after surgery (P = 0.233). Among patients who had suffered from obstructive sleep apnea, AHI was improved in 7 patients, deteriorated in 3 patients, and did not change in 1 patient. Although the mean duration of REM sleep stage increased from 15.2 ± 10.7 to 18.9 ± 7.9, this change was not statistically significant. Furthermore, arousal index decreased dramatically from 31.6 to 17.1 (P = 0.02) and sleep efficiency index was improved after the surgery (P = 0.008). Conclusions This study documented the effect of resuming nasal cavity patency on improvement of sleep efficiency after FESS. In spite of insignificant effect of FESS on apnea index, alteration of other sleep parameters like arousal index following surgery may have a positive effect on sleep quality.

A major challenge faced by marketers attempting to optimize their advertising campaigns is to deal with budget constraints. The problem is even harder in the face of multidimensional budget constraints, particularly in the presence of many decision variables involved and the interplay among the decision variables through such constraints. Concise bidding strategies help advertisers deal with this challenge by introducing fewer variables upon which to act. In this paper, we study the problem of finding optimal concise bidding strategies for advertising campaigns with multiple budget constraints. Given bid landscapes—that is, the predicted value (e.g., number of clicks) and the cost per click for any bid—that are typically provided by ad-serving systems, we optimize the value of an advertising campaign given its budget constraints. In particular, we consider bidding strategies that consist of no more than k different bids for all keywords. For constant k, we provide a polynomial-time approximation scheme to optimize the profit, whereas for arbitrary k we show how a constant-factor approximation algorithm can be obtained via a combination of solution enumeration and dependent LP rounding techniques, which can be of independent interest. In addition to being able to deal with multidimensional budget constraints, our results do not assume any specific payment scheme and can be applied on pay-per-click, pay-per-impression, or pay-per-conversion models. Also, no assumption about the concavity of value or cost functions is made. Finally, we evaluate the performance of our algorithms on real data sets in regimes with up to six-dimensional budget constraints. In the case of a single budget constraint, in which uniform bidding (currently used in practice) has a provable performance guarantee, our algorithm beats the state of the art by an increase of 1%–6% in the expected number of clicks. This is achieved by only two or three clusters in contrast with the single cluster permitted in uniform bidding. With multiple budget constraints, the gap between the performance of our algorithm and an enhanced version of uniform bidding grows to an average of 5%–6% (and as high as 35% in higher dimensions). This paper was accepted by Yinyu Ye, optimization.

Purpose: In high-grade soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) the standard of care encompasses multimodal therapy regimens. While there is a growing body of evidence for prognostic pretreatment radiomic models, we hypothesized that temporal changes in radiomic features following neoadjuvant treatment ("delta-radio mics") may be able to predict the pathological complete response (pCR). Methods: MRI scans (T1-weighted with fat-saturation and contrast-enhancement (T1FSGd) and T2 weighted with fat-saturation (T2FS)) of patients with STS of the extremities and trunk treated with neoadjuvant therapy were gathered from two independent institutions (training: 103, external testing: 53 patients). pCR was defined as

Infertility is a multiplex disorder in the reproductive system, and men are responsible for more than half of the cases. Nowadays, semen analysis has been considered the critical assessment test to diagnose infertile men; however, it has limitations so that the cause behind infertility in 40% of infertile men is unrevealed. Weaknesses of semen assessment indicate a global need for novel and better diagnostic tools and biomarkers. MicroRNAs are short (about 18-22 nucleotide length) non-coding RNAs that control most (>60%) of our protein-coding genes post-transcriptionally. These molecules are aberrant in the body fluids, and abnormal alterations in their expression level can signify a specific disease such as infertility. Therefore, microRNAs can be novel candidate biomarkers that can diagnose different types of male infertility, including azoospermia, oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia and teratozoospermia. This narrative review aimed to collect and sum up new papers published about the significant role of microRNAs in different male infertility categories.

Controlling grain growth is of great importance in maximizing the charge carrier transport for polycrystalline thin-film electronic devices. The thin-film growth of halide perovskite materials has been manipulated via a number of approaches including solvent engineering, composition engineering, and post-treatment processes. However, none of these methods lead to large-scale atomically flat thin films with extremely large grain size and high charge carrier mobility. Here, we demonstrate a novel π-conjugated ligand design approach for controlling the thin-film nucleation and growth kinetics in two-dimensional (2D) halide perovskites. By extending the π-conjugation and increasing the planarity of the semiconducting ligand, nucleation density can be decreased by more than 5 orders of magnitude. As a result, wafer-scale 2D perovskite thin films with highly ordered crystalline structures and extremely large grain size are readily obtained. We demonstrate high-performance field-effect transistors with hole mobility approaching 10 cm2 V-1 s-1 with ON/OFF current ratios of ∼106 and excellent stability and reproducibility. Our modeling analysis further confirms the origin of enhanced charge transport and field and temperature dependence of the observed mobility, which allows for clear deciphering of the structure-property relationships in these nascent 2D semiconductor systems.

Background: Failure to observe hygienic principles and making minor cuts with scissors and razors while applying makeup may lead to the transmission of diseases of blood origin. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge and attitude of female hairdressers in Rafsanjan regarding the prevention of Blood-borne diseases and its relationship with demographic characteristics in 2019-2020. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in all hairdressing salons in Rafsanjan that had official activities, by census (201 hairdressers). The tool for measuring knowledge and attitude was a researcher-made questionnaire that was completed as a self-report. The questionnaires were anonymous and coded and included demographic information, awareness and attitude. Data were entered into SPSS software version 18 and reported by indices of Dispersion indices, frequency distribution and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The average knowledge and attitude of hairdressers about Blood-borne diseases were 57.95 ± 5.11 and 57.95 ± 11.35, respectively. There was a statistically significant relationship between the mean score of knowledge and attitude of the research samples with the level of literacy (p value = 0.001). Most of the research samples mentioned that there is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis C disease and it was believed that covering the needle head after use has no effect on Blood-borne diseases. Conclusion: Considering the average level of knowledge of hairdressers, it is suggested that more effective training courses to increase the knowledge of hairdressers using different training methods in order to make more effectiveness of health programs.

Lifetime prediction of the fielded c-Si solar modules due to location-specific weather conditions has been an important topic of photovoltaic research and the economic viability of solar energy. Data analytic techniques such as Performance Ratio method, Statistical Clear Sky model, and Suns-Vmp methods quantify the degradation from measured data of a solar farm, however, the non-linear time-dependence and correlated degradations make it difficult to use the empirical degradation rates for ultimate lifetime projection. In this paper, we propose a complementary physics-based model to predict the solder bond failure caused by mechanical stress associated with the daily or seasonal variations of the temperature. Given the worldwide weather information from NASA database, the proposed model predicts the location-specific output power degradation and the lifetime of a module due to solder bond failure. The model parameters are obtained by calibrating against qualification tests involving thermal cycling. This model will serve as a building block of a more comprehensive reliability model that can predict the lifetime of a module that experiences simultaneous and correlated degradation mechanisms involving yellowing, corrosion, and potential-induced degradations.

Introduction: Curcumin-based products are extensively used as therapeutics in the treatment of cardiac disorders; however, there is no significant report on the curcumin potentials in cardiac tissue engineering applications. Due to its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties, curcumin has been demonstrated to be a promising candidate for tissue engineering (TE) applications. Areas covered: Various curcumin-containing tissue-engineered constructs have been developed for the management of soft tissue damages (such as wound injuries); hence, there are hopes for the use of this natural product in cardiac tissue engineering (CTE). However, some crucial issues should primarily be addressed before curcumin could be widely used in CTE. Expert opinion: The challenges regarding the use of curcumin in CTE include the optimum dosages of curcumin for promoting cardiac regeneration, the type of carrier used (e.g., polymeric matrices), the preferable release profile, as well as the short- and long-term toxicity in the human body.

Although reinforcement learning is known as an effective machine learning technique, it might perform poorly in complex problems, especially real-world problems, leading to a slow rate of convergence. This issue magnifies when facing continuous domains where the curse of dimensionality is inevitable, and generalization is mostly desired. Transfer learning is a successful technique to remedy such a problem which results in significant improvements in learning performance by providing generalization not only within a task but also across different but related or similar tasks. The critical issue in transfer learning is how to incorporate the knowledge acquired from learning in a different but related task in the past. Domain adaptation is an exciting paradigm that seeks to address this challenge. In this paper, we propose a novel skill based Transfer Learning with Domain Adaptation (TLDA) approach suitable for continuous RL problems. TLDA discovers and learns skills as high-level knowledge from source task and then uses domain adaptation technique to help agent discover state-action mapping as a relation between the source and target tasks. With such mapping, TLDA can adapt source skills and speed up learning on a new target task. The experimental results verify the achievement of an effective transfer learning method for continuous reinforcement learning problems.

Eine Krebserkrankung ist fur die Betroffenen und ihre Angehorigen ein schwerer Schicksalsschlag. Gerade wenn es sich um eine palliative Situation handelt, sind sowohl die Patienten selbst, aber auch insbesondere die nachsten Angehorigen vor eine grose Herausforderung gestellt. Hierbei ist es wichtig, den Bedurfnissen der Patienten bezuglich der Therapie, aber auch hinsichtlich psychischer, sozialer und spiritueller Belange gerecht zu werden. In enger Zusammenarbeit und Kommunikation auf Augenhohe zwischen den Primarbehandlern, den vor Ort betreuenden Hausarzten, den Angehorigen und einem palliativmedizinischen Dienst kann eine optimale Versorgung von Patienten in palliativen Situationen wahrend und nach einem Krankenhausaufenthalt erfolgreich gelingen.

Introduction: Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints in children that can lead to many complications. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of polyethylene glycol powder and polyethylene glycol 40% syrup to treat constipation. Materials and Methods: This study was a nonrandomized semi-experimental clinical trial. The current study was conducted on 80 patients with constipation, referring to Imam Ali (PBUH) Clinic, Shahrekord randomly assigned to two groups of 40 each. Subjects were children under 15 years old with functional constipation selected by simple sampling since 2015. Group 1 was treated with polyethylene glycol powder and Group 2 was treated with polyethylene glycol 40% syrup for two months. During the treatment, the patients were examined five times with 2-week intervals and their symptoms consisting of defecation frequency, stool consistency, painful defecation, bloody defecation, and stool incontinence were registered in a checklist. Data were analyzed using SPSS24. Results: The comparison of patients' total status before and after intervention shows that two groups were assessed in the weak level in the polyethylene glycol powder group 28(0.70%) cases and syrup group 36(0.90%), while after intervention, polyethylene glycol powder group was assessed in the high level 35(87.5%) cases and syrup group 37(92%) cases and most of patients after intervention promoted from weak and intermediate level before intervention to High level. Conclusion: The findings indicated similar efficacy and treatment response of the PEG powder and syrup. However, the PEG syrup can be used instead of its powder because of pleasant taste and ease of use. Keywords Author Keywords:Constipation; functional constipation; polyethylene glycol KeyWords Plus:CHILDHOOD CONSTIPATION; FUNCTIONAL CONSTIPATION; CHILDREN; DISORDERS; LAXATIVES; SPECTRUM

Pompe disease is a lysosomal storage disorder that results from an inborn error of metabolism which involves abnormal glycogen storage. Infantile-onset Pompe disease is the most severe phenotype that manifests with the findings of hypotonia, generalized muscle weakness, feeding difficulties, a failure to thrive, hearing loss, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with systolic dysfunction, and respiratory distress. There is no effective treatment for Pompe disease and clinical control includes primary support health care. However, recent studies have reported that enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) can effectively decrease the symptoms or severity of the disease. The present study is a case report of a 24-day patient with infantile-onset Pompe disease who presented coughing and respiratory distress. The infant experienced fatigue during breastfeeding from the birth and developed dry and nonproductive coughs and perioral cyanosis from two weeks after the birth. The echocardiogram demonstrated left and right ventricular enlargement, mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, and pulmonary hypertension. After definitive diagnosis, the patient was administered with 20 mg/kg of alglucosidase 50 mg vial once every two weeks. He experienced significant improvement in body weight and echocardiogram and symptoms such as fatigue during breastfeeding and perioral cyanosis disappeared completely while he was under Myozyme treatment. In general, the observations confirmed the efficacy of Myozyme in a patient with infantile Pompe disease. Therefore, early diagnosis and quick treatment of Pompe disease with Myozyme can lead to acceptable outcomes, improve conditions, and finally, increase the chance of survival in these patients. Keywords: Pompe disease, Infant, Myozyme

Oligodendrocyte (OL) loss and demyelination occur after spinal cord injury (SCI). Stimulation of remyelination through transplantation of myelinating cells may be effective in improving function. For the repair strategy to be successful, the selection of a suitable cell and maintaining cell growth when cells are injected directly to the site of injury is important. In addition to selecting the type of cell, fibrin hydrogel was used as a suitable tissue engineering scaffold for this purpose. To test the relationship between myelination and functional improvement, the human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs) were differentiated toward oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) using overexpression of miR-219. Adult female Wistar rats were used to induce SCI by using a compression model and were randomly assigned to the following four experimental groups: SCI, Vehicle, hEnSC, and OPC. Ten days after injury, miR-219 overexpressed hEnSC-derived OPCs encapsulated in fibrin hydrogel, as an injectable scaffold, were injected to the injury site. In this study, with a focus on promoting functional recovery after SCI, the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan test was performed to evaluate the recovery of motor function every week for 10 weeks and the histological assay was then performed. Results showed that the rate of motor function recovery was significantly higher in OPC group compared to SCI and vehicle groups but no marked differences were found between OPC and hEnSC groups, although, the rate of myelination in the OPC group was significantly higher than the other groups. These results demonstrated that remyelination was not the cause of recovery of motor function.

Introduction: Many nurses face to challenge of balancing their job and family roles.The purpose of this study was to Investigating the Role of Job engagement and Job Self-efficacy in predicting job-family conflict in female nurses. Methods: In this study that was descriptive–correlational, the statistical population was all female nurses of Tehran state hospitals in the second three months of 2016 in 1200 people. Out of this, 381 subjects were selected by cluster sampling method, and were evaluated by family-job and self-efficacy questionnaires. For statistical analysis of data the SPSS software(version 22) and the descriptive and inferential statistics methods such as Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple stepwise regression was used. Results: The results showed a significant negative correlation between the overall job engagement score and its components (P≤ 0.01,F=28/127). In addition, there is a negative significant correlation between components of job self-efficacy and overall score of self-efficacy with job-family conflict and family-job conflict(P≤ 0.05,F=126/93). Conclusion: Job engagement and job self-efficacy reduces job-family conflict that the obtained results from research can be used in nurses’ curriculum designing to reduce job-family conflict. Keywords: Job engagement, Job self- efficacy , Job-family Conflict, Nurses

BACKGROUND: Physical activity is one of the most important self-care approaches to controlling complications of type 2 diabetes. According to Bandura’s social theory, factors such as social support are effective factors in the incidence of the behaviour. AIM: This study aims to determine the level of physical activity, social support and their determinants. METHODS: This descriptive study was performed on 250 patients with type 2 diabetes by Cluster-Random Sampling method in Rafsanjan City. Data were collected using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and Social Support Questionnaire for Sport, that their validity and reliability were confirmed. The results were analysed by t-test, ANOVA and logistic regression. RESULTS: This study showed that 46.8% of the patients were in the inactive group. Social support score for exercise was low in this group. The results indicated that social support and gender are predictors of physical activity, and with an increase in the social support score, the odds of having minimal physical activity increased 1.17 fold (OR = 1.167) and men were 4.18 times more likely to have minimal physical activity (OR = 4.183). CONCLUSION: Considering the low level of physical activity and social support in diabetic patients, and the effect of social support on the prediction of physical activity, interventions are recommended to increase social support in this group.

Aim: Prophylaxis against stress ulcer in mechanically ventilated patients is one of the causes for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Our aim was evaluating the effect of intravenous pantoprazole and ranitidine in the incidence of VAP in critically ill patients. Materials and Methods: Patients with at least 48 h of expected mechanical ventilation were allocated randomly to receive either 50 mg ranitidine (R) every 8 h or 40 mg pantoprazole (P) every 12 h intravenously from admission. VAP diagnosis was according to the Clinical Pneumonia Infection Score and positive culture. Results: Eighty-six patients during a 15-month period were analyzed; the study showed a low difference between VAP incidence in the ranitidine and pantoprazole groups. No significant difference was observed in terms of gastrointestinal bleeding, intensive care unit, hospital length of stay, and mortality between the groups. Conclusion: VAP incidence is hardly related to the type of stress ulcer prophylaxis agent with a high rate of VAP and low utilization of VAP prophylaxis bundle.

Personalized search methods try to tailor the search results to the user's needs and preferences. A popular source of information for personalization is social networks of users. In this paper, we aim at proposing a social-network-based personalized information retrieval (PIR) method that: i) is holistic (not just considering some local neighborhood of the searcher); ii) is efficient in term of computational/storage cost; iii) its personalization component has a probabilistic basis. To the best of our knowledge, no such method exists. We propose an interestedness measure and several variations of it for quantifying the interestedness of each user in another user based on a social network of users. The general idea is to try to mimic a searcher's behavior in the real world to estimate the interestedness. The measures are then exploited to personalize the retrieval results. We evaluate the resulting PIR methods and compare them in terms of retrieval effectiveness and computational/storage cost. We also compare them with some baseline methods. In summary, our analyses suggest that retrieval based on at least one of the measures performs well in terms of both retrieval effectiveness and computational/storage cost.

We propose a theoretical scheme for creating a two-dimensional Electromagnetically Induced Grating in a three-level $$\Lambda $$ Λ -type atomic system interacting with a weak probe field and two simultaneous position-dependent coupling fields—a two dimensional standing wave and an optical vortex beam. Upon derivation of the Maxwell wave equation, describing the dynamic response of the probe light in the atomic medium, we perform numerical calculations of the amplitude, phase modulations and Fraunhofer diffraction pattern of the probe field under different system parameters. We show that due to the azimuthal modulation of the Laguerre–Gaussian field, a two-dimensional asymmetric grating is observed, giving an increase of the zeroth and high orders of diffraction, thus transferring the probe energy to the high orders of direction. The asymmetry is especially seen in the case of combining a resonant probe with an off-resonant standing wave coupling and optical vortex fields. Unlike in previously reported asymmetric diffraction gratings for PT symmetric structures, the parity time symmetric structure is not necessary for the asymmetric diffraction grating presented here. The asymmetry is due to the constructive and destructive interference between the amplitude and phase modulations of the grating system, resulting in complete blocking of the diffracted photons at negative or positive angles, due to the coupling of the vortex beam. A detailed analysis of the probe field energy transfer to different orders of diffraction in the case of off-resonant standing wave coupling field proves the possibility of direct control over the performance of the grating.

Context: Atorvastatin is considered as lipid reductive drugs with anti-inflammatory and pleotherapic effects in coronary artery bypass graph (CABG). Aim: This study is conducted to evaluate the effects of atorvastatin in CABG. Setting and Design: Patients with a coronary bypass graph procedure in Nemazee hospital in Shiraz were divided into two 50-groups receiving high-dose (80 mg) and low-dose (20 mg) atorvastatin. Materials and Methods: Troponin I, creatinine kinase-MB (CK-MB), atrial fibrillation (AF) after CABG, duration of mechanical ventilation, inotrope duration of consumption, blood sugar profile, liver and renal function, death during 30 days of CABG, MACE (major advance cardiac events) during admission in ICU, and 1 month follow up were surveyed. Statistical Analysis: Collected data were analyzed by independent and paired t-test and Chi square. Results: AST was increased, ALT, ALK-P after CABG were decreased, and urine volume in the second day of admission in ICU was increased in the high-dose group. There was an increase and following decrease in blood sugar of patients in the high-dose after CABG. An inflammatory marker after CABG was raised in both groups, ck-mb had an increase, and then followed by a reduction. Troporin had no significant differences between groups. Patients with high-dose atorvastatin had better glomerular filtration rate and renal performance. Along with decreasing AF in the case group, hemodynamics' disorder reduced and there was less bleeding. Conclusion: According to the above, it seems that a short-time prescription of high dose of atorvastatin in CABG can lead to better renal function, decreasing of arrhythmia and AF.

Background: Because of the high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and their urgent treatment in a way that have minimal side effects and maximum benefits, this study aims to compare the mortality rate, re-hospitalization, and ejection fraction of smoker patients undergone P-PCI (primary percutaneous coronary intervention) with those who received thrombolytic therapy in autumn 2018.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in Ayatollah Taleghani and Labbafinejad hospitals of Tehran City, Iran. The study group consisted of 42 smoker patients referred to the hospitals with the diagnosis of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) and have undergone P-PCI or thrombolytic therapy from September 2018 to December 2018. Complications such as death and re-hospitalization were noted, and the ejection fraction of each patient was also recorded. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25. Statistical significance was considered at P< 0.05.Results: The Independent Samples t-test showed no significant difference between two groups of PCI and thrombolytic therapy regarding ejection fraction (EF) at the time of admission. Also, there was no considerable EF difference after three months of follow-up between 2 groups in both smoker and ex-smoker ones (P>0.05). Mean (SD) values of EF in smoker patients who underwent PCI were 41.56 9.95 at the time of admission and 45.00 10.52 after three months of follow-up. The paired sample t-test showed no significant difference between both groups regarding EF at the time of admission and after three months. The mean (SD) values of EF in smoker patients who underwent thrombolytic therapy were 40.26 8.73 at the time of admission and 48.53 5.80 after three months of follow-up. The paired sample t-test showed no significant difference between EF at the time of admission and after three months in the ex-smoker group, but there was a considerable difference in the smoker group (PConclusion: Thrombolytic therapy can increase the EF of smoking patients with STEMI for a long time, indicating a beneficial effect of thrombolytic therapy to prevent heart failure.

Despite benefits of physical activity, the level of physical activity is not desirable in patients with type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study is the using of integration of intervention based on the theory of protection motivation and implementation intention in order to improve the level of activity in patients with diabetes. This field trial study has been performed on 125 patients with type 2 diabetes. Samples have been randomly selected, and they are divided into two intervention and control groups. In the intervention group, training sessions were conducted based on the protection motivation theory and implementation intention. Physical activity levels, VO2 max, and hemoglobin A1C were measured before and three months after the intervention in the two groups. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 18, and independent t -test, paired t -test, and equivalent nonparametric tests were used for analyzing abnormal data. The results of this study showed that the level of physical activity was higher in the intervention group ( p = 0.02 ). Also, the amount of hemoglobin A1c in the intervention group has been decreased significantly three months later ( p < 0.001 ). In this study, VO2 max and blood lipids were not significantly different in the two groups. However, there was higher VO2 max compared to before the intervention in the intervention group. The present study showed that combining motivational interventions and implementing intention intervention can be effective in promoting the physical activity of patients with type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND In many countries, there is no registry system to record data for Epidermolysis Bullosa patients. However, the first steps for establishing a registry system have been taken in Iran. Therefore, we decided to publish it for the first time. METHODS This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Data was obtained from 538 patients consecutively enrolled in the Iranian Epidermolysis Bullosa Registry, using a detailed instrument created by burn research center of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran from Jan 2017 to Sep 2017. Patients’ information such as age, gender, address, educational status, parents’ family relationship and pathology result were recorded. Then a physician examined patients focusing on gastrointestinal system, teeth, ophthalmologic disorders, psychological problems and contracture of the upper and lower limbs and any other complaint. Data entered SPSS ver.19 and analyzed using ANOVA and LSD tests. RESULTS Overall, 538 EB patients were registered in Iran (6.72 patient in 100.000 person) with an approximately equal ratio between males and females. Among 103 patients whose disease type was determined by a pathologist, 78 patients (75.7%) had dystrophic type, 13 (12.6%) junctional, 9 (8.7%) simplex and 3 (2.9%) kindler type. The most common complaint of patients was dysphagia followed by tooth damage. CONCLUSION We stablished a data registry for EB patients for the first time in Iran. The frequency of EB in Iran is less than many other countries. However, data completion is to be done to include all patients as possible.

Introdution: Myostatin and follistatin proteins are key proteins in the regulation of muscle atrophy and hypertrophy. Aging and sarcopenia can lead to disruption of cellular mechanisms and the activity of these proteins. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of resistance training on myostatin and folistatin proteins content in Gastrocnemius muscle tissue of elderly rats. Methods: In this experimental study, 12 female Sprague-Dawley rats (20-month-old) with an average weight of 250±30 g were selected and randomly divided into 2 groups: resistance training (n=6) and control (n=6). The resistance-training program was as followed: 3 days a week for 8 weeks, climbing a one-meter vertical ladder with 26 steps and two centimeters of space between each step with a slope of 85 degrees. SPSS software version 23 and independent t-test were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that eight weeks of resistance training led to a significant increase in myostatin protein content in the training group compared to the control group (P≤0.04). In contrast, eight weeks of resistance training led to a significant reduction in folistatin protein content in the training group compared to the control group (P≤0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study on the content of myostatin and folistatin proteins, it is possible that the reduction of muscle atrophy in the elderly can be through other pathways of protein synthesis and muscle hypertrophy.

Background and objectives Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is reportedly associated with sleep disorders. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate sleep disorders in newly diagnosed SLE patients. Materials and methods This study was conducted on patients with newly diagnosed SLE (ie, case group) and a control group. The case and control groups were matched in terms of gender, age, socioeconomic status, and educational level. Venous blood samples were obtained from the participants to measure prolactin and melatonin levels. Furthermore, they were subjected to polysomnography. The data were analysed by SPSS (version 16) at a significance level of 0.05. Results A total of 28 women were enrolled in this study (ie, 14 individuals in each group). The frequencies of sleep disorder in the case and control groups were obtained as 64.3% and 50%, respectively (P=0.4). These two groups had the mean sleep onset times of 10.76±10.64 and 8.67±7.12 min (P=0.5) and the respiratory disturbance indices of 9.20±10.23 and 8.44±9.27, respectively (P=0.8). The frequency of sleep apnoea was obtained at 50% for both case and control groups (P=1). There was no significant difference between these groups in terms of the mean serum prolactin and melatonin levels (P=0.3 and P=0.2, respectively). Serum melatonin level showed a direct correlation with sleep latency to N1 (i.e., the first part of non-rapid eye movement in sleep) and spontaneous arousal index in the case group (P=0.02, r=0.602 and P=0.04, r=0.544, respectively). Conclusion According to the findings, there was no significant difference in the frequency of sleep disorders between the healthy subjects and patients at the onset of lupus. Additionally, melatonin and prolactin levels showed no significant difference between the groups. Our results are inconsistent with previous studies, due to the difference in disease duration probably. It seems that the chronicity and complications of the disease, as well as the adoption of glucocorticoid therapy for the chronic disease affect sleep quality in SLE patients more than disease duration.

Since canonical machine learning algorithms assume that the dataset has equal number of samples in each class, binary classification became a very challenging task to discriminate the minority class samples efficiently in imbalanced datasets. For this reason, researchers have been paid attention and have proposed many methods to deal with this problem, which can be broadly categorized into data level and algorithm level. Besides, multi-class imbalanced learning is much harder than binary one and is still an open problem. Boosting algorithms are a class of ensemble learning methods in machine learning that improves the performance of separate base learners by combining them into a composite whole. This paper’s aim is to review the most significant published boosting techniques on multi-class imbalanced datasets. A thorough empirical comparison is conducted to analyze the performance of binary and multi-class boosting algorithms on various multi-class imbalanced datasets. In addition, based on the obtained results for performance evaluation metrics and a recently proposed criteria for comparing metrics, the selected metrics are compared to determine a suitable performance metric for multi-class imbalanced datasets. The experimental studies show that the CatBoost and LogitBoost algorithms are superior to other boosting algorithms on multi-class imbalanced conventional and big datasets, respectively. Furthermore, the MMCC is a better evaluation metric than the MAUC and G-mean in multi-class imbalanced data domains.

Sharing information about the best searching point through the communication process between subpopulations is an important step in island-based evolutionary algorithms. This sharing process can be carried out via three models: migration, abest and a model uses both prior models. In this paper, the impact of these three communication models is investigated on the Multi-objective Search Manager (MOSM) which is a recently proposed island-based framework for hybridizing different search strategies aiming to enhance the performance of optimization algorithm in solving multi-objective problems.