Search

Abstract Objectives To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the prevalence of thyroid disorders in COVID-19 patients. Data sources Scopus, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were used in this review. We also consider the results of grey literature. Study selections Cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies were included. Data extraction and synthesis The required data were extracted by the first author of the article and reviewed by the second author. The Pooled prevalence of outcomes of interest was applied using the meta-prop method with a pooled estimate after Freeman-Tukey Double Arcsine Transformation to stabilize the variances. Outcomes and measured The different thyroid disorders were the main outcomes of this study. The diseases include non-thyroidal illness syndrome, thyrotoxicosis, hypothyroidism, isolated elevated free T4, and isolated low free T4. Results Eight articles were included in our meta-analysis(Total participants: 1654). The pooled prevalence of events hypothyroidism, isolated elevated FT4, isolated low FT4, NTIS, and thyrotoxicosis were estimated (Pooled P = 3%, 95% CI:2–5%, I2: 78%), (Pooled P = 2%, 95% CI: 0–4%, I2: 66%), (Pooled P = 1%, 95% CI: 0–1%, I2: 0%), (Pooled P = 26%, 95% CI: 10–42%, I2: 98%), and (Pooled P = 10%, 95% CI: 4–16%, I2: 89%), respectively. Conclusion Thyroid dysfunction is common in COVID-19 patients, with a high prevalence of non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) and thyrotoxicosis. Our meta-analysis found a 26% prevalence of NTIS and a 10% prevalence of thyrotoxicosis. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42022312601.

Objectives As welfare societies, Scandinavian countries share characteristics of equality related to healthcare access, gender, and social services. However, cultural and lifestyle variations create country-specific health differences. This meta-analysis assessed the prevalence of preterm birth (PTB) and its categories in Scandinavian countries. Methods A systematic search in key databases of literature published between 1990 and 2021 identified studies of the prevalence of PTB and its categories. Following the use of the Freeman–Tukey double arcsine transformation, a meta-analysis of weighted data was performed using the random-effects model and meta-prop method. Results We identified 109 observational studies that involved 86,420,188 live births. The overall pooled prevalence (PP) of PTB was 5.3% (PP = 5.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.1%, 5.5%). The highest prevalence was in Norway (PP = 6.2%, 95% CI 5.3%, 7.0%), followed by Sweden (PP = 5.3%, 95% CI 5.1%, 5.4%), Denmark (PP = 5.2%, 95% CI 4.9%, 5.3%), and Iceland (PP = 5.0%, 95% CI 4.4%, 5.7%). Finland had the lowest PTB rate (PP = 4.9%, 95% CI 4.7%, 5.1%). Conclusions The overall PP of PTB was 5.3%, with small variations among countries (4.9%–6.2%). The highest and lowest PPs of PTB were in Norway and Finland, respectively.

The view that education should be in accordance with the ideals and goals of the ruling political system is always considered one of the governments and the cultural and social policy makers of the societies main concerns. This is important that in the form of change management, which has always been considered by the executive managers of the governments. In the investigations related to the government in Iranian society, paying attention to the field of education and creating changes and transformations in it and adapting it to the goals of the Islamic Revolution has always created a challenge between the public sphere and the policy-making sphere in such a way that the issue of change and transformation in Education has become a tragic tragedy. One of the most extensive disputes in recent years between the field of education and the government in the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the preparation, approval and implementation of "the fundamental transformation document in education". This important document has been prepared and approved by the highest executive authorities of the government as an upstream document for change and development in the education system.The government in the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran was hoping for such a change and development that the document on the fundamental transformation of education in line with the vision document of 1404 and the comprehensive scientific map of the country and the approvals of the Expediency Council, in the session No.Unfortunately, the implementation process of this document continued facing serious challenges in such a way that after ten years of its approval, it has not been successful in the implementation phase. Therefore, the important point related to the current research is the discussion of social policies that governments apply to change the behavior of large sections of people. In this regard, the purpose of this research was to investigate the process of approving and implementing the document of fundamental transformation in education by adopting the critical approach government in society of the "Joel Migdal". Because from Migdal's point of view and in contrast to Weber's view of this social existence, the government is not a coordinated and coherent entity, but rather a conflicting entity that sometimes works against itself, but this process is not the same for all governments, because governments have the same ability are not. In accordance with Migdal, strong governments are governments that have the necessary abilities to influence, regulate social relations, extract resources and distribute or allocate resources for social transformation through design, policy and program implementation, on the other hand, weak governments are those that are willing or They do not have the ability for making such social changes.The mentioned approach, while providing empirical evidence and conducting field research, deals with the process of making government decisions and their implementation with a different perspective than the Weberian perspective. Therefore, contrary to the state-oriented views that place an important role on the government in the process of transformation of the third world and transitioning countries, she does not consider the government to be the only main player in the political field. In other words, Migdal believes in the dispersion, division and fragmentation of power in networked societies and does not consider the power of the government to be Leviathan-type and maximal.This research was conducted with a qualitative approach and semi-structured interview method in order to collect data and also by using thematic analysis technique to analyze the interviews. A total of 15 interviews were conducted at high levels of policy making and implementation, which led us to the necessary theoretical saturation. The interviewees presented their opinions on topics such as their general attitude towards the fundamental transformation document, the strengths and weaknesses of the document, the obstacles to the implementation of the document, the different types of resistance formed during its implementation, and the role of the education expert body in this regard. The findings of this research show that, as Migdal's theory predicts, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a unified organization that can easily implement its approved laws. Rather, there are many competitions and disagreements both inside (the taste preferences of the executive authorities, inconsistency between institutions, etc.) and outside it due to the structure of the network society (influence of social political groups and currents, etc.), which hinders the executive It becomes the document of the fundamental transformation of education and similar documents and laws.This review also shows the conflicting interactions of various official and unofficial centers in charge of guiding the people; Centers that try to pull the behavioral and normative pattern of the society in a certain direction, that too in a government structure called formal education and in the form of the Ministry of Education.Of course, such a perception, if it is the statesmen true belief, leads to the simplification of reality and causes statesmen to make unenforceable promises or adopt unenforceable policies without considering the existing facts. Or they don't consider the necessary requirements to implement their policies, the consequences of which are many implementation failures and depriving people of their trust in the government and its ability to solve society's problems. The executive proposal of this plan is for the government to make optimal use of the existing ability in the organized public sphere in order to find problems and provide solutions, especially in the field of education; Failure to include this importance (not considering public demands and demands) in the formulation and implementation of transformational and structural plans will not only lead to the implementation stage; But in the end, it will cause society's disappointment in political institutions and reduce the society's political trust.

To end the new COVID-19 pandemic, most of the world’s population needs to be immune to the virus, protecting individuals from infection, and ultimately ensuring herd immunity at the population level. A variety of COVID-19 vaccines have been developed worldwide for adults and children over the age of 12 years, and the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing symptomatic diseases and hospitalization is being studied. One of the major obstacles to COVID-19 vaccination that has emerged along with the global immunization program is vaccine hesitation or disapproval. The world health organization (WHO) has reported vaccine hesitation as one of the 10 global health threats of 2019. This is also related to COVID-19. The present review, explore the current evidence on COVID-19 vaccination platforms and vaccination efficacy, safety, and adverse effects among strategic sub-populations, including elderly people, people with chronic disease (diabetes, cancer), pregnant and lactating women, children, youth, and vaccination willingness or hesitancy among the target population.

Objective This study aimed to propose a data-driven framework for classification of at-risk people for cardiovascular outcomes regarding obesity and metabolic syndrome.Design A population-based prospective cohort study with a long-term follow-up.Setting Data from the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) were interrogated.Participants 12 808 participants of the TLGS cohort, aged ≥20 years who have followed for over 15 years were assessed.Main outcome measures Data for 12 808 participants, aged ≥20 years who have followed for over 15 years, collected through TLGS as a prospective, population-based cohort study, were analysed. Feature engineering followed by hierarchical clustering was used to determine meaningful clusters and novel endophenotypes. Cox regression was used to demonstrate the clinical validity of phenomapping. The performance of endophenotype compared with traditional classifications was evaluated by the value of Akaike information criterion/Bayesian information criterion. R software V.4.2 was employed.Results The mean age was 42.1±14.9 years, 56.2% were female, 13.1%, 2.8% and 6.2% had experienced cardiovascular disease (CVD), CVD mortality and hard CVD, respectively. Low-risk cluster compared with the high risk had significant difference in age, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, 2 hours post load plasma glucose, triglyceride, triglycerides to high density lipoprotein ratio, education, marital status, smoking and the presence of metabolic syndrome. Eight distinct endophenotypes were detected with significantly different clinical characteristics and outcomes.Conclusion Phenomapping resulted in a novel classification of population with cardiovascular outcomes, which can, better, stratify individuals into homogeneous subclasses for prevention and intervention as an alternative of traditional methods solely based on either obesity or metabolic status. These findings have important clinical implications for a particular part of the Middle Eastern population for which it is a common practice to use tools/evidence derived from western populations with substantially different backgrounds and risk profiles.

Background: Disparities in health outcomes between immigrant and native-origin populations, particularly pregnant women, pose significant challenges to healthcare systems. The aim of this systematic-review and meta-analysis was to investigate the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes among immigrant-women compared to native-origin women in the host country. Methods: PubMed (including MEDLINE), Scopus, and Web of Science were searched to retrieve studies published in English language up to September 2020. All observational studies examining the prevalence of at least one of the short-term single pregnancy outcomes for immigrants who crossed international borders compared to native-origin pregnant population were included. The meta-prop method was used for the pooled-estimation of adverse pregnancy-outcomes’ prevalence. For pool-effect estimates, the association between the immigration-status and outcomes of interest, the random-effects model was applied using the model described by DerSimonian and Laird. I2 statistic was used to assess heterogeneity. The publication bias was assessed using the Harbord-test. Meta-regression was performed to explore the effect of geographical region as the heterogeneity source. Findings: This review involved 11 320 674 pregnant women with an immigration-background and 56 102 698 pregnant women as the native-origin population. The risk of emergency cesarean section (Pooled-OR = 1.1, 95%CI = 1.0–1.2), shoulder dystocia (Pooled-OR = 1.1, 95%CI = 1.0–1.3), gestational diabetes mellites (Pooled-OR = 1.4, 95%CI = 1.2–1.6), small for gestational age (Pooled-OR=1.3, 95%CI = 1.1–0.4), 5-min Apgar less than 7 (Pooled-OR = 1.2, 95%CI = 1.0–1.3) and oligohydramnios (Pooled-OR = 1.8, 95%CI = 1.0–3.3) in the immigrant women were significantly higher than those with the native origin background. The immigrant women had a lower risk of labor induction (Pooled-OR = 0.8, 95%CI = 0.7–0.8), pregnancy induced hypertension (Pooled-OR = 0.6, 95%CI = 0.5–0.7) preeclampsia (Pooled-OR = 0.7, 95%CI = 0.6–0.8), macrosomia (Pooled-OR = 0.8, 95%CI = 0.7–0.9) and large for gestational age (Pooled-OR = 0.8, 95%CI = 0.7–0.8). Also, the risk of total and primary cesarean section, instrumental-delivery, preterm-birth, and birth-trauma were similar in both groups. According to meta-regression analyses, the reported ORs were not influenced by the country of origin. Conclusion: The relationship between the immigration status and adverse perinatal outcomes indicated a heterogenous pattern, but the immigrant women were at an increased risk of some important adverse pregnancy outcomes. Population-based studies with a focus on the various aspects of this phenomena are required to explain the source of these heterogenicities.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the risk of stillbirth, perinatal and neonatal mortality in immigrant women compared to native-origin women in host countries.Methods: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was conducted. Relevant studies were identified using a thorough literature search and their quality was appraised. The analysis of heterogeneous data was carried out using the random effects model and publication bias was assessed using the Harbord-test. Also, the pooled odds ratio of events was calculated through the DerSimonian and Laird, and inverse variance methods.Results: In the search process 45 studies were retrieved consisting of 8,419,435 immigrant women and 40,113,869 native-origin women. The risk of stillbirth (Pooled OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.22–1.50), perinatal mortality (Pooled OR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.35–1.68), and neonatal mortality (Pooled OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.00–1.19) in the immigrant women were significantly higher than the native-origin women in host countries. According to the sensitivity analyses, all results were highly consistent with the main data analysis results.Conclusion: The immigrant women compared to the native-origin women had the higher risks of stillbirth, perinatal and neonatal mortality. Healthcare providers and policy makers should improve the provision of maternal and neonatal healthcare for the immigrant population.

ObjectivesThere are controversies regarding the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes among immigrants from conflict-zone countries. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the risk of perinatal and neonatal outcomes among immigrants from conflict-zone countries compared to native-origin women in host countries.MethodsA systematic search on the databases of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science was carried out to retrieve studies on perinatal and neonatal outcomes among immigrants from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kosovo, Ukraine, and Pakistan. Only peer-reviewed articles published in the English language were included in the data analysis and research synthesis. The odds ratio and forest plots were constructed for assessing the outcomes of interests using the DerSimonian and Laird, and the inverse variance methods. The random-effects model and the Harbord test were used to account for heterogeneity between studies and assess publication bias, respectively. Further sensitivity analysis helped with the verification of the reliability and stability of our review results.ResultsThe search process led to the identification of 40 eligible studies involving 215,718 pregnant women, with an immigration background from the conflict zone, and 12,806,469 women of native origin. The adverse neonatal outcomes of the risk of small for gestational age (Pooled OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.6, 2.1), a 5-min Apgar score

Abstract Background Antidepressants are prescribed widely to manage low back pain. There are a number of systematic reviews and meta-analyses which have investigated the efficacy of the treatments, while the methodological quality of them has not been assessed yet. This study aims to evaluate the methodological quality of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses investigating the effect of antidepressants on low back pain. Methods A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, and Cochrane Library databases up to November 2018. The 16-item Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR2) scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the studies. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the Antidepressants treatment effects on low back pain published in English language were included. There was no limitation on the type of Antidepressants drugs, clinical setting, and study population, while non-systematical reviews and qualitative and narrative reviews were excluded. Results A total of 25 systematic reviews and meta-analyses were evaluated; the studies were reported between 1992 and 2017. Obtained results from AMSTAR2 showed that 11 (44%), 9 (36%) and 5 (20%) of the included studies had high, moderate and low qualities, respectively. 13(52%) of studies assessed risk of bias and 2(20%) of meta analyses considered publication bias. Also, 16 (64%) of the included reviews provided a satisfactory explanation for any heterogeneity observed in the results. Conclusions Although the trend of publishing high quality papers in ADs effect on LBP increased recently, performing more high-quality SRs and MAs in this field with precise subgroups of the type of pains, the class of drugs and their dosages may give clear and more reliable evidence to help clinicians and policymakers.

ObjectivesThe primary objective of this systemic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the risk of developing composite outcome of all cancers, regardless of the type of cancer among men with infertility diagnosis compared to fertile counterparts. The secondary objective was to compare the pooled risk of developing individual specific cancers between two groups.MethodsA systematic literature search was performed on the databases of PubMed (including Medline), Scopus, and Web of Science to retrieve observational studies published in English language from 01.01.1990 to 28. 02. 2021. They assessed cancer events in males with an infertility diagnosis compared to controls without infertility. The outcomes of interest were a composite outcome of cancers including all known cancer types, and also specific individual cancers. The fixed/random effects model was used to analyze heterogeneous and non-heterogeneous results. Publication bias was assessed using the Harbord test, Egger test, Begg test, and funnel plot. The pooled odds ratio of cancers was calculated using the DerSimonian and Laird, and inverse variance methods. Studies’ quality and risk of bias were assessed using structured standard tools.ResultsWe included eight cohort studies involving 168,327 men with the diagnosis of infertility and 2,252,806 men without it. The total number of composite outcome of cancers as well as individual cancers including prostate, testicular and melanoma were 1551, 324, 183 and 121 in the infertile men and 12164, 3875, 849, and 450 in the fertile men, respectively. The pooled OR of the composite outcome of cancers, regardless of the type of cancer, in men with infertility was 1.4 folds higher than those without infertility (pooled OR = 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25-1.64). Meta-analysis of individual cancers including prostate, testicular and melanoma between two groups was carried out. The pooled ORs of testicular and prostate cancers in men with the diagnosis of infertility were significantly higher than controls without infertility (pooled OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.52-2.42 and pooled OR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.05-2.08, respectively). Additionally, the pooled OR of melanoma in men with infertility was 1.3 folds higher than those without infertility (pooled OR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.06-1.62).ConclusionA greater risk of cancers in men with male infertility was found suggesting that the history of male infertility might be an important risk factor for developing cancers in later life. Further well-designed long-term population-based prospective studies, considering all known cancers and their accompanying risk factors should be conducted to support our findings.

Background and Objectives: Mild gestational diabetes (GDM) refers to the gestational hyperglycemia, which does not fulfill the diagnostic criteria for GDM. The results of studies on adverse pregnancy outcomes among women with mild GDM are controversial. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the impact of mild GDM on the risk of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.Methods: A thorough literature search was performed to retrieve articles that investigated adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes in women with mild GDM in comparison with non-GDM counterparts. All populations were classified to three groups based on their diagnostic criteria for mild GDM. Heterogeneous and non-heterogeneous results were analyzed using the fixed/random effects models. Publication bias was assessed using the Harbord test. DerSimonian and Laird, and inverse variance methods were used to calculate the pooled relative risk of events. Subgroup analysis was performed based on mild GDM diagnostic criteria. Quality and risk of bias assessment were performed using standard questionnaires.Results: Seventeen studies involving 11,623 pregnant women with mild GDM and 53,057 non-GDM counterparts contributed to the meta-analysis. For adverse maternal outcomes, the results of meta-analysis showed that the women with mild GDM had a significantly higher risk of cesarean section (pooled RR: 1.3, 95% CI 1.2–1.5), pregnancy-induced hypertension (pooled RR: 1.4, 95% CI 1.1–1.7), preeclampsia (pooled RR: 1.3, 95% CI 1.1–1.5) and shoulder dystocia (pooled RR: 2.7, 95% CI 1.5–5.1) in comparison with the non-GDM population. For adverse neonatal outcomes, the pooled relative risk of macrosomia (pooled RR = 0.4, 95% CI: 1.1–1.7), large for gestational age (pooled RR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.3–2.3), hypoglycemia (pooled RR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1–2.3), hyperbilirubinemia (pooled RR = 1.1, 95% CI: 1–1.3), 5 min Apgar

Background: Cancer is one of the most important causes of death in the world and has an increasing trend globally. We aimed at investigating the five leading cancers in Iranian women based on a 10-year history of cancer registry reports and illustrating the trends in all cancer sites and breast cancer as the top leading one from 2003 to 2015. Methods: Data were obtained from national cancer registry study. Age-Specific Incidence Rate (ASR) data were obtained from Iran’s annual national cancer registry reports between 2003 to 2010 and 2014 to 2015. Using Joinpoint regression, we analyzed incidence trends over time for all cancer sites and the top leading cancer from 2003 to 2015. Results: Breast cancer was ranked first in Iranian women. Its ASR raised from 15.96 in 2003 to 32.63 in 2015. Results of trend analysis based on Annual Percent Change (APC) index showed 5.6 (95%CI: 2.9 to 8.3) and 4.6 (95%CI: 2.0 to 7.2) annual increase in the incidence of all cancer sites and breast cancer from 2003 to 2015, respectively. Conclusion: This study indicates significant increasing trends in all cancer sites and breast cancer incidence in Iran. Despite the national coverage of cancer registry over the past decade, more considerations should be taken into account, especially in Breast cancer.

ObjectivesIt is uncertain whether the treatment of mild gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) improves pregnancy outcomes. The aim of this systemic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the effect of mild GDM treatment on adverse pregnancy outcomes.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was conducted on the databases of PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to retrieve studies that compared interventions for the treatment of mild GDM with usual antenatal care. The fixed/random effects models were used for the analysis of heterogeneous and non-heterogeneous results. Publication bias was assessed using the Harbord test. Also, the DerSimonian and Laird, and inverse variance methods were used to calculate the pooled odds ratio of events. The quality assessment of the included studies was performed using the Modified Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment scale and the CONSORT checklist. In addition, the risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias.ResultsThe systematic review and meta-analysis involved ten studies consisting of 3317 pregnant women who received treatment for mild GDM and 4407 untreated counterparts. Accordingly, the treatment of mild GDM significantly reduced the risk of macrosomia (OR = 0.3; 95%CI = 0.3–0.4), large for gestational age (OR = 0.4; 95%CI = 0.3–0.5), shoulder dystocia (OR = 0.3; 95%CI = 0.2–0.6), caesarean-section (OR = 0.8; 95%CI = 0.7–0.9), preeclampsia (OR = 0.4; 95%CI = 0.3–0.6), elevated cord C-peptide (OR = 0.7; 95%CI = 0.6–0.9), and respiratory distress syndrome (OR = 0.7; 95%CI = 0.5–0.9) compared to untreated counterparts. Moreover, the risk of induced labor significantly increased in the treated group compared to the untreated group (OR = 1.3; 95%CI = 1.0–1.6). However, no statistically significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of small for gestational age, hypoglycemia, hyperbilirubinemia, birth trauma, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, and preterm birth. Sensitivity analysis based on the exclusion of secondary analysis data was all highly consistent with the main data analysis.ConclusionTreatment of mild GDM reduced the risk of selected important maternal outcomes including preeclampsia, macrosomia, large for gestational age, cesarean section, and shoulder dystocia without increasing the risk of small for gestational age. Nevertheless, the treatment could not reduce the risk of neonatal metabolic abnormalities or several complications in newborn.

This study aims to illustrate the problem of (Quasi) Complete Separation in the sparse data pattern occurring medical data. We presented the failure of traditional methods and then provided an overview of popular remedial approaches to reduce bias through vivid examples. Penalized maximum likelihood estimation and Bayesian methods are some remedial tools introduced to reduce bias. Data from the Tehran Thyroid and Pregnancy Study, a two-phase cohort study conducted from September 2013 through February 2016, was applied for illustration. The bias reduction of the estimate showed how sufficient these methods are compared to the traditional method. Extremely large measures of association such as the Risk ratios along with an extraordinarily wide range of confidence interval proved the traditional estimation methods futile in case of sparse data while it is still widely applying and reporting. In this review paper, we introduce some advanced methods such as data augmentation to provide unbiased estimations.

Abstracts Abstracts Abstracts Abstracts

Some Facts on the Diabetes Surveillance in Rural Regions of Iran

This study has investigated the effects of social factors on tendency towards democracy. Data for this analysis were collected from a sample of 643 citizens of Tehran aged 20 years and older. The theoretical framework was formulated using theories of Bourdiou, Inglehart, Habermas and Giddens. Social factors included social class, cultural capital, media usage, and religiosity. Descriptive findings reveal that majority of the Tehrani citizens have low tendency towards democracy. Only 4 percent of them have high level of tendency towards democracy. These citizens were more democratic in their attitudes than in their conducts. Explanatory findings show that there is significant relation among various dimensions of social class (i.e., cultural capital, economic capital and social status) with the tendency towards democracy. In addition, there is also significant correlation between cultural factors (i.e., social tolerance, social participation, democratic attitudes towards family) with the tendency towards democracy. Findings demonstrated that cultural capital was the most significant predictor of the dependent variable

Abstract The aim of this Letter to the Editor was to report some methodological shortcomings in a recently published Article. We proved that the obtained results are subjected to the sparse data bias and presented some remedial tools such as penalization approaches. In addition, model fitting and performance aroused some controversies. In conclusion, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution and further reanalysis is necessary.

Social capital, which is formed by the network of relationships among human beings, plays a major role in our lives. One of the factors that may affect social capital is how and how much we use information and communication technologies (ICTs). This study investigates how ICT consumption is related to social capital. To study social capital, we used Coleman’s definition and typology and analyzed the effects of ICTs on social capital from four aspects: information storing, exchanging, transferring and processing devices. We surveyed a random sample of 388 students of Allameh Tabataba’i University and KhajehNasirUniversity in the city of Tehran, Iran. The descriptive findings of the study indicate that the students comply with social norms and laws to a high degree but they tend not to participate in social groups and organizations. Regarding functional aspects of social capital, we found that the students’ generalized and interpersonal trust were rather high. Our main hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between ICT consumption and social capital was verified, although the level of the relationship was rather low.

Media as public opinion formers have crucial role in supporting the growth and development of science and technology . They form media frames in various fields of science and Technology. This paper seeks to identify frames which Iranian television series depict biotechnology. The Biotechnology frames Identified through qualitative framing analysis. To achieve this goal, all TV series of Five main national channels for a five-year period (2008-2013) were considered and two TV series – “Balhayeh Khis, 1392 (Wet Wings,2013) and ” Factoreh hasht, 1387” (Factor 8, 2008) were selected. The central theme in these series was Biotechnology. To identify frames a combination of content analysis and semiotics were used. Findings show that six main frame were used for representation of Biotechnology in Iranian TV series which includes: conspiracy, ideology - spiritual values, scientific progress, ethics, economy and independence.

انقلابات معمولا آثار سیاسی، اجتماعی، اقتصادی و فرهنگی مهمی در کشوری که در آن واقع شده اند، در منطقه مربوطه و حتی در سطح جهانی می گذارند. انقلاب اسلامی به عنوان انقلابی شگفت انگیز و بزرگ اجتماعی، نتایج بسیاری در سطح داخلی و منطقه ای و جهانی گذاشته است. یکی از نتایج انقلاب اسلامی اثری است که در نظریه پردازی های انقلاب گذاشته است. در این مقاله اثر انقلاب اسلامی در نظریه های مربوط به علل وقوع انقلابات، مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است. از آنجا که موضوع اخیر در حوزه مباحث جامعه شناسی علم قرار می گیرد، با استفاده از نظریه توماس کوهن و رابرت مرتون و شاپین چارچوب نظری مطالعه تدوین شد. فرضیه اصلی تحقیق این بود که: وقوع انقلاب اسلامی ایران دگرگونی قابل توجهی در نظریه های مربوط به علل وقوع انقلاب ایجاد کرده و عوامل بیرونی نیز این اثرگذاری را تقویت کرده اند. با استفاده از روش تحلیل محتوای کیفی، 57 مقاله علمی چاپ شده در مجلات علمیِ بین المللی (به انگلیسی) مربوط به انقلاب اسلامی ایران تحلیل محتوای کیفی شدند تا آثار نظریه ای انقلاب اسلامی مطالعه شود. این پژوهش نشان داد که انقلاب اسلامی ایران اثر غیر قابل انکاری در نظریه ها و نظریه پردازی انقلاب گذاشته است. مطالعه این انقلاب سبب شده است که عوامل فرهنگی در تبیین انقلابات وارد و بسیار اساسی تلقی شوند و در مقابل نقش متغیرهای ساختاری در تبیین وقوع انقلابات کاهش یابد. همچنین در اثر این مطالعات، اهمیت مشروعیت سیاسی و نقش زنان در تبیین انقلابات، توسعه قابل ملاحظه ای یافته است. مجموعه این عوامل سبب شکل گیری روندهای جدیدی در حوزه مطالعات انقلاب شده است. به علاوه، عوامل سیاسی، اقتصادی، ژئوپولیتیک، مذهبی و فرهنگی مربوط به ایران و جهان، از زمان وقوع انقلاب اسلامی تاکنون، سبب شده اند که توجه علمی به انقلاب اسلامی و نتیجتا اثر گذاری علمی آن در تبیین انقلابات تشدید شود.