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Breast cancer continues to be a major global health challenge, driving the need for effective therapeutic strategies. Cisplatin, a powerful chemotherapeutic agent, is widely used in breast cancer treatment. However, its effectiveness is often limited by systemic toxicity and the development of drug resistance. This review examines the molecular factors that influence cisplatin response and resistance, offering crucial insights for the scientific community. It highlights the significance of understanding cisplatin resistance's genetic and epigenetic contributors, which could lead to more personalized treatment approaches. Additionally, the review explores innovative strategies to counteract cisplatin resistance, including combination therapies, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, and targeted therapies. These approaches are under intensive investigation and promise to enhance breast cancer treatment outcomes. This comprehensive discussion is a valuable resource to advance breast cancer therapeutics and address the challenge of cisplatin resistance., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are among the most important issues worldwide. Several studies reported that infection with the neurotropic parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) increased the risk of car accidents. In this study, our objective was to investigate the possible associations among latent T. gondii, Cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infections with the risk of motorcycle accidents in Jahrom (Fars Province), which is a county with a high rate of motorcycle accidents in Iran., Methods: In the setting of a case-control study; 176 motorcyclist men, including 88 survivors of motorcycle accidents and 88 motorcyclist without accidents, were considered as case and control groups, respectively. Rates of latent infections with T. gondii, CMV, and HSV were assessed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)., Results: Eleven of 88 (12.5%) in the case group and 22 of 88 (25.0%) in controls were positive for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies, this difference was statistically significant (OR = 0.42; CI: 0.19-0.95, p = 0.03). The general seroprevalence of CMV (94.3% in the case group vs. 87.5% in the control group, OR = 2.37; CI: 0.78-7.13, p = 0.12) and HSV (63.6% in the case group vs. 62.5% in the control group, OR = 1.05; CI: 0.57-1.94, p = 0.87) were not significantly different between the case and control groups., Conclusions: Although latent toxoplasmosis has been associated with traffic accidents in recent reports, we found a negative association between latent toxoplasmosis and motorcycle accidents among survivors of these accidents. As such, latent CMV and HSV infections did not differ significantly between the cases compared to the control groups., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Rayatdoost et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Aim: This study compared the effectiveness of several techniques in restoring compromised bonding to recently bleached enamel., Methods: Seventy-five healthy bovine incisors were divided into five groups (n = 15). Fifteen teeth (Group 1) remained intact, whereas 60 (Groups 2 to 5) underwent at-home bleaching with 16% carbamide peroxide. The bonding procedures were as follows: Group 1: Bonding of resin composite to unbleached enamel; Group 2: Bonding immediately after bleaching; Group 3: Application of a 10% sodium ascorbate solution for 10 min before bonding; Group 4: Enamel removal to the depth of 0.5 mm; and Group 5: Increased curing time of the bonding agent to 80 instead of 20 s. After 24 h, the specimens were subjected to micro-shear testing, and the failure mode was determined., Results: ANOVA revealed a significant difference in bond strength among the groups (P < 0.001). The mean bond strength was significantly lower in group 2 than in other groups (P < 0.05), which showed comparable bond strength to each other (P > 0.05). Adhesive failure was the most predominant failure type in all groups. The mixed failure occurred with a frequency of 26.7% in groups 3 and 5. The Fisher's exact test revealed a significant difference in failure modes among the groups (P = 0.047)., Conclusions: The three experimental procedures used in this study, including the application of 10% sodium ascorbate before bonding, enamel removal to the depth of 0.5 mm, and increasing the curing time of the bonding agent to 80 s, were effective in restoring the compromised bonding to recently bleached enamel., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Hypertension is a very common comorbidity in type 2 diabetes patients, which leads to important health and treatment challenges. The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the prevalence of hypertension and its risk factors in type 2 diabetes patients. This study was conducted using cross-sectional data from 1245 participants aged between 35 and 70 years and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at baseline in the Fasa cohort study. The prevalence hypertension was determined and multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between various risk factors and hypertension prevalence. The average age of the participants was 53.5 ± 8.7 years and 71.7% (n = 893) were female and 28.3% (n = 352) were male. The prevalence of hypertension in people with type 2 diabetes was 45.5% (n = 566). Higher age (AOR, 95% CI: 8.1, 4.6-14.3), female gender (OR, 95% CI: 1.8, 1.2-2.5), Fars (AOR, 95% CI: 1.6, 1.1-2.4) and Turk (AOR, 95% CI: 1.6, 1.1-2.5) vs. other ethnicity, and overweight (AOR, 95% CI: 1.8, 1.38-2.38) and obesity (AOR, 95% CI: 2.7, 2.0-3.8) vs. BMI < 25 was associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension, while higher physical activity (AOR, 95% CI: 0.57, 0.42-0.78) was associated with lower prevalence of hypertension in the multivariable model. The prevalence of hypertension in persons with type 2 diabetes was high and increased with greater age, in some ethnic groups, and with higher BMI and low physical activity. Further prospective studies are needed to investigate these associations in this population., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background : Despite the availability of treatments such as surgery and hormonal therapy, women with endometriosis often endure chronic problems. This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of neuropelveology. Methods : In a systematic review with a meta-analysis, we searched three electronic databases: MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science (WOS). The search was conducted in January 2024 with no date or language restrictions using a carefully curated set of keywords. We conducted a comprehensive review, including all observational and clinical trials reporting data on neuropelveology approaches in the management of endometriosis, irrespective of geographical location. The studies included in our review were required to be published in peer-reviewed journals and be available in any language, with at least an abstract in English. The data of all included studies were summarized in excel (version 19) and were analyzed by Comprehensive Meta-analysis v3.3 (Biostat) and STATA (version 17). A multilevel meta-analysis was performed on studies with two arms (intervention and control) to evaluate the efficacy of neuropelveology in managing women with endometriosis. Results : After screening 476 records, 30 studies, published from 1952 to 2021, were included in this review, each employing various methodologies. The studies were divided into the following three categories: (a) efficacy of neurectomy or nerve resection ( n = 20), (b) efficacy of neurolysis (nerve blocks) ( n = 4), and (c) efficacy of neuromodulation ( n = 6) in the management of endometriosis. Among the studies evaluating the efficacy of neurectomy or nerve resection, 10 studies (with 18 group comparisons) were included in the random-effects meta-analysis. Treatment success (not occurrence of pain) was higher with neurectomy vs. controls (RR = 0.497, 95% CI = 0.236 to 1.04, p = 0.06 (for experimental studies) and RR = 0.248, 95% CI = 0.14 to 0.43, p < 0.001 (for observational studies)), representing a 50% and 75.2% risk reduction in the recurrence of pain in experimental and observational studies, respectively. Similarly, neurolysis, particularly superior hypogastric plexus blocks and uterine nerve ethanol neurolysis, demonstrated encouraging outcomes in pain reduction and an improved quality of life for women with endometriosis. The efficacy of neuromodulation in managing endometriosis symptoms appears promising but requires further investigation. Conclusions : In conclusion, neuropelveology approaches, such as neurectomy, neurolysis, and neuromodulation, offer significant potential for pain reduction in endometriosis patients, albeit with risks of complications and high recurrence rates, necessitating careful patient selection and long-term monitoring.

The present study aims to evaluate the trends of oral implant-related research in design and topics between the range of 2016 to the end of 2022. The electronic search was conducted in MEDLINE via Pubmed. Papers published in Clinical Oral Implant Research, Clinical Implant Dentistry and Related Research, and International Journal of Oral Implantology as well as previously European Journal of Oral Implantology, International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants, and Journal of Oral Implantology between January 1, 2016, and December 30, 2022, were retrieved. Articles were classified according to their study design and major subjects. The Joinpoint regression model was used to determine changes in the trends of study designs and topics. Statistical significance was defined as a p-value <.05. A total of 3382 articles were analyzed in this study. In the specified period, in vivo, prospective cohort, retrospective case control, randomized clinical studies in the design and prosthetic complications, peri-implant hard tissue studies in the topic experienced a significant decreasing pattern in the number of published articles as well as the total number of articles. Case reports and series, retrospective cohort, nonrandomized clinical studies in the design and outcomes of implant-related treatment plans, immediate implant placement, and peri-implantitis in the topic experienced a significant decreasing pattern followed by a significant increasing pattern with a turning point between 2017 and 2020. Considering the limitations of this scientific topical trend analysis, it can be concluded that the recent pandemic affected the research path in oral implantology in many ways.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of risk factors and the Framingham risk score (FRS) is a useful metric for measuring the 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk of the population. The present study aimed to determine the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease using the Framingham risk score in people with and without MetS in a large Iranian cohort study., Methods: This cross-sectional study was done using the Fasa cohort. Participants aged ≥ 35 years old were recruited to the study from 2015 to 2016. The FRS was calculated using age, sex, current smoking, diabetes, systolic blood pressure (SBP), total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. MetS was defined as the presence of three or more of the MetS risk factors including triglyceride (TG) level ≥ 150 mg dl - 1 , HDL level < 40 mg dl - 1 in men and < 50 mg dl - 1 in women, systolic/diastolic blood pressure ≥ 130/≥85 mmHg or using medicine for hypertension, fasting blood sugar (FBS) level ≥ 100 mg dl - 1 or using diabetes medication and abdominal obesity considered as waist circumference (WC) ≥ 88 cm for women and ≥ 102 cm for men. Multiple logistic regressions were applied to estimate the 10- year CVD risk among people with and without MetS., Results: Of 8949 participants, 1928 people (21.6%) had MetS. The mean age of the participants with and without Mets was 50.4 ± 9.2 years and 46.9 ± 9.1 years respectively. In total 15.3% of participants with MetS and 8.0% of participants without MetS were in the high-risk category of 10-year CVD risk. Among participants with MetS gender, TG, SBP, FBS and in people without MetS gender, TG, SBP, FBS, and HDL showed strong associations with the predicted 10-year CVD risk., Conclusion: Male sex and increased SBP, TG, and FBS parameters were strongly associated with increased 10-year risk of CVD in people with and without MetS. In people without MetS, reduced HDL-cholestrol was strongly associated with increased 10-year risk of CVD. The recognition of participant's TG, blood pressure (BP), FBS and planning appropriate lifestyle interventions related to these characteristics is an important step towards prevention of CVD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

High health literacy (HL) plays a critical role in preventing or delaying the onset of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and can improve disease management and control. The present study aims to determine the association between HL and non-laboratory-based (office-based) Framingham 10-year risk score of CVD. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 648 people aged 30-65 in the health centers of Jahrom. The Health Literacy Instrument for Adults (HELIA) was used to assess HL. The non-laboratory-based Framingham risk score (FRS) was utilized to determine the 10-year risk of CVDs. Risk factors such as age, gender, diabetes, current smoking status, systolic blood pressure (SBP), hypertension (HTN) treatment, and body mass index (BMI) were applied in the non-laboratory-based model. The average age of the subjects was 44.7 ± 10.5 years, among which 49.2% were males. The prevalence of diabetes, HTN, and smoking equaled 8.5%, 15.7%, and 10%, respectively. In addition, the average BMI was 26.1 ± 3.6 kg/m 2 . Based on the non-laboratory-based Framingham 10-year risk score of CVD, 72.5%, 13.9%, and 13.6% of the subjects were in the low, moderate, and high risk groups, respectively. Based on the HL grouping, the levels of insufficient, borderline, sufficient, and excellent HL were 19.3%, 26.4%, 34.6%, and 19.7%, respectively. A significant association was observed between 10-year CVD risk and HL grouping. In addition, a negative correlation was reported at the individual level between HL and non-laboratory-based FRS among the whole population (r = - 0.39, p < 0.001), men (r = - 0.32, p < 0.001), and women (r = - 0.42, p < 0.001). A higher HL score is associated with a lower risk of CVD. In addition, the adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that there was a strong association between elevated CVD risk (≥ 10%) and HL (OR 6.1, 95% CI 2.9-12.6) among inadequate HL participants compared with excellent HL individuals. Thus, designing and implementing training programs to increase HL, especially among those who are at risk of CVDs, should be regarded as an important issue for the prevention of such diseases., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Antigen presenting cells (APCs)-derived exosomes are nano-vesicles that can induce antigen-specific T cell responses, and possess therapeutic effects in clinical settings. Moreover, dendritic cells (DCs)-based vaccines have been developed to combat human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection in preclinical and clinical trials. We investigated the immunostimulatory effects (B- and T-cells activities) of DCs- and exosomes-based vaccine constructs harboring HIV-1 Nef mut -Tat fusion protein as an antigen candidate and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) as an adjuvant in mice. The modified DCs and engineered exosomes harboring Nef mut -Tat protein or Hsp70 were prepared using lentiviral vectors compared to electroporation, characterized and evaluated by in vitro and in vivo immunological tests. Our data indicated that the engineered exosomes induced high levels of total IgG, IgG2a, IFN-γ, TNF-α and Granzyme B. Moreover, co-injection of exosomes harboring Hsp70 could significantly increase the secretion of antibodies, cytokines and Granzyme B. The highest levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α were observed in exosomes harboring Nef mut -Tat combined with exosomes harboring Hsp70 (Exo-Nef mut -Tat + Exo-Hsp70) regimen after single-cycle replicable (SCR) HIV-1 exposure. Generally, Exo-Nef mut -Tat + Exo-Hsp70 regimen can be considered as a promising safe vaccine candidate due to high T-cells (Th1 and CTL) activity and its maintenance against SCR HIV-1 exposure., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The HIV-1 virus has been regarded as a catastrophe for human well-being. The global incidence of HIV-1-infected individuals is increasing. Hence, development of effective immunostimulatory molecules has recently attracted an increasing attention in the field of vaccine design against HIV-1 infection. In this study, we explored the impacts of CD40L and IFN-γ as immunostimulatory adjuvants for our candidate HIV-1 Nef vaccine in human and mouse using immunoinformatics analyses. Overall, 18 IFN-γ-based vaccine constructs (9 constructs in human and 9 constructs in mouse), and 18 CD40L-based vaccine constructs (9 constructs in human and 9 constructs in mouse) were designed. To find immunogenic epitopes, important characteristics of each component (e.g., MHC-I and MHC-II binding, and peptide-MHC-I/MHC-II molecular docking) were determined. Then, the selected epitopes were applied to create multiepitope constructs. Finally, the physicochemical properties, linear and discontinuous B cell epitopes, and molecular interaction between the 3D structure of each construct and CD40, IFN-γ receptor or toll-like receptors (TLRs) were predicted. Our data showed that the full-length CD40L and IFN-γ linked to the N-terminal region of Nef were capable of inducing more effective immune response than multiepitope vaccine constructs. Moreover, molecular docking of the non-allergenic full-length- and epitope-based CD40L and IFN-γ constructs to their cognate receptors, CD40 and IFN-γ receptors, and TLRs 4 and 5 in mouse were more potent than in human. Generally, these findings suggest that the full forms of these adjuvants could be more efficient for improvement of HIV-1 Nef vaccine candidate compared to the designed multiepitope-based constructs., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

In this study, the deep learning algorithm of Convolutional Neural Network long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) is used to classify various jewelry rocks such as agate, turquoise, calcites, and azure from various historical periods and styles related to Shahr-e Sokhteh. Here, the CNN-LSTM architecture includes utilizing CNN layers for the extraction of features from input data mixed with LSTMs for supporting sequence forecasting. It should be mentioned that interpretable deep learning-assisted laser induced breakdown spectroscopy helped achieve excellent performance. For the first time, this paper interprets the Convolutional LSTM effectiveness layer by layer in self-adaptively obtaining LIBS features and the quantitative data of major chemical elements in jewelry rocks. Moreover, Lasso method is applied on data as a factor for investigation of interoperability. The results demonstrated that LIBS can be essentially combined with a deep learning algorithm for the classification of different jewelry songs. The proposed methodology yielded high accuracy, confirming the effectiveness and suitability of the approach in the discrimination process., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Aims: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are highly prevalent globally. While preventive HPV vaccines exist, therapeutic vaccines are needed to treat existing HPV lesions and malignancies. This study evaluated the immunostimulatory and anti-tumor effects of three therapeutic vaccine candidates based on the recombinant protein, tumor cell lysate (TCL), and engineered exosome (Exo) harboring the heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27)-E7 fusion construct in mouse model., Main Methods: At first, the recombinant Hsp27-E7 protein was generated in E. coli expression system. Then, tumor cell lysates-based and engineered exosomes-based vaccine constructs harboring green fluorescent protein (GFP) and Hsp27-E7 were produced using lentiviral system. Finally, their immunological and antitumor effects were investigated in both prophylactic and therapeutic experiments., Key Findings: Our data showed that the recombinant Hsp27-E7 protein, TCL-Hsp27-E7 and Exo-Hsp27-E7 regimens can induce the highest level of IFN-γ, TNF-α and Granzyme B, respectively. The percentage of tumor-free mice was identical for three vaccine strategies (survival rate: 75 %) in both prophylactic and therapeutic experiments. Generally, the TCL-Hsp27-E7, Exo-Hsp27-E7 and recombinant Hsp27-E7 protein regimens induced effective immune responses toward Th1 and CTL activity, and subsequently antitumor effects in mouse model., Significance: Regarding to higher Granzyme B secretion, lower tumor growth and more safety, the Exo-Hsp27-E7 regimen can be considered as the most promising HPV vaccination strategy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Various interventions have been investigated to improve the uptake of colorectal cancer screening. In this paper, the authors have attempted to provide a pooled estimate of the effect size of the BE interventions running a systematic review based meta-analysis. In this study, all the published literatures between 2000 and 2022 have been reviewed. Searches were performed in PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane databases. The main outcome was the demanding the one of the colorectal cancer screening tests. The quality assessment was done by two people so that each person evaluated the studies separately and independently based on the individual participant data the modified Jadad scale. Pooled effect size (odds ratio) was estimated using random effects model at 95% confidence interval. Galbraith, Forrest and Funnel plots were used in data analysis. Publication bias was also investigated through Egger's test. All the analysis was done in STATA 15. From the initial 1966 records, 38 were included in the final analysis in which 72612 cases and 71493 controls have been studied. About 72% have been conducted in the USA. The heterogeneity of the studies was high based on the variation in OR (I2 = 94.6%, heterogeneity X2 = 670.01 (d.f. = 36), p < 0.01). The random effect pooled odds ratio (POR) of behavioral economics (BE) interventions was calculated as 1.26 (95% CI: 1.26 to 1.43). The bias coefficient is noteworthy (3.15) and statistically significant (p< 0.01). According to the results of this meta-analysis, health policy and decision makers can improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of policies to control this type of cancer by using various behavioral economics interventions. It's noteworthy that due to the impossibility of categorizing behavioral economics interventions; we could not perform by group analysis., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Ahadinezhad et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Postoperative pain and anxiety are unpleasant situations that are often experienced by women undergoing cesarean section. Since the routine methods of pain relief after surgery is still inadequate, the need for complementary treatments is felt. Foot Reflexology (FR) and Auricular Acupressure (AA) are two of the most popular and safe procedures of complementary and alternative medicine therapies. So, this study aimed to determine and compare the effectiveness of reflexology and AA on postoperative pain and anxiety., Materials and Methods: This three-group randomized clinical trial study was performed on 101 pregnant women, admitted to Mashhad Omolbanin hospital, for a cesarean section, in 2015. In the intervention groups, 2-3 h after the operation, AA or FR was performed for 20 min. Routine care was provided for the control group. Pain and anxiety were evaluated by VAS and Spielberger anxiety questionnaire before and 1 and 2 h after the intervention., Results: The results showed that immediately after the intervention, pain intensity was significantly lower in both AA and FR groups ( P < 0.001) compared with the control group. In addition, 2 h after the interventions, pain intensity was significantly lower in the AA group compared with the control group ( P = 0.006). However, no significant differences were observed between the FR and the control groups ( P = 0.095). In addition, 1 and 2 h after the intervention, anxiety was significantly different between the three groups ( P = 0.033 and P = 0.018), respectively. The results of the Tukey test showed that this difference was only between FR and control groups ( P = 0.025 and P = 0.017), respectively., Conclusion: AA is more effective in reducing post-cesarean pain while FR effectively reduces post-cesarean anxiety. Therefore, these complementary medicine treatments as easy and noninvasive methods are recommended to be used during labor for improving maternal outcomes., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.)

Bladder cancer (BC) is a highly frequent neoplasm in correlation with significant rate of morbidity, mortality, and cost. The onset of BC is predominantly triggered by environmental and/or occupational exposures to carcinogens, such as tobacco. There are two distinct pathways by which BC can be developed, including non-muscle-invasive papillary tumors (NMIBC) and non-papillary (or solid) muscle-invasive tumors (MIBC). The Cancer Genome Atlas project has further recognized key genetic drivers of MIBC along with its subtypes with particular properties and therapeutic responses; nonetheless, NMIBC is the predominant BC presentation among the suffering individuals. Radical cystoprostatectomy, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy have been verified to be the common therapeutic interventions in metastatic tumors, among which chemotherapeutics are more conventionally utilized. Although multiple chemo drugs have been broadly administered for BC treatment, cisplatin is reportedly the most effective chemo drug against the corresponding malignancy. Notwithstanding, tumor recurrence is usually occurred following the consumption of cisplatin regimens, particularly due to the progression of chemo-resistant trait. In this framework, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), as abundant RNA transcripts arise from the human genome, are introduced to serve as crucial contributors to tumor expansion and cisplatin chemo-resistance in bladder neoplasm. In the current review, we first investigated the best-known ncRNAs, i.e. microRNAs (miRNAs), long ncRNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs (circRNAs), correlated with cisplatin chemo-resistance in BC cells and tissues. We noticed that these ncRNAs could mediate the BC-related cisplatin-resistant phenotype through diverse cellular processes and signaling mechanisms, reviewed here. Eventually, diagnostic and prognostic potential of ncRNAs, as well as their therapeutic capabilities were highlighted in regard to BC management., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Objective: This study aims to describe temporal trends of thyroid cancer (ThC) from 2010 to 2019, in Asian countries by geographical region and sociodemographic index, compared with global data., Method: Annual case data and age-standardized rates (ASRs) of epidemiological indicators of ThC cancer data were collected from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study from 2010 to 2019 in 49 countries and territories in Asia. The relative difference (%) between years was used to show comparative variations of ASRs for the indicators studied. The female/male ratio was calculated by dividing female ASRs by male ASRs. Also, these rates were compared between the age group ≥70 years old and younger age groups., Results: In 2019, more than 50% of ThC cases and deaths occurred in Asian countries. A total of 53% of ThC patients lived in Asia and more than 60% of the global burden of ThC was imposed on Asian countries. From 2010 to 2019, incidences, deaths, prevalence cases, and DALYs number of ThC cancer increased over 1.28-, 1.26-, 1.3-, and 1.2-fold, in Asia, respectively. During this period, the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) and the age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR) of ThC cancer increased by 5% and 8%, respectively, while the age-standardized death rate (ASDR) and the age-standardized DALYs rate (DALYs ASR) of ThC cancer decreased by 6% and 4%, respectively. These trends are different from what happens in other continents. In 2019, age-specific incidence, death, prevalence, and DALY cases of ThC cancer were peaking at 50-54, 75-79, 50-54, and 55-59 years, respectively. In 2019, the highest ASIR and ASPR of ThC cancer was observed in high-income Asia Pacific countries and the highest ASDR and DALYs ASR in Southeast Asia countries. Only high-income Asia Pacific countries experienced a decreasing trend in ASIR and ASPR from 2010 to 2019. ASDR and DALYs ASR have the highest decreasing trend in high-income Asia Pacific. In 2019, among high SDI Asian countries, the Republic of Korea had the highest ASIR and ASPR, and Brunei Darussalam had the highest ASDR and DALYs ASR. The highest ASIR, ASDR, ASPR, and DALY ASR of ThC cancer was found in Lebanon and Malaysia (high-middle SDIs), Vietnam (middle SDIs), and Cambodia and Palestine (low-middle SDIs). Among low SDI Asian countries, Pakistan had the highest ASIR, ASDR, ASPR, and DALY ASR of ThC cancer. All indicators for most countries were higher in women than men., Conclusion: More than half of the burden of thyroid cancer is imposed on the residents of the Asian continent. Although the incidence and prevalence of this cancer in Asian countries is lower than that of the world, America, and Europe, the highest rate of death from thyroid cancer occurs in Asia and they witness the highest burden of the disease. Therefore, it seems that implementing early detection strategies and increasing access to treatment facilities in Asia is one of the necessities of thyroid cancer control in its residents., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2024 The Authors. Aging Medicine published by Beijing Hospital and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background: We aimed to determine the mortality rate and Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to lung cancer in Fars, Iran, during the period from 2004 to 2019., Methods: All deaths due to lung cancer in Fars Province, Iran from the electronic population-based death registration system (EDRS) were obtained. Crude mortality rate, age-standardized mortality rate, YLL and YLL rate data were calculated and trends examined., Results: During 2004-2019, 3346 deaths occurred due to lung cancer in Fars Province, which was 10.8% (3346/30936) of the total cancer deaths in this period. Crude mortality rate of lung cancer had increased 70% and 53% in male and female respectively from 2004 to 2019. The total YLL of lung cancer during the 16-year study period was 28,094 (0.9 per 1000) in men, 14,174 (0.5 per 1000) in women, and 42,268 (0.8 per 1000) in both sexes (sex ratio male/female=2). According to the join point regression, the 16- year trend of YLL rate due to premature mortality was increasing: APC was 2.5% (95% CI 0.9 to 4.2, P =0.005) for males, 1.4% (95% CI 0.3 to 2.6, P =0.017) for females., Conclusion: The mortality rate and YLL due to lung cancer in Fars Province is increasing, although the standardized mortality has a constant trend. Tobacco control is the most effective and least expensive way to reduce the number of lung cancer patients worldwide. National and local media can also play an important role in informing people about the risk factors., (Copyright© 2024 Azarbakhsh et al. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

The present study was conducted with the aim of fabricating smart bilayer polymers based on carboxymethyl cellulose-cellulose nanocrystals film and poly(lactic acid)-Viola odorata extract nanofibers (CMC-CNC and PLA-VOE) for freshness monitoring of Pacific white shrimps, minced lamb meat, chicken fillets, and rainbow trout fillets, during refrigerated storage conditions. The fabricated indicators based on CMC-PLA-VOE 5%, CMC-CNC 1%-PLA-VOE 5%, and CMC-CNC 3%-PLA-VOE 5% presented remarkable color changes in pH 1-12 buffer solutions, including red at pH 1-6, violet at pH 7-8, green at pH 9-10, and brown at pH 11-12. Significantly lower water vapor permeability and oxygen transmission rate of prepared polymers were found in comparison with the control groups (P < 0.05). Regarding the monitoring of food samples in real-time, the samples spoiled after 3 days, evidenced by total viable count, psychrotrophic bacterial count, total volatile basic nitrogen, and pH values of 7.17-7.54 log CFU/g, 5.68-6.23 log CFU/g, 25.14-28.12 mg N/100 g, and 7.10-7.66, respectively. Meanwhile, the noticeable color change of prepared indicators from white to violet (day 3) and finally dark violet (day 7) was observed, indicating a potential application in intelligent packaging for real-time control of the freshness of perishable food samples., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori could colonize the gastric mucosa and cause gastritis, ulcers and cancer. Numerous virulence factors have been identified in this bacterium that play important roles in promoting gastric disorders. Although the interaction of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) with transcription, processing, and translation of genes associated with different diseases are described, their interaction with the inflammatory genes and H. pylori infection in the gastric tissue is not well known. This study compared changes in common NF-κB-regulatory lncRNAs in the gastric tissue of H. pylori-infected and non-infected patients with gastritis. Moreover, a link between the virulence entity of the strains and the transcriptional changes was analyzed., Methodology: Two groups of infected and non-infected patients with chronic gastritis were included in the study. Genotyping of the H. pylori strains was done by PCR and relative changes in the expression of NF-κB and regulatory lncRNAs, lincRNA-p21, MALAT1, NKILA, were measured by relative quantitative real time-PCR., Results: Transcriptional levels of MALAT1, lincRNA-p21, and NKILA genes decreased in the infected patients compared with the non-infected patients, which was significantly linked with increased NF-κB gene expression. Our results showed that a hypervirulent strain of H. pylori with oipA"on"/HP-NAP+/iceA1+/iceA2+/vacA s1m1/s1m2+/cagA+ genotype can promote a higher level of NF-κB transcription in the inflamed tissue., Conclusions: H. pylori infection could promote down-regulation of lincRNA-p21, MALAT1 and NKILA in the infected gastric tissue in correlation with NF-κB upregulation. More detailed studies are needed to show a link between the virulence genes and their impact on the regulation of lncRNAs in the stomach., Competing Interests: No Conflict of Interest is declared, (Copyright (c) 2023 Marzieh Ghanbarian, Ronak Bakhtiari, Seyedeh Zohre Mirbagheri, Fatemeh Rezaei, Abbas Rahimi Foroushani, Masoud Alebouyeh.)

The quality of emergency services is one of the indicators describing the health status of countries. Moreover, the specialization of services and targeted response to any accident or disease has been the priority of pre-hospital emergency operations in some leading countries. This study aimed to compare the special services provided in the emergency department of several selected countries. This was a comparative study that was done in Isfahan in 2022. Data were collected by reviewing the literature provided by libraries and emergency websites of selected countries. We selected countries based on the accessibility of information in two groups of developed countries and countries with the same income and population as Iran including Germany, France, The United States, Australia, Britain, Malaysia, and Turkey. Data were classified and compared based on staff, vehicles, and specialized services. Emergency staffs in most countries were of different skill and training levels. Ambulances varied in equipment types in various land, air, and sea forms and dimensions. Developed countries had more modern ambulances and equipment. France and Germany were operating more especially. Specialized teams are dispatched only in the United States and Germany. Existing studies have shown the adequacy and effectiveness of these teams in reducing complications and mortality and improving the prognosis of patients. The use of specialized teams appropriate to each emergency based on the specific and targeted response is effective in improving the prognosis of patients. The results of this study are suggested to beneficiaries to improve the quality of emergency care and reduce complications and potential causalities., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.)

Captopril (CAP) is a safe, cost-effective, and environmentally organic compound that can be used as an effective organo-catalyst. Functional groups of captopril make it capable to attach to solid support and acting as promoters in organic transformations. In this work, captopril was attached to the surface of magnetic graphene nitride by employing a linker agent. The synthesized composite efficiently catalyzed two multicomponent reactions including the synthesis of 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyrimidine and 2-amino-4H-chromene derivatives. A large library of functional targeted products was synthesized in mild reaction conditions. More importantly, this catalyst was stable and magnetically recycled and reused for at least five runs without losing catalytic activity., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Two versions of Framingham's 10-year risk score are defined for cardiovascular diseases, namely laboratory-based and office-based models. The former is mainly employed in high-income countries, but unfortunately, it is not cost-effective or practical to utilize it in countries with poor facilities. Therefore, the present study aims to identify the agreement and correlation between laboratory-based and office-based Framingham models., Methods: Using laboratory-based and office-based Framingham models, this cross-sectional study used data from 8944 participants without a history of CVDs and stroke at baseline in the Fasa cohort study to predict the 10-year risk of CVDs. The laboratory-based model included age, sex, diabetes, smoking status, systolic blood pressure (SBP), treatment of hypertension, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL); and the office-based model included age, sex, diabetes, smoking status, SBP, treatment of hypertension, and body mass index (BMI). The agreement between risk categories of laboratory-based and office-based Framingham models (low [< 10%], moderate [from 10 to < 20%], high [≥ 20%]) was assessed by kappa coefficients and percent agreement. Then, the correlation between the risk scores was estimated using correlation coefficients and illustrated using scatter plots. Finally, agreements, correlation coefficient, and scatter plots for laboratory-based and office-based Framingham models were analyzed by stratified Framingham risk score factors including sex, age, BMI categories, hypertension, smoking, and diabetes status., Results: The two models showed substantial agreement at 89.40% with a kappa coefficient of 0.75. The agreement was substantial in all men (kappa = 0.73) and women (kappa = 0.72), people aged < 60 years (kappa = 0.73) and aged ≥ 60 years (kappa = 0.69), smokers (kappa = 0.70) and non-smokers (kappa = 0.75), people with hypertension (kappa = 0.73) and without hypertension (kappa = 0.75), diabetics (kappa = 0.71) and non-diabetics (kappa = 0.75), people with normal BMI (kappa = 0.75) and people with overweight and obesity (kappa = 0.76). There was also a very strong positive correlation (r ≥ 0.92) between laboratory-based and office-based models in terms of age, sex, BMI, hypertension, smoking status and diabetes status., Conclusions: The current study showed that there was a substantial agreement between the office-based and laboratory-based models, and there was a very strong positive correlation between the risk scores in the entire population as well across subgroups. Although differences were observed in some subgroups, these differences were small and not clinically relevant. Therefore, office-based models are suitable in low-middle-income countries (LMICs) with limited laboratory resources and facilities because they are more convenient and accessible. However, the validity of the office-based model must be assessed in longitudinal studies in LMICs., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Although the incidence of leukemia's is not high, many of these cancers lead to death over a short period. This is a cross-sectional study on leukemia deaths in southern Iran., Methods: All deaths due to leukemia in the Fars province were obtained from the population-based electronic death registration system (EDRS). Crude and age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), YLL, and YLL rate data were calculated, and joinpoint regression was used to examine the trend., Results: Totally, 3141 deaths from leukemia occurred in the Fars province during the study period (2004-2019). Of these, 61.5% (1933 cases) pertained to men. The crude mortality rate was 6.1 (95% CI: 5.8 to 6.4) in men and 3.9 (95% CI: 3.7 to 4.2) in women. Also, ASMR was 6.6 (95% CI: 6.3 to 6.9) and 4.2 (95% CI: 4.0 to 4.4) in men and women, respectively. The total YLLs due to leukemia were 32804 in men and 23064 in women. The joinpoint regression analysis demonstrated that the trend of YLL rate due to premature mortality was stable: the annual percent change (APC) was -1.2% (95% CI: -2.5 to 0.2, P =0.090) for males, and -1.0% (95% CI: -2.9 to 0.9, P =0.274) for females., Conclusion: The mortality and YLL due to leukemia had a stable trend. However, this trend has been decreasing or increasing in some age groups. Determining and controlling essential risk factors, especially the environmental factors of leukemia, may reduce its burden in the Fars province., (© 2023 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.)

Background: Long-term use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) can increase the risk of gastric cancer in Helicobacter pylori-infected patients; nevertheless, there is no data about their impact on the pathogenicity of H. pylori. This study aimed at investigating the transcriptional alteration of key gene mediators of cytotoxin-associated gene-pathogenicity island (cag-PAI) among clinical H. pylori isolates in response to omeprazole at different pH levels., Methods: Accordingly, H. pylori isolates with the same virulence genotypes selected from the gastric biopsies of patients and transcriptional alteration in the cag-PAI genes studied in the presence or absence of omeprazole (2 mg/mL) at pH 2.0, 4.0 and 7.0 after 30 and 90 minutes of the treatment. Relative changes in the transcriptional levels were recorded in each assay, separately., Results: Of 18 H. pylori isolates, the cag-PAI empty site was detected in four strains, while the presence of cagA, cagL and cagY was characterized in 77.7%, 83.3% and 83.3% of the cag-PAI-positive strains, respectively. Transcriptional analysis of the selected strains showed up-regulation of cagA and cagL, mainly at pH 2.0 and 4.0 after 30 and 90-minute exposure. A diversity in the expression levels of cag-PAI genes was seen among the strains at the extent and time of induction., Conclusion: Our results showed that omeprazole could increase the expression of H. pylori cagA and cagL at acidic pH. Heterogeneity among the strains probably has an impact on the extent of their interplay with PPIs. Further studies are needed to establish this correlation., (© 2023. Indian Society of Gastroenterology.)

Introduction: Injury is one of the main causes of death and disability in the world. This study was designed to determine the trend of mortality rate and years of life lost (YLLs) due to unintentional injuries in children in southern Iran., Method: In this cross-sectional study, we extracted all death reports due to unintentional injuries based on age, gender and the year of death based on International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)from the Electronic Death Registration System. The YLL analysis due to premature death related to unintentional injuries was executed by the 2015 YLL template from the WHO using the Excel V.2016 software. To examine the trend of crude mortality rate and YLL rates for different years, joinpoint regression was used based on the log-linear model., Results: During the 16-year study period (2004-2019), 6590 deaths due to unintentional injuries in children aged 0-19 years have occurred. The total YLLs due to unintentional injuries were 138 482 in males and 53 168 in females. The three main causes of YLLs in our study were transportation injuries (67.37%), drowning (7.19%) and burns (6.70%). According to the joinpoint regression analysis, the 16-year trend of YLL rate due to premature mortality was decreasing; the annual per cent change was -5.2% (95% CI -6.5% to -3.9%, p<0.001) for males and -4.3% (95% CI -5.7% to -3.0%, p<0.001) for females., Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the trend of mortality and YLL rate has been decreasing. Road traffic injuries were the most frequent injuries and the most common cause of death. Mortality rates fell by half. To improve child survival, injuries must now be recognised as a major child health problem, and to prevent deaths from injuries in children, early and preventive measures should be taken into account., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared.

Background: Traffic accidents are one of the most critical health problems and the ninth leading cause of death globally. We aimed to determine the Mortality rate and the number of Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to road traffic accidents., Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, mortality rate and YLL due to road traffic accidents were examined in Fars province, central Iran during the years 2004-2019. Mortality statistics were collected through death registration of ministry of health and medical education for Fars Province. Age Standardized mortality Rate (ASR) was calculated and join point regression analysis carried out to examine the trend of YLL rate. Data were analyzed using Excel spreadsheet version 2016 and Join point Regression Program 4.9.0.0., Results: During the 16-year study period, 25,858 deaths due to road traffic accidents occurred in the province. 79.2% (20483 cases) were in men, and 33.7% (8703 cases) were aged 15-29 years. Total YLL during the 16-year study period were 458,975 (14.6 per 1000 people) in men, 117,999 (3.8 per 1000 people) in women. According to the join point regression, the 16- year trend of YLL rate due to premature mortality was decreasing: AAPC was -4.9% (95% CI: -8.8 to -0.9; P =0.018) for male, and -3.5% (95% CI: -6.3 to-0.5; P =0.011) for female., Conclusion: Considering that the number of deaths, mortality rate and YLL has decreased in Fars province during the 16 years under study. Therefore, because the mortality rate due to road traffic accidents in Iran is higher than the global average, the need for training programs for drivers, compliance with standards and retrofitting of vehicles, road safety, driving supervision and the use of seat belts are essential., (Copyright© 2023 Azarbakhsh et al. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

The Globorisk and WHO cardiovascular risk prediction models are country-specific and region-specific, respectively. The goal of this study was to assess the agreement and correlation between the WHO and Globorisk 10-year cardiovascular disease risk prediction models. The baseline data of 6796 individuals aged 40-74 years who participated in the Fasa cohort study without a history of cardiovascular disease or stroke at baseline were included. In the WHO and Globorisk models scores were calculated using age, sex, systolic blood pressure (SBP), current smoking, diabetes, and total cholesterol for laboratory-based risk and age, sex, SBP, current smoking, and body mass index (BMI) for non-laboratory-based risk (office-based or BMI-based). In Globorisk and WHO risk agreement across risk categories (low, moderate, and high) was examined using the kappa statistic. Also, Pearson correlation coefficients and scatter plots were used to assess the correlation between Globorisk and WHO models. Bland-Altman plots were presented for determination agreement between Globorisk and WHO risk scores in individual's level. In laboratory-based models, agreement across categories was substantial in the overall population (kappa values: 0.75) and also for females (kappa values: 0.74) and males (kappa values: 0.76), when evaluated separately. In non-laboratory-based models, agreement across categories was substantial for the whole population (kappa values: 0.78), and almost perfect for among males (kappa values: 0.82) and substantial for females (kappa values: 0.73). The results showed a very strong positive correlation (r ≥ 0.95) between WHO and Globorisk laboratory-based scores for the whole population, males, and females and also a very strong positive correlation (r > 0.95) between WHO and Globorisk non-laboratory-based scores for the whole population, males, and females. In the laboratory-based models, the limit of agreements was better in males (95%CI 2.1 to - 4.2%) than females (95%CI 4.3 to - 7.3%). Also, in the non-laboratory-based models, the limit of agreements was better in males (95%CI 2.9 to - 4.0%) than females (95%CI 3.2 to - 6.1%). There was a good agreement between both the laboratory-based and the non-laboratory-based WHO models and the Globorisk models. The correlation between two models was very strongly positive. However, in the Globorisk models, more people were in high-risk group than in the WHO models. The scatter plots and Bland-Altman plots showed systematic differences between the two scores that vary according to the level of risk. So, for these models may be necessary to modify the cut points of risk groups. The validity of these models must be determined for this population., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

The thermal conductivity and stability of nanofluids pose challenges for their use as coolants in thermal applications. The present study investigates the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of an Al 12 Mg 17 nanofluid through the utilization of a novel beam displacement method. The study also examines the nanofluid's stability, particle size distribution (PSD), TEM micrograph, and electrical conductivity. From three distinct categories of surfactants, a particular surfactant (CTAB) was chosen to disperse Al 12 Mg 17 nanoparticles in DI water, and subsequently, a two-step method was employed to generate the nanofluid. Dispersion stability is visually monitored and quantified with a zeta potential test. HTC and PSD are measured using optical setups. To evaluate the results, the HTC obtained from the beam displacement method is compared with that of the KD2 Pro apparatus, and the PSD findings are analyzed through TEM micrographs. The results show that a 0.16 vol.% CTAB is the maximum stability for 0.025 vol.% Al 12 Mg 17 nanofluid properly. The optimum ultrasonication period is 2 h, yielding a peak PSD of 154 nm. Increasing nanoparticle concentration enhances HTC up to 40% compared to the base fluid at 0.05 vol.%. Electrical conductivity increases linearly from 155 to 188 μ[Formula: see text] with nanoparticle concentration. Optical methods for measuring HTC in nanofluids offer the advantage of early results, prior to bulk motion. Thus, the application of nanofluids in thermal systems necessitates the development of optical techniques to improve accuracy., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) improve cross-presentation of linked tumor antigens, thus they can be exploited in therapeutic vaccine design. Herein, in silico analyses of different vaccine constructs were performed based on human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 E7 protein linked to Homo sapiens/Mus musculus Hsp27 or Hsp70 in multiepitope and whole sequence forms. Then, computational comparison between different orientations of Hsp/E7 was carried out in both forms. Finally, molecular docking was performed between the designed constructs and signaling (TLRs) or endocytic (CD14, LOX-1 and SREC-1) receptors. Our data represented the high-ranked T-cell epitopes and the potential B-cell epitopes of Homo sapiens/Mus musculus Hsp27 and Hsp70. Moreover, molecular docking showed that whole sequence of Hsp27 had better interaction with all receptors than whole sequence of Hsp70 suggesting likely stronger stimulation of innate and adaptive immunity. All designed Homo sapiens/Mus musculus Hsp27/E7 constructs had better docking scores with the endocytic receptors especially SREC-1 than all designed Homo sapiens/Mus musculus Hsp70/E7 constructs in both orientations. Generally, the multiepitope-/whole sequence-based Homo sapiens/Mus musculus Hsp27-E7 fusion constructs showed more conservancy and immunogenicity than other designed constructs. These fusion constructs were non-allergenic, non-toxic and stable suggesting them as promising vaccine candidates against HPV-related cancers., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background: The low prevalence of rare diseases has caused the need for studies in this field to be neglected. Regardless of the prevalence of rare diseases, many people around the world have to live with the medical, psychological, and social consequences of their condition. Individuals with rare diseases may face challenges that are different from those experienced in more common medical conditions. The life experiences of patients with rare diseases have not been sufficiently investigated. The purpose of this study was to discover the meaning of living as a person with a rare disease., Materials and Methods: This interpretative phenomenological study was conducted in 2021-2022 on 10 patients with one of the rare diseases (registered in the Atlas of Rare Diseases of Iran). Based on purposeful sampling, people with rare diseases living in Mazandaran, Golestan, and Tehran provinces were invited to participate in the study. Data collection was done using open and semi-structured interviews. The research question was exploring understanding the experience and meaning of life as a person with a rare disease. Van Manen's interpretive phenomenological approach was used to analyze the data, and the criteria of validity, transferability, and verifiability were used to ensure the trustworthiness of the research., Results: The five main themes "permanent suffering, such as a bird in a cage, rejection, immersion in the whirlpool of thoughts, losing the feeling of life", and 10 sub-themes "nightmare, giving up, deprivation, limitation, worthlessness, being stigmatized, dark vision, confusion, continuous regret, and inferiority feeling" were extracted., Conclusion: The results of this study show that the suffering of the disease casts a shadow on all aspects of a patient's life with a rare disease. The effects of illness, disability, limitations, and exclusions had created a human being in a cage, whose right to live like others has been denied., Competing Interests: There is no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.)

Background and Aim: By creating an international emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to compromised reproductive health care, including family planning services, and thus increased unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions. This study was conducted to compare methods of contraception, abortion, and unintended pregnancies in those served by the health centers of Babol city in Iran, both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted including 425 participants registered to the health centers of Babol city, Mazandaran province, Iran. Using a multi-stage method, 6 urban health centers and 10 rural centers were selected for inclusion. Proportional allocation method was used for sampling those who met the inclusion criteria. A questionnaire was used to collect data in relation to individual characteristics and reproductive behaviors via 6 questions focused upon methods and preparation of contraception, number and type of abortions, and number and causes of unintended pregnancy from July to November 2021. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26. Significance level was considered to be p < 0.05 in all tests., Results: Most participants aged between 20 and 29 years old had a diploma level of education, were housewives and lived in the city. Prior to the pandemic, 32.0% used modern contraceptive methods and 31.6% used these during the pandemic. No change in the combination of contraceptive methods used was observed between these two periods. Approximately two-thirds used the withdrawal method in both periods. The majority of participants in both periods purchased their contraceptives from a pharmacy. Unintended pregnancy increased from 20.4% prior to the pandemic to 25.4% during the pandemic. Abortions increased from 19.1% prior to the pandemic to 20.9% during the pandemic, although these findings were not found to be statistically significant. Contraceptive methods had a statistically significant relationship with age, education, spouse's education, spouse's occupation, and place of residence. The number of unintended pregnancies had a significant relationship with age, the educational level of both participants and their spouses and socio-economic status, and the number of abortions had a statistically significant relationship with the age and education level of the spouse (p > 0.05)., Conclusion: Despite there being no change in contraceptive methods compared to the pre-pandemic period, an increase in the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and illegal abortions was observed. This may be indicative of an unmet need for family planning services during the COVID-19 pandemic., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: The WHO model has laboratory-based and non-laboratory-based versions for 10-year risk prediction of cardiovascular diseases. Due to the fact that in some settings, there may not be the necessary facilities for risk assessment with a laboratory-based model, the present study aimed to determine the agreement between laboratory-based and non-laboratory-based WHO cardiovascular risk equations., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used the baseline data of 6796 individuals without a history of cardiovascular disease and stroke who participated in the Fasa cohort study. The risk factors of the laboratory-based model included age, sex, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diabetes, smoking and total cholesterol, while the non-laboratory-based model included age, sex, SBP, smoking and BMI. Kappa coefficients was used to determine the agreement between the grouped risk and Bland-Altman plots were used to determine the agreement between the scores of the two models. Sensitivity and specificity of non-laboratory-based model were measured at the high-risk threshold., Results: In the whole population, the agreement between the grouped risk of the two models was substantial (percent agreement = 79.0%, kappa = 0.68). The agreement was better in males than in females. A substantial agreement was observed in all males (percent agreement = 79.8%, kappa = 0.70) and males < 60 years old (percent agreement = 79.9%, kappa = 0.67). The agreement in males ≥ 60 years old was moderate (percent agreement = 79.7%, kappa = 0.59). The agreement among females was also substantial (percent agreement = 78.3%, kappa = 0.66). The agreement for females < 60 years old, (percent agreement = 78.8%, kappa = 0.61) was substantial and for females ≥ 60 years old, (percent agreement = 75.8%, kappa = 0.46) was moderate. According to Bland-Altman plots, the limit of agreement was (95%CI: -4.2% to 4.3%) for males and (95%CI: -4.1% to 4.6%) for females. The range of agreement was suitable for both males < 60 years (95%CI: -3.8% to 4.0%) and females < 60 years (95%CI: -3.6% to 3.9%). However, it was not suitable for males ≥ 60 years (95% CI: -5.8% to 5.5%) and females ≥ 60 years (95%CI: -5.7% to 7.4%). At the high-risk threshold of 20% in non-laboratory and laboratory-based models, the sensitivity of the non-laboratory-based model was 25.7%, 70.7%, 35.7%, and 35.4% for males < 60 years, males ≥ 60 years, females < 60 years, and females ≥ 60 years, respectively. At the high-risk threshold of 10% in non-laboratory-based and 20% in laboratory-based models, the non-laboratory model has high sensitivity of 100% for males ≥ 60 years, females < 60 years, females ≥ 60 years, and 91.4% for males < 60 years., Conclusion: A good agreement was observed between laboratory-based and non-laboratory-based versions of the WHO risk model. Also, at the risk threshold of 10% to detect high-risk individuals, the non-laboratory-based model has acceptable sensitivity for practical risk assessment and the screening programs in settings where resources are limited and people do not have access to laboratory tests., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is considered as one of the most prevalent causes of acute kidney injury (AKI), which can happen in various clinical situations including hypovolemic shock, injury, thrombo-embolism, and after a kidney transplant. This paper aims to evaluate the reno-protective effects of Quercetin in induced ischemia/reperfusion injury by regulating apoptosis-related proteins, inflammatory cytokines, MMP-2, MMP-9, and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer inactivated B cells (NF-kB) in rats. The male Wistar rats (n=32) were randomly divided into Sham, untreated IR, and Quercetin-treated IR (gavage and intraperitoneal). Quercetin was given orally and intraperitoneally one hour before inducing ischemia-reperfusion injury . After reperfusion, blood samples and kidneys were collected to assess renal function and inflammatory cytokines, apoptotic signaling proteins, and antioxidants. Urea, creatinine, and MDA levels improved in Quercetin-treated groups with different administration methods. In addition, the activities of other antioxidant in Quercetin-treated rats were higher than those in the IR group. Further, Quercetin inhibited NF-kB signaling, apoptosis-associated factors and produced matrix metalloproteinase protein in the kidneys of rats. Based on the findings, the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects of the Quercetin diminished renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in the rats significantly. It is suggested that a single dosage of Quercetin have a reno-protective impact in the case of renal I/R injury., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest in this study., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: This study aimed to describe the trends in incidence, mortality, and burden of tracheal, bronchial and lung (TBL) cancer in Asia from 2010 through 2019 and compare with global and other continental data., Methods: We collected TBL cancer data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study from 2010 to 2019 in 49 countries and territories in Asia. For all locations, annual case data and age-standardized rates (ASRs) were used to investigate the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) of TBL from 2010 to 2019. The relative difference (%) between years was used to show comparative variations of ASRs for the indicators studied., Results: In 2019, more than 55% of TBL cancer cases and deaths occurred in Asian countries. A total of 57% of lung cancer patients lived in Asia and almost 60% of the global burden of lung cancer was imposed on Asian countries. From 2010 to 2019, incidences, deaths, prevalence cases, and DALYs number of TBL cancer increased over 1.34-, 1.31-, 1.31-, and 1.26-fold, in Asia. During this period, the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), the age-standardized death rate (ASDR), the age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), and the age-standardized DALYs rate (DALYs ASR) of TBL cancer decreased by 1, 3, 4, and 4%, respectively. While at the same time, the decreasing trend of these rates globally and in America and in Europe happened faster. In 2019, age-specific incidence, death, prevalence, and DALY cases of TBL cancer were peaking at 65-74, 70-74, 65-69, and 65-69 years, respectively. In 2019, the highest ASIR, ASDR, and DALYs ASR of TBL cancer was observed in East Asia countries and the highest ASPR in high-income Asia Pacific countries. Central Asia and high-income Asia Pacific countries experienced a decreasing trend in ASIR and ASDR, and the South Asia countries experienced the highest increasing trend from 2010 to 2019. ASPR only decreased in Central Asia, and DALYs ASR only increased in South Asia. In 2019, among high sociodemographic index (SDI) Asian countries, Brunei Darussalam had the highest ASIR, ASDR, and DALYs ASR and the Republic of Korea had the highest ASPR. Among high-middle SDIs, Turkey and Georgia; among middle SDIs, China and Armenia; among low-middle SDIs, Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had the highest ASIR, ASDR, ASPR, and DALY ASR of TBL cancer. Among low SDI Asian countries, Pakistan had the highest ASIR, ASDR, ASPR, and DALY ASR of TBL cancer., Conclusion: Most of the global burden of lung cancer occurs in Asian countries, and the decreasing trend of incidence, death, prevalence, and burden of this cancer in these countries is slower than in other regions. Therefore, the implementation of necessary measures in order to reduce the process of this cancer is considered urgent., (© 2023 The Authors. Thoracic Cancer published by China Lung Oncology Group and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background: The awareness of the elderly needs and assisting requirement should be added to education and preparedness disaster plans. In this study, we want to reach a comprehensive training program considering goals, objectives, time, budgeting, target group, syllabus, educational strategy, and teaching methods for CBOs interested and being served elders in disasters., Methods and Materials: This qualitative study has been done via interviews with key informants in CBHOs and NGOs and the ministry of health agents in Iran. Besides, content analysis of the documents and instructions provided by the government to direct partnerships with NGOs was reviewed, and focus discussion group to conduct a deductive content analysis research. All data were analyzed with MAXQDA 18., Results: Content analysis reached two main goals and seven objectives. The first goal refers to the fact that an educational program should direct not only subjects concerning disasters' effects on the aging population, but also discerning elders' different needs, giving priority to the supply of the basic needs of elders, and looking ahead the physical and mental problems of the elders. The second goal refers to relief skills that CBHOs stakeholders need to obtain for serving elders in a disaster through participating in various exercises., Conclusions: The results can guide community-based stakeholders in considering all the needs of the elderly during disasters and teaching all the syllabus of this research would reduce the adverse effects of disasters on the elderly., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.)

Background and Aim: Reproductive behaviors and intentions are affected by several factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This study was conducted with the aim of comparing the intention to reproduce and its causes in Iran during the period prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: This descriptive-comparative study included 425 cisgender women from 6 urban health centers and 10 rural centers in Babol city, Mazandaran province, Iran. Urban and rural health centers were selected using a multi-stage approach with proportional allocation. A questionnaire was used to collect data in relation to individual characteristics and reproductive intentions., Results: Most participants aged between 20 and 29 years had a diploma level of education, were housewives and lived in the city. The intention to reproduce decreased from 11.4% before the pandemic to 5.4% during the pandemic (p = 0.006). The most common reason for wanting to have children prior to the pandemic was not having children (54.2%). During the pandemic, a desire to reach the ideal number of children was the most common reason to want to have children (59.1%), though no statistically significant difference was observed between the two periods (p = 0.303). The most common reason for not wanting to have children in both periods was having enough children already (45.2% before and 40.9% during the pandemic). The reasons for not wanting to have children had a statistically significant difference between the two periods (p < 0.001). Reproductive intentions had a statistically significant relationship with the variables of age (p < 0.001), the education level of both participants (p < 0.001) and spouses (p = 0.006), occupation (p = 0.004), and socio-economic status (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: Despite restrictions and lockdowns, the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on people's desire to reproduce in this context. Economic problems caused by the sanctions which increased during the COVID-19 crisis may be one of the reasons for a reduction in people's intentions to become parents. Future research could usefully investigate whether this decrease in the desire to reproduce will lead to significant changes in population level and future birth rates., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Puberty is a sensitive critical stage of human life. As numerous healthy habits and behaviors are created during adolescence, correct health education during puberty is essential to maintain and improve an individual's physical, emotional, and mental health. The present study aimed to determine the impact of educational intervention based on the predictors of the Health Belief Model (HBM) on female nine-grade students' health behaviors in Rasht, Iran., Methods: The present randomized controlled trial study examined 110 female nine-grade students. Multi-stage sampling was performed, and the students were randomly divided into two groups of 55 as intervention and control. The data collection tool included a valid and reliable questionnaire with four sections, namely demographic variables, knowledge, HBM constructs, and health behaviors during puberty. The educational program comprised four 45-60-min sessions per group (4 groups of 13) based on HBM. The data were collected two times, before and 1 month after the educational intervention, and were analyzed using the independent t-test, paired t-test, chi-square test, and SPSS 23., Results: The mean age of menarche was 12.26 ± 1.133 in the intervention group and 12.12 ± 1.263 in the control group. The family was a source of information for students and the main cue to action before the intervention. Before the educational intervention, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of knowledge, HBM constructs, and puberty health behaviors; however, the variables increased significantly in the intervention group after educational intervention (P<0.001)., Conclusions: Given the effectiveness of the HBM in improving the health behavior of adolescent girls, it is recommended that health policymakers should plan and implement educational interventions in this field., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Coronavirus is threatening the global public health as a new and widespread crisis. The researchers must keep in mind that one of the most vulnerable groups to COVID-19 are the people with underlying diseases, especially diabetes., Objective: This ecological study aimed to investigate the correlation between diabetes and the epidemiological indices of COVID-19., Methods: This ecological study included 144 countries. Their available data consists of the cumulative incidence rate of cases, cumulative incidence rate of death, recovery rate, case fatality rate, and performed tests of COVID-19, and diabetes. To collect the variables, a data set was provided which included the information of 144 countries based on diabetes and COVID-19 indices. Spearman coefficients were used for assess correlation between diabetes and COVID-19 indices. Also, Scatter plots of diabetes for the studied countries were drawn based on cumulative incidence rate of cases, cumulative incidence rate of death, tests, recovery rate, and case fatality rate of COVID-19., Results: The results of this ecological study showed in total countries, there was a weak positive correlation between diabetes and cumulative incidence rate of cases and also cumulative incidence rate of death. Correlation between diabetes with test of COVID-19 was very weak. Scatter plots showed a weak liner correlation between diabetes and cumulative incidence rate of cases, cumulative incidence rate of death and test of COVID-19., Conclusions: In this study, there was a weak positive correlation between diabetes and cumulative incidence rate of cases, cumulative incidence rate of death, and performed test of COVID-19. This disease is an enormous challenge for health policymakers; therefore, it is necessary to develop strategies and practical guidelines specific to each region to take the necessary care, especially for diabetic patients., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Objective: Rodents act as reservoir hosts and are an important potential source for many zoonotic pathogens such as parasites, which pose a public health risk to humans. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the prevalence of parasites among rodents., Methods: A total of 118 Rattus rattus were captured in Mazandaran province, north of Iran, using snap live traps. Various samples were collected from feces and each rat was combed with a fine-tooth comb to extricate any ectoparasite. Fecal specimens were examined by direct wet mounting, formalin-ether concentration, modified acid-fast, and trichrome staining methods., Results: The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in the examined rats was 75.4%. Cryptosporidium spp. (30.5%) were the most prevalent protozoan, followed by Giardia spp. (20.3%), Entamoeba muris (13.5%), Trichomonas muris (10.1%), and Spironucleus muris (3.3%). Regarding helminths' eggs, Syphacia obvelata (24.5%), Hymenolepis diminuta (10.1%), and Trichuris muris (9.3%) had the highest prevalence, respectively. Furthermore, 3060 ectoparasites collected from 102 rodents were infested with lice (40% Polyplax spp.), mites (33.3%), and flea (16.1% Xenopsylla cheopis and 10.6% Xenopsylla astia )., Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the prevalence of ecto and gastrointestinal parasites in the collected rats in the area being studied was remarkably high. Additionally, Rattus rattus can be considered a potential risk to human health.

In order to accurately interpret the immune response to COVID-19, it is critical to know how long serum antibodies to COVID-2 persist. This study aimed to describe the serum IgG responses to SARS-CoV-2 in patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 infection in Birjand, South Khorasan province, Iran. The study was performed on individuals whose COVID-19 disease was confirmed by RT-PCR and recovered from the disease. After completing the questionnaire, blood samples were collected from 4 different groups based on the time of the test at two, four, six, and eight months' post-recovery. Then, SARS-COV-2 virus-specific IgG nucleocapsid antibody level in patients was measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In total, 206 patients (mean age 44.19 ± 14.9, 51% man) were included in the survey. Serum prevalence of specific IgG antibodies in patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19 disease was 51.5%, 64% and 78.9%, respectively. Furthermore, serum prevalence of COVID-19 specific IgG antibody level in two, four, six, and eight months after recovery were 80.8, 69.1, 43.2 and 41.8%, respectivel y (p < 0.05). The multiple logistic regression model showed that the variables of age and the time elapsed after recovery had a significant relationship with the positive antibody test of recovered COVID-19 patients (P < 0.05). But other variables had no significant relationship with the result of antibody test (P > 0.05). In the present report, we attempted to characterize the antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19, with the aim of better elucidating the humoral immune response after recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection., (© 2023 The Authors.)

The effects of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) coating incorporated with Shirazi thyme ( Zataria multiflora) oil nano emulsion (SNE), in different concentrations (10, 20, and 30 mg/ml), on the melanosis and the quality of Pacific white shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei ) was investigated during 10 days in refrigerated temperature (4 ± 0.5 °C). The results showed that incorporating SNE into CMC could significantly ( P  < 0.05) improve the microbial and lipid oxidation quality of the shrimp. During storage, the incremewnt of total volatile basic-nitrogen and trimethylamine in the SNEs-treated groups were lower than that of the other groups ( P  < 0.05). Also, the application of SNEs improved the textural, melanosis, and sensory acceptability of the coated shrimps. However, treating the shrimp with SNE in 30 mg/ml concentration caused an increase in the a* and b* values of samples and a decrease in the acceptability of this group. Hence, the SNE incorporation at lower concentrations (10, 20 mg/ml) into CMC coating could be useful in extending the shelf life of the shrimp during refrigerated storage and could be a substitute for sodium metabisulphite., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

The subfamily-G ATP-binding cassette (ABCG) transporters play important roles in regulating cholesterol homeostasis. Recent progress in the structural data of ABCG1 and ABCG5/G8 disclose putative sterol binding sites that suggest the possible cholesterol translocation pathway. ABCG1 and ABCG5/G8 share high similarity in the overall molecular architecture, and both transporters appear to use several unique structural motifs to facilitate cholesterol transport along this pathway, including the phenylalanine highway and the hydrophobic valve. Interestingly, ABCG5/G8 is known to transport cholesterol and phytosterols, whereas ABCG1 seems to exclusively transport cholesterol. Ligand docking analysis indeed suggests a difference in recruiting sterol molecules to the known sterol-binding sites. Here, we further discuss how the different and shared structural features are relevant to their physiological functions, and finally provide our perspective on future studies in ABCG cholesterol transporters.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of using whitening dentifrices during at-home bleaching on the shear bond strength (SBS) of resin composite to dentin, and investigate whether the increased polymerization time would improve SBS., Methods: Ninety-six bovine incisors were divided into 4 groups of 24, according to the whitening treatment applied as follows: group 1, at-home bleaching + brushing with a regular dentifrice; group 2, at-home bleaching + brushing with a whitening dentifrice containing ozone; group 3, at-home bleaching + brushing with a commercial whitening dentifrice; and group 4 (control), no whitening/brushing treatment. Each group was divided into two subgroups (n = 12) to assess the effect of curing time (20 versus 80 s) on SBS. A self-etch adhesive was bonded to dentin, and after 2-day water storage, SBS was determined., Results: SBS was significantly affected by the whitening treatment (P = 0.03), but increasing the curing time had no significant effect on SBS (P = 0.137). Bond strength in group 1 was comparable to the control group (P > 0.05). The specimens in group 3 displayed significantly lower SBS than either group 4 or group 1 (P > 0.05). No significant difference was observed between the SBS of group 2 compared to any other group (P > 0.05). There was no significant association between the treatment group and failure type (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: The bonding interface was not negatively influenced by the at-home bleaching procedure. However, using a commercial whitening dentifrice during at-home bleaching produced a significant detrimental effect on SBS. Extending the curing time would have no beneficial effect on adhesion to a whitened dental substrate., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Globorisk is a novel risk prediction model for predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD). Globorisk is a country-specific risk prediction model that determines CVD risk for all countries. This model has two versions; laboratory-based and office-based. This study aimed to determine the agreement between laboratory-based and office-based models in a large sample of the general population., Methods: Baseline data from the Fasa cohort study was used for the current study. In total, 6810 participants ≥ 40 years without any history of cardiovascular disease or stroke were included in the study. To determine the laboratory-based risk model, factors include age, sex, current smoking status, history of diabetes, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and total cholesterol. To estimate the office-based risk model, factors were age, sex, current smoking status, SBP, and body mass index (BMI). Kappa statistics was used to distinguish the agreement between grouped scores in these two models. Additionally, correlation coefficients and scatter plots were used to determine the linear correlation between the two models., Results: In this study 46.53% of the participants were men. The mean age (SD) of participants was 51.08 (7.88) years. Agreements between the two models were moderate and substantial in all women and all men, respectively. The agreement between the two CVD risk groups was 90.15% (kappa = 0.717) in all men, 92.94% (kappa = 0.571) among men aged < 60 years and 77.60% (kappa = 0.645) in men aged ≥ 60 years. The agreement between the two CVD risk groups was 86.68% (kappa = 0.572) among all women, 93.96% (kappa = 0.274) among women aged < 60 years and 62.46% (kappa = 0.422) among women aged ≥ 60 years. A very strong positive correlation (r = 0.94) was found between the two risk scores in all men, and it was similar among men aged < 60 years (r = 0.84) and men aged > 60 years (r = 0.94). Among all women, there was a very strong positive correlation (r = 0.87), and the strong positive correlation remained among < 60 years old (r = 0.76) and women > 60 years old (r = 0.76)., Conclusion: The Globorisk office-based model which is easier to use as it does not require blood testing can determine the risk groups in this population. The Globorisk office-based model may be used for CVD risk screening in low-middle income countries where resources are limited., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

ATP-Binding cassette subfamily G (ABCG) sterol transporters maintain whole body endogenous and exogenous sterol homeostasis. A substantial portion of exogenous sterols are undigestible phytosterols (plant sterols), which can introduce complications when accumulated. ABCG5/G8 is the main protein functioning to remove ingested plant sterols providing protection from their toxic effects, although, the structural features behind substrate binding in ABCG5/G8 remain poorly resolved. Within this data article, we present extended preceding in the determination of the cholesterol-bound crystal structure and the sterol docking analysis. The crystal structure was deposited in the Protein Data Bank with the accession number of 8CUB, whereas the diffraction images were deposited at the SBGrid Data Bank. This dataset follows the research article entitled as "Structural analysis of cholesterol binding and sterol selectivity by ABCG5/G8" (doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167795)., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Background: There have been criticisms that local authorities develop disaster planning independently, which led to less sensitiveness and responsibility of community-based organizations (CBOs). Disasters planning should incorporate into CBOs' management processes. This study aims to set goals of a community-based plan based on preparedness capacities that CBOs need to have in the COVID-19 pandemic., Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study used a prevalidated and reliable questionnaire assessing (CBOs). The tool assesses preparedness in the field of planning, training, and infrastructure. Forty CBOs met the inclusion criteria as assisting or cooperating agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, key informants, who simultaneously have been working in the health system and CBOs, prioritized low-scale items that have shown capacity gaps according to effects on the vulnerable group, sustainability, and capability of the health system. Descriptive statistics performed using SPSS18 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, USA)., Results: The results showed that the preparedness of CBOs was weak in the field of planning, training, and infrastructure. Besides, overlaps of CBOs' resources and covering the clients' medical needs in the COVID-19 pandemic were the most priority that needs to be intervened., Conclusion: Providing medical needs by CBOs require legal legitimacy assigned by health authority, especially in epidemic-prone diseases. In addition, assigning a coordinator to set a priority list and mutual agreements authoried by health departments can solve the problem of overlapped resources. Therefore, functional roles of CBOs in the pandemic should focus mostly on resource allocation and the medical needs of clients to set goals and functional objectives., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2022 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.)

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) sterol transporters are responsible for maintaining cholesterol homeostasis in mammals by participating in reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) or transintestinal cholesterol efflux (TICE). The heterodimeric ABCG5/G8 carries out selective sterol excretion, preventing the abnormal accumulation of plant sterols in human bodies, while homodimeric ABCG1 contributes to the biogenesis and metabolism of high-density lipoproteins. A sterol-binding site on ABCG5/G8 was proposed at the interface of the transmembrane domain and the core of lipid bilayers. In this study, we have determined the crystal structure of ABCG5/G8 in a cholesterol-bound state. The structure combined with amino acid sequence analysis shows that in the proximity of the sterol-binding site, a highly conserved phenylalanine array supports functional implications for ABCG cholesterol/sterol transporters. Lastly, in silico docking analysis of cholesterol and stigmasterol (a plant sterol) suggests sterol-binding selectivity on ABCG5/G8, but not ABCG1. Together, our results provide a structural basis for cholesterol binding on ABCG5/G8 and the sterol selectivity by ABCG transporters., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)