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Background The increasing prevalence of moral distress in the stressful environment of the intensive care unit (ICU) provides grounds for nursing error and endangers patients’ health, safety, and even life. One of the most important reasons for this distress is the treatment team’s second victim syndrome (SVS), especially nurses, following errors in the treatment system. Objectives The present study aimed to determine the relationship between moral distress and SVS in ICUs. Research design This cross-sectional study involved a sample size of 96 ICU nurses working in hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in the 2021–2022 period, who were selected via a simple random sampling method. Data were collected using the Demographic Questionnaire, the second victim experience and support tool (SVEST) and Moral Distress Scale-Revised (MDS-R). Descriptive statistics (percentage, frequency, mean, and SD) and analytical tests (Spearman correlation coefficient test, independent t-test, and ANOVA) were employed for data analysis. Participants and research context This study used a sample size of 96 intensive care unit nurses working in hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences selected by simple random sampling. Ethical considerations The study obtained research ethics approval, and all participants were informed of the voluntary and anonymous nature of their participation. Findings The results showed that 59.4% of nurses suffered a low level of moral distress, and 40.6% suffered from a moderate level of moral distress. The SVS score of 86.5% of the nurses was moderate. There was no significant and direct correlation between moral distress and SVS in nurses; however, there was a significant and inverse correlation between the moral distress intensity and SVS ( p = 0.011). Conclusion Despite no significant correlation between moral distress and SVS, these variables were at moderate levels. Accordingly, it is suggested to provide a proper ground for expressing morally stressful situations, counseling and training strategies to deal with moral distress, creating support resources for those suffering from SVS, and implementing empowerment programs.

Introduction: Cervical cancer is recognized as one of the major causes of mortality among elderly women. Although there are several different therapeutic worldwide guidelines, many researchers have focused on screening new methodologies and technologies to elevate the efficiency of cervical cancer treatment. The simultaneous use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) along with chemotherapy as cisplatin has achieved good aims in the treatment of cervical cancer. Methods: A2780 cells were treated with cisplatin, photodynamic progress (laser with methylene blue as a photosensitizer compound) and a combination of cisplatin and PDT. The lithic effect of the laser, methylene blue and their combination and the IC50 value of cisplatin were calculated for each group. The amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) as membrane lipid peroxidation product and released lactate dehydrogenase was measured in the medium. The toxicity of each agent was evaluated by the MTT technique. Results: The results show that a combination of PDT and chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin caused a twofold decrease in viable cervical cancer cells compared to each therapeutic progress. The combination of both laser therapy and cisplatin enhanced cancer cell membrane disruption by increased membrane lipid peroxidation and apoptotic enzyme activation by the elevation of lactate dehydrogenase activity. Conclusion: The results indicated that cisplatin combined with PDT had a greater therapeutic effect on A2780 as a cervical cancer cell line. Therefore, PDT in combination with chemotherapy enhances the effectiveness of chemotherapeutic agents by the disruption of the cancer cell membrane and switching the apoptosis progress with less adverse effects.

Crossover designs are commonly applied in research due to efficiency and subject parsimony compared to parallel studies. Baseline measurements would improve the power of comparison. For time to event outcomes, the sample size is reduced due to censorship, if they are ignored; thus, applying traditional regression models will be limited. A logical solution is to impute the censored observation and apply common analytical models for analyzing the data. Nevertheless, techniques to impute censored data in time-to-event outcomes in crossover designs are not practiced as much. Accordingly, we propose a method to impute the censored observation using median residual life regression and then analyze the data using analyses of covariance (ANCOVA), considering the difference of period-specific baselines as covariate. We used simulation to show the favorable performance of our method relative to a recently proposed method, multiple imputation with model averaging and ANCOVA (MIMI). Specifically, the censored observations were multiply-imputed using prespecified parametric event time models, and then, the methods were applied to a real data example.

Background Recent studies report incongruent finds regarding the addition of pegylated interferon -alpha (Peg- IFNα) to nucleos(t)ide analogues. This study was designed to compare the efficacy of Peg- IFNα and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) combination therapy with each of the treatments separately. Methods In this open-label, randomized clinical trial, treatment-naive hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-negative patients were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: Group A: Peg- IFNα (180 mcg/week) with TDF (300 mg/day); Group B: TDF (300 mg/day); and Group C: Peg- IFNα (180 mcg/week). The intervention spanned 48 weeks and patients were followed up every 12 weeks. The primary end-point was HBV DNA load Results Groups A, B and C each comprised of 22, 23 and 22 patients, respectively. The number of patients with HBV DNA suppression in group A was significantly higher compared to groups B and C (P = 0.034). No significant difference was observed in the normalization trends of serum ALT levels between the three groups (P = 0.082). At week 48, combination therapy was significantly more effective in suppressing HBV DNA concentration to below the level of detection than TDF monotherapy (OR = 2.1, 95%CI: 1.18–4.15; P = 0.034). Furthermore, a comparison between monotherapy arms revealed that both interventions had similar effects on the overall outcome (OR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.02–5.8; P = 0.062). Conclusion A Peg- IFNα and TDF combination therapy resulted in improved virologic response and was safe in HBeAg negative patients. Monotherapy with Peg-IFNα or TDF procured limited benefits in comparison. Trial registration This study was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20181113041635N1).

Few safe and effective treatments are available for melasma. Cysteamine, a non-melanocytotoxic molecule is a safer alternative to hydroquinone and usable for long-term use.To evaluate the effect of cysteamine 5% cream in the treatment of melasma.Sixty-five of 80 patients completed this single-blind, randomized, controlled trial. The patients received cysteamine 5% or hydroquinone 4%/ascorbic acid 3% (HC) cream. The therapeutic response was evaluated by modified MASI (mMASI) and melanin index (SkinColorCatch) after 2 and 4 months of treatment. The effect of treatment on the quality of life was also assessed.The decrease in mMASI score was from 6.69 ± 2.96 to 4.47 ± 2.16 in the cysteamine group and from 6.26 ± 3.25 to 3.87 ± 2.00 in the HC group after 4 months (p values 0.001). The melanin index decreased from 37.72 ± 10.17 to 31.47 ± 11.90 in the cysteamine group and from 36.37 ± 10.80 to 23.16 ± 8.83 in the HC group after 4 months (p-value = 0.003 and0.001, respectively). The difference between mMASI score at baseline and month 4 was not significant between both groups (p-value 0.05). The difference between the melanin index at baseline and month 4 was significantly more pronounced in the HC group (p-value = 0.002). Quality of life improved in both groups (p-value 0.05), but was not significantly different between groups (p-value 0.05).Cysteamine was confirmed to be an effective treatment for melasma, with equivalent results to HC in reducing mMASI score and improving quality of life, despite lesser melanin index reduction observed. Cysteamine and HC efficacy was confirmed in patients recalcitrant to previous treatments, by a significant reduction of mMASI and melanin index.

We have investigated the dependency of hysteresis in all-ambient-processed perovskite solar cells on the solvent used for the synthesization of perovskite. Methylammonium lead iodide (MAI) perovskite solar cells have been fabricated using the two-step sequential spin coating method. The influences of PbI2 precursor on the cell performance and its hysteresis are investigated using four different solvents of pure dimethylformamide (DMF), pure dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and mixtures of DMF:DMSO with the ratios of (4:1) and (1:4). The results indicate that a small amount of DMSO in DMF leads to produce large grains of perovskite with proper coverages at the interfaces with hole and electron transport layers. The best conversion efficiency of 10.9% was obtained for the cell prepared by the solvent of (4:1) for DMF:DMSO. The best hysteresis was also obtained from the same cell with the hysteresis index of 0.009.

The histopathologic subtypes of breast cancer, including invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), differ in terms of risk factors, progression, and response to treatment. The PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched up to February 2020 for published studies on the association between dietary patterns (Western diet [WD] or Mediterranean diet [WD]) and the risk of IDC/ILC of breast. Multivariable adjusted relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) comparing the highest and lowest categories of WD and MD patterns were combined by using the random-effects meta-analyses. After searching the databases, 10 eligible studies on the association of diet and IDC (7 articles) and ILC (3 articles) were included in the analysis. A statistically significant adverse association was observed between MD and IDC in case–control studies (RR = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.39-0.55; I2 = 85.1%; P

Cytopenia is common complication in critically ill patients. Aim: Incidence and pattern of different types of cytopenia as well as its impact on mortality and length of stay in critically ill patients were evaluated. Methods: Critically ill patients with any kind of cytopenia for more than 2 days were evaluated. Results: Anemia was the most common type of cytopenia in the patients (99.14%), followed by lymphocytopenia (32.17%), thrombocytopenia (27.82%), and leukopenia (19.13%). Mortality rate was significantly higher in patients with anemia (p < 0.0001), thrombocytopenia (p < 0.0001), leukopenia (p < 0.0001), neutropenia (p = 0.004), lymphopenia (p = 0.002) and pancytopenia (p < 0.0001). Higher duration of anemia, lymphopenia and thrombocytopenia were associated with longer intensive care unit stay (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Among all assessed variables, incidence of thrombocytopenia could independently predict the mortality.

The geometric framework of Double Field Theory (DFT) can be constructed on a para-Hermitian manifold. The canonical, generalized-metric connections and the global expression of the corresponding covariant derivative, a generalization of the kinematical structure of DFT, generalized curvature, a corresponding generalized Lie derivative for the Leibniz algebroid on the tangent bundle are constructed. In the present paper, we construct the similar action of DFT and para-Hermitian manifolds on ρ-commutative algebras and extend the above notions on it.

Vitamin D level varies according to the geographic location. This study was conducted to evaluate Vitamin D level in the serumsamples of Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients from the Iranian population and determine its association with SLE diseaseactivity index (SLEDAI), sun exposure, smoking, photosensitivity, sun protector cream use, and drug regimen. In this crosssectional study, 200 patients were included. The patient’s data were obtained using a questionnaire. The enzyme-linkedimmunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique was used to determine Vitamin D level in the serum samples of the patients. The studypopulation was comprised of 27 (13.5%) males and 173 (86.5%) females, with a mean age of 38.46 ± 13.24 years. The serumlevel of Vitamin D was 13.62 ± 3.22 ng/ml in the patients. Vitamin D deficiency was observed in 104 (52%) patients. There wasa statistically positive correlation between vitamin D level and duration of sun exposure (CC = 0.57, P = 0.004). A statisticallysignificant negative correlation was seen between vitamin D level and SLEDAI (CC = -0.41, P = 0.013).Vitamin D level was significantly (P = 0.030) lower in the SLE patients with photosensitivity. SLE patients using sunprotector cream had significantly (P = 0.002) lower level of Vitamin D. Patients receiving glucocorticoid drugs hadsignificantly (P = 0.001) lower levels of Vitamin D in comparison to the patients not receiving glucocorticoids. Vitamin D isinvolved in the disease activity of SLE patients. It is important to include vitamin D supplementation in the drug regimen of SLEpatients, especially when it includes glucocorticoids.

Background & Aims of the Study: Acne is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by comatose lesions and cysts that can be accompanied by scarring in some cases. The physical and psychological effects of acne include deformities, scarring, depression, impaired social relationships, and discontentment. Moreover, the affected people experience social isolation, and they engage in social activities less frequently due to embarrassment and fear of being excluded from the community. Some studies reported that the prevalence of acne is 10 times higher in males, as compared to females. With this background in mind, the current study aimed to assess quality of life in patients with acne vulgaris and its consequent disabilities in Qom, 2016. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study and the statistical population included acne patients who were referred to dermatological clinics in Qom. Therefore, 147 patients were selected by convenience sampling. Data collection tools were the Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaires. CADI is a questionnaire which is specific for acne consisting of five questions about feelings, interference with social life, and interaction with the opposite gender, avoidance of public places, the appearance of the skin, and perceived severity of the disease over the last month. DLQI consists of 10 items covering symptoms and feelings (items 1 and 2), daily activities (items 3 and 4), leisure (items 5 and 6), work and school (item 7), personal relationships (items 8 and 9) and treatment (item 10). Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21) using descriptive statistics and independent t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: 83% of the cases were female and 35.4% of them had a family history of acne. 26.5% of patients had less than a high school diploma degree and the average score of quality of life in acne patients was 7.32 and the mean score of acne-related disability index was reported as 5.86. The results of the statistical tests demonstrated no significant difference in the mean score of quality of life and acne-related disability in terms of gender and family history of acne (P

In the last decade, transcriptome analyses have discovered thousands of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) which are assumed as a fundamental part of the gene regulatory networks in the cell. Intriguingly, lncRNAs are abundantly enriched in the brain, displaying elaborate spatiotemporal expression profiles and modulation. They diversely participate in the delicate regulation of the central nervous system (CNS) development including self-renewal maintenance, cell fate decision, synapse plasticity, synaptogenesis and memory formation. Moreover, lncRNAs have vastly demonstrated correlations with mental illnesses such as neuropsychiatric disorders (NPDs), implying the vital jobs of these yet poorly-understood transcripts. Here, we underlie the accumulating evidence for the significance of lncRNAs in neural networks and their impairment in several NPDs including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), schizophrenia (SZ), intellectual disability (ID), major depressive disorder (MDD), Rett syndrome (RTT) and others.

Background & Aims of the Study: Sleep disorders and poor sleep quality can lead to daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and depression as well as physical diseases. Such disorders are prevalent among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients; therefore, the present study aimed to determine the quality of sleep in MS patients in Qom, Iran, in 2018. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive-analytical study was performed on 272 MS patients who were members of the MS Society of Qom, Iran. The samples were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria using simple random sampling technique. The data were collected using a demographic form and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Finally, the collected data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21) using descriptive statistics and analytical statistical tests. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Based on the findings, the mean score of sleep quality was 11.11±4.35. A total of 12.86% and 48.2% of the subjects had severe had moderate sleep disorders, respectively. However, 5.14% of them were not conflicted with any type of sleep disorder. Moreover, the sleep quality score had a significant relationship with age, occupation, marital status, and disease duration (P

Excessive inflammation has been implicated in the immunopathogenesis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In the current study, the involvement of S100 calcium binding protein S100A4, S100A9, and S100A10 in the inflammatory settings of COVID-19 patients were evaluated.Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 65 COVID-19 subjects and 50 healthy controls. From the blood samples, RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized, and then the mRNA expression levels of S100A4, S100A9, and S100A10 were measured by Real-time PCR.The mRNA expression of S100A4 (fold change [FC] = 1.45, P = 0.0011), S100A9 (FC = 1.47, P = 0.0013), and S100A10 (FC = 1.35, P = 0.0053) was significantly upregulated in COVID-19 patients than controls. The mRNA expression of S100A4 (FC = 1.43, P = 0.0071), (FC = 1.66, P = 0.0001), and S100A10 (FC = 1.63, P = 0.0003) was significantly upregulated in the severe COVID-19 subjects than mild-to-moderate subjects. There was a significant positive correlation between mRNA expression of S100A4 (ρ = 0.49, P = 0.030), S100A9 (ρ = 0.55, P = 0.009), and S100A10 (ρ = 0.39, P = 0.040) and D-dimer in the COVID-19 patients. The AUC for S100A4, S100A9, and S100A10 mRNAs were 0.79 (95% CI 0.66-0.92, P = 0.004), 0.80 (95% CI 0.67-0.93, P = 0.002), and 0.71 (95% CI 0.56-0.85, P = 0.010), respectively.S100A4, S100A9, and S100A10 play a role in the inflammatory conditions in COVID-19 patients and have potential in prognosis of severe form of COVID-19. Targeting these modules, hopefully, might confer a therapeutic tool in preventing sever symptoms in the COVID-19 patients.

Assessing differential item functioning (DIF) using the ordinal logistic regression (OLR) model highly depends on the asymptotic sampling distribution of the maximum likelihood (ML) estimators. The ML estimation method, which is often used to estimate the parameters of the OLR model for DIF detection, may be substantially biased with small samples. This study is aimed at proposing a new application of the elastic net regularized OLR model, as a special type of machine learning method, for assessing DIF between two groups with small samples. Accordingly, a simulation study was conducted to compare the powers and type I error rates of the regularized and nonregularized OLR models in detecting DIF under various conditions including moderate and severe magnitudes of DIF ( DIF = 0.4 and 0.8 ), sample size ( N ), sample size ratio ( R ), scale length ( I ), and weighting parameter ( w ). The simulation results revealed that for I = 5 and regardless of R , the elastic net regularized OLR model with w = 0.1 , as compared with the nonregularized OLR model, increased the power of detecting moderate uniform DIF ( DIF = 0.4 ) approximately 35% and 21% for N = 100 and 150 , respectively. Moreover, for I = 10 and severe uniform DIF ( DIF = 0.8 ), the average power of the elastic net regularized OLR model with 0.03 ≤ w ≤ 0.06 , as compared with the nonregularized OLR model, increased approximately 29.3% and 11.2% for N = 100 and 150 , respectively. In these cases, the type I error rates of the regularized and nonregularized OLR models were below or close to the nominal level of 0.05. In general, this simulation study showed that the elastic net regularized OLR model outperformed the nonregularized OLR model especially in extremely small sample size groups. Furthermore, the present research provided a guideline and some recommendations for researchers who conduct DIF studies with small sample sizes.

The response of biological systems to various types of radiations have many ambiguous dimensions. Among ionizing radiations, in vitro external gamma radiation therapy has mostly studied as model to declare the biological system challenges with radiation effects. Cell/organism exposure to gamma radiation, caused cascade of ionization events such as severe irreversible biological damages. However, the biological responses and oxidative stress related mechanisms under acute radiation conditions poorly understood in inflammatory systems. Following study tried to give a model about ionizing radiation effect on the macrophage that had a key role in inflammation mechanisms; to evaluate the impact of radiotherapy approach for inflammatory disease as rheumatoid arthritis. To this aim, Macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7) culture, exposed to different doses of gamma radiation (0,4, 6, 8, 10 Gy). Cell viability, apoptosis, cell cycle, migration; NO and PGE2 production; expression of pro-inflammatory and apoptotic genes and cytokine secretion of macrophages was also evaluated.The results showed that gamma treatment, at 4 Gy radiation, have slight effect on macrophage characteristics and cytokine secretion pattern. Versus, higher doses (8 and 10 Gy) increased DNA damage, expression of apoptotic genes and secretion of NO and PGE2 cytokines. 6 Gy radiation, the maximum radiation dose, show moderate nondestructive effects and inflammation process modulation. In this study, doses higher than 6 Gy of Gamma radiation caused cell mortality. It seems that 6 Gy Gamma radiation modulate the inflammatory cascade caused by macrophage cell, as a central core of autoimmune inflammatory disease in acute dose radiation therapy.

Evaporation is one of the main components of the hydrological cycle, and its estimation is crucial and important for water resources management issues. Access to a reliable estimator tool for evaporation simulation is important in arid and semi-arid areas such as Iran, which lose more than 70% of their received precipitation by evaporation. Current research employs the Bayesian Regularization (BR) and Scaled Conjugate Gradient (SCG) algorithms for training the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) model (as MLP-BR and MLP-SCG) and comparing their performance with the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) algorithm (as MLP-LM). For this purpose, 16 meteorological variables were used on a daily scale; including temperature (5 variables), air pressure (4 variables), and relative humidity (6 variables) as input data sets, and pan evaporation as the target variable of the MLP model. The surveys were conducted during the period of 2006–2021 in Fars Province in Iran, which is a semi-arid region and has many natural lakes. Various combinations of input-target pairs were tested by several learning algorithms, resulting in seven input scenarios: (1) temperature-based (T), (2) pressure-based (F), (3) humidity-based (RH), (4) temperature–pressure-based (T-F), (5) temperature–humidity-based (T-RH), (6) pressure–humidity-based (F-RH) and (7) temperature–pressure–humidity-based (T-F-RH). The results indicated the relative superiority of the three-component scenario of T-F-RH, and a considerable weakness in the single-component scenario of RH compared with others. The best performance with a root mean square error (RMSE) equal to 1.629 and 1.742 mm per day and a Wilmott Index (WI) equal to 0.957 and 0.949 (respectively for validation and test periods) belonged to the MLP-BR model. Additionally, the amount of R2 (greater than 84%), Nash-Sutcliff efficiency (greater than 0.8) and normalized RMSE (less than 0.1) all indicate the reliability of the estimates provided for the daily pan evaporation. In the comparison between the studied training algorithms, two algorithms, BR and SCG, in most cases, showed better performance than the powerful and common LM algorithm. The obtained results suggest that future researchers in this field consider BR and SCG training algorithms for the supervised training of MLP for the numerical estimation of pan evaporation by the MLP model.

Background: This study aimed to assess the effects of digital storytelling on the self-management behavior of adolescents with type 1 diabetes (TID). Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 60 adolescents with TID were randomly allocated into two parallel groups: intervention (training with digital storytelling method, n=33) or control (training with a conventional method, n=33). The primary outcome was the assessment of the Self-Management behavior of adolescents with TID (SMOD-A), at baseline and three months after the intervention.Results: The results revealed that digital storytelling can lead to significant improvement in self-management behaviors amongst the adolescents with TID (P=0.005), while in the control group no significant changes were observed (P>0.05). The results also showed that the level of collaboration with parent’s dimension scores had a significant reverse relationship with the adolescent age after digital storytelling (p = 0.048). With respect to HbA1c levels, significant changes were not observed in any of the groups (P>0.05).Conclusions: Digital storytelling is practicable and a potentially beneficial training modality for adolescents with TID.Trial registration: This trial was respectively registered.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: IRCT20191220045828N1. Date of registration: Oct 29. 2020(https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04608058?term=zarifsanaiey&draw=2&rank=1)

Background This study aimed to assess the effects of digital storytelling on the self-management behavior of adolescents with type 1 diabetes (TID). Methods In this pilot randomized controlled clinical trial, 60 adolescents with TID were randomly allocated into two parallel groups: intervention (training with digital storytelling method, n = 33) or control (training with a conventional method, n = 33). The primary outcome was assessing the Self-Management behavior of adolescents with TID (SMOD-A) at baseline and three months after the intervention. Results The results revealed that digital storytelling could significantly improve self-management behaviors amongst adolescents with TID (P = 0.005). In contrast, in the control group, no significant changes were observed (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the mean score of Collaboration with Parents subscale was significantly higher in the digital storytelling group than in the control group after the intervention (p = 0.022). The results also showed that the level of Collaboration With Parents' subscale scores had a meaningful reverse relationship with the adolescent age after digital storytelling (p = 0.048). Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that there were significant main effects of time and group on collaboration with parents(p = 0.002) and goal subscales (p = 0.035). With respect to HbA1c levels, significant changes were not observed in any of the groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions Digital storytelling is practicable and a potentially beneficial training modality for adolescents with TID. Trial registration This trial was respectively registered. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: IRCT20191220045828N1. Date of registration: Oct 29. 2020.

Background: Complications of surgery are one of the main causes of death and disability worldwide. Considering the importance of patient safety and the necessity of auditing in operation rooms, therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the auditory of safe surgical principles in operating rooms of educational Hospital centers of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2018. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 100 surgical operations rooms in general surgery, orthopedic, urology, cardiology, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, and ENT Hospitals centers of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in the year 2018 within a period of three months. Safe surgical checklist, which included the patient's safety standards in the surgery room were evaluated. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16. Results: The mean Safe surgical score in Razi Hospital was 26.41%. In Fatemeh Zahra Hospital, the mean score was 30.43%. In Abuali-sina Hospital, the total mean score was 34.83%. In Imam Khomeini Hospital, the mean score was 37.1%, and the mean Safe surgical score of Zare hospital was equal to 52.28%. Conclusion: Hospitals of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences were overall in desirable to very desirable levels in terms of the standards for safe surgical principles in operating rooms.

In drug delivery science, brain delivery is one of the most important challenges because of the low efficiency of the available treatments. Nowadays, shuttle peptides have attracted more attention because of lower price, reduced immunity, and increased chemical capability. Glutathione (GSH) is one of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) shuttle peptides that has reached the most progressive steps in the path toward clinical application. This project discovered the possibility of GSH-conjugated IONPs as an MRI-monitored paclitaxel (PTX) delivery vehicle across the BBB using BALB/c mouse model. Synthesized shuttle peptide-conjugated nanoparticles were tracked over a certain time by MRI. A one-pot method was used for preparation of IONPs@Asp to form functionalized nanoparticles with two functional groups for linkage of PTX, PEG, and then GSH on the surface of nanoparticles. Afterward, they were analyzed by XRD, TGA, FTIR, TEM, VSM, and DLS techniques. In addition, histological study were performed on the key organs...

Background Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a common psychiatric disorder, is identified by abnormal levels of impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity. MiRNAs play important roles in neural network development of the brain. Circulating miRNAs (cmiRNAs) are offered as promising noninvasive markers for psychiatric disorders. In this study, the expression level of neurologically relevant miRNAs was evaluated in serum samples of ADHD individuals. Methods RNA extraction was performed for 60 subjects with ADHD and 60 healthy controls, and the cDNAs were synthesized for all the miRNAs. The expression level of 84 cmiRNAs was then examined in 4 ADHD subjects and 4 controls. The altered expression of 10 cmiRNAs was further evaluated in validation cohort comprising 56 ADHD and 56 control samples by qPCR. The diagnostic power of the miRNAs was determined by use of Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The cmiRNAs target genes were predicted using DIANA mirPath software and gene ontology enrichment analysis was performed using Cytoscape CLUGO. Results Initially, 10 miRNAs showed differential expression in ADHD individuals. Further analysis confirmed four miRNAs (hsa-miR-101-3p, hsa-miR-130a-3p, hsa-miR-138-5p and hsa-miR-195-5p) upregulated and one miRNA (hsa-miR-106b-5p) downregulated. These miRNAs showed significant predictive values for discriminating ADHD individuals. Enrichment analysis highlighted the involvement of the deregulated cmiRNAs in many canonical neurobiological pathways and mechanisms. Conclusions Our report is the first comprehensive study on the expression profiling of miRNAs in serum of ADHD subjects. These findings suggest a set of cmiRNAs as potential noninvasive biomarkers for ADHD.

This study aimed to investigate differential item functioning (DIF) of the child and parent reports of the KINDL measure across children with and without Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The sample included 122 children with ADHD and 1086 healthy peers, alongside 127 and 1061 of their parents, respectively. The generalized partial credit model with lasso penalization, as a machine learning method, was used to assess DIF of the KINDL across the two groups. The findings showed that three out of 24 items of the child reports and seven out of 24 items of the parent reports of the KINDL exhibited DIF between children with and without ADHD. Accordingly, Iranian children with and without ADHD along with their parents perceive almost all items in the KINDL similarly. Hence, the observed difference in quality of life scores between children with and without ADHD is a real difference and not a reflection of measurement bias.

The aim of this paper is to introduce 3-Hom-ρ-Lie algebra structures generalizing the algebras of 3-Hom-Lie algebra. Also, we investigate the representations and deformations theory of this type of Hom-Lie algebras. Moreover, we introduce the definition of extensions and abelian extensions of 3-Hom-ρ-Lie algebras and show that associated to any abelian extension, there is a representation and a 2-cocycle.

Background and Objective Patients with panic disorder (PD) suffer from elevated oxidative stress as a consequence of serotonin metabolism disorder. These patients have elevated serotonin concentration and catabolism of serotonin via monoamine oxidase. The aim of the present study was to evaluate serum homocysteine concentration and its relationship with oxidative stress level in PD patients, regarding homocysteine as a diagnostic biomarker of heart disease. Materials & Method Sixty patients with PD according to the DSM‐5 diagnostic criteria for a panic attack and 60 healthy individuals were included in the present study. Peripheral venous blood samples were taken from patients. Erythrocytes and serum were separated from blood, and RBC hemolysates were prepared to investigate oxidative stress indices including glutathione and glutathione peroxidase. Serum homocysteine and carbonyl groups concentrations were measured in all samples. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, and p, The aim of the present study was to evaluate serum homocysteine concentration and its relationship with oxidative stress levels in patients with PD, regarding homocysteine as a diagnostic biomarker of heart disease. Our findings support that, patients with PD experience higher levels of oxidative stress, due to impaired serotonin metabolism, which is related to the prognosis of heart disease in these patients.

Background The level of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) expression in different tissues is essential in the sensitivity, symptoms and consequences of COVID-19 infection. It seems that zinc is involved in the structure of the ACE2 enzyme has been identified; nonetheless, the relationship between ACE2 expression and zinc serum levels in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected patients is still unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the expression of ACE2 in peripheral blood-derived immune cells of COVID-19 patients and its relationship with serum zinc levels. Methods Thirty healthy subjects and thirty patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in this study. The COVID-19 infection was confirmed by positive real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and radiological data. Peripheral blood samples were taken from healthy subjects and COVID-19 patients. Whole blood samples were also used to measure ACE2 gene expression by RT-PCR technique. The correlation matrix evaluated the relationship between ACE2 expression, serum zinc levels, and other related variables. Results The outcomes showed no considerable alteration in serum zinc levels between patients and the control group. Likewise, the ACE2 gene expression results showed a significant decrease in this receptor's expression in COVID-19 patients compared with the healthy subjects. A significant positive correlation was observed between serum zinc level and ACE2 gene expression in patients with COVID-19. Conclusion The immune system seems to reduce the mRNA expression of the ACE2 in the peripheral blood leukocytes following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, zinc deficiency can make patients more susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background: Previous studies have shown that several microRNAs (miRNAs) are dysregulated in the whole blood as well as diverse cells and tissues from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The aim of the current study was to determine if the expression of miR-146a, miR-103a, and miR-155 in whole blood of RA patients could confer potential markers in evaluating of activity-severity of the disease in RA patients with established disease. Methods: Whole blood samples were obtained from 30 RA patients and 30 healthy subjects. The RNA content of blood samples was isolated, cDNA was synthesized, and transcript levels of miR-146a, miR-103a, and miR-155 were determined using Real-time PCR. The clinicopathological characteristics of the patients were also evaluated. Results: It was detected that expression level of miR-146a (fold change=1.85, P=0.004), miR-103a (fold change=2.44, P=0.0018), and miR-155 (fold change=1.94, P=0.0025) were significantly upregulated in the whole blood samples of RA patients in comparison to that of healthy subjects. Expression level of miRNAs was correlated with clinicopathological characteristics of the patients, including Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28), Simple Disease Activity Index (SDAI), 28Tender Joint Count (TJC-28), 28Swollen Joint Count (SJC-28), C-reactive protein (CRP), Rheumatoid factor (RF), and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies. Conclusions: Upregulated levels of miR-146a, miR-103a, and miR-155 in the whole blood samples of RA patients could confer a potential marker of activity-severity of the disease in RA patients with established disease.

Background: Misoprostol is a myometrial stimulant with uterotonic properties and can be administered rectally, vaginally, or sublingually. Numerous studies have investigated the effect of misoprostol on the prevention and treatment of PPH (postpartum hemorrhage) after vaginal delivery, but its use to control PPH during cesarean section has not been widely studied. Methods: In this clinical trial study, 180 pregnant women who were candidates for cesarean section were included in the study. They were divided into 3 groups of 60 people (sublingual misoprostol group, rectal misoprostol group, control group). In all three groups, the volume of blood lost was recorded in the checklist at the end of surgery. Data were entered into SPSS software and analyzed. Results: The mean bleeding in the control group was 225.4±63.9, while it was 137.9±33.8 and 118.9±28.5 in the sublingual misoprostol group and rectal misoprostol group, respectively. We had significantly more bleeding in the control group (p

Background/objective: This study aimed to investigate the impacts of a 12-week training of the aerobic exercise (AE), resistance exercise (RE), and combined exercise (CE) on the serum levels of nesfatin-1, irisin-1 and some other metabolic and anthropometric indices in overweight women with metabolic syndrome. Methods: Sixty overweight women with metabolic syndrome were assigned equally into four groups: aerobic exercise (AE, n = 15), resistance exercise (RE, n = 15), combined exercise (CE, n = 15), and control (n = 15). All groups underwent 12 weeks of intervention. The study variables were measured before and 24 h after the intervention period. Results: Twelve weeks of training resulted in an increase of irisin-1 in the AE and CE groups and nesfatin-1 in all the intervention groups. As expected, all the trained groups exhibited a positive alteration in anthropometric indices and lipid profile in comparison with the control group. Besides, compared with the control group, insulin resistance (based on the homeostatic model assessment) in AE (p = 0.022), RE (p = 0.032), and CE (p < 0.001) groups were reduced significantly. According to the observed changes in the measured indices, serum irisin-1 was significantly correlated with body weight, BMI, body fat percentage, fasting insulin, and HOMA-IR. However, with regard to nesfatin-1, only a negative correlation was observed with body fat percentage and LDL-cholesterol. Conclusions: The 12-week systematic training program changed circulating irisin-1 and nesfatin-1. Also, change in the serum irisin-1 and nesfatin-1 were correlated with the change in glycemic and anthropometric indices in addition to LDL-cholesterol. Also, exercise training significantly reduced fasting insulin and HOMA-IR in all the intervention groups. RCT Registration Code: IRCT20180806040721N2.

Background Recently, extensive research has been reported the higher rate of depression and anxiety among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) as compared to the general population. However, no single study has been carried out to investigate whether this disparity is a real difference or it happens due to lack of measurement invariance. This study aims to assess the measurement invariance of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and 10-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) questionnaires across PLWHAs and healthy individuals. Methods One hundred and fifty PLWHAs and 500 healthy individuals filled out the Persian version of the BAI and CESD-10 questionnaires. Multi-group multiple-indicators multiple-causes model (MG-MIMIC) was used to assess measurement invariance across PLWHAs and healthy people. Results Our findings revealed that PLWHAs and healthy individuals perceived the meaning of all the items in the BAI and CESD-10 questionnaires similarly. In addition, although depression scores were significantly higher in PLWHAs as opposed to the healthy individuals, no significant difference was observed in anxiety scores of these two groups. Conclusions The current study suggests that the BAI and CESD-10 are invariant measures across PLWHAs and healthy people which can be used for meaningful cross-group comparison. Therefore, in comparison to healthy individuals, higher depression score of PLWHAs is a real difference. It is highly recommended that health professionals develop therapeutic interventions and psychological supports to promote the mental health of PLWHAs which alleviate their depressive symptoms.

Increasing penetration of wind power generation makes system operators face challenges in balancing supply and demand in real-time. The emerged energy imbalances in distribution networks can be addressed through energy trade with real-time balancing market or making use of flexible behavior of independent units such as flexible loads with ability to shift energy demand in time and small scale distributed generators. To this end, we propose a decentralized energy flexibility trading framework amongst multiple Microgrids (MGs) and Distribution System Operator (DSO) based on Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) to manage unforeseen imbalances in real-time. We show that MG's trading problem is an exact potential game with pure strategy Nash equilibrium. The results demonstrate, participating in the proposed trading mechanism results in considerable cost reduction for MGs in comparison with cases without trading with DSO or trading with real-time balancing market in order to balance energy consumption and generation in real-time.

Risk factors for clinical outcomes of COVID-19 pneumonia have not yet been well established in patients with underlying liver diseases. Our study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 infection among patients with underlying liver diseases and determine the risk factors for severe COVID-19 among them. In a retrospective analytical study, 1002 patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia were divided into two groups: patients with and without underlying liver diseases. The admission period was from 5 March to 14 May 2020. The prevalence of underlying conditions, Demographic data, clinical parameters, laboratory data, and participants' outcomes were evaluated. Logistic regression was used to estimate the predictive factors. Eighty-one (8%) of patients had underlying liver diseases. The frequencies of gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting were significantly higher among patients with liver diseases (48% vs. 25% and 46.1% vs. 30% respectively, both P Adj) 1.81, 95% CI 1.21–3.11, P = 0.011] and blood group A (ORAdj 1.59, 95% CI 1.15–2.11, P = 0.001) were associated with progression of symptoms of COVID-19. The presence of underlying liver diseases should be considered one of the poor prognostic factors for worse outcomes in patients with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND Several genome-wide association studies have revealed a genetic background with respect to susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although several individual case-control studies have evaluated the role of protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor 22 (PTPN22) gene rs2476601 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in conferring a risk for RA, the results have been conflicting. Hence, this meta-analysis was aimed to provide a solution for this issue. METHODS To search for studies assessing the association between the PTPN22 gene rs2476601 SNP and the risk of RA, a systematic search was conducted in the main databases, including PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, prior to December 2019. The odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to assess the possibility of association risk. RESULTS The literature search identified 52 case-control studies. The pooled analysis detected significant positive association of rs2476601 in all genetic models, including dominant model (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.55-1.84, P < 0.001), recessive model (OR = 2.50, 95% CI = 2.06-3.05, P < 0.001), allelic model (OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.60-2.2, P < 0.001), TT versus CC model (OR = 2.79, 95% CI = 2.28-3.41, P < 0.001) and CT versus CC model (OR = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.50-1.67, P < 0.001). Analyses based on population stratification indicated that rs2476601 SNP strongly increased the risk of RA in Caucasians and Africans under all genotype models. CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis reports that the PTPN22 gene rs2476601 SNP increases RA risk, especially in Caucasians and Africans.

Many attempts are being made to find an association between varicocele characteristics and sperm parameters. In this study, we investigated the association between a newly introduced varicocele reflux grading pattern and sperm parameters, as well as its effect on spermogram improvement after varicocelectomy. In a prospective study, 73 patients with a clinical single-sided varicocele who underwent corrective varicocelectomy were included. Reflux pattern was determined on Color Doppler Ultrasound (CDUS) and categorized into four grades: grade 1 (retrograde), grade 2 (augmentation), grade 3 (enhancement), and grade 4 (stasis). The association of pre- and postoperative spermogram with the patients’ reflux pattern was evaluated. A significant positive association was found between the venous diameter and reflux pattern. Higher grades of the reflux pattern were associated with the more severe hemodynamic pattern of the reflux (shunt type). A significant association was found between the reflux pattern and preoperative semen characteristics, and this association was more prominent in constant venous diameter. In this respect, the enhancing reflux type was associated with the most impaired preoperative sperm count, motility, and morphology. The enhancing type also revealed the most improvement in spermogram after varicocelectomy. Patients with a higher reflex grade, particularly enhancing pattern, will most benefit from the surgical correction of varicocele. These findings suggest reflux pattern as a promising prognostic factor for a favorable outcome after varicocelectomy.

Vitamin D is involved in immune system modulation as well as in calcium and bone homeostasis, hence plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) etiopathogenesis. A bulk of studies in different populations have assessed the association between the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and the risk of RA, reporting conflicting results. Therefore, we designed a meta-analysis to comprehensively evaluate the association of VDR gene polymorphisms and RA risk. All potential studies reporting the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to RA published till February 2020 were retrieved through systematic search of database, including Scopus and MEDLINE. Strength of pooled association was determined through calculating the pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Subgroup analysis was performed by stratifying the studies by population type. This meta-analysis included 23 eligible studies (21 articles) overall. We noticed that FokI SNP had a significant protective association with susceptibility to RA in the overall analysis as well as in Europeans and Asians. TaqI SNP decreased the RA risk in Africans and Arabs, but not in the overall analysis. Likewise, BsmI SNP and RA risk in the overall population analysis was not significant. Interestingly, BsmI polymorphism increased RA risk in Africans. This meta-analysis offers a significant association between VDR gene polymorphism and susceptibility to RA in both overall and ethnic-specific analysis. However, different polymorphisms acted inversely in increasing or decreasing RA risk in different populations.

Background: Cancer is currently the second leading cause of death worldwide that is originated from cell growth and proliferation without control. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one of the types of leukemia that affects lymphocyte maturation and it is common among children. Silver nanoparticles are considered one of the targeted chemotherapy methods by creating cytotoxicity. Objectives: In this research, a comparative study of cytotoxic effect of silver nanoparticles was evaluated on human lymphocytes and HPB-ALL cell line as an in vitro study. Methods: In this experimental study, lymphocytes and HPB-ALL cell line were exposed to silver nanoparticles at RPMI 1640 medium culture in order to assess toxicity for 24 hours. To this aim, MTT assay was used to evaluate the toxicity of the silver nanoparticles. DNA fragmentation and apoptosis were evaluated by Gel Electrophoresis and Flow Cytometry, respectively. Moreover, quantitative PCR was performed on bax, bcl-2, and caspase-9 genes. Results: The results of MTT assay showed IC50 values of silver nanoparticles were 5.87 and 2.68 μg/mL for lymphocytes and HPB-ALL cell line, respectively. The results showed that silver nanoparticles could split DNA of the HPB-ALL cell line more than DNA of the lymphocytes during DNA fragmentation. Flow Cytometry results indicated that the early apoptosis was 6.04% and 22.75% in lymphocytes and HPB-ALL cell line, respectively. Moreover, Q-PCR results showed a significant up-regulation of caspase-9 and bax genes and downregulation of bcl-2 gene in comparison to the control group. Conclusions: The silver nanoparticles had cytotoxic effects on the lymphocytes and HPB-ALL cell line. The results showed that the silver nanoparticle had a significant cytotoxic effect on HPB-ALL cell line.

The logistic regression (LR) model for assessing differential item functioning (DIF) is highly dependent on the asymptotic sampling distributions. However, for rare events data, the maximum likelihood estimation method may be biased and the asymptotic distributions may not be reliable. In this study, the performance of the regular maximum likelihood (ML) estimation is compared with two bias correction methods including weighted logistic regression (WLR) and Firth's penalized maximum likelihood (PML) to assess DIF for imbalanced or rare events data. The power and type I error rate of the LR model for detecting DIF were investigated under different combinations of sample size, moderate and severe magnitudes of uniform DIF (DIF = 0.4 and 0.8), sample size ratio, number of items, and the imbalanced degree (τ). Indeed, as compared with WLR and for severe imbalanced degree (τ = 0.069), there were reductions of approximately 30% and 24% under DIF = 0.4 and 27% and 23% under DIF = 0.8 in the power of the PML and ML, respectively. The present study revealed that the WLR outperforms both the ML and PML estimation methods when logistic regression is used to evaluate DIF for imbalanced or rare events data.

Poly (triaryl amine) (PTAA) is one of the promising hole transport materials (HTM) for perovskite solar cells. Highly efficient PTAA-devices have been demonstrated in both direct (n-i-p) and inverted (p-i-n) architectures. In the inverted structures, the device suffers from poor coverage of the perovskite film over the hydrophobic PTAA surface. To address this issue, we exploited an easy and efficient approach utilizing a short-time UV treatment of the PTAA layer prior to the perovskite deposition. The UV-treatment improved the optical properties of PTAA layers, which synergistically helps the light harvesting of the perovskite. Enhanced grain sizes, together with the decrease of recombination centers in the UV treated dopant-free PTAA, lead to efficient perovskite solar cell with PCE reaching 19.17% for 0.09 cm2 active area. Moreover, the device retains over 75% of its initial efficiency after 1400 h storage in ambient condition with average relative humidity (RH) of 50%. Additionally, the effect of UV light was studied on PTAA with different molecular weights. Non-destructive UV exposure more predominantly improved the efficiency of lower molecular weight PTAA-based device. A maximum PCE of 12.3% for 1 cm2-sized cells using 5 min-UV PTAA with low MW is achieved. This investigation points to the main roles of the HTL quality for the development of high-efficiency photovoltaic solar cells and provides a fast, easy and cost-effective method toward upscaling.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the optical properties of Zolid FX, Katana UTML, and lithium disilicate laminate veneers. Materials and Methods: In this in-vitro experimental study, the maxillary left lateral incisor of a phantom received a laminate veneer preparation. An impression was made, and a die was fabricated using dental stone. The die was scanned using a computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing scanner. Ten dies were fabricated from each of the A1, A2, and A3 shades of composite resin. Laminate veneers were fabricated using A1 shade of Katana UTML, Zolid FX, and IPS e.max CAD ceramics (n=10) and placed on composite abutments using bleach and white colors of trial insertion paste (TIP). The optical properties were measured at the incisal, middle, and cervical thirds using a spectrophotometer. Data were analyzed using three-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s test. Results: The effect of laminate material on the L*, a*, and b* parameters was significant in all areas (P

An increasing number of new strategies for skin tissue engineering have been developed with the potential to mimic the biological properties of native tissue with a high degree of complexity, flexibility, and reproducibility. In this study, decellularized tissue (DT) was prepared from the bovine heart by using chemical treatments. However, the mechanical properties of the DT constructs were poorer than the extra cellular matrix of the skin tissue. To overcome this challenge, hybrid scaffolds of DT and graphene oxide (GO) were developed and the effects of the GO concentration on the morphology, pore size, porosity, mechanical strength, and water uptake capacity of the samples were evaluated. Moreover, the biocompatibility of hybrid scaffolds was studied by Live/Dead staining. The results show that a hybrid scaffold incorporating 3 % graphene oxide improved the mechanical strength and cell viability by ~25 % in comparison to the DT scaffolds. Cell viability results confirmed that the porous scaffolds could support cell adhesion, proliferation, and cell activity for 7 days. This study provides new insight into and opportunities for using graphene‐based materials to develop biomimetic constructs for clinical applications.

Background Recently, extensive research has been reported the higher rate of depression and anxiety among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) as compared to general population. However, no single study has been carried out to investigate whether this disparity is a real difference or it happens due to lack of measurement invariance. This study aims to assess the measurement invariance of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and 10-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) questionnaires across PLWHAs and healthy individuals.Methods One hundred and fifty PLWHAs and 500 healthy individuals filled out the Persian version of the BAI and CES-D10 questionnaires. Multi-group multiple-indicators multiple-causes model (MG-MIMIC) was used to assess measurement invariance across PLWHAs and healthy people.Results Our findings revealed that PLWHAs and healthy individuals perceived the meaning of all the items in the BAI and CESD-10 questionnaires similarly. In addition, although depression scores were significantly higher in PLWHAs as opposed to healthy individuals, no significant difference was observed in anxiety scores of these two groups.Conclusions The current study suggests that the BAI and CESD-10 are invariant measures across PLWHAs and CESD-10 which can be used for meaningful cross-group comparison. Therefore, in comparison to healthy individuals, higher depression scores of PLWHAs is a real difference. It is highly recommended that health professionals develop therapeutic interventions and psychological supports to promote the mental health of PLWHAs which alleviate their depressive symptoms.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune rheumatic disease, in which an epigenetic implication in the disease etiopathogenesis has been noted. Here in this meta-analysis, we attempted to investigate the pooled association of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene C677T and A1298C polymorphisms and susceptibility to RA risk. A systematic search was performed in the main databases, including MEDLINE and Scopus to search for studies assessing the association between MTHFR gene C677T and A1298C polymorphisms and the risk of RA prior to December 2019. In this meta-analysis, 15 studies with 2165 patients and 1751 healthy controls for C677T SNP and 14 studies containing 2021 patients and 1760 healthy controls for A1298C SNP were included. A significant positive association between C677T SNP and RA risk was recognized in the dominant, recessive, and allelic model, but not TT and CT genotypes. The results indicated that the risk of RA in African population was increased under all genotype models while these results were repeated in Asian population just for recessive model, allelic model, and TT genotype. Moreover, the analysis of A1298C SNP demonstrated a significant association in overall population according to only the recessive model and CC genotype. Subgroup analysis according to the genotyping method indicated that RFLP-PCR method could impress the results of association between MTHFR gene A1298C and C677T SNPs and RA risk. The outcome of this meta-analysis indicated that MTHFR gene C677T SNP was much possibly be associated with RA risk.

Introduction This study examined the process of deriving mature oligodendrocytes from human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) via addition of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Methods The hDPSCs were cultured in the presence of retinoic acid and CSF. The oligodendrocytes were confirmed using immunocytochemistry for specific glial markers, namely Olig2 and MBP markers. Results The differentiated oligodendrocytes were immunopositive for Olig2 and MBP markers at the end of induction phase. Conclusion It is concluded that this study indicated the glial differentiation of hDPSCs in the presence of CSF and appropriate inducers, which is a usable therapeutic technique in neuroregenerative medicine (Fig. 3, Ref. 24).

Our purpose in this paper is the generalization of the notions of quadratic and symplectic structures to the case of 3-(Hom)-$\rho$-Lie algebras. We describe some properties of them by expressing the related lemmas and theorems. Also, we introduce the concept of 3-pre-(Hom)-$\rho$-Lie algebras and define their representation., Comment: 24 pages

In General, the flux of low energy cosmic rays varies with time due to solar activities. The cosmic particle fluxes were studied using data of satellites near the Earth. In this work, first we studied the variations of particle fluxes from 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2000 and 35 events were selected. Then we proposed a relation for cosmic particle flux as a function of time and rigidity in the time of approaching ejecta to the Earth. The coefficients of the relation were calculated using experimental data of particle fluxes from ACE satellite. Finally, we compare time variations of these coefficients for different events.