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Background: The significant role of red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and D-Dimer as prognostic factors in patients with some blood malignancies has been reported recently., Aim: We designed and performed a meta-analysis to investigate the prognostic roles of RDW and D-Dimer in subjects with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL)., Materials and Methods: We systematically reviewed PubMed-Medline, SCOPUS, EMBASE, Web of Science Core Collection, and Google Scholar up to the present to look for publications on prognostic effects of RDW and D-Dimer in DLBCL patients. For investigation of the associations between RDW and D-Dimer with the overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of the DLBCL cases, hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was used., Results: We included 13 eligible studies in the present meta-analysis. The results of pooled analysis showed that increased levels of RDW was related to poor OS (HR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.62-2.48, p value <.01, I 2  = 0%) and poor PFS (HR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.24-1.85, p value <.01, I 2  = 16%) among the DLBCL patients. Similarly, a significant relationship was found between increased D-Dimer and poor OS (HR = 2.30, 95% CI: 1.03-5.14, p value <.05, I 2  = 95%) of the DLBCL patients as well. In addition, there was no significant heterogeneity in OS (p value H = 0.65) and PFS (p value H = 0.31) related to RDW among studies included in the meta-analysis., Conclusion: Our finding clearly confirmed that elevated RDW levels and D-Dimer were associated with adverse OS and PFS in DLBCL., (© 2023 The Authors. Cancer Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective and safe medical treatment for patients with severe mood and neuropsychiatric disorders. Since the advent of ECT, extensive research has been performed to identify the predictive factors for response to ECT. In recent decades, postictal suppression on an electroencephalogram (EEG) has been considered a potential predictor of response to ECT. We aimed to investigate the direct association between postictal suppression and the therapeutic effects of ECT. In this systematic review, all articles in the field of the association between postictal suppression and the therapeutic effects of ECT published between 1990 and 2021 were identified. The full texts of these articles, which include clinical trials and retrospective and cross-sectional studies, are available in scholarly research databases and search engines, including PubMed, Google Scholar, OVID, Web of Science, and Scopus. Of all retrieved articles, eight studies, including four retrospective cohort articles and four clinical trials, met the inclusion criteria for further analyses. The findings of this study showed a significant association between postictal suppression and the therapeutic efficacy of ECT. Factors such as electrode placement, tachycardia, type of anesthetic agent, and EEG amplitude were also directly related to postictal suppression and the efficacy of ECT. Postictal suppression on EEG can be considered a predictor of response to ECT. To increase the effectiveness of treatment with ECT and increase postictal suppression, factors including electrode placement, tachycardia, type of anesthesia, and EEG amplitude should be considered, which highlights the need for further research., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Objective: In this study, we compared the effects of 0.12% chlorhexidine (CHX) and nano zinc oxide (NZO) on the microshear bond strength of dentin with a fifth-generation adhesive after acid etching., Materials and Methods: Forty molar teeth were randomly divided into four main groups based on dentin surface treatment technique (a) control (single bond 2); (b) NZO; (c) CHX; and (d) NZO + CHX. In each group, half of the samples underwent thermocycling, with no thermocycling in the other half. Then, failure mode was evaluated under a stereomicroscope. Statistical analysis was performed using t -test, two-way ANOVA, and Chi-squared test., Results: The mean microshear bond strength of the groups without thermocycling was more than that of the groups with thermocycling, but there were no statistically significant differences between the groups with and without thermocycling in pair-wise comparisons., Conclusion: Pretreatment with NZO and CHX separately and simultaneously had no effect on the microshear bond strength of a fifth-generation adhesive., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.