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Background and Objective: Coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is affecting over 200 countries all over the world. This study was aimed to identify simple and swiftly available laboratory biomarkers to help facilitate effectual triage to categorize suspected COVID-19 patients. Materials and Methods: According to a standard protocol, we collected clinical, etiological, and laboratory data of 140 patients who underwent diagnostic tests at Medical Laboratory Group, Tehran, Iran, from October 1 to November 28, 2020, based on PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Leukocyte parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP) and, ferritin levels were measured in patients with positive PCR COVID-19 test. Results: 140 patients with COVID-19 infection were included in the study. The median age in women was 41.5 (23-60) years and 45.3 (22-68) years in men. Based on RT-PCR result, there were significant differences for neutrophil, lymphocyte, and monocyte counts. Overall, 72.8% of patients had monocyte count more than 11 ×109 /L. The mean neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for women was 2.8 (SD: 1.8) and 2.6 (SD: 1.7) for men. Only in 15 patients (10.7%) with respiratory symptoms, CRP level was more than 5 mg/L. Conclusion: We found a significant increase in monocyte count. Lymphopenia was also observed. In patients with respiratory symptoms, CRP was significantly higher than the normal reference range.

Objective(s): Development of new antibodies with broad activity would provide anti-influenza prophylaxis and treatment. Human single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) are considered effective agents against viruses. In this study specific human scFvs against highly conserved epitopes in the hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza A viruses were selected and their neutralizing activity was evaluated.Materials and Methods: Bioinformatic methods were used to evaluate HA epitopes. The panning process selected specific clones from a scFv library. PCR and DNA fingerprinting differentiated the common patterns. Soluble forms of scFvs were produced and evaluated using Western blot analysis. The neutralizing effects of anti-HA scFvs were assessed by microneutralization assay using MDCK cells. Real-time PCR was done to determine the exact copy number of the virus following neutralization. Results: Bioinformatic evaluation confirmed the antigenicity and accessibility of the epitopes. Four specific anti-HA scFvs, scFvs I, II, I’, and II’ were selected. The scFvs neutralized 2009 H1N1 pandemic and 83.34%, 79.17%, 75%, and 62.5% reduction in the virus titers were obtained following treatments with scFv-II′, I, I′, and II, respectively. Real-time PCR demonstrated 98.6%, 95.7%, 95.26%, and 91.19% reductions in virus numbers following neutralization with scFv-II′, I, I′, and II, respectively. Conclusion: Anti-HA scFvs selected against highly conserved HA of influenza A virus with high neutralizing effects, offer novel human antibodies for prophylaxis and treatment of a wide range of influenza viruses including different subtypes of H1N1, H3N2, and H5N1 influenza A virus. The antibodies have the potential to be used for universal therapy.

Background: A health-promoting lifestyle (HPL) can affect a person’s quality of life (QOL) and prevent many diseases. Objectives: The QOL and HPL of teachers and nurses are of great importance because of their influence on the community health and education of the new generation. The present study aimed to determine and compare the HPL and QOL of nurses and teachers in Zanjan, Iran in 2018. Methods: This descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional study was performed on 395 teachers of governmental schools, who were selected by cluster sampling, and 182 nurses, who were selected by census sampling. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, health-promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP II) questionnaire, and 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted in SPSS version 16 by measuring descriptive statistics (absolute and relative frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Levene’s test, and independent t-test). Results: The results showed that most of the teachers were male (62.5%) and married (63.8%) with a bachelor’s degree (70.1%), while the majority of nurses were female (83%) and married (87.4%) with a bachelor’s degree (100%). Based on the findings, the HPL of nurses and teachers was rated as moderate (40.5% and 48.1%, respectively). Also, the QOL of nurses and teachers was at a moderate level (44.6% and 52.4%, respectively). Finally, the mean QOL and HPL were lower in nurses as compared to teachers (P

Background: Parents play a vital role in the assessment and management of pain. There is limited knowledge about parental viewpoint or their participation in the pain management of the neonates admitted to the intensive care units. The present study aimed to assess the viewpoints of mothers about the pain management of neonates/ infants admitted to Tabriz hospitals. Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 255 mothers whose infants had been admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) were recruited by convenience sampling method from September 2016 to August 2017. The required data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and PAIN questionnaire-Neonatal Intensive Care. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS. Results: The Mean±SD age of the mothers was 28.38±6.10 years, and the majority of them (39%) had diploma. Among the mothers, 73% believed that their infants had experienced pain during admission to NICU. However, only 19% of the mothers stated that nurses tried to find the signs of pain in their infants; the majority of mothers (80%) indicated that to some extent, they were satisfied with the information they received from the treatment team regarding pain control for their newborns. Conclusion: Despite the prevalence of pain phenomenon in neonates, mothers’ education for the symptoms of pain in their infants was inadequate. It seems that the mothers’ participation in the pain management of their newborns makes them more capable of caring after discharge from the hospital. The study makes important findings available for future research.

Introduction: Pressure ulcer is a kind of skin disorder that is developed due to increase of localized pressure on a part of body. Due to the terrible consequences of pressure ulcer, it is essential to prevent it. A common method to prevent is using risk assessment scales. The aim of this review study is to identify the best risk assessment to prevent and reduce the incidence of pressure ulcer. Materials and methods: The studies and experiments in field of pressure ulcer risk assessment that had been exhibited on SID, PUBMED and Google Scholar sites were used. Results: According to literature, compared to waterlow scale, Braden scale is more appropriate measure to assess the risk of pressure ulcer in hospitals. In the other hand, Waterlow scale indicates the better predictive value and contains more subscales. It also focuses closely on details in prone patients. Discussion: It is suggested that patients on admission time should be evaluated by Braden scale for first screening, but during the hospitalization time, waterlow scale is more effective to assess the pressure ulcer. Waterlow scale is more sensitive and focuses on effective details in development of pressure ulcer.

Objective: Trauma is a major health problem worldwide regardless of regional socioeconomic and healthcare status. As a leading cause of death, trauma results in severe socioeconomic damages, which could be highly prevented by optimal care. As nurses are the major professional groups involved in patient care, improvement of their knowledge and practical skill leads to more qualified healthcare staff. Nowadays, traditional methods of education cannot meet students’ needs and modern methods of training are recommended to be applied. This study, therefore, aimed to compare the effects of two methods of teaching (electronic education and teacher-based education) on students’ learning and the efficacy rate of each method on the knowledge of fourth year students of nursing and midwifery faculty in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this study, the participants were randomly assigned into 2 educational groups of electronic (experimental group) and teacher-based (control group) method. All participants took a pre-test. Then each group attended the same course in a different method. Finally, post-test was taken by the participants and data were analyzed. Results: A comparison of the mean knowledge score of both groups showed that electronic education was more effective than teacher-based education. Conclusion: The electronic training will result in more effective learning in comparison to teacher-based method and can be applied as an appropriate and efficient method of education