Effect of the estrus cycle stage on the establishment of murine endometriosis lesions

Background: Establishment of a standardized animal endometriosis model is necessary for evaluation of new drug effects and for explaining different ethological aspects of this disease. For this purpose, we need a model which has more similarity to human endometriosis

Objective: Our objective was to establish an autologous endometriosis mouse model based on endogenous estrogen level and analyze the influence of estrus cycle on the maintenance of endometriotic lesions

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, endometriotic lesions were induced in 52 female NMRI mice by suturing uterine tissue samples to the abdominal wall. The transplantation was either performed at proestrus/estrus or at metestrus/diestrus cycles. Urine-soaked beddings from males and also male vasectomized mice were transferred to the cages to synchronize and maintenance of estrus cycle in female mice. The mice were sacrificed after different transplantation periods [2, 4, 6 or 8 wk]. The lesions size, macroscopic growth, model success rate, histological and immune-histochemical analyses were assessed at the end

Results: From a total of 200 tissue samples sutured into the peritoneal cavity, 83 endometriotic lesions were confirmed by histopathology [41.5%]. Model success rate for proestrus/estrus mice was 60.7% vs. 79.2% for metestrus/diestrus mice. The endometriotic lesions had similar growth in both groups. Number of caspase-3, Ki67-positive cells and CD31-positive micro vessels were also similar in endometriotic lesions of two groups

Conclusion: If we maintain the endogenous estrogen levels in mice, we can induce endometriosis mouse model in both proestrus/estrus and metestrus/diestrus cycle without any significant difference

Socioeconomic inequalities in nonuse of seatbelts in cars and helmets on motorcycles among people living in Kurdistan province, Iran

The aim of this study was to determine the socioeconomic inequalities in nonuse of seatbelts in cars and helmets on motorcycles in Kurdistan Province, west of Iran, 2009. The data used in this study was collected from the data gathered in non-communicable disease surveillance system [NCDSS] in 2009 in Kurdistan. A total of 1000 people were included in this study. The outcome variable of this study was the nonuse of seatbelts and helmets. The socio-economic status [SES] was calculated based on participants' residential area and assets using Principal Component Analysis [PCA] method. The concentration index, concentration curve, and comparison of Odds Ratio [OR] in different SES groups were used to measure the socioeconomic inequalities using logistic regression. In order to determine the contribution of determinants of inequality, decomposition analysis was used. The prevalence of nonuse of seatbelts in cars and helmets on motorcycles were 47.5%, 95%CI [44%, 55%], respectively. The Concentration index was -0.097, CI [-0.148, -0.046]. The OR of nonuse of seatbelts in cars and helmets on motorcycles in the richest group compared with the poorest group was 0.39, 95%CI [0.23, 0.68]. The results of the decomposition analysis showed that 34% of inequalities were due to SES, 47% were due to residential area, and 12% were due to unknown factors. There is a reverse association between SES and nonuse of seatbelts in cars and helmets on motorcycles. This issue must be considered while planning to reduce traffic accidents injuries

Project monitoring and evaluation: an enhancing method for health research system management

Planning, organizing, staffing, leading and monitoring are the basic functional component of management. In present article, we aim to define the project monitoring and evaluation in health research system [HRS] considering its success and challenges based on our national experience. In this study based on the information of annual Medical Science Universities evaluation during the last decade the HRS indicators have been scored in three axes based on HRS functions: Stewardship, capacity building and knowledge production. In this article, we will focus on the results of HRS evaluation from 2002 to 2010, also on its success and challenges. In an overall view, the main results are the experiences of the designing and implantation of such process after pre-project preparation, all parts followed under the whole supervision of the aims of the HRS evaluation. Project management light the way of practical application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques for better HRS evaluation and management. We concluded that; although monitoring and evaluation as an essential part of HRS Management light the improvement ahead way but we still need to advantage of the new project management advances

Health needs of people living with HIV/AIDS: from the perspective of policy makers, physicians and consultants, and people living with HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS has been concentrated among injecting drug users in the country. This study aimed to investigate and identify health and treatment needs of people living with HIV/AIDS in Iran. This qualitative study was conducted in 2012 in Iran. The study groups consisted of experts, practitioners, and consultants working with People Living with HIV/AIDS and their families. Data was collected through Focus Group Discussions and deep interviews. Data were analyzed using content analysis method. The findings of this study included the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS, which were classified in three main categories. The first category was prevention and counseling services with several sub-groups such as education and public and available consultation, distribution of condoms to vulnerable groups, increasing counseling centers in urban areas, providing appropriate psychological and supportive counseling, and family planning services. The second category included diagnostic and treatment services and had several sub-groups such as full retroviral treatment, Tuberculosis treatment and continuing care, providing care and treatment for patients with hepatitis, and providing dental services. The third category included rehabilitation services and had some sub-categories such as home care, social and psychological support, nutritional support, and empowering positive clubs. This study puts emphasis on making plans based on the priorities to meet the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS in Iran

Pasteur institute of Iran- an evaluation model

Pasteur Institute of Iran was established in 1919 with the aim to produce vaccines and prevent communicable diseases in Iran. Over time, their activities extended into areas of research, education and services. Naturally, such a vast development begs establishment of a comprehensive management and monitoring system. With this outlook, the present study was carried out with the aim to design a performance assessment model for Pasteur Institute of Iran that, in addition to determining evaluation indicators, it could prepare the necessary grounds for providing a unified assessment model for the global network of the Pasteur Institutes. This study was designed and performed in 4 stages: first; design of indicators and determining their scores. Second; editing indicators according to the outcome of discussions and debates held with members of Research Council of Pasteur Institute of Iran. Third; implementation of a pilot model based on the Institute's activities in 2011. Fourth; providing the pilot model feedback to the stakeholders and finalizing the model according to an opinion survey. Based on the results obtained, the developed indicators for Pasteur Institute of Iran evaluation were designed in 10 axes and 18 sub-axes, which included 101 major and 58 minor indicators. The axes included governance and leadership, resources and facilities, capacity building, knowledge production and collaborations, reference services, economic value of products and services, participation in industrial exhibitions, status of the institute, satisfaction and institute's role in health promotion. The indicators presented in this article have been prepared based on the balance in the Institute's four missions, to provide the basis for assessment of the Institute's activities in consecutive years, and possibility of comparison with other institutes worldwide

Needs assessment in health research projects: a new approach to project management in Iran

The science and technology health plan has defined the outline of health research to the national vision of Iran by 2025. The aim of this study was to focus on the process of needs assessment of health research projects also health research priority setting in Iran. The project management life cycle has four phases: Initiation, Planning, Execution and Closure. Based on abovementioned points we conducted the study. Focusing on the needs assessment led to systematic implementation of needs assessment of health project in all of the medical sciences universities. Parallel with this achieved strategies health research priority setting was followed through specific process from empowerment to implementation. We should adopt with more systematic progressive methods of health project managements for both our national convenience as well as our international health research programs

Outcomes of a comprehensive healthy lifestyle program on cardiometabolic risk factors in a developing country: the Isfahan healthy heart program

This study evaluated the outcome of a comprehensive, community-based healthy lifestyle program on cardiometabolic risk factors. The Isfahan Healthy Heart Program [IHHP] was a comprehensive action-oriented, multi-component intervention with a quasi-experimental design and reference area. IHHP targeted the population-at-large [n = 2,180,000] in three districts in central Iran. Data from independent sample surveys before [2000 - 2001] and after [2007] this program were used to compare differences in the intervention area and reference area over time after controlling for age, education level and income. The samples in 2000 - 2001 and 2007 included 6175 and 4719 participants in intervention area, and 6339 and 4853 in reference area, respectively. Multiple interventional activities were performed based on the four main strategies of healthy nutrition, increased physical activity, tobacco control and coping with stress. The prevalence of abdominal obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and high LDL-C decreased significantly in the intervention area versus the reference area in both sexes. However the reduction in overweight and obesity was significant only in females [P < 0.05 for all]. There were no significant changes in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus. In the intervention area, the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia decreased from 23.5% to 12.5% among females without any changes in females in the reference area [p < 0.0001]. In males, hypercholesterolemia decreased significantly in both intervention area [18.5% to 9.6%] and reference area [14.4% to 9.8%; p = 0.005]. Mean triglyceride levels had a significant decrease in the intervention area and a non-significant decrease in the reference area [p < 0.0001]. A comprehensive healthy lifestyle program comprising preventive and promotional activities that considers both population and high risk approaches can be effective in controlling cardiometabolic risk factors in a middle-income country

Peer education: participatory qualitative educational needs assessment

In the area of youth health, peers education is an approach to health promotion. Assess the training needs of peers educators clarifies the components, values, and quality of training protocols. Aim to that we conducted a participatory educational needs assessment of youth peer educators. Involving youth and key informants in direct collaboration with research team, a qualitative approach was planned based on grounded theory. For data collection a semi-structured guide questioning was designed. Sixteen focus group discussions and 8 in depth interview were held. The majority of participants emphasized on the importance of mental health, life skills, AIDS prevention, contraception methods, and healthy nutrition as the main training topics. They were extremely interested into the comprehensive educational material among their participatory role in peer programs. The training programs should be well defined based on the knowledge, skills and behavior of peers. During the implementation, training programs should be followed to meet the ongoing educational needs of service providers

Socioeconomic inequality of non-communicable risk factors among people living in Kurdistan province, Islamic republic of Iran

The most fundamental way to decrease the burden of noncommunicable diseases [NCDs] is to identify and control their related risk factors. The goal of this study is to determine socioeconomic inequalities in risk factors for NCDs using concentration index based on Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance Survey [NCDSS] data in Kurdistan province, Islamic Republic of Iran in 2005 and 2009. The required data for this study are taken from two NCDSSs in Kurdistan province in 2005 and 2009. A total of 2,494 persons in 2005 and 997 persons in 2009 were assessed. Concentration index was used to determine socioeconomic inequality. To assess the relationship between the prevalence of each risk factor and socioeconomic status [SES], logistic regression was used and odds ratio [OR] was calculated for each group, compared with the poorest group. The concentration index for hypertension was -0.095 [-0.158, -0.032] in 2005 and -0.080 [-0.156, -0.003] in 2009. The concentration index for insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables was -0.117 [-0.153, -0.082] in 2005 and -0.100 [-0.153, -0.082] in 2009. The concentration index for the consumption of unhealthy fat and oil was -0.034 [-0.049, -0.019] in 2005 and -0.108 [-0.165, -0.051] in 2009. The concentration index for insufficient consumption of fish was -0.070 [-0.096, -0.044] in 2005. The concentration index for physical inactivity was 0.008 [-0.057, 0.075] in 2005 and 0.139 [0.063, 0.215] in 2009. In all the cases, the OR of the richest group to the poorest group was significant. Hypertension, insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables, consumption of unhealthy fat and oil, and insufficient consumption of fish are more prevalent among poor groups. There was no significant socioeconomic inequality in the distribution of smoking, excess weight, and hypercholesterolemia. Physical inactivity was more prevalent among the rich groups of society in 2009. The reduction of socioeconomic inequalities must become a main goal in health-care policies

Preparation and evaluation of a glycerol-preserved direct agglutination antigen for long-term preservation: a comparative study of the detection of anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies in human and dog

OBJECTIVE@#To prepare and evaluate a glycerol-preserved antigen from an Iranian strain of Leishmania infantum (L. infantum) for use in glycerol-preserved direct agglutination tests (GP-DAT) as an alternative to freeze dried direct agglutination tests (FD-DAT) that use freeze-dried antigen.@*METHODS@#Glycerol-preserved DAT antigen was prepared and stored at different temperatures. We tested antigen stored at 4 °C, 22-37 °C and 50 °C over a period of 365 days. Seven hundred twenty-nine serum samples were collected from different geographical zones of Iran from 2007-2009, and 80 of these samples were pooled to produce sera. Each pooled serum contained 10 sera. All positive and negative pooled sera were separately tested for anti-L. infantum antibodies with GP-DAT, FD-DAT and formaldehyde-fixed direct agglutination test (FF-DAT) antigens; tests were performed on both human and dog sera over a period of 12 months.@*RESULTS@#There was strong agreement between the results obtained using GP-DAT and FD-DAT antigens stored at 22-37 °C for 12 months for both human (100%) and dog (100%) pooled sera. The direct agglutination test results were highly reproducible (weighted kappa: GP=0.833, FD=0.979 and FF=0.917).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Because GP-DAT antigen is highly stable over a range of temperatures and is easy to transport in the field, this type of antigen may be particularly useful in areas with endemic visceral leishmaniasis.

Is community-based participatory research [CBPR] useful? a systematic review on papers in a decade

Community-based participatory research [CBPR] has been applied by health researchers and practitioners to address health disparities and community empowerment for health promotion. Despite the growing popularity of CBPR projects, there has been little effort to synthesize the literature to evaluate CBPR projects. The present review attempts to identify appropriate elements that may contribute to the successful or unsuccessful interventions. A systematic review was undertaken using evidence identified through searching electronic databases, web sites, and reference list checks. Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were assessed by reviewers. Levels of evidence, accounting for methodologic quality, were assessed for 3 types of CBPR approaches, including interventional, observational, and qualitative research design as well as CBPR elements through separate abstraction forms. Each included study was appraised with 2 quality grades, one for the elements of CBPR and one for research design. Of 14,222 identified articles, 403 included in the abstract review. Of these, 70 CBPR studies, that 56 intervention studies had different designs, and finally 8 studies met the inclusion criteria. The findings show that collaboration among community partners, researchers, and organizations led to community-level action to improve the health and wellbeing and to minimize health disparities. It enhanced the capacity of the community in terms of research and leadership skills. The result provided examples of effective CBPR that took place in a variety of communities. However, little has been written about the organizational capacities required to make these efforts successful. Some evidences were found for potentially effective strategies to increase the participant's levels of CBPR activities. Interventions that included community involvement have the potential to make important differences to levels of activities and should be promoted

Neighborhood intimacy as perceived by women living in urban areas and its association with personal and social network characteristics

The purpose of this study is to determine association between personal, family, neighborhood, and social network characteristics and perceived intimacy in the neighborhood by the women. In this cross sectional study, we applied a two stage sampling method to choose a representative sample of 150 married women and housewives, aged 15 to 49 years, who had education between six and twelve years and lived in the urban areas of the Khorasan e Razavi province of Iran. Association between personal, family, neighborhood, and social network variables, with the perceived neighborhood intimacy, was assessed through univariate and multiple linear regression. Based on the multiple model, there were significant associations between neighborhood intimacy as perceived by the women and their education level [Standardized Beta= 0.190, P=0.019], length of residence [Standardized Beta=0.175, P=0.029], self rated health status [Standardized Beta=0.177, P=0.029], and their individual social network size [Standardized Beta=0.211, P=0.030]. The potential predictors including length of residence, self rated health, and size of the respondents' personal social networks had a direct association with the women's perceived neighborhood intimacy, while the education level of the respondents had an inverse association with the neighborhood intimacy, as another potential predictor. Neighborhood intimacy could express the social health condition of the community members

Health research system evaluation in I.R. of Iran

Several systems have been proposed to rank academic institutions worldwide. We aimed to introduce a new method of Health Research System [HRS] evaluation in Iran. In this cross-sectional study, a specific questionnaire has been used to assess stewardship, capacity building, and knowledge production through annual evaluations of HRS in Iran. This article has explored the results of the 5-year evaluation [2003 - 2008] and aims to introduce this method to other developing countries. According to our study, in the stewardship axes, all medical science universities designed strategic plans by 2008 and 70% of the approved projects were based on priorities. In the domain of capacity building, the trend in the number of arranged workshops and held congresses is ascending. In the domain of knowledge production, the number of Iranian biomedical research articles increased from 2996 in 2003 to 8816 in 2008.The proportion of ISI Web of Science/Pub Med indexed articles per academic members also increased from 0.09 to 0.33. We conclude that HRS evaluation in Iran has supported knowledge production and has strengthened evidence-based policy making. The adapted ranking system for evaluation of medical research activities is an effective strategy for HRS promotion

HIV/AIDS situation in economic cooperation countries; achievement and gaps toward millennium development goals

Objective: Evaluating the status of the ECO member countries in relation to HIV/AIDS [goal 6-a] which includes the main targets for global HIV/AIDS control

Materials and methods: In 2009, we have critically reviewed the countries' MDG reports and extracted the data on each MDG's indicator by year to explore the trend. In the next phase, the main stakeholders, from both governmental and international organizations in the country have been visited and interviewed [individually and in group] by the research team as part of the data validation process

Results: The most important issue in ECO countries is lack of accurate data about HIV/AIDS. From all countries four of them are facing concentrated epidemics in IDUs. ECO countries are categorized into three groups; countries in which HIV prevalence had remained less than 0.1 percent during 2001 to 2008 [Only country is within this group] , countries in which prevalence had reached 0.1 percent during 2001 to 2008 [5 countries are in this group] and countries in which prevalence had reached 0.2 percent or more during 2001 to 2008. Three countries are in latter group. There is no valid data about people's awareness, condom usage during last sexual intercourse, and antiretroviral treatment. Existing data indicates inappropriateness of these indicators in all countries of the region

Conclusion: An efficient surveillance system in needed to illustrate an exact picture of HIV/AIDS in all countries. This study shows that though the epidemics has started lately in member countries compared with other parts of the world, no proper intervention has been adopted for controlling the epidemics yet. Moreover, in those countries which AIDS epidemics are concentrated among drug users, harm reduction activities are necessary to control the problem. Increasing the coverage of antiretroviral treatment and awareness of general and high risk population could help countries to achieve HIV/AIDS indicators

Prevalence of mood disorders in Iran

To study the prevalence and demographic characteristics of mood disorders among Iranian adults. In this cross-sectional population-based epidemiological study [age 18] in Iran, 25180 individuals were selected through a randomized cluster sampling method for a diagnosis using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia [SADS]. They were then interviewed at home by 250 trained clinical psychologists. The estimated lifetime prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder [MOD] and Minor Depressive Disorder [mDD] were 3.1% and 0.3% respectively. Also, the estimated lifetime prevalence of Bipolar Mood disorder [BMD] type I and type II were 0.1% and 0.7% respectively. The current prevalence of MDD, mDD, BMD-I and BMD-II were 1.8%. 0.2%, 0.04%, and 0.3% respectively. Mood disorders were associated with female gender, lower education, being married, being middle-aged, living in cities, and not being a homemaker. The prevalence of mood disorders was lower among Iranian adults than reported in Western studies, and a number of demographic associations differed from those reported in Western studies: Important cultural differences in the nature or manifestation of depression are implied by these results