Clinical cause of neonatal mortality in Iran: analysis of the national Iranian Maternal And Neonatal network.

BACKGROUND: The neonatal mortality rate is a main indicator of the health and development of a country. Having insight into the cause of neonatal deaths may be the first step to reducing it. This paper depicts the cause of newborn deaths in Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on data from the national Iranian Maternal And Neonatal network to investigate all neonatal deaths in the country during the year 2019. The cause of death data were reported according to categories of birth weight, gestational age (GA), death time and place. RESULTS: The main causes of the 9959 neonatal deaths during the study period were respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) (37%), malformation (21%), prematurity of <26 weeks (20%), others (12%), asphyxia (7%) and infection (3%). The major causes of neonatal mortality in delivery rooms were prematurity of <26 weeks and in the inpatient wards the RDS. By increasing the GA and birth weight towards term babies, the rate of RDS gets lower, while that of malformation gets higher. CONCLUSIONS: RDS was the main cause of neonatal mortality in Iran which is seen mainly in preterm babies. Prematurity of <26 weeks was another main cause. Thus, suggestions include reducing prematurity by preconception and pregnancy care and, on the other hand, improving the care of preterm infants in delivery rooms and inpatient wards.

Global interest in vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Google Trends.

COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) vaccines have become available; now, everyone has the opportunity to get vaccinated. We used Google Trends (GT) data to assess the global public interest in COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. For the analysis, a period of 17 months was chosen (from Jan 19, 2020, to Jul 04, 2021). Interest in user queries was tracked by keywords (corona vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine development, Sputnik v, Pfizer vaccine, AstraZeneca vaccine, etc.). The geographic analysis of queries was also carried out. The interest of users in the vaccine is significantly increasing. It is focused on the side effects of vaccines, and users pay attention to vaccines' developers from different countries. The correlation between the scientific publications devoted to vaccine development and such requests of users on the internet is absent. This study shows that internet search patterns can be used to gauge public attitudes towards coronavirus vaccination. Safety concerns consistently high follow an interest in vaccine side effects. This data can be used to track and predict attitudes towards vaccination of populations from COVID-19 in different countries before global vaccination becomes available to help mitigate the adverse effects of the pandemic.

Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles: Effective silica etching using tri-di- and mono-valent cations.

Among different hollow nanostructures, the preparation of hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) is still a hotspot research field due to their unique properties e.g., large pore sizes and volumes, high drug loading capacity, ease of surface modification, large surface area, and biodegradability. Herein, novel uniform HMSNs are prepared for the first time by a combination of heterogeneous oil-water biphase stratification and simple mono-, di-, and tri-valent etching reactions. The biphase stratification reaction allows self-assembly of reactants at the oil-water interface, while the subsequent step is designed for the efficient selective silica etching under mild conditions. We have studied the effect of cation's valence (NH4+, Ca2+, and Al3+) on the silica etching reaction coupled with the biphase stratification reaction both in the absence and presence of the auxiliary pore expanded agent 1, 3, 5 trimethylbenzene (TMB). In the absence of TMB, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis confirms that Al3+ creates materials with the largest pore size (18.0 nm), whereas the use of NH4+ results in the largest pore volume (2.30 cm3/g). The pores generated using Ca2+ and Al3+ as silica etching agents have a volume 2.01 cm3/g and 2.05 cm3/g, respectively. Similar experiments in the presence of TMB leads to the formation of HMSN with larger pore sizes (24 nm and 21.5 nm) and volumes (2.70 cm3/g and 2.12 cm3/g) when using Al3+ and Ca2+, respectively, as etching agents. Drug loading capacity using Langmuir adsorption model indicate our hollow MSN material exhibit the high adsorbing DOX up to 558.23 mg per gram of nanoparticles in pH of 7.2. Furthermore, synthetized NPs exhibited high loading capacity for large protein and biomolecules such as BSA. Our findings confirmed that the charge density of cation has a critical role on selective silica etching in the preparation of HMSNs.

Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in improving the quality of life and psychological fatigue in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Introduction: Given the increasing prevalence of complications caused by the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) such as medical and psychological problems and also the chronicity of this disease, patients with the PCOS tend to experience lower quality of life and greater psychological fatigue similar to other patients with chronic diseases. This study was conducted to determine the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on the quality of life and psychological fatigue in women with the PCOS. Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial study, conducted from 2016 to 2017, enrolled 74 women aged between 18 and 35 years from the Iranian city of Saqqez. The participants were assigned to a CBT group and a control group via block randomization. The intervention group received 8 weekly CBT sessions between 45 and 60 minutes each. The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (PCOSQ) and the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS) were completed by the patients before and after the intervention. Results: No significant differences were observed between the two groups before the intervention in terms of sociodemographic characteristics and the mean scores of quality of life and psychological fatigue. After the intervention, the mean (standard deviation [SD]) of the quality of life score was 60.2 (13.3) in the intervention group and 24.4 (15) in the control group, with the mean score of quality of life being significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (adjusted mean difference = 33.1). The mean (SD) score of psychological fatigue was 28.2 (13.9) in the intervention group and 78.2 (37.1) in the control group, with the mean score of psychological fatigue being significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (-54.8). Conclusions: The results showed that CBT was able to reduce fatigue and improve quality of life in our sample of women with the PCOS and ultimately boost their health.

Cancer incidence in the East Azerbaijan province of Iran in 2015-2016: results of a population-based cancer registry.

BACKGROUND: Few countries in the Middle East have a population-based cancer registry, despite a clear need for accurate cancer statistics in this region. We therefore established a registry in the East Azerbaijan province, the sixth largest province in northwestern Iran. METHODS: We actively collected data from 20 counties, 62 cities, and 44 districts for the period between 20th March 2015 and 19th March 2016 (one Iranian solar year). The CanReg5 software was then used to estimate age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) per 100,000 for all cancers and different cancer types. RESULTS: Data for 11,536 patients were identified, but we only analyzed data for 6655 cases after removing duplicates and non-residents. The ASR for all cancers, except non-melanoma skin cancer, was 167.1 per 100,000 males and 125.7 per 100,000 females. The most common cancers in men were stomach (ASR 29.7), colorectal (ASR 18.2), bladder (ASR 17.6), prostate (ASR 17.3), and lung (ASR 15.4) cancers; in women, they were breast (ASR 31.1), colorectal (ASR 13.7), stomach (13.3), thyroid (ASR 7.8), and esophageal (ASR 7.1) cancers. Both the death certificate rate (19.5%) and the microscopic verification rate (65%) indicated that the data for the cancer registry were of reasonable quality. CONCLUSION: The results of the East Azerbaijan Population-based Cancer Registry show a high incidence of cancer in this province, especially gastrointestinal cancers.

Quality of surgical scrub in a heart hospital: Do not take it for granted.

Introduction: The role of scrub in the prevention of post-surgery infections is well-known. This study aimed to investigate the inputs and process of surgical scrub in operating rooms of the largest heart hospital of northwest Iran. Methods: This study took place with a before-after design as a clinical audit in 2014. A check list developed based on national and international standards of surgical hand scrub was used as the study instrument. Checklists were completed by observation of surgical team scrubbing in real situation. Descriptive statistics and graphs were used to describe the results. Results: A compliance degree with the standards for prerequisites, equipment, general items, process and time of scrub was observed as 58%, 55%, 33%, 68% and 22%, respectively. The compliance degree after the intervention was 72%, 66%, 66%, 85% and 61%, respectively. Improvement was observed in all studied aspects of scrub. The total score of compliance with the standards changed from 47% to 70%. The main issues were incorrect order of scrubbing the areas of the hands, incorrect way of scrubbing the arms, insufficient scrubbing the arms (not above elbow), and lack of awareness about hospital's policy on scrub time. Conclusion: The results showed defects in the surgical scrub of the studied hospital and that the compliance with the standards can be improved by simple interventions. Periodical audit and observation of the scrub and then feedback is recommended.

A qualitative study on personal information management (PIM) in clinical and basic sciences faculty members of a medical university in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Personal Information Management (PIM) refers to the tools and activities to save and retrieve personal information for future uses. This study examined the PIM activities of faculty members of Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) regarding their preferred PIM tools and four aspects of acquiring, organizing, storing and retrieving personal information. METHODS: The qualitative design was based on phenomenology approach and we carried out 37 interviews with clinical and basic sciences faculty members of IUMS in 2014. The participants were selected using a random sampling method. All interviews were recorded by a digital voice recorder, and then transcribed, codified and finally analyzed using NVivo 8 software. RESULTS: The use of PIM electronic tools (e-tools) was below expectation among the studied sample and just 37% had reasonable knowledge of PIM e-tools such as, external hard drivers, flash memories etc. However, all participants used both paper and electronic devices to store and access information. Internal mass memories (in Laptops) and flash memories were the most used e-tools to save information. Most participants used "subject" (41.00%) and "file name" (33.7 %) to save, organize and retrieve their stored information. Most users preferred paper-based rather than electronic tools to keep their personal information. CONCLUSION: Faculty members had little knowledge about PIM techniques and tools. Those who organized personal information could easier retrieve the stored information for future uses. Enhancing familiarity with PIM tools and training courses of PIM tools and techniques are suggested.

Gastrointestinal cancer incidence in East Azerbaijan, Iran: update on 5 year incidence and trends.

BACKGROUND: A cancer registry program has been established in East Azerbaijan and this has emphasized the importance of cancers of gastrointestinal tract in this region. The aim of the present pathology-based cancer registry report is to renew epidemiologic aspects of gastrointestinal tract cancers and estimate recent trends. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey team reviewed and collected all records of cancer cases from all referral and valid pathology laboratories of East Azerbaijan province during September 2007-2011. Crude rates, age-specific rates of cancer incidence and annual percent change were calculated. RESULTS: The total newly diagnosed cancer cases (n=6,889) comprised 4,341 males (63.0%) and 2,540 females (36.9%). Gastric cancer was the most common GI tract cancer with an ASR (per 105) of 23.1 for males and 7.69 for females. The ASRs for esophageal and colorectal cancers were 9.69 and 11.2 in males and 7.35 and 8.93 in females. Trend analysis showed a significant decline for esophageal cancer and increasing incidence for colorectal cancer in females. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of gastric cancer is high in East Azerbaijan province of Iran. This pathology based cancer registry showed an ascending trend for colorectal cancer and decreasing trend for esophageal cancer in females during 2007-2011.

Socioeconomic status and coronary heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Iran has undergone a remarkable demographic transition over the last three decades. Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators including education, income, and occupation are associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors, morbidity, and mortality. The aim of the present study was to describe demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, their association to the diseases, and to explore the predictive risk of CHD in Tabriz, the fourth largest city in Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out to explore and analyze the current SES status of CHD patients. The study was conducted in Tabriz and all patients (n=189) refereed to the Central Referral Hospital for cardiac patients (Shahid Madani Hospi-tal) from 2009 to 2010 were considered. A researcher structured questionnaire with 15 ques-tions was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the basic SES fea-tures of the CHD patients and data analysis was done using SPSS ver. 16. RESULTS: Less educated participants were more susceptible to CHD. Regarding to occupa-tional status, housewives and retired men were in higher risk of CHD than the rest of the peo-ple.  Studied patients also reported to be mostly from urban areas that were living in apart-ment complexes. CONCLUSION: In line with some international research evidence the study results suggested that people from lower/middle social classes were in greater CHD risk than higher social classes.  This epidemic might be halted through the promotion of healthier lifestyles and the support of environmental and policy changes.