Drug Use among Iranian Drivers Involved in Fatal Car Accidents.

Background: Although the problem of substance use among drivers is not limited to certain parts of the world, most epidemiological reports on this topic have been published from industrial world.

Aim: To investigate pattern of drug use among Iranian drivers who were involved in fatal road accidents.

Methods: This study enrolled 51 Iranian adults who were involved in fatal vehicle accidents and were imprisoned thereafter.

Internet addiction among Iranian adolescents: a nationwide study.

Problematic use of the Internet by children and adolescents is a newly emerging disorder that has alerted health authorities throughout the world. In Iran, despite the very high speed rate of Internet spread, there is not enough data on the rate of Internet addiction among the adolescents. This study is the first nationwide study that addresses this issue.

A novel nonparametric item response theory approach to measuring socioeconomic position: a comparison using household expenditure data from a Vietnam health survey, 2003.

Background: Measures of household socio-economic position (SEP) are widely used in health research. There exist a number of approaches to their measurement, with Principal Components Analysis (PCA) applied to a basket of household assets being one of the most common. PCA, however, carries a number of assumptions about the distribution of the data which may be untenable, and alternative, non-parametric, approaches may be preferred.

Impact of intravenous acetaminophen therapy on the necessity of cervical spine imaging in patients with cervical spine trauma.

Objective: We evaluated a new hypothesis of acetaminophen therapy to reduce the necessity of imaging in patients with probable traumatic cervical spine injury.

Methods: Patients with acute blunt trauma to the neck and just posterior midline cervical tenderness received acetaminophen (15 mg/kg) intravenously after cervical spine immobilization. Then, all the patients underwent plain radiography and computerized tomography of the cervical spine.

The immunological benefit of higher dose N-acetyl cysteine following mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients.

Background: Sepsis complication is a major cause of death in multiple trauma critically ill patients. Defensin (cysteine rich anti-microbial peptides), as an important component of immune system, might play an important role in this process. There is also rising data on immunological effects of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC), a commonly used anti-oxidant in oxidative stress conditions and glutathione (GSH) deficiencies.

Mental health status among the staff of harm reduction centers.

Background: Creating a supportive environment encourages charity services to help risk groups and individuals which has magnificent impacts on reducing their harm.

Objectives: According to this plan, the purpose of this study was to investigate the mental health status in the staff of harm reduction centers.

Materials And Methods: The clustered sample of this comparative study consisted of 49 staff of harm reduction centers.

The role of parental monitoring and affiliation with deviant peers in adolescents' sexual risk taking: toward an interactional model.

Background: Adolescence is considered as an important phase for beginning sexual high risk behaviors that increases the possibility of negative, unpleasant and problematic consequences like unwanted pregnancy and probability of copulative disease transmission.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of sexual risk taking among students in Tehran and to develop and test a model for the relationship between parental monitoring and affiliation with deviant peers as they predict youth risky sexual behaviors.

Materials And Methods: In this cross sectional study, 1266 adolescents were recruited from high schools in Tehran and three scales of sexual risk behavior, parental monitoring and adolescent affiliation with deviant peers were completed.

Effect of genetic variants associated with plasma homocysteine levels on stroke risk.

Background And Purpose: Elevated total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) levels are known to be associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke (IS). Given that both tHcy and IS are heritable traits, we investigated a potential genetic relationship between homocysteine levels and stroke risk by assessing 18 polymorphisms previously associated with tHcy levels for their association with IS and its subtypes.

Methods: Previous meta-analysis results from an international stroke collaborative network, METASTROKE, were used to assess association of the 18 tHcy-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 12 389 IS cases and 62 004 controls.

Drug Injection to Sites other than Arm: A Study of Iranian Heroin Injectors.

For almost all injecting drug users (IDUs), the first site of injection is the arm. Years after injection, IDUs may shift to using other sites for intravenous (IV) access. Although injection to sites other than the arm is associated with higher risks, literature is limited regarding this behavior.

Gender Differences in the Association between Lipid Profile and Sexual Function among Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: Although several studies have been conducted on the association between lipid profile and sexual function among men with coronary artery disease, there is a paucity of knowledge about this association among women with coronary artery disease.

Objectives: Our study aimed to evaluate the link between lipid profile and sexual function in men and women with coronary artery disease.

Methods: One hundred and twenty patients with documented coronary artery disease were consecutively sampled from an outpatient cardiovascular clinic.

Gender modifies the effects of education and income on sleep quality of the patients with coronary artery disease.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the interaction between gender and other socio-economic characteristics on sleep quality of the patients with Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 717 patients with CAD. The socio- economic status (education level, income, marital status, and place of residence) was considered as the independent variable.

Comorbidity influences multiple aspects of well-being of patients with ischemic heart disease.

Background: Comorbidity is prevalent among patients with Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) and may influence patients' subjective and objective domains of well-being.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the associations between comorbidity and different measures of well-being (i.e.

Indicators of mental health in various Iranian populations.

Background: Promoting mental health and preventing mental disorders are of the main concerns for every country. Achieving these goals requires effective indexes for evaluating mental health. Therefore, to develop mental health enhancement programs in Iran, there is a need to measure the state of mental health in Iran.

Assessing the Autoantibody levels in Relation to Recurrence of Pemphigus: Joint Modeling of Longitudinal Measurements and Recurrent Event Times.

Background: Pemphigus is an autoimmune bullous disease and it is unclear what triggers and deteriorates it. The current study aimed to evaluate whether increasing the IgG antibody titer represents a good indicator of the pemphigus recurrence.

Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate whether increasing IgG titer is an indicator of the expected recurrence.

Next target of tranilast: inhibition of corneal neovascularization.

Corneal neovascularization (CN) which is associated with angiogenesis and inflammation is seen in different pathological conditions. Among all these situations inflammation and angiogenesis factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalo proteinases (MMPs), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and other related factors are involved in CN regardless of the etiology. Thus inhibition of these agents that lead to suppression of angiogenesis and inflammation is one the most important strategies to treat CN.

Opportunism: a panacea for implementation of whole-genome sequencing studies in nutrigenomics research?

Observational studies have consistently shown associations between mild deficiencies in folate and vitamin B12 with increased risk of a myriad of common diseases. These findings have invariably translated into null outcomes in intervention trials due in part to our ignorance of the specific genomic and environmental factors that underpin population variability in requirements to these B-vitamins. Although genome-wide association studies have shed initial light on the genetic architecture of variability in status of these vitamins, particularly vitamin B12, the causal mechanisms remain uncharacterised.

Serotype determination of adenoviruses in children with respiratory infection.

Objective: To determine adenovirus serotypes among children with acute respiratory infection (ARI) in Khoozestan province, Iran during years 2010-2011.

Methods: One hundred sixty three nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from children between 1 and 15 y who were hospitalized for the acute respiratory infection. The viral DNA was extracted from the nasopharyngeal swabs and adenoviruses were detected by Nested PCR.

Can clonidine as a pre-anaesthetic drug decrease bleeding during rhinoplasty surgery?

Clonidine is an antihypertensive drug which acts through facilitation of Alph-2 post-synaptic receptors and in addition to its antihypertensive, anti-anxiety and analgesic effects, its beneficial effects in reducing the bleeding during Neurosurgery and Orthopedics surgeries, delicate surgeries of ear and nasal and sinus endoscopy have been proved. In this study we discuss the effects of this drug in reducing bleeding during rhinoplasty surgery. A double-blinded clinical trial 80 patients have been conducted 40 patients received 5 µg/Kg of oral Clonidine, and 40 patients where placebo.

Modeling the recurrent failure to thrive in less than two-year children: recurrent events survival analysis.

Background: This study aimes to evaluate the failure to thrive (FTT) recurrent event over time.

Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted during February 2007 to July 2009. The primary outcome was growth failure.

Association between Sexual Function and Marital Relationship in Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease.

Background: Patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) may report difficulties with sexual function and marital relationship. However, there is a dearth of studies focusing on the association between these aspects in IHD patients. The present study sought to assess the association between sexual function and marital relationship among IHD patients and also test the effect modification of gender, education level, and marital distress on the above association.

Socio-Economic Status Determines Risk of Receptive Syringe Sharing Behaviors among Iranian Drug Injectors; A National Study.

Background: Although needle and syringe sharing is one of the main routs of transmission of HIV in several countries in the middle east, very little is known about how socio-economic status of injecting drug users (IDUs) is linked to the receptive syringe sharing behaviors in these countries.

Aim: To study socio-economic correlates of receptive needle and syringe sharing among IDUs in Iran.

Methods: The study used data from the Unhide Risk Study, a national survey of IDUs.

Assessment of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Quality of Life of Patients with Chronic War-related Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the one of the most commonly observed psychiatric disorder in veterans. The condition can lead to considerable social, occupational, and interpersonal dysfunction. PTSD occurring after combat injury appears to be strongly correlated with the extent of injury, and develops over several months.

Spatial autocorrelation of cancer incidence in Saudi Arabia.

Little is known about the geographic distribution of common cancers in Saudi Arabia. We explored the spatial incidence patterns of common cancers in Saudi Arabia using spatial autocorrelation analyses, employing the global Moran's I and Anselin's local Moran's I statistics to detect nonrandom incidence patterns. Global ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and local geographically-weighted regression (GWR) were applied to examine the spatial correlation of cancer incidences at the city level.