Covid-19 hotlines, helplines and call centers: a systematic review of characteristics, challenges and lessons learned.

Background: During the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of hotlines/helplines/call centers was implemented to provide remote services and support public health. The objective of this study was to investigate the characteristics, challenges and lessons learned of implementing Covid-19 hotlines/helplines/call centers during the pandemic.

Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, IEEE Xplore, and ProQuest databases as well as Google Scholar were searched between 1st January 2020 and 31st December 2023 to retrieve relevant articles published in English.

Is the surge in cesarean section rates during the COVID-19 pandemic truly substantiated?

Background: Cesarean section (C-section) rates, deemed a critical health indicator, have experienced a historical increase. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted healthcare patterns including delays or lack of follow-up in treatment and an increased number of patients with acute problems in hospitals. This study aimed to explore whether the observed surge is a genuine consequence of pandemic-related factors.

The effect of COVID-19 on utilization of chronic diseases services.

Objectives: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on utilization of chronic diseases services.

Methods: Interrupted time-series design was used to examine the utilization of chronic diseases services before and during the Covid-19 pandemic among hospitals in Iran. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, and chemotherapy were selected as a proxy to indicate the impact of Covid-19 on utilization of chronic diseases services.

An assessment of the relationship between national rates of Covid-19 incidence and mortality as reported to an international comparison database: An ecological study.

Background And Aims: Making a judgment only based on formal national reports can be misleading. We aimed to assess the relationship between countries' development indicators and reported coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)-related incidences and death.

Methods: Covid-19 related incidence and death cases were extracted from the updated Humanitarian Data Exchange Website on October 8, 2021.

Discharge of Confirmed COVID-19 Patients Based on WHO or Regional Criteria? A Cohort Study.

Background: Increasing the number of COVID-19 patients raises concerns about the capacity of the health care system. This issue emphasizes reducing the admission rate and expediting patient discharge.

Objective: This study aimed to develop a discharge protocol for COVID-19 patients based on the existing capacity of the healthcare system and to assess its post-discharge outcomes.

Influenza incidence overlapped with COVID-19 or under COVID-19 control measures.

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic caused infection when influenza was still prevalent. This study was conducted to examine influenza incidence overlapped with COVID-19 and the effect of the COVID-19 measures on influenza incidence as a proxy.

Methods: The routine sentinel surveillance data on COVID-19 and influenza was obtained from the national integrated care electronic health record system.

Comparing the Sensitivity and Specificity of Lung CT-scan with RT-PCR for Diagnosis of COVID-19.

Background: The lung is one of the major organs affected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Lung CT scan and RT-PCR are the most valuable diagnostic methods in the early diagnosis and management of COVID-19. Due to the possible inconsistency of the false-negative results for the RT-PCR test, in our study, we aimed to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of lung CT-scan as an accurate diagnostic method of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran; The First Patient with a Definite Diagnosis.

The novel coronavirus, formerly named as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) caused a rapidly spreading epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Wuhan, China and thereafter, progressed globally to form a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in numerous countries; and now confirmed cases are reported from several provinces of Iran. Now various medical centers, clinicians and researchers around the world share their data and experiences about COVID-19 in order to participate in the global attempt of controlling the pandemic. The current report investigates the clinical presentations and paraclinical findings of the first confirmed cases and mortalities in the initiation of the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran.

Impulse radio ultra wideband wireless transmission of dopamine concentration levels recorded by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry.

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of utilizing impulse radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) signaling technique for reliable, wireless transmission of dopamine concentration levels recorded by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at a carbon-fiber microelectrode (CFM) to address the problem of elevated data rates in high-channel-count neurochemical monitoring. Utilizing an FSCV-sensing chip fabricated in AMS 0.35μm 2P/4M CMOS, a 3-5-GHz, IR-UWB transceiver (TRX) chip fabricated in TSMC 90nm 1P/9M RF CMOS, and two off-chip, miniature, UWB antennae, wireless transfer of pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) data at 50Mbps over a distance of <;1m is first shown with bit-error rates (BER) <; 10(-3).

Health Expenditure and Catastrophic Costs for Inpatient- and Out-patient Care in Iran.

Background: Protecting households from risk of impoverishment due to out-of-pocket costs in health care is a major challenge for health systems. Therefore, this study aimed at evaluating some health expenditure of inpatient and outpatient care as well as assessing the predictors of catastrophic costs for inpatient care in one of central provinces of Iran.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 760 household were selected by multistage sampling method in Markazi province of Iran and interviewed in order to complete a standard questionnaire.

30 pJ/b, 67 Mbps, Centimeter-to-Meter Range Data Telemetry With an IR-UWB Wireless Link.

This paper reports an energy-efficient, impulse radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) wireless link operating in 3-5 GHz for data telemetry over centimeter-to-meter range distances at rates extended to tens of Mbps. The link comprises an all-digital, integrated transmitter (TX) fabricated in 90 nm 1P/9M CMOS that incorporates a waveform-synthesis pulse generator and a timing generator for on-off-keying (OOK) pulse modulation and phase scrambling. The link also incorporates an energy-detection receiver (RX) realized with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components that performs radio-frequency (RF) filtering, amplification, logarithmic power detection for data demodulation and automatic level control for robust operation in the presence of distance variations.