Mechanistic Understanding of the Interactions between Nano-Objects with Different Surface Properties and α-Synuclein.

Aggregation of the natively unfolded protein α-synuclein (α-syn) is key to the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). Some nanoparticles (NPs) can inhibit this process and in turn be used for treatment of PD. Using simulation strategies, we show here that α-syn self-assembly is electrostatically driven.

Trend and projection of mortality rate due to non-communicable diseases in Iran: A modeling study.

Background: Following the epidemiologic and demographic transition, non-communicable disease mortality is the leading cause of death in Iran. Projecting mortality trend can provide valuable tools for policy makers and planners. In this article, we have estimated the trend of non-communicable disease mortality during 2001-2015 and have projected it until 2030 at national and subnational levels in Iran.

Global, Regional and National Burden of Bladder Cancer, 1990 to 2016: Results from the GBD Study 2016.

Purpose: Bladder cancer is among the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Data on the bladder cancer burden are valuable for policy-making. We aimed to estimate the burden of bladder cancer by country, age group, gender and sociodemographic status between 1990 and 2016.

Liver cirrhosis mortality at national and provincial levels in Iran between 1990 and 2015: A meta regression analysis.

Background: Liver cirrhosis mortality number has increased over the last decades. We aimed to estimate the liver cirrhosis mortality rate and its trends for the first time by sex, age, geographical distribution, and cause in Iran.

Method: Iranian Death Registration System, along with demographic (Complete and Summary Birth History, Maternal Age Cohort and Period methods) and statistical methods (Spatio-temporal and Gaussian process regression models) were used to address the incompleteness and misclassification and uncertainty of death registration system to estimate annual cirrhosis mortality rate.

An Approach Towards Reducing Road Traffic Injuries and Improving Public Health Through Big Data Telematics: A Randomised Controlled Trial Protocol.

Objective: Deaths due to road traffic accidents (RTAs) are a major public health concern around the world. Developing countries are over-represented in these statistics. Punitive measures are traditionally employed to lower RTA related behavioural risk factors.

Detecting medical prescriptions suspected of fraud using an unsupervised data mining algorithm.

Nowadays, health insurance companies face various types of fraud, like phantom billing, up-coding, and identity theft. Detecting such frauds is thus of vital importance to reduce and eliminate corresponding financial losses. We used an unsupervised data mining algorithm and implemented an outlier detection model to assist the experts in detecting medical prescriptions suspected of fraud.

Setting research priorities to achieve long-term health targets in Iran.

Background: In 2015, it was estimated that the burden of disease in Iran comprised of 19 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), 74% of which were due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The observed leading causes of death were cardiovascular diseases (41.9%), neoplasms (14.

National and sub-national patterns of mortality from stroke in the Iranian population (1990-2015): Complementary results from the NASBOD study.

Background: Iran lacks a population level comprehensive assessment of stroke epidemiology. Using data from the NASBOD Study, we estimated the mortality of stroke among the Iranian population from 1990 to 2015.

Methods: Data were collected from all the available sources including the national death registration system and two major cemeteries.

The prevalence, awareness, and treatment of lipid abnormalities in Iranian adults: Surveillance of risk factors of noncommunicable diseases in Iran 2016.

Background: Hypercholesterolemia is one of the modifiable risk factors for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Prevention and treatment of hypercholesterolemia and other lipid abnormalities require reliable data regarding the current prevalence of these abnormalities in the country.

Objective: This study aims to determine the current prevalence, awareness, and treatment of lipid abnormalities in Iran.

Scientometric Study on Non-communicable Diseases in Iran: A Review Article.

Background: Non-Communicable disease (NCDs) is a killer of people that needs to urgent actions across the world. Scientific evidence is the critical arm for effective interventions. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the trend of four main NCDs' scientific publication in a 17-yr period, and reflect international collaboration.

Global Mortality From Firearms, 1990-2016.

Importance: Understanding global variation in firearm mortality rates could guide prevention policies and interventions.

Objective: To estimate mortality due to firearm injury deaths from 1990 to 2016 in 195 countries and territories.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study used deidentified aggregated data including 13 812 location-years of vital registration data to generate estimates of levels and rates of death by age-sex-year-location.

Salt intake among Iranian population: the first national report on salt intake in Iran.

Objective: In Iran, there has been no national report on salt intake based on laboratory measurements so far. Therefore, this study was conducted to measure salt intake among Iranian population at the national level.

Methods: In stepwise approach to conduct a surveillance survey 2016, 18 624 Iranian adults (25 years old and above), as a representative sample of Iranian adult population at national and subnational levels, underwent urine sodium measurement and were included in this study.

Cardiovascular mortality in a Western Asian country: results from the Iran Cohort Consortium.

Objectives: Cardiovascular mortality in Western Asia is high and still rising. However, most data documented on risk prediction has been derived from Western countries and few population-based cohort studies have been conducted in this region. The current study aimed to present the process of pooling data and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality incidences for four Iranian cohorts.

Effects of recruiting midwives into family physician program on the percentage of low birth weight (LBW) infants in rural areas of Kurdistan.

LBW is an important factor that can affect infant mortality and represents an index of economic and social development. It is expected that an increase in the density of midwives attending family physician programs will lead to a decrease in LBW in health centers. This study aimed to compare the percentage of LBW infants before and after the implementation of the family physician program in health centers with and without an increase in midwives density.

Effectiveness of vitamin D therapy in improving metabolomic biomarkers in obesity phenotypes: Two randomized clinical trials.

Background: Uncertainty remains about the effect of vitamin D therapy on biomarkers of health status in obesity. The molecular basis underlying this controversy is largely unknown.

Objective: To address the existing gap, our study sought to compare changes in metabolomic profiles of obesity phenotypes (metabolically healthy obese (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUHO)) patients with sub-optimal levels of vitamin D following vitamin D supplementation.

National and Subnational Cardiovascular Diseases Mortality Attributable to Salt Consumption in Iran by Sex and Age From 1990 to 2016.

Background: Dietary salt consumption is an important factor for mortality from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Therefore, the aim of this study is to measure the levels of salt consumption and then estimate the effects of current levels of salt consumption on mortality from CVDs at national and subnational levels from 1990 to 2016 in Iran.

Methods: In this study, we will use national and subnational studies with data on salt consumption, including self-report or lab tests for sodium measurement and all available published data about salt and sodium (with conduct a systematic review) to estimate salt exposure levels.

Annual Trends of Gastrointestinal Cancers Mortality in Iran During 1990-2015; NASBOD Study.

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) neoplasms are among the most common cancers in Iran. This study aimed to measure annual trends in mortality rates from GI cancers in Iran between 1990 and 2015.

Methods: This study was part of an ongoing study termed the 'National and Subnational Burden of Diseases' study in Iran.

Obesity-Related Metabolomic Profiles and Discrimination of Metabolically Unhealthy Obesity.

A particular subgroup of obese adults, considered as metabolically healthy obese (MHO), has a reduced risk of metabolic complications. However, the molecular basis contributing to this healthy phenotype remains unclear. The objective of this work was to identify obesity-related metabolite patterns differed between MHO and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUHO) groups and examine whether these patterns are associated with the development of cardiometabolic disorders in a sample of Iranian adult population aged 18-50 years.

Death-specific rate due to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Iran.

Background And Objective: Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) could be considered as a major health problem in industrialized and developing countries. This study was designed to analyze the trends of mortality from asthma and COPD at national and subnational levels in Iran based on National Death Registry, from 2001 to 2015.

Materials And Methods: We used Death Registration System (DRS) as the basic source of data.

Prevalence and Major Causes of Visual Impairment in Iranian Adults: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide a pooled estimate of moderate-to-severe visual impairment (MSVI) and blindness in Iran for people 50 years and over and to identify the major causes through systematic review.

Materials And Methods: International (PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Scopus) and national databases (Scientific Information Database, Barakat Knowledge Network System, Iran Databank of Ophthalmology Research, and Magiran) databases were searched. Following relevance assessment and critical appraisal, eight studies were included.

Estimating national dioxins and furans emissions, major sources, intake doses, and temporal trends in Iran from 1990-2010.

Background: Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) are highly toxic persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which can cause various health outcomes, such as cancer. As a part of the National and Sub-national Burden of Disease Study (NASBOD), we aimed to estimate dioxins and furans national emissions, identify their main sources, estimate daily intake doses, and assess their trend from 1990-2010 in Iran.

Methods: The Toolkit for Identification and Quantification of Releases of Dioxins, Furans and Other Unintentional POPs, which is developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP 2013), was used to estimate the emissions of PCDD/PCDFs from several sources into the air, water, land, residue, and other products.

Protocol Design for Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Studies of Surveillance of Risk Factors of Non-Communicable Diseases in Iran: STEPs 2016.

Introduction: The rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has gained increasing attention. There is a great need for reliable data to address such problems. Here, we describe the development of a comprehensive set of executive and scientific protocols and instructions of STEPs 2016.

Technical efficiency of rural primary health care system for diabetes treatment in Iran: a stochastic frontier analysis.

Background: Our aim was to explore the technical efficiency (TE) of the Iranian rural primary healthcare (PHC) system for diabetes treatment coverage rate using the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) as well as to examine the strength and significance of the effect of human resources density on diabetes treatment.

Methods: In the SFA model diabetes treatment coverage rate, as a output, is a function of health system inputs (Behvarz worker density, physician density, and rural health center density) and non-health system inputs (urbanization rate, median age of population, and wealth index) as a set of covariates. Data about the rate of self-reported diabetes treatment coverage was obtained from the Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance Survey, data about health system inputs were collected from the health census database and data about non-health system inputs were collected from the census data and household survey.

Trend of Socio-Demographic Index and Mortality Estimates in Iran and its Neighbors, 1990-2015; Findings of the Global Burden of Diseases 2015 Study.

Background: The Global burden of disease and injuries study (GBD 2015) reports expected measures for years of life lost (YLL) based on socio-demographic index (SDI) of countries, as well as the observed measures. In this extended GBD 2015 report, we reviewed total and cause-specific deaths and YLL for Iran and all its neighboring countries between 1990 and 2015.

Methods: We extracted data from the GBD 2015 database.