Barriers and facilitators of tuberculosis treatment among immigrants: an integrative review.

Background And Objectives: Migration, as an important social determinant in the field of health, plays a crucial role in the non-eradication of tuberculosis worldwide. Therefore, it is essential to identify the factors related to tuberculosis treatment in immigrants to effectively combat this disease. However no comprehensive study has focused on this issue.

Challenges in Longitudinal Spirometry Data in Occupational Medicine: Spirometry Indices during Five Consecutive Years and its Causative Factors.

Background: Respiratory illnesses caused by occupational exposure have the most negative effects on the workers' health status in workplaces. In occupations with a high likelihood of labor-induced pulmonary diseases, a periodic spirometry test is usually used to monitor occupational lung function and prevent occupational respiratory diseases. Monitoring workers exposed to occupational pulmonary diseases is widely done using forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) for early diagnosis of obstructive pulmonary and lung diseases.

Frequency of Pulmonary Anthracosis and its Related Factors in Autopsy Specimens in Guilan, Iran, in 2019.

Background: Anthracosis is caused by several factors and is a risk factor for cancer and tuberculosis. This study investigated the prevalence of anthracosis and the associated factors in autopsy specimens from the Guilan Office of the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study examined the medical records of autopsy specimens (>18 years) in the Guilan Office of the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization in 2019 for pulmonary anthracosis.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Tuberculosis Control: A Narrative Review.

Background: The world is currently struggling with the COVID-19pandemic. Measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic have affected other health problems and diseases, including tuberculosis (TB) and its control. The present narrative review aimed at reviewing published literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB control.

Patients with severe COVID-19 have reduced circulating levels of angiotensin-(1-7): A cohort study.

Background And Aims: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) acts as a functional receptor for the entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 into host cells. Angiotensin (1-7) (Ang (1-7)) obtained from the function of ACE2 improves heart and lung function. We investigated the relationship between Ang (1-7) level and disease severity in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Stress and burnout in health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic: validation of a questionnaire.

Aim: To validate a questionnaire to assess stress and burnout in healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic.

Subjects And Methods: In this study, content validity, Cronbach's alpha, and test-retest reliability method were utilized among 60 HCWs to evaluate the validity, internal consistency, and reliability of the questionnaire respectively. The final questionnaire was composed of four parts asking for the background information, questions about the stress caused by the COVID-19, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21), and six questions from the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI).

A Novel Questionnaire to Ergonomically Assess Respirators among Health Care Staff: Development and Validation.

Background: Health care workers are at a high risk of exposure to infectious diseases spread by airborne transmission. N95 respirators are the most common respirators used in the health care system and negligence in using them may cause health problems. Hence, more emphasis should be on ergonomic aspects of this mask.

Cigarettes Smoking and Skin: A Comparison Study of the Biophysical Properties of Skin in Smokers and Non-Smokers.

Background: Tobacco smoke is toxic for cells and could be a damaging factor to skin. The purpose of this study was to compare the biophysical properties of skin in smokers and non-smokers.

Materials And Methods: The study population consisted of 28 current smokers and 24 non-smokers.

Investigating air quality status and air pollutant trends over the Metropolitan Area of Tehran, Iran over the past decade between 2005 and 2014.

Studies on the trend of air pollution in Tehran, Iran, as one of the most polluted metropolis in the world are scant, and today Tehran is known for its high levels of air pollutants. In this study, the trend of air pollution concentration was evaluated over the past 10 years (2004-2015). The data were collected from 22 stations of the Air Quality Control Company.

Prevalence of snoring and the risk of sleep apnea in hospital staff.

Background: Untreated Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) as a common breathing sleep disorder results in impaired work performance. The economic burden of untreated OSAS accounts for billions of dollars per year.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of snoring and the risk of OSAS in healthcare system staff.

Relationship of aerobic fitness with cardiovascular risk factors in firefighters.

Background: Epidemiological studies on the general population have shown that increased physical activity and aerobic fitness (AF) significantly decrease the risk of coronary artery disease. Finding ways to decrease such risk factors can promote the health of firefighters.

Methods: This study was conducted in a large industrial facility in Tehran.

Effect of General Health Status on Chronicity of Low Back Pain in Industrial Workers.

Recognizing patients at a higher risk of developing chronic low back pain (LBP) is important in industrial medicine. This study aimed to assess the power and quality of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) for prediction of the odds of chronicity of acute LBP. This study was conducted on industrial workers.

Association between Occupational Accidents and Sleep Apnea in Hospital Staff.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common disorder in which instability of the upper airways leads to a reduction or cessation of airflow during sleep. Sleep disorders such as OSAS increase the risk of occupational accidents and impaired work performance. Sleep deprivation during shift increases the risk of occupational accidents among health care employees.

The Intricate Expression of CC Chemokines in Glial Tumors: Evidence for Involvement of CCL2 and CCL5 but Not CCL11.

Chemokines are biologically active peptides involved in the pathogenesis of various pathologies including brain malignancies. They are amongst primitive regulators of the development of immune responses against malignant glial tumors. The present study aimed to examine the expression of CC chemokines in anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiform patients at both mRNA and protein levels.

Menstrual disturbances and hormonal changes in women workers exposed to a mixture of organic solvents in a pharmaceutical company.

Background: Chemicals are among risk factors that can affect women's reproductive system. This study is aimed to investigate the association of occupational exposure to a mixture of organic solvents with menstruation disturbances and hormonal changes among female workers.

Methods: Female workers of a pharmaceutical company were divided into three groups of non-exposed, lowexposed and highly-exposed to a mixture of organic solvents (formaldehyde, phenol, N-hexane, and chloroform) based on workplace measurements.

Relationship of occupational and non-occupational stress with smoking in automotive industry workers.

Background: Tobacco use is the second cause of death and first cause of preventable mortality worldwide. Smoking in the workplace is particularly concerning. Smoking-free workplaces decrease the risk of exposure of non-smoking personnel to cigarette smoke.

Asthma and body mass index in occupational setting.

Background: Asthma is the most common respiratory disease with an increasing prevalence. On the other hand, obesity is also a challenging disease compromising health in human communities. This study sought to assess the correlation of asthma and body mass index (BMI) in occupational setting.

Silicoproteino-tuberculosis: Three distinct entities or a unique entity: A case report and review of the literature.

Silicosis is considered to be among the occupational lung diseases and associated with sandblasting, mining, quarrying and tunneling. Acute silicosis is usually progressive diseaseand despite treatment with corticosteroids it leads to cardio-respiratory failure and death. Alveolar silicoproteinosis is one of it's acute presentations due to exposure to silica dust and lungs filling with proteinaceous material.

Assessment of the relationship between physical working conditions and different levels of work ability.

Early leaving of workplace by work forces is one of the fundamental problems worldwide. Maintenance and enhancement of employees work ability are important for raising productivity. This study investigated the relationship between work ability index and physical working conditions and was carried out in 2013 on 641 workers at a manufacturing plant in Tehran.

Qualification study of two genomic DNA extraction methods in different clinical samples.

Introduction: The purity of genomic DNA (gDNA) extracted from different clinical specimens optimizes sensitivity of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. This study attempted to compare two different DNA extraction techniques namely salting-out and classic phenol-chloroform.

Materials And Methods: Qualification of two different DNA extraction techniques for 634 clinical specimens highly suspected of having mycobacterial infection was performed.

Air pollution: the knowledge and ideas of students in Tehran-Iran, and a comparison with other countries.

Study of students' knowledge about air pollution can help authorities to have better imagination of this critical environmental problem. This research examines guidance school and high school students' ideas about air pollution and the results may be useful for the respective authorities to improve cultural and educational aspects of next generation. In this cross-sectional study, a closed questionnaire was used to examine knowledge and ideas of 2140 randomly selected school students of Tehran-Iran about composition of unpolluted air, air pollution and its causes and consequences.

Quality of spirometry tests and pulmonary function changes among industrial company workers in Iran: a two-year before-and-after study following an intensive training intervention.

Background: Quality improvement, standardisation of spirometry testing, and interpretation of results are critically important in the occupational setting.

Aims: To determine the quality of spirometry tests and pulmonary function changes in two consecutive years among the personnel of an industrial company.

Methods: This study was performed in an oil refinery in Iran in 2011.