The factors affecting substance abuse relapse based on theory of planned behavior in male addicts covered by addiction treatment centers in Southern Iran.

Background: Given the destructive nature of addiction and its relapse after quitting, the present study aimed to investigate the factors affecting substance abuse relapse based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in male addicts covered by addiction treatment centers in Shiraz, Iran.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 male addicts covered by addiction treatment centers in Shiraz, Iran, in 2021-2022. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire.

Treatment of Allergic Patients with Adenotonsillar Hypertrophy: Surgery Versus Medication Therapy:

Background: Adenotonsillar hypertrophy (AH) is the most common cause of respiratory obstruction of the upper airway, and tonsillectomy is one of the most frequently performed surgical interventions in children. It has been proposed that medical treatment in an allergic state could decrease the size of AH. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the outcomes of surgery and medical therapies among allergic children with AH.

Effect of educational intervention based on theory of planned behaviour on promoting preventive behaviours of oral cancer in rural women.

Background: Oral cancer has created an alarming situation around the world, and being the 16th most common cancer worldwide, it has become a global concern. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of educational intervention based on a theory of planned behavior (TPB) on promoting preventive behaviors of oral cancer in rural women.

Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 120 female hookah users referring to rural health centers in Fasa and Shiraz city, Fars province, Iran.

Upregulation of biochemical and biophysical properties of cell-laden microfiber, silk-hyaluronic acid composite.

Cell-laden filament-like hydrogels are advantageous for many applications including drug screening, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. However, most of the designed filament vehicles hold weak mechanical properties, which hinder their applications in specific tissue engineering. We present a binary hybrid silk and hyaluronic acid hydrogel microfiber generated through a microfluidic system to encapsulate cells with superior mechanical properties and biocompatibility.

Individual genetic variability mainly of Proinflammatory cytokines, cytokine receptors, and toll-like receptors dictates pathophysiology of COVID-19 disease.

Innate and acquired immunity responses are crucial for viral infection elimination. However, genetic variations in coding genes may exacerbate the inflammation or initiate devastating cytokine storms which poses severe respiratory conditions in coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Host genetic variations in particular those related to the immune responses determine the patients' susceptibility and COVID-19 severity and pathophysiology.

Comparison of Auditory Brain Stem Responses and Otoacoustic Emission of Autism with Healthy Children.

Background: Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder, including difficulty in establishing relationships and social interaction, difficulty in communication, performing restricted, and repetitive behaviors. The impaired reception and integration of sensory information especially auditory data are one of the main characteristics of children with autism. According to various studies, the brain stem plays a key role in the reception and integration of auditory and sensory data.

Caregivers' perception of the caring challenges in coronavirus crisis (COVID-19): a qualitative study.

Background: The nurses act as the guardians of people's health by preventing, controlling, and curing emerging diseases, including coronavirus, a highly infectious and contagious disease which has presented the caregivers in the Iranian healthcare system with many clinical challenges. In view of lack of research on the clinical challenges which arise during health crises, emerging diseases included, there is need for further investigation of those clinical challenges and dilemmas. The aim in present study was to describe the caregivers' experiences of the caring challenges in patients with coronavirus (COVID-19).

A Study of the Relationship Among Burned Patients' Resilience and Self-Efficacy and Their Quality of Life.

Introduction: Among the most common causes of death and disabilities worldwide, burn injuries can affect all aspects of the life quality of the burned patients. Despite the apparent impacts of resilience and self-efficacy on the quality of life, few studies have addressed the relationship among these variables in burned patients. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship among burned patients' resilience and self-efficacy and their quality of life.

Effect of Probiotics on Allergic Rhinitis: A Randomized, Controlled, Clinical Trial.

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is one of the most common diseases in the world and affects about 10-50% of the general population. Probiotics are live microorganisms that help the normal state of the intestine, and if prescribed correctly, they can stimulate the mucosal immune system to prevent inflammatory symptoms of allergy and atopy. The present study aims to investigate the role of probiotics in the treatment of AR when added to standard therapy as adjuvant agents.

Design of linear anti-scatter grid geometry with optimum performance for screen-film and digital mammography systems.

A detailed 3D Monte Carlo simulation of the grid geometrical parameters in screen-film mammography (SFM) and digital mammography (DM) systems has been performed. A combination of IEC 60627:2013 international standard conditions and other more clinically relevant parameters were used for this simulation. Accuracy of our results has been benchmarked with previously published data and good agreement has been obtained.

Effect of adenotonsillectomy on ADHD symptoms of children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy and sleep disordered breathing.

Background: Adenotonsillar hypertrophy is the most common etiologic agent for the obstruction of the upper airways in children, which might be associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), one of the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood. Despite the concurrence of these two conditions, i.e.

Alyssum homolocarpum seeds: phytochemical analysis and effects of the seed oil on neural stem cell proliferation and differentiation.

Pharmacognostic evaluation of medicinal plants may assess their current applications and possibly results in finding new active components. In this study, ash and extractive values and high performance thin layer chromatography fingerprints of Alyssum homolocarpum (Brassicaceae) seed extracts were investigated to elucidate its composition. Differential scanning calorimetry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis were employed to determine the components of A.

Evaluation of various energy windows at different radionuclides for scatter and attenuation correction in nuclear medicine.

Objective: Improving signal to noise ratio (SNR) and qualified images by the various methods is very important for detecting the abnormalities at the body organs. Scatter and attenuation of photons by the organs lead to errors in radiopharmaceutical estimation as well as degradation of images. The choice of suitable energy window and the radionuclide have a key role in nuclear medicine which appearing the lowest scatter fraction as well as having a nearly constant linear attenuation coefficient as a function of phantom thickness.

The effect of energy spectrum change on DNA damage in and out of field in 10-MV clinical photon beams.

The aim of this study was to quantify the DNA damage induced in a clinical megavoltage photon beam at various depths in and out of the field. MCNPX was used to simulate 10 × 10 and 20 × 20 cm(2) 10-MV photon beams from a clinical linear accelerator. Photon and electron spectra were collected in a water phantom at depths of 2.

A comprehensive procedure for characterizing arbitrary azimuthally symmetric photon beams.

Purpose: A new Monte Carlo (MC) source model (SM) has been developed for azimuthally symmetric photon beams.

Methods: The MC simulation tallied phase space file (PSF) is divided into two categories depending on the relationship of the particle track line to the beam central axis: multiple point source (MPS) and spatial mesh based surface source (SMBSS). To validate this SM, MCNPX2.

Herbal medicinal oils in traditional Persian medicine.

Context: In Iran, conventional production methods of herbal oils are widely used by local practitioners. Administration of oils is rooted in traditional knowledge with a history of more than 3000 years. Scientific evaluation of these historical documents can be valuable for finding new potential use in current medicine.

Synergistic effects of glutamine and ciprofloxacin in reduction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa-induced septic shock severity.

Background: Systemic inflammatory response induced by over expressing inflammatory mediators is the main pathogenic mechanism of septic shock. Glutamine (Gln) has been demonstrated to inhibit pro-inflammatory cytokine release through enhanced heat shock protein (HSP) expression.

Objective: To assess the effect of co-administration of Gln and antibiotic ciprofloxacin in reduction of septic shock severity caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in mice.

Naloxone and alum synergistically augment adjuvant activities of each other in a mouse vaccine model of Salmonella typhimurium infection.

Alum is the most commonly used adjuvant for human vaccination but is a poor inducer of cell mediated immunity and T helper 1 (Th1) responses. We have previously shown that naloxone (NLX), which is a general opioid antagonist, acts as an effective adjuvant in enhancing vaccine-induced cellular immunity and Th1 immune responses. Here, we tested the efficacy of an alum-NLX mixture, as a new adjuvant, in the induction of humoral and cellular immunity in response to endotoxin-removed lysate (ERL) of Salmonella typhimurium (S.

A novel adjuvant, a mixture of alum and the general opioid antagonist naloxone, elicits both humoral and cellular immune responses for heat-killed Salmonella typhimurium vaccine.

In the current study, we tested the efficacy of the mixture of naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, and alum, as a new adjuvant, in the induction of humoral and cellular immunity in response to heat-killed Salmonella typhimurium (HKST) as a model vaccine. BALB/c mice were divided into five groups. Mice in the experimental groups received either the HKST vaccine alone or in combination with the adjuvant alum, naloxone or the alum-naloxone mixture.

Evaluation of the adjuvant activity of naloxone, an opioid receptor antagonist, in combination with heat-killed Listeria monocytogenes vaccine.

We have previously demonstrated the adjuvant activity of naloxone (NLX), a general opioid antagonist, using a DNA vaccine for herpes simplex virus type 1. Here, the adjuvant activity of NLX has been evaluated using a heat-killed Listeria monocytogenes (HKLM) vaccine as a model for general immunization against intracellular bacteria. BALB/c mice were divided into three groups: the Vac group received the HKLM vaccine alone; the NLX-Vac group received the HKLM vaccine in combination with the adjuvant NLX; and the control group received phosphate buffered saline (PBS).

Down-regulation of Hsp27 radiosensitizes human prostate cancer cells.

Aim: In this study, we examined whether human Hsp27 is involved in the radiation sensitization induced by gamma radiation in cultured human prostate cancer cells.

Methods: We transfected DU145 cells with full length Hsp27 antisense cDNA to obtain viable cell lines which expressed reduced Hsp27. Selected individual clones were subjected to western blot analyses to confirm reduced expression of Hsp27.

Monte Carlo dose calculations for radiotherapy machines: Theratron 780-C teletherapy case study.

The Monte Carlo transport code MCNP was used to simulate the photon beam from a Theratronics 780-C cobalt therapy unit and to calculate some dose-dependent parameters as functions of field size. The simulation process has included the source capsule, collimators (fixed and adjustable), lead in the unit head, and the field sizes as ranged from 5 x 5 to 35 x 35 cm2. Calculations have been carried out in a water phantom at a fixed source-surface distance of 80 cm.

Impact of different pollutant sources on Shiraz air pollution using SPM elemental analysis.

Weekly average suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations were measured in four locations in Shiraz, Iran. Sampling was carried out from July 1999 and continued until July 2000. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) methods were employed to obtain the weekly concentrations of Pb, Br, V, Ca, Al, Fe, Cu, Cr, Mn, Sc and Zn.

Gamma irradiator dose mapping simulation using the MCNP code and benchmarking with dosimetry.

The Monte Carlo transport code, MCNP, has been applied in simulating dose rate distribution in the IR-136 gamma irradiator system. Isodose curves, cumulative dose values, and system design data such as throughputs, over-dose-ratios, and efficiencies have been simulated as functions of product density. Simulated isodose curves, and cumulative dose values were compared with dosimetry values obtained using polymethyle-methacrylate, Fricke, ethanol-chlorobenzene, and potassium dichromate dosimeters.

Borehole parametric study for neutron induced capture gamma-ray spectrometry using the MCNP code.

The MCNP Monte Carlo code has been used to simulate neutron transport from an Am-Be source into a granite formation surrounding a borehole. The effects of the moisture and the neutron poison on the thermal neutron flux distribution and the capture by the absorbing elements has been calculated. Thermal and nonthermal captures for certain absorbers having resonance structures in the epithermal and fast energy regions such as W and Si were performed.