Blinding and Its Quality in Clinical Trials Conducted on Patients with Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.

Background: Blinding is one of the critical criteria of clinical trials that prevents probable bias. Judgment regarding results of an intervention significantly depends on the quality of such studies, one of which is blinding. This study aimed to investigate blinding and its quality in clinical trials in patients with breast cancer.

Association of Helicobacter pylori infection with the risk of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Conflicting results of recent studies on the association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and the risk of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome explored the need for updated meta-analysis on this issue. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to estimate the pooled effect of H.

Description of Epidemiological Features, Symptoms and Mortality of the Patients with COVID-19 in Some Provinces of Iran.

Background: Clinical manifestations of COVID-19 are different. There are some risk factors for COVID-19. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological features, symptoms and mortality of the patients with COVID-19 in Iran.

Expression and Clinicopathological Significances of lncRNAs: Could ARA and ZEB2NAT be the Potential Breast Cancer-Related Biomarkers?

Introduction: Pieces of evidence have shown that a significant proportion of cancer-prone factors are not attributed to alterations in protein-coding sequences. Adriamycin resistance-related (ARA) and natural antisense of ZEB2 (ZEB2NAT) long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been indicated with oncogenic properties by regulating various signaling pathways and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which may have diagnostic and prognostic potential as a novel group of biomarkers.

Aim: The current study aimed to evaluate the expression status of ARA and ZEB2NAT lncRNAs and their clinicopathological significance in a population with breast cancer (BC).

Construction of A Synthetic Gene Encoding the Multi-Epitope of and Demonstration of the Relevant Recombinant Protein Production: A Vaccine Candidate.

Background: is a widely-distributed parasite all over the world whose attributed severe afflicting complications in human necessitate the development of serodiagnostic tests and vaccines for it. Immunological responses to monovalent vaccines and the application of diagnostic reagents including single antigens are not optimally effective. Bioinformatics approaches were used to introduce these epitopes, predict their immunogenicity and preliminarily evaluate their potential as an effective DNA vaccine and for serodiagnostic goals.

Helicobacter pylori infection as a risk factor for diabetes: a meta-analysis of case-control studies.

Background: There are several studies with varied and mixed results about the possible relationship between H. pylori and diabetes. Therefore, this current meta-analysis performed to determine the association between H.

Candidate antigenic epitopes for vaccination and diagnosis strategies of Toxoplasma gondii infection: A review.

Toxoplasmosis caused by an obligatory intracellular protozoan parasite of Toxoplasma gondii threats a wide spectrum of human and animal hosts. It has been shown that the intensity of the disease in humans depends on the host's immune responses. Immunological investigations on whole protein molecules of T.

Efficacy of Probiotic Prophylaxis After The First Febrile Urinary Tract Infection in Children With Normal Urinary Tracts.

Background: Growing antibiotic resistance and debates over their efficacy for urinary tract infection (UTI) recurrence warrants studying nonantibiotic prophylaxis for preventing UTI recurrences.

Methods: We randomly assigned 181 children, aged 4 months to 5 years, with a normal urinary tract after recovery from their first febrile UTI in a 1:1 ratio to receive a probiotic mixture of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Bifidobacterium lactis (n = 91) or placebo (n = 90) for a total of 18 months of therapy. The primary objective was to show the superiority of probiotic prophylaxis to placebo.

Trend of fatal poisoning at national and provincial levels in Iran from 1990 to 2015.

Objectives: Comprehensive and up-to-date data on fatal injury trends are critical to identify challenges and plan priority setting. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of poisoning mortality trends across Iran.

Study Design: The data were gathered from various resources, including death registration systems, cemetery databases of Tehran and Esfahan, the Demographic and Health Survey of 2000, and three rounds of national population and housing censuses.

Clinical and metabolic response to vitamin D plus probiotic in schizophrenia patients.

Background: This study determined the effects of a novel combination of vitamin D and probiotic on metabolic and clinical symptoms in chronic schizophrenia.

Methods: This trial was conducted among 60 patients with chronic schizophrenia to receive either 50,000 IU vitamin D3 every 2 weeks plus 8 × 10 CFU/day probiotic (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 12 weeks.

Results: Vitamin D and probiotic co-supplementation was associated with a significant improvement in the general (- 3.

Perceived barriers to methadone maintenance treatment among Iranian opioid users.

Background: Opioid use is a severe problem in Iran. Despite methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) programs being one of the most important treatment strategies for reducing individual and public harms associated with opioid use, a large proportion of Iranian patients refuse to participate in such treatment programs.

Methods: The present study aims to explore the beliefs and attitudes toward MMT programs of opioid-dependent patients who were participating or had participated in methadone therapy.

Evaluation of Four Pulpotomy Techniques in Primary Molars: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: This trial was designed to evaluate the clinical and radiographic success rates of calcium-enriched mixture (CEM) cement with and without low level laser therapy (LLLT) and compare them to that of formocresol (FC) and ferric sulfate (FS) in primary molar pulpotomies.

Methods And Materials: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on a total of 160 teeth selected from 40 patients aged 3-9 years. Patients with at least four primary molars needing pulpotomy, were included in order to have each tooth assigned randomly in one of the four following groups; FC, FS, CEM, and LLLT/CEM.

Association of circulating CTRP9 with soluble adhesion molecules and inflammatory markers in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease.

C1q/TNF-related protein 9 (CTRP9) is a paralogue of adiponectin with known favorable effects on lipid and glucose metabolism. A potential role of CTRP9 for regulation of endothelium function has been suggested by previous studies. However, no studies have examined the relation between serum CTRP9 levels and adhesion molecules in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and coronary artery disease (CAD).

Investigational opioid antagonists for treating opioid-induced bowel dysfunction.

Introduction: Opioids have been highlighted for their role in pain relief among cancer and non-cancer patients. Novel agents have been investigated to reduce opioid-induced constipation (OIC) as the main adverse effect that may lead to treatment discontinuation. Development of peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonists (PAMORA) has resulted in a novel approach to preserve the efficacy of pain control along with less OIC.

Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha Antibodies in Fistulizing Crohn's Disease: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Medical treatment for fistulizing Crohn's disease (FCD) is changing rapidly over the time by the introduction of novel therapeutic medicines, while no global consensus is available. This study aims to accomplish a systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of tumor necrosis factor-alpha antibodies (anti-TNF-α antibodies) versus placebo in FCD. A systematic review of published literature was carried out till December 2016, and a meta-analysis of identified studies was done.

The Effects of Vitamin D Supplement on Prevention of Recurrence of Preeclampsia in Pregnant Women with a History of Preeclampsia.

Introduction: Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific syndrome. One of the hypotheses concerning the etiology of preeclampsia is vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy.

Method And Materials: The present study is a randomized controlled clinical trial which aims to determine the effect of vitamin D supplement on reducing the probability of recurrent preeclampsia.

Disinfection effect of microwave radiation on Bacillus subtilis as indicator organism on contaminated dental stone casts under dry and wet conditions.

The disinfection of dental stone casts using microwave radiation has been shown, but doubts remain regarding its efficacy under various conditions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of microwave disinfection on wet and dry dental stone casts contaminated by a resistant microorganism. In this in vitro study, 34 stone half-casts were prepared, contaminated with and divided into two groups.

Prevalence of Taurodont Molars in a Selected Iranian Adult Population.

Introduction: Taurodontism is an anomaly characterized by elongated crowns and consumedly apical location of the bifurcation area. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of taurodontism in molars based on digital panoramic radiographies in eight cities of Iran.

Methods And Materials: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 2360 digital panoramic radiographs taken for different treatment purposes.

In vitro activities of five antifungal agents against 199 clinical and environmental isolates of Aspergillus flavus, an opportunistic fungal pathogen.

Aspergillus flavus is the second leading cause of invasive and non-invasive aspergillosis, as well as the most common cause of fungal sinusitis, cutaneous infections, and endophthalmitis in tropical countries. Since resistance to antifungal agents has been observed in patients, susceptibility testing is helpful in defining the activity spectrum of antifungals and determining the appropriate drug for treatment. A collection of 199 clinical and environmental strains of Aspergillus flavus consisted of clinical (n=171) and environmental (n=28) were verified by DNA sequencing of the partial b-tubulin gene.

Empirical estimation of the grades of hearing impairment among industrial workers based on new artificial neural networks and classical regression methods.

Background: Prediction models are used in a variety of medical domains, and they are frequently built from experience which constitutes data acquired from actual cases. This study aimed to analyze the potential of artificial neural networks and logistic regression techniques for estimation of hearing impairment among industrial workers.

Materials And Methods: A total of 210 workers employed in a steel factory (in West of Iran) were selected, and their occupational exposure histories were analyzed.

Central Nervous System Aspergilloma in an Immunocompetent Patient: A Case Report.

Intracranial aspergilloma is extremely rare. The diagnosis and treatment of invasive CNS aspergillosis is very difficult. Early diagnosis is important for a successful treatment.

Ultrasensitive electrochemical immunosensor for PSA biomarker detection in prostate cancer cells using gold nanoparticles/PAMAM dendrimer loaded with enzyme linked aptamer as integrated triple signal amplification strategy.

In the present study, a triple signal amplification strategy was developed for ultrasensitive immunosensing of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tumor marker. The proposed system was achieved by modification of glassy carbon electrode with graphene oxide/chitosan film and covalently attached of monoclonal PSA antibody and thionine as redox probe onto the modified electrode surface. Then, immunosensing was completed using sandwich-type immunoreaction of the PSA-antigen between anti-PSA immobilized on the graphene/chitosan interface and PSA-aptamer.