مجله طب جنوب
سال بیست و دوم شماره 6 (بهمن و اسفند 1398)

Given that ovarian cancer symptoms are nonspecific and that appropriate surgical staging and pathological grading are important for the best treatment and prognosis of patients, this study aimed to determine the correlation of preoperative serum levels of CA125 and He4 with staging and grading.

This cross-sectional study recruited 29 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent staging based on FIGO protocol and grading by pathologist during 2011-13. Serum CA125 and He4 were determined preoperatively to measure the correlation of these tumor markers with staging and grading.

We did not observe a significant correlation between preoperative serum levels of CA125 and He4, and ovarian epithelial cancer staging and grading (P>0.05). However, serum levels of CA125 and He4 were significantly correlated with each other (P>0.001).

Based on this study, we cannot differentiate epithelial ovarian cancer surgical staging or pathological grading by preoperative CA125 and He4 serum levels.

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is one of the major causes of mortality in most countries. Electrocardiography (ECG) and myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) are non-invasive disgnostic tests for CAD. Finding a relationship between abnormal findings in the baseline ECG and MPI findings can be helpful in better diagnosis of CAD.

The present study examined ECG of patients who underwent MPI and categorized them into three groups: normal ECG, abnormal ST-T change, and abnormal Q or fragmented QRS. The quantitative and semi-quantitative parameters as well as visual interpretation of MPI were compared among the three groups.

Finally, 230 patients entered the study, including 92 patients (40.0%) with normal ECG, 86 patients (37.4%) with ST-T changes and 52 patients (22.6%) with fQRS-Q complex abnormality. In total, 77 patients (33.5%) had positive MPI scan. There were significant differences between the normal and ST-T subgroups with Q-fQRS group for all quantitative and semi-quantitative variables, however, normal and ST-T groups were significantly different only in terms of SSS, SDS and TPDs. Frequency of abnormal MPI was significantly higher in Q-fQRS group.

The results of this study showed that myocardial ischemia is more frequent in patients with baseline ST-T ECG changes. In addition, Q-fQRS abnormality is associated with higher rates of both myocardial scar and ischemia in MPI.

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world with its side effects, for instance in reproductive system. Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms that have preventive and therapeutic effects. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of probiotics Bifidobacterium lactis and Lactobacillus casei on sperm maturation in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

In this experimental study, 35 male Wistar rats were divided into five groups: control, diabetic (type 1), diabetic rats treated with B.lactis and L.casei and a mixture of both probiotics. Diabetic groups were injected intraperitoneally with streptozotocin (60mg/kg). Probiotics were administered for 35 days. At the end of treatment, blood glucose levels, epididymal weight and sperm maturation were evaluated. The percentage of histone-protamine replacement was evaluated by aniline blue staining.

In the present study, blood glucose level in the diabetic group was significantly increased compared to the control group (P<0.001), however, the diabetic groups treated with Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium lactis showed a significant decrease compared to the diabetic group (P<0.001).
The percentage of immature sperms was significantly increased in diabetic rats compared to the control group (P<0.001), and there was a significant increase in probiotic treatment groups compared with diabetic group (P<0.05).

Probiotics B. lactis and L. casei have a positive effect on lowering blood glucose and improving sperm maturation in diabetic rats.

Some metals play an important role in  biological reactions  and metabolism of human body. Low and high concentrations of these elements can cause diseases and poisoning. This study was carried out in order to investigate the concentration of metals in inlet and outlet water of households in Ahvaz city, Iran in 2018.

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Water samples were taken from four different residential areas of Ahvaz city and finally 24 samples of inlet water and 24 samples of outlet water were tested. Experiments were performed with three replications. Heavy metals were measured by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy and combined with mass spectrometry. In order to determine the amount of the mentioned heavy metals, ICP-OES (Varian 710-ES) was used .

The highest concentration belonged to calcium (146.39 mg/L) and the lowest concentration belonged to cobalt (0.001 mg/L). The concentration pattern of heavy metals in the inlet and outlet water of the purification devices was as follows: calcium> sodium> magnesium> potassium> iron> zinc>
manganese> chromium= cobalt. The values of calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron,manganese, copper, cobalt and chromium in the water outlet water were less than the obtained values in the input water.

Concentrations of heavy metals calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, cobalt and chromium in the inlet and outlet of domestic water purifiers were lower than the national standard of Iran, the World Health Organization and the US Environmental Protection Agency. According to the results, home water purifiers reduce heavy metals.

The health system reform plan was implemented by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in accordance with the Fourth and Fifth Development Plan Acts in order to achieve public health coverage. Despite achieving many successes in the pursuit of the objectives of the plan, it has faced challenges. The purpose of the study was to determine the challenges of health system reform plan in the centers of affiliated to Bushehr University of Medical Sciences.

This study was conducted with qualitative content analysis approach. A total of 38 healthcare providers were selected from centers affiliated with Bushehr University of Medical Sciences by purposive sampling method. Data was collected from semi- structured interviews in six focus group discussions, and analyzed simultaneously with data collection. Data accuracy and rigor were confirmed in various ways.

The three main categories of decreased satisfaction, infrastructure problems, and management system weaknesses emerged after analyzing 860 initial codes. Decreased satisfaction emerged from primary satisfaction and dissatisfaction subcategories; infrastructure problems emerged from ambiguities in upstream laws, weaknesses in policy making and building culture of change, and lack of comprehensive coverage, and the management system weaknesses emerged from weaknesses in planning, weakness in human resource management, and weaknesses in supervisory practices.

It appears that the main challenges included financial problems, rapid implementation and failure to consider the less-favored cities in the implementation of the plan. In order to quickly revive the plan and achieve its positive and beneficial goals, it is recommended to revise the plan and take effective measures, especially in solving infrastructure and management problems.

At the beginning of the New Year 2020, China alerted the world health organization (WHO) to a cluster of unusual pneumonia cases in Wuhan. After extensive speculation, eventually a new species of coronavirus introduced as the causative pathogen of the disease. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a name for the disease, and the virus that causes it is known SARS-CoV-2. The very rapid spread of the COVID-19 in China and in many other countries has caused fear among people across the world. The novel coronavirus outbreak declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020.

Several databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar, and BioRxiv were searched for publications reporting on the novel coronavirus up to 29 February 2020. Literature searches were performed using keywords including “Coronavirus 2019”, “2019-nCoV”, “COVID-19”, and
“SARS-CoV-2”. Moreover, websites such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were searched to retrieve updated data and statistics regarding the novel coronavirus. We extracted data on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, virology, clinical manifestations, transmission routes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention measures.

From the 1416 articles identified in the initial search, 53 were remained after title and abstract screening. After full-text review, 37 articles were eligible to include in our study. Incubation period for
COVID-19 is between 2-10 days, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The case fatality rate in patients infected with SARC-CoV-2 is 4.3%, and the results indicate that the mortality is higher in elderly individuals and patients with chronic conditions including patients with coronary artery disease, diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease, and hypertension. The mortality rate in healthy subjects is less than 1%.

The outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus is larger than the previous human coronaviruses, showing that the SARS-CoV-2 is an extremely contagious virus. However, the mortality rate of COVID-19 is lower than that of other coronaviruses diseases such as SARS or MERS and other viruses like HIV and Ebola. Currently, due to the lack of an effective treatment and vaccine, the best way to deal with the
COVID-19 disease is to prevent transmission and spread of the virus and to execute personal protective measures.