Hormozgan Medical Journal
Volume:27 Issue: 1, Jan 2023

 Diarrheal diseases are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries and the second most common cause of death in children under five years. The main objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in diarrheal patients in Bandar Abbas, Southern Iran.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections and associated factors among patients with diarrhea in the major hospitals of Bandar Abbas. A single fecal specimen was collected from 170 diarrheic patients from October 2018 to May 2019. The diagnosis was made based on the direct wet mount and formalin-ether concentration method. Trichrome and modified acid-fast staining methods were used for the better detection of protozoa. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software.

 A total of 170 stool specimens were collected from diarrheic patients. Of these, 57.6% were males and 42.4% were females. The overall prevalence of intestinal parasites was 12.9%. The most prevalent parasite was Blastocystis spp. 10 (5.9%), followed by Giardia lamblia 7 (4.1%), Cryptosporidium spp. 3 (1.8%), Entamoeba coli 1 (0.6%), and Hymenolepis nana 1 (0.6%).

 Overall, the results showed that intestinal parasites, especially helminth infections, have significantly decreased in recent years.

 There is evidence that chronic neuroinflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer´s and Parkinson´s disease. In this regard, animal models are considered important tools for the study of neuroinflammation associated with these diseases. The most commonly used approach to induce neuroinflammation in animal models is the injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). However, there are limited and inconsistent studies regarding the effect of chronic administration of LPS on behavioral parameters.

This experimental study aimed to compare the effect of chronic injection of LPS in two different doses on the behavioral alterations including spatial learning and working memory in mice.

Thirty-six male BALB/c mice were used in this study. After acclimatization for a week, mice were randomly divided into three groups. (1) control mice were intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with saline for seven consecutive days (2) mice received 250 μg/kg LPS (i.p.) dissolved in saline for a week, (3) mice were administered with 750 μg/kg LPS (i.p.) dissolved in saline for a week. Morris water maze (MWM) and Y-maze were performed to assess spatial learning and working memory alterations in treated mice, respectively.

We found that LPS treatment with a high dose (750 μg/kg) results in working memory impairment (P=0.0024) as well as cognitive dysfunction (P=0.0030), as evident by the Y-maze and MWM test.

Our study suggests that the LPS-induced model of chronic neuroinflammation can be used as an important tool for the investigation of pathomechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders and the development of new pharmacotherapeutic options.

 Alzheimer’s is progressive dementia with loss of nerve cells. Physical activity and the use of nano-pharmaceutical supplements may prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of resistance training and Folate nano-liposome on the expression of D1 and D2 receptors in the hippocampal tissue of Alzheimer’s rats.

 Thirty-three male Wistar rats at the age of eight weeks were prepared from Pasteur Institute and randomly divided into 5 groups (healthy control, Alzheimer’s control, Alzheimer+resistance training, Alzheimer+Folate nano-liposomes, and Alzheimer+resistance training+Folate nano-liposomes). Alzheimer’s was induced, and Folate nano-liposomes were injected as a supplement. The animals were anesthetized, and the hippocampus was analyzed after the last training session. Eventually, a one-way ANOVA test was used to estimate the differences between groups (P≤0.05).

 The results of one-way ANOVA showed a significant difference between the groups in terms of D1 mRNA and D2 mRNA (P≤0.000). Based on the results of the Bonferroni post hoc test, there was a significant difference between the control group and the Alzheimer’s, Alzheimer’s+resistance training, and Alzheimer’s+Folate nano-liposomes. Similarly, a significant difference was found between the Alzheimer’s group and Alzheimer’s+resistance training and Alzheimer’s+resistance training+Folate nano-liposomes (P≤0.05).

 Resistance training and Folate nano-liposomes changed the content of D1 and D2 in the brain after Alzheimer’s induction. These changes may be partly due to the synergistic effect of physical activity and nano-pharmaceuticals on preventing or reducing the detrimental effects of pathological conditions. Inflammatory factors appear to be associated with neurotrophic factors during activity and exercise in neurodegenerative diseases.

 Although radiography tests are beneficial in diagnosing various diseases, they have some risks for patients and radiology staff, which will be minimized if observing radiation protection standards. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and performance of radiographers regarding radiation protection in the radiology departments of Bandar Abbas.

 This work was performed as a descriptive-analytical study. A questionnaire consisting of 38 items was distributed among all radiographers in Bandar Abbas. Information obtained from the questionnaires was analyzed by appropriate nonparametric tests and Spearman’s correlation coefficient. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to normalize the distribution of scores. Finally, linear regression was employed to determine the effect of each independent variable on the knowledge score.

 The participation rate of radiographers was 53.9%. The means and standard deviations of scores assigned to attitude, knowledge, and performance in the field of radiation protection were 65.36±27.11, 36.36±17.72, and 46.66±19.60, respectively. The relationship between age and experience of radiographers with their attitude, knowledge, and practice was significant (P>0.05). In addition, there was a significant difference between their attitudes in terms of the place of service (P<0.05).

 The results of this study revealed that radiographers with different levels of age, education, and work experience have almost the same level of knowledge, attitude, and practice. They had an appropriate attitude and practice in the field of radiation protection.

 Promiscuity and attitude towards infidelity can harm family health and cause many family problems. They are also two important reasons for divorce and separation. This study aimed to investigate the association of emotional and cognitive intimacy with promiscuity through the mediating role of attitude towards infidelity in married men.

 This applied descriptive study had a correlational design and adopted the structural equation modeling method. The statistical population included all married men in Bushehr (Iran) who visited marriage counseling centers in 2020. A total of 384 married men were selected as the sample using convenience sampling. The research tools included the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships, Attitudes towards Infidelity Scale, and the Justifications for Extramarital Relationships. Data were analyzed via the Pearson correlation method and structural equation modeling. SPSS version-24 and AMOS-24 were further used for analyzing the data.

 The results indicated that there was a direct association between emotional intimacy and attitude towards infidelity (β=0.18, P=0.001), cognitive intimacy and attitude towards infidelity (β=-0.62, P=0.001), emotional intimacy and promiscuity (β=0.11, P=0.014), attitude towards infidelity and promiscuity (β=0.68, P=0.001), but there was no a significant association between cognitive intimacy and promiscuity. The findings also revealed a significant relationship of emotional (β=0.19, P=0.009) and cognitive (β=-0.39, P=0.007) intimacy and promiscuity with mediating role of attitude towards infidelity in men.

 In general, this study revealed that emotional-cognitive intimacy is a predictor of promiscuity. Therefore, the findings can contribute to studies that lead to marital stability.

Hemodialysis is a method for removing excess fluid and uremic waste from the body of chronic renal-failure patients. In patients with (CRF), hemodialysis stops death. Various factors can affect the survival of patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment. The current study aimed to determine such factors.

The aim of study was to determine some factors affecting the hemodialysis patients' survival using the LASSO-Cox approach.

This cross-sectional study examined 252 patients undergoing hemodialysis from 2010 to 2016 in all of hospitals in Bandar Abbas- Iran, whose data had been recorded in the hemodialysis unit or it was possible to get their files. The Cox model under the LASSO variable selection technique (LASSO-Cox) was applied for data analysis. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 23.0 (IBM) software and through glmnet and survival packages in software R version 3.5.1.

In this study, 35 (13.9%) death events was observed. The mean follow up time of 252 patients was equal to 10.93 ± 7.82 years. Based on the results of the Cox-Lasso, The risk of mortality for patients with diploma degree was by 49% lower than that of the illiterate group (HR = 0.51; 95%CI:(0.02,0.57); P=0.021). The risk of death for unemployed patients and farmers was equal to 0.66 (HR = 1.66; 95%CI:(1.51,25.79); P=0.004) and 0.29 (HR = 1.29; 95%CI:(1.14,27.40); P=0.005), respectively, higher than that of employees. Also, an increase in the frequency of dialysis per week, the risk of death reduced by 0.34(HR = 0.66; 95%CI:(0.04,0.82); P=0.022), and one unit increase in the duration of dialysis per hour increased the risk of death by 2.23 times (HR = 2.23; 95%CI:(1.41,27.1); P=0.010).

Education level, job, frequency of hemodialysis per week, and duration of hemodialysis per hour were the most important variables in survival of hemodialysis patients. As a result, it seems that more education to nurses working in hemodialysis wards and patients involved can be useful to heed to recommendations of physicians in terms of the required duration for hemodialysis per hour and the number of sessions per week.

 Although diet-induced migraines affect many people, the triggering foodstuffs are not fully identified yet. Detecting migraine-triggering foods and susceptible individuals assist in effective headache management. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between eating allergens and developing or exacerbating migraine.

 This was a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study with 230 migraine patients referring to the neurology clinic of Shahid Mohammadi hospital in Bandar Abbas. They were selected through purposive sampling. After obtaining informed consent from the patients, the required data were collected and then underwent analysis.

 Overall, 52.4% and 47.6% of participants were females and males, respectively. Their mean age was 40.57±14.04. Based on the results, 61.9% of participants were married, and 60.3% of them had a family history of migraine. The average number of headaches per month and the duration of each headache were 3.16-4.19 times and 3.76-4.41 hours, respectively. Based on the findings, sausages (55.6%), carbonated beverages (0.54%), peanuts (0.46%), beef (44.4%), and canned food, coffee, and eggs (41.3%) are the most common foodstuffs that cause or exacerbate migraines. On the other hand, chicken (15.9%), strawberry, rice, and wheat (17.5%) had the least impact on the onset and exacerbation of migraine headaches.

 According to the results, identifying food allergens and eliminating them from patients’ diets can be effective in the prognosis of migraine and individuals’ quality of life.

Irisin is a myokine suggested to exert anti-obesity benefits. On the other hand, paraxonase-1 is one of the most important free radical scavenging enzymes and among the main protectors of lipoprotein against oxidizing compounds. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of eight weeks of concurrent training on serum levels of irisin, paraxonase-1, lipid profile, and insulin resistance in men with metabolic syndrome.

In this quasi-experimental study, 30 men with metabolic syndrome (in the age range of 25 to 35 years and with body mass > 25 kg.m-2) were purposefully selected and randomly divided into two groups of concurrent training (n=15) and control (n=15). Three sessions of the training program were held per week over an 8-week interval. Concurrent training included warm-up, resistance (20 minutes of resistance training), and endurance (25 minutes of activity on a stationary bike with an intensity of 50-80% of maximum heart rate). Blood samples were collected before and 24 hours after exercise to measure serum levels of variables. Data were analyzed using independent and dependent t-tests.

At baseline, serum levels of paraoxonase 1, irisin, and HDL were higher in the concurrent training group. The results of the study also showed that eight weeks of concurrent training significantly reduced the levels of insulin resistance, triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure in men with metabolic syndrome.

Eight weeks of concurrent training improves the levels of irisin, insulin resistance, paraxonase-1, and lipid profile of men with metabolic syndrome.

Successful insertion of a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) requires deep anesthesia, proper opening of the mouth, and adequate suppression of upper airway reflexes. Injection of propofol can effectively reduce laryngeal reflexes.

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of propofol alone versus propofol plus a muscle relaxant on LMA insertion and hemodynamic parameters during induction of anesthesia.

This randomized, double-blind clinical study was performed on 70 patients of 18-65 years who were candidates for surgery in the operating room of Shahid Mohammadi Hospital in Bandar Abbas Iran in 2020. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of 35. The first group received propofol and normal saline and the second group received propofol plus cisatracurium. The parameters of ease of LMA insertion, jaw opening, cough and gag reflexes, head and limb movement, and laryngospasm, as well as hemodynamic changes were recorded.

The patients were almost matched in terms of demographic variables. No significant difference was found in the parameters of ease of LMA insertion and hemodynamic parameters. However, the overall score of ease of LMA insertion was considerably higher in the propofol plus muscle relaxant group (p=0.029). The extubation time was significantly shorter (p<0.001) and the surgery duration was considerably longer (p=0.019) in the propofol plus muscle relaxant group.

The findings showed that both techniques were suitable for LMA insertion and no significant hemodynamic changes were found between the two groups. However, administration of propofol plus a muscle relaxant was more suitable due to ease of LMA insertion and shorter extubation time.