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Background:Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women worldwide and one of its most desirable treatments is tamoxifen. The reported side effect associated with tamoxifen is endometrial thickness and increased risk of endometrial cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of tamoxifen on the endometrial thickness in amenorrhea breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytic, cross-sectional study was conducted in Radiotherapy Departments of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences over a period of seven years.162 patients treated with tamoxifen whose bleeding cycle had been disrupted were selected and the relationship between tamoxifen usage and endometrial thickness was investigated in them. In addition, the relationship between abnormal vaginal bleeding and the ultra sonographic findings was assessed. Data analysis was done by using t-test and Chi-square test. Results: There was a significant relationship between tamoxifen usage and abnormal endometrial thickness while the greatest relationship was observed in the first year of treatment. The relationship between abnormal vaginal bleeding and abnormal endometrial sonographic findings was significant (P=0.001). The incidence of endometrial cancer in tamoxifen users was more than general population (0.61% vs. 0.1%). Conclusion: Considering the findings of this study, in the presence of abnormal sonographic and clinical observations indicating abnormal vaginal bleeding, pathological evaluation of the endometrial biopsy should be carried out for patients who use tamoxifen.

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Background: Noticing the significant role of fertility in Iranian families, the incidence of infertility and its social and cultural dimensions, this study was carried out to compare general health status of infertile women with fertile women. Materials and Methods: This observational case-control study was done on 147 women as the control group and 147 infertile patients as the case group who were matched in terms of influential variables. Data collection was done through demographic questionnaire and general health questionnaire (GHQ) which were completed by both groups. The results were analyzed by logistic regression analysis, t test, and chi-square using STATA 10 software. Results: Means of general health score in fertile and infertile women were 19.249.72 and 28.06 10, respectively. Here the mean score of the infertile women was significantly higher in comparison with the fertile women (p<0.001). Physical symptoms, anxiety, social interaction, and depression scores of infertile women were significantly higher in comparison with the fertile women (p<0.001). There were no significant differences in the means of age and duration of marriage between the two groups and the distribution of educational level, occupation, and income levels were the same in the two groups. Conclusion: Average scores of general health and physical complaints, anxiety, impaired social interaction, and depression in infertile women were higher than those in fertile women. This indicates their involvement with some degrees of public health diseases.

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Background: Previous studies in Iran and around the world have indicated the high rate of medicines use. In recent years, medicine use has continued to rise in spite of attempts made by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Iran. Therefore, it seems that in addition to the reasons considered in previous studies, there are other reasons for this problem in Iran. One of the parameters involved in this problem is the high medicine use among the clinical staff. Thus the aim of this study is to compare medicine use among clinical and non-clinical staff members. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, information about the monthly use of medicines was obtained by means of a questionnaire administered to eight groups of clinical and non-clinical members: first-year medical students, first-year non-medical students, interns of medicine, forth-year non-medical students, general physicians, specialists, academic members with M.Sc, and academic members with PhD degrees. Results: The results showed that medicine use decreased with increase in education level in both groups. In addition, the comparison of medicine use between clinical and non-clinical groups showed that there is not a significant difference for most medicines among the first- and second-year students but medicine use significantly increased among general physicians and specialists compared to the control groups. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that medicine use among clinical staff should be considered in controlling medicine use in Iran.

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Background: Several studies have demonstrated that the levels of inflammatory markers in healthy women are under the influence of menstrual cycle changes. The aim of this study was to compare blood levels of inflammatory markers in women with appendicitis in different phases of menstrual cycle. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 70 female and 12 male patients with appendicitis, and 61 healthy women were enrolled based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inflammatory markers, such as leukocyte count, CRP, ESR, and TNF-α were measured and compared using student t-test and one-way ANOVA based on different phases of menstrual cycle. Results: There were no significant changes in the ESR, CRP, and TNF-α concentrations and the number of peripheral blood leukocytes in different phases of the menstrual cycle in women with appendicitis. The mean number of leukocytes and CRP concentrations were significantly higher in patients with appendicitis compared with the control group. Conclusion: The findings show that there are not significant differences in the inflammatory markers in women with appendicitis during the different phases of menstrual cycles. It seems that day to day variation of sexual hormones in the menstrual cycle have led to very different conclusions about the change of inflammatory markers in different phases of menstrual cycle. Therefore, studies investigating inflammatory markers in women with acute appendicitis based on day of menstrual cycle, time of sampling in the day, and severity of appendicitis are suggested.

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Background: To date, researchers have paid extensive attention to happiness and its relationship with a wide variety of personality, socio-demographic, and health-related factors. However, there is still little research on the issue of happiness. This study was done to investigate happiness and mental health and the relationship between them in the students studying at Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran, in 2010. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 315 students at Arak University of Medical Sciences who were randomly selected during 2010. The students' happiness was measured by Oxford questionnaire and their mental health was measured using GHQ28. Data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, Logistic regression, and Chi-square test using SPSS software. Results: The mean of happiness in the students was 40.72±14.14 with only 9.2% of them in the normal range of happiness. Their mental health score was 25.73±7.47 with 32.1% of them within the normal range. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a statistically significant relationship between happiness score and mental health score (r=-0.14, p=0.012). Conclusion: Happiness and mental health status in the students at Arak University of Medical Sciences necessitate the need for more serious attention to this issue in educational planning.

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Background: Today, the self-assessed health status is a standard part of epidemiologic and community based studies. The aim of this study is to assess and evaluate the health related quality of life in Qom city.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive analytical study, population of 340 people over 18 years of Qom city entered the study by filling the questionnaires. A two-part questionnaire was used to collect data which the first part was related to demographic data including age, sex, marital status, education, occupation and place of residence. The second version of the SF-36 questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life.

Results: Generally, considering the all aspects of quality of life in this study, the mean (±SD) of scores was 67.69±14.78. This average was equal to 67.28±15.91 in men and 67.97±14.03 in women which showed a significant difference between them (p =0.030).

Conclusion: In this study the scores of women and single subjects were higher than other people. By the Persian version of 2nd version of SF-36 questionnaire, the quality of life people in different situations might be realized and impact of different demographic factors on quality of life could be measured.

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Background: Intraocular pressure (IOP) rise is the most common complication of Nd YAG laser posterior capsulotomy, and the aim of this study was to compare the effect of oral acetazolamide versus topical Co-biosopt in preventing IOP rise following Nd YAG laser posterior capsulotomy.

Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was done on 200 patients who underwent laser Nd: YAG capsulotomy. First group received oral acetazolamide 250 mg q 6h and placebo drops q 8h and second group received Co-biosopt) timolol 0/5% and dorzolamide 2%) drops q 8h and oral placebo capsule q 6h. IOP was measured before and 24 hours after laser capsulotomy.

Results: Mean IOP of right and left eye 24 hours after capsulotomy in the acetazolamide group was significantly decreased as compared to the previous (p=0.001) and in Co-Biosopt group the values 24 hours after capsulotomy was significantly decreased as compared with the previous in right and left eye (p=0.001).

Conclusion: According to oral acetazolamide side effects and desirable IOP reduction with Co-Biosopt that recently entered to Iran’s market and have typical domestic, this medication can be an option for preventing IOP rise after laser capsulotomy in a patient with posterior capsular opacification.

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Background: There are few studies related to effects of exercise training, including concurrent training, on hormonal changes in children. Hence, the aim of this study was to Compare theeffects of 6 weeks of resistance training and concurrent resistance and endurance training on aerobic power (VO2peak) and resting levels of growth hormone and cortisol in healthy children.

Materials and Methods: The subjects ofthis quasi-experimental study were 35 healthy boys between 9-11 years old, which were randomly divided into three groups of concurrent training (n=12), resistance training (n=11), control (n=12). Experimental groups were trained during 6 weeks 3 times a week.Control group were performed only their routine activities. VO2peak test was taken 48 hours before and after implementation of 6-weeks protocols and samples were selected from all subjects.Measurement of resting levels of GH and cortical was performed with ELISA method. For data analysis, one way ANOVA and paired t-test were used.

Results: The results showed that VO2peak and resting levels of GH increased significantly in concurrenttraining group (p=0.001, p=0.003, respectively). Resting level of cortisol in concurrent group was significantly lower than the other groups (p<0.05) and it was reducedsignificantlyin concurrent training and resistance training groups (p=0.001, p=0.036).

Conclusion: It seems a concurrent training period has greater benefits on VO2peak and resting levels of GH and cortical in children in comparison with resistance training.

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Background: Some children have abrupt onset of severe urinary frequency, voiding as often as every 10-15 min during the day, without dysuria, UTI, daytime incontinence, or nocturia. The most common age for these symptoms to occur is 4-6 yr, after the child is toilet trained, and the vast majority are boys. This condition is termed the daytime frequency syndrome of childhood or Pollakiuria. The condition is functional no anatomic problem is detected. The symptoms occur often just before a child starts kindergarten or if the child is having emotional family stress-related problems. OCD is a chronically disabling illness characterized by repetitive, ritualistic behaviors over which the patient has little or no control. OCD has a lifetime prevalence of 1-3% worldwide, and as many as 80% of all cases have their onset in childhood and adolescence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between OCD and Pollakiuria.

Materials and Methods:In this case-control study, we evaluated (152) children aged 6-18 years old who were visited in the pediatric clinics of Amir-Kabir Hospital, Arak, Iran. The control group considered of (76) healthy children and the case group included (76) age and sex matched children with Pollakiuria. Then, the children’s behavioral status was evaluated using the children’s Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (C-YBOCS). The C-YBOCS is helpful in identifying children with OCD. The data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS-16.

Results: OCD was detected in (5) case (6.6%) with Pollakiuria and (8) controls (10.5%). The difference in OCD was not significant (p-value 0.282) between the two groups.

Conclusion: OCD isn’t more common in Pollakiuria versus non-Pollakiuria children. It is recommended to conduct a study with higher sample volume in order to detect the relationship between OCD and Pollakiuria.

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Background: Allergic rhinitis is a common disease which is present in 20% of general population. Major symptoms include sneezing, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, and nasal pruritus. It seems that tricyclic antidepressants blocking histamine receptors may be used as an effective treatment in allergic rhinitis.

Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 84 patients with allergic rhinitis entered the study and randomly divided into two groups. Patients of 1st group received cetirizine and 2nd group received doxepin for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks patients were evaluated about sneezing, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, and nasal pruritus.

Results: The results of our study showed that clinical score of patients after 2 weeks was not different in both groups (p=0.261). The only symptom that was affected by the kind of treatment and was significantly different between groups was sneezing (p=0.005).

Conclusion: It seems that there is not much difference in using cetirizine and doxepin in treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis sympotoms. It is recommended that future studies use TCAs with more potent blocking anti-histamine receptors feature and on more samples.

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Background: Listeria monocytogenes is one of the most important causes of abortion and postpartum infection in newborns. Because of the importance of L . monocytogenes in the health of pregnant women and newborn babies, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of these bacteria in pregnant women and to compare the level of prevalence between women with a history of abortion and with no a history of abortion.

Materials and Methods: In this study, 540 samples of pregnant women were provided from Arak Taleghani hospital. The samples were cultured in enrichment media, then L .monocytogenesis was isolated in specific media.

Results: Of clinical samples, 14 cases had Listeria monocytogenes. Of these samples, 8 cases in women had a history of abortion, while women with no history of abortion were 6 Most cases of positive culture were related to the age of 25 to 34 years, including 7 cases, the lowest cases were 35 to 44 years old including 3 women and 4 women were between 17 and 24 years old.

Conclusion: The study showed that Listeria monocytogenes can cause infection in pregnant women. The use of Phenotypic methods and specific media can apparently isolate listeria monocytogenes from healthy pregnant women.

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Background: Boredom is a psychological phenomenon that was defined as an aversive state or incompatibility with every repetitive experience while the release of stability is not allowed. Boredom has several complications. So, the goal of this study is to compare the predictors of boredom in students of Arak University of medical sciences and Islamic Azad University.

Materials and Methods: The current descriptive-comparative study has been done on966 students (from Arak University of medical sciences and Islamic Azad University). The scale of current study was a checklist list of demographic information, predictors of boredom assess questionnaire, Farmer and Sundberg’boredom proneness scale. Data were analyzed by using chi-square, Pearson correlation, multivariate regression, and Fisher'sz.

Results: The greatest number of students from both universities have normal boredom without a statistically significant difference between male and female students (p=0.06). University factor had the highest average between students. Totally, boredom had a significant correlation with each of the home (p=0.000) and society (p=0.001) factors. All three factors including home (p=0.033), university (p=0.033) and society (p=0.031) can explain and predict boredom in male and female students.

Conclusion: The results showed that university factor was the most important factor for predicting boredom between college students. Thus, in order to avoid adverse effects of boredom on students educational activities, this phenomenon and its causes should be considered.

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Background: The failure time of permanent tooth is of the form of interval censored since the exact time of tooth decay is not available and it is only known that tooth decay occurs between two consecutive visits. There are a few techniques available in the literature for the problem of goodness-of-fit for interval censored data. In this paper, we propose a new goodness-of-fit testing procedure for interval censored data and employ this for the failure time of the first permanent molar tooth (sixth tooth) data.

Materials and Methods: Two methods of goodness-of-fit for interval censored data that are based on randomly generated data from each interval and averaging over the test statistics or over the p-values are employed for the failure time of the first permanent molar tooth data.

Results:  The mean of the failure time of the first permanent molar tooth is found to be at 95 months. The p-values of the two goodness-of-fit testing procedures for the Weibull, log-normal and gamma models are calculated.

Conclusion: By comparing the p-values, the log-normal model is considered as the best model to describe the failure time of the first permanent molar tooth data.

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Abstract

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third major cause of cancer death worldwide. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HBx gene play an important role in the development of HCC by influencing signaling pathways. Since there is no detectable symptom in the early phase of HCC, there is need to find new HCC-specific markers with high sensitivity for early detection and diagnosis of HCC. On the other hand, by the advent and development of bioinformatic sciences, it is now possible to predict miRNAs as biomarkers, and their targets. Therefore, in the present study, based on the results of the bioinformatic software applications with different algorithm, we selected the miRNA targeting HBx and NOTCH1 mRNAs according to higher score, suitable connection with target gene and confirming them in more softwares.

Materials and Methods: First, the sequences of NOTCH1 and HBx genes were retrieved from NCBI. Afterwards, several software applications such as TargetScan, mirWalk, miRBase, Miranda, PicTar, miRVir, and DIANA were applied to predict miRNAs.

Results: Based on the high scoring by bioinformatics softwares and suitable targeting, miR-34a were selected to target NOTCH1 and miR-6510, miR-5193 and miR-214 were chosen to targetHBX gene.

Conclusion: Because of tumor suppression roles of miR-214 and miR-34a, they probably could be used as therapeutic strategy in cancer researches. It is also seems that the miR-5193 could act as a specific marker in Hepatocellular carcinoma.

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Background and Aim: Reducing the fertility rates in Iran and use of multiple contraceptive methods in recent decades have been affected by many social, economic and demographic factors. Therefore, this study was conducted to study the fertility pattern and common preventive fertility methods at Arak city in 2017 year. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 married women referred to Arak remedial centers in 2017 year. The participants were randomly selected from Vali Asr, Taleghani and Amir Kabir hospitals. The participants information was collected using questionnaire and  subsequently analyzed using Stata software version 12. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR.ARAKMU.REC.1396.4 has been approved by research ethics committee at Arak University of Medical Sciences. Findings: Our results showed that the mean age and average duration of marriage of women were 40.03 ± 11.19 and 21.08 ± 12.73 respectively, as well, 281 (73.2%) of women used the natural fertility prevention methods. Most of the participated women were post-graduate diploma with lacked income and housekeeping. Other contraceptive methods such as pills, condoms, IUDs, one-month menses and three-month injections were 8.9, 3.28, 6.38, 1.7 and 2.6, respectively. Conclusion: The most common method for preventing fertility is natural method. Condoms and pills are used more than the other contraceptive methods. There is a lack of awareness of modern contraceptive methods. Therefore, it is recommended that married women be educated about educational materials and counseling for familiarizing them with contraceptives.

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Background and Aim: Musculoskeletal disorders are mainly prevalent among college students who experience direct contact with patients. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal pains among Rehabilitation, Dentistry, and Nursing students at Arak University of Medical Sciences in 2017-2018.
Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 538 students of Arak University of Medical Sciences were recruited using the convenience sampling approach. Variables included age, sex, body mass index, study field, hours of using smartphone per day, and nine symptom sites being neck, shoulders, upper back, elbows, low back, wrist/hands, hips/thighs, knees, and ankles/feet. The researchers assessed the musculoskeletal pain by using the Nordic questionnaire and demographic questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS V. 18.
Ethical Considerations: The Research Ethics Committee of Arak University of Medical Sciences approved this study (Code: IR.ARAKMU.REC.1397.253).
Results:  In this study, 538 students (205 males and 333 females) were studied with Mean±SD age of 22.04±2.53 years old. The results showed that the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain in the spine (neck 29.4%, upper 24.3%, and lower back 37.2%) was higher than in upper and lower extremities. Musculoskeletal pain in the shoulder, upper, lower back, and thigh were significantly different based on sex. Also, musculoskeletal pain in the neck and ankle, and foot were significantly different based on age (P<0.05). There was a significant difference between musculoskeletal pain of back and ankle based on smartphone use hours per day.
Conclusion: This study suggested that rehabilitation, nursing, and dentistry students are at risk for musculoskeletal pain, especially in the lumbar, cervical, and upper back. 

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Background and Aim This study aimed to investigate the demographic and clinical information of patients undergoing surgery with ultrasound in internal jugular vein cannulation.
Methods & Materials After the approval of the plan in the ethics committee of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, this study was performed in the general surgery department of Razi Hospital in 2018 on 100 patients in need of central venous catheter implantation. The neck type (distance between the two designated areas) was entered in a special form made by the researcher and after the completion of the design, it was examined and statistically analyzed.
Ethical Considerations This research ethically approved by the Ethics Committee of Guilan University of Medical Sciences (Code: IR.GUMS.REC.1396.20)
Results The mean age of the studied patients was 58.72±16.09 years. The anatomical and sonographic margins between the two Land Mark areas were higher in men VS women, but there was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the other variables. (P>0.05).
Conclusion The findings of this study show that catheterization of the internal jugular vein under the guidance of ultrasound was less access time and fewer complications.