The effect of low power 0.95 mW He-Ne laser irradiation (λ = 632.8 nm) on the subpopulations of human blood parameters such as hemoglobin concentration (HGB), mean cellular volume of red blood cell (MCV), and mean cellular hemoglobin (MCH) were investigated by electronic sizing at the Wellness Centre of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). These parameters were correlated with human characteristics such as age, gender, ethnic, and blood types. The correlations were obtained by finding patterns in changes of blood parameters after radiation, non-parametric tests using SPSS version 11.5, centroid and peak positions, and flux variations. The analysis revealed significant changes according to human characteristics, for age (p = 0.067), gender (p = 0.044), ethnic (p = 0.094), and blood types (p = 0.099). This finding shows that the centroid and peak positions, flux peak and total flux, were highly correlated with human characteristics and can become a significant indicator for blood analysis. Furthermore, the encircled flux analysis demonstrated a good future prospect in blood research, thus leading the way as a vibrant diagnosis tool to clarify diseases associated with blood.

BACKGROUND: There are a number of adjuvants to be used for local anesthetics in spinal block. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the possible effect of intrathecal midazolam compared with bupivacaine as adjuvants in spinal anesthesia with bupivacaine in chronic opium abuses. METHODS: In a double blind, randomized clinical trial, 90 opium abuser patients undergoing lower limb orthopedic surgery were selected and randomly assigned into 3 groups (30 cases each). The patients received 15 mg plain bupivacaine, or 15 mg bupivacaine plus 25 mcg fentanyl or 15 mg bupivacaine plus 1 mg midazolam, intrathecally. RESULTS: The duration of anesthesia was much longer in the bupivacaine-midazolam group than the bupivacaine-fentanyl group; both were longer than the plain bupivacaine group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Subarachnoid injection of adjuvant midazolam or fentanyl with plain 0.5% bupivacaine in opium abusers in lower limb orthopedic surgery increases the duration of sensory block. Therefore midazolam is more effective than fentanyl in such cases.
Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Spinal ; Anesthetics, Local ; Bupivacaine ; Fentanyl ; Humans ; Lower Extremity ; Midazolam ; Opium ; Orthopedics

OBJECTIVE: Traditional retainers (both metal and fiber-reinforced composite [FRC]) have limitations, and a retainer made from more flexible ligature wires might be advantageous. We aimed to compare an experimental design with two traditional retainers. METHODS: In this prospective preliminary clinical trial, 150 post-treatment patients were enrolled and randomly divided into three groups of 50 patients each to receive mandibular canine-to-canine retainers made of FRC, flexible spiral wire (FSW), and twisted wire (TW). The patients were monitored monthly. The time at which the first signs of breakage/debonding were detected was recorded. The success rates of the retainers were compared using chi-squared, Kaplan-Meier, and Cox proportional-hazard regression analyses (α = 0.05). RESULTS: In total, 42 patients in the FRC group, 41 in the FSW group, and 45 in the TW group completed the study. The 2-year failure rates were 35.7% in the FRC group, 26.8% in the FSW group, and 17.8% in the TW group. These rates differed insignificantly (chi-squared p = 0.167). According to the Kaplan-Meier analysis, failure occurred at 19.95 months in the FRC group, 21.37 months in the FSW group, and 22.36 months in the TW group. The differences between the survival rates in the three groups were not significant (Cox regression p = 0.146). CONCLUSIONS: Although the failure rate of the experimental retainer was two times lower than that of the FRC retainer, the difference was not statistically significant. The experimental TW retainer was successful, and larger studies are warranted to verify these results.
Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Ligation ; Prospective Studies ; Research Design ; Survival Analysis* ; Survival Rate

Objective: To investigate whether tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) -238G/A and -308G/A polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in the Lur ethnic population of Iran. Methods: TNF polymorphisms genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method in 100 pulmonary TB patients and 100 healthy controls from the Lur population. Results: The allelic and genotypic frequencies of TNFα -238G/A polymorphism were not significantly different between the pulmonary TB patients and the healthy controls. However, the TNFα -308G/A polymorphism showed a significantly higher frequency of genotype GG in TB subjects compared to healthy controls (94% in the patients vs. 62% in the controls, P = 0.000. 1, odds ratio = 0.104, confidence interval = 0.028-0.382). Moreover, in the TNFα -308G/A polymorphism, a significantly higher frequency of G allele was measured in the patient group compared with the control group (97% in the patient group vs. 81% in the control group, P = 0.000. 1, odds ratio = 0.132, confidence interval = 0.038-0.462). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that TNFα -308G/A polymorphism may increase the susceptibility to pulmonary TB in the Lur population of Iran. Despite TNFα polymorphisms and susceptibility to pulmonary TB, we suggest that more studies with larger sample size are needed in the future. Increasing our understanding of susceptibility risk factors may help to improve current preventive measures and treatment for TB.

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical trial study. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of atorvastatin on sensory and motor function in patients with acute spinal cord injury. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: The prevalence and incidence of traumatic spinal cord injury are increasing. Statins are well established for use in hypercholesterolemia as well as during anti-inflammatory events. METHODS: This clinical trial study included 60 patients with acute spinal cord injury. These were randomly divided into two groups: the case group which received atorvastatin and also underwent surgical therapy and the control group which only underwent surgical therapy. RESULTS: The severity of spinal cord lesions was evaluated based on the Frankel grade at three periods; this showed no significant difference between the two groups. Comparisons of the levels of pain between the groups based on a Visual Analog Scale system showed no significant difference at the three periods. CONCLUSIONS: We observed no improvement at the 3- and 6-month follow-up in patients who were administered atorvastatin. However, a comparison of the two groups based on pain severity demonstrated a significant difference, suggesting that atorvastatin had a positive effect on patients with spinal cord injury.
Atorvastatin Calcium* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors ; Hypercholesterolemia ; Incidence ; Prevalence ; Spinal Cord Injuries* ; Spinal Cord* ; Visual Analog Scale

OBJECTIVES: Cataract is a prevalent disease in the elderly, and negatively influences patients' quality of life. This study was conducted to study the application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) to patients with cataract. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 300 patients with cataract were studied in Neyshabur, Iran from July to October 2014. The Iranian version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used to measure their quality of life. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Pearson's correlation coefficient, the paired t-test, the independent t-test, and a linear regression model were used to analyze the data in SPSS version 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 68.11±11.98 years, and most were female (53%). The overall observed Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the WHOQOL-BREF was 0.889, ranging from 0.714 to 0.810 in its four domains. The total mean score of the respondents on the WHOQOL-BREF was 13.19. The highest and lowest mean scores were observed in the social relationship domain (14.11) and the physical health domain (12.29), respectively. A backward multiple linear regression model found that duration of disease and marital status were associated with total WHOQOL scores, while age, duration of disease, marital status, and income level were associated with domains one through four, respectively (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The reliability analysis conducted in this study indicated that the WHOQOL-BREF scale exhibited an acceptable degree of internal consistency in the measurement of the quality of life of patients with cataract. It was also found that the patients with cataract who were surveyed reported a relatively moderate quality of life.
Aged ; Cataract* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Global Health* ; Humans ; Iran ; Linear Models ; Marital Status ; Quality of Life ; Reproducibility of Results ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; World Health Organization*

Objective: To understand the impact of platelet associated immunoglobulin G (PAIgG)/platelet associated immunoglobulin M (PAIgM) on severity of dengue virus infection leading to thrombocytopenia. Methods: In this study we examined a total of 52 patients who were having secondary infection of dengue in acute phase by using competitive ELISA. Results: A decrease in the platelet count was observed at the acute phase of infection while all along the recovery stage the count of platelet was significantly increased. A significant decrease was observed in PAIgG and PAIgM in these subjects. Inverse correlation was found between platelets count and PAIgG/PAIgM among the subjects studied. In the platelets elution from ten subjects, anti-dengue virus immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M were observed. PAIgG and PAIgM with inclined levels were higher in dengue hemorrhagic fever than the classical dengue fever. In the development of dengue hemorrhagic fever PAIgM inclined level was independently associated with high specificity, showing a possible indication of dengue hemorrhagic fever. Conclusions: This study suggests that in secondary dengue virus infection, the PAIgG and PAIgM levels, and the activity of anti-dengue virus play key roles, both in the development and severity of the disease.