[Efficacy of eight weeks of exercise therapy for neck pain among general dentists practicing in Tehran]

The prevalence of musculoskeletal complaints is high among dentists; however, only a few studies have focused on this topic. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of an exercise program for treatment of neck pain in dentists practicing in Tehran.A questionnaire was administered among 46 dentists in Tehran matched by age, gender [all males] and neck pain complaints in the past six months. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups. The first group received exercise therapy while the second group was given no exercise. Pain was measured at two months after the intervention using the visual analog scale [VAS]. Data were analyzed using t-test and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.The t-test showed significant improvement of neck pain in the first group after the intervention [p<0.05]. The results showed that exercise therapy can be effective for treatment of neck pain. Therefore, regular exercise by dentists can prevent neck pain and other musculoskeletal disorders

Quality assurance program for molecular medicine laboratories

Molecular diagnostic methods have played and continuing to have a critical role in clinical laboratories in recent years. Therefore, standardization is an evolutionary process that needs to be upgrade with increasing scientific knowledge, improvement of the instruments and techniques. The aim of this study was to design a quality assurance program in order to have similar conditions for all medical laboratories engaging with molecular tests. We had to design a plan for all four elements; required space conditions, equipments, training, and basic guidelines. Necessary guidelines was prepared and confirmed by the launched specific committee at the Health Reference Laboratory. Several workshops were also held for medical laboratories directors and staffs, quality control manager of molecular companies, directors and nominees from universities. Accreditation of equipments and molecular material was followed parallel with rest of program. Now we are going to accredit medical laboratories and to evaluate the success of the program. Accreditation of medical laboratory will be succeeding if its basic elements are provided in advance. Professional practice guidelines, holding training and performing accreditation the molecular materials and equipments ensured us that laboratories are aware of best practices, proper interpretation, limitations of techniques, and technical issues. Now, active external auditing can improve the applied laboratory conditions toward the defined standard level

[Effect of ionizing radiation of cobalt 60 on radiosensitivity of HeLa cells infected with Measles virus]

Radiotherapy is one of the cancer treatment methods. Prescribed dose for each fraction is considered based on radiosensitivity of tumoral and normal tissues. Viral agents are the effective factors on tissue sensitivity. This research aimed to determine the effect of ionizing radiation of Cobal 60 on radiosensitivity of Hela cells infected with Measles virus. In this study, the radiosensitivity of Hela cells is investigated experimentally and qualitively. The cells have been cultivated in two groups [experimental and blank] and plating efficiency has been obtained. Then 100 lambda measles virus with serial dilution method was used to induce infection in different ratio for experimental group. After cell growth and passage, the two groups were irradiated with 2Gy gamma radiation of cobalt 60. Results respectively indicated cell death increases up to 5-7%, 15-20% and 50-65%, after 2Gy irradiation by Co 60 for contaminating to Measles in low, moderate and high concentrations. The result in radiotherapy of cancers showed, in prescribing dose fraction non cancer disease should be considered

[Evaluation of radiosensitivity of HeLa cells infected with polio virus irradiated by Co 60]

The main purpose of radiotherapy is exposing enough doses of radiation to tumor tissue and protecting the normal tissues around it. Tumor dose for each session in radiotherapy will be considered based on radiosensitivity of the tissues. The presence of viral diseases in tumoral area can affect the radiosensitivity of cells. This study aimed to evaluate the radiosensitivity of Hela cells infected with poliomyelitis virus irradiated by Co 60. In this study, the radiosensitivity of HeLa cells, with or without the viral infection, after gamma radiation of cobalt 60, was assessed. Results of comparison of the radisensitivity of infected and uninfected cells indicates that after 2 Gy irradiation by Co 60, polio infection in low, moderate and high virus load, increases the cell death by 20-30%, 30-40% and 70-90% respectively. Radiosensitivity of tumoral cells increase when they are infected with viral agents. Results of this study showed that non cancer diseases should be considered when prescribing dose fraction in radiotherapy of cancers

[Pyknodysostosis -A case report with a brief review of the literature]

Pyknodysostosis is a rare sclerosing bone disorder that has an autosomal dominant trait. It is characterized by short stature, brachycephaly, short and stubby fingers, open cranial sutures and fontanel, and diffuse osteosclcrosis, where multiple fractures of long bones and osteomyelitis of the au arc frequent complications. A case is presented which has the characteristic oral and radiological findings that are connsistent with this syndrome, along with a brief review of the literature. As oral manifestations and appearance characteristics seen in this disorder arc reliable signs for its further examinations, knowing about these signs would be helpful in the diagnosis as well as the improvement of its prognosis. Accordingly, by knowing the oral symptoms and appearance characterstics of the disease, dentist could be the very first person who would look for the necessary examinations led to the diagnosis of the disease

[Using private medical centers in training medical students: the viewpoints of the faculty members of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences]

Taking advantage of faculty members' private offices for educational intentions has been recommended as a strategy for students' attendance in society and their encounter with patient management. This study was performed to investigate the viewpoints of administrators and clinical faculty members toward using private medical centers for training students. This descriptive study was carried out on all clinical faculty members who owned private offices. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire with five point Likert scale and including 20 items about using private medical centers. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using methods for descriptive statistics, t-test, and Pearson. In total, 173 persons returned the questionnaires. The mean of the total score of the questionnaires was 3.02 +/- 0.78 out of five. The most agreement was on the role of in-office education on identifying students' future job, teaching new cases to them, and promoting researches and studies in medical sciences. Most of the respondents believed that education in private offices could reduce offices' income, the number of patients, and patients' confidence in physician. Faculty members believed that using private medical centers could promote the education of clerkship students, interns, and residents, but the total mean shows that their general view is not that positive. It is recommended to conduct interventional studies concerning the effect of training in private centers on learners' knowledge and skills

Comparison of enzyme immunoassay, immunochromatography, and RNA-polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis for diagnosis of rotavirus infection in children with acute gastroenteritis

Human rotavirus is a major etiologic agent for infantile diarrhea worldwide. It is responsible for up to 3.3 million deaths per year in children in developing countries. Various rapid and sensitive techniques have been developed to readily diagnose rotavirus gastroenteritis. In the present study, we compared the sensitivity and specificity of immunochromatography and RNA-polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis [PAGE] methods with enzyme immunoassay [EIA] for diagnosis of group A rotavirus infection in 200 stool samples from children younger than 5 years old with acute gastroenteritis. Rotavirus was detected in 57 [28.5%] samples by EIA, 52 [26%] samples by ICG and 52 [26%] samples by RNA-PAGE. There was no significant difference between the three methods [P=0.8] nor between EIA and ICG [P=0.57] and EIA and RNA-PAGE [P=0.57]. Furthermore, in comparing these methods with age variables, the present study found that the sensitivity and specificity of ICG and RNA-PAGE compared with EIA were 87.7%, 98.6% and 91.2%, and 100%, respectively [P>0.05]. Results of the present study demonstrate that the sensitivity and specificity rates for ICG and RNA-PAGE were as high as EIA. It seems that all the three methods are reliable and suitable for detection of group A rotavirus infection in children affected by enteric diseases