ABSTRACT
Cytomegalovirus [CMV] is a prevalent infection in humans. Recent studies have shown the role of CMV infection in male infertility disorder. Here we aimed to study the role of CMV infection in men with idiopathic infertility. We performed a case-control study of CMV serology in 200 patients attending male infertility clinic of a university hospital. There were 154 men diagnosed with infertility and 46 men without infertility. The patients were asked to donate their sperm, blood, and urine. The presence of CMV infection was studied using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. CMV infection was present in 25 of all the studied participants. Controls had a higher sperm count and sperm motility and sperm morphology compared to patients. There were no significant differences in the studied variables between those with and without CMV infection, nor in patients, neither in controls. Sperm morphology was negatively correlated with cigarette smoking [r=-0.15; p<0.03]. Even though the prevalence of CMV infection was higher in patients with infertility in control and patient [5/46 vs. 20/154] respectively, this was not statistically significant. We did not show a significant role for CMV infection in male infertility. Based on the previous studies, it could be assumed that CMV infection is an important part of the male infertility and its treatment would improve the sperm quality, however this was not confirmed by the present study
ABSTRACT
The core concept of plagiarism is defined as the use of other people's ideas or words without proper acknowledgement. Herein, we used a questionnaire to assess the knowledge of students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences [TUMS] regarding plagiarism and copyright infringement. The questionnaire comprised 8 questions. The first six questions of the questionnaire were translations of exercises of a book about academic writing and were concerning plagiarism in preparing articles. Questions number 7 and 8 [which were concerning plagiarism in preparing Microsoft PowerPoint slideshows and copyright infringement, respectively] were developed by the authors of the present study. The validity of the questionnaire was approved by five experts in the field of epidemiology and biostatistics. A pilot study consisting of a test and retest was carried to assess the reliability of the questionnaire. The sampling method was stratified random sampling, and the questionnaire was handed out to 74 interns of TUMS during July and August 2011. 14.9% of the students correctly answered the first six questions. 44.6% of the students were adequately familiar with proper referencing in Microsoft PowerPoint slideshows. 16.2% of the students understood what constitutes copyright infringement. The number of correctly answered questions by the students was directly proportionate to the number of their published articles. Knowledge of students of TUMS regarding plagiarism and copyright infringement is quite poor. Courses with specific focus on plagiarism and copyright infringement might help in this regard
ABSTRACT
Organophosphates are insecticides which are widely used as a suicidal agent in Iran. They are associated with different types of cardiac complications including cardiac arrest and arrhythmia, however their role in cardiac injury is not known yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of myocardial damage in patients with cholinesterase poisoning. It was a prospective study conducted from January 2008 to March 2010. Cohorts of patients with cholinesterase poisoning due to suicidal attempt who have been referred to Loghman hospital were selected. Patients who have taken more than one poison or were used concomitant drugs were excluded. Physical examination was performed on admission to discover warning sign. Peripheral arterial blood gases, creatine kinase, creatine kinase-myocardial band, troponin-T measurements were performed in all cases. There were 24 patients, 7 of them women, with the mean age of 41.2 +/- 15.05 who were included in this study. Non-survivors had significantly higher levels of systolic blood pressure, partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood, partial pressure of carbon dioxide, bicarbonate Glasgow Coma Scale scoring and longer duration of mechanical ventilation. Our findings showed that cardiac injury is an important cause of death in organophosphate poisoning. It could be hypothesized that cardiac injury is a strong predictor of death in patients with organophosphate poisoning
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Heart/drug effects , Cholinesterases , Prospective StudiesABSTRACT
Malignant pleural effusion is a common complication in certain malignancies. Pleurodesis is the best option most of the time. The purpose of this study was to compare the choice of belomycin with povidone-iodine, which is not only determined by the efficacy of the agent but also by its cost, accessibility, safety, ease of administration and the number of administrations to achieve a complete response. We performed a randomized clinical trial on 39 patients presenting with symptomatic malignant pleural effusion. Patients were selected and randomly assigned to undergo chemical pleurodesis with either bleomycin or povidone-iodine. Primary characteristics of patients were assessed and graded before and after treatment concerning pain, dyspnea, and chest radiographs. A complete response was obtained in 79% of belomycin group and 75% of povidone-iodine group which was not statistically significant. Patients on belomycin treatment had a significantly lower score for dyspnea in one month follow up. This was significant after controlling for age, pain score and dyspnea score after drainage, using general linear model. Due to similar effect and significant cost advantage between bleomycin and povidone-iodine, we conclude that povidoneiodine is the agent of choice when utilizing pleurodesis for control of symptomatic malignant pleural effusions