[Stress distribution in luting cement layer in implant supported fixed partial dentures using finite element analysis]

Luting cements are necessarily used to increase retention and enhance the marginal seal of fixed partial dentures [FPDs]. In this study, the finite element method [FEM] was used to investigate the effect of different types of luting agents on stress distribution in the luting cement layer in a three-unit implant-supported FPD. A three-dimensional [3D] FE model of a FPD was designed from the maxillary second premolar to the second molar teeth using CATIA V5R18 software, and analyzed by ABAQUS/CAE version 6.6 software. Three load conditions were statically applied to eight points in each functional cusp in horizontal [57.0 N], vertical [200.0 N] and oblique [400.0 N, =120°] directions. Five luting agents including glass ionomer, zinc polycarboxylate, polymer-modified zinc oxide eugenol [ZOE], composite resin and zinc phosphate were evaluated. The stress distribution pattern in the luting cement layer was almost uniform in all luting cements. In addition, the maximum von Mises stress in the luting cement layer [39.96 MPa] was at the cervical one-third of the palatal side of the second premolar when oblique force was exerted on zinc phosphate cement. Moreover, the minimum von Mises stress in the luting cement layer [0.41 MPa] was at the lateral side of the coronal one-third when the horizontal force was applied to the Polymer-modified ZOE cement. Likewise, the luting cement layers in the premolar tooth showed greater von Mises stress than that in molar tooth. The type of luting cement has no significant effect on the stress distribution pattern in the luting cement layer; however, von Mises stress values were different in various types of luting agents. USE of zinc phosphate cement is associated with more limitations

[Comparison of protective antibody level against hepatitis B in accelerated and conventional vaccination]

The vaccination against hepatitis B is a front line defence for all at-risk groups. Conventional methods of hepatitis B vaccination [0, 1 and 6 months] is considered a long process. But vaccination at shorter intervals [0, 10 and 21 days] is suggested to achieve rapid immunity. This study was carried out to compare for the protective antibody level against hepatitis B in accelerated and conventional vaccination. In this descriptive and analytical study 160 health personnel of Imam Reza hospital of Kermanshah, Iran with no history of vaccination against hepatitis B were selected and divided into two groups during 2009. The volunteers were received vaccination according to accelerated [0, 10 and 21 days] and convetional [0, 1 and 6 months] methods. The antibody titer measured two years after the final dose of vaccination. The acceptable level of antibody was considered higher than 10 IU/ml. After two years the acceptable level of antibody was observed in 94.5% and 97.9% of subjects in accelarated and conventional methods, respectivley. This difference was not significant. This study showed that there is not significant differences between accelerated and conventional methods in antibody production against hepatitis B antigen

Delayed vaccination and related predictors among infants

Vaccination status is more often evaluated by up-to-date vaccination coverage rather than timeliness of immunization. This study was conducted to evaluate delayed vaccination during infancy period and to determine the predictors effecting on vaccination delay. This cross-sectional study was conducted from June to September 2011 in Hamadan Province, the west of Iran, recruiting 2460 children from 12 to 24 months of age via stratified cluster random sampling with 123 clusters of 20 persons. Data on vaccination were extracted from children's vaccination card. Additional data were collected through interview. Vaccination coverage of infants was >99.4% for all vaccines. However, 42% to 67.6% of infants received vaccine with delay. The delay time was longer in urban areas [P<0.001], among children with high educated mothers [P<0.001] and for the vaccines delivered at the end of infancy period. Delay time had a direct correlation with vacci-nators education level [P<0.001] and an inverse correlation with the number of periodical visits of health centers [P<0.001]. No correlation was detected between delay time and gender [P=0.507] and distance from health centers [P=0.627]. Considerable number of the infants received delayed vaccine, although, vaccination coverage was nearly completes. This issue indicates that delay time is very problematic to be resolved in any given situation even in areas with nearly full vaccination coverage and may require a major effort to be corrected. Furthermore, this study assessed the effect of some factors on delayed vaccination which may help policy makers who plan immunization programs

Nasal carriage rate of community- and hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in children, Kermanshah, Iran

Background: Staphylococcus aureus [S.aureus] is an importantpathogen in human infections.Some strains of S. aureusare methicillin-resistant [MRSA] andcause hospital- and community-acquired infections in children. The aims of this study were to determine nasalcarriage rate of S. aureus and susceptibility pattern of this organism to some antibioticsamong children in Kermanshah province, Iran. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Kermanshah province, Iranfrom 2007 to 2008.Nasal swabs were obtained from 274 children who were hospitalized in our university hospital at the time of admission and 219 children upon dischargetime.If result of nasal culture was positive at admission time they considered community acquired and if result at admission time was negative but positive at discharge time they considered hospital acquired. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns of S.aureuswere done by disk diffusion method and results were compared between them. Results: In 55 patients out of 274 cases [20.07%], S. aureus was demonstrated upon admission [community-acquired]. In the remaining 219 cases, S. aureus was detected in 46 cases [21%] at discharge time [hospital-acquired]. The rate of methicillin-resistant S. aureus [MRSA] in community- and hospital-acquired infections were 96.4% and 95.7%, respectively.We observed no statistical significance different in antibiotic resistance pattern between community acquired and hospital – acquired S.aureus except for co-triomoxcazol [P=0.034]. Conclusion: A high rate of MRSA in both community- and hospital-acquired infections were observed

[Diagnostic validity of BCL-2 in ganglion cell staining and its application in Hirschprung's disease diagnosis]

Hirschsprung's disease is a congenital disorder, characterized by the absence of ganglion cells in the intramural and submucosal plexus in distal parts of large bowel. Diagnosis is based on the histopathologic examination of hematoxilin and eosin stained sections. Due to diagnosis limitation by Hematoxylin and Eosin staining [H and E], this study was done to identify the ganglion cells by BCL-2 immunoreactivity and compared it with H and E staining. In this laboratory study, paraffin blocks of 36 specimens demonstrating ganglion cells on original H and E stained sections and 35 specimens lacking ganglion cells on H and E staining, were selected. Recuts were stained by H and E and BCL-2 methods. Ganglion cells were observed in 36 cases by H and E staining but in BCL-2 staining ganglion cells were detected in 29 cases. In 35 cases reported negative for ganglion cells on H and E staining, ganglion cells were detected in 5 cases by BCL-2 method. Sensitivity, spesificity, positive and negative predictive values for BCL-2 method for diagnosis of hirshsprung's disease were 81%, 86%, 85% and 86% respectively.discordancy [positive BCL-2, negative H and E] was 14%. Immunohistochemistry method using BCL-2 improve the accuracy of diagnosis in hirschsprung's disease, when accompanied with H and E staining, particulary for negative slides

[ degree of agreement of quantiferon TB gold test and tuberculin skin test in nurses]

Tuberculin skin test [TST] is the standard method for diagnosis of latent tuberculous infection. Positive results of TST [significant induration] may be seen in persons with latent M.tuberculosis infection and negative results of this test may be seen in patients with active tuberculosis. After performing TST false positive reactions may be seen with nontuberculous mycobacterial infections or false negative results may be encountered in anergic patients with tuberculosis disease. Quantiferon TB Gold test [QFT] is a new diagnostic test which assays the amount of released interferon gamma from peripheral blood lymphocytes in response to M.tuberculosis antigens. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree TST and QFT correlation. This descriptive study carried out on 72 nurses of two internal medicine and infectious diseases wards of Imam Reza and Imam Khomeini hospitals in Kermanshah located in West of Iran, during 2009. 58 of nurses were vaccinated with BCG vaccine and none of them had any immune compromising condition. TST was performed by intradermal injection of 0.1 ml of standard tuberculin test [5 TU] and QFT was performed 48 hours then after using peripheral whole blood. The amount of released interferon gamma from lymphocytes in response to antigens were measured by ELISA method. Three of nurses excluded and this study was done on 69 nurses. Overall the degree of agreement of TST and QFT was 63.7% [P=0.69 and Kappa=0.139]. The degree of discordance between these tests in PPD negative but QFT positive persons was 15.94% and in PPD positive but QFT negative persons was 20.3%. The sensitivity and specificity of QFT was 41.67% and 75.56% respectively. The degree of agreement of TST and QFT in vaccinated and unvaccinated nurses was 63.8% [Kappa=0.143] and 66.67% [Kappa=0.54] respectively. There was no significant difference between QFT and TST in diagnosing latent tuberculous infection

[Diagnostic value of immunohistochemical markers in uterine smooth muscle tumors]

Uterine smooth muscle tumors are the most common human neoplasms. They are divided clinically as benign and malignant but there is another group of lesions which is difficult to place in these two categories, so-called [STUMP] and differentiation of these tumors on the basis of H and E staining is impossible. The aim of this study was to find a set of distinguishing objective biomarkers and a survey of immunohistochemical [IHC] markers comparing these three groups of tumors. Twenty one [21] cases in each group of the above mentioned tumors were randomly selected [63 cases in total] from pathobiology laboratories of Kermanshah and Shiraz cities and studied by IHC for expression of ER, PR, C-kit, Bcl-2, P16, and P53. The frequency of IHC markers expression in leiomyosarcoma [LMS] were as follow: ER [5.26%], PR [15.52%], P53 [26.31%], Bcl-2 [15.78%], C-kit [15.52%] and P16 [15.42%]. In the STUMP cases: PR [23.80%], Bcl-2 [4.76%] and P16 [9.52%], ER, C-kit and P53 were not expressed. In Leiomyoma group, only Bcl-2 was expressed [14.28%] and the others had no expression. P53 and P16 expression between the two groups of Leiomyoma and LMS, and also STUMP and LMS were significantly different [P<0.05]. P53 and P16 are reliable markers for differentiation between STUMP and LMS and also Leiomyoma from LMS and have a high diagnostic specificity. STUMP is used to identify cases in which clinicopathologic findings for final diagnosis as benign or malignant is not adequate. In this study a high similarity of STUMP group of immunohistochemical profile with benign cases was seen

Serum antisperm antibodies in fertile and infertile individuals

Presence of antisperm antibodies [ASAs] in infertility and their adverse effects on fertility is a matter of controversy. The aims of this study were to determine the percentage of antibody positive sperms and rate of ASA positive sera in both fertile and infertile men and women, and to find the association between these antibodies and infertility. This study consisted of 29 fertile and 60 infertile men and women. The serum immu-noglobulin [Ig] M, G, and A antisperm antibodies were evaluated after incubation of the sera with normal and high-quality fresh sperm from healthy donors. The percentage of spermatozoa positive for IgM, IgG, and IgA antibodies and the rate of antisperm antibody positive sera in fertile and infertile groups were measured by flow cytometry. Mean percentage of antibody positive sperms in fertile and infertile groups showed no significant differences [all P > 0.05]. The rate of ASA positive sera in fertile and infertile individuals showed no significant differences [all P > 0.05]. There were no significant differences between the mean percentage of antibody positive sperms and the rate of ASA positive sera in fertile and infertile men and women [all P > 0.05]. Presence of ASAs in the serum may not be associated with infertility. Although antisperm antibodies may interfere with fertility, not all types of ASAs can associate with infertility. Current tests cannot differentiate the ASAs that interfere with infertility from those that do not, because the antigenic specificities of these ASAs are not known. The antigens of the infertility-related ASAs must be characterized to allow an accurate detection for individuals with ASAs

[Survey of personal and educational characters in unsuccess medical students in compare with success students]

Educational failure and dropping out are among the major problems of higher education centers in the country. The present study was performed to compare personal and educational characters of success and unsuccessful medical students in the medical school of Kermanshah. Information about personal and educational characters were collected from all dropped out students, as unsuccessful group, and the students without dropping out and with a educational score more than 15, as control [success] group, during 2001 and 2005. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS software. To compare mean quantitative factors in two groups, in-depended T test and F test were used, chi-square and fisher test used for qualitative factors, and Pierson correlation coefficient calculated. There was a significant difference between two successful and unsuccessful students groups with regard to age, sex, diploma score, time gap between graduation from high school and studying in university, parents education, marital status, students job, quota system and mean of all specialized lesson in Konkor examination [p<0.05]. No significant difference was observed in the type of diploma and living in university accommodation between two groups. According to significant differences in many personal and educational characters between two successful and unsuccessful student groups, it seems more attention and special programming is necessary in this field