Background: Prevalence estimates of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among breast cancer patients varied widely in existing studies. This study aimed to provide an overall prevalence estimate of PTSD among breast cancer patients, and the prevalence estimates related to specific PTSD diagnosis tools.

Methods: Systematic search of relevant articles was made from seven databases. Freeman-Tukey Double Arcsine Transformation was used to estimate the overall prevalence of PTSD. Sub-group and meta-regression analyses were used to investigate the between-study sources of heterogeneity. Publication bias was examined using Egger’s funnel plot and Begg test.

Results: The pooled prevalence of PTSD among breast cancer patients was [9.6%, 95% confidence intervals (95%CI)=7.9-11.5%]. Studies that used Clinician Administered PTSD Scale-Form (CAPS) method alone yielded much higher prevalence (19.0%, 95%CI=13.1-25.5%, n=5) than three or fourth edition Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (SCID) method alone (3.0%, 95%CI= 2.2-3.9%, n=11). Prevalence estimates for studies that used the methods: PTSD Checklist—Civilian Version (PCL-C) cut-off, PCL-C cluster, and Impact of Event Scale (IES) cut-off were (7.0%, 95%CI= 3.9-10.8%, n=10), (11.5%, 95%CI= 8.6-15.6%, n=11) and (15.1%, 95%CI= 12.3-18.2%, n=4), respectively. Heterogeneity between-study was substantial (I²=44.9–92.3%).

Conclusion: About 9.6% of the breast cancer patients would develop the PTSD symptoms. Those who were younger, non-Caucasian and recently completed treatment would be at a greater risk of developing PTSD.

Background: This study conducted to examine and to provide a systematic literature over the influence of adolescents’ physical activity (PA) in maximizing`s peak bone mass (PBM). PBM or the ‘bone bank’ is an important determinant in achieving healthy bone. PA is one of the bone’s lifestyle contributors and high PBM is one of the major strategies for preventing osteoporosis.

Methods: A computerized literature search using Medline (Ovid) and Scopus were conducted to identify relevant observational studies on the influence of different level of PA on bone acquisition among the healthy adolescent population. All articles included, were limited to original articles and English language.

Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Reported bone outcomes were of bone mass, bone structure and bone strength. Eight studies showed positive association between adolescents’ PA and high bone variables. The influence of PA may differ according to sex, skeletal sites and bone outcomes.

Conclusion: This study supported the importance of increase adolescents’ regular PA in optimizing PBM thus preventing osteoporosis at later life.

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common malignancy in men worldwide. The purpose of this study was to provide a brief synthesis the current knowledge for the effects of physical activity (PA) and nutrition on PCa risk.

Methods: A systematic review of English languages reviews, meta-analysis, and original articles published from 2009 to 2015 extracted from the following websites: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Health Source, Science Direct, and their references.

Results: The review of the literature led to the selection of 12 review or meta-analysis studies and 15 lately published observational studies. Most of studies reported relationship of recreational and occupational PA and vegetables, fruits, vitamins, red/processed meats, and fats consumption with risk of PCa. Decreased risk for PCa associated with exercise was reported in seven of the ten articles on this topic. The inverse association of vegetables and/or fruit intake with PCa risk was reported in eight of 13 papers. The effect of meat/fat intake on PCa was estimated in four articles finding increased risk. There was heterogeneity between studies, and findings are inconsistent.

Conclusion: Physical activity does not significantly reduce the risk of PCa; however, vigorous exercise may reduce the risk of aggressive tumor. Besides, there is a lack of definitive evidence supporting the preventive role of diet against PCa. Due to many other benefits of regular moderate-vigorous PA and a diet high in vegetables and fruits and low in red/processed meats and fats, these lifestyle patterns may be recommended.

Background: Heart disease is one of the most common chronic disease and leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Adropin, a newly identified protein, is important for energy homeostasis and maintaining insulin sensitivity, and has been referred to as a novel regulator of endothelial cells. Endothelial dysfunction is a key early event in atherogenesis and onset of HD. Therefore, this review gives a systematic overview of studies investigating plasma adropin level in patient with heart disease.

Methods: Data carried out in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Google scholar and MEDLINE, from the earliest available online indexing year through 2015. The search restricted to studies conducted in humans. The keyword search was adropin to apply in title, abstract and keywords. References lists of all original published articles were scanned to find additional eligible studies.

Results: Heart failure (HF), coronary atherosclerosis acute myocardial infarction and Cardiac Syndrome X (CSX) were type of heart disease acknowledged in this study. Majority of evidences introduced low adropin as an independent risk factor of heart disease. In a case-control study, the plasma level of adropin increased with the severity of HF.

Conclusion: Adropinmay be a potential serum biomarker for early diagnosis of HD.

Background: Current food safety issues are deleteriously reshaping the lifestyle of the population in the developing world. The globalization of food supply impacts patterns of foodborne disease outbreaks worldwide, and consumers are having increased concern about microbiological food safety.

Methods: A total of 2305 samples including sauced meat, sausage, smoked meat, shrimp, sashimi and shellfish were collected from different farmer's markets and supermarkets. The prevalence of selected foodborne pathogens was evaluated in cooked meat and seafood from 2010 to 2013 in Shandong Province, China.

Results: The average contamination rate was 6.39% (93.1456) for the selected pathogens in cooked meat and 16.84% (143.849) for V. parahaemolyticus in seafood. For the selected pathogens, 0.55%, 1.03%, 1.17%, 3.64% and 16.84% samples were contaminated with E. coli O157: H7, Salmonella spp., L. monocytogenes, S. aureus and VP, respectively. There was a significant (P<0.05) difference in the contamination rate between the farmer's markets and supermarkets.

Conclusion: The contamination was decreasing in cooked meat and maintaining a relatively high level in seafood from 2010 to 2013. E. coli O157: H7, S. aureus, L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. existed at a relatively low rate in retail foods. For VP, the contamination rate has been maintained at a relatively high level in Shandong Province in China. Moreover, cooked meat and seafood obtained from farmer's markets are more susceptible to be contaminated compared to those from supermarkets.

Background: Obesity is a serious problem of public health and affects all socio-economic groups, irrespective of age, sex or ethnicity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between periodontal condition and nutritional status of adolescents.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using a probability cluster sampling, and the sample was defined by statistical criterion, consisting of 559 students aged 15-19 yr enrolled in public schools of adolescents of Campina Grande, PB, Brazil in 2012. Socioeconomic characteristics were analyzed, as well as self-reported general and oral health, anthropometric data and periodontal condition (CPI and OHI-S). Descriptive and analytical analysis from bivariate and multivariate Poisson regression analysis with 5% significance level was performed.

Results: Of the 559 adolescents, 18.6% were overweight and 98.4% had some form of periodontal changes such as: bleeding (34.3%), calculus (38.8%), shallow pocket (22.9%) and deep pocket (2.3%). There was association between presence of periodontal changes with obesity (P<0.05; CI 95%: 0.99 [0.98 - 0.99]).

Conclusion: The association between presence of periodontal changes and obesity status in adolescents was indicated.

Background: The public’s cognition of stroke and responses to stroke symptoms are important to prevent complications and decrease the mortality when stroke occurs. The aim of study was to develop and validate the Chinese version of the Stroke Action Test (C-STAT) in a Chinese population.

Methods: This study was rigorously implemented with the published guideline for the translation, adaptation and validation of instruments for the cross-cultural use in healthcare care research. A cross-sectional study was performed among 328 stroke patients and family members in the Department of Neurology in the Second Hospital of Lanzhou University, Gansu province, China in 2014.

Results: The Chinese version of the instrument showed favorable content equivalence with the source version. Values of Cronbach’s alpha and test-retest reliability of the C-STAT were 0.88 and 0.86, respectively. Principal component analysis supported four-factor solutions of the C-STAT. Criterion-related validity showed that the C-STAT was a significant predictor of the 7-item stroke symptom scores (R = 0.77; t = 21.74, P< 0.001).

Conclusion: The C-STAT is an intelligible and brief psychometrical tool to assess individuals’ knowledge of the appropriate responses to stroke symptoms in Chinese populations. It could also be used by health care providers to assess educational programs on stroke prevention.

Background: The objective of the present study was to explore the efficacy of internet-based intervention on quality of life of patients with chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP).  

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 81 patients diagnosed with CPSP after radical resection for lung cancer between January 2013 and July 2014.  They were enrolled either as part of the conventional care group which included 40 cases or the internet-based pain intervention group which included 41 cases. The patients in the conventional care group were treated weekly in the outpatient clinic, while patients in internet-based group were treated via smartphone or the internet.  The 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) was utilized to assess the quality of life of patients who were suffering from CPSP, 1 month and 3 months after therapy.

Results: The patients in the internet-based pain intervention group demonstrated similar health-related qualities of life and overall satisfaction rates compared with the conventional care group (P>0.05).

Conclusion: Internet-based pain management is a suitable option to improve the quality of life of patients with CPSP after radical resection for lung cancer.

Background: Choline-binding proteins (CBPs) are a group of surface-exposed proteins, which play crucial and physiological roles in Streptococcus pneumoniae. The novel member of CBPs, choline-binding protein M (CbpM) may have binding activity to plasma proteins. This study aimed to clone and express CbpM and demonstrate its interaction with plasma proteins and patients’ sera.

Methods: The total length of cbpM gene was cloned in pET21a vector and expressed in BL21 expression host. Verification of recombinant protein was evaluated by Western blot using anti-His tag monoclonal antibody. Binding ability of the recombinant protein to plasma proteins and the interaction with patients’ sera were assessed by Western blot and ELISA methods.

Results: The cbpM gene was successfully cloned into pET21a and expressed in BL21 host. Binding activity to fibronectin and fibrinogen and antibody reaction of CbpM to patients’ sera was demonstrated by Western blot and ELISA methods, respectively.

Conclusion: CbpM is one of the pneumococcal surface-exposed proteins, which mediates pneumococcal binding to fibronectin and fibrinogen proteins.

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women. Cancer/Testis antigens are immunogenic proteins ectopically expressed in human neoplasms. Synaptonemal complex protein 3 (SYCP3) belongs to cancer/testis genes family involved in meiotic events and spermatogenesis. The aim of this study was to express analysis of SYCP3 in breast cancer and validate it as a breast cancer biomarker.

Methods: Expression of SYCP3 transcripts in 47 breast tumors, 6 breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, SKBR3, T47D, BT474, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB 468), 5 normal breast and 2 testis tissues was studied by Real Time RT-PCR reaction. The reference genes phosphoglucomutase 1 and hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase were used as reactions normalizers. The software tool REST 2009 was applied for statistical analysis of the data. The research was conducted from Apr 2014 to August 2015 in Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Results: All of the studied breast cancer cell lines showed very high levels of SYCP3 overexpression in comparison to normal breast (P=0.001) and even to normal testis (P=0.001), except for MCF7 cell line. Breast tumors showed moderately increasing in transcript changes in comparison to normal breast.

Conclusion: SYCP3 is a known testis-specific gene, but interestingly five out of six studied breast cancer of cell lines showed higher expression levels of SYCP3 in comparison to normal testis and normal breast tissues. SYCP3 has critical role in cell division with known interaction with the tumor suppressor genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are critical genes in breast cancer.

Background: Migraine is a common debilitating primary headache disorder with current head pain attacks, which contributes to physical activity dysfunctions in chronic pain phase. PGE2 and PGI2 are two important prostaglandins synthesised by COX-2 enzymes, involved in migraine pain signals. COX-2 modulation is essential in treatment and pathogenesis of migraine. This study aimed to investigating the association between COX-2 gene polymorphisms with the risk of migraine susceptibility in migraine patients with related and unrelated parents.

Methods: This case- control study was based on 100 migraine patients and 100 non-migraine subjects in Bushehr province, Iran in 2013. Genomic DNA of blood samples was extracted and genotyping of COX-2-765G>C (rs20417) and COX-2-1195A>G (rs689466) gene variants was investigated by PCR-RFLP method. Statistical analyses were accomplished using the SPSS software package.

Results: There was a significant differences in the frequencies of the COX-2-765G>C and COX-2-1195A>G genotypes between migraine patients and controls (P≤0.05).

Conclusion: COX-2-765CC, COX-2-765CG, COX-2-1195GG and COX-2-1195AG genotypes can increase the risk of migraine significantly. As the first study in Iran, we are hopeful to achieve greater results about the relevancy of COX-2 gene, migraine and pain signals pathway by repeating these experiments on more samples.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a serious public health problem worldwide and particularly in developing countries. In Algeria, this metabolic disorder occurs with a wide variety or atypical forms that linked to multiple risk factors including local habits and traditions. This study aimed to determine the impact of risk factors (metabolic syndrome, social, cultural, physical activity, family history and the treatment used) on the incidence of diabetes.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2013 on a random sample from a resident population in Tebessa, Northeast Algeria, which underwent a significant expanding of diabetes prevalence conditioned by profound socio-economic changes. The survey included 200 subjects, randomly selected; with 100 controls and 100 diabetic patients, (26 diabetic subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus ‘T1DM’ and 74 subjects with type two diabetes mellitus ‘T2DM’).

Results: Diabetic subjects were significantly affected by all these risk factors, including metabolic syndrome that was higher in women. The most common treatment among surveyed T1DM subjects was insulin, whereas T2DM patients used metformin. In addition, the duration from T1DM onset in the surveyed subjects is older than T2DM onset. The incidence of diabetes is significantly in close relationship between the majorities of these factors of risk.

Conclusion: Subjects with a high socioeconomic status can afford a healthier way of life to avoid the risk of developing diabetes compared to subjects with lower social level.

Background: This study aimed to determine the role of tumor markers AFP, CA15-3, CA125, CA19-9 and CEA in patients with hepatitis B and C.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed from Oct 2012 to Oct 2014. Serum samples of 129 patients with hepatitis B and C referred to Guilan Liver and Digestive Disease Research Center in Rasht, Iran were collected and checked for the existence of the listed tumor markers by ELISA.

Results: No increase in serum levels of tumor marker CA19-9, CEA and CA15-3 were seen in patients with hepatitis (P>0.05). In patients with hepatitis B, increase in CA125 were observed (P=0.03). In hepatitis C patients, there was an increase in AFP levels (P=0.03).

Conclusion: The levels of AFP and CA125 markers were high in hepatitis C and hepatitis B, respectively. However, the increased levels were not seen is malignancy. Due to the small sample size, further study is necessary to find the reasons of the increase.

Neurobrucellosis is uncommon; however, it is an important complication of brucellosis, which could be seen in any stage of the disease. It presents with different kinds of neurology manifestations and diagnosis is mainly made on history, physical examination and laboratory tests. The clinical course of the disease is relatively insidious and the most common pattern of presentation is subacute or chronic. It has a long-term treatment period and its response to treatment is slow. Here, we report a case of an apparent healthy 25 yr-old Afghani woman from Fars Province (south of Iran) that presented at first with hyperacute onset of headache and abnormal behavior and diagnosed neurobrucellosis in Nov 2015. In endemic areas, neurobrucellosis should be considered for each patient referred with unexplained neurological problems.

Memory Self-efficacy Mediates the Relationship between Self-rated Health and Optimism among Chinese Older Adults

Rotavirus Vaccine Demand in Pakistan

Willing to Pay for Antiviral Treatment of Hepa¬titis B Patients

E-game in Healthcare: As an E-intervention to Promote Public Health

Prevalence of Xerostomia in Patients Referred to Shiraz Dental School, Shiraz, Iran during 2006-2013

Dizygotic Twins Concordant for Down Syndrome: Implication for Establishing a National Birth Defect Registry in Iran

Community Genetic Services in Iran at a Glance

Is Hair Lice Still a Public Health Problem?

Physical Activity and Colorectal Cancer.

Inequality in the Incidence and Mortality of All Cancers in the World