Effects of UV Absorber on Zirconia Fabricated with Digital Light Processing Additive Manufacturing

This study evaluated the effect of UV absorbers on the dimensional accuracy of zirconia specimens fabricated by additive manufacturing using a digital light process. Zirconia suspension for additive manufacturing was prepared by setting the volume fractions (0, 0.005, 0.05, and 0.1%) of various UV absorbers. The effect of UV absorber content was evaluated through curing thickness, geometric overgrowth model design, linear deviation, and microstructure evaluation before and after sintering. Statistical analysis was performed by Kruskal–Wallis H and post-tested by the Bonferroni correction method. There was no significant difference in the cure depth according to the presence or absence of the UV absorber, the difference in geometric overgrowth was from 2.1 to 12.5%, and the overgrowth significantly decreased as the amount of added UV absorber increased. This result may contribute to improved precision of 3D multilayer ceramic products.     

HIV Prevalence and Related Behaviors Among People Who Inject Drugs in Iran from 2010 to 2020

AIDS and Behavior - Injection drug use has been the leading route of HIV transmission in Iran. We assessed HIV prevalence, risk behaviors, and uptake of prevention services among people who inject...     

Isfahan Healthy Heart Programme: a comprehensive integrated community-based programme for cardiovascular disease prevention and control. Design,methods and initial experience

The Isfahan Healthy Heart Programme (IHHP) is a five to six year comprehensive integrated community-based programme for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) prevention and control via reducing CVD risk factors and improvement of cardiovascular healthy behaviour in a target population. IHHP started late in 1999 and will be finished in 2005-2006. A primary survey was done to collect baseline data from interventional (Isfahan and Najaf-Abad) and reference (Arak) communities. In a two-stage sampling method, we randomly selected 5 to 10 percent of households from randomly selected clusters. Then individuals aged > or = 19 years were selected for the survey. This way, data from 12,600 individuals (6300 in interventional counties and 6300 in the reference county) was collected and stratified according to living area (urban vs. rural) and different age and sex groups. The samples underwent a 30-minute interview to complete validated questionnaires containing questions on demography, socioeconomic status, smoking behaviour, physical activity, nutritional habits and other behaviour regarding CVD. Blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) measurements were done and fasting blood samples were taken for two hours post load plasma glucose (2 hpp), serum (total, HDL and LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride levels. A twelve-lead electrocardiogram was recorded in all persons above 35 years of age. Community-wide surveillance of deaths, hospital discharges, myocardial infarction and stroke registry was carried out in the intervention and control areas. Four to five years of interventions based on different categories such as mass media, community partnerships, health system involvement and policy and legislation have started in the intervention area while Arak will be followed without intervention. Considering the results of the baseline surveys, (assessments needed, the objectives, existing resources and the possibility of national implementation) the interventions were planned. They were set based on specific target groups like school children, women, work-site, health personnel, high-risk persons, and community leaders were actively engaged as decision makers. A series of teams was arranged for planning and implementation of the intervention strategies. Monitoring will be done on small samples to assess the effect of different interventions in the intervention area. While four periodic surveys will be conducted on independent samples to assess health behaviours related to CVD risk factors in the intervention and reference areas, the original pre-intervention subjects aged more than 35 years will be followed in both areas to assess the individual effect of interventions and outcomes like sudden death, fatal and nonfatal MI and stroke. The whole baseline survey will be repeated on the original and an independent sample in both communities at the end of the study.     

Ultrasonographic findings of experimental glaucoma in rabbits

Ocular ultrasonography is a valid and non-invasive diagnostic method used to evaluate ocular and retrobulbar structures, especially when opacity of the anterior segments precludes ophthalmic examination of deeper structures of the eye or when exophthalmos is present. This study describes the B-mode ultrasonographic findings of the globe in 10 rabbits with experimental glaucoma. Ultrasonography of the eyes, using Titan TM machine and 7 MHz linear array transducer, was performed transpalpebrally. Ocular ultrasonographic findings revealed two cases of increased corneal thickness, seven cases of change in the anterior chamber depth, one case of increased echogenicity in the anterior chamber, three cases of retinal detachment, one case of increased iris and ciliary body thickness and six cases of change in axial globe length. Increased echogenicity of the capsule, cortex and nucleus was found in two cases. Six cases showed change in lens diameter. Increased echogenicity and altered lens diameter are typical of cataract. Two cases of point-like lesions, mass and/or linear echodensities in mild extent were observed within the vitreous representing haemorrhage, vitreous degeneration or detachment. The B-mode ultrasonographic imaging technique has become an essential diagnostic tool in most ocular disease. This method provides additional information allowing the clinician to offer more accurate diagnosis, treatment and prognosis in glaucoma.     

Trend in dental research output in Iran over a period of 20 years (1990–2009)

Introduction: The number of scientific papers is a conventional metric for the measurement of a country’s research performance in a particular area. Objective: To evaluate the trend in Iranian publications of dental research results in peer-reviewed international scientific journals over the period 1999–2009, using national and international databases, and to compare the results with other countries. Methods: The search process was performed by two independent persons in PubMed and Iranian Medline (IranMedex). Data extraction included the year of publication, total number of dental papers in each year, total number of Iranian dental papers in each year and number of papers with a high level of evidence; these were compared with those in other Asian countries. Results: The total number of dental articles indexed in PubMed during the studied period was 207,689, with 671 being written by researchers who stated their affiliation as Iran. Although the proportion of Iranian dental articles to all published dental articles was 0.01% in 1990, this increased to 1.4% in 2009. Of all clinical trials indexed in PubMed from 1990 to 2009, only 0.62% had an author from Iran. The collaboration rate of authors ranged between 1 and 10. Turkey and Iran had a larger number of dental research publications compared with other Asian countries assessed in this study. Conclusion: During the last two decades, there has been a considerable increase in the number of dental papers by Iranian researchers indexed in the PubMed database.Key words: Dental, research, Iran