Sharif Digital Repository

Introduction: Therapeutic exercises are regarded as one of most important therapeutic interventions for patients with chronic low back pain. Stabilization exercises are among the most practical ones for these patients. Effects of these exercises on psychological factors associated with pain and consequential functional disabilities are still remained unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of stabilization exercises on fear of pain, movement and disability in patients with low back pain. Materials and Methods: Twenty one patients with recurrent non-specific low back pain (14 in experimental, 7 in control group) were participated in this study. The scores for fear of pain,... 

Background: De novo drug discovery is a time-consuming and expensive process. Nowadays, drug repositioning is utilized as a common strategy to discover a new drug indication for existing drugs. This strategy is mostly used in cases with a limited number of candidate pairs of drugs and diseases. In other words, they are not scalable to a large number of drugs and diseases. Most of the in-silico methods mainly focus on linear approaches while non-linear models are still scarce for new indication predictions. Therefore, applying non-linear computational approaches can offer an opportunity to predict possible drug repositioning candidates. Results: In this study, we present a non-linear method... 

Background: Hearing loss affects access to spoken language, which can affect cognition and development, and can negatively affect social wellbeing. We present updated estimates from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study on the prevalence of hearing loss in 2019, as well as the condition's associated disability. Methods: We did systematic reviews of population-representative surveys on hearing loss prevalence from 1990 to 2019. We fitted nested meta-regression models for severity-specific prevalence, accounting for hearing aid coverage, cause, and the presence of tinnitus. We also forecasted the prevalence of hearing loss until 2050. Findings: An estimated 1·57 billion (95% uncertainty... 

Background: Several types of RNA in the cell are usually involved in biological processes with multiple functions. Coding RNAs code for proteins while non-coding RNAs regulate gene expression. Some single-strand RNAs can create a circular shape via the back splicing process and convert into a new type called circular RNA (circRNA). circRNAs are among the essential non-coding RNAs in the cell that involve multiple disorders. One of the critical functions of circRNAs is to regulate the expression of other genes through sponging micro RNAs (miRNAs) in diseases. This mechanism, known as the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) hypothesis, and additional information obtained from biological datasets... 

Abnormalities in the topology of brain networks may be an important feature and etiological factor for psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). To explore this possibility, we applied a graph theoretical approach to functional networks based on resting state EEGs from 13 PNES patients and 13 age- and gender-matched controls. The networks were extracted from Laplacian-transformed time-series by a cross-correlation method. PNES patients showed close to normal local and global connectivity and small-world structure, estimated with clustering coefficient, modularity, global efficiency, and small-worldness metrics, respectively. Yet the number of PNES attacks per month correlated with a... 

In this study, the influence of vascular bed comprising terminal arterial branches on heat transfer in a liver tumor exposed to high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is studied numerically. Also, the effect of vascular density on temperature distribution is investigated. A coupled set of acoustics, thermal, and fluid models is used to calculate the temperature distribution in the liver. The numerical model is established based on the Westervelt and bioheat equations along with the Navier-Stokes equations. Moreover, the acoustic streaming effect is included with Newtonian and non-Newtonian flow assumptions. It is found that in a vascular bed comprising terminal arterial branches, the... 

Despite recent advancements in clinical drugs, diabetes treatment still needs further progress. As such, ongoing research has attempted to determine the precise molecular mechanisms of the disorder. Specifically, evidence supports that several signaling pathways play pivotal roles in the development of diabetes. However, the exact molecular mechanisms of diabetes still need to be explored. This study examines exciting new hallmarks for the strict involvement of autophagy and TGF-β signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of diabetes and the design of novel therapeutic strategies. Dysregulated autophagy in pancreatic β cells due to hyperglycemia, oxidative stress, and inflammation is associated... 

BACKGROUND: HLA genotyping is a prerequisite for selection of suitable donors in the process of bone marrow transplantation. METHODS: In the current study, the frequencies of HLA-A, -B, -C and -DRB1 alleles and A-B-C-DRB1 haplotypes were assessed in 855 healthy Iranian persons using a low-resolution sequence specific primer (SSP) kit. RESULTS: Frequencies were compared between 11 subpopulations including Armani, Balouch, Bandari, Turk, Turkaman, Arab, Fars, Kurd, Gilaki, Lor and Mazani. In total, 17 HLA-A alleles were detected, one of which (HLA-A*74) was present only among Lors. HLA-A*23 and -A*26 were the most frequent HLA-A alleles among Armanis. HLA-A*23 was also common among Turkamans.... 

Human parvovirus B19 (B19) is a small, non-enveloped virus and belongs to Parvoviridae family. B19 persists in many tissues such as thyroid tissue and even thyroid cancer. The main aim of this study was to determine the presence of B19, its association with increased inflammation in thyroid tissue, and thus its possible role in thyroid cancer progression. Studies have shown that virus replication in non-permissive tissue leads to overexpression of non-structural protein and results in upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha. A total of 36 paraffin-embedded thyroid specimens and serum were collected from patients and 12 samples were used... 

Introduction: This study was conducted to investigate the relationship of glomerular and tubular dysfunctions with glycaemic control, lipid, lipoprotein, apolipoproteins and antioxidant status in 72 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: Urine albumin concentration was measured by immunoturbidimetric and urine N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and alanine aminopeptidase (AAP) activities with colorimetric methods. Glycated haemoglobin was measured using affinity chromatography. Erythrocyte glu ta thione reductase and glutathione peroxidase activities and serum levels of malondialdehyde, lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins were determined in patients with type 2 diabetes...