JOURNAL OF RAFSANJAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES AND HEALTH SERVICES
Year:2009 | Volume:7 | Issue:4 (29)|Papers Count:12

Background and Objectives: One of the most important ways to promote the quality and attractiveness for readers is the accurate evaluation of the published articles in the journals. Therefore the present study was carried out by some of members of the editorial board in order to determine the quality and publication process of articles of the Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences (JRUMS).Materials and Methods: In this self-audit survey, the information of each published paper in the JRUMS through the years 2001-2006 using a checklist collected by two of the team members separately. Then the completed checklists were compared with one another, and in case of any inconsistencies, the issue was examined and settled down by another member of the team.Results: Throughout the given period, 21 volumes of the JRUMS have been published which comprised of 189 articles in total. In about one third of the published articles i.e. 59 articles (31.2%), the first author had been from Rafsanjan University. In 90 articles (47.6%) the type of study had not been mentioned. The mean number of the words used in the texts, the Persian and English abstracts was varied to a great extent. Furthermore, the mean and standard deviation of the time of receiving an article till its publication had been 238.15±98.54 days.Conclusion: Based on these results it can be concluded that:I. The possibility of receiving papers from outside of the university should be increased with more invitations. 2. The report of the type of study, the number of the articles' words and the number of words used in Persian and English abstracts should be practiced accurately and in a more standard way by a close coordination among the writers, reviewers, and editors of the Journal.3. More efforts should be put into practice to reduce the time span of receiving a paper until its publication.

Background and Objective: The curative properties of garlic in medicine have been known for a long time. However, it was only in the last three decades when garlic properties were seriously investigated confirming its potential as therapeutic medicine. The aim of this study was to measure the MIC of aqueous and methanolic extracts of garlic and to compare them with ketoconazole as positive control.Materials and Methods: In this laboratory study, the fresh smelly bulb of garlic was cleaned, skined, dryed and powdered. Garlic powder was solved in 80% methanol and distilled water. This yellow solution remained in the lab for 4 days. After that the stimmed, filtered and concentrated solution was kept remained inside the pipet in oven for 48h in 50°C to make dry extract. Then methanol and aqueous dilutions (0.625 mg/ml, 1.25 mg/ml 2.5 mg/ml, 5 mg/ml, 10mg/ml and 20 mg/ml) were prepared separately from 200mg powder of the concentrated extracts of garlic. Three strains of dermatophytes were cultured on the media which contained different dilutions.Results: This experimental study showed that the rate of the effect of the aqueous extracts of garlic on Sporothrix schenckii in the minimum dilution (0.625mg/ml) was 8% and in the maximum dilution (20mg/ml) was 100%. This rate in methanol extract on the same fungus was 25% and 100% in lOmg/ml dilution, respectively. The amounts of the effects of extracts on Candida albicans were 17% in the minimum dilution and 100% in 10% dilution. The effect of this plant on Cryptococcus neoformans was more than our expectation, because the amount of MIC in all dilutions was close to its minimum dilution (0.625mg/ml).Conclusion: As the effects of the garlic extracts were the same or even more than ketoconazole, and also regarding the side effects of the synthetic drugs, the use of herbs as useful drugs are necessary.

Background and Objective: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is characterized by a monoclonal proliferation of lymphocytes mainly B cells (B-CLL) in the blood and bone marrow. Morphological and functional abnormalities ofT cells and monoclonality of them have been documented in CLL. Such expanded cells may be specific for recognition of pathogens. Cytomegalovirus (CMY) is most likely involved in this phenomenon in CLL. CMV infection causes a high level of immune response in immunodeficient patients. In this study, the association between expanded T cells and the immune responses of CMV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ cells in B-CLL was investigated.Materials and Methods: This was a cross sectional study and the study group were 41  CMV seropositive B-CLL patients and 35 CMV seropositive healthy donors (control group). The level of CMV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ cells immune responses were detected by intracellular cytokine response to antigenic activation and CMV tetramer respectively.Results: The level of CMV-specific CD4+ cells responses was significantly higher in patients with a median of 10.99% and II % for IFN-g and TNF-a producing CD4+T cells respectively than age-matched controls with a median of 4.3% and 4.6 (p= 0.0001 for IFN-g and p= 0.003 for TNF-a). The level of CMY-specific CD8+ cells immune responses was also higher in patients compared to control group (p= 0.03 for NLV). There was a positive correlation between the level of CD4+ and CD8+cells immune responses (p=0.009).Conclusions: These results show the deep influence of CMY infection and the immune response to it in T-cell alteration in CLL patients. The increased level of CMV-specific T cells may be the cause of increased level of absolute T cells in these patients.

Background and Objectives: Post-operative edema and trismus are common following removal of impacted teeth. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of local and intravenous (IV) dexamethasone on the edema and trismus following hard tissue impacted mandibular third molar teeth surgery.Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, 20 patients were randomly selected and allocated into two treatment groups. Surgical removal of bilateral impacted mandibular third molars under local anesthesia was performed. Group A received 8mg IV dexamethasone and group B received 4mg local infiltrated dexamethasone for each side. Edema was measured using both tape measure and sonography methods. In regards to trismus, interincisal mouth-opening was measured using a calibrated caliper pre-operatively and post-operatively. Data were statistically analyzed using Mann- Whitney and Wilcoxon tests.Results: Both sonography and tape measure (method A) methods showed that the local dexamethasone was significantly more effective than IV dexamethasone in reduction of post-operative edema (p=0.012). Meanwhile, the difference of effectiveness between local and IV dexamethasone on the trismus was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results indicated that the use of local dexamethasone is an effective therapeutical strategy in reduction of post-operative edema of mandibular third molar teeth surgery.

Background and Objectives: The widespread use of cell phones has made the researchers focus on its health effects. However, the biological effects of electromagnetic fields have not been clearly known. This study was performed to determine the effect of microwave radiation emitted by mobile phones on the human short term memory. Materials and Methods: This interventional study has been performed on 70 male students who were studying at Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences (RUMS) in 2006. Participants were divided into two groups. The First group which included 25 students whose short term memory was tested by using Wechsler test. Ten minute real/sham exposure intervals to microwave radiations emitted from a mobile phone were performed at 0 h (sham), 24 h (real) and 48 h (sham) and the participants were tested using 5 Wechsler subsets immediately after each real/sham exposure. The second group included 45 males were exposed! sham exposed to microwave radiation at 0 h (real), 24 h (sham). Data were statistically analyzed using student's t-test.Results: The means of memory scores in both groups were increased in the next day. This clearly shows the role of learning in these tests. No statistical relationship was found between exposure to the microwave radiation and memory scores. Conclusion: Overall the data could not show a significant effect of the mobile phone on short term memory. Repeating the memory tests after 24, 48 h clearly increased the scores in both groups. These findings confirm the role of learning in memory tests and lack of any link to cell phone use.

Background and Objectives: Snakebite treatment is one of the major difficulties in medicine due to its dangerous side effects. Bezoar, a stone found in the stomach of wild goat, is widely reputed against various diseases, including snakebite, in traditional medicine among the tribes in southeast of Iran. But its efficacy against snakebite poisoning has not been determined, yet. This study was performed to evaluate the Bezoar effect on the clinical signs, mean survival duration and the autopsy findings (pathologic signs) of experimental mice receiving various doses of crude Echis carinatus snake venom.Material and Methods: This experimental study was performed on 48, 4 week old mice. The natural crude snake venom was serially diluted and 10% & 2% concentrations of the venom were used. Various experimental doses of Bezoar (6, 50, 100 & 200 mg/kg/i.p) were injected, 20 min before 2% snake venom intra peritoneal administration. The clinical signs, mean survival duration and autopsy findings were recorded and compared with control mice which received saline, 20 min before snake venom administration. In case of using 10% concentration snake venom, mice received only 100 mg/kg/ i.p of Bezoar, 20 min before snake venom administration.Results: The results of this study showed that Echis carinatus snake venom caused pain, progressive edema and death in mice. The Bezoar (50 & 100 mg/kg) increased the survival duration of mice receiving 2% dilution of Echis carinatus snake venom significantly as compared to controls (p<0.01). The dose of 100 mg/kg of Bezore increased the survival duration from 213.8±2.7 to 705±4.3 min in comparison to control group (p<0.01). Also the Bezoar significantly antagonized the pathologic signs induced by Echis carinatus snake venom in mice.Conclusion: Pretreatment of mice with Bezoar increased the survival duration of mice and decreased the pathologic signs (such as bleeding in the retroperitoneal space, thoracic cavity and CNS and lung vascular congestion) induced by Echis carinatus snake venom in mice. The exact mechanisms must be elucidated in other investigations.

Background and Objectives: Dental caries are the most common chronic childhood disorders and DMFT index is the most important quantitative criterion for measuring tooth health. The purpose of this study was to describe the dental caries prevalence and its bilateral occurrence among 12-year-old students in Rafsanjan in 2007.Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study a total of 353 (180 boys and 173 girls) were randomly selected from public and private schools. Pupils were examined clinically for dental caries according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Dental examinations were done by using dental mirrors and explorer under artificial light in classrooms. Data were collected by interview and clinical examination was performed by one calibrated dentist and was analyzed using t-test.Results: The mean DMFT value was 2.46±2 (2.78 boys, 2.13 girls). Decayed (D) component was 75.7%, missing (M) 6.7% and filled (F) 17.6%. There were significant differences in DMFT and their components in relation to gender. The proportion of CF students was 20.7% (16.7% boys, 24.9% girls); and there was no significant difference in relation to gender. The highest prevalence of bilateral caries was in maxillary first and second molars and the lowest prevalence was in maxillary second premolars and mandibular first premolars.Conclusion: Caries prevalence among 12-year-old students in Rafsanjan is higher than the global standards of WHO for 20 I0; therefore, improving the existing dental services and performing prevention programme for students seems to be necessary in the future.

Background and Objective: Yellow Nail Syndrome is a rare syndrome caused by lymphatic vessels injury or obstruction. This syndrome is manifested by nail changes, lymphedema, pulmonary involvement and protein loosing enteropathy.Historty: A 19 year old young girl was presented by diarrhea, generalized edema, nail changes and severe hypoalbuminemia. According to the above findings, yellow nail syndrome was diagnosed. Her family history showed that three infants from maternal ancestral side were also involved.Conclusion: Although yellow nail syndrome is an uncommon disease but can be presented with familial pattern and in successive generations.