Background: The abundance of infections associated with intensive care unit (ICU) is increasing due to the increased use of aggressive medical equipments like the central venous catheter (CVC). This study was designed and performed in 2010-2011 at Alzahra hospital, which is a referral center. This study aimed at determining the relative abundance and microbial sensitivity of organisms, which were creating contamination with CVCs in hospitalized patients in the ICUs of Alzahra hospital. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study performed on 71 patients who were hospitalized in the Alzahra hospital ICU and had CVCs during 2010-2011. The data obtained was analyzed by SPSS version 20 software and descriptive statistical approaches and chi-square and t-test trials. Results: In the sample culture obtained from the patients' catheter in 19 cases (26/8%), no microorganism was grown and in 52 cases (73.3%) at least one type of microorganism including bacteria or fungus was grown. In this study, average hospitalization time in patients who got positive results from their catheter culture was significantly more compared with patients who did not grow any kinds of microorganism in their sample cultures. Conclusion: In this study, CVCs microbial contamination has a high prevalence, which is a major cause of prolonged patients staying in ICUs, and therefore, it is essential to take precaution and discharge the patient early for decreasing the catheter contamination and preventing the hospital infections incidence in the ICU patients.

Background: Fragile fractures are most likely manifestations of fatigue damage that develop under repetitive loading conditions. Numerous microcracks disperse throughout the bone with the tensile and compressive loads. In this study, tensile and compressive load tests are performed on specimens of both the genders within 19 to 83 years of age and the failure strength is estimated. Materials and Methods: Fifty five human femur cortical samples are tested. They are divided into various age groups ranging from 19-83 years. Mechanical tests are performed on an Instron 3366 universal testing machine, according to American Society for Testing and Materials International (ASTM) standards. Results: The results show that stress induced in the bone tissue depends on age and gender. It is observed that both tensile and compression strengths reduces as age advances. Compressive strength is more than tensile strength in both the genders. Conclusion: The compression and tensile strength of human femur cortical bone is estimated for both male and female subjecting in the age group of 19-83 years. The fracture toughness increases till 35 years in male and 30 years in female and reduces there after. Mechanical properties of bone are age and gender dependent.

Background: Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is an alternative treatment for refractory cases of plantar fasciitis. Studies also demonstrated that ESWT may be an appropriate treatment for myofascial trigger points. This study was designed to evaluate its effectiveness by comparing the ESWT of Gastrocnemius/Soleus (gastroc-soleus) trigger points and heel region with the ESWT of the heel region alone. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out among 40 patients with a clinical diagnosis of plantar fasciitis, divided randomly to case (n = 20) and control (n = 20) groups. The case group received ESWT for the heel region and for the gastroc-soleus trigger points. The control group received ESWT just for the heel region. The protocol was the same in both groups and they were treated for three sessions every week. The pain score (100 mm visual analog score [VAS]) and the modified Roles and Maudsley score was evaluated before the first session and eight weeks after the last session. Results: Eight weeks after the last session, although the mean VAS had decreased significantly in both groups, this decrement was more significant in the case group. (P = 0.04). According to the modified Roles and Maudsley score, there was a significant improvement in both the case (P < 0.001) and control (P = 0.01) groups, eight weeks after treatment, but there were significantly better results in the case group. Conclusion: The combination of ESWT for both plantar fasciitis and gastroc-soleus trigger points in treating patients with plantar fasciitis is more effective than utilizing it solely for plantar fasciitis.

Background: Helicobacter pylori antimicrobial resistance is an important factor responsible for treatment failure. The purpose of this study was evaluating the prevalence of point mutations in clarithromycin-resistant clinical isolates of H. pylori in Isfahan city of Iran. Materials and Methods: Thirty isolates of H. pylori from 130 biopsy specimens were isolated by culture and confirmed by biochemical and PCR tests. The MIC of clarithromycin antibiotic for 30 clinical isolates of H. pylori was determined by E-test method. The point mutations in the 288 bp of 23S rRNA gene of H. Pylori were investigated in four clarithromycin-resistant clinical isolates by PCR followed by sequencing. Results: Among 30 isolates of H. pylori, 4 cases were resistant to clarithromycin. One point mutation was found at position T2243C in the 23S rRNA gene in all resistance isolates. Conclusions: In our study, H. pylori resistance to clarithromycin associated with point mutation at position 2243 (T2243C).

Background: Antidepressant drugs are commonly employed for anxiety and mood disorders. Sertraline is extensively used as antidepressant in clinic. In addition, adipose tissue represents an abundant and accessible source of adult stem cells with the ability to differentiate in to multiple lineages. Therefore, human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) may be useful for autologous transplantation. Materials and Methods: In the present study, we assessed the effect of antidepressant drug Sertraline on the proliferation and neurogenic differentiation of hADSCs using MTT assay and immunofluorescence technique respectively. Results: MTT assay analysis showed that 0.5 μM Sertraline significantly increased the proliferation rate of hADSCs induced cells (P < 0.05), while immunofluorescent staining indicated that Sertraline treatment during neurogenic differentiation could be decreased the percentage of glial fibrillary acidic protein and Nestin-positive cells, but did not significantly effect on the percentage of MAP2 positive cells. Conclusion: Overall, our data show that Sertraline can be promoting proliferation rate during neurogenic differentiation of hADSCs after 6 days post-induction, while Sertraline inhibits gliogenesis of induced hADSCs.