BACKGROUND To examine the prevalence of significant interference from heterophile antibodies (HAb) in the measurement of serum thyroglobulin (Tg), we evaluated a large cohort of samples from patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). METHODS Serum Tg measurements were performed in 406 serum samples before and after incubation of each serum sample in heterophile-blocking tubes (HBT)...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the epidemiology of nosocomial bloodstream infections in public hospitals in developing countries. We evaluated trends in incidence of hospital-acquired bacteremia (HAB) and healthcare-associated bacteremia (HCAB) and associated mortality in a developing country using routinely available databases. METHODS Information from the microbiology and hospital databas...

the aetiology behind odor-related chronic somatic symptoms (o-rcss) is unknown, although both immunological and psychiatric causes have been suggested. the aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of self-reported asthma and hay fever and psychiatric symptoms in individuals having o-rcss compared to individuals with similar chronic somatic symptoms (css) which were not odors-related,...

In humans, there is unequivocal evidence of an association between anxiety states and altered respiratory function. Despite this, the link between anxiety and respiration has been poorly evaluated in experimental animals. The primary objective of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that genetic lines of rats that differ largely in their anxiety level would display matching alter...

The Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-44 (OBQ-44), a self-report measure, was developed by the Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group (OCCWG) to assess beliefs considered relevant in the etiology and maintenance of obsessions and compulsions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian language version of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (POBQ-44...

Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes JS45 grows on nitrobenzene by a partially reductive pathway in which the intermediate hydroxylaminobenzene is enzymatically rearranged to 2-aminophenol by hydroxylaminobenzene mutase (HAB mutase). The properties of the enzyme, the reaction mechanism, and the evolutionary origin of the gene(s) encoding the enzyme are unknown. In this study, two open reading frames (...

These studies were conducted to determine the magnitude and mechanism of compensation for impaired glucagon and insulin responses to exercise. For this purpose, dogs underwent surgery >16 days before experiments, at which time flow probes were implanted and silastic catheters were inserted. During experiments, glucagon and insulin were fixed at basal levels during rest and exercise using a panc...

OBJECTIVE Iran ranks 173 out of 180 countries on an index of press freedom. The purpose of the study was to assess the psychological wellbeing of Iranian journalists and document the stressors encountered in their work. DESIGN A secure website was established and participants were given their unique identifying number and password to access the site. SETTING Newsrooms in Iran and the diaspo...

OBJECTIVE Sleep complaints are common among Iranian chemically-injured veterans. The growing body of research has investigated (in) equalities between such subjective complaints and objective sleep records. Moreover, sleep complaints are associated with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms, also, have been frequently reported in chemically-injured veterans. Therefore, the purpose of this pi...