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  Background and Objectives: pericardial effusion is characterized by the accumulation of excessive fluid in the pericardial space, which can lead to cardiac dysfunction or death. Most of the previous studies have been performed in developed countries and its epidemiologic aspects in developing countries were not well-recognized. The aim of this research was determination of etiology, clinical and paraclinical findings in patients with pericardial effusion.

  Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and retrospective study. From all of the patients admitted to Buali hospital between 2001 to 2003 ,49 patients that showed moderate to massive pericardial effusion in echocardiography were selected and studied in terms of history, physical examination, CXR, ECG and pericardial fluid analysis (if performed).

  Results: From 49 patients 25 (51%) were female and 24 were male. Age ranges of patients were 11 to 85 years. The age of 42% of the patients was above 60 years. The most common clinical complaints were dyspnea (44.9%) and chest pain (24.5%). ECG in most of them (53.1%) were normal sinus rhythm. Cardiac electrical axis in 83.7 % was normal, but ECG in 83.7% of cases showed low voltage QRS complex. The most common findings in CXR was cardiomegaly (85.7%) and 14.3% of patients had normal CXR. Common etiologies of pericardial effusion were chronic renal failure (16.3%), tuberculosis (8.2%), heart failure (8.2%) and malignancies (6.1%). Etiology of disease in 44.8% of patients was unknown.

  Conclusion: It seems that most of pericardial effusions occur in higher ages. It can be due to high prevalence of different diseases such as heart failure, chronic renal failure or malignancies in senile persons.

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 Background and Objectives: Emoployees' job satifaction (JS) is related to multiple factors and one of which is the personality factors. The present study was an attempt to find a relationship, if any, between personality and job satisfaction among Ardabil universities' staff.

 Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 247 employees who were sampled from a population of 390 individuals working in Ardabil university of medical sciences, Mohaghegh Ardabil University and Islamic Azad University of Ardabil. Instruments used for data collection were Bren Rowiter personality test and standard job satisfaction test. The personality test evaluated neurosis, autism, introversion / extroversion, dominance, self confidence and socialization in the subjects.

 Results: The findings indicated that socialization and self confidence were the most common characteristics among the subjects. These employees enjoyed a moderate to high job satisfaction). Neuresis and dominance tendencies can predict the job satisfaction among the university staff. It was also shown that men had more dominance than women.

 Conclusion:�Since there was a positive correlation between self confidence and neurosis with JS, in order to promote JS, it is recommended to hold JT classes aiming to teach methods of controlling anger and improving self-confidence. Besides, the authorities in these universities should be taught to create a sense of respect in the employees rather than criticizing and blaming them. This can enhance self-confidence and improve JS among these employees.

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  Background & objectives: Addiction is one of the problems in world threating the social, economic and culture factors. It is essential to have an accurate knowledge about the characteristics of drug users in order to diminish the high-risk behaviors of intravenous drug addicts. This research has been done to assess relationship between individual characteristics and high risk behavior in intravenous drug addicts.

  Method: In this descriptive-analytic research, 360 drug users were selected from different places in Ardabil city and interviewed by a prepared questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical tests including t-test, Pearson correlation and ANOVA with SPSS statistical software.

  Results: The results showed that the age, gender, material status, job position, age of addiction start, age of injection start, injection frequency, injection frequency per day, syringe supply place and the partner’s gender during recent few months had no significant difference compared to drug users with needle sharing and without needle sharing. The educational level of drug users with needle sharing was lower (P=0.037) and the number of new syringe usage per month was also lesser (P=0.001). They predicted to be more likely infected with AIDS (P=0.001) and had a less argument with their partner about using condom, also mostly have not used condom at their last sexual relationship (P=0.001). The average number of their partners during last three months was high (P=0.003) and there was a meaningful relationship between true sense of peril and using condom in drug users with needle sharing group (p=0.001).

  Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between the true sense of danger and the using condom. It is necessary to have an appropriate advertising to increase using condoms among injecting drug users.

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Introduction & objectives: Aging is a period of life that is affected by the deprivation of social activities, lifestyle, and life satisfaction. Social capital plays a key role in the social, economic and health dimensions of individuals. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between social capital and demographic characteristics of the elderly who referred to the houses in the neighborhoods of Tehran in 2018.
Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional, descriptive study. Elderly people aged 60 years and older referring to the neighborhoods of Tehran were selected by a multi-stage sampling method. Data collection tools included the Demographic Information Questionnaire and the Onyx Social Capital Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using spss-21 software and both descriptive and inferential statistics. The significance level of the test was considered p≤0. 05.
Results: The mean score of the elderly's social capital was 80/15 ± 14.89. Although the score of women's social capital (81.86) was higher than men. There was no significant statistical relationship between the numerical indicators of social capital and gender.
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that a significant percentage of the elderly have the desired social capital. Therefore, the results of this study can be used to promote the health of the elderly referring to the neighborhood houses with respect to positive aspects of "social capital" and realize of the concept of "healthy and active aging.

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Background & objectives: Evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) are essential for immune cell differentiation and function. In addition, miRNAs play an essential role in regulating the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in neurons. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between miRNA expression and inflammatory markers in the CSF of patients with multiple sclerosis.
Methods: RT-PCR analysis was performed on CSF samples from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and a control group to measure the expression level of miRNA-21, miRNA-155, miRNA-182, and miRNA-437. In addition, the levels of the inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in CSF were measured using ELISA. A quantitative turbidimetric method was also used to measure high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).
Results: A significant difference was found in the expression level of miRNAs and inflammatory factors in the CSF of patients with MS compared with the control group (p<0.05). The results of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed the area under the curve for miRNA-21 (AUC=0.97, p<0.0001), miRNA-182 (AUC=0.97, p<0.0001), and miRNA-155 (AUC=0.96, p<0.0001). The miRNA-155 level in CSF played a very important role in the accurate diagnosis of MS. Significant correlations were found between inflammatory cytokines and miRNA-21, miRNA-155, and miRNA-182, as well as an indirect and moderate correlation between miRNA-437 and hs-CRP.
Conclusion: In MS patients, CSF levels of IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, hs-CRP, and selected miRNAs can be used as biomarkers of CNS inflammation and neurodegenerative processes.