The current study documents the presence of cultural differences in the development of finger counting strategies. About 900 Middle-Eastern (i.e., Iranian) and Western (i.e., European and American) individuals reported in an online survey how they map numbers onto their fingers when counting from 1 to 10. The analysis of these bimanual counting patterns revealed clear cross-cultural differences in the hand and finger starting preferences: While most Western individuals started counting with the left hand and associated the number 1 with their thumb, most Middle-Eastern respondents preferred to start counting with the right hand and preferred to map the number 1 onto their little finger. The transition between the two hands during counting showed equal proportions of symmetry-based and spatial continuity-based patterns in the two cultures. Implications of these findings for numerical cognition and for the origin of the wellknown association between numbers and space are discussed.

The prognostic value of micrometastases detected retrospectively by RT-PCR is significant in AJCC stage II colorectal patients. Studies utilizing RT-PCR performed a more complete nodal analysis when compared to studies using IHC techniques. RT-PCR may also be more specific for the detection of clinically relevant micrometastases compared to IHC detected cytokeratins. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate the potential benefit of systemic chemotherapy in patients with molecular metastases.

Background: Given the epidemic of Corona disease and its associated anxiety, it is necessary to develop a tool to measure anxiety. This study was conducted to instruct Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) to measure the level of anxiety, during the prevalence of the COVID-19 in Iran. Methods: The present study was considered as applied research in terms of purpose and descriptivecorrelational research in terms of methodological. 318 individuals (aged from 18 to 60 years old) completed the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) online. Results: Corona Disease Anxiety Scale had a good internal consistency (α=0.91) and good convergent validity, correlating with the GHQ-28 (r=0.49, P>0.01). Exploratory analysis revealed psychological and physical factors. These 2 factor account for 51% of the total variance and 9 items were loaded on every factor. Conclusion: This scale is reliable and valid scale for measuring Corona anxiety in non-clinical Iranian population.    

The COVID-19 outbreak is affecting people worldwide. Many infected patients have respiratory involvement that may progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of low-dose whole-lung radiation therapy in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods and Materials: In this clinical trial, conducted in Iran, we enrolled patients with COVID-19 who were older than 60 years and hospitalized to receive supplementary oxygen for their documented pneumonia. Participants were treated with whole-lung irradiation in a single fraction of 0.5 Gy plus the national protocol for the management of COVID-19. Vital signs (including blood oxygenation and body temperature) and laboratory findings (interleukin-6 and C-reactive peptide) were recorded before and after irradiation. Results: Between May 21, 2020 and June 24, 2020, 5 patients received whole-lung irradiation. They were followed for 5 to 7 days to evaluate the response to treatment and toxicities. The clinical and paraclinical findings of 4 of the 5 patients (patient 4 worsened and died on day 3) improved on the first day of irradiation. Patient 3 opted out of the trial on the third day after irradiation. The mean time to discharge was 6 days for the other 3 patients. No acute radiation-induced toxicity was recorded. Conclusions: With a response rate of 80%, whole-lung irradiation in a single fraction of 0.5 Gy had encouraging results in oxygen-dependent patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.