Methanol poisoning continues to be a serious problem in Iran; however, there is not yet any report of the prevalence of methanol intoxication. This report is a descriptive study of methanol intoxication in Iran. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 51 patients with methanol intoxication who were admitted to Noor Hospital affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Science (Isfahan, Iran) from January 2000 to December 2009. Characteristics of the participants, including age, sex, amount of methanol ingestion, exposure type, time from ingestion to presentation, and patient outcome, were recorded. There were 51 patients (84.3% male and 15.7% female; mean age: 32.5 ± 15.2 and 20.1 ± 7.5 years, respectively). Of the patients, 13.7% were under 20 years in age, 51% were from 20 to 29, 11.8% were from 30 to 39, and 23.5% were above 40. Four patients died, 15 survived with late complications, and 32 survived without any complications. There are a growing number of patients presenting with acute poisonings in Iran. Early diagnosis and treatment is necessary to prevent long-term complications.

Background Breast cancer is among the leading cause of cancer‐related‐deaths in women, supporting the need for the identification of novel prognostic and predictive biomarkers. Recent studies have identified common genetic variants in a region on chromosome 9p21 associated with an increased risk of developing different cancers. Here, we explored the association of a genetic variant in CDKN2A/B, rs10811661, for the first time in 564 subjects with/without breast cancer. Method Genotyping was performed using TaqMan real time PCR method. The associations of this genetic variant with breast cancer risk and pathological information of patients were assessed. Results We observed that patients with breast cancer had a higher frequency of TT genotype (P<.001) than control group, which was associated with advanced TNM classification (P=.04) and larger tumor size (P=.014), as detected by the recessive genetic inheritance model. Moreover, the logistic regression under recessive genetic model revealed that breast cancer patients with TT had higher risk of breast cancer, compared to CC/CT genotypes (eg, OR=4.9, 95% CI:1.9‐12, P=.001), after adjusted for potential confounders, age, BMI, and family history. Conclusion We demonstrated that patients carrying the TT genotype for CDKN2A/B rs10811661 polymorphism had the increased risk of breast cancer susceptibility. However, further investigations are warranted in a larger and prospective setting to explore the value of this marker as a risk stratification marker in breast cancer.

Background:The purpose of this study was to provide a description of gross middle ear morphology in water buffaloes, augmented with additional data on the osseous structures of middle ear derived from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and methods: Skulls of 10 young adult male water buffaloes were used to examine their middle ears. Results: Anatomical features noted included the presence of tympanic cells in the tympanic bulla, the location of malleus head and neck, and all of incus in the dorsal epitympanic recess, the oval tympanic membrane, absence of a prominent notch on the articular surface of malleus, positional variations of the lateral process of malleus relative to the muscular process and muscular process relative to the rostral process of malleus, absence of complete coverage of the articular facet of malleus head by incus body, and presence of the lenticular process of incus. In CBCT images, the osseous part of external acoustic meatus, the petrous part of temporal bone and the details of the ossicles were seen, except for stapes. Conclusions: Although tympanic membrane, malleus and stapes of water buffaloes are similar to those of ox, the incus of water buffaloes is more similar to that of goats. The heaviest ossicles among the ruminants studied belonged to water buffaloes; the mean length of malleus head and neck, total length and width of incus body as well as length of stapes head were greatest in water buffaloes too. The auditory ossicles of water buffaloes show 'transitional type' morphological characteristics. These features suggest a relatively wide frequency range of hearing, but not one biased towards especially low or especially high frequencies.

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