The Impact of Nursing Care in the Intensive Care Unit

As the population ages, the number of patients with more than one chronic disease increases, leading to a greater need for medical care. As a result, the demand for emergency and intensive care in recent years has become increasingly critical. It is advanced practice nurses who play a key role in patient care, and the drive to strengthen the workforce necessitates an increase in their involvement. The independence of advanced practice nurses and their impact on patient outcomes after critical care are of interest. The important role of nurses in the provision of health care has recently been recognized. Critical care needs inter-professional teams that provide collaborative health care, which includes the need for trained nurses. Expert and specialized care for the most seriously ill or injured patients in intensive care units (ICUs) and hospitals is provided by intensive care nurses. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, they are experienced professionals who are highly skilled and safety-critical. The greatest responsibility for the care and treatment of patients in a critical or unstable clinical situation in the intensive care unit rests with the nurse. Her primary activities are the management and coordination of nursing care through assessments, therapies, and critical interventions. Based on the best available scientific evidence, clinical experience, and patient preferences, the nurse makes important clinical decisions in the intensive care unit

Phytochemical analysis of leaves and stems of Physalis alkekengi L. (Solanaceae)

Physalis alkekengi L. (Solanaceae) is encountered in different regions of Bulgaria as a wild growing or ornamental plant. The objective of this work was to characterize the phytochemical composition (macro and micro components) of the leaves and stems of two local phenotypes (PA-SB and PA-NB), with the view of revealing their use potential. The dry leaves contained (DW) protein (16.25 and 19.27%), cellulose (25.16 and 25.31%), and ash (18.28 and 16.16%) and the stems contained protein (6.83 and 7.35%), cellulose (39.34 and 38.25%), and ash (15.01 and 7.48%) for PA-SB and PA-NB, respectively. The dominant amino acids (by HPLC) in the leaves of both phenotypes were arginine (21.3-22.3 mg/g) and aspartic acid (8.8-18.4 mg/g), and those in the stems were proline and aspartic acid for PA-SB (8.8, 7.7 mg/g); isoleucine and tyrosine for PA-NB (12.8, 6.6 mg/g). Mineral elements, determined by AAS (K, Ca, Mg, Na, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Pb, Cr), also varied between phenotypes and plant parts. The leaves alone were further processed by extraction with n-hexane, for the identification of leaf volatiles (by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). The analysis identified 28 components (97.99%) in the leaf extract of PA-SB and 32 components (97.50%) in that of PA-NB. The volatile profile of PA-SB leaves was dominated by diterpenes (49.96%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (35.61%), while that of PA-NB was dominated by oxygenated aliphatics (40.01%) and diterpenes (35.19%). To the best of our knowledge, the study provides the first data about the phytochemical composition of the leaves and stems of P. alkekengi from Bulgaria, in a direct comparison of phenotypes from two distinct wild populations, which could be of further scientific interest.AlMaarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; [2021-29]The authors deeply acknowledge the Researchers Supporting Program (TUMA Project-2021-29), AlMaarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for supporting steps of this work

Oil yield and composition of Juniperus oxycedrus L. from Bulgaria and Serbia

Juniperus oxycedrus L. (Cupressaceae) is widely distributed in countries with a Mediterranean climate. The species is known for its large morphological and chemical variation and its debatable taxonomic status. The objective was to compare the essential oil content and composition of J. oxycedrus plants from Bulgaria and Serbia, and secondly, to quantify morphological variations of leaves. Тhe essential oil content in dried juniper leaves varied from 0.059% (Кopaonik, Serbia) to 0.240% (Markovo, Bulgaria). Around 40 EO constituents were identified, belonging to the groups of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, and phenylpropanoids. The monoterpene hydrocarbons and oxygenated monoterpenes were the predominant groups of compounds representing 36.8-66.2% of the total oil, with α-pinene, limonene, sabinene, β-pinene, β-myrcene being the major constituents of this group. Overall, α-pinene was the major oil constituent in plants from all locations. The second largest group was the one of sesquiterpenes (sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated sesquiterpenes), ranging from 19.3 tо 33.6%. There was no significant difference between the mean leaf width of the six combinations of location and tree sex, and the overall mean width was 1.24 mm. However, there was a significant difference between the mean leaf lengths. This study contradicts recent reports that the European populations of J. oxycedrus east of Italy belong to a newly identified species J. deltoides. The same reports claimed that ”the leaf oil of J. deltoides was lower in α-pinene and higher in limonene compared to J. oxycedrus”. In this study, none of the studied populations had a higher concentration of limonene than that of α-pinene. Therefore, this study demonstrated that the flora of the two countries includes indeed J. oxycedrus

Gene silencing of VP1 gene of coxsackievirus B3 neurotropic strain Nancy by dsRNAs and siRNAs

AbstractCoxsackieviruses are distributed worldwide and can cause serious diseases threatening human health and even human life. Genetic silencing is considered a new opportunity to treat viral infections. In this study, we produced in vitro dsRNAs and siRNAs specific for two sequences of different length from the VP1 genetic regions of CVB3, and introduced them into HEp-2 cells with Oligofectamine as the transfection agent. We used the neurotropic strain Nancy. The 100% inhibitory concentrations of the applied dsRNAs and siRNAs were 0.3 μmol/L and fell in the range of non-cytotoxic concentration values. The produced VP1-specific dsRNAs and siRNAs were effective at low concentrations, suggesting that the produced RNAs are safe to use and possess excellent potential to treat CVB3 infection