Care experiences and challenges of inpatients' companions in Iran's health care context: A qualitative study

Among the clients of nursing services, family members, as patient companions, serve as both caregiver and care receiver, such that specialized care is delivered by nurses and primary care is delegated to the patient companion. Hence, care experiences of all patient companions are not the same. The aim of this study is to investigate the care experiences of inpatients' companions at hospital. This work is a qualitative study conducted according to epistemiological methodology. The participants were 13 patient companions who were selected according to purposive sampling. Data were gathered throughout in-depth, unstructured interviews and then analyzed according to Colaizzi method. Overall, six themes were generated in this study, consisting of caregiver's burnout, burden of care, resistance against tension, caregiver's care function, needs, and organizational barriers. The findings demonstrated that the patients' companions are faced with numerous stressful factors during their patients' hospital stay, and hospitals' negligence of the companions' information and support needs to deal with complexities of care has led to increased burden of care among the companions. Meanwhile, the companions' dissatisfaction with health care delivery may bring about adverse outcomes. Therefore, hospital authorities should pay special attention to the status of patient companions as informal the caregivers and support sources of patients

Relationship between obesity and asthma symptoms among children in Ahvaz, Iran: a cross sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for higher prevalence of asthma and asthma-related symptoms in children. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the prevalence of asthma symptoms and obesity among school-age children in the city of Ahvaz, Iran.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 903 children, 7 to 11 years of age, were enrolled in this study through cluster sampling. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire was used to identify the children who were currently suffering from asthma. Height and weight were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated in kg/m². Overweight was defined as BMI greater than the age- and sex-specific 85th percentile, and obesity as BMI greater than the 95th percentile. We determined the relationship between obesity and asthma symptoms by chi-square tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of wheeze ever, current wheezing, obesity, and overweight was 21.56%, 8.7%, 6.87%, and 9.5%, respectively. The current prevalence of wheezing among obese and overweight children was 68.75% and 37%, respectively, and there was a statistical association between obesity and the prevalence of current wheezing (p < 0.001), night cough (p < 0.001), and exercise-induced wheezing (p = 0.009), but obesity and overweight were not associated with eczema and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, so it seems that the pathophysiology of asthma in obese and overweight children is not related to allergy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is a strong association between asthma symptoms and both overweight and obesity in both sexes among school-age children.</p

Study of the bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects of olive oil, sesame oil and their synergism on Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro

Background and aims: Nosocomial infections are common problems in developing and developed countries. One of the pathogens that causes these infections is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. According to the antibiotical resistance of this bacteria, It is essential to find new treatments like new herbal medicine. This study was aimed to determine in vitro antibacterial effects of sesame oil, olive oil and their synergism on P. aeruginosa. Methods: In this experimental study, first, olive oil and sesame oil were obtained by cold-pressing assay. Then, P.aeruginosa ATCC 27853 was prepared from Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology. Oils and their mixture with the same proportion were made in concentrations from 2 to 1024 mg/ml and the antibacterial character of these oils on P.aeruginosa was investigated by broth micro dilution method and then the amounts of the MIC and the MBC were demonstrated. Results: The MIC of olive oil, sesame oil and their synergism on P.aeruginosa were reported; 16 mg/ml, 128 mg/ml and 128 mg/ml and the MBC of these oils were indicated; 64 mg/ml, 512 mg/ml and 512 mg/ml, respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that sesame oil, olive oil and their synergism can inhibit bacterial growth. Olive oil has more antibacterial effect on this bacteria than sesame oil and their synergism. So, we conclude that there was no synergistic effect in these oils

Nursing errors and effect on health care: Perception of risk factors from view of nurse in Qazvin

Background and aims: In order to plan for preventing and decreasing the rate of nursing errors, understanding of nurse’s perception of nursing errors could be very helpful. This study was thus designed to examine the critical care nurses perception of nursing errors from view point of critical care nurses. Methods: This study was conducted in 9 hospitals in Qazvin province located in north of Iran. Using convenience sampling, all registered nurses who worked in critical care units were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected between January and March 2015 with using “predisposing factors of nursing errors questionnaire”. Results: Of 379 nurses participated in this study, 77.8 (N= 213) were women. The mean age of participants was 34±2.2 years and mean years of experience was 8.1±1.5 years. Totally, from view of nurses, most and lowest common cusecs of nursing errors were related to “management aspect” and “Team coordination” items respectively. Conclusion: Nursing educational systems should pay more attention to nurses’ perception to nursing errors and may consider their view during planning and education towards decreasing nursing errors in critical care setting

Investigating the Impact of E-Servicescape Dimensions and Experience & Risk Factors on E-WOM: Mediating Role of Trust

Nowadays, one of the important topics in e-commerce which has become a concern of many countries is electronic word of mouth due to increasing use of Internet for activities such as shopping or obtaining information. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of e-service factors as well as experience and risk on E-WOM by considering the mediating role of the trust variable. The statistical population of this research consists of buyers ftom Tehran/Karaj from Alibaba website. 384 samples were selected by Cochran's formula and data was collected by distributing questionnaires. The research data were analyzed by structural equation modeling using Amos. The results show that e-services dimensions as well as experience have a positive and significant effect on trust and E-WOM. Trust also has positive and significant effect on E-WOM. The results emphasize the importance of focusing on improving the quality of e-services in online stores and user experience of buyers on their participation in advertising

Bioinformatics prioritization of SNPs perturbing microRNA regulation of hematological malignancy-implicated genes.

The contribution of microRNAs (miRNAs) to cancer has been extensively investigated and it became obvious that a strict regulation of miRNA-mRNA regulatory network is crucial for safeguarding cell health. Apart from the direct impact of miRNA dysregulation in cancer pathogenesis, genetic variations in miRNAs are likely to disrupt miRNA-target interaction. Indeed, many evidences suggested that SNPs within miRNA regulome are associated with the development of different hematological malignancies. However, a full catalog of SNPs within miRNAs target sites of genes relevant to hematopoiesis and hematological malignancies is still lacking. Accordingly, we aimed to systematically identify and characterize such SNPs and provide a prioritized list of most potentially disrupting SNPs. Although in the present study we did not address the functional significance of these potential disturbing variants, we believe that our compiled results will be valuable for researchers interested in determining the role of target-SNPs in the development of hematological malignancies

The Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia among High School Students in Iran: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Iron is one of the most important elements forming the body and an essential metal for many biological processes in mammals. According to studies, anemia can cause numerous side effects in the body. Because of the effectiveness of iron in myelinated nerves, this illness can cause hearing loss and vision problems as well, and in students, it can even cause academic failure and learning problems and intensify behavioral disorders. Therefore, to collect the statistics of the prevalence of the disorder in order to inform parents, the present study was conducted to assess the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in high school students in Iran using meta-analysis method.Method: This study was continued in review form using the key words anemia, iron deficiency anemia, and anemia prevalence with a review of the articles in Pubmed, Iranmedex databases and Scientific Information Database of SID in related topics with 89 articles. Time domain for searching articles and related books and was mainly from 1991 onwards.Results: Studies on the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in high school students show different results. Recent statistics based on published articles at home and abroad show the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia equal to 10.6%, (with a 95% confidence interval: 9.7 to 11.5) until 2014.Conclusion: The disease can cause hearing and vision disorders in adolescents. Moreover, it can cause academic failure and learning problems and intensify behavioral disorders in students.  Given that children's health is an indicator of health planning of family for them, attention to the factors preventing iron deficiency anemia and its treatment is essential for students. Following this study, it is suggested that by correcting diet as the first step of prevention of catching this diseases, we take a step towards preventing it

Nanoliposomes and Tocosomes as Multifunctional Nanocarriers for the Encapsulation of Nutraceutical and Dietary Molecules

Nanoscale lipid bilayers, or nanoliposomes, are generally spherical vesicles formed by the dispersion of phospholipid molecules in a water-based medium by energy input. The other nanoscale object discussed in this entry, i.e., tocosome, is a recently introduced bioactive carrier made mainly from tocopheryl phosphates. Due to their bi-compartmental structure, which consists of lipidic and aqueous compartments, these nanocarriers are capable of carrying hydrophilic and hydrophobic material separately or simultaneously. Nanoliposomes and tocosomes are able to provide protection and release of sensitive food-grade bioactive materials in a sustained manner. They are being utilized for the encapsulation of different types of bioactive materials (such as drugs, vaccines, antimicrobials, antioxidants, minerals and preservatives), for the enrichment and fortification of different food and nutraceutical formulations and manufacturing of functional products. However, a number of issues unique to the nutraceutical and food industry must first be resolved before these applications can completely become a reality. Considering the potentials and promises of these colloidal carrier systems, the present article reviews various aspects of nanoliposomes, in comparison with tocosomes, including the ingredients used in their manufacture, formation mechanisms and issues pertaining to their application in the formulation of health promoting dietary supplements and functional food products