The social well-being of nurses shows a thirst for a holistic support: A qualitative study

Introduction: Social well-being is one of the important aspects of health. In fact, this is a reflection of experience in a social environment, indicating how social challenges are determined. In other words, social well-being is an explanation of people's perception and experience of being in a good situation, satisfaction with the structure, and social interaction. This qualitative study intended to explore nurses' experience of social well-being. Methods: Qualitative content analysis was used to conduct the study. Through purposive sampling, a total of 18 nurses with various clinical experiences participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using the five-step, qualitative content analysis introduced by Graneheim and Lundman. Results: The main theme extracted from the data analysis was "thirst for a holistic support" in nurses. It consisted of two subthemes including internal support (family's support, colleague's support, and organizational support) and external support (society's support and media's support). Conclusions and discussion: Nurses' experiences in shaping their social well-being show that nurses need support in order to rebuild their social well-being. It is supported in partnership with the media, the community, health-related organizations, and by nurses and family. This improves job satisfaction, hope, motivation, commitment, and confidence so as to ultimately facilitate improvement of social well-being of nurses. © 2015 N. Mozaffari et al

Recombinant erythropoietin and blood transfusion in very low birth weight infants

Background: Very low birth weight infants (<1500 g) frequently require blood transfusions because of repeated blood sampling accompanied by anemia of prematurity. Methods: In an attempt to identify the effect of human recombinant erythropoietin to decrease the requirement for blood transfusions, erythropoietin was administered to 24 preterm infants less than 1500 g prospectively from September 1999 till December 2000. Data about the characteristics of the population, the severity of diseases, and treatment with erythropoietin, clinical diagnosis, initial and subsequent hemoglobin, volume of blood loss, and the number of blood transfusions were recorded. These results were compared with data from the recorded information of 49 infants who did not receive erythropoietin during those past 2 years. There were no differences between the 2 groups with regard to the gestational age, birth weight, clinical diagnosis, severity of the illness, primary causes of admission, and initial hematologic parameters such as hemoglobin, hematocrit and reticulocytes. Erythropoietin was administered in a dose of 200 IU/kg three times weekly for 6-8 weeks accompanied with iron supplement 6 mg/kg/day. Transfusions were administered according to protocol. Results: There was no significant difference between the number of blood transfusion among these 2 groups (p=0.07). However, transfusions in the erythropoietin treated group were fewer in comparison to the other group (1.9 +/- 1.6 to 3.2 +/- 1.1). No difference was observed between final hemoglobin and hematocrit levels among the two groups (10.3 +/- 0.9 vs. 10.4 +/- 0.7 and 33.7 +/- 2.3 vs. 32.2 +/- 2.2). Conclusion: Very low birth weight infants receive frequent blood transfusions but a reduction in transfusion requirements was not apparent after administration of erythropoietin and iron in preterm infants in this study. However, the lack of impact on transfusion requirements fails to support routine use of erythropoietin

Closed total talus dislocation without fracture: a case report

Total dislocation of the talus from all of its joints is a rare injury specially when the talus and malleoli are not fractured and frequently it is as a result of a high-energy trauma. It usually leads to degenerative changes in neighboring joints and frequently avascular necrosis is a predictable outcome. We present a case of total talus dislocation because of a high-energy trauma in association with other major fractures resulting from a fall from height, but no fracture could be detected in the talus and any of malleols. Closed reduction was unsuccessful and we performed open reduction. At 6 month post operation follow-up, the talus didn't show subluxation and avascular necrosis could not be detected

MEMSurgery: An integrated test-bed for vascular surgery

Abstract Many surgical procedures require skillful manipulations of blood vessels, especially in conventional invasive or minimally invasive surgical procedures. Current surgical methods do not allow the surgeon to receive any real time feedback of the tissue properties when operating on the vessel. As a result, the unintentional application of excessive force may damage the blood vessel. To minimize such trauma, and to study the interaction of surgical instruments with the vessel structure, we have developed an integrated surgical testbed called MEMSurgery (Microelectromechanical Sensory augmented Surgery). The test-bed integrates four elements: a) force sensors mounted on surgical appliances, b) a feedback control mechanism utilizing the intrinsic mechanical properties of the blood vessel, c) feedback of the force applied on the tissue back to the surgeon through a haptic feedback device, and d) visual feedback by a graphical computer model of the vessel. Finally, we evaluate the performance of MEMSurgery by testing the hypothesis that the combination of haptic feedback, feedback control based on vascular mechanical properties, and real-time visual representation of the vessel will help the surgeon decrease the probability of applying excess force while occluding the blood vessel. To this end, we designed a rodent experimental model to obtain the ideal minimum occlusion force (MOF). After a series of human performance studies, and subsequent comparison to direct application of force on the forceps (without feedback), the results show that the probability of applying reasonable MOF increases from 35.5% to 80%. After a brief training period, the probability increases to 90%

Pathologic dislocation of the shoulder secondary to septic arthritis: a case report

Septic arthritis of the shoulder is uncommon in adults, and complete dislocation of the glenohumeral joint following septic arthritis is extremely rare. We report a case of pathologic shoulder dislocation secondary to septic arthritis in an intravenous drug abuser

The modalities of Iranian soft power: from cultural diplomacy to soft war

Through exploring Iran's public diplomacy at the international level, this article demonstrates how the Islamic Republic's motives should not only be contextualised within the oft-sensationalised, material or ‘hard’ aspects of its foreign policy, but also within the desire to project its cultural reach through ‘softer’ means. Iran's utilisation of culturally defined foreign policy objectives and actions demonstrates its understanding of soft power's potentialities. This article explores the ways in which Iran's public diplomacy is used to promote its soft power and craft its, at times, shifting image on the world stage

SANS (USH1G) regulates pre-mRNA splicing by mediating the intra-nuclear transfer of tri-snRNP complexes

Splicing is catalyzed by the spliceosome, a compositionally dynamic complex assembled stepwise on pre-mRNA. We reveal links between splicing machinery components and the intrinsically disordered ciliopathy protein SANS. Pathogenic mutations in SANS/USH1G lead to Usher syndrome—the most common cause of deaf-blindness. Previously, SANS was shown to function only in the cytosol and primary cilia. Here, we have uncovered molecular links between SANS and pre-mRNA splicing catalyzed by the spliceosome in the nucleus. We show that SANS is found in Cajal bodies and nuclear speckles, where it interacts with components of spliceosomal sub-complexes such as SF3B1 and the large splicing cofactor SON but also with PRPFs and snRNAs related to the tri-snRNP complex. SANS is required for the transfer of tri-snRNPs between Cajal bodies and nuclear speckles for spliceosome assembly and may also participate in snRNP recycling back to Cajal bodies. SANS depletion alters the kinetics of spliceosome assembly, leading to accumulation of complex A. SANS deficiency and USH1G pathogenic mutations affects splicing of genes related to cell proliferation and human Usher syndrome. Thus, we provide the first evidence that splicing dysregulation may participate in the pathophysiology of Usher syndrome

Impact of atopic dermatitis on quality of life in adults:a systematic review and meta-analysis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) can affect quality of life (QoL) of adult patients in whom the condition can be severe and persistent. There are currently no systematic reviews of the impact of AD on adults. This paper provides the first systematic literature review and meta-analysis of the impact of AD on QoL in adults. A systematic search was conducted using MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles published until October 2018. Inclusion criteria were a clinical diagnosis of AD, adult patients, and QoL as an outcome measure. Interventions were excluded. A total of 32 studies were included. While QoL was assessed using Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) in 25 studies, there was heterogeneity in the tools used to measure disease severity across studies. Meta-analysis of the seven studies that used the SCORAD to measure disease severity showed severity to be significantly related to poorer QoL. The remaining 18 studies also showed increased disease severity significantly related to poorer QoL. When compared to healthy controls, AD patients demonstrated significantly lower QoL, but findings were mixed in studies that compared QoL in AD to other skin conditions. The findings highlight the significant impact that AD has on QoL in adults and the need for validated and relevant QoL measures to be implemented in clinical assessments for AD. Areas that require further research include an exploration of gender differences in QoL and the use of longitudinal study designs to explore factors that may cause differences in QoL ratings