Bone mineral density is not related to angiographically diagnosed coronary artery disease

Based on data, there may exist an association between low bone mineral density (BMD) and atherosclerosis. Thisstudy aimed to investigate the association between BMD and coronary artery disease (CAD). In this study the possible association of BMD with CAD in 65 men with CAD and in 49 men with normal angiography as well as in 51 women with CAD and in 51 normal women was investigated. Both spinal and femoral BMD values for men were higher than those of women (P<0.05). Neither femoral nor spinal BMD values were different in patients with or without CAD. In addition, BMD values were not associated with the severity of CAD. Body massindex (BMI) was positively correlated with BMD both in men and women, whereas age and anti-diabetic treatment were linked with lower BMD in women. In conclusion, in this study CAD was not related to low BMD. However, BMI was an independent predictor of diminished BMD

Clinical Findings, Bacterial Agents, and Antibiotic Resistance in Children with Spontaneous Peritonitis in Southern Iran: An Academic Tertiary Referral Center’s Experience

Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is a fatal complication of ascites fluid infection. The causes of SBP in children differ from those in adults, and these bacteria are frequently resistant to antibiotics. Therefore, this study investigated the clinical findings, bacterial etiology, and antimicrobial resistance in children with SBP.Methods: This study was conducted on all new pediatric ascites patients, who were admitted to the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Namazi Hospital, affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Shiraz, Iran) from 2021 to 2022. Required data such as demographic information, and clinical information such as complete blood count (CBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), Gram staining, blood culture by Automated Blood Culture System (BACTEC), and antibiogram of ascites fluids by disc diffusion method were all collected. Finally, the data were statistically analyzed using SPSS Software (version 26). Besides, the t test, Fisher’s exact, Mann-Whitney, and Chi square tests were used for data analysis. In all tests, P≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: The present study examined 62 children with ascites of which 18 (29%) had SBP. The median (IQR) age was 2.5 (8.1) years. Thirty-four (54.8%) of the participants were girls. Abdominal pain was the most common clinical manifestation in patients (54%), and there was a significant association between abdominal pain and SBP (P=0.02). In 12 positive ascites fluid cultures, coagulase-negative staphylococci had the highest frequency (25%), followed by Escherichia coli (16.7%). Third-generation cephalosporins had a 25% sensitivity in the total positive cultures. This sensitivity was 33.3% for Gram-negative cultures and 16.6% for Gram-positive cultures.Conclusion: Although third-generation cephalosporins are recommended as the primary antibiotic for the empirical treatment of SBP, the present study found high bacterial resistance. Finally, empirical therapy should be tailored to each region’s bacterial resistance features

Providing a nurse-led complex nursing INtervention FOcused on quality of life assessment on advanced cancer patients: The INFO-QoL pilot trial.

PURPOSE Unmet needs for advanced-disease cancer patients are fatigue, pain, and emotional support. Little information is available about the feasibility of interventions focused on patient-reported outcome measurement developed according to the Medical Research Council (MRC) Framework in advanced-disease cancer patients. We aimed to pilot a nurse-led complex intervention focused on QoL assessment in advanced-disease cancer patients. METHODS The INFO-QoL study was based on an exploratory, nonequivalent comparison group, pre-test-post-test design. Study sites received either the INFO-QoL intervention or usual care. Adult advanced-disease cancer patients admitted to hospice inpatient units that gave their informed consent were included in the study. Subjects were 187 patients and their families and 19 healthcare professionals. We evaluated feasibility, acceptability, and patients' outcomes using the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale. RESULTS Nineteen healthcare professionals were included. The mean competence score increased significantly over time (p < 0.001) and the mean usefulness score was high 8.63 (±1.36). In the post-test phase, 54 patients were allocated to the experimental unit and 36 in the comparison unit. Compared to the comparison unit, in the experimental unit anxiety (R2 = 0.07; 95% CI = -0.06; 0.19), family anxiety (R2 = 0.22; 95% CI = -0.03; 0.41), depression (R2 = 0.31; 95% CI = -0.05; 0.56) and sharing feelings (R2 = 0.09; 95% CI = -0.05; 0.23), were improved between pre-test and post-test phase. CONCLUSIONS The INFO-QoL was feasible and potentially improved psychological outcomes. Despite the high attrition rate, the INFO-QoL improved the quality and safety culture for patients in palliative care settings

The Role of National and International Ngos in the Prevention of Environmental Crimes

The right to enjoy health is one of the basic rights of every person. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 and the Iranian Constitution in Article 3 (paragraphs 12), 29 and 43 emphasize the right to health and enjoyment of health. Article 2 of the Charter of Citizenship Rights approved by the President in 2016 has also declared the right to health as one of the rights of every Iranian. Today, the environment and health are closely related.  Therefore, along with other values that have been predicted, the right to health and having a healthy environment is one of the basic values for human beings, so that human beings will not be able to continue their normal life without having a safe and healthy environment. The importance of preventing environmental crimes is due to the fact that it is directly related to human health, most countries put special penal regulations to actions in this regard. Therefore, this is a special issue to study in shaping the legislative criminal policy on protection environment. It can be studied and studied from the environment. The aim of the researchers in this research is to study the role of national and international actors in reducing environmental crimes. The present study seeks to explain the role of NGO's in the field of prevention, disclosure and prosecution of environmental crimes in order to clarify its importance for legislative, executive and judicial authorities. Reducing environmental crimes is important both in terms of the right to health and in terms of criminology and the need to reduce crime fields. Governments have two important tools to reduce environmental crimes: 1- establish appropriate criminal regulations with the aim of deterring and intimidating potential offenders, 2- strengthening Non-Governmental Organizations and, as a result, public education, culture-building, intervention of these organizations in the prosecution and detection of crime and creating sensitivity to such crimes. For this purpose, it is necessary for the legislator to grant more prominent role to NGOs about indictment and interference in the process of criminal and legal proceedings. This view is derived from the theory of green criminology or environmental criminology. In the present study, in addition to examining the aforementioned issues, we seek to study the role of non-governmental organizations in Iran in combating environmental crimes from the perspective of detecting and prosecuting crime and creating public sensitivity to such crimes