Latest advances on bacterial cellulose-based materials for wound healing, delivery systems and tissue engineering

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a nanocellulose form produced by some nonpathogenic bacteria. BC presents unique physical, chemical, and biological properties that make it a very versatile material and has found application in several fields, namely in food industry, cosmetics, and biomedicine. This review overviews the latest state-of-the-art usage of BC on three important areas of the biomedical field, namely delivery systems, wound dressing and healing materials, and tissue engineering for regenerative medicine. BC will be reviewed as a promising biopolymer for the design and development of innovative materials for the mentioned applications. Overall, BC is shown to be an effective and versatile carrier for delivery systems, a safe and multicustomizable patch or graft for wound dressing and healing applications, and a material that can be further tuned to better adjust for each tissue engineering application, by using different methods.Peer reviewe

Evaluation of the causes of anxiety before OSCE in anesthesiology and operating room students of Ilam University of medical sciences

Background & Objective: Exam anxiety is one of the most common psychological problems and a deterrent to students' academic achievement. Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is one of the methods to assess the achievement of educational goals of anesthesiology and operating room students. One of the disadvantages of this test is that it causes anxiety in students. This study tends to investigate the causes of anxiety in operating room and anesthesiology students before administration of OSCE. Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study conducted in 2019 in Ilam University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were 50 anesthesiology and operating room students. All students completed the conscious satisfaction questionnaire and test anxiety inventory (TAI) on the day of the exam. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 20 using one-way ANOVA and independent ttest and Pearson correlation coefficient at a significant level of P<0.005. Results: In this study, 34 (68) were female and 16 (32) were male, 16 (32) had high test anxiety, 24 (48) had moderate test anxiety, and 10 (20) had low test anxiety. Results showed a significant difference in anxiety score by gender (p = 0.006) and by grade point average (p = 0.008). Conclusion: Considering the high level of student anxiety before the OSCE, planning for accurate design of test stations, preparing students during the semester, organizing workshops to get acquainted with the OSCE, and allocating sufficient time to the test can reduce student anxiety before the test

Corrigendum to �The possible role of interleukin-35 and its therapeutic potential in pemphigus� Int. Immunol. 42 (2017) 11�17 (S1567576916304465) (10.1016/j.intimp.2016.11.005))

The authors regret to change in the affiliation �d� to �Pars Advanced and Minimally Invasive Medical Manners Research Center, Pars Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran�. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. © 2017 Elsevier B.V

Application of a Finite Mixture Model to Assess the Role of CD4+ T Cell Count as a Predictor of Memory Loss in HIV+ Patients

Introduction: Memory impairment is one of the most important complications in patients with HIV infection. The syndrome is caused by reductions in brain volume and the count of circulating CD4+ lymphocytes. This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between CD4+ lym-phocyte count and memory function in HIV+ patients. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 150 HIV+ patients referred to the Behavioral Disorders Counseling Center of Kermanshah City. Memory function in patients was measured using the Wechsler memory scale. The patients' CD4+ cell counts and demographic information were extracted from their medical files. The data were recorded in STATA version 16 software and analyzed using regression and finite mixture models. Results: The means +/- standard deviations of memory function in three classes of patients were 63.99 +/- 7.02, 75.01 +/- 14.72, and 85.14 +/- 6.43. The results showed that a decrease in CD4+ cell count increased the risk of memory loss in patients (P < 0.001). In addition, higher age (P < 0.001), female gender (P < 0.001), and a lower education level (P < 0.001) were significantly associ-ated with an increased risk of memory loss in HIV+ patients. Conclusion: The results of the present study confirmed the findings of previous studies noting memory impairment in HIV+ patients as a result of immune system suppression, including the depletion of CD4+ cells. Therefore, it is nec-essary to monitor cognitive function in these patients and to implement measures to strengthen their performance

Factors associated with length of stay in a neonatal intensive care unit in Iran

Background: The length of stay (LOS) is a useful indicator of health and prediction of the LOS in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has drawn increasing attention over the past years. Objectives: To determine factors associated with infant's LOS in the NICU in Bandar Abbas city, Southern Iran, between 2016 and 2017. Method: This cohort study reviewed 603 medical records of all NICU admitted newborns. Data were collected using data collection forms. The Cox multiple hazards regression model determined the factors associated with the infant's LOS. Data was analysed using SPSS, version 21. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The median LOS in NICU was 9 days. The results of multiple Cox proportional hazards regression model showed that type of feeding, umbilical and central venous catheterization, mechanical ventilation, nosocomial infection, acute renal failure, blood transfusion, and antibiotic therapy were significantly associated with LOS in the NICU (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The type of feeding, umbilical and central venous catheterization, mechanical ventilation, nosocomial infection, acute renal failure, blood transfusion, and antibiotic therapy were significantly associated with LOS in the NIC