Effect of scientific principles of gavage feeding in oral medicine administration on knowledge and function of nurses in intensive care unit (ICU)

Medication through an enteral feeding tube is one of the main cares in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit continuously being a challenge. Correct delivery of medication through an enteral feeding tube requires specific knowledge and skills in this field. The nurse as the main responsible for administering a drug, has a very important role in this regard. This study was carried out as a quasi-experimental study on 90 cases of ICU nurses. First, using a questionnaire (pretest), the level of knowledge and practice in intensive care unit was measured. The training course for speech, along with a pamphlet and face to face, was held and again after a month their awareness and performance was measured by questionnaire (post-test).For analysis of data, SPSS software (version 21) and paired tests and chi-square was used. Results showed the mean score of nurses' knowledge prior to applying scientific principles (12/9889 ±2/04167) and their knowledge after that (19/3333±0/71893); mean performance score prior to applying scientific principles was significantly difference with the average score of their next performance (P=0/0001). Also results indicated that the average of all subscales of knowledge and practice (preparation, dosage forms, thumbs up and tubal obstruction, drug interactions and side effects) significantly increased after the application of scientific principles (P=0/0001). This study showed that the application of scientific principles in accordance with the instructions provided, significantly increases knowledge and practice of nurses

Why can't we be friends? Exploring factors associated with cat owners' perceptions of the cat-cat relationship in two-cat households

Most research examining cat behavior in multi-cat households lacks focus on one group size. This gap in knowledge reduces generalizability of research findings to specific compositions of cats in multi-cat households. Given that many cat-owning households in Canada and the US are comprised of two cats, the following study used a cross-sectional survey to explore cat owners' perceptions of the cat-cat relationship in two-cat households in Canada and the US. A total of 6,529 owners of two cats completed the online questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data and a logistic regression model used to assess various explanatory variables (i.e., household, management, and cat-specific factors) associated with participants perceiving their cats' relationship as negative. The logistic regression model showed that owners of two-cat households are more likely to perceive their cats' relationship as negative if both cats are spayed females, adult or mature, have a large gap in age, not related, one or both have access to the outdoors, or show aggression toward people or other animals in the home. Having multiple litterbox and feeding areas were also associated with a more negative cat-cat relationship. Overall, the complex interplay, directionality, and temporality of these factors requires further investigation for a full understanding of how to improve the cat-cat relationship in two-cat households. More research is needed to provide evidence-based recommendations for managing and supporting a positive cat-cat relationship in the home

Use of lipid-lowering medicinal herbs during pregnancy: A systematic review on safety and dosage

BACKGROUND: Hyperlipidemia is one of the important diseases in pregnancy that causes fetal abnormalities during pregnancy and after the birth. Unfortunately, the usual anti-fat drugs are associated with high morbidity in fetus and due to people's inclination towards taking herbs, it is required to identify side effects of medicinal herbs in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to present hypolipidemic herbs that would not any complications for mother and fetus. METHODS: In this review article, the major electronic databases such as EBSCO, Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), China Network Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Cochrane, Google scholar, MEDLINE, SciVerse, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched using the key words “herbal” and “hyperlipidemia”, “herbal” and “pregnancy” matched by MeSH from their respective inceptions till September, 2016. Total of 1723 publications (145 review articles, 855 original research articles, and 723 abstracts) about the effect of herbals on hyperlipidemia and 682 publications (200 abstracts, 423 original research articles, and 59 review articles) about the effect of herbals in pregnancy were retrieved. At the end, a list of medicinal plants effective on hyperlipidemia alongside their effects on pregnancy was developed. Finally, the plants effective on hyperlipidemia and safe during pregnancy were determined and their dosage, complications, mechanism of action, and side effects were reported. RESULTS: A total of 110 effective herbs on hyperlipidemia were identified and complications of 95 plants in pregnancy were studied. At last, among the 55 selected plants effective on hyperlipidemia and examined for pregnancy, we reported 12 herbs with their dosage and special considerations that can be used to treat hyperlipidemia during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Some medicinal plants can be used to treat hyperlipidemia during pregnancy without any significant side effects both on mother or fetus

Environmental and ecological studies in northern Alborz (Golestan Province)

Caspian Sea with an area of 400 thousand square kilometers is the largest lake in the world. The Caspian Sea about 1200 km from north to south on the longest section and an average width of 320 km. Along the coastline around the Caspian Sea is about 6500 kilometers. Caspian Sea is about 78,000 cubic kilometers of water volume that is 44% of stocks of blue lakes around the world. Caspian Sea basin, which is composed of seven major basins of the main watershed from west to east are: juniper, Talsh- Anzali, large Sefidrood between Haraz Sefid and, Hraz- Gharehsou, Nagorno Sv- Gorgan and Atrak in the basin of Aras no limits to the beach. Aras sub-basin is located in the North West and Iran, the second largest sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. Talysh-Anzali on the Caspian Sea basin West and the seventh largest sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. White basin is located in the South East of the Caspian Sea and the extent of the sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. Haraz located in the south Caspian Sea basin and the ninth largest sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. Gorgan is located in the South East of the Caspian Sea basin and the fourth largest sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. In these areas, about 28 percent of the total fish production in the northern waters of aquatic allocated

Environmental and ecological studies in northern Alborz (Guilan Province)

Caspian Sea with an area of 400 thousand square kilometers is the largest lake in the world. The Caspian Sea about 1200 km from north to south on the longest section and an average width of 320 km. along the coastline around the Caspian Sea is about 6500 kilometers. Caspian Sea is about 78,000 cubic kilometers of water volume that is 44% of stocks of blue lakes around the world. Caspian Sea basin, which is composed of seven major basins of the main watershed from west to east are: juniper, Talsh- Anzali, large Sefidrood between Haraz Sefid and, Hraz- Gharehsou, Nagorno Sv- Gorgan and Atrak in the basin of Aras no limits to the beach. Aras sub-basin is located in the North West and Iran, the second largest sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. Talysh-Anzali on the Caspian Sea basin West and the seventh largest sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. White basin is located in the South East of the Caspian Sea and the extent of the sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. Haraz located in the south Caspian Sea basin and the ninth largest sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. Gorgan is located in the South East of the Caspian Sea basin and the fourth largest sub-basin of the Caspian Sea. In these areas, about 28 percent of the total fish production in the northern waters of aquatic allocated

Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting with heart failure: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Cardiac involvement in malignant lymphoma is one of the least investigated subjects in oncology. This article reports a case of cardiac involvement in Hodgkin's lymphoma which presented as heart failure.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of an 8-year-old Afghan girl with Hodgkin's lymphoma. The disease presented with systemic signs and symptoms, including abdominal distension, weakness, pallor, chills, fever, generalized edema, hepatosplenomegaly and generalized lymphadenopathy, as well as signs of heart failure. Test results showed a rare form of heart metastasis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We report a case of Hodgkin's lymphoma with metastasis to the heart, detected premortem. Although the involvement of the heart in a malignancy is relatively common, premortem detection is unusual and only few studies have reported it in the literature.</p

Profiling of antioxidant potential and phytoconstituents of Plantago coronopus

The halophyte species Plantago coronopus has several described ethnomedicinal uses, but few reported biological activities. This work carried out for the first time a comparative analysis of P. coronopus organs in terms of phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of organic and water extracts from roots, leaves and flowers. The leaves contents in selected nutrients, namely amino acids and minerals, are also described. Roots (ethyl acetate and methanol extracts) had the highest radical scavenging activity (RSA) towards 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radicals, while leaves (hexane extract) had higher RSA on nitric oxide radical and iron chelating ability. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis identified eighteen phenolics from which salicylic acid and epicatechin are here firstly described in Plantago species. Leaves had mineral levels similar to those of most vegetables, proving to be a good source for elements like calcium, sodium, iron and magnesium, and also for several of the essential amino acids justifying it use as food. Our results, especially those regarding the phenolics composition, can explain the main traditional uses given to this plantain and, altogether, emphasize the potential of P. coronopus as a source of bioactive molecules particularly useful for the prevention of oxidative stress-related diseases

Stem cell function and stress response are controlled by protein synthesis.

Whether protein synthesis and cellular stress response pathways interact to control stem cell function is currently unknown. Here we show that mouse skin stem cells synthesize less protein than their immediate progenitors in vivo, even when forced to proliferate. Our analyses reveal that activation of stress response pathways drives both a global reduction of protein synthesis and altered translational programmes that together promote stem cell functions and tumorigenesis. Mechanistically, we show that inhibition of post-transcriptional cytosine-5 methylation locks tumour-initiating cells in this distinct translational inhibition programme. Paradoxically, this inhibition renders stem cells hypersensitive to cytotoxic stress, as tumour regeneration after treatment with 5-fluorouracil is blocked. Thus, stem cells must revoke translation inhibition pathways to regenerate a tissue or tumour.This work was funded by Cancer Research UK (CR-UK), Worldwide Cancer Research, the Medical Research Council (MRC), the European Research Council (ERC), and EMBO. Research in Michaela Frye's laboratory is supported by a core support grant from the Wellcome Trust and MRC to the Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Cambridge Stem Cell Institute.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature1828

Food loss and waste metrics: a proposed nutritional cost footprint linking linear programming and life cycle assessment

Purpose: The main purpose of this article is to assess the nutritional and economic efficiency of food loss and waste (FLW) along the supply of 13 food categories included in the Spanish food basket by means of the definition of a new method which combines two indexes. Methods: The nutrient-rich foods index and the economic food loss and waste (EFLW) index were combined by means of linear programming to obtain the nutritional cost footprint (NCF) indicator under a life cycle perspective. The functional unit used was the daily supply of food for a Spanish citizen in year 2015. Results and discussion: Results showed that vegetables and cereals were the food categories most affected by the inefficiencies in the food supply chain under a nutritional perspective, being agricultural production and household consumption the main stages in which the nutritional content of food is lost or wasted. Moreover, according to the NCF index, vegetables represented 27% of total nutritional-economic wastage throughout the entire Spanish agri-food chain. They are followed by fruits, which add up to 19%. Hence, specific food waste management strategies should be established for these specific products and supply stages. Finally, the sensitivity analysis performed highlighted that results were mostly independent from the importance attributed to either nutritional or economic variables. Conclusions: The methodology described in this study proposes an indicator quantifying the nutritional-economic cost of different food categories in the Spanish food basket. This NCF indicator makes it possible to define reduction strategies to promote the use of food waste fractions for waste-to-energy valorization approaches or the extraction of different types of pharmacological, chemical, or cosmetic compounds.The authors are grateful for the funding of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Ceres-Procom: Food production and consumption strategies for climate change mitigation (CTM2016-76176-C2-1-R) (AEI/FEDER, UE)