Worden’s Task-Based Model for Treating Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder During the Coronavirus Disease-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review

BACKGROUND: A wide range of studies has shown that the coronavirus disease (COVID)-2019 pandemic could cause many deaths on the global scale by the end of 2020 because of the high speed of transmission and predicted case-fatality rates. AIM: This paper is a narrative review aiming to address the treatment of persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) during the COVID-19 crisis using Worden’s task-based model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Related papers published from 2000 to 2020 were searched in the EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases. Bereavement, COVID-19, pandemics, and Worden’s task-based model constituted the search terms. A narrative technique was implemented (including reading, writing, thinking, interpreting, arguing, and justifying) for material synthesis and creating a compelling and cohesive story. RESULTS: A few studies have specifically addressed the grief experiences within the COVID-19 crisis. They managed to identify some potential obstacles to grieving during the pandemic, namely, “anticipatory grief” and “multiple losses.” This study tried to use Worden’s task-based model to address the treatment of PCBD during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the paucity of information, Worden’s task-based model seems to have a considerable impact on the reduction of the PCBD symptoms. Nonetheless, further research is needed to perceive the effect of this approach on PCBD during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lewy body dementia: Ursodeoxycholic acid as a putative treatment for gastrointestinal dysfunction

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is a part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates internal organs function at an involuntary unconscious level. Recent evidence has shown that autonomic dysfunction is a common feature of Lewy body dementia (LBD). A wide range of autonomic symptoms may occur in LBD, which are correlated with poor prognosis. However, there is still no evidence-based approach to developing the best therapeutic strategy for autonomic dysfunction (particularly gastrointestinal symptoms) among LBD patients. This paper was intended to present a new perspective on ursodeoxycholic acid and its potential effects for treating gastrointestinal dysfunction in LBD patients

Factors affecting medical students’ academic burnout: a moderation analysis

Background. Burnout syndrome may threaten medical students’ professional life through negative effects on their academic work and personal life. Therefore, it is very important to identify the risk and protective factors of burnout syndrome in this group of subjects. The present study aimed to determine the association of socio-demographic characteristics, current substance/medication abuse, and personality dimensions with academic burnout among medical students, and examine physical activity as a potential moderator of the personality dimensions-academic burnout relationship. Materials and Methods. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 400 medical students from the four courses of basic sciences, physiopathology, stagers, and internship (100 people at each course) in Zahedan, Iran, in 2018, were selected by stratified sampling method and evaluated using the socio-demographic information form, Baecke physical activity questionnaire, Temperament and character inventory, and Breso’s academic burnout questionnaire. Finally, descriptive statistical methods, the Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and hierarchical linear regression were implemented for data analysis. Results. The participants included 156 men and 244 women. The overall frequencies for current substance/medication abuse, exhaustion, cynicism, inefficacy, and academic burnout were reported to be 27.5, 10.3, 12.3, 6.5, and 25.8 percent, respectively. The study results showed that physical activity, persistence, and cooperativeness were negative, and the years in medical school, current substance/medication abuse, and novelty seeking were positively associated with academic burnout. Also, the regression analysis results revealed the moderating effect of physical activity in the novelty-seeking-academic burnout link. Conclusions. These findings are an important contribution to the current literature on academic burnout as they can provide a meaningful guide to integrating treatment protocols designed to reduce both frequency and severity of this syndrome among medical students. However, the etiology of academic burnout among this highly sensitive group should be further investigated in depth

Strategic knowledge management assessment of SMEs based on value creation and opportunities abduction

Knowledge management plays essential role for the success of organizations. Strategy formulation is one of the modern environmental requirements in the field of knowledge management and it helps and supports different parts of the organization to identify opportunities. The primary objective of this research is to evaluate the relationship between strategic knowledge management and value creation as well as opportunities abduction. Statistical population of our study is small and medium businesses in Shams Abad, Tehran. The survey is accomplished in three industries including textiles, drinking and edible. The study investigates different hypotheses on knowledge management and the results indicate that the strategies of business and saving knowledge did not have any direct effect on opportunity abduction

Sublethal effect of nanosilver on the structure of gill of Caspian roach (Rutilus rutilus caspicus) fingerlings

Widespread use of nanosilver can be led the contamination of aquatic environment and impact on living organisms such as fishes. We investigated histopathological changes in the gills tissue of Caspian roach fingerlings after two weeks exposure to sublethal concentrations of nanosilver. Following one and two weeks exposure, necrosis, shortening of secondary lamellae, edema, destruction of epithelial lamella, shortening of secondary lamellae, epithelial lifting and curling of secondary lamellae were observed in gill tissues. This observation showed that exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of nanosilver is caused damages in the gill tissues of Caspian roach. The results demonstrated direct correlation of gill tissue damage and toxin exposure i.e. increasing nanosilver concentration is caused more tissue damage. Hence, histopathological changes of gill can considered as a proper indicator for nanosilver contamination of aquatic environments

Anticancer activity of ethanolic extract of propolis on AGS cell line

Introduction: Propolis is a natural product derived from various plant resins collected by honeybees, and has been used as a folk medicine for centuries. Propolis has been reported to exhibit a broad spectrum of activities including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, and anticancer properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) obtained from Dinaran area (Iran) on AGS human gastric cancer cell line. Methods: The ethanolic extract of samples was obtained by ethanol 96 and pure extract was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and used for experiments. The cytotoxic effects of various concentrations of EEP on AGS cells were investigated by MTT assay test after 24, 48, and 72 hours and compared with control cells. Results: The EEP inhibited the growth and proliferation of AGS human gastric cancer cell line. The antiproliferative effects were revealed in a dose and time-dependent manner. The IC50 values were recorded as 60, 30, and 15 (&mu;g/ml) in treatment times of 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively. Conclusion: These findings indicated that the native EEP has strong antiproliferative effects against cancerous AGS cells. Thus, propolis and related products may provide a novel approach to the chemoprevention and treatment of human gastric cancer.</p