Global collaboration and social practices to mitigate impacts of COVID-19 in the world: a lived experience of infecting

COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most serious threatening conditions and the complex situation in the recent century, which shook the world. This unprecedented crisis has caused many disruptions and distractions for humans in different local and global levels. This reflexive essay aims to review challenges and opportunities originated by the Corona-virus pandemic within social groups through a moral perspective. Focusing on both negative and positive aspects would help us find the required skills and strategies to adapt to the crises and mitigate the issues based on our capacities and resources

Elevated NET, Calprotectin, and Neopterin Levels Discriminate between Disease Activity in COVID-19, as Evidenced by Need for Hospitalization among Patients in Northern Italy

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) displays clinical heterogeneity, but little information is available for patients with mild or very early disease. We aimed to characterize biomarkers that are useful for discriminating the hospitalization risk in a COVID-19 cohort from Northern Italy during the first pandemic wave. We enrolled and followed for four weeks 76 symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 positive patients and age/sex-matched healthy controls. Patients with mild disease were discharged (n.42), and the remaining patients were hospitalized (n.34). Blood was collected before any anti-inflammatory/immunosuppressive therapy and assessed for soluble C5b-9/C5a, H3-neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), calprotectin, and DNase plasma levels via ELISA and a panel of proinflammatory cytokines via ELLA. Calprotectin and NET levels discriminate between hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients, while DNase negatively correlates with NET levels; there are positive correlations between calprotectin and both NET and neopterin levels. Neopterin levels increase in patients at the beginning of the disease and do so more in hospitalized than non-hospitalized patients. C5a and sC5b-9, and other acute phase proteins, correlate with neopterin, calprotectin, and DNase. Both NET and neopterin levels negatively correlate with platelet count. We show that calprotectin, NETs, and neopterin are important proinflammatory parameters potentially useful for discriminating between COVID-19 patients at risk of hospitalization

Outer Membrane Vesicles Derived from Escherichia coli Induce Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome

Sepsis, characterized by a systemic inflammatory state that is usually related to Gram-negative bacterial infection, is a leading cause of death worldwide. Although the annual incidence of sepsis is still rising, the exact cause of Gram-negative bacteria-associated sepsis is not clear. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), constitutively secreted from Gram-negative bacteria, are nano-sized spherical bilayered proteolipids. Using a mouse model, we showed that intraperitoneal injection of OMVs derived from intestinal Escherichia coli induced lethality. Furthermore, OMVs induced host responses which resemble a clinically relevant condition like sepsis that was characterized by piloerection, eye exudates, hypothermia, tachypnea, leukopenia, disseminated intravascular coagulation, dysfunction of the lungs, hypotension, and systemic induction of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6. Our study revealed a previously unidentified causative microbial signal in the pathogenesis of sepsis, suggesting OMVs as a new therapeutic target to prevent and/or treat severe sepsis caused by Gram-negative bacterial infection

Multifaceted roles of GSK-3 and Wnt/β-catenin in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis: opportunities for therapeutic intervention

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is well documented to participate in a complex array of critical cellular processes. It was initially identified in rat skeletal muscle as a serine/threonine kinase that phosphorylated and inactivated glycogen synthase. This versatile protein is involved in numerous signaling pathways that influence metabolism, embryogenesis, differentiation, migration, cell cycle progression and survival. Recently, GSK-3 has been implicated in leukemia stem cell pathophysiology and may be an appropriate target for its eradication. In this review, we will discuss the roles that GSK-3 plays in hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis as how this pivotal kinase can interact with multiple signaling pathways such as: Wnt/β-catenin, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), Ras/Raf/MEK/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), Notch and others. Moreover, we will discuss how targeting GSK-3 and these other pathways can improve leukemia therapy and may overcome therapeutic resistance. In summary, GSK-3 is a crucial regulatory kinase interacting with multiple pathways to control various physiological processes, as well as leukemia stem cells, leukemia progression and therapeutic resistance. GSK-3 and Wnt are clearly intriguing therapeutic targets

An alternative way of thinking is called for

What kind of times are these, when  To talk about trees is almost a crime  Because it implies silence about so many horrors?  ― Bertolt Brecht I’ve always been engaged in questioning the notion of power, and my interest in thinking critically and questioning systems in our society was something I learnt as a child. I know that being born in Sweden as a child to political refugees from Iran, shaped my world and positioned how I view it. Our family dinner discussions and bedtime stories were often about revolution and human rights. My parents political engagement for freedom didn’t end when they came to Sweden. My baba have a book publishing company called Baran that he works with alongside his 9-5 job since 1991. At Baran, he publishes novels, short stories, essays and magazines by various exile Iranian writers and artists, with the freedom of speech as a focus. These texts and books are works that could never be published in Iran. During my childhood, Baba travelled across Europe to organize with other exile-Iranian authors, artists and publishers. Me and my sister would often join these trips. Even though the agenda was about a serious issue, it was always a great adventure to be able to see the world together with them. Growing up super close to this human rights movement, I early on learned that culture, literature and art carried a big responsibility. And that it could be dangerous to be an artist, mainly if you are living in a dictatorship, but also across different nations. The power of art is infinite, and it invites free thinking, imagining, reformulations and questioning. It helps you observe the world from many different angles. That is why I believe that art itself carries a potential for change.  During my first year at the BFA program at Kostfack I wrote a short essay about Shakir Attiyah.  He is one of my friend’s baba and also a well known artist in the community of Husby where I am from. I wrote about his story, because I couldn’t understand why he was excluded from the art field. It made me angry that he didn’t have the same chance or conditions as someone from the global north to fulfill his artistic carrier and dreams. It made me angry that his story wasn’t unique and that there are so many similar stories like his about exclusion. The essay I wrote was really short and only touched the questions I raised on the surface, so at the beginning of June this year, I decided that I wanted to investigate and research on his life. I first thought that the research  would end up in a documentary or as a video essay. But it instead, it progressed into a short video piece. In this essay I present the background to my video piece, Imagined Possibilities, in relation to theory and research about artistic quality and the conditions of foreign-born artists in Sweden.  Imagined Possibilities (4 min), is a piece based on Shakir Attiyah's life (him playing as himself),  and is a play between facts and fiction. The video was my main piece during my BFA solo exhibition this year in September.

An alternative way of thinking is called for

What kind of times are these, when  To talk about trees is almost a crime  Because it implies silence about so many horrors?  ― Bertolt Brecht I’ve always been engaged in questioning the notion of power, and my interest in thinking critically and questioning systems in our society was something I learnt as a child. I know that being born in Sweden as a child to political refugees from Iran, shaped my world and positioned how I view it. Our family dinner discussions and bedtime stories were often about revolution and human rights. My parents political engagement for freedom didn’t end when they came to Sweden. My baba have a book publishing company called Baran that he works with alongside his 9-5 job since 1991. At Baran, he publishes novels, short stories, essays and magazines by various exile Iranian writers and artists, with the freedom of speech as a focus. These texts and books are works that could never be published in Iran. During my childhood, Baba travelled across Europe to organize with other exile-Iranian authors, artists and publishers. Me and my sister would often join these trips. Even though the agenda was about a serious issue, it was always a great adventure to be able to see the world together with them. Growing up super close to this human rights movement, I early on learned that culture, literature and art carried a big responsibility. And that it could be dangerous to be an artist, mainly if you are living in a dictatorship, but also across different nations. The power of art is infinite, and it invites free thinking, imagining, reformulations and questioning. It helps you observe the world from many different angles. That is why I believe that art itself carries a potential for change.  During my first year at the BFA program at Kostfack I wrote a short essay about Shakir Attiyah.  He is one of my friend’s baba and also a well known artist in the community of Husby where I am from. I wrote about his story, because I couldn’t understand why he was excluded from the art field. It made me angry that he didn’t have the same chance or conditions as someone from the global north to fulfill his artistic carrier and dreams. It made me angry that his story wasn’t unique and that there are so many similar stories like his about exclusion. The essay I wrote was really short and only touched the questions I raised on the surface, so at the beginning of June this year, I decided that I wanted to investigate and research on his life. I first thought that the research  would end up in a documentary or as a video essay. But it instead, it progressed into a short video piece. In this essay I present the background to my video piece, Imagined Possibilities, in relation to theory and research about artistic quality and the conditions of foreign-born artists in Sweden.  Imagined Possibilities (4 min), is a piece based on Shakir Attiyah's life (him playing as himself),  and is a play between facts and fiction. The video was my main piece during my BFA solo exhibition this year in September.

Correlation between Academic Achievement and Self–esteem in Rehabilitation Students in Tehran University of Social Welfare & Rehabilitation

Introduction: Identifying factors which lead to academic achievement and impede academic failure, is of special importance. Some studies suggest that there is a direct relationship between self-esteem and educa-tional achievement however some experts doubt this direct relationship. This study was done to determine the correlation between academic achievement and self-esteem in rehabilitation students in Tehran Univer-sity of Social Welfare & Rehabilitation. Methods: This research was a correlational study in which all bachelor rehabilitation students studying in the fields of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, or speech therapy in Tehran University of Social Welfare & Rehabilitation (n=88) were included. Students’ self-esteem was measured using Cooper Smith inventory containing 58 items and its relationship with students’ final scores was assessed. Results: Pearson correlation coefficient revealed a significant relationship between rehabilitation students’ self-esteem and their educational status (r= 0.36), but academic achievement had no relationship with the educational field, semester, gender, marital status, and living place. Conclusion: Students with higher self-esteem had a better educational status compared with those who had lower self-esteem. Thus, it may be possible to promote educational status by improving self-esteem through appropriate methods

Global collaboration and social practices to mitigate impacts of COVID-19 in the world: a lived experience of infecting

COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most serious threatening conditions and the complex situation in the recent century, which shook the world. This unprecedented crisis has caused many disruptions and distractions for humans in different local and global levels. This reflexive essay aims to review challenges and opportunities originated by the Corona-virus pandemic within social groups through a moral perspective. Focusing on both negative and positive aspects would help us find the required skills and strategies to adapt to the crises and mitigate the issues based on our capacities and resources. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; consequences; global collaboration; reflexive essay; social work and practice

A Cry for Help and Protest: Self-Immolation in Young Kurdish Iraqi Women -A Qualitative Study

Background: Suicide is a major psychiatric emergency that has always been a topic of great interest to researchers. Self-immolation is a heinous suicide method that is common in Eastern societies. The present study was conducted to explore probable issues which might lead to self-immolation in young Kurdish Iraqi women. Methods: The present qualitative study was conducted in Soran, Erbil Governorate in Iraq, and the surrounding villages of Soran District (March 2015 to May 2016). Using purposive sampling, we conducted 24 in-depth interviews with women who had done self-immolation. The obtained data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Results: The analysis of the data obtained from the interviews led to the extraction of five categories which seems to be related to self-immolation attempts, including not having control over personal life, marital conflicts, seeking attention, instilling guilt in the family members, and resentment towards male dominant community. Conclusion: Self-immolation is a multidimensional phenomenon that has not come to exist overnight and is rooted in various factors that join to encourage self-immolation attempts by women in critical situations. Comprehensive preventive strategies, such as cultural changes, along with education are required to help lower the rate of self-immolation

Experiences of the Iranian Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Nurses in Implementing Family-Centered Care: Walking on an Insecure Foundation

Background: Most of the nurses have accepted family-centered care (FCC) as a standard model of care; however, they meet difficulties using this model. The aim of this study was to explore the perception of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nurses about the implementation of FCC.Methods: This qualitative study was carried out on 11 in-service NICU nurses with at least three years of work experience using an interpretative phenomenological approach. The study setting was three separate NICUs of three teaching hospitals affiliated with Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews and field notes. The data were analyzed using the seven-stage Diekelmann, Allen, and Tanner approach.Results: One of the important themes emerging in this study was “Walking on an insecure foundation” that included three subthemes of “Inappropriate base”, “A pathway with no lines” and “Unequal encounter”. The nurses described a lack of facilities, inadequate space, and staff’s specific instruction in encouraging parents’ engagement, as well as high work pressure due to short staffing as factors that affected their ability to provide an ideal FCC.Conclusion: As the findings indicated, the lack of essential substructures and absence of a systematic program to engage parents in the care process of their infants have resulted in different operations by the nurses and discontinuous FCC implementation in NICUs. Officials and policy-makers should consider basic requirements, adequate workforce, and explicit guidelines to contextualize and guarantee the continuity of FCC