The Attitudes of Infertile Women towards Surrogacy in Kerman, 2014

Background: Infertility as a psychological crisis puts too much stress on infertile couples and threatens their mental health in different ways. One of the newest methods of assisted reproduction is surrogacy. Due to unique aspects of surrogacy, this method has been considered as the most controversial assisted reproduction method in the recent years. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of infertile women towards surrogacy. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 236 infertile women referred to the Infertility Center of Afzalipour Hospital, Kerman in 2014. Samples were selected using convenience sampling method. Data were collected by a two-part questionnaire containing demographic information and attitudinal statements. Data were analyzed using logistic regression (P<0.05). Results: The mean age of infertile women was 30.17±5.93 years and the average years of infertility was 4.93±3.98 years. Most participants had a college degree (42.8%) and were housewives (73.7%). Of 236 infertile women, 82.6 percent had positive attitudes towards surrogacy and 17.4 percent had negative attitudes. There was no statistically significant relationship between attitudes of infertile women and independent variables. Conclusion: Due to the high positive attitude of infertile women towards surrogacy, making the society aware and creating the culture and basis for more acceptance of this assisted reproduction method by the community is very important. In this case, it can help in preserving family integrity

Seroepidemiology of Brucellosis in Cattle Farm and Slaughterhouse Staff in Tehran, 2012

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease, which is mainly transmitted from animals to human through ingestion of unpasteurized dairy products or direct contact with infected animal secretions. Since the people in contact with animals are considered to be at risk of Brucellosis, the aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of this disease in staff of cattle farms and slaughterhouses in Tehran in 2012. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was performed on 430 staff of cattle farms and slaughterhouses (regular and specialized slaughterhouses for slaughtering animals suspected to brucellosis) in Tehran, 2012. Serum samples were prepared and evaluated through Rose Bengal, Wright, and 2-Mercaptoethanol tests. Demographic information and occupational characteristics of the participants were collected using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Poisson regression via Stata 12. Results: The serologic test for brucellosis were positive in 5 patients and brucellosis seroprevalence rate was 1.16%. All participants in this study were male and 97.4 % of them were Iranian. The participants' mean age was 34.45 ± 9.46 years. The results showed that there was no significant relationship between a positive test and independent variables (including age, education, workplace, dangerous occupational exposure, past dangerous occupational exposure, consumption of unpasteurized dairy products, occupational background, and keeping livestock at home). Conclusion: Continuing implementing prevention programs such as educational programs and using personal protective equipment in at-risk groups are necessary

Coping strategies in children of parents deceased from cancer and children of parents healed from cancer

This study aimed to compare coping strategies in children of parents deceased from cancer and children of parents healed from cancer in the city of Shiraz, Iran. One-hundred and fifteen people [58 children of parents healed from cancer and 57 children of parents deceased from cancer] were recruited in this study via a convenience sampling method. Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations was used to measure different types of coping strategies [task-oriented coping strategy, emotion-oriented coping strategy, and avoidance coping strategy]. The results showed that the children of parents healed from cancer used task-oriented coping strategy significantly more than children of parents deceased from cancer. Moreover, the results showed that the use of emotion-oriented coping strategy in children of parents deceased from cancer was significantly more than children of parents healed from cancer. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in the use of avoidance coping. This study highlights the importance of coping strategies in families with a cancer parent which demands the importance of teaching appropriate coping strategies in order to reduce the adverse consequence of cancer in the family

Evaluation of Humoral immune responses against coronavirus in healthcare staff in hospitals and medical centers of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background and aims: Due to the different levels of exposure of different people to the coronavirus and different levels of immune response among them, this study was designed to investigate the humoral immune responses against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in healthcare staff in hospitals and medical centers admitting COVID-19 patients. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, which was performed by call-out, the serum levels of IgM and IgG antibodies in 492 staff of hospitals and medical centers were evaluated using ELISA. Then, factors influencing the immune response of participants were determined. Results: IgG positivity was 11.6 among participants of this study, 19.2 of the staff had a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, and the IgG positivity rate among them was only 16. There was no significant relationship between body mass index, underlying diseases, diabetes, immune system-related diseases, herpes simplex virus, workplace, blood type, education level, symptoms, and IgG response (P>0.05). Further, the rate of IgG positivity in healthcare staff indicated a significant relationship only with gender (P=0.005), history of hospitalization (P=0.002) due to COVID-19 and position (P=0.008). Conclusion: This study found that the prevalence of humoral immune response in healthcare staff was lower than the prevalence of the disease based on molecular tests. Based on the results of the present study, it is possible to provide an accurate estimate of the level of involvement and predisposition of healthcare staff in hospital wards and medical centers and to use this information for disease management and control

Type 2 diabetes remission after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), sleeve gastrectomy (SG), and one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB) : results of the longitudinal assessment of bariatric surgery study

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the staff at the Minimally Invasive Surgery Research Center (MISRC) in Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital. Funding Information: This study was supported by the Deputy of Research of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Green Synthesis of Carbon Dots Derived from Walnut Oil and an Investigation of Their Cytotoxic and Apoptogenic Activities toward Cancer Cells

Purpose: This paper introduces a green and simple hydrothermal synthesis to prepare carbon quantum dots (CQDs) from walnut oil with a high quantum yield. In addition, cytotoxic and apoptogenic properties of the CQDs were analyzed on human cancer cell lines. Methods: The optical properties and morphological characteristic were investigated by the TEM, XRD, FT-IR, UV-vis and photoluminescence (PL).The cytotoxic potential of walnut CQDs was evaluated on PC3, MCF-7 and HT-29 human carcinoma cell lines using the MTT methods. The mechanism of action was studied by investigating the mode of cell death using the activation of caspase-3 and 9 as well as mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Cellular uptake of the CQDs was detected by fluorescence microscope. CQDs had an average size of 12 nm and a significant emission at 420 nm at an excitation wavelength of 350 nm was recorded. Results: The prepared CQDs possessed a good fluorescent quantum yield of 14.5% with quinine sulfate (quantum yield 54%) as a reference and excellent photo as well as pH stabilities. The walnut CQDs were proved to be an extremely potent cytotoxic agent, especially against MCF-7 and PC-3 cell lines. Induction of apoptosis by CQDs was accompanied by an increase in the activation of caspase-3. Caspase-9 activity did not increase after exposure to the CQDs. Additionally; the MMP did not show any significant loss. Conclusion: The results of our study can corroborate the cytotoxic and apoptotic effect of walnut CQDs in the PC3 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines

Designing and Psychometric Testing of an Instrument to Assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Clinical Staff about Nosocomial Infections

Background and purpose: Hospital infections are one of the major challenges that health systems are faced with, leading to economic, social, and psychological damages. Clinical staff play an important role in controlling nosocomial infections, so, this study was conducted to design a standard questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of clinical staff about nosocomial infections. Materials and methods: A mixed method confirmatory study was performed to develop an instrument in Tehran, Iran 2019. The items of the questionnaire were extracted for clinical staff by searching electronic databases, including SID, Magiran, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar. The initial questionnaire was designed and its validity was assessed by 10 experts in hospital infection control. To assess construct validity, the questionnaire was completed by 180 clinical staff working in hospitals in Tehran. Cronbach's alpha and retest were used to assess the reliability of the scale. Results: The Content Validity Index and Content Validity Ratio for the questionnaires in three domains of awareness, attitude, and performance ranged 0.8-1. The face validity of the questions ranged 2.1-4.5. In Knowledge about nosocomial infection, Richardson's coefficient was 0.75 and Cronbach's alpha of attitude and practice were 0.71 and 0.82, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient obtained in retest for knowledge, attitude, and performance were 0.91, 0.85, and 0.92, respectively. Three-factor confirmatory analysis showed that the questionnaire has a good fit. Conclusion: The questionnaire designed for clinical staff has good validity and reliability which is suggested as a valid questionnaire in future researches