Incidence and risk factors of sternal wound infection at site of incision after open-heart surgery

Objective: To identify the incidence of sternal wound infection and the risk factors before, during and after open-heart surgery in an Iranian critical care unit. Method:A descriptive, analytic study investigating all open-heart surgery patients from March 2010 to March 2011,in terms of the incidence of sternal wound infection and the risk factors before, during, and after surgery. Patients were examined for signs of infection at the site of surgical incision on presentation to the ward, daily during their stay, and on discharge. The same investigator reviewed all wounds, every day. Results:The incidence of sternal wound infection was found to be 10%. Multivariate regression analysis identified the following risk factors: diabetes (OR: 0.439; 95%CI: 0.21-0.95; p=0.04), age (OR: 1.033; 95%CI: 1.003-1.064; p=0.03), hyperlipidaemia (OR: 1.008; 95%CI: 1.005-1.011; p < 0.001), history of respiratory disorders (COPED] OR: 2.952; 95%CI: 1.3-6.4; p=0.007), female gender (OR: 2.06; 95%CI: 1.40-3.03; p < 0.008), and history of addiction to opiates (OR: 2.33; 95%CI: 1.56-3.49; p < 0.006). Conclusion: This study found a high rate of surgical sternal wound infection in open-heart surgery patients in an Iranian critical care unit, suggesting that the medical and care-giving team in the cardiac intensive care unit need further education

The study of harmful and beneficial drug interactions in intensive care, Kerman, Iran

Since multidrug therapy is common in the intensive care unit (ICU), the risk of drug interactions is high. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of drug interactions and risk factors in patients who were admitted to ICUs. In a crosssectional study, the medication flow sheet of 101 patients was investigated in terms of the number and the type of drug interactions. The Drug Interaction Facts reference text book (2010 edition) was used to determine the type and the number of drug interactions. In total, 609 potential drug interactions were found. The mean number of drug interactions per patient was 6.1 (SD=5.6). Of all observed drug interactions, 66.9 were classified as harmful and 33.1 beneficial. In terms of the nature of interactions, delayed, moderate, and possible were the most common types. The most frequent harmful interaction was between phenytoin and omeprazole (63 occasions). Critically ill patients are at a higher risk of drug interactions. Although 33.1 of the drug interactions were considered beneficial, medical teams should be awarethat even beneficial interactions can have undesirable side-effects in the critically ill. © The Intensive Care Society 2013

The Relationship Between the Level of Copper, Lead, Mercury and Autism Disorders: A Meta-Analysis

Background and Objectives: There is a likelihood of a possible relationship between the concentrations of copper, lead, and mercury and autism. The present review was carried out to determine the relationship between the concentrations of these elements and autism by meta-analysis. Methods: In this study, searching Scopus, PubMed, and Science Direct databases, 18 articles conducted in different countries from 1982 to 2019 were collected. Studies' heterogeneity was investigated using the 1 2 index. The data were analyzed using R and STATA software. Results: In these 18 studies, 1797 patients (981 cases and 816 controls) aged 2 to 16 years were examined. Concentration of the samples (blood, hair, and nails) for both case and control groups was evaluated. There was no significant relationship between copper concentration and autism (SMD (95 CI): 0.02 (-1.16,1.20); I-2=97.7; P=0.972); there was a significant relationship between mercury concentration and autism (SMD (95 CI): 1.96 (0.56,3.35); I-2=98.6; P=0.006); there was also a significant relationship between lead concentration and autism (SMD (95 CI): 2.81 (1.64,3.98); I-2 =97.8; P=0.000). Conclusion: There is, nevertheless, a significant relationship between mercury concentration and autism. Thus, the concentration of mercury can be listed as a pathogenic cause (disease-causing) for autism

Religious attitudes and spiritual health among elderly inpatient adults in Shahrekord hospitals

Background and Objectives: Human is a multidimensional creature and spiritual domain is the central dimension which has an undeniable effect on gaining health. The most important part of nursing care with family based approach is to help people in achieving optimal level of health. On the other hand, religious attitudes and spiritual health is an important domain of life in ageing period. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the religious attitudes and spiritual health among elderly inpatients in Shahrekord hospitals. Methods: This descriptive correlational study was conducted in 1392 in Shahrekord hospitals. A total of 308 geriatric patients who were admitted to a surgical ward, were recruited through random sampling. Two sets of questionnaires regarding religious and spiritual health were used as the instruments. After collecting the data, descriptive (frequency, mean, variance, standard deviation) and analytical (independent t test, Pearson correlation) statistics were used by SPSS statistical software. Results: The results showed that 68.8% of patients possessed large religious attitude with an average of 140.68 ±30.14. Spiritual health in 51.3 percent of samples was described to be low while the obtained average score was 86.18 ± 16.61. However, Pearson test showed that there is a positive significant correlation between religious attitudes and spiritual health (r =0.83, P =0.05). Conclusions: The present study revealed that there is a significant relationship between religious attitudes and spiritual health and people with high religious attitudes have high spiritual health

Novel insights into transfer processes in the reaction 16O+208Pb at sub-barrier energies

The collision of the doubly-magic nuclei $^{16}$O+$^{208}$Pb is a benchmark in nuclear reaction studies. Our new measurements of back-scattered projectile-like fragments at sub-barrier energies show show that transfer of 2 protons ($2p$) is much more probable than $\alpha$-particle transfer. $2p$ transfer probabilities are strongly enhanced compared to expectations for the sequential transfer of two uncorrelated protons; at energies around the fusion barrier absolute probabilities for two proton transfer are similar to those for one proton transfer. This strong enhancement indicates strong $2p$ pairing correlations in $^{16}$O, and suggests evidence for the occurrence of a nuclear supercurrent of two-proton Cooper pairs in this reaction, already at energies well below the fusion barrier.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure