Comparing the Effects of Hot Pack and Lukewarm-Water-Soaked Gauze on Postoperative Urinary Retention; A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: Urinary retention is a common postoperative complication that mandates urinary catheterization. Urinary catheterization is associated with different physical, mental, and financial problems for both patients and healthcare systems. The patient inconvenience, urinary tract infections, and increase in hospital stay and expenses are common problems of urinary retention and urinary catheterization. Therefore, alternative ways of relieving urinary retention, preferably noninvasive interventions, are of great interest. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of placing hot pack and lukewarm-water-soaked gauze on the suprapubic region on male patients with postoperative urinary retention. Patients and Methods: This was a three-group, randomized, controlled trial. A convenience sample of 126 male patients who had undergone general, orthopedic, or urologic surgeries were recruited. The block randomization method was used for allocating patients to either the two experimental groups (the hot pack and the lukewarm-water-soaked gauze groups) or the control one. Patients in the experimental groups were treated by placing either hot pack or lukewarm-water-soaked gauze on the suprapubic region. All patients were monitored for 20 minutes for urinary retention relief. If they did not experience urinary retention relief (starting urine flow and bladder evacuate), urinary catheterization would be performed. The data was collected using information sheet. Elimination of urinary retention was compared among study groups. The one-way analysis of variance and the Chi-square tests were used for analyzing data. Results: Respectively, 59.5%, 71.4%, and 7.1% of patients in the hot pack, the soaked gauze, and the control groups experienced relief from urinary retention and the bladder was emptied. There was a significant difference among study groups in percentage of patients who experienced urinary retention relief. However, the difference between the two experimental groups was not significant. The time to urinary retention relief in hot pack, soaked gauze, and control groups was 15.45 ± 3.15, 13.83 ± 3.80, and 14.59 ± 3.29 minutes, respectively. The difference among the study groups in time to urinary retention relief was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Both the lukewarm-water-soaked gauze and the hot pack techniques had significant effects on postoperative urinary retention and significantly reduced the need for urinary catheterization. Using these two simple and cost-effective techniques for managing postoperative urinary retention is recommended

Tunable relativistic quasiparticle electronic and excitonic behavior of the FAPb(I1−xBrx)3alloy

We study the structural, electronic, and excitonic properties of mixed FAPb(I1−xBrx)30 ≤x≤ 1 alloys by first-principles density functional theory as well as quasiparticle GW and Bethe Salpeter equation (BSE) approaches with the inclusion of relativistic effects through spin orbit coupling. Our results show that the system volume decreases with increasing Br content. The quasiparticle band gaps vary from 1.47 eV for pure α-FAPbI3to 2.20 eV for Br-rich α-FAPbBr3and show stronger correlation with the structural changes. The optical property analysis reveals that the overall excitonic peaks are blue shifted with the Br fraction. Our results further reveal strong Br concentration dependence of the variation in the exciton binding energy (from 74 to 112 meV) and the carrier effective masses as well as the high frequency dielectric constants. These findings provide a way to tune the carrier transport properties of the material by doping, which could be utilized to improve the short circuit currents and power conversion efficiencies in multijunction solar cell devices

Psychometrics properties of the Iranian version of fertility quality of life tool: a cross- sectional study

Background: Clinical measurement of quality of life for assessing reproductive problems should be considered as a standard investigation at the initial and continuing medical consultations with infertile people. Objective: The purpose of this study was comprehensive testing the psychometric properties of the Iranian version of fertility quality of life (FertiQol) as its use could be considerable due to the prevalence of infertility in Iran and the importance of evaluation of QoL in patients with infertility. Method and material: This was a psychometric properties study of 300 women referred to infertility clinic, Hormozgan, Iran. After linguistic validation of the Iranian version of MPCOSQ, a semi-structured interview was conducted to assess face validity. Consequently exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to indicate the scale constructs. Discriminant validity was assessed using the known groups comparison. Convergent validity was evaluated by assessing the correlation between similar content on the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and FertiQol. In addition, reliability analysis was carried out with internal consistency. Results: The reliability of the Iranian version of the FertiQol questionnaire was satisfactory in all dimensions (Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.77 to 0.83 ). Six factors (emotional, mind/body, relational, social, environmental and tolerability) were extracted from the results of EFA with factor loading of the more than 0.3. Discrimination validity showed that FertiQol can differentiate between female patients with differing duration of infertility and number of children; this indicates favorable discrimination validity. Moreover, the results of convergent validity showed a favorable correlation between the related dimensions of 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (correlation ranging from 0.43 to 0.68 ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(correlation ranging from 0.47 to 0.52 ) and FertiQol. Conclusion: The Iranian version of FertiQol is valid and reliable for assessing infertility problems and the effects of treatment on quality of life of infertile patients referred for diagnosis and treatment at an Iranian infertility clinic. The clinical use of this measure is recommended for Iranian infertility clinics

Social influence in childhood obesity interventions: a systematic review

The objective of this study is to understand the pathways through which social influence at the family level moderates the impact of childhood obesity interventions. We conducted a systematic review of obesity interventions in which parents' behaviours are targeted to change children's obesity outcomes, because of the potential social and environmental influence of parents on the nutrition and physical activity behaviours of children. PubMed (1966–2013) and the Web of Science (1900–2013) were searched, and 32 studies satisfied our inclusion criteria. Results for existing mechanisms that moderate parents' influence on children's behaviour are discussed, and a causal pathway diagram is developed to map out social influence mechanisms that affect childhood obesity. We provide health professionals and researchers with recommendations for leveraging family-based social influence mechanisms to increase the efficacy of obesity intervention programmes

Pesticide Consumption in Greenhouses; a Case Study of Kashan Region

Aims: In regard to increasing greenhouse area in Iran followed by increased use of pesticides and contaminated crops, this study aimed to determine the frequency and types of consumed pesticides in Kashan region, Iran, greenhouses. Instrument & Methods: In this descriptive study in 2011-2012, samples was entered by census method. At the first step, a list of greenhouses was obtained from agricultural organization, 39 active greenhouses were detected, thereafter the questionnaires have been completed in detail by direct interview; obtained data were analyzed in SPSS 23 by descriptive statistics. Findings: 87.1 of greenhouses used chemical methods for controlling pest and diseases of products and 43.5 used non-chemical methods. The most frequent used chemical pesticides were Deltamethrin (37.9) and Permethrin (28.3) as pyrethroid insecticides, Diazinon (23.1) as an organophosphate insecticide and Carbendazim (23.2) as a fungicides. Conclusion: 87.1 of the greenhouses’ owners of Kashan region, Iran, use chemical pesticide for pest control

KIR2DS3 is associated with protection against acute myeloid leukemia

Background: Interaction between killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules is important for regulation of natural killer (NK) cell function. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of compound KIR-HLA genotype on susceptibility to acute leukemia. Methods: Cohorts of Iranian patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML; n=40) and acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL; n=38) were genotyped for seventeen KIR genes and their three major HLA class I ligand groups (C1, C2, Bw4) by a combined polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) assay. The results were compared with those of 200 healthy control individuals. Results: We found a significantly decreased frequency of KIR2DS3 in AML patients compared to control group (12.5 vs. 38, odds ratio=0.23, p=0.0018). Also, the KIR3DS1 was less common in AML group than controls (27.5 vs. 44.5, p=0.0465, not significant after correction). Other analyses including KIR genotypes, distribution and balance of inhibitory and activating KIR+HLA combinations, and coinheritance of activating KIR genes with inhibitory KIR+HLA pairs were not significantly different between leukemia patients and the control group. However, in AML patients a trend toward less activating and more inhibitory KIR-HLA state was observed. Interestingly, this situation was not found in ALL patients and inhibition enhancement through increase of HLA ligands and inhibitory combinations was the main feature in this group. Conclusion: Our findings may suggest a mechanism for escape of leukemic cells from NK cell immunity