Iranian Nursing Students' Perceptions of Nursing and The Ideal Career: A Descriptive Comparative Study

Background: Identification of the attributes of nursing and the ideal career, and their similarities and differences, as perceived by nursing students will help to plan strategies to train and retain future nursing workforce. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the attributes of nursing with the ideal career, as perceived by nursing students. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from April to June 2012 at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The participants were 181 undergraduate nursing students (127 females and 54 males) selected using a census method. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, Spearman correlation, and Wilcoxon rank sign test. Results: Perceptions of nursing and the ideal career were different in nineteen attributes (P < 0.001). Nursing students expected a career which provides them more respect, appreciation, safety, income, power, and facility. Both nursing and an ideal career share an altruistic nature, academic advancement, a desire to please God, and somehow low level of excitement. Conclusions: Perceptions of nursing were significantly different from those of the ideal career in most of the attributes. Therefore, it is recommended that nurses’ income, workplace safety, and sense of being appreciated and respected by all authorities should be improved

The local and circulating SOX9 as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of primary bone cancer

Purpose: The status of the local and circulating SOX9, a master regulator of the tumor fate, and its relevance to tumor types, severity, invasion feature, response to therapy, and chemotherapy treatment were surveyed in bone cancer in the current study. Methods: The SOX9 expression level was evaluated in tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with different types of malignant and benign bone tumors also tumor margin tissues using Real-Time PCR. The protein level of SOX9 was assessed using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. Also, the correlations of the SOX9 expression level with the patient's clinical and pathological features were considered. Results: The remarkable overexpression of SOX9 was detected in bone tumors compared to tumor margin tissues (P < 0.0001). Malignant bone tumors revealed a higher expression of SOX9 compared to benign tumors (P < 0.0001) while osteosarcoma tumors showed higher expression levels compared to Ewing sarcoma, and chondrosarcoma. Overexpression of SOX9 was observed in high grade, metastatic, recurrent tumors also tumors with poor response to therapy. Besides, the patients under the chemotherapy treatment demonstrated higher levels of SOX9 compared to the rest of malignant tumors (P = 0.02). The simultaneous up-regulation of circulating SOX9 in the patients with bone cancer was observed compared to healthy individuals (P < 0.0001) accompanying with overexpression of SOX9 in malignant tumors compared to benign tumors (P < 0.0001). The circulating SOX9 expression was up-regulated in the patients with malignant bone tumors who receive chemotherapy treatment also patients with high grade, metastatic, recurrent tumors. The protein level of SOX9 was in line with our data on the SOX9 gene expression. Conclusion: The simultaneous overexpression of local and circulating SOX9 in bone cancer besides its positive correlation with tumor severity, malignancy, size, and chemotherapy may deserve receiving more attention in bone cancer diagnosis and therapy. © 2020 The Author

Cerebral blood flow and marrow diffusion alterations in children with sickle cell anemia after bone marrow transplantation and transfusion

© 2018 by the American Society of Neuroradiology. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hematopoietic marrow hyperplasia and hyperperfusion are compensatory mechanisms in sickle cell anemia. We have observed marrow diffusion and arterial spin-labeling perfusion changes in sickle cell anemia following bone marrow transplantation.Weaimed to compare arterial spin-labeling perfusion and marrow diffusion/ADC values in patients with sickle cell anemia before and after bone marrow transplantation or transfusion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed brain MRIs from patients with sickle cell anemia obtained during 6 consecutive years at a children\u27s hospital. Quantitative marrow diffusion values were procured from the occipital and sphenoid bones. Pseudocontinuous arterial spin-labeling perfusion values (milliliters/100 g of tissue/min) of MCA, anterior cerebral artery, and posterior cerebral artery territories were determined. Territorial CBF, whole-brain average CBF, and marrow ADC values were compared for changes before and after either bone marrow transplantation or transfusion. Bone marrow transplantation and transfusion groups were compared. Two-tailed paired and unpaired Student t tests were used; P \u3c .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Fifty-three examinations from 17 patients with bone marrow transplantation and 29 examinations from 9 patients with transfusion were included. ADC values significantly increased in the sphenoid and occipital marrow following bone marrow transplantation in contrast to patients with transfusion (P \u3e .83). Whole-brain mean CBF significantly decreased following bone marrow transplantation (77.39 ± 13.78 to 60.39 ± 13.62 ml/100 g tissue/min; P \u3c .001), without significant change thereafter. CBF did not significantly change following the first (81.11±12.23 to 80.25±8.27 ml/100 g tissue/min; P=.47) or subsequent transfusions. There was no significant difference in mean CBF between groups before intervention (P = .22). CONCLUSIONS: Improved CBF and marrow diffusion eventuate following bone marrow transplantation in children with sickle cell anemia in contrast to transfusion therapy