A research on violence against women: are the trends growing?

Background and Objective: Violence against women is a global public health problem. Although there has been much research done on violence against women, there are few studies that provide the current scientific production. Method: In this study, bibliometric analysis has been used to evaluate the 1984 documents from 1986 to 2020 based on the Scopus database. These documents were analyzed quantitatively by the Bibliometric R Package and the VOSviewer software. In addition, the 20 top-cited papers were analyzed qualitatively. Results: The research findings show that the United States is a leader in this field with the most highly cited articles and also the greatest number of publications followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. A total of 1984 documents were collected from the Scopus database and were analyzed in the Bibliometric R Research Package and the VOSviewer software. The results demonstrated that the average citations per year for each document were 23.39% and the annual scientific production growth rate was 16.86%. The keywords analysis indicates that most articles focus on "sexual violence," "sexual assault," "intimate partner violence," "violence against women," "sexual abuse," "domestic violence," "child sexual abuse," "prevention," and "rape." Sources such as the "Journal of Interpersonal Violence," "Journal of Violence Against Woman," "Journal of Violence and Victims," "Psychology of Women Quarterly," "Journal of Adolescent Health," "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology," "American Journal of Public Health," "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology," and "American Journal of Public Health," and "The Lancet" are the top most productive in this field. Conclusion: Examining the articles showed that the vast majority of women have experienced verbal, sexual, intimate partner violence, cyber harassment, and so on

A Research on Violence against women: Are the trends growing?

Background and Objective: Violence against women is a global public health problem. Although there has been much research done on violence against women, there are few studies that provide the current scientific production. Method: In this study, bibliometric analysis has been used to evaluate the 1984 documents from 1986 to 2020 based on the Scopus database. These documents were analyzed quantitatively by the Bibliometric R Package and the VOSviewer software. In addition, the 20 top-cited papers were analyzed qualitatively. Results: The research findings show that the United States is a leader in this field with the most highly cited articles and also the greatest number of publications followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. A total of 1984 documents were collected from the Scopus database and were analyzed in the Bibliometric R Research Package and the VOSviewer software. The results demonstrated that the average citations per year for each document were 23.39% and the annual scientific production growth rate was 16.86%. The keywords analysis indicates that most articles focus on "sexual violence," "sexual assault," "intimate partner violence," "violence against women," "sexual abuse," "domestic violence," "child sexual abuse," "prevention," and "rape." Sources such as the "Journal of Interpersonal Violence," "Journal of Violence Against Woman," "Journal of Violence and Victims," "Psychology of Women Quarterly," "Journal of Adolescent Health," "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology," "American Journal of Public Health," "Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology," and "American Journal of Public Health," and "The Lancet" are the top most productive in this field. Conclusion: Examining the articles showed that the vast majority of women have experienced verbal, sexual, intimate partner violence, cyber harassment, and so on

Social vulnerability of women heads of households compared to married women in health care

Women heads of households, as one of the most vulnerable sections of society, need to be informed about various issues specially in the field of health. Many gynecological diseases can be diagnosed with early care and can be treated more. These diseases include gynecological cancers that require personal referral and follow-up. Therefore, they depend on various socio-economic factors. The aim of the present study is to investigate the social vulnerability of female heads of households in comparison to married women in providing health care. The present study is a comparative study and was conducted on 200 women including heads of households who have active files in 2 social work clinics in Qom and also married women in 2 districts of Qom city. A questionnaire was used to collect data and SPSS software was used to compare the two groups.41% and 21% of female-headed households and57% and 36% of married women have Mammograms and Pap-smear once a year. The average score in Mammography among married women is 102.15and in female-headed households is 84.18The mean score on Pap-smear test was 98.11 in married women and 79.56 in female-headed households. This difference the mean at the confidence level of 0.95and the standard error percentage (p≤ 0.05) is significant. The results show married women are more likely to have Pap-smears and Mammograms than female-headed households. Due to the special living conditions of women heads of households, there is a need for more practical education, awareness and support for this group

A survey on men's awareness of premenstrual syndrome and marital satisfaction in married women in Tehran, Iran

Background: The Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a major clinical disorder with a number of temporary behavioral changes that is greatly affecting female population. Available information about PMS and marital satisfaction remains unclear, especially among women suffering from symptoms of PMS. The link between spousal supports has also been found to be related to marital satisfaction while no literature exists scrutinizing the effect of men’s awareness of PMS on marital satisfaction. This study intended to examine men’s awareness of PMS as a predictive factor for marital satisfaction among married women affected by PMS. Aim: To scrutinize the effect of men’s awareness of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) on marital satisfaction among married PMS-affected women. Methods: The sample for this cross-sectional survey comprised of 277 married 19-49 years old women who registered at gynecological outpatient clinics in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected following a multistage random cluster sampling approach in 2015. Main research variables were demographic data, an adapted Premenstrual Syndrome Scale (PMSS), Enrich Marital Satisfaction Scale as well as men’s awareness of the Premenstrual Syndrome. Results: This study found that the men’s awareness of PMS and having PMS symptoms were correlated to, and at times anticipated, the likelihood of marital satisfaction among PMS-affected women. Conclusions: The results can assist frontline health workers and health promotion strategists seeking to improve women’s health by providing visions into personal, relationship, and socio-cultural factors and offering consultation services for PMS issues in primary health care facilities in Iran

Modulation of Hypoxia-Induced Chemoresistance to Polymeric Micellar Cisplatin: The Effect of Ligand Modification of Micellar Carrier Versus Inhibition of the Mediators of Drug Resistance

Hypoxia can induce chemoresistance, which is a significant clinical obstacle in cancer therapy. Here, we assessed development of hypoxia-induced chemoresistance (HICR) against free versus polymeric cisplatin micelles in a triple negative breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. We then explored two strategies for the modulation of HICR against cisplatin micelles: a) the development of actively targeted micelles; and b) combination therapy with modulators of HICR in MDA-MB-231 cells. Actively targeted cisplatin micelles were prepared through surface modification of acetal-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(-carboxyl- -caprolactone) (acetal-PEO-PCCL) micelles with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting peptide, GE11 (YHWYGYTPQNVI). Our results showed that hypoxia induced resistance against free and cisplatin micelles in MDA-MB-231 cells. A significant increase in micellar cisplatin uptake was observed in MDA-MB-231 cells that overexpress EGFR, following surface modification of micelles with GE11. This did not lead to increased cytotoxicity of micellar cisplatin, however. On the other hand, the addition of pharmacological inhibitors of key molecules involved in HICR in MDA-MB-231 cells, i.e., inhibitors of hypoxia inducing factor-1 (HIF-1) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), substantially enhanced the cytotoxicity of free and cisplatin micelles. The results indicated the potential benefit of combination therapy with HIF-1 and STAT3 inhibitors in overcoming HICR to free or micellar cisplatin

Microbial transformation of citral by Penicillium sp.

Thymol is present in the essential oils from herbs and spices, such as thyme. It is produced by these plant species as a chemical defense against phytopathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, this compound has attracted great attention in food industry, i.e., it has been used as a natural preservative in foods such as cheese to prevent fungal growth. Previous studies concerning the biotransformation of nerol by Penicillium sp. and microbial transformation of citral by sporulated surface cultures method (SSCM) of Penicillium digitatum have been reported. The objective of this research was to study the pathway involved during biotransformation of citral by Penicillium sp. using two methods. The culture preparation was done using different microbial methods and incubation periods to obtain Penicillium for citral biotransformation. The biotransformation products were identified by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). A comparison of the two methods showed that SSCM was more effective, its major products were thymol (21.5%), geranial (18.6%) and nerol (13.7%). LM produced only one compound - thymol - with a low efficiency

Social Factors Affecting Elective Cesarean in Iran: social factors affecting to elective cesarean

Background and Aim: Cesarean section is a type of delivery, which has recently attracted the interest of numerous pregnant women. According to the general principles of medical ethics, to respect the individuals’ right to independence, the medical staff must provide the patients with the necessary information to enable them to involve in the decision-making process freely and informedly. In addition, the medical staff must adhere to the rule of “evaluation of risks and benefits” in the treatment process. This rule should be also applied in the selection of delivery methods for pregnant women. The present study aimed to evaluate the social factors affecting the tendency of pregnant women toward an elective cesarean section in the past few years. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 200 women in the third trimester of pregnancy referring to the hospitals located in the District one of Tehran, Iran. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Ethical Considerations: After the explanation of the study objectives, written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Findings: According to the results, elective cesarean delivery showed a significant relationship with maternal awareness of cesarean birth complications, encouragement by physicians, fear of normal delivery, imitation of others, maintenance of the body beauty, social and economic status, maternal occupation, family income, and parental occupation. However, the elective cesarean section had no significant association with awareness about the benefits of vaginal birth and decreased maternal role. Conclusion: Although pregnancy and delivery are physiological phenomena, they are regarded as a “disease” in modern medicine. Moreover, gynecologists have prevented the women from consciously deciding about their own choice of delivery. The encouragement of the mothers to undergo cesarean section by the specialists, along with the women’s attitudes about vaginal delivery, has led to the enhanced use of cesarean birth in Iran. The women’s higher awareness about the benefits of normal delivery and cesarean section complications assisted them in making a better choice about their delivery method. *Corresponding Author: Ashraf Zafari Dizaji; Email:  [email protected];  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5357-1785 Please cite this article as: Tavassoli A, Zafari Dizaji A. Social Factors Affecting Elective Cesarean in Iran. Bioeth Health Law J. 2021; 1:1-7 (e24). http://doi.org/10.22037/bhl.v1i1.3818

Antioxidant properties of Helichrysum pseudoplicatum Nab

The genus Helichrysum (Asteraceae) is comprised of approximately 500-600 species and used for the treatment of a variety of pathological conditions in folk medicine in many countries. In this study, antioxidant activities of aerial parts of H. pseudoplicatum were investigated employing various in vitro assay systems, i.e. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)  and nitric oxide radical scavenging, reducing power and hydrogen peroxide scavenging. IC50 for DPPH radical-scavenging activity was 438.9 ± 15.6 µg/ml. The extract exhibited good reducing power at 25 - 400 µg/ml but was not comparable with that of vitamin C. The extract showed good nitric oxide-scavenging activity. IC50 was 474.3 ± 11.8 µg/ml. It was capable of scavenging hydrogen peroxide in a concentration dependent manner. It showed good activity. Its IC50 was 159.8 ± 8.2 µg/ml. The IC50 values for ascorbic acid and BHA were 21.4 and 52.0 µg/ml, respectively. The total amount of phenolic compounds in the extract was determined as gallic acid equivalents (22.7 ± 3.1 mg/g of extract) and total flavonoid contents were calculated as quercetin equivalents (9.6 ± 1.3 mg/g of extract) from a calibration curve. This plant contained low amount of total flavonoids and phenolic compounds. Its moderate antioxidant activities may be attributed to its low levels of phenols and flavonoids

Modulation of Hypoxia-Induced Chemoresistance to Polymeric Micellar Cisplatin: The Effect of Ligand Modification of Micellar Carrier Versus Inhibition of the Mediators of Drug Resistance

Hypoxia can induce chemoresistance, which is a significant clinical obstacle in cancer therapy. Here, we assessed development of hypoxia-induced chemoresistance (HICR) against free versus polymeric cisplatin micelles in a triple negative breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. We then explored two strategies for the modulation of HICR against cisplatin micelles: a) the development of actively targeted micelles; and b) combination therapy with modulators of HICR in MDA-MB-231 cells. Actively targeted cisplatin micelles were prepared through surface modification of acetal-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(α-carboxyl-ε-caprolactone) (acetal-PEO-PCCL) micelles with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeting peptide, GE11 (YHWYGYTPQNVI). Our results showed that hypoxia induced resistance against free and cisplatin micelles in MDA-MB-231 cells. A significant increase in micellar cisplatin uptake was observed in MDA-MB-231 cells that overexpress EGFR, following surface modification of micelles with GE11. This did not lead to increased cytotoxicity of micellar cisplatin, however. On the other hand, the addition of pharmacological inhibitors of key molecules involved in HICR in MDA-MB-231 cells, i.e., inhibitors of hypoxia inducing factor-1 (HIF-1) and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), substantially enhanced the cytotoxicity of free and cisplatin micelles. The results indicated the potential benefit of combination therapy with HIF-1 and STAT3 inhibitors in overcoming HICR to free or micellar cisplatin