12014 research outputs found
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Sources of get information and related factors during pregnancy among Afghan migrant women in Iran
Get PDFAim: The present study aims to investigate the sources of information and its related factors among pregnant Afghan migrant women who reside in southeast Tehran Province, Iran. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: A total of 280 pregnant Afghan women who received care at the prenatal clinics of selected healthcare centres in southeast Tehran Province (Iran) in 2018 enrolled in this study. Data were collected by continuous sampling by a questionnaire that asked about demographic, obstetric and sources of information used during pregnancy. Results: The most important sources of information accessed by pregnant Afghan women were healthcare providers (65.1), family and friends (47.55), the Internet (32.1) and media (18.9). There was statistically a significant relationship between sources of information and education level, number of children, length of residence in Iran, place of birth and insurance status. © 2020 The Authors. School of Nursing and midwifery, Iran University of Medical Sciences. Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Entrapped arterial sheath during transfemoral angiography
Get PDFArterial sheath entrapment is a potential complication during Trans Femoral Angiography. Here we are presenting a nine-month-old boy, a candidate for surgical repair of Tetralogy of Fallot, with complicated sheath entrapment. As the problem was not resolved initially by pharmacological approaches, later a transverse incision on the artery was made at the mid-length of the sheath. Subsequently, the device was splitted into two halves and both were successfully removed through the incision. This method facilitated the sheath withdrawal and diminished the trauma applied to the artery during surgery. © 202
Sensitive sensor based on TiO2NPs nano-composite for the rapid analysis of Zolpidem, a psychoactive drug with cancer-causing potential
No full textIn the present study, a sensitive and specific electrochemical sensor is developed based on titanium dioxide and ionic liquid nano-composite (TiO2NPs/IL) for the measurement of Zolpidem (ZLP) as a hypnotic and sleep-promoting drug. The nano-composite provides high surface area and catalytic ability in ZLP oxidation at the modified carbon paste electrode (CPE). The obtained results of the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) method reflect a wide linear range (0.1�90 μM) and an unprecedented limit of detection (LOD = 33 nM) for the ZLP sensor comparable with previously reported methods. The TiO2NPs/IL/CPE remarkably enriched the electrochemical response to ZLP oxidation and it has good stability, repeatability, and reproducibility. The TiO2NPs/IL/CPE is mechanically stable, cost-effective and simple, with suitable electrochemical and adsorption properties in comparison to the pencil graphite electrode (PGE) and glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The potential applicability of the sensor was successfully applied for distinguishing the ZLP in human plasma and drug formulation samples. © 202
Microneedles for painless transdermal immunotherapeutic applications
Get PDFImmunotherapy has recently garnered plenty of attention to improve the clinical outcomes in the treatment of various diseases. However, owing to the dynamic nature of the immune system, this approach has often been challenged by concerns regarding the lack of adequate long-term responses in patients. The development of microneedles (MNs) has resulted in the improvement and expansion of immuno-reprogramming strategies due to the housing of high accumulation of dendritic cells, macrophages, lymphocytes, and mast cells in the dermis layer of the skin. In addition, MNs possess many outstanding properties, such as the ability for the painless traverse of the stratum corneum, minimal invasiveness, facile fabrication, excellent biocompatibility, convenient administration, and bypassing the first pass metabolism that allows direct translocation of therapeutics into the systematic circulation. These advantages make MNs excellent candidates for the delivery of immunological biomolecules to the dermal antigen-presenting cells in the skin with the aim of vaccinating or treating different diseases, such as cancer and autoimmune disorders, with minimal invasiveness and side effects. This review discusses the recent advances in engineered MNs and tackles limitations relevant to traditional immunotherapy of various hard-to-treat diseases. © 2020 Elsevier B.V
Gold nanoparticle-mediated bubbles in cancer nanotechnology
No full textMicrobubbles (MBs) have been extensively investigated in the field of biomedicine for the past few decades. Ultrasound and laser are the most frequently used sources of energy to produce MBs. Traditional acoustic methods induce MBs with poor localized areas of action. A high energy level is required to generate MBs through the focused continuous laser, which can be harmful to healthy tissues. As an alternative, plasmonic light-responsive nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), are preferably used with continuous laser to decrease the energy threshold and reduce the bubbles area of action. It is also well-known that the utilization of the pulsed lasers instead of the continuous lasers decreases the needed AuNPs doses as well as laser power threshold. When well-confined bubbles are generated in biological environments, they play their own unique mechanical and optical roles. The collapse of a bubble can mechanically affect its surrounding area. Such a capability can be used for cargo delivery to cancer cells and cell surgery, destruction, and transfection. Moreover, the excellent ability of light scattering makes the bubbles suitable for cancer imaging. This review firstly provides an overview of the fundamental aspects of AuNPs-mediated bubbles and then their emerging applications in the field of cancer nanotechnology will be reviewed. Although the pre-clinical studies on the AuNP-mediated bubbles have shown promising data, it seems that this technique would not be applicable to every kind of cancer. The clinical application of this technique may basically be limited to the good accessible lesions like the superficial, intracavity and intraluminal tumors. The other essential challenges against the clinical translation of AuNP-mediated bubbles are also discussed. © 2020 Elsevier B.V
PC12 cells proliferation and morphological aspects: Inquiry into raffinose-grafted graphene oxide in silk fibroin-based scaffold
No full textPeripheral nerves injuries (PNIs) still associated with both clinical and social problems. Accordingly, tissue engineers� and surgeons� attentions have been drawn for finding efficient solutions. Herein, scaffolds based on silk fibroin (SF)/raffinose-grafted-GO (S.RafGO) nanocomposite were fabricated. Subsequently, PC12 cells growth in term of number and morphology were investigated on neat SF polymer, SF/GO (S.GO), and S.RafGO scaffolds. Characterization via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) exhibited more fibrous structures with few lamellar nanosheets for S.GO; although, S.RafGO showed extended lamellar with lower fibrous structure. Due to the incorporation of GO and raffinose-GO nanosheets into SF structure, electrical conductivity increased ~30 and 40, respectively. Water contact angle data revealed that S.RafGO is more wettable than SF and S.GO. Real-time PCR technique detected higher expressions of the β-tubulin, MAP2 genes on S.RafGO scaffolds in comparison with S.GO and the control group. Immunocytochemistry staining studies confirmed the overexpression of neural-specific proteins including nestin, β-tubulin of S.GO, and S.RafGO nanocomposites in comparison with pure SF scaffolds. © 2020 Elsevier B.V
Copper-containing bioactive glasses and glass-ceramics: From tissue regeneration to cancer therapeutic strategies
No full textCopper is one of the most used therapeutic metallic elements in biomedicine, ranging from antibacterial approaches to cancer theranostics. This element could be easily incorporated into different types of biomaterials; specifically, copper-doped bioactive glasses (BGs) provide great opportunities for biomedical engineers and clinicians as regards their excellent biocompatibility and regenerative potential. Although copper-incorporated BGs are mostly used in bone tissue engineering, accelerated soft tissue healing is achievable, too, with interesting potentials in wound treatment and skin repair. Copper can modulate the physico-chemical properties of BGs (e.g., reactivity with bio-fluids) and improve their therapeutic potential. Improving cell proliferation, promoting angiogenesis, reducing or even prohibiting bacterial growth are counted as prominent biological features of copper-doped BGs. Recent studies have also suggested the suitability of copper-doped BGs in cancer photothermal therapy (PTT). However, more research is needed to determine the extent to which copper-doped BGs are actually applicable for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies in the clinic. Moreover, copper-doped BGs in combination with polymers may be considered in the future to produce relatively soft, pliable composites and printable inks for use in biofabrication. © 2020 Elsevier B.V
Characterization of brain functional connectivity in treatment-resistant depression
No full textObjective: To characterize the functional connectivity (FC) of target brain regions for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), and to evaluate its gender and brain lateralization dependence. Methods: Thirty-one TRD patients and twenty-nine healthy control (HC) subjects participated. FC of subcallosal cingulate gyrus (SCG), ventral caudate (VCa), nucleus accumbens (NAc), lateral habenula (LHb), and inferior thalamic peduncle (ITP) were evaluated using resting-state fMRI. FC was characterized by calculating the nodal �degree�, a major feature of the graph theory. Results: The degree measures of the left and right VCa, the left LHb, and the left ITP were significantly greater in the TRD than in the HC group. The degree was greater in females with TRD in all these regions except the right LHb. Finally, the left hemisphere was generally more affected by depression and presented significant degrees in LHb and ITP regions of the patients. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the ability of degree to characterize brain FC and identify the regions with abnormal activities in TRD patients. This implies that the degree may have the potential to be used as an important graph-theoretical feature to further investigate the mechanisms underlying TRD, and consequently along with other diagnostic markers, to assist in the determination of the appropriate target region for DBS treatment in TRD patients. © 202
Psychometric evaluation of the perceived access to health care questionnaire
Get PDFBackground and objective: Access to health care is a universal concern. Therefore, this study was conducted to develop a questionnaire to assess the Perceived Access to Health care based on Penchansky and Thomas�s definition of access and the assessment of its psychometric properties. Method: The initial questionnaire contains 31 items developed based on a deductive approach with an extensive review of the related literature. Content validity, face validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and instrument reliability were further examined. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software version 24, R software version 4, and lavaan package. Results: The initial questionnaire was examined using qualitative content validity, and the necessary modifications were applied to each item. The content validity ratio (CVR) was approved in 30 items with a value greater than 0.78, and one item with a CVR value lower than 0.78 was removed. In the case of the content validity index (CVI), 29 items were approved with a CVI value of greater than 0.79, and one item with a CVI value between 0.70 and 0.79 was revised. In qualitative face validity, all items were approved by a panel of experts and the participants. All 30 items with an impact score index higher than 1.5 were approved for the next steps. The confirmatory factor analysis results showed that the six-factor model of access to health care has an appropriate fit. Cronbach�s alpha coefficient for the questionnaire was calculated 0.86. The value of Cronbach�s alpha for the dimensions of availability, accessibility, affordability, accommodation, acceptability, and awareness were 0.61, 0.76, 0.66, 0.60, 0.80, and 0.76, respectively. The Intraclass Correlation Index (ICC) value for reliability (test-retest) of the whole instrument was calculated 0.94 using the two-way mixed absolute agreement method. Conclusion: The success of health programs depends on eliminating barriers to access to provided health care services. One of the most critical barriers to understanding access is a perception of limited access. This questionnaire might be used further to understand perceived health care access in different global contexts. © 2021, The Author(s)
Overexpression of DDIT4 and TPTEP1 are associated with metastasis and advanced stages in colorectal cancer patients: a study utilizing bioinformatics prediction and experimental validation
Get PDFBackground: Various diagnostic and prognostic tools exist in colorectal cancer (CRC) due to multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations causing the disease. Today, the expression of RNAs is being used as prognostic markers for cancer. Methods: In the current study, various dysregulated RNAs in CRC were identified via bioinformatics prediction. Expression of several of these RNAs were measured by RT-qPCR in 48 tissues from CRC patients as well as in colorectal cancer stem cell-enriched spheroids derived from the HT-29 cell line. The relationships between the expression levels of these RNAs and clinicopathological features were analyzed. Results: Our bioinformatics analysis determined 11 key mRNAs, 9 hub miRNAs, and 18 lncRNAs which among them 2 coding RNA genes including DDIT4 and SULF1 as well as 3 non-coding RNA genes including TPTEP1, miR-181d-5p, and miR-148b-3p were selected for the further investigations. Expression of DDIT4, TPTEP1, and miR-181d-5p showed significantly increased levels while SULF1 and miR-148b-3p showed decreased levels in CRC tissues compared to the adjacent normal tissues. Positive relationships between DDIT4, SULF1, and TPTEP1 expression and metastasis and advanced stages of CRC were observed. Additionally, our results showed significant correlations between expression of TPTEP1 with DDIT4 and SULF1. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated increased expression levels of DDIT4 and TPTEP1 in CRC were associated with more aggressive tumor behavior and more advanced stages of the disease. The positive correlations between TPTEP1 as non-coding RNA and both DDIT4 and SULF1 suggest a regulatory effect of TPTEP1 on these genes. © 2021, The Author(s)