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Antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn., A. incana (L.) Moench, and A. viridis (Chaix) DC. extracts
Get PDFIntroduction: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of water extracts of leaves and barks from Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn., A. incana (L.) Moench, and A. viridis (Chaix) DC.Methods: The antimicrobial activities of extracts were tested against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria as well as yeast strains by the agar diffusion method. The cell viability was determined by the Trypan blue dye exclusion method.Results: The largest diameters of inhibition zone (DIZ) were recorded with Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 and Bacillus subtilis 168M. The highest percentage of cell viability was observed with water bark extracts of A. glutinosa (97.46%).Conclusions: Potential antimicrobial properties of A. glutinosa, A. incana, and A. viridis demonstrated in this study, as well as their low levels of toxicity, make them an interesting subject for further studies
Reliability and validity of the Antioch Child Hygiene Scale: A scale development study
Get PDFIntroduction: Personal hygiene is one of the most important determinants of health. A scale of personal hygiene is a useful tool to evaluate effects of health care interventions. The aim of this study was to develop a new, reliable, and valid measurement scale which can be used to evaluate the hygiene status of children, as well as the effects of the interventions.Methods: A total of 248 students and their parents, from Hatay Province in Turkey, participated in this school-based, cross-sectional study. An item pool was created for the Antioch Child Hygiene Scale (ACHS). Same questions were asked both for children (ACHS-C) and parents (ACHS-P) Data were collected in September 2013. Face validity, Cronbach\u27s alpha, split-half, test-retest, factor analysis, and parallel form reliability were determined for the ACHS.Results: Twelve items that showed a weak correlation were removed from the ACHS. The mean score (standard deviation) was 159.4 ± 9.2 for ACHS-C and 152.2 ± 16.9 for ACHS-P. Cronbach\u27s alpha for ACHS-C was 0.82 in the first test and 0.87 in the retest. Cronbach\u27s alpha for ACHS-P was 0.91 in the first test and 0.94 in the retest. Split-half correlation was 0.59 for ACHS-C and 0.75 for ACHS-P. Correlation between pre-test and post-test scores was 0.54 for ACHS-C and 0.64 for ACHS-P (p < 0.001). In the principle component analysis, (Eigen value was taken greater than 1), 20 components for ACHS-C and 13 components for ACHS-P were extracted. Conclusions: Although both ACHS forms (i.e., ACHS-C and ACHS-P) were reliable in assessing the hygiene status of children, the reliability was higher for ACHS-P. In addition, validity should be improved in both forms of the ACHS. Nevertheless, both scales can be used to assess the hygiene status in school children
Cystatin C in healthy middle-aged adults: A relationship with anthropometric and cardiometabolic parameters
Get PDFIntroduction: Data suggesting that cystatin C levels are linked to obesity, apart from renal pathology, are conflicting. The aim of the study was to explore the potential association between serum cystatin C levels, anthropometric, and cardiometabolic parameters in healthy middle-aged adults.Methods: A total of 132 participants (mean age 56.2 ± 6.73 years, 69% females) were included in this cross-sectional study. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters, as well as blood pressure, were obtained.Results: Obese participants displayed higher cystatin C levels than normal-weight participants (p < 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that waist circumference (WC) (Beta = 0.376, p < 0.001) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (Beta = -0.484, p < 0.001) were independently associated with cystatin C levels (R2 = 0.447; p < 0.001).Conclusions: Cystatin C is associated with abdominal obesity independent of renal function. Its relationship with changes in other target organs should be determined
Effect of iodinated contrast media on thyroid: a brief review
Get PDFIn parallel to the increased use of computed tomography, iodinated contrast agents are increasingly becoming a source of excess iodide. Iodinated contrast agents may induce thyroid dysfunction in exposed patients, especially in the presence of an underlying thyroid disease. Thus, an ordinary dose of the contrast used for the imaging, can induce hyper or hypothyroidism in a patient with subtle thyroid disease. This review will briefly discuss the physiology of iodine and the clinical evaluation of iodine induced thyroid dysfunction
Leadership styles in nursing management: implications for staff outcomes
Get PDFIntroduction: Nursing is a people-centred profession and therefore the issue of leadership is crucial for success. Nurse managers’ leadership styles are believed to be important determinant of nurses’ job satisfaction and retention. In the wake of a global nursing shortage, maldistribution of health workforce, increasing healthcare costs and expanding workload, it has become imperative to examine the role of nurse managers’ leadership styles on their staff outcomes. Using the Path-Goal Leadership theory as an organised framework, this study investigated the leadership styles of nurse managers and how they influence the nursing staff job satisfaction and intentions to stay at their current workplaces.Methods: The study employed a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from a sample of 273 nursing staff in five hospitals in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Descriptive and regression analyses were performed using SPSS version 18.0Results: Nurse managers used different leadership styles depending on the situation, but were more inclined to the supportive leadership style, followed by the achievement-oriented leadership style and participative leadership style. The nursing staff exhibited moderate levels of job satisfaction. The nurse managers’ leadership styles together explained 29% of the variance in the staff job satisfaction. The intention to stay at the current workplace was low (2.64 out of 5) among the nursing staff. More than half (51.7%) of the nursing staff intended to leave their current workplaces, and 20% of them were actively seeking the opportunities to leave. The nurse managers’ leadership styles statistically explained 13.3% of the staff intention to stay at their current job position.Conclusions: These findings have enormous implications for nursing practice, management, education, and human resource for health policy that could lead to better staff retention and job satisfaction, and ultimately improve patient care.
Differences in dental caries experience between diabetic adolescents and healthy controls
Get PDFIntroduction: While the influence of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) on periodontal health is well established, results of previous studies regarding the association of this metabolic disease and caries experience are rather inconsistent. The aim of this study was to assess the differences between caries status of healthy and adolescents with T1DM, as well as to determine the differences in caries experience among diabetic patients in relation to their metabolic control.Methods: Assessment of caries status was performed using the DMFT index (decayed, missing, and filled teeth). The study group (Diabetic) included 60 patients diagnosed with T1DM, aged 12-18 years, from Sarajevo Canton. This group was divided into two sub-groups: a sub-group Diabetic-W consisted of 30 patients with well-controlled glycaemia, while a subgroup Diabetic-P comprised of 30 patients with poorer glycemic control. The control group consisted of 30 age-matched metabolically healthy individuals.Results: The T1DM adolescents had a significantly higher (p < 0.01) mean DMFT score than the healthy subjects, 11.49 and 6.19 respectively. Statistically, the diabetic group had also significantly higher values of the D and M components. Concerning the metabolic control, mean DMFT score in the Diabetic-W subgroup was lower (10.57) than in the Diabetic-P subgroup (12.39), however the difference was not statistically significant.Conclusions: The results demonstrate that the T1DM patients have a higher caries experience, regardless of the degree of metabolic control. The level of untreated dental decay and missing teeth components among the diabetic adolescents indicates irregular dental attendance
The association of ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1) K121Q gene polymorphism with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in European, American, and African populations: a meta-analysis
Get PDFIntroduction: Several studies regarding the association of the ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (ENPP1) K121Q gene polymorphism with the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) showed inconsistent results. This study aimed to investigate the association of ENPP1 K121Q gene polymorphism with T2DM risk using meta-analysis. The study was limited to the American, European, and African populations.Methods: PubMed and Embase databases were searched for eligible publications. The following information was extracted from each study: name of first author, publication year, country of origin, sample size of cases and controls, and size of each allele. The combined odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for the association between ENPP1 K121Q gene polymorphism and T2DM risk were assessed using random or fixed effect model. A comprehensive meta-analysis (CMA) 2.0 was used to analyze the data.Results: Nineteen studies (17717 cases/28022 controls) on the association between ENPP1 K121Q gene polymorphism and T2DM risk were included in this meta-analysis. The results indicated that the ENPP1 K121Q gene polymorphism was associated with increased T2DM risk (Q vs. K genetic model, OR 95% CI = 1.11 [1.02–1.22], p = 0.014; QQ vs. KK + KQ, OR 95% CI = 1.14 [1.01–1.23], p = 0.039) and decreased T2DM risk (K vs. Q, OR 95% CI = 0.90 [0.82–1.00], p = 0.014; KK vs. KQ + QQ, OR 95% CI = 0.89 [0.80–0.98], p = 0.024).Conclusions: The results indicate that the ENPP1 K121Q gene polymorphism is associated with the risk of T2DM in the American, European, and African populations
P300 as an auxiliary method in clinical practice: A review of literature
Get PDFCognitive functions can be assessed and followed up over a period of time with cognitive evoked potentials (CEP) P300. In this context, brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) are most commonly used, but visual evoked potentials (VEP) are utilized as well. The research in this area has demonstrated that these techniques could be used as a supplemental method in diagnostics of numerous diseases such as Alzheimer\u27s disease, mild cognitive impairment, vascular dementia, epilepsy, craniocerebral trauma, Parkinson\u27s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other degenerative diseases. In addition, P300 can also be used as an auxiliary method in the diagnostics of mental disorders conditions such as schizophrenia, panic disorders, narcotic drug addiction, nicotinism, alcoholism, etc. The method assists in monitoring the course of diseases leading to encephalopathy, such as liver and kidney damage and grave anaemia. The advantages of P300 testing are easy application, non-invasiveness, and an unlimited number of potential applications. Moreover, the results obtained with this method are measurable and can be compared
The association between the quality of life and depression of elderly in a nursing home institutional setting
Get PDFIntroduction: The quality of life is perceived individually and subjectively. The quality of life of elderly people in nursing home nursing homes depends on the degree to which their needs are fulfilled. The need to adapt to a new environment in an older age is a risky situation and may result in depression. The aim of the study was to analyze the change of quality of life and level of depression, as well as possible association of quality of life and level of depression, in elderly people admitted for the first time to nursing home.Methods: The research included 38 participants (10 men and 28 women). The data were obtained using the Geriatric Depression Rating Scale Short Form (GDS-SF) and a short form of the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q-SF).Results: The average age was 79.2 (SD = 6.9) with a variation span of 30 years, minimum age was 62 (n = 1) and maximum age was 92 years (n = 1).The participants experienced a clinically significant reduction in depression symptoms, moving from a mild depression zone (8-12 points) to the zone of clinical standard (7 points or less). An essential finding was a strong negative correlation between the quality of life and depression.Conclusions: Obtaining information on depression and the quality of life of elderly in nursing home settings should be introduced as a standard part of nursing activities in order to improve the quality of customer care in the nursing homes
Clinical aspects and importance of nutrition in homeostasis of the bone tissue
Get PDFSubstantial changes have occurred in the nutritional management of many diseases in the last twenty years. Introduction of standards, clinical review and implementation of evidence based practice led to re-evaluation of some established dietary interventions. The most common form of osteoporosis is the primary osteoporosis, which is the result of the bone loss and deterioration of bone structure, as people age. Bone loss and osteoporosis can be prevented through adequate nutrition, physical activity, and, if necessary, appropriate treatment. This review will focus on nutritional and clinical aspects of bone tissue homeostasis, with references to physiological and pathophysiological processes.